Silence: Part Two of Echoes & Silence (42 page)

“He’s a good man, Ara,” Jason offered, “and a damn good soldier. Are you sure about this?”

“Had he not used her to hide his true feelings for me—to hide the curse—had it not been done to keep his position, I might have thought differently. But I feel like a betrayal to one of us is a betrayal to all.”

Lord Eden nodded behind his morning paper.

Mike bowed his head, then went back to talking quietly with Emily, and David sat down between Jason and me, patting my hand before starting in on his eggs.

“So, Dad,” I said casually, biting my tongue after. I really needed to stop calling him that. “What brings you here this morning?”

“I came to collect you.”

“Me? Why?”

“You’re coming with me to see Vicki and Sam.”

I heard my own throat make a noise as I swallowed. “Why?”

“Because I need a referee. Just in case.” He winked at me and buried his nose in his paper again.

I looked at David, horrified.

“I’ll come,” Mike offered. “I kinda need to drop in and see Sam anyway.”

“That would be marvellous,” Lord Eden said, picking up his coffee and sipping it.

I mouthed a silent thank you to Mike, and he went back to his conversation with Emily again. A part of me wanted to overhear what they were talking about, but I think I could tell from the body language. Mike always did like a girl that was broken and needed saving, and I got the sense from him that he felt somewhat possessive of her, and maybe a bit defensive, perhaps angry that Blade stole her only to break her heart. I understood that feeling, though: it’s okay for Mike to do it, but if anyone else hurts her, God help him!

Lord Eden angled his nose upward then and his eyes narrowed into slits. He lowered his paper and put his coffee down, wiping the dregs on his napkin. “Is there someone else in the house?”

“Chastity,” I said, chewing. “She’s a newbie.”

“A what?”

“I made her—last night.”

Everyone looked at me again, except David, who smiled mischievously at his plate.

“It was either that or death,” I added.

“I’ll go see if she’s okay.” Jason stood. “I can’t hear her thoughts.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know. But I’d love to find out.”

David’s brows went up in intrigue as Jase disappeared into the attic. “I can’t hear her either.” He looked at Lord Eden expectantly.

He shook his head. “Nor can I.”

“Is she alive?” I asked, and they all nodded. “Interesting,” I added.

“Very,” David said, sitting back in his chair.

***

Just as I finished my eggs, Jason popped back down and poked his head around from the sitting room to look at Em. “Hey, Em, you got a spare pair of jeans and a shirt Chastity can borrow?”

“Of course.” Em stood up, conspicuously wiping her cheeks, and drew on a smile.

“Good. I’ll bring her into the bathroom. Meet me in there with some clothes in a sec.”

Em went out to the car, where she’d left her suitcase last night, and Jason disappeared upstairs, coming back down again with a scared and frail-looking girl in his arms. She buried her face in his neck, her hands wrapped so tightly around him you’d think she knew him well, and he winked at us as he closed the bathroom door with his foot.

When Em came back and went in there too, we all went back to our coffee and light conversation about how Vicki might react. I told Lord Eden what I’d seen in Vicki at the funeral and the days before it, but he said he already knew how broken she was. He’d stayed close in those days that followed.

“What time should we leave then?” I asked.

“After we’ve had a chance to meet our newest immortal.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I asked, handing my empty plate to Mike. “She might not want an audience on her first day.”

Lord Eden nodded in consideration. “You’re right.” He closed his paper and stood up, tucking his white shirt into his beige slacks. “Shall we be off now then?”

I looked down at my bloody wrists. “Let me get changed and cleaned up first.”

“We’ll wait outside,” David offered, jerking his thumb to the door. “Give the new girl some space”.

He leaned in and kissed my cheek, then gathered his wallet and put his watch on, and headed out the door.

Mike quietly finished the dishes and then went outside with David, while I sat reading upside-down headlines on the newspaper, and when the bathroom door opened I was so bored waiting that I sprung up out of my chair.

Emily shut the door behind her and smiled at me. “She’s okay.”

“Is she upset?”

She shook her head.

“Did Jason get into her thoughts yet?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Does he know why?”

“No. But he’s taking her home now, so he can spend all day figuring it out if he likes.” There was an odd amount of spite in her tone.

I smirked at her. “Everything okay?”

Emily’s nose went into the air. “He was there for her when she first woke up as a vampire, so she’s building some kind of sick connection to him—like he’s her saviour or something.”

“So?”

“He’s not interested,” she explained in a haughty tone, leaning forward a little. “She’s kidding herself.”

“Pity,” I teased, laughing internally, “Chastity seemed like a nice girl.”

“Jason can do better.”

“Can he?” I said, stirring the proverbial pot. “Didn’t know it mattered to you so much.”

“I’ll always care about him, Ara.” She softened a little, her armour shedding. “Always.”

“I know.” I tried not to make eye contact as I probed deeper into her personal life. “And Mike—what about him?”

“It was just sex,” she answered too quickly. “For old times’ sake.”

Hm, yes, except it was
never
just for old times’ sake. But I nodded anyway, as if I agreed. Then thought better of it and said, “Didn’t look that way to me this morning—when you two were cuddling up on the bed.”

She tried to hold back her smile.

“So there
is
still something there?” I grinned.

“I don’t know.” She moved toward the kitchen. “He told me I should come visit with him and the boys in Australia.”

“As a friend?”

“Yep,” she said, walking past me.

She said that so casually, though, that not one ounce of me believed her.

“Are you gonna go?” I turned to watch her in the kitchen.

She shrugged, keeping her back to me. I took that as a yes.

“Are you afraid it won’t last—that he’ll become distant, like last time?”

“I’m afraid of a lot of things.” She turned to face me then, leaning her butt against the counter. “I stopped loving him, Ara—after he hurt me like that—rejecting me because I’d been with David; telling me it was my fault. I let myself hate him, and now he’s back…” Her eyes drifted slowly to the ground.

“Those feelings have come back too,” I said with a knowing nod, then added, “He has a big heart. And when he loves someone, it’s never by halves. It broke his heart, Em, to lose you.”

She nodded to herself, not looking at me.

“If he’s willing to give things another go, you had better be damn sure what you feel is love, because if there is even the slightest hint of doubt, he will be so destroyed he’ll never trust anyone ever again.”

“I
wish
there was doubt,” she said simply. “I’m
still
mad at him for siding with David. He should have risen to my defence, but he didn’t. And the fact that I can still love him even after he hurt me so deeply, it drives me batshit crazy!”

“That’s love, Em.” I shrugged, holding both hands out. “Look at what David and I have been through. If you leave every time someone you love hurts your feelings, you’ll never find peace.”

“That just seems stupid,” she said, folding her arms.

“It is. And it’s not,” I offered. “But love is working
through
the hurt—together.”

When she squinted at the ground and scrunched her nose up, I thought for sure she was going to argue with me, but she looked up and smiled. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For talking some sense into me.” Her smile moved onto my belly. “You’re right. I know you are. And sticking with him, even when he annoys me, is the only way I’ll ever find what you have—the love, the deep connection, the family.”

We both looked up then, ending the conversation when Jason came out of the bathroom, leading a pretty blonde girl by the hand. She walked with such light footsteps that I found myself looking at her feet, and I could tell from the way they angled out slightly, and by the set of her shoulders, that she was a dancer.

“Hello,” I said.

She went bright pink in the cheeks.

“I gather you remember me—from last night.”

Chastity nodded, looking down guiltily.

“Are you hungry?” I asked, offering her a seat at the table.

She nodded again.

“Well, I’m taking over the bathroom now,” I said, “then I’ll be out for the day. So it’ll just be Emily, Jason and my husband David here.” I winked at Jase. “That should give you some time to get used to being a vampire.”

“Come on.” Jason cupped her elbow and led her away from the bathroom door. “I’ll make you some eggs and then you can have some more blood.”

I left Em and Jase on Project Chastity, and grabbed some clothes from under the bed, then went into the bathroom to wash off last night. I could see now why David killed the victims he slept with—it was just easier than that awkward moment in the morning after a night of twisted passion. That kind of magic always looked silly in the morning. And I felt silly. So did Chastity, I think. But under it all, seeing her made me think about everything I
loved
about last night. Seeing Chastity kind of made me want to do it again.

***

We’d spent most of the drive in silence. It wasn’t until we drove past the house where Emily grew up that Mike finally had something to say.

“How did
you
feel about bringing another girl into the bedroom?” he asked bluntly.

I rolled my eyes. “I really hate it that vampires can hear everything. Last night should have been private.”

Mike laughed, turning down the street toward Vicki’s house. “Come on, Ar. I’m curious.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re… you can be jealous and possessive sometimes—”

I huffed.

“—and I’m just wondering if you really were okay with it,” he finished.

I shrugged casually. “I just see it like I do the blood drinking.”

“So it’s the same thing, according to you? David sucking on a girl’s thigh is the same as the neck—as long as he’s got his dick in you at the time?”

“Mike!” I shook my head at him, then sat back and looked out the window. “And yes. In ways.”

“What if he’d dipped his dick in her?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that good old Aussie crassness. I’d missed that. “He wouldn’t have.”

“But that would be crossing the line?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“But having another girl orgasm under you isn’t?”

“Mike!”

“I’m sorry,” he added defensively, “I’m just trying to get this straight in my head.”

“You don’t need to. It’s how
I
feel—” I pointed to my chest, “—it doesn’t have to make sense to you.”

“Hm.”

“What’s ‘hm’?”

“Talk about it with him, Ara,” he said, glancing sideways at me. “I’m warning you. The lines are too easy to cross. He’s a darker soul than you, and he needs to know where you stand.”

“We
will
talk about it—we talk about everything. We just haven’t had a chance today.”

“See that you do.”

A gust of incredulity left my mouth. “It’s
my
relationship, Mike. Don’t be so damn condescending!”

He reached across and patted my knee. “I just care about you, baby, and I don’t want to see you hurting over something that
can
be avoided.”

“It’ll be fine. It’s new territory for us, but we’ll work it out—in our
own
way.”

“Fine.” He lifted his hand off my knee. “I’ll back off.”

“You better, if you know what’s good for you.” I sat with my arms folded for a moment, trying not to be angry at him for simply watching out for me, but it was too late; he’d already pissed me off and now all my ‘raging hormones’ were running the show. I reached over and put
my
hand on
his
knee, patting twice. “So what about you and Em then?”