Pretend With Me (Midnight Society #1) (31 page)

Eric then slowly released my hands and began
unzipping the hoodie I was wearing. He pushed aside the
material to reveal my t-shirt which now had huge spots of
blood soaked into it and then gently tucked the t-shirt up. I
didn’t know whether the blood was my own or not. I
heard Eric's breath hitch again when he revealed my
stomach and in response I looked down to find that large
patches of blue-black spots stained my skin, spreading
over my belly and ribcage. Now I knew why it ached to
breathe.

His fingers lightly began tracing over my ribcage and
every now and then, he muttered a number. When he
reached three, I stopped listening. I didn’t want to know
how many broken ribs I had. When he was done, he gently
pulled down the t-shirt. All the while his touch had been
soft and light and I knew that he was trying his best not to
touch me so he wouldn’t hurt me.

I looked down at him and saw that he was staring at
me. His eyes were glowing blue, like the heated centre of
spitting fire, and just for a second I saw my Eric disappear
before my eyes. Immediately my heart picked up, shooting
me up with another dose of adrenaline and fear at the
same time. “That son of a bitch is dead,” he sneered.

“I’m sorry Eric,” I heard myself say. “I’m so stupid. I
should have never gone out alone. I’m so sorry.”
“What?” he blinked. “Jen, it’s not your fault. It’s…” he
trailed off cupping my face. “Jen, if you’re willing I can
make the pain go away. My blood, it can start healing
you…” Eric didn’t wait for me to respond; to agree even.
Instead he brought his wrist to his mouth, biting into it
and then he held it out to me. I didn’t make a move to take
it. “It’ll help you, Jen,” he urged when I remained
unmoving.
A long minute passed us, and then hesitantly I took his
hand, watching as the warm red liquid poured out of the
four, sharp holes that formed a perfect crescent on his
wrist. Slowly I began to pull his wrist to my mouth but
then stopped, staring at him. “How will I know when I’ve
taken enough?” I asked, not taking my eyes off him.
“You’ll know,” he whispered and shoved his hand to
me. Eric’s blood poured into my mouth and as it did, I
drank deeply. It didn’t feel or taste like blood should. It
was thin and sweet and warm. With each gulp that I took,
I felt the white blanket that had been cloaking the world
since I had woken up slowly thin. It was only now that I
was realizing how dim the world had been before.
Everything became clear as the pain sizzling inside me
slowly began to fade. I could focus better now and all the
memories of what had happened flashed through my head,
all at once and at full speed.
“How do you feel?” Eric asked when I stopped. I
didn’t answer, instead I remained quiet and still as my
brain struggled to play catch up with everything that
happened tonight. “Jen?” he tried again.
Hesitantly I nodded not knowing how I really felt.
Physically I was fine. I wasn’t in any pain anymore. Before
I could figure out anything the opening of the tent
widened as someone walked in. “How is she?” Light
bathed around her, making the outline of her body seem to
glow amber and impossible to see any of her features.
“She’s fine, Dina.” Eric’s voice had gone hard and cold
suddenly.
“She doesn’t look fine,” the girl commented, walking
further into the tent. There was something about her that
was familiar, but I couldn’t figure out what.
Eric was suddenly on his feet, facing the girl. Now all I
could see was his back, completely blocking her from my
view. “She wouldn’t look like this, had you done your job!”
he sneered at her, jabbing a finger at me. “You were
standing by, watching her.”
“Hey, dumb shit, I had a plan and had you not rushed
in Zane would be dead and this would be over,” she
snapped back with just as much venom as Eric’s voice had
held. Eric took a step towards her, clenching his fist at his
side but before he could reply, the warm faint, glow in the
tent brightened again, for just as second and then someone
was standing in front of the opening. Just as with the girl, I
couldn’t make out any features except that this person was
a guy. He folded his arms over his chest staring at Eric and
the girl, Dina.
“Dina what the Hell is going on?” he said sounding
pissed off.
“I had a plan Dean, but he screwed it up,” the girl
defended herself.
“They were about to kill her, did your plan involve
going in when she was dead?” Eric growled in a voice that
was more animal than human.
“She’s a soon-to-be vampire Eric,” Dina spat back,
“and a pureblood no less. She could’ve handled herself for
five minutes more.”
Eric took another step towards the girl and even with
his back to me I could tell he'd had enough. I could almost
feel the rage and hate radiating off his skin, like venom and
poison being released into the air. Dean must have sensed
it too because he stepped in between them, shoving Eric
towards me, and Dina to the opposite side of the tent.
“Okay that’s enough, both of you,” he commanded in a
voice that made me flinch back. It was hard and
demanding. There was something in his tone that made a
part of me want to rip his head off while another, more
human part wanted to shrink back and disappear.
Eric let out a loud, rough breath that also sounded like
a low, smooth growl and Dean immediately dropped his
hand from touching him. Now that he was closer, I could
see him clearly. Dean was built and lean with perfect skin.
He was tall, standing inches above Eric, and dominance
and power leaked out from him in waves. But that wasn’t
the stunning thing about Dean – it was his eyes and hair.
His eyes were the color of dark silver and his hair was a
messy array of pure silver threads that fell around his head
carelessly. It made him look otherworldly and almost
Godly, or at the very least exotic.
“Now what is going on, and why does she look like
that?” he asked, his silhouette pointing to me.
“I know who killed Daren, his name is Zane. Tonight
he attacked her. We could've killed him.” Dina answered.
Dean nodded letting out a breath. “I know who killed
Daren... I've never not known,” he sighed.
Dina stepped back away from Dean, putting herself in
what little light came peeking through the tent, and as soon
as I saw her, recognition instantly tore through me. I could
see Daren in her; she had his eyes, his dark hair. Even the
way she moved reminded me of him.
“You knew?” she asked and I could even hear a
familiarity in her voice when it reached a certain pitch.
Dean stayed silent and I saw her hands clenched into fists
that were so tight, her knuckles paled. “Why didn’t you tell
me?”
“You'd have gone looking for him, Dina,” Dean kept
his eyes on her.
“He was my brother,” she shouted, charging for him.
Dean's movements were so fast and precise that I only saw
a flash and then he was holding her hand inches from his
face. He held it there for a second and then forced it down
between them.
“He was also my second Dina; a brother not by blood,
but by the bond so I know exactly what you feel… but
losing it like you did tonight, that is not going to happen
again.” His words were hard and demanding yet at the
same time, he was also brotherly and warm.
“Tonight you went against everything I told you not to
do. You risked your life trying to kill Zane. You even
risked the pack’s safety! You were supposed to protect her,
look at her!” he screamed jabbing a finger at me. I instantly
flinched back from his voice and his finger. “Does she
look okay? What happens when Kat finds out? Our
purpose is to protect her - that’s why we left home.”
Dean took a moment and then let out a loud breath
releasing her hand. “We'll talk about this later... for now,
see to it she gets clean clothes,” he sighed and then turned
to Eric. “We need to talk. I’ll give you a minute,” he
whispered and then he and Dina walked out of the tent.
I turned and found Eric at my side staring at me.
“You’re healing slowly,” he murmured, “but does it still
hurt?” I shook my head no, swallowing. “You’re okay?” he
then asked and I nodded. “Say something,” he
commanded.
I forced myself to open my mouth. “She… Dina looks
like him,” I whispered almost silently, my voice cracking
and breaking. Silent tears ran down my face as I wondered
how many times was it possible for a heart to break and be
put back together, before it could no longer be put back
together again.
“Yeah,” he nodded.
“She's his sister,” I mumbled as more tears ran down
my face. I couldn’t make sense of it. In my head it didn’t
fit.
“Yeah,” he said again.
“Eric, did you know about Daren,” I swallowed,
turning back to face him. “That he was…” I trailed off not
knowing what he was.
“A shifter,” Eric told me shaking his head. “I didn’t
know about any of this until tonight, when I met Dina…
Katalin sent Daren. He was supposed to keep you safe
until your eighteenth birthday.”
I closed my eyes, turning away from Eric as more tears
ran down my face. I didn’t know w hat was real and what
wasn’t… Did Daren even really care about me or was he
pretending..? Who was he at all? Just when I’d thought that
I was finally beginning to find myself again – to heal – I
find this out, and once again I didn’t know anything
anymore. Where did the lies end and the truth begin?
Not wanting to think about this any more, I sucked in a
breath and turned back to Eric, drying my face with the
back of my hand. “How’d you know where I was..?”
“What do you mean?” Eric frowned at me deeply,
confusion suddenly written across his face. “You called
me…”
“What..?” I frowned back, mirroring his expression.
“What are you talking about Eric?”
“I heard you in my head, loud enough that you woke
me up and as clear as if you were standing right next to
me.”
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know,” he muttered. “It could be because
you’ve started the stages of awakening,” his frown
deepening as Dina walked into the tent, stopping at its
opening.
“Dean’s ready for you,” she grumbled to Eric, who
sighed loudly and stood up.
“This won’t take long. I’ll be right back,” he muttered
to me, turned, and left me alone in the tent with Dina. I
couldn’t do anything but look at her. She was so surreal;
this entire night was surreal.
“I’ve clean clothes for you. We’re just about the same
size,” she whispered to me as she walked further into the
tent and handed me a t-shirt and jeans.
“Thanks,” I muttered, my eyes never leaving her face as
I reached out zombie-like and took the clothes she offered.
“I’m outside if you need anything.” Then without
waiting for me to respond she too turned and walked out
of the tent.
Robotically, I stood up and began to strip down. My
body felt stiff and tense, and every now and then a wave of
pain would wash through me, but it was nowhere near
anything I’d felt earlier. I was healing, slowly.
When I was done changing I walked out of the tent and
the scene that met me was almost like it came right out of
a TV screen. The camp was huge. There were countless
tents and fires, scattered around a clearing that was
completely surrounded by tall trees. There had to be at
least fifty persons here. Some were sitting around the fires
laughing and talking, and others were walking about.
Without thinking, I walked over to the nearest fire and
sat down on the ground, as close to it as I could as the chill
in the air bit into my skin harshly without Eric’s hoodie. I
curled my arms around my legs, pulling my knees up to my
chest and my eyes closed automatically. I was so exhausted
that even if I wanted too, I didn’t think I’d be able to keep
them open.
By the time Eric came to find me a while later, I was
literally freezing and so exhausted I was sleeping away. I
could barely keep my eyes open, but the cold wouldn’t let
me sleep. Shivers rocked my body. Even the fire inches
away did nothing to help, and all I could focus on was the
coldness that seemed to seep through my skin and plant
itself inside me - it felt like that; as if the coldness was
coming from inside rather than around me. It was like an
inner winter, raging and burning on until everything was
frozen.
“Come on, let’s go home,” Eric whispered and I
opened my eyes to find him holding out his hand for me.
Hesitantly I nodded, taking it. The minute his skin touched
mine, another wave of bone chilling tremors washed
through me as Eric frowned, helping me to my feet.
“You’re hot…” he trailed off, his frown deepening.
“I’m just tired,” I whispered, my voice low and broken.
“No, this isn’t nothing…” he trailed off, then without
explaining anything he turned to face Dean, who I hadn’t
realized was standing behind him until now. “Do you have
your cloak here, the army’s cloak?” he asked his voice
commanding and stern. Dean barely had time to nod
before Eric started talking again. “Get it,” he demanded
and before he could finish the sentence Dean was gone
and back, now holding a thick dark grey coat out to us.
Eric grabbed it and then the next thing I knew, the coat
was covering every inch of my body. It was surprisingly
light on me. The material had looked sturdy and heavy, but
it wasn’t. Instead it was like a second skin; almost as
though the coat was a part of me even though it hung
loosely. My arms and legs were too short and so it
completely drowned my body. Even the hood, which Eric
had pulled over my head, obscured my entire face. It was
warm though
– like a thermostat regulating my
temperature. I was still cold, but this was helping. “Eric,” I
said hoarsely, my throat dry as if the inner winter had
frozen the moisture inside me. “What’s happening to me?”
He didn’t answer immediately. Instead he wrapped his
arms around my body and began leading us out of the
camp site. “You’re going through the second stage of
awakening.”

The moment we got back to the Wilson’s house Eric
rushed me to a bedroom - I couldn't tell whether it was his
or mine. He turned off all the lights and sealed the curtains
and windows shut, leaving me in complete and utter
darkness.