Family Secrets (Young Adult Edition) (Davenport Manor (Young Adult Edition)) (8 page)

“Emma is a lot more complicated than
you think. She’s beautiful, charming, and an amazing person.
But…”

“But, what?” Todd interrupted, setting
his fork down with force. “I know you two have a history, that’s no
secret, Zach. I think you’re jealous that she’s interested in me.
And I really don’t care.”

Zachariah’s voice was now threatening,
“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

Todd narrowed his eyes and stared at
him, thinking of a response. He was sure that the reason was
because it tore Zachariah up that Emma was interested in someone
else. But, his curiosity piqued and he was wondering where he was
going with all this. “Okay then, tell me what I’m getting myself
into.”

Zachariah searched for the right words
to say without spilling Emma’s secrets. “Look, Emma has had her eye
on you for a very long time, since your first film…”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Todd
replied, clearly confused.

Frustrated, Zachariah replied, “No,
it’s just…ugh! Just don’t get involved with her! Take it from me,
you do not want to go down that path.” His tone was urgent,
practically desperate and pleading. His face didn’t exude anger, it
looked more worried.

Todd pushed his chair back and stood
up, with a snarky tone he replied, “I think I’ll take my chances.”
He ambled out of the dining room and headed to makeup.

Zachariah was torn; he didn’t know
what else he could do to deter Todd from getting involved with Emma
without seeming like a jealous freak. When Todd first arrived at
the Manor, he was admittedly resentful of him. Emma openly spoke of
her attraction to him, but he was used to her interest in other men
after all these years. He should have known she would charm him and
he would, in turn, be attracted to her as well. But, he was also
insanely jealous, as the connection between Todd and Emma seemed to
be more than just at a sexual level. Emma being with others didn’t
bother him because the other men she was with were always vampires.
She rarely had any emotional connection with them that went beyond
friendship. Aidan was the only exception to that rule as he was her
maker and she was as devoted to him as Zachariah was to
her.

On the other hand,
Zachariah felt bad for Todd because he clearly had no idea of the
danger that lied ahead. He himself had been down this path well
over a century ago and he had not seen Emma behave this way with a
human ever since
he
was a human. How was he supposed to warn Todd that if Emma
ended up falling for him, he may end up immortal? You can’t just
slip that into a casual conversation.

Now he had caused an awkward tension
between him and Todd—who now thought that he was the jealous ex who
just couldn’t get over her. He didn’t like seeming pathetic, he was
much too proud. After spending some time with clashing thoughts
running through his head, Zachariah decided that this really wasn’t
his battle. He tried the best he could, but he would just have to
sit back and let things unfold how they may.

During their lunch break from filming
in the afternoon, Zachariah walked over to Todd who was eating his
lunch.

“
What now?” Todd asked
while chewing, not looking at Zachariah.

“
I just want to apologize,
man. I was out of line. I don’t want awkwardness here, you know?
I’m stepping back, she’s all yours.”

Todd swallowed his food and slowly
turned to look at him. “I appreciate that,” he started. He wasn’t a
confrontational person and didn’t want drama in his life. He
continued, “I’ll be good to her, you know. She’s unlike anyone I
have ever met.”

He nodded, “I know, she’s
one-of-a-kind. Just be careful. That’s all I’m saying.”

“
What? Is she an axe
murderer or something?” he chortled.

Zachariah smiled, “No, she definitely
does not yield an axe.” He patted Todd on the back once and walked
away.

The next few days of filming went
smoothly and the cast and crew always congregated in the grand
parlor in the evenings. It actually gave Todd a chance to get to
know some of the other people on the crew since he was completely
focused on Emma when she was there. The tension between Zachariah
and Todd had mostly dissipated, but some of it still lingered. At
the very least, they were able to hold civil conversations with
each other.

Todd’s cell phone dinged in his pocket
indicating a text message. When he saw it was from Emma his heart
did a skip and Zachariah glanced at him. It read:

“Hey Todd, are you busy
right now?”

He smiled and immediately
texted back,
“No, I’m all
yours.”

“Good, let’s head upstairs and have a
little chat.” He heard a cheerful voice coming from behind him. He
turned around and there stood Emma in the archway.

“You’re back!” He jumped up off the
couch and hugged her tight. She smelled of her Burberry as
usual…with a faint hint of airplane. “Why didn’t you tell me you
were coming back today?”

“I wanted to surprise you!” She
responded, grinning from ear to ear. My gosh, how he missed her
face.

Zachariah strolled up to her and gave
her a tight hug. “Good to have you back, love. Everything go
okay?”

“All is good.”

“And how’s Aidan? Been a long time
since I’ve seen him,” Zachariah raised an eyebrow. After all, Aidan
could be considered his grandfather of sorts. The mention of
Aidan’s name gave Todd a quick knot in his stomach.

“Aidan is doing well! He sends his
regards to you.”

Daniel, Vivienne, and Declan all
gathered around as well, welcoming her back after being gone for
nearly a week. To Todd, the house felt alive again. While she was
talking with everyone, Zachariah carried her bags upstairs and
waited for her in the bedroom.

“Once you get settled, would you mind
stopping by my room to talk? I’ve been thinking about you while you
were gone,” Todd said to her once everyone was done greeting
her.

“Of course, I’m just going to put my
stuff away, I’ll knock on your door in about ten minutes,
okay?”

She flitted upstairs towards her
bedroom where Zachariah was waiting for her. She looked down the
hallway and shut the door behind her, and headed over to her
suitcases. They opened them up and at vampire speed, put away her
belongings in less than twenty seconds.

“So, tell me really how it went.”
Zachariah asked her with a low voice.

“It went well. Aidan brought up the
idea of the vampires coming out into the open; none of us were
opposed to it. Culture isn’t as blind and conservative as it once
was; our kind are even glorified with all the books, movies, and
television shows about us. We’re just discussing about how we can
responsibly come out without striking fear into people. We also
don’t want people who have become fanatics regarding our kind to
want to get turned just because it seems trendy, you
know?”

“I know, I would just hope that rogue
vampires wouldn’t use it to be obnoxious out in the open, giving us
a bad name. However, I don’t think North American vampires would be
quick to piss off our Queen; she’s fair, but vicious.”

“She only learned from the best. If
they don’t follow her orders they will suffer and they know
it.”

Vampires were never quick to disobey
their King or Queen. There were six Vampire Kings and Queens on
Earth, ruling over each continent except Antarctica. Disobeying
them would prove to be miserable to the one who was brave enough to
do so. Aidan was the only ancient king, the rest were all
considered young by vampire standards. However, they were fair and
respected amongst their kind.

Emma looked at the clock and said,
“Time for me to go and knock on Todd’s door.” She had a devilish
grin and winked at Zachariah.

He looked down at the floor,
attempting to disregard her statement.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing,” he replied
impassively.

She stood staring at him, waiting for
a real answer.

He looked up at her and shrugged.
“Nothing. Whatever I say doesn’t matter anyway,
so….nothing.”

She rolled her eyes, gave him a quick
kiss, and reassured him, “Everything will be fine.
Relax.”

Chapter 6

She went across the hall
and knocked on Todd’s bedroom door. As he opened it, she heard his
heart rate speed up, making her smile to herself. He was wearing
jeans and a light blue, long-sleeve t-shirt, which complimented his
dark, shaggy hair and light eyes. He beamed at her and showed her
in. He closed the door behind him and brought her to the loveseat
near the lit fireplace, where he had two drinks waiting on a small
coffee table. He had music playing on low volume, right now Mumford
and Sons’
I Will Wait
was playing; she loved that song.

“
Please sit down, love,”
he said as he motioned his hand toward the couch.

“
Why thank you. What’s all
this?” She asked, pointing to the drinks, a small vase of flowers
in the center, and a crackling fire in the fireplace.

“
I thought we could have
some wine while we talk, you seem to be fond of red.”

She suppressed a laugh. Of course he
thought she liked red wine. At the party she had been downing
glasses that were not filled with red wine, but with blood. He had
wondered how she was still sober. But now, how was she going to
pull this off without hurting his pride or giving herself
away?

He handed her a glass and picked up
his own, “Cheers love! To…a new friendship…and possibly
more.”

“
Cheers,” she smiled and
clinked glasses with him. She put the glass up to her mouth and
tipped back ever so slightly, but stopping the wine from going into
her mouth with her tongue pressed to her lips.

Oh my gosh, that is nasty!
Don’t make a face, don’t make a face,
she
thought to herself. “So, what did you want to talk about,
Todd?”

He set his glass down and sat up
straight to face her. “Well, I missed you while you were gone. I
was thinking about you a lot. Actually, I couldn’t get you out of
my head; it felt very empty without you here.”

“
I’ve missed you, too,”
she responded. “I was thinking about you as well.”

He was so glad to hear that she had
thought of him while she was away. “Okay, I’m going to get right to
it, I’m really interested in you. I find you absolutely fascinating
and feel like I have a connection with you. I think you’re
gorgeous, sexy, and absolutely breath-taking.”

“Aw, thank you! That is very sweet of
you to say,” she began. “I have always thought that you were so
handsome ever since I saw your first film. And I agree, there is
some sort of connection between us—it’s very easy to talk to you. I
have felt comfortable with you since day one.”

“Likewise…so…would you like to go out
on a date sometime?” He nervously asked.

“I would, I really would. But, I have
to be up front and honest with you. I’m very complicated and I
don’t think there could ever be a future with us. I just don’t want
to lead you on.” She was slowly and carefully saying her words
without sounding like a complete jerk.

“Why no future? How complicated can
you be?” He took her icy hands. She had the fast reflexes to pull
away before he touched her, but she knew that would seem odd. Time
to whip out the old excuse again. “Oh my gosh, your hands are
freezing!” He exclaimed.

She smiled, “I know, I’m always cold
head-to-toe. I have a condition that causes poor circulation
throughout my body.”

“Like a heart condition?” He asked,
concerned.

“Yes,” she lied. She wanted to be able
to actually touch him for once, allow him to hold her hand, maybe
even kiss her. The entire time he had been here she never allowed
skin-on-skin contact to happen, even when they danced at the party.
The only time she allowed him to touch her skin was when he was
drunk later that night.

“Is it a serious
condition?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Is it…fatal?” He cautiously
asked.

“No, I won’t die from
it.”
Because I’m already
dead
, she thought.

Todd gave a quick sigh of relief and
continued gazing at her. He continued to hold her chilly hands in
his, subconsciously trying to warm them. “You still haven’t
answered me. Why no future?”

She looked at him sheepishly and
replied, “I have issues.”

“Like baggage? Are you married? Kids?
Secretly a man?” He joked.

She laughed heartily, “No! No husband,
no kids, nor am I a man.”

“So, what is it?”

She looked him in the eyes
and had an inner struggle with herself. She wanted to tell him the
truth. She
did
have a heart condition—the fact that her heart stopped
beating over two-hundred years ago. That she lived off the blood of
humans. That she could move at lightning speed and that it
was
her he saw lifting
an entire tree. That she was
the
Emma Davenport that he admired in the portrait,
the founding daughter. She was not Daniel’s sister, but in fact his
sixth-great aunt. That while she may look twenty-five years old,
she was actually two-hundred and twenty-two years old. That she
was
immortal
.