Venom (The Reawakening Series Book 1) (15 page)

“
He was protecting me,” I say “And protecting you”. I tell Nicholas and Lexi everything about Cassie’s bullying and the dating services she runs at the school. I tell them about her threats and about Ian paying her off to leave me alone. He is in shock when I tell him about the part where he is involved, and from that moment on, he avoids even looking at Lexi.

Nicholas’ fists are clenched and he takes his anger out on Harvey, who is lucky not to be here. “I told him this was a terrible idea! And you!” he says, looking at me. “Why didn’t you tell us any of this from the beginning?”

“
I—I didn’t want to leave school, and then,” I look away. “I thought if you knew, we would have to leave town. I didn’t want to be away from Ian.”

“
Well, look where that got him!”

Tears flood my eyes.

“
NICHOLAS! That is enough!” says Lexi.

Nicholas shakes his head. “Harvey is too easy on you. He lets you do whatever you want and it shouldn’t be like this. You weren’t ready! You were naive hundreds of years ago and you are just as naïve now!”

I can’t stand to look at Nicholas. The last thing I need is Nicholas blaming me for what happened. I should’ve seen there was something off about Cassie from the beginning. I should’ve stayed away from her.

Nicholas essentially saying this happened because I’m naïve, hurts, and I want to hurt him as much as he is hurting me.

“
When exactly should I have told you about what was happening?” I ask him. “In between you moping around for someone you willingly let go or you glamouring other women into thinking they were her?” I nod toward Lexi.

Nicholas looks shocked at first then just pissed off. “You don’t know what you are talking about!”

“
Well, neither do you. I love Ian! Did you ever really love Lexi? Because if you did, I don’t understand how you would let her be with someone else.”

“
You are an ungrateful spoiled brat! Part of the reason I let her go was to keep you safe!”

I laugh. “She would have stayed with you even with us having to run, okay?”

Nicholas shakes his head.

“
That is enough!” says Lexi. “Whatever is happening to the boy should be on the news. Just turn the TV on and shut up… both of you!” For a moment, I forgot that Lexi was right here and part of me feels bad for putting her in the middle of it all.

Sure enough, there is breaking news about a local student being stabbed. They are trying to find out what happened, but there are no leads and Ian is in surgery.

Nicholas goes to his room and leaves me under Lexi’s care under orders that I’m not to leave her sight. Hours later, Ian is on the news again. They report that he told his parents he was mugged by two people and they were wearing all black so he couldn’t describe anyone. That was the last thing he said before he went back for emergency surgery.

I’m relieved that he is alive, but the thought of emergency surgery scares me. Not to mention that I hate the thought of him alone in the hospital.

“
Can I go see him?” I beg Lexi.

She looks as if she is going to say yes, but then Nicholas comes out of the room.

“
No, you certainly cannot see him. Give me your phone.”

I hand Nicholas my phone and he throws it against the wall, breaking it and putting a hole in the wall.

“
We are moving!” he says.

“
What? I’m sorry, okay?”

“
This is not the only reason. This whole thing is a bloody mess. We are moving. We leave now!”

Lexi stands up. “Come on, Nick. Let’s just wait to make sure the boy gets out of surgery okay.”

“
We leave NOW,” Nicholas says again.

I stand up and look Nicholas in his eyes. “I wish you had never found me!”

“
Don’t say things you don’t mean, Sarah. If it weren’t for me finding and saving you, you wouldn’t have even met the boy. Besides, you are only fourteen. You will just meet someone else one day. If we ever allow you to date, that is.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Who are you to tell me who I love or don’t love?”

Lexi moves toward me. “We all need to calm down. Sarah, maybe Nick is right. Just go away for a little while until things calm down.”

“
But—”

“
Sarah, please don’t complicate things more than they already are okay? I’m surprised no one has found us yet,” says Nicholas.

The doorbell ringing startles all of us.

Lexi opens the door to find a police officer standing there.

“
Yes?” she asks.

“
Is this where Noelle Taylor lives?” asks the cop.

Lexi nods. “What is this about?” she asks.

“
I’m officer Dawson. I’m here on behalf of the Sullivan family.”

I rush to the door, already crying. “This is about Ian, isn’t it? Is he—” I can’t even finish the sentence.

“
Ian is out of the surgery and recovering,” he says with a smile. “I’m a friend of the family. Ian is on a lot of pain medication but even with that, all he does is ask for you. His parents asked me to come and see if I could take you to see him.”

I nod.

Nicholas comes from behind us. “Officer Watson, isn’t it?”

“
Dawson,” says the cop.

“
Why don’t you come in?”

Officer Dawson takes a step inside and Nicholas starts to glamour him.

“
What the hell are you doing?” I ask.

Nicholas ignores me. “Officer Dawson, please go back to the family and say that there was no one at this address when you arrived.”

Officer Dawson nods.

“
Nicholas,” says Lexi. “Maybe we should let Sarah see the boy. Let her say goodbye and then we will leave.”

“
No way.”

“
I will go with her,” says Lexi.

Nicholas sighs. “Damn it. No, I will go.”

I feel like I can breathe again.

Nicholas looks at the cop and reverses what he had done.

As soon as the cop snaps out of it, we agree that Nicholas will take me to the hospital, following Officer Dawson.

Nicholas takes a few minutes to get ready. He has to feed first. Hospitals tend to make him hungry.

Lexi ends up going with us… to keep things calm, I’m sure.

When we get to the hospital, Officer Dawson introduces Lexi and Nicholas to Ian’s mom, dad, and sister. His mom rushes to hug me and I hug her back, both of us crying.

“
He has been asking for you,” she says. “You can go in.”

He is still in ICU and a nurse is called to escort me. Nicholas starts to follow me, but he is stopped. Ian is just allowed one visitor at a time. He is about to use glamour when Lexi puts a hand over his shoulder and shakes her head.

She leans closer to Nicholas but I can still hear her. “Let her do this. She has no way out.”

Nicholas seems to be in a trance-like-state as she touches and talks to him and he ends up agreeing, mostly because he has a difficult time saying no to her.

***

I walk in the room where Ian lies on the bed, sleeping. I hate seeing him hurt, especially being that I was the reason. I walk toward him and brush my fingers against his cheek. He smiles and opens his eyes.

“
You are here,” he says.

I start to sob.

“
And you are worried about me.”

“
Of course I’m worried about you! You shouldn’t have done that!”

He smiles again. “I see you—protecting everyone around you… your brothers… even Chloe. It was time someone protected you for a change.”

“
You could have died.”

“
It was a risk worth taking.”

I look away from him. “I told my brother everything. He’s trying to take me away from here.”

Ian’s eyes get watery.

“
What is it? Are you in pain?” I ask.

He shakes his head.

“
As much as I hate to say this, I think you should listen to your brother.”

I give him a confused look.

“
You need to get away from Cassie and Cody, especially now. I can’t protect you like this and Cassie will definitely not leave you alone now that all of this happened.”

“
We could tell the cops the truth. About everything.”

He gives me a saddened look. “There are more people involved in this than we know. That will never work.”

“
But Ian—”

“
Listen to me, Sarah.” It gives me the chills that for the first time, he calls me by my first name. “I don’t want to be away from you, but I want you safe. I will drive to see you if I have to. People in this town are insane. You need to stay away.”

“
Just because I will be safe, it doesn’t mean that you will.”

“
I can take care of myself.”

I look down at his injury.

“
I will steer away from them. I will be okay.”

“
Ian, if my brother wants to hide me, you will not be able to find me.” I sigh and give away another piece of truth. “There are people who have been looking for us for years. If we are hiding, you won’t find us.”

He gives me a puzzled look. “So the witness protection rumor, is that true?”

I shake my head. “No, but it’s complicated.”

He sighs. “We will keep in touch, right? Will you find a way?” he asks.

I shake my head. “He already took my phone.”

Ian reaches toward the tray by his bed and hands me his phone.

“
Here,” he says. “I pay the bill anyway. I will just get a pre-paid phone or something and tell my parents I changed the number.”

“
Ian, I can’t—”

“
We’ll make it work.”

“
Things are not that simple in my world.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

NICHOLAS

Lexi and I sit in the waiting room waiting for Sarah to finish talking to the boy. We sit across from one another. I stare at her and she stares at anything but me. When she does look at me, it’s to say the words that I don’t want to hear.

“
I should leave.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
You will be meeting Harvey in a few hours. There is no reason for me to stay. Honestly, there never was.”

“
Don’t lie to yourself, Love.”

She gives me a puzzled look.

I stand up and walk toward her. I sit next to her so no one can hear our conversation. When I get close enough to be able to whisper what I want to say in her ear, I notice the vein in her neck twitch… just enough to make me crave her even more.

“
I can feel you,” I whisper. “Maybe you can’t feel me because you’ve only been like you are for decades, but I’ve centuries of training… I can feel you through the blood imprint.”

“
There is nothing to feel, Nick.”

“
I know you’re confused and angry,” I say, watching her every move to see how she reacts. “I could feel how you were looking at me back at the house while I was talking to Sarah.”

“
Nick, I’m not your play thing that you can do whatever you want with, throw away, and then go after again. And quit being so damn conceited.”

She gets up and walks down the hall.

I look back toward the area where Sarah is and decide to follow Lexi instead of sitting around and waiting.

I follow her as she takes the stairs down and then until she is in the parking garage. That is when she turns around.

“
I’m leaving, Nick. There is not a damn thing you can do about it.”

“
You miss me. Admit it.”

She is starting to get angry. I love pushing her buttons. Anger usually leads her to drop down her walls and say what she is really feeling.

“
You are wrong. What I miss is the connection… having blood ties with someone.”

I cock my head to the side.

“
He never drank from you, once I released you as my minion?”

She shakes her head.

“
Huh.”

“
He wanted a normal relationship, Nick. One based on love and not on manipulation because of blood imprints.”

I focus on her eyes. “Are you claiming that is what we had for over thirty years?”

“
Ugh. No, Nick. I’m not and you know I’m not.” She pauses. “I’m leaving, Nick.”