Something Wanton (Mystics & Mayhem) (38 page)

“I kind of figured that out already.”  I finished lacing my shoes and sat down beside him again.  “You know, Skippy, if I didn’t know better, I would think you were worried about me.”

“I am,” he admitted simply.  “Vengeance can do terrible things to the soul, Ember.  I know this from experience.  There is such light, such goodness, in you.  I would hate to see that light die, strangled by hatred and anger.  It would be such a waste.”

“I have to do this, Skippy.”  I stared out through the open doors, watching as the snow picked up in force.  “I have to do it for all those people I didn’t save.  I have to do it for Kim.
  She’s my best friend.  And
he
did that to her.  To someone I love more than I love myself.  I can’t let him get away with that.  I can’t sit around and wait for them to do it to someone else.  It’s not in my nature to back down.  I don’t think I would even know how.”

For a long moment neither one of us said anything.  We stared out at the snow instead, watching the flakes falling thick and heavy in the weak winter light.  Everything was dark and gray, and yet still breathtakingly beautiful.  Not everything dark has to be ugly and
horrifying.  Beauty can be found in the dark as well as in the light.  All you have to do is look for it.

“Very well then, my little warrior,” Skippy said finally in a hushed tone, “if you are truly determined to fight, I will fight by your side. 
Together, we shall show them why humanity fears us as they do.”

I smiled at him, kissed his cheek, then bounced up and started gathering up all my new goodies.  We were all going to fight together.  How often did that happen?  I mean, I knew vampires and witches could get along when they wanted to, but Grams said they very rarely did. And demons?  Forget about it. 
Nobody
liked demons.  But now we were all banding together to face a common enemy.  I wondered if that was one for the record books.

I was busy packing up all my new things when I realized Skippy was still right where I left him.  I turned around to ask him if he was planning on helping me and smiled at the expression on his face.  His fingers were tracing the spot on his cheek I had kissed and he looked
really
confused.

“Why did you do that?” he asked, quietly.

“Because you’re my friend and I wanted to,” I told him, shrugging.  “Now, are you going to help me get all this crap inside or not?”

“You are a wonder, my darling girl,” he said, chuckling and getting to his feet.  “Everyone else fears me and you insult me and then shower me with affection.  I truly don’t know what to make of you, Ember.”

“That’s a
good
thing, Skippy,” I told him, tossing him a box.

“And why is that good, pray tell?”

“Because, if you’re cracked enough to figure out how my mind works, I’ll have to start worrying about you again,” I laughed, rolling my eyes.  “Come on.  If you don’t want Nathan and Tyler coming in here to save me from the fashion monster, we’d better get moving.”

It took six boxes to pack up my new wardrobe and Skippy insisted on carrying four of them.  The snow was really coming down when we closed the warehouse doors behind us and it had been joined by a sharp, cutting wind that blew the flakes against our skin in stinging pellets.  We dashed across the space between the buildings as fast as we could with our cumbersome load and didn’t waste any time getting inside.

Rather than go up to my room, I decided to go sit with Kim.  Skippy gallantly offered to help me take my boxes down with me, and I accepted with a smile that brought out another one of his. 

We had barely stepped off the elevator on the hospital level when
a furious shriek echoed through the halls.  I let out a little scream of surprise and dropped the boxes I was holding.  Skippy moved to stand in front of me, like he would protect me from whatever danger might come our way, and I patted his shoulder to let him know everything was all right.

“Stand down, buddy,” I told him, sighing loudly.  “It’s just Kim.  Don’t worry, I got it.”

“She would not harm you, would she?” he asked, looking worried, as I stepped around him, dodging the boxes we had dropped in the process.

“Sure she would,” I told him, grinning and picking up the box I’d packed for Kim.  What?  I never said I was above bribery.  Starting down the hall, I winked at him over my shoulder.  “If I stand still long enough, that is.”

Nathan, Tyler, Blake, Zan, and Ainsley were running toward Kim’s room when I tore around the corner headed in the same direction.  They stopped when they saw me shake my head at them.  It wasn’t a moment too soon, either.  Nathan actually stumbled into Zan when he backed up to keep from being fried by a ball of Witch Fire that crashed through the wall not half an inch from his nose.

“I got it!” I cried before the shock wore off and they started demanding answers.

“Ember Leigh Blaylock, get your ass in here!  I am going to
kill
you!” Kim shrieked, lobbing another fireball through the door that was close enough to make my hair stand on end.

I dropped to my knees, hoping that would put me out of the line of fire and frantically dug through the box I’d brought until I found what I was looking for.  Ainsley looked at me like I was crazy when I held up a pair of garnet suede boots like I’d just discovered buried treasure, then cast a doubtful look at the door.

“You’re going to keep her from killing you by giving her a pair of boots?” Zan asked, looking even more skeptical than Ainsley.

“These are
not
just boots,” I told them calmly.  “These are Miu Mius.  They haven’t even come out yet, and when they do they’re going to cost a grand a pair.  Kim would die before she did anything to hurt them.”

The ‘She’s lost her damn mind’ look went from one person to the other as I stood up slowly, trying to gauge where Kim might be in the room, and opened the door enough to stick one hand in to dangle a single boot as a flag of truce.  I jerked my hand back quickly when I felt like I had just grabbed hold of a lightning bolt and stared at the top half of the boot I had hoped to use as a shield.  And why was I only staring at the top half?

Because, that’s all that was left.

“Just so you know, that was one of a pair of Miu Mius!” I yelled through the door.  I waited for her gasp of horror and I wasn’t disappointed.  Zan rolled his eyes and shook his head while Ainsley clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her snort of laughter.  Everyone else was still waiting to see if Kim was going to start lobbing fireballs again.  “I’ll get you another pair if you let me come in.”

“Oh, I
want
you to come in!” Kim yelled back.  “I’m just not promising you’ll be walking out!”

“What did you
do
?” Tyler mouthed, jerking his head toward the door.

As an answer, I held up my IV-free hand and wiggled my fingers for emphasis.  Tyler looked like he was going to have a stroke.  Nathan’s mouth fell open.  Blake groaned quietly and dropped his head into his hands.  Ainsley looked thoroughly confused and Zan just shook his head at me again, smiling.  Deciding they could lecture me after I talked Kim out of killing me, I cracked the door open again.

“I’m coming in, Kim,” I called through the crack.  “If you throw one more fireball at me, I’m going to kick your ass.  We clear?”

When she didn’t answer, I took that as a yes.  Big mistake.  I had barely gotten through the door when I was forced to duck again to keep from being hit with another ball of blue-white light.  Growling, I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest, glaring right back at her.

“What
exactly
is your problem?” I demanded, arching an eyebrow at her in a way I had dubbed ‘The Nathan Technique’.  I had practiced that look in the mirror for two solid weeks while on house arrest.  Time well spent, in my opinion.  Nothing says ‘Who pissed in your Cheerios?’ quite like that look.

“What the hell is
this, Ember?”  Her eyes burned with anger as she held up the empty IV bag.

“Looks like a plastic bag to me,” I told her, shrugging.

“Uh-huh.  And what was
in
it?” she hissed, obviously not appreciating my unfazed expression.  “I’m warning you, Ember, if I have fangs or start to see pretty colored halos around people, I am going to be
seriously
unhappy.”

“I didn’t turn you!”  Really, that was just too much.  “Do you really think I would turn you just to heal a few burns?  Come on, Kim!  You know me better than that.”

Okay, that wasn’t really fair.  I might not have turned her into a vampire or a darkling, but I had definitely messed with her DNA.  She wasn’t going to grow fangs—or wings, I hoped—but she wasn’t going to be the same, either.  And if I had given her enough to make her immortal, she really might kill me. 

Part of me hoped, prayed, that I hadn’t.  But there was a very small part of me that admitted to liking the idea.  It was selfish, but that part of me accepted that I didn’t want to lose her, even if it
was
eighty years down the road.

“If it’s not your blood, and it’s not Nathan’s blood, then whose is it?” she demanded, not fooled for a second.

“Tyler’s,” I told her honestly.

“Tyler’s?”  She rolled her eyes.  “You are so full of shit, Ember!  Maybe you didn’t notice, but my burns are gone.  Hell, even my hair has started growing back!  Tyler could be a super-witch and his blood wouldn’t have done that.”

“It would if Tyler was an angel.”

For a second, she just stared at me with her mouth open.  Don’t get me wrong, it was moving but no sound was coming out.  She looked like a fish out of water.  When she did find her voice again, it was with a shriek that nearly pierced my eardrums.

“Tyler’s an
angel
?  And you didn’t
tell
me?”

“I only found out last night, Kim,” I told her calmly.  “I didn’t have time to tell you between getting shot and making up with Nathan and…”

My voice trailed off as she let out a ferocious snarl that froze the blood in my veins.  Confused, I rewound the last few seconds in my mind, but I couldn’t see why anything I had said would make her so furious.  I wasn’t left to wonder what was up for long, though.

“You
what
?” she asked, her voice low and cold.  I suddenly missed the shrieking.  “You made up with
Nathan
, Ember?  After what he did to you?  Are you
serious
?”

“That was an accident, Kim, and you damned well know it!” I snapped, my voice hard.  She had seen it firsthand.  It wasn’t Nathan’s fault that I had jumped in front of Tyler like an idiot, and I wasn’t going to let her hold it against him.  “He didn’t mean to hit me.  He was trying to hit Tyler.”

“I’m not talking about that.”  Her hands clenched into fists at her sides and I saw a glimmer of Witch Fire as her fingers closed.  “I’m talking about what happened
before
that.  And don’t you
dare
defend him, Ember.  I think I’ll be sick if you do.”

I felt the blood drain from my face as I realized what she meant.  I hadn’t told her about what happened between me and Nathan in that alley.  I never would have told her.  Even if Nathan and I hadn’t made up, I would have taken that secret to the grave with me before I shared it with her.

“How did you know?” I whispered, not quite meeting her eyes anymore.

“The same way you knew about Morgan Tanner hooking up with Cole at her birthday party,” Kim said, her expression hard.  “I saw it when you
tripped over your heels and I caught you.  Why did you think I was so pissed?  I knew he wasn’t trying to hit you, Ember.  He didn’t have to, though, did he?  He’d already done so much worse than that.”

I gulped hard against the sadness and shame bubbling up inside me.  She didn’t understand and she wouldn’t let me explain it to her even if I wanted to try.  She was right, what Nathan had done was awful, degrading.  But, jealousy is an awful, degrading kind of emotion.  Could I really say I would have acted any better if our places had been reversed?  I like to think I would have, but you never really know until you’re there.

“That’s enough,” Blake said quietly, from the doorway behind me.  “It’s done and over with, Kim.  Em’s made peace with it.  Let it go, baby.”

“I can’t
do
that,” she told him, her eyes still trained on my face.

I couldn’t look at Blake when I pushed past him, my eyes burning and my stomach knotting in shame.  I knew Nathan wasn’t in the hallway even before I made it out the door.  Tyler was there waiting for me, but I ran past him before he could say anything.  I heard Ainsley call out behind me, but I ignored her.  Even when I heard her footsteps pounding after me, I kept going.

I ran into the first empty room I came to and slammed the door.  I was pacing back and forth frantically, trying to siphon off some of my anger and hurt, when I heard the door open and close softly behind me.  Assuming it was Ainsley, I didn’t even turn around.  I wondered if they all knew what had happened between me and Nathan in that alley.  How could I ever look any of them in the eye again if they did?

If I hadn’t been so wrapped up in my own misery, I would have recognized Nathan’s scent before his arms slid around me from behind.  He didn’t say anything, just held me close and let me sink back against him. 

I didn’t know what to say.  He had heard everything Kim said, I knew he had.  And I couldn’t even apologize for her because we both knew she was right.

“She’ll get over it,” I finally said, my voice a mere whisper of sound.

No, she wouldn’t, but it made me feel better to say it.  She hated him, it had been right there in her eyes for anyone to see.  Until he proved himself worthy again, that wasn’t likely to change.  I winced when I realized that might never happen.  I really didn’t think Kim would ever forgive him.

“She’s angry and confused—” I sighed when I realized I was apologizing for her, anyway.

“And right.”  When I started to protest, he shook his head and gave me a gentle squeeze.  “She is, Em.  I don’t understand why you forgave me, either.  What I did in that alley…  I was jealous and angry and afraid that I’d really lost you, but it was no excuse for the way I treated you.  I will never be able to tell you how sorry I am.  It may just be the only completely unforgivable thing I’ve ever done.”

“
But I did forgive you,” I mumbled, laying my head back against his shoulder.

“I know, baby.”  He kissed the top of my head, then laid his cheek against my hair.  “
You
did, but that doesn’t mean the others will.  They love you and I hurt you.  Could you have forgiven Blake so easily if he had treated Kim the way I treated you that night?  And you’ve loved Blake for years.”

Sighing, I turned and wound my arms around his waist.  I laid my cheek against his chest and took a deep breath, letting his delicious scent soothe some of my anger.  It wasn’t long before holding him wasn’t enough.  I wanted to touch and be touched, kiss and be kissed.  For just a few minutes, I didn’t want to think about hunters or angels or monsters or my pissed off best friend.  I wanted it to be just me and Nathan. 

No drama. 

No danger lurking around the corner. 

Just us.

I looked around the room, taking in the beige walls, beige carpet, beige and plum-striped draperies, until I finally found what I was looking for against the opposite wall.  Stepping back, I took Nathan’s hand and led him over to another one of the almost-invisible beige sofas and pushed him down on it.  His eyes widened in surprise when I crawled onto his lap, straddling his hips, but he didn’t protest.

“This is the deal,” I murmured, wrapping my arms around his neck.  “We are
never
going to talk about this again.  As far as I’m concerned, it never happened.”

“Em—” he began, sighing.  I put my finger over his lips and shook my head.

“It’s over, Nathan.  Let it go.  I have.”

To prove it, I pressed myself close to him, letting my newly returned warmth sink into him.  I smiled when his hands settled on my hips, holding me in place.

“What are you doing, baby?” he breathed, his voice barely a whisper.

“Making up for lost time,” I whispered back, nuzzling the side of his neck as I started working the buttons free on his shirt.  “We were interrupted last night.  I thought we could pick up where we left off.”

His aura lit up like the sun and I got the barest whiff of his essence, just enough to make me shiver with desire.  My mark started up its gentle thrumming and, for just one second, I could see into Nathan’s mind.  I got the barest flash of a memory of us the first—and, unfortunately,
only
—time we made love and smiled again. 

That was good.  I wanted him to remember it, think about it, want it.  I wanted him to want me as much as I wanted him.

“This really isn’t a good idea,” he protested weakly as I moved up his neck slowly.  “Anyone could walk in here…”

I focused my power and waved my hand in the direction of the door, smiling again when I heard the lock click.  Nathan moaned, a sound of pure need, when I started kissing along his jaw.  My hands tangled in his hair as I worked my way toward his lips and his arms wrapped around me holding me closer.

“Hamilton,” he whispered, sounding slightly breathless as I wiggled myself even closer to him.

“I’ll deal with later.”