The Flash of a Firefly (13 page)

One disaster at a time,
I told myself. My chest tightened, and my stomach churned. I had to bite the bullet. “Listen, things here aren’t exactly normal.” She tore her eyes from the house and cocked her head. Her breath formed little clouds in front of her face. “I’m going to introduce you to some people inside,” I continued. “On the off chance that you actually believe me, don’t be scared.”

“You have mob connections, don’t you?” She smiled. “I knew it.”

This was going to be harder than I thought. I didn’t know how I was going to tell this sweet, innocent girl that evil truly did exist in this world. I didn’t want to be the one to open her eyes.

“No, we aren’t in the mob.” I took a deep breath. “We’re vampires. Well, there are a couple of werewolves too, but the majority of them are missing at the moment, so it’s mostly vampires right now, and—” She formed a cross with her index fingers and started to laugh. “I’m serious,” I said.

“Right. You’re a vampire.” She kept laughing. “Can we go in now? It’s pretty cold.”

“Lyn, please listen,” I begged.

She put her hands down and looked up grudgingly. “Okay, okay. You’re a vampire, and I’m a leprechaun. A freezing and exhausted leprechaun. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to go inside and crash.” She trudged toward the house without waiting for an answer.

I hurried across the lawn after her so I would be the one to open the door. If she was going to be shocked into believing me, then at least I would be the one to get hit with any possible flying objects that Flo had sent toward Stu. And by the vibes I was getting from inside, it was extremely likely that I would.

“What’s wrong?” Lyn asked when I hesitated.

“Nothing.” I yanked the wreath down and swung the door open just in time to see Flo lunge across the room toward Stu with her fangs bared. “Stop,” I yelled as Stu dodged her.

Flo landed and spun on her heel. “What’s your little human doing here?”

I threw the wreath at her. “She’s going to stay here until Francesca leaves town. Don’t touch her. In fact, it’s probably better if you don’t even talk to her.”

“You told her?” Flo’s eyes flashed. “What were you thinking?”

“Kaden,” Sullivan whispered in my ear, “I think she was frightened off.”

Lyn was halfway down the driveway, running as fast as she could toward the road. The scent of fear hung heavy in the air, almost gagging me. Everyone reacted differently when they found out the truth, but deep down I had hoped she would be one of the accepting ones. The sight of her running pulled on a few strings I didn’t know were attached anymore.

I hurried after her, desperate to make her understand. But I appeared in front of her before I realized what I was doing, scaring her even more. She jumped back and nearly fell to the ground. Her eyes were wide and her breathing unsteady.

“I’m sorry. I tried to tell you,” I blurted. “I swear that no one will hurt you, so come inside.” There was an unfamiliar pang in my chest as I struggled to collect my thoughts into something coherent. “I’ll answer any questions you have, so just please, please come inside.”

Tears burst from her eyes. “I won’t say anything to anyone. I swear. Please, don’t kill me. I can— I can just go home to Vermont, and you won’t have to worry that I’ll tell your secret.”

“I’m not going to kill you. If I wanted you dead, then you already would be by now.” I cringed. That wasn’t the best thing to say. “I brought you here to save you, and that’s why I can’t let you go anywhere. You’re safer here than anywhere else right now.”

She closed her eyes and pinched herself through her jacket. “This isn’t real. Wake up, wake up, wake up.”

“Please. I promise that you’ll be safe.” I held my hand out to her, but she didn’t move. “It’ll be all right. Trust me.”

I didn’t move a muscle. I just waited with my arm stretched out in front of me like an idiot. I was waiting for her to trust me, to take my hand and know she would be safe. I knew it was too much to ask for, but I needed it. Every second she hesitated was gut-wrenching.

As the minutes ticked by, her tears slowed to a stop. Her breathing steadied somewhat, and her muscles relaxed a little. And then, ever so slowly, she lifted her shaking hand and reached toward me. It hovered above mine while uncertainty flooded her eyes.

Carefully, so I wouldn’t scare her, I raised mine to close the extra space between us. She flinched when my skin made contact, and I froze. When she didn’t pull away, I wrapped my fingers around hers as delicately as I could. I made sure to hold on loosely so she didn’t feel threatened. She could pull away at any moment if she wanted to.

“Your hands are cold,” she whispered.

Butterflies were dancing around in my stomach, and I smiled. “I know.”

I was leading her back to the house when I felt her stop. Afraid she had changed her mind, I glanced over my shoulder. Her face was paler than a sheet, and she started to sway. Her head bobbed backward, and her knees buckled from underneath her.

I caught her before she could hit the ground. I tapped her face lightly, but she was out cold. It had been too much for her. It probably would have been too much for anyone.

Back inside, Flo and Stu were standing at opposite sides of the room, Reece and Alex were sitting uncomfortably on the couch, and Sullivan was flicking through television channels.

I carried Lyn inside and dared one of them to say something. They could think what they wanted, but I didn’t want to hear it. I knew it was stupid. It didn’t have to be rubbed in my face. They just had to keep their mouths shut and, right or wrong, accept that it was what it was.

“Is she all right?” Alex asked, sitting up.

I nodded. “She fainted.”

It was awkward standing there. Everyone was purposely not looking at us, and judgment hung thick in the air. I carried her up to my bedroom to delay the conversation that was bubbling under the surface.

I pulled the thick comforter back with one hand and set her down on the cotton sheets. She looked peaceful there, but it would only last until she woke up again. I brushed the hair out of her face and pulled the blankets up around her shoulders. I had created a bigger mess. I sat down on the edge of the bed and put my head in my hands. I stayed there, letting the situation sink in. Then, with a deep breath, I stood up and went to face everyone.

Before I could even make it to the bottom of the stairs, Flo started in. I couldn’t say that I hadn’t expected it. I would have been surprised if she hadn’t. She was always the first to make her opinion known.

“Kaden, what in the hell are you thinking?”

I continued by her and grabbed the duffel bag off the lawn where I had left it. “I know it’s not ideal,” I snapped, walking back across the lawn.

She stood on the porch with her arms crossed and her lips pursed. “That would be the understatement of a lifetime.”

“I had no other choice. If I didn’t do this, then she would have been killed.” A mental picture flashed in front of my eyes of her lying in the woods somewhere without a drop of blood left in her body. I saw her lying in the mud like Jessica with a metal rod stuck through her chest. I had to shut my eyes against it.

“So?” Flo tapped her foot against the wooden planks.

“So …” I bit back a million and one nasty comments. “You couldn’t possibly understand, but I have to protect her. I won’t stand by and let her get murdered. I’m not asking you to agree with me; I’m simply asking you to accept it. Live with it for now. She’ll go back home when this is over and it’s safe again.”

“What you’re asking is impossible,” she hissed.

“Flo,” Sullivan called from the doorway. “I’d like to speak with him, please.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she stormed inside without another word. I let the bag fall from my shoulder and clutched the strap. I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. He just looked at me with understanding and offered me a half smile. “It’s almost dawn,” he pointed out, leaning against the railing.

I looked to the brightening sky and nodded. There wasn’t much time left before we would have to lock ourselves inside for another day.

Sullivan looked at me from under his eyelashes. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I know.”

“This wasn’t a good idea,” I mumbled. I climbed the stairs slowly and stopped just before the door. “I should have figured something else out. There just wasn’t time.”

He continued to lean on the railing, looking out across the lawn. “Do you love her that much then?”

“I don’t lo—,” I started.

He held up a hand to stop me. “I hope you have better luck than I did.”

I sighed. Just because I didn’t want her dead didn’t mean that I loved her. I didn’t want a lot of people to die. I wished that Jessica was still alive, but I didn’t harbor any feelings for her. I was a vampire. I didn’t love anyone. Those feelings were sucked away from me the same night my life was.

 
Chapter 12

I rolled onto my back and kicked the sheets to the end of the bed. I opened my eyes slowly. The room seemed different. Something was out of place. I looked around, but nothing seemed to be missing. I sat up carefully and felt the comforter pull. Lyn’s left arm was lying on top of the covers. Her eyes were shut, and her breathing was shallow. All of the events from last night came flooding back. I hung my head and groaned.

“Hey,” I whispered. She didn’t move a muscle. She had to be mentally exhausted from everything that had happened. Fainting wasn’t the worst reaction she could have had.

I swung my feet off the side of the bed without waking her up. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do next, so I used the next few minutes to wake up completely. I twisted my ring around my finger and shook my head.

I couldn’t stop thinking what a moron I was. Had I expected her to automatically accept everything as normal? Bringing her into this house to avoid being killed was like bringing a mouse in front of a house cat to avoid a lion. The house cat was much safer but ultimately just as dangerous.

Her uncle would know what had happened if she went missing. I didn’t know how I had forgotten about Tom. I wasn’t sure that he would keep our secret if his precious niece was gone. If he went public with the information, even if people thought he was insane, I would have one more issue to deal with. The Enforcement Team would arrive before I could snap my fingers.

But Lyn was still alive. I would just have to keep her that way. She might have been nothing more than a troublesome human, but it was my fault that she was. If I hadn’t been so proud at Tom’s that night, or if I had used my head and stayed away from her after that, things might have been different. It was too late to think “if only.” The situation was what it was, and I had to deal with it.

Lyn sat up in the bed, rubbing her eyes. Her hair was tousled all over, but it was becoming. She took a deep breath and wrinkled her forehead. “Oh, God. How much did I drink last night? I don’t remember anything, and I had this crazy dream.”

“We weren’t drinking last night,” I told her, hoping she would handle the news better the second time around. “And it wasn’t a dream.”

She pushed the covers off and laughed. “Where are we?”

“Lyn …” I hesitated. “I brought you to my house last night. You passed out after I told you I was a vampire.”

“Oh.” Her face paled, but she kept quiet. She started to fan herself and took deep breaths. She put her head between her knees and began to shake. She stayed that way for countless minutes, setting me on edge.

But I waited. I didn’t want to push. Maybe she just needed time to process the information. If I just gave her a little while, then she might collect herself enough to have a conversation.

Her breathing steadied itself, and her body stopped shaking, but she didn’t move. I began to worry if she was really all right. I thought she had gone catatonic until she lifted her head. There was still a light in her eyes that said someone was home. Scared, but home. She slowly slid off the side of the bed and inched away from me.

It hurt, but it was understandable. If I had come face-to-face with a vampire when I was still human, then I would have been petrified. I wasn’t like them though. I wasn’t going to do anything to hurt her. If she could just see that.

“You’re a vampire,” she repeated what I had said. “So you eat people?”

I shook my head. “Blood keeps you alive, and it does the same for me, but I haven’t bitten anyone in over a century.” I stood up and walked slowly toward my mini-fridge. I opened the door so she could see the blood piled inside. “The stuff from the blood bank works just as well.”

Her shoulders relaxed just a little. “You won’t—” She trailed off.

“Don’t worry.” I regretted sounding snappish. I hadn’t meant it. “Nothing is going to happen to you. Everyone here is old enough to control themselves.”

There was a long silence while she stared at me. Her eyes traveled across my face, resting longer on my mouth than anywhere else, before traveling down my chest, my arms, my legs, and going back up once she reached my feet. When she finished scrutinizing me, her eyes fell to the floor.