Laney (19 page)

I woke up refreshed and ready to ask more questions. I stretched and looked up into Oliver’s beautiful emerald-green eyes.

He turned the TV off. “Ask away,” he said, looking down at me. My head was in his lap.

“How did you…? Oh yeah, the emotions thing.”

“Comes in handy sometimes.” His eyes sparkled as he smiled at me.

My heart skipped a beat. Everything about him was incredible
.

I began asking questions from my list. Questions I knew were going to lead to more questions.

“If you bit me, would I become a vampire?”

“No, only if I shared my blood with you, but even then it could go wrong. Most don’t survive the transformation and just feeding from you could cause you emotional distress. Plus, there’s a possibility I wouldn’t be able to stop myself.” That gave me a little shiver
.

“It’s okay, Laney.” He started playing with my hair again. “I won’t bite you. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”

I gave him a questioning, furrowed brow like he’d lost me.

“If you are bitten by a vampire, their venom is released into your system and you become theirs, in a sense.”

My eyes widened and I lifted my hand to look at the finger I had pricked on his tooth.

“You’re fine,” he said, kissing my finger. “There was no venom contact. Heck, there was barely even any contact at all.”

“What do you mean when you say you become theirs?”

“You become blood-bonded. You’ll yearn for the vampire that bit you. It creates a connection, but it depends on the severity of the bond. Some bonds are so weak that the connection is limited to only a rare thought of that vampire or a faint recollection in dreams. A severe bond would send your world upside-down, causing you to do anything to get to the vampire that bit you, like an addiction”

“How long does that last?”

“Oh, it doesn’t go away unless one of you dies. That’s why I said it wouldn’t be fair. I want you to be with me because you want to be, not because of a bite connection.”

“Wouldn’t that mean that you’d have a connection with those whose blood you drink from the donation?”

“No because our venom doesn’t enter their system.”

This led to another question. “Why did your eyes turn dark when that happened with my finger?” I still felt stupid that it happened.

“It happens when I smell fresh blood.”

“Where do your…fangs go?” I wasn’t sure that was what they called them.

“Fang pockets.” He lifted his lip and just above the gum line of his eye tooth there was a slit with a tiny hint of white poking through—the tip of his fang.

“Can you make them come out when you want?”

Letting go of his lip he said, “Yes and no. They come out when I need them to, which is when I would want them to. Like last night with the other vampires around. But they also come out when I smell blood and when I…um…get excited.” His cheeks turned pink and I realized what he meant by “excited.”

I turned away from him for a moment as the thought made my cheeks burn a little.

“So, sunlight’s not an issue?” I asked, turning back to him.

“It hurts my eyes and makes them water, but, other than that, no. Newbies and junkies have solar phobia. The bad blood causes them to be totally irrational and afraid of daylight. Oh, and we don’t sparkle,” he laughed.

“I’ve noticed.” I laughed, too. “So, what other myths are true and not true?”

“Ask me and I’ll tell you.” He flashed me that beautiful smile.

“Garlic?”

“Not an issue. We just have a sensitive sense of smell, so it’s stronger to us.”

“Crosses and holy water?”

“Neither one is a problem. If crosses were an issue, wouldn’t that include a lower case T? If so, I’d be running every time I wrote my own last name.”

I giggled at that because I actually pictured him running away after writing his name. “What about being invited in?”

“We can go where we want, when we want. We’re not all bad guys like you’re made to think. Just like with humans, there are good ones and bad ones.” He smiled again.

“Silver?”

“Lycans—not us.”

My mouth dropped open and my eyes grew wide in disbelief.

“What? They go hand in hand, right?” he admitted with a laugh.

I shook my head again.
Holy crap! Werewolves, too?

“Wooden stakes?”

“Staking is a hate crime.” He tried to keep a straight face, but the look on mine made him laugh.

“You’re a dork,” I laughed. “Seriously, I need to know if I need to protect you from people running with pencils.”

He laughed again and he leaned down to kiss my forehead. “It can be done, but we recover, except with one particular wood, but I won’t tell you what that is just in case I make you mad.”

“Whatever.” I gave him a crooked smile which he returned with his own.

“What about mirrors and pictures?”

“I show up in both; you already know that.”

“Oh, yeah.” That was another “duh” moment. We had taken those pictures on our date and I’d seen his reflection in the window at the library. I smiled sheepishly.

“Can you turn into a bat?” I joked, knowing the answer.

“Yes.”

My eyes fixed on him, wide with disbelief.

“Of course not!” He chuckled at my expression. “That’s just crazy talk. All that stuff is just anti-vampire propaganda. People fear what they don’t understand. What most humans know about vampires would fit into a fly’s eye.” He chuckled again.

I laughed, too. He was so freakin’ cute and such a dork. Oh, and a vampire—
my
vampire.

“Are you the reason Kiera is ill?”

“No, that’s not me. And she’s not ill.”

I looked at him curiously. “Is it one of you?”

He raised an eyebrow at me questionably.

“You know what I mean, a vampire.”

“I think it could be, but I don’t think it’s intentional if it is. I don’t think they realize they are doing it.”

“How would they not know?” I asked.

“Half-breeds who are starting to go through their change start to express their abilities without knowing how to control them yet. Sometimes they don’t realize what they are doing or that they are doing anything at all. Most half-vampires are aware of what they are. The ones that don’t know usually have only a faint line that will stay dormant; nothing will surface.”

“How can you figure out who is half, other than through their blood?”

“There are a few traits. Their abilities usually start to surface between the ages of twenty and twenty-two, so we focus on that age group. If nothing has happened by then, it’s likely nothing will. For most, it’s like going through puberty again, but worse, and with a different outcome.”

“That would suck. Once was enough.”

“Eyes are a big one. Solid-colored eyes, all one color like mine and Felix’s, not with flecks like Kiera’s have.”

I thought about my own eyes and how dark they were. They were such a dark brown that you could barely see the pupils, and even then only if the light hit them just right. Who knew if there were flecks or anything in them?

“What about Carter? Is he half? Is that why you are staying with him?”

“He has the gene. He comes from a very old line, but no one in his family has gone through the change in years. The gene appears to be dormant in his family, but we watch just in case.”

“Is he why Kiera gets faint? It only happens when he is near her—or you are. But it’s not you.”

He shrugged. “It’s hard to tell; maybe she’s just anemic.”

“Whatever.” He seemed like there was something he wasn’t telling me. I let it go, for now.

I looked at my list. I was sure I’d come up with more questions later. For now, there was just one more question left, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer. I took a deep breath. All of the other questions were nothing compared to this one.

I exhaled. “Is Julz your sister?”

“No.”

Ugh. Do I want to know the rest?

“Is…” I hesitated. “Is Hayden your daughter?”

His brow furrowed and his eyes fixed on mine. In the most serious voice, he said, “Seriously, Laney, there’s never been anything like that between me and Julz.”

He hadn’t answered my question and that irritated me. “You didn’t answer the question.”

“You’ve seen her. Don’t tell me you can’t tell who her father is?”

I thought for a moment. “Oscar,” I breathed. “She’s got his eyes; she looks just like him.”

“Thankfully, she doesn’t act like him. She reminds me so much of Olivia.” Then, in that serious tone again, he said, “You need to understand that I can’t say anything else. I shouldn’t have even told you that. He can’t know. Okay?”

I nodded.

“Imagine if you had a secret and if the wrong person got that information, a person you love could die. It’s not safe for Hayden if he knows and it’s just not my story to tell.”

I felt a little better knowing that there was nothing between him and Julz, but not totally. Something about it was still bothering me and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“Any more questions?” His gorgeous smile returned, making my heart flutter.

I shook my head. “I’m done…for now.”

“Good, because you need to eat.” He got up and headed to the kitchen.

After I ate my vampire-made peanut butter and jelly sandwich, we stayed on the couch watching TV most of the day. Oliver flipped channels as I faded in and out of sleep.

I was snuggled up next to him watching a game show when Kiera and Carter showed up.

“What are you guys doing this weekend?” Kiera asked, plopping herself down next to me.
It’s so funny to me that she has no idea there’s a vampire in the room.
“We were wondering if you guys would like to go out with us.”

“We’re actually going to Oliver’s sister’s house, so we won’t be here.” I gave Oliver a quick smile and he winked at me. I felt my cheeks warm a tiny bit. I loved that he still had that effect on me.

“Bummer,” Kiera said, hopping up from the couch. “I’m staying at Carter’s tonight,” she announced as she went into her room.

I shot Oliver a look—the “Why are you telling me now? You never told me before.” look—and he chuckled.

Carter came in and had a seat in the chair. He had been outside the door on his cell.

“You guys are gonna go out with us this weekend, right?” he asked.

“Nope, we’ll be gone,” Oliver offered.

“Bummer.” He seemed to get lost deep in his thoughts. Oliver and I shot each other “What the heck?” looks.

Kiera came out with her small pink duffle bag slung over her shoulder. They said their “Goodbyes” and left.

“That was weird,” I muttered.

“No kidding,” he said, returning his focus back to the TV.

It was dark out. Oliver turned the TV off and stood. “It’s getting late. I should go.”

Go? I didn’t want him to leave. “Will you stay the night with me?”

He seemed a little surprised, which I thought was odd. “You sure?” he asked.

“Um, yeah. I asked you to stay, didn’t I?” I said in a sarcastic “well, duh” voice.

He smiled his crooked smile at me and sat back on the couch. “I’ll stay,” he kissed the top of my head and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“Yeah, you will,” I joked.

“Plus, it’s kind of uncomfortable with the two of them around.”

“Oh?”

I caught a faint hint of pink touching his cheeks. “I think there’s more than sleeping going on between them.”

My mouth dropped open.

“The downside to my ability is that I can feel those emotions, too.” He was avoiding eye contact, obviously just as uncomfortable as I was with this conversation.

I turned the TV back on and started channel surfing. I
so
did not want to talk about this. Oliver seemed to catch on, or he felt the same way, because he, too, focused on the TV.

More time passed and I started to doze on the couch again.

“How about you go get ready for bed?”

“Meet me in there.” I yawned, on my way to the bathroom.

“Sure,” he smiled up at me from the couch.

He was leaning back against my headboard, shoes off, feet crossed at the ankles, when I came into my room. He was drop dead gorgeous and mine! It made me smile.

I took off my thin jacket, leaving my pants and tank top on. I’d forgotten to take my jammies to the bathroom with me and I didn’t feel like going back. I crawled across the bed to him and dropped onto his chest.

“No pajamas tonight?” He wrapped his arms around me.

“Too tired to deal with it.” I yawned into his chest.

I woke up shivering. He seemed to run a little cooler that the average man and the coolness from his body and the lack of a blanket was a bad combo for me. It was still dark as Oliver raised the covers for me to crawl under. He stayed on top of them, but still held me against him. I was warm and sleeping again in seconds.

The seconds didn’t seem to last long. I was too warm now and I woke up trying to get my socks and pants off from under the covers. I had regular underwear on, so it was really no different than wearing my bathing suit—or so I tried to tell myself. I still felt a little too exposed. I was restless now and couldn’t fall back to sleep.

“You okay?” he whispered from within the dark.

“I’m fine,” the irritation was obvious in my voice.

“Liar,” he chuckled.

“My body feels uncomfortable.”

“I think your sleep is off. You slept most of the day.”

I rolled onto my back and stretched out. I stared out the open gap in the curtains into the night sky.

“Maybe I can help,” Oliver whispered. He came into view, blocking the gap in my curtains.

He kissed my cheek and worked his way down my neck. I tensed a little; my heart rate spiked and he chuckled. “Do you think I’ll hurt you?” he whispered, kissing my neck again.

“You’re not very good at the emotion-reading thing if that’s what you think mine mean right now,” I whispered back.

“Oh, really?” he said in a soft, sensual tone. It caused something in me to stir again, bringing back that humming feeling. He kissed my neck again and my breath caught at the sensation that shot through me.