Tainted Blood (27 page)

After a few songs, the sound of Felix’s deep, booming voice took the place of the music. “Hey, Shorty!” he shouted over the roar of the crowd and was easily heard. “Get up here and join us for this one.”

He waved Hayden up and she excitedly smiled back at her mom, then what appeared to be a member of the band’s security team escorted Hayden through the mass of fans and to the steps of the stage.

As Hayden made her way up the steps, Isaac introduced her, and I was surprised. From my understanding, Hayden was in danger of her real father, Oliver’s brother, finding out who she really was, or rather, what she really was, and the fact that she wasn’t actually Isaac’s daughter. But apparently, on this particular evening, Isaac either didn’t care about keeping Hayden to himself or he wanted all to know that she was his daughter. Either way, Felix was right there to protect her if anything happened, I supposed. I pushed more worry aside and listened to Isaac announce his daughter’s musical debut and watched him beam with pride as Hayden took the stage.

“My daughter!” he announced and the crowd cheered. “The lovely and talented, Hayden Scott!” She picked up a tambourine that had been sitting near the drum set at the back of the stage and smiled at the crowd, appearing to love the moment. The song began and it was then that Julz spoke to me, scooting a bit closer.

“Something’s wrong with him, Laney,” she said as quietly as she could but loud enough I could still hear her over the music.

I looked at her liked she’d lost her mind—a look I gave her often.

“I know you don’t trust me,” she said, then she looked down at her freshly painted fingernails. She picked at the purple polish as she continued, “and you have every right not to, but,” her eyes lifted back to mine, “I’ve seen this before, the uneven pupils, the
unusual
behavior…”

I was afraid of what she was going to say next but I clinched my jaw tight, took a deep breath, and prepared for the worst as I listened to the gothic princess.

“It’s how it started with Oscar, too.” I felt my heart plummet. “I didn’t want to believe it, Laney,” she said, and turned so that her knee was resting against mine, her eyes pleading with me to believe her. “I know you won’t believe this but I really don’t want you to share my fate. You deserve a better path, and so does Oliver.” Her eyes shifted to her daughter on the stage for a moment and then back to mine. “The way he acted tonight was really out of character for him, wasn’t it?”

I fought back those stupid tears again but this time they threatened to fall because I was scared, not angry, and because for once, I believed every word that was coming out of Julz’s mouth.

She reached for my hand and I surprised myself when I didn’t flinch as her cool fingers grasped mine. Her brown eyes held mine and in all seriousness she said, “You should at least mention this to Felix, to be safe. Okay?” I nodded and she forced a smile. “It will be okay, Laney. He’ll be okay, he is not his brother,” she told me, and I could tell by the smile she was giving me she was hoping to have reassured me. I forced a smile back at her over tear filled eyes. She patted my hand then pulled hers away as the song ended.

I was terrified at that moment, not because of Julz, but by what she’d said. I wanted to speak to Felix immediately but I couldn’t, he was slightly busy. Felix wasn’t about to drop a concert to go running off to find my possibly troubled boyfriend. I knew there was something off with Oliver but I couldn’t imagine me having a feeling something was wrong would hold much weight. Although, I’d been picking up on something for a while but I think I just didn’t want to admit it and now, now that it had been pointed out to me by someone who’d known him far longer than I.

I didn’t know what to do other than wait for Felix to finish his concert. It wasn’t like there was anything I could do to fix Oliver if there truly was something wrong. Was there?

Isaac was telling the crowd to give Hayden a hand, and she took a bow as the crowd cheered. Isaac wrapped an arm around Hayden; his other hand occupied with holding his guitar in place. He kissed her on the side of the head and I could see how very proud he was of her and how very much he loved
his
daughter. This only proved, even more, that there was something wrong with Oliver. There was no way Oliver, in his right mind, would have missed such a milestone in his niece’s life. Just no way!

Hayden made her way back to us from the side of the stage and I noticed that Felix watched her like a hawk, even with a member of his security team making sure she made it back to us safely.

Felix’s eyes met mine as Hayden took her spot next to Carter and in my mind Felix asked, “Where’s Oliver?”

I shrugged and thought back, “I don’t know.”

I heard a weird grumble inside my mind that didn’t belong to me and then Felix spoke once again as clear as day, “Please, keep an eye on her.”

I nodded, knowing he meant Hayden.

Felix and the band began another song. Felix never fully took his eyes off of us and I imagined Oliver was supposed to have been there to make sure Hayden and the rest of us remained safe. A big crowd, such as this one, was bound to be the perfect place for someone or something to make a play for any of us, and considering recent events, I wasn’t feeling all that comfortable at the moment.

The band played a few more songs, including an acoustic version of Isaac’s
“I like you better in my sweater.”
It was the silly song that he’d made up a while back when we were all staying at his and Julz’s place. He dedicated it to me and Hayden and he made the song sound awesome even though it was completely ridiculous, and when he hit a note that was so impressive, it brought tears to my eyes. The crowded cheered so loudly I felt it pulse through me.

Up until that song it had been hard not to enjoy the concert but after that, even full of anger, sadness, and confusion I was able to lose myself in the music. That was until Isaac announced another song and then everything took on a whole new feel. The crowd quieted down as he spoke.

“How many of you have ever had your heart ripped out of your chest and stomped on by the one you love?” he asked the crowd and it began to roar back to life in response. Isaac turned his attention toward our group and continued, shouting over the rising volume of the fans, “This one’s for you, babe.”

It wasn’t a nice song. Actually, it was a sharp contrast to the last song I’d heard him dedicate to her back when I first heard
Bitten
play. This one was downright mean, and even though Isaac had an amazing voice and made it sound fantastic, I knew it was written for Julz and I felt terrible for her.

“I’m gonna go,” she shouted to me over the music. I could see the anguish she was feeling, it was all over her face. She stood and I stood with her. She touched Hayden’s arm to get her attention and shouted over the music so her daughter could hear her, “I’m going to go.”

“But I want to stay, momma,” I heard Hayden say in response. She was clearly somewhat uncomfortable with the song, the situation, and who knew what else was going on at home, and I felt bad for her, also.

“That’s fine, baby,” Julz told her and they hugged for a quick moment and Julz kissed Hayden on the cheek before Hayden returned her attention to her dad and Felix up on the stage.

Julz turned to me and getting closer than probably was necessary she asked, “Will you please stay with her until the concert is over?”I nodded and I felt her cool fingers gently slip around my wrist. “Make sure Felix and her dad know that she’s going home with them, okay?” I nodded again and she smiled a broken smile then headed off toward her car. She was parked close by and I watched her go for a moment then returned my attention to the concert.

I’d just sat back down on the curb when I heard a scream pierce the night. Even over the loudness of the concert I had heard it and I wasn’t the only one. I jumped to my feet and searched for Julz.

I don’t know what I was thinking, I’m not even sure I was thinking at all. Other than maybe Oliver wasn’t there to save Julz. Or me. I wasn’t even sure how my brain processed that I could have a fighting chance to save her either. I could see Julz as I ran toward her. Carter and Felix soon flanked me and I’m pretty sure that’s what I’d been subconsciously counting on.

Julz was parked on the street, just across from the fountains where most of the crowd from the concert was gathered, and Oscar was on one side of the car and she was on the other side. He was trying to catch her but she kept evading him as they both circled the car, Julz trying desperately to stay out of his reach.

I heard Oscar pleading with her. His hair was slicked back like the last time I’d seen him and he looked a little worse off from then too. I felt myself grow nauseated as I heard him beg her to come with him and tell her that he missed her and needed her. I didn’t doubt his sincerity, but I did doubt his motives, and it was hard to imagine that he was Oliver’s twin.

“Please, Boo. I’m begging you, please come away with me. I can’t stand being apart. I
need
you. I know you need me too,” He pleaded over the top of the car as they made their way around it once more. “Please, Boo,
please
. Just come with me.” Even feeling nauseous at the thought of how wrong their love had gone I could hear his love for her and he sounded like Oliver, and it just broke my heart even more.

Was this what we were destined to become? I lost my focus then and inside I could feel myself crumbling. I couldn’t let this happen to us but I feared it was already too late.

The band rocked on behind us as Felix stepped up beside me. Carter grabbed my arm, pulling me back against him, and with an arm wrapped tightly around me, he guided me back to the crowd. A crowd that surprisingly hadn’t noticed the commotion going on behind them and didn’t much notice Felix’s absence, either.

Carter kept me near him when we got back to where we’d left Hayden with only Kiera to watch over her. That’s when I realized how stupid I’d been. I’d left Hayden with only Kiera as protection. Granted I took off not knowing for sure Felix had heard Julz’s cry for help but hoping he had. I didn’t think, I
just ran, and
there was nothing I could’ve done to save her if it came to it. Nothing but watch Oliver’s brother do who-knows-what if he had caught her.

Kiera couldn’t protect Hayden if she had to. Hell, I was pretty sure I couldn’t either.

Kiera questioned us about what was going on, and as she watched her biological father run off into the dark of the night, Hayden explained that it was just some guy who had a thing for her mom. But she never took her eyes off of Oscar and I’d never wanted the ability to read minds more than I wanted it at that moment.

I didn’t really see what had happened; I just knew that Oscar took off into the night and Julz trailed after Felix as he made his way back to the stage. I didn’t know how the fans hadn’t noticed his disappearance, but none of them seemed to notice his return either. I imagined there was some sort of mind mumbo-jumbo that he’d done to keep the crowd from noticing or following.

Julz stood beside me scanning the night and hugged herself, rubbing her arms. “You okay?” I asked. She forced a smile and nodded.

We stayed until the concert ended and Felix called us up to the stage. We made our way through the lingering fans while security tried to shoo them away so that the band and their crew could load their equipment and escape for the night.

Felix questioned our transportation, and when we told him that we had walked, he insisted that we wait until he could take us home. That was going to be a while, and Kiera protested, saying, “We’ve walked home in the dark tons of times, we’ll be fine.” She didn’t have a clue why he was concerned, but the rest of us knew the reason, and Carter and I were willing to wait.

In the end, as Kiera continued to argue with Felix—a pureblood vampire who easily towered over her by two-and-a-half feet—Julz stepped in and offered our little trio a ride. Felix and Kiera both accepted the offer. Carter and I shared a chuckle over Kiera and her cluelessness.

Everyone piled into the back of Julz’s car and I rode in the front, beside the purple-haired demon who had been anything but that recently.

Julz’s car was very much like Oliver’s. Really, the only difference I could find was that it had four doors instead of two like his.

“Momma,” Hayden said as I directed Julz to the apartment complex. “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Okay,” Julz responded, and I saw the hint of a smile in the glow of the dash lights. Once Hayden began chatting with Carter and Kiera in the back seat Julz said to me, rather quietly so her daughter might not hear, “I think she just wants to see where you and Oliver live. She’s very curious about his life outside of her world.” That was understandable.

Oliver’s car was in the lot when we got to the apartments and my stomach dropped at the thought of seeing him.

We climbed the steps to the second floor and Carter and Kiera said good-bye at the top of the steps where she and Carter would be staying in mine and Kiera’s apartment. I imagined they wanted to take advantage of the privacy of our apartment before it was gone. Plus, they’d been packing Kiera’s things. Something I needed to do as well. Maybe.

I led Julz and Hayden to Oliver and Carter’s place. A place that was supposed to be mine soon too, but I was beginning to wonder if the offer still stood.