Black Blood (23 page)

Part of him
wanted to drive right through her gates and pound on her door, but
something cautioned him against it. Instead he parked his car by
the beach and walked the sandy way to her house. It took him twenty
minutes to find the path that wove up to the back of the Hart
property. He climbed the gate and walked cautiously along the stony
path, hiding in the bushes edging the pool.

Resting his
butt against a rock, he made sure he could see Gemma’s window and
began his wait. His plan was to wait for movement then throw stones
to get her attention. She couldn’t ignore him if he was at her
house… right?

The day went by
in slow, aching minutes. The house lay still and empty. Harrison
had snuck around to check out the garage and noticed no cars were
there. The house was locked up tight and secure against
intruders.

Harrison
continued to try Gemma’s cell phone until his battery died in
protest. His stomach growled with complaint, but he ignored it. He
wasn’t going anywhere until he’d sorted out this mess with
Gemma.

Something must
have happened across the line.

His mind ran
through various scenarios until his head was pounding. The idea of
Gemma breaking up with him was soul destroying. She was it. He
couldn’t imagine living without her. He had to fix this. There was
no other option.

It was dark by
the time Gemma got home. Harrison watched her light flick on and
heard the sharp slamming of a door. He waited for her silhouette to
appear in the window, but it never did. The light flicked off a
moment later.

Gathering a
handful of stones, he approached her window and threw them at the
glass. They plinked off and fell to the ground unnoticed. He tried
for a good fifteen minutes before being frightened off by shuffling
in the downstairs rooms. Racing back to the bushes, he gazed back
up at Gemma’s window and waited.

Nothing.

He spent
another hour in the garden, tried once more with the stones, but
had no luck. Stumbling back onto the sand, he fell to his knees and
let out a loud cry. Grabbing two handfuls of hair, he yanked until
his eyes watered then pounded his fists in the sand.

Why? Why is
she doing this?

The question
ran around his head as he sat and looked out at the ocean. His body
slowly descended into numbness as the realization hit him. This
might be over.

I killed us. I
should never have gone to see Gabe without telling her.

He wanted to
ring and apologize, but knew it was too late. The sick feeling in
his abdomen said it all.

A cold
ache finally made his muscles move towards his car. He didn’t know
what time it was and he didn’t really care. He drove home in a
slow, zombie-like fashion. His parents were waiting for him as he
pulled in.

“Thank God
you’re okay.” Helen wrapped her arms around his neck. “It’s three
o’clock in the morning. Where have you been?”

“Ponte Vedra
Beach.” His voice sounded dead.

“Did something
happen with Gemma?” Bryan looked worried.

“
She
won’t… I don’t understand. I called, I tried, but she won’t talk to
me. She’s ignoring me. I mean, we had a fight, but… it wasn’t… I
don’t get it.”

“Oh sweetie.”
Helen hugged him tighter. “She’ll come around, maybe she just needs
a little space.”

“Something’s
wrong.” Harrison pulled out of his mother’s embrace. “It feels…
over.” He choked out the last word and leaned against the car.

His parents
both went quiet. He looked up at their concern and shook his head.
Without another word, he shuffled past them and made for his
bedroom. His hope of sleeping away the nightmare was futile. He lay
on his back all night and didn’t catch a wink. The sun unmercifully
rose bringing with it a new day that held no hope or promise.

Something
inside him knew that it didn’t matter how many times he tried,
Gemma wasn’t going to pick up her phone or answer her door. All he
could do now was wait. Wait for her to come back or – his spirit
sank - the impossible prospect of him to move on.

* * * *

“Gemma? What
are you doing here?”

Her head jerked
up at the sound of his voice. The emerald liquid of her eyes
swirled with pleasure. She seemed to be drinking him in. Wiping the
tears from her face, she dismounted the bike and approached
him.

He frowned as
he took in her puffy, black eye. Had she just been traveling?

“It worked.”
Reaching up with quivering fingers, she traced his face before
nearly knocking him over with a forceful embrace.

She clung like
a limpet and he could do nothing but reach his arms around her if
not to find his own balance. After what felt like a century, she
pulled away from him and gazed up at his face with a beaming smile.
Then she kissed him.

It was pure
torture. The fire that danced over his skin was almost too good to
deny, but he couldn’t let this go on. Grabbing her arms, he pushed
her away from him and noticed her wince. He’d find out about that
later.

“Gemma, what’s
going on?”

“What do you
mean?” Her eyes looked so innocent he felt his insides curdle.

Don’t you
dare!

His eyebrows
dipped with frustration and he turned away from her.

“Harrison?” She
caught his arm to stop his departure, her face starting to shimmer
with confusion.

“What? You want
me back now?” The question snapped from his lips as he spun on
her.

“I always want
you. What are you talking about?”

“You broke up
with me, Gemma! Remember? We had a fight, you got back from your
trip and you just walked past me as if I didn’t exist. You’ve
ignored all my phone calls, you… the last month has been hell!”

Gemma’s eyes
were wide. He’d never yelled at her before and realized just how
little pleasure he was getting from it. The anger he’d been
surviving on was giving way to the aching hurt again.

She bit the
inside of her cheek and winced. “But you didn’t.”

Harrison
frowned. “I didn’t what?”

“Exist. You…
you haven’t existed for over a month.”

The blood in
his veins ran cold.

“We had a
fight, I got back from my trip and you weren’t there.”

The honesty in
her eyes hit him with a force so impacting he forgot to
breathe.

“My parents…
they made it so you… they stopped William Granger from meeting Mary
and it meant you were gone.” Her voice fell to a whisper and he saw
his pain reflected on her face. “I would never break up with you.
I’ve just spent the last month trying to get you back.”

He believed
her. The thought was so stunning and surprising, he wanted to
ignore it, but how could he? Looking at her tear-streaked face he
drank in the truth of her words and felt the hole in his chest
instantly fill. Stepping towards her, he placed his hand on the
back of her neck and pulled her in. He wrapped his arms around her
and smelt her hair. His ice-cold form slowly defrosted as the fire
simmered up his body.

“I thought you
didn’t love me anymore,” he whispered, his voice catching.

“That’s not
possible.”

He squeezed her
body against his.

“I want to know
everything.”

“Can we stay
like this as I tell you?”

He chuckled.
Giving her a final squeeze, he drew away from her then wrapped his
arm around her shoulders.

“Come on. Let’s
go back to the beginning.”

They sat on the
sand of “their” beach for over two hours. Harrison’s gaze continued
to flicker to the spot where Gemma had walked straight past him
upon her return. He could remember so clearly watching her drive
away on her bike. The memory still hurt, but the fire licking his
body was overrunning it. Not to mention the sight of two jade eyes
and a pair of rosy lips that were explaining her journey in avid
detail.

His
overwhelming need to stay physically connected to her was being
mirrored by her every move. As soon as he shifted, she would
re-adjust her body so they could stay as in touch as possible. He
stroked her hair while she cried about her argument with her
parents, he held her hand as she spoke about Gabe and he wrapped
her in a hug as she talked about her journey back to Canon City and
what she thought of Coyote.

“And you got
shot?”

Gemma
nodded.

“On the
shoulder.”

Gemma’s head
tipped to the side. “How’d you know that?”

“I saw you
wince before. Let me see it.”

“It’s probably
healed.”

He could sense
Gemma trying to make light of the wound as she pulled her shirt to
the side and let it drop from her shoulder. He leaned close to
examine it, peeling back the butterfly stitches once he’d
ascertained that the skin had sealed.

He ran his
fingertip over the remaining scar, followed by his lips. He heard a
satisfied sigh slip from Gemma’s mouth. His lips formed a slow
smile. Without another word, he let them creep over her shoulder
and up her neck, finally finding her mouth. Pulling her close, he
ran his hands up her back and felt his skin ignite. Six weeks
apart… they had a lot of fire chasing to catch up on.

Chapter Thirty-Two

St Augustine, Florida
– 2011 AD

They floated
back to the garage three hours after leaving. Bryan was not
impressed, but quickly forgave them when he noticed that he wasn’t
going to have to deal with a surly teenager anymore.

Wrapping Gemma
in a firm embrace he whispered, “Welcome back,” in her ear.
Plonking her on the ground, he quickly ordered her to help Rosie
finish waxing the Corvette that was being picked up that
afternoon.

Rosie was
ecstatic to see Gemma back, blathering on about how painful the
last few weeks had been with Mr. Grumpus. Gemma smiled as she
listened, trying to ignore the unwarranted guilt. He hadn’t been
the only one to suffer, but she still felt bad that her parents had
been the cause of so much turmoil. She shivered to think what they
might say when they found out Harrison existed once more. It
wouldn’t take them long to figure out what she had done and she was
positive the reaction was going to be lethal. After sharing her
fears with Harrison, they had decided that keeping him a secret was
the best idea for now. The thought of having to lie through her
teeth around her parents wasn’t appealing, but she didn’t think she
could handle the tsunami that would no doubt wipe her and Harrison
out when she told them.

The rest of the
afternoon was spent cleaning cars. Harrison kept popping over to
see how things were going and possibly checking that she was still
there. His grin was goofy and euphoric. Gemma knew exactly how he
felt.

Skipping into
the garage, she leaned against the car and listened to the end of
Harrison and Bryan’s conversation.

“One sec,
Bryan. Hey.” He turned to Gemma, placing his hand on her hip. “Why
don’t you go call Courtney while you’re waiting? It’ll make you
feel better.”

“Good
idea.”

Gemma stepped
out into the sunshine and found Courtney’s number. She nibbled her
cheek as she waited, hoping their conversation at the supermarket
had never happened. Technically it shouldn’t have, but…

“Hello.”
Courtney’s voice was bright and chipper.

Maybe
Harrison’s right.

“Hey Court.
It’s Gemma. How was Maine?”

“Gemma? Hey!”
Her voice rose with surprise. “It was awesome! It would have been
better if I could have taken Darren, but we’re making up for it
right now.” Her voice was delicious.

Gemma was sure
her face was blinding as she smiled with relief.

“I’ll let you
get back to it then.”

“Thanks.”
Courtney’s giggle suddenly jerked to a stop. “Hey so… how about
you?”

Gemma wondered
at the nervy edge to her friend’s voice. “What do you mean?”

“I heard about
Harrison. I should have called you, but I didn’t know what to say.
I’m sorry. I’m a bad friend.”

Gemma knew what
she meant. If she had been an ice queen without Harrison she would
have been cold granite after a break up. Courtney probably kept
well clear of her; a safe move by anyone’s calculations. As much as
the knowledge stung, Gemma couldn’t hold it against her. She had
brought this on herself through years of porcupine behavior.

“No, it’s okay.
I would have done the same thing.” She tried to put a smile into
her voice. “It’s all good though, because… well, we’re back
together.”

Courtney let
out a piercing squeal. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Gemma
laughed and held the phone away from her ear as another shriek came
down the line.

“That’s
awesome! Darren, they’re back together.”

“Oh thank God!”
Darren’s response was muffled, but she could hear the
exasperation.

“Want to double
date tonight or tomorrow or maybe on the weekend!”

Gemma giggled.
“Sure. I’ll try for Friday.”

“Sounds
perfect.”

“It’s not a
guarantee. You know my parents and… well they don’t know about
Harrison being in my life again.”

“Got it.”

Gemma knew she
had an instant ally. When it came to getting around parents,
Courtney was a pro.

“We’ll make it
work. I can even come pick you up, make it look more legit.”

“Sounds
good.”

“This is so
cool!!”

Gemma could
picture Courtney jumping in circles as the idea of an awkward
return to school was squashed. She was about to say goodbye when
her insides crumbled.

“What did you
say?”

“Just that I’m
glad the Amy thing is over. It never should have happened in the
first place.”

“What are you
talking about?”

“Oh no.”
Courtney gasped. “Harrison didn’t tell you? I thought he would
have, you guys tell each other everything and oh crap… I’m so
sorry.”