Tainted Blood (35 page)

He snatched it from my hands. “No, I wouldn’t.” He circled to the driver’s side of the car and opened the door.

“We are not done talking about this!” I shouted, a lump high in my throat.

“I am,” he said, and then he left. Just drove away, leaving me there in the dark and the cold with a busted heart.

I hugged myself for warmth and comfort. I was doing my best not to break down and drop to my knees. I just wanted to go home but Carter had my keys back in the club and I didn’t have it in me to face any of them at the moment.

I looked up at the side door to the club. Ashton was standing on the top step, leaning over the railing, looking down at me. I was sure he’d seen everything but my heart was too broken to care.

I started walking.

Tears fell as I walked the tree lined streets, in the dark, making my way home. Ashton eased his car up beside me only moments later and I shouted at him to get the hell away from me. I was far from ready to let go of my anger.

“Come on, Laney. Just get in the car. I swear I’ll drive you straight home.” A fat lot of good that would do me since Carter had my keys, which included my apartment keys.

“Go away, Ashton!”

I picked up the pace but two figures appeared on the sidewalk up ahead of me and I froze. They were heading toward me at a steady pace.

They couldn’t be the same guys from the other night, could they?

I didn’t have time to get scared or panic. Ashton slammed on the brakes and shouted for me to get in the car and I complied without thinking. He suddenly seemed like the lesser of two evils.

“It’s not wise to wander this town at night, especially alone,” he said as he watched the two figures in the distance. They’d suddenly stopped and stared at the car. I didn’t respond. I was just hoping Ashton would stay true to his word and take me straight home.

At first it did seem like he was sticking to his word, and then at the next intersection, he took a right instead of the left that would’ve taken us toward the university. “Where are we going?” I questioned and tried not to sound nervous.

“Let me show you something, it’ll only take a minute.”

“You’re not going to try something perverted, are you?” I could just imagine what Ashton would want to
”show”
me.

He laughed at me and I eased a tiny bit. “No, Laney. You’ve made it very clear where I stand, and it’s not beside you.”

“Then why do you keep trying?”

He looked over at me. “‘Cause when I want something, I don’t give up until I get it.”

It wasn’t necessarily what he said but more of how he said it. I pressed myself against the passenger door. There were things I knew about Ashton, things he’d told me long ago, that surfaced, and I heard them differently now. The innocence of his words was lost. I was suddenly frightened of him but I didn’t want him to know this. I focused on what he thought I was talking about and said, very firmly. “Ashton, we will never be anything more than we are right now.”

“I know, but you might change your mind.” He flashed me a cocky smile.

“I won’t.”

“You might.”

I dropped it. He was obviously never going to stop, and I decided right then and there that if/when I got home I was going to pack my crap and get the hell out of town, alone if I had to. Once Carter brought my car home, or course.

When minutes passed and Ashton didn’t try anything I settled back into the seat.

It turned out that a minute to Ashton was definitely not the same as a minute to me. Maybe he’d meant a minute in football time? We were driving through one of the fancier neighborhoods in town and I realized that we were headed to Ashton’s parents’ house.

“What are we doing here?” I asked, as he parked across the street from his childhood home.

“I wanted you to see this,” he said and nodded toward the house.

I looked out across the poorly lit street and saw Avery’s powder blue Beetle parked in the driveway beside one of their parents’ expensive cars, and then I saw what Ashton had brought me there to see. Oliver’s car was parked in front of the Weslins’ house.

My breath caught and a feeling I’d never experienced before pulsed through me. I’m not even sure what it was, but I think it might’ve been what people who commit murders feel just before they off a loved one. Or the mistress.

I grasped the door handle and every part of me wanted to storm into that house and take back what was mine but every part of me also knew that whatever I found behind those closed doors would probably kill me. Rage and despair filled my body.
How could he?
Heartbroken tears stung my eyes. My world was spinning out of control, and I was suddenly so cold tremors rocked my body.

“Just take me home, please,” I whispered. My heart actually hurt. She’d done it again. Avery had taken the only other guy I’d ever liked from me and now, now she’d somehow corrupted the love of my life.

Maybe Ashton is
your
best bet.
A little voice told me. At least I knew she wouldn’t steal him. I gave myself a mental shake for multiple reasons right then.

“I’m sorry, Laney,” Ashton said quietly and then he put the car into gear and we drove away.

I fought back angry, heartbroken tears. I couldn’t bear the thought of Oliver with another girl, especially Avery.

“He’s no good for you, Laney.” Ashton said softly.

“And you are?” I choked out.

“I can care for you in ways he apparently can’t.”

“Oh, yeah?” I challenged, looking at him through bleary eyes. “And how’s that?”

“Laney, I’ve been with many girls but there is just something different about you.” He looked over at me and flashed me a smile. “A girl like you is impossible to find.” He reached over and rested his hand on my thigh.

I stared down at his hand for a minute. “If you do not remove your hand from my leg I am going to break every one of your fingers,” I said a little too calmly.

I think he thought I was joking at first. He chuckled until I grabbed his pinky finger. He started yelling for me to let go and he began swerving all over the road. I released his finger and he steadied the car.

“Whoa, okay, Laney. Just calm down.” I could hear the tension in his voice.

For some reason him telling me to calm down did just the opposite. “Screw you, Ashton! And that is not an offer!” I shouted. “Stop the car and let me out!”

Suddenly his cocky bravado returned and he sped up. “If I don’t stop the car you can’t leave me.”

“I’ll jump.” I grabbed the handle. I was prepared to do it. What did I have to lose?

He saw me grasping the handle and stomped on the brakes. I caught myself on the dash and realized I didn’t have my seatbelt on. I sat there for a minute and breathed deeply. I caught a whiff of his cologne and I gagged.

“I’m sorry, Laney,” he said, as I took several more steadying breaths while trying not to throw up. “I don’t deal with rejection well.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” I said through gritted teeth. I was still angry and hurting like never before. Tears spilled over and that pissed me off even more. Ashton reached over and wiped one away. The look that he gave me caused my temper to flare. He wasn’t going to give up. Ever! It was now or never and I jumped out of the car and slammed the door. I stormed away.

“Laney, get back in the car!” Now he was angry, demanding, and a little scary.

“No!” I screamed and started running. I didn’t quite know where I was and my blurred vision wasn’t helping me any.

Ashton cranked his stereo and peeled out as he sped away. I kept running in the opposite direction and hoped something would look familiar soon.

Ashton circled the block, I could hear the music blaring as he got closer. He pulled alongside me as I ran, over the music, he shouted, “Get in!”

“No!” I flipped him off as I picked up my pace.

He sped away again, and I stopped running. I wiped my eyes and searched for a street sign. I didn’t find one but I did find something better. There in her front yard, wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat that made no sense at night, black rain boots, and overalls, was Gladys—cat lady/vampire slayer. When she caught sight of me she beckoned me over, and I hurried across the street. Images of Professor McBaldy being dragged behind his house flashed through my mind, and I realized I’d just been standing in front of his house.

As I reached the picket fence, she opened the gate, and without a word from either of us she draped an arm around my shoulders and walked me into her house full of cats. They scattered. She settled me on the mauve couch and rubbed my arms and then hurried off to her kitchen. She brought out a tray with a teapot and two mugs. I watched her in silence as she set the tray on the oval coffee table then she left the room again, this time down the hall. She returned with an afghan that made me think of Lilly and I began crying.

Gladys sat beside me, and in a motherly way she said, “Oh, you poor thing.”

She guided my head to her shoulder and patted me. I had a good, long cry while a woman I hardly knew comforted me. I cried until I couldn’t cry anymore. When Gladys had decided I didn’t need her to hold me any longer, she sat forward and poured us each a cup of tea. She draped the afghan around my shoulders and handed me the mug and I breathed in the warm steam. Unfortunately, it was peppermint tea and the smell of mint still made my stomach turn. But I kept the warm mug in my hands until Steve the cat jumped into my lap.

Gladys took my mug and placed it back on the tray and settled herself at the other end of the couch. I ran my fingers through Steve’s long fur and he purred happily.

“He is becoming his brother,” she said. “It was only a matter of time before he too became a dark knight.”

I glanced over at her, “You realize that’s Batman, right?”

She pondered this for a moment and then laughed at herself. Once her burst of laughter was over she added, “Well, he very well may be broken.” She sipped from her warm mug.

“Broken, not ruined,” I whispered and hoped with everything I was that he was fixable.

I cuddled Steve like a stuffed animal, and he purred even louder. I don’t know why but I felt safe. I buried my face in Steve’s fur and fell asleep
in Gladys the vampire slayer’s house
. S
nuggling
her cat.

Chapter
20 - The Devil’s Frat Party

I woke to Felix lifting me off of Gladys’ couch and cradling me like an infant. “Thank you for caring for her.” His voice rumbled in my ear.

“No need for thanks,” Gladys replied. “It was my pleasure.”

I closed my eyes tight and curled against Felix’s chest as he stepped out into the morning sunshine. “He’s broken, Felix,” I murmured.

“I know, love. I’m trying to fix him but it’s kind of hard to do when I cannot locate him,” he said as he opened the passenger door to his SUV and set me gently on the front seat.

“You try Avery’s?” I said just before he closed my door. He didn’t respond, not even when he got in the driver’s seat. I brushed away a stray tear and closed my eyes, resting my head against the window as Felix drove me home.

I carried myself up the steps to Carter and Oliver’s apartment, reluctantly, but I did it. I stared longingly at my apartment door for a few minutes and then followed Felix down the path to apartment seven.

Carter was half asleep, sitting up on the couch, when we walked inside. His head popped up, his hair sticking out in every direction, the
blue ink from the
club’s
hand stamp
smeared on his cheek. When his eyes focused on me, he bounced to his feet and yelled at me. “You scared the hell out of me! You ever heard of letting your friends know where you’re going?”

“I’m sorry!” I shouted back. I really hadn’t felt like talking to anyone last night and I still didn’t. I didn’t want to tell anyone that I’d found my boyfriend with someone else. Especially since it was Avery.

“I really don’t care!” Carter shouted, and I looked at him like he’d lost his mind. His voice took on a gentler tone, “I figured you took off with Oliver since your car was still in the parking lot.”

“You had my keys, genius.”

He looked at me for a moment as he processed what I’d said. “I’m not done yelling at you,” he said and I raised an eyebrow and folded my arms and tried not to laugh. “Ashton came looking for you last night after Kiera dropped me off. He came here and said you were with him and that he lost you.”

“He didn’t lose me. I left.”

He stared at me. “He was telling the truth? You were with him?” he asked in a whisper.

“Forget about it,” I said, hoping we could drop it before I had to replay the entire night.

He threw his good arm
in
to
the air
. “Dammit, Laney! No wonder Oliver was so pissed when he came home.”

Felix cut in, “Oliver was here? When?”

“A couple of hours ago, when you were out searching for
her
.” He pointed at me and I felt bad for getting my friend so worked up.