The Mark (Interracial Paranormal Romance) (Toil and Trouble) (8 page)

I gulped as I quieted the phone. No amount of beer was gonna push me any closer to sending him the go ahead to cut that poor kid down.

“I know,” I said quietly. “It’s just…” My voice trailed off as tears filled my eyes. “He’s just so young. He’s got his whole life ahead of him.”

“Ah,” Jack said as he crossed his arms. “Would it be easier for you if I infiltrated a senior living community?”

I stuck out my tongue. “That’s not funny.”

“I’m not laughing,” he shot back. “I didn’t twist your arm, Jade. If acting as my handler offended your delicate sensibilities, you should have just said no.”

“You’re not helping,” I said feebly. “I can’t just sign his death warrant. You’re so-“ I gulped as my cheeks burned warm. “Different. With me. I don’t understand how that guy--the one that makes me cinnamon pancakes at 3am and gets me flowers for no reason, could be so chill about killing someone. It's sick.”

I could tell he was trying to keep himself under control. We were drawing attention, the last thing a vampire wants when it's hunting unless they wanted to be staked by a Watcher. But I could tell that my words, my naiveté, had offended him and exposure was the last thing on his mind. “Do I look like some caricature from an Anne Rice novel?” he said acidly. “Woe is me, I have eternal life? Boohoo I have to eat people to survive?”

He looked around now, realizing that maybe we were attracting the wrong kind of attention. He lowered his voice, his eyes distant. “I made peace with what I am a long time ago. I had to.”

I summoned up the last bit of dignity I had left, and looped my purse over my shoulder. I booked it toward the exit, but not before some girl saddled up next to Jack.

“That was, like, the best vampire spiel I've heard all night,” the girl grinned, her pearly whites gleaming in the dark.

Chapter Nine

Forever Ever?

“Can you feel it?” Sia said excitedly as she looped her arm through mine. “I was made for days like these!”

Moore Square shone like a lush garden in the midst of a concrete jungle. Families were lounged in the soft green grass, chatting excitedly as they ate their bagged lunches. Street musicians tinkered a tune and the notes from their weary instruments hung lazily on the warm air. Even those who zipped past in automobiles glanced at the park with longing. Saturdays were made for the outdoors, for basking in the hot rays of the sun.

But my run-in with Jack still laid heavy on my mind. He hadn’t answered my calls and he didn’t rest in his apartment or mine. I'd scanned the local news for any missing persons, but nothing head been reported.

Jack was right...I should have said no. But if we were going to work out, didn't I have to accept what he was? I couldn't just turn a blind eye to his feeding or plug my ears and say "lalalalala" until I was blue in the face.

I smirked as Sia skipped away. She did a sultry dance around a street musician, the ribbons from her white linen dress flapping in time. A couple of bystanders took notice, clapping and egging her on. I could feel them falling under her trance as their eyes glazed over and their mouths hung open.

“That’s quite enough,” I said sternly as I steered her away. Her circle of admirers sighed with discontent, unaware that I had saved their eternal souls from damnation. “I thought we agreed, no soul gathering today.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as she slurped the thing like it was liquid gold. After a moment she threw all abandon to the wind and shoved the whole thing down her throat and a stream of gooeyness seeped down her chin.

“So I’m starting to think that I should start charging you an hourly rate,” she said as she wiped her chin with the back of her hand. “Or should I be flattered that I get the privilege of hanging out with Debbie Downer on such a beautiful day?”

My cheeks burned hot. “I’m sorry, Sia.” I tucked a stray hair behind my ear and unrolled the blanket in my bag and settled down on one end of it. “I’m just having problems with Jack.”

“Yeah,” I replied as I bit my lip. “But I’ve never seen it with my own two eyes. When he’s with me, and we’re joking around, it seems like something so romantic and erotic. But that night it was just so... cold and calculating.”

“Mmhm.”

I pushed down the shades on the top of my head. I didn't want her to see how emotional I'd become. “It made me wonder what the hell I’m doing, you know? If I’m not okay with what he is, deep down, then I’m just delaying the inevitable, right?”

“Probably,” Sia said as she lied back on the blanket.

“I mean, maybe our relationship has run its course. It’s not like we have any sort of future. I can’t be with him for eternity, we can’t have kids. I mean, I don’t even know if I want kids, but-“

“You really need a human friend,” Sia interjected, shaking her head.

I tossed a handful of grass at her and laughed in spite of myself. “Trust me, I’ve tried it. They kinda frown on the whole talking to dead people thing.” Or I can’t keep the lies I’ve told them straight. Or they become suspicious when I tell them I can only hang out during the day during full moons or whenever I do spellwork. Oh and they can never come over to my place. It’s just a hassle that ended with me being a weirdo and hurt feelings all around.

Sia propped her hands beneath her head as she peered at me over her designer shades. "You love him?"

Without even waiting for a beat, I nodded.

She pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose. "Well, that settles it then. Suck it up and deal. Did I ever tell you about my godmother, Gemma?"

"Laugh it up, necro," she said as she stuck out her tongue. "Anyway, Gemma, my godmother, had a penchant for human women."

"Awesome," I nodded.

"You have no idea," Sia grinned. "You know, on that note, I had a bit of a thing for you when we met. Briefly considered taking you for my own."

I raised an eyebrow. "And when you say take me for your own, you mean kidnapping, right?"

"Semantics," she shrugged. She licked her lips giving me the once over. "Oh the things we could have done-"

"Okay, ew," I said, plugging my ears. "You're cute and all but 1. You're a fairy and I know what you guys do with your used toys and 2. You're like my only friend these days so don't screw it up with the girl-on-girl fantasies. It's awkward."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'd get offended but it's too beautiful today." She took a long breath in, sucking in the air and I almost saw her true nature ripple beneath her skin. It was dark and ugly. And hungry. Reason number 3. on the nixay on a pair up between us. As a necromancer, if we were intimate, I'd see beneath her. I gave my head a hard shake. No thanks.

"No uglier than your beau's," she said defensively.

"Get outa my head," I snapped. "Finish your story."

"Right. So my godmother Gemma, she tried to do what was customary, having a harem or whatever, but then she went and did something stupid."

I inched closer. "What did she do?"

"She fell in love with one of them," Sia answered. "Wanted to make the mortal her mate and give her the eternal kiss. Everyone told her it was foolish...that once the girl saw her true face, she'd run for the hills. But Gemma was in love and she wouldn't be swayed." She stopped then, twirling a strand of golden hair around her finger.

"So what happened next?" I said anxiously, in spite of myself. I knew Sia was loving it. Fairies were the masters of storytelling. One of the many ways they roped in their prey.

I gulped as a chill ran down my spine. "If you're trying to make me feel better about a supernatural and a human making it work, you're doing a bang up job."

Sia smirked. "I thought humans liked honesty."

"Hell no," I laughed. I bit my lip as I sunk my fingers into the earth beside me. "Not if the truth is hard to swallow."

"Excuse me?" The voice was bright and warm.

I shielded my eyes and saw a frazzled looking woman standing over me. She had a baby propped on her hip and a toddler that nipped at her knees.

"This is going to sound random, but my husband is trying to park but he's directionally disabled," she said as she shook her head. She gestured at a large multicolored blanket a few feet from ours. "Would you mind just keeping an eye on our things while I go find him?"

I could feel Sia's eyes go wide with delight. "Sure, we'll watch your kids!"

The woman's face brightened. "I was just going to get you to watch the blanket, but if you could-"

"Eko forenm zopatio," I said under my breath as I did a charm spell. Fairies were drawn to children like vamps to blood. Sia wasn't going to have a midday snack while I was around.