Thicker Than Water (20 page)

Was he trying to guilt her? Him? Guilt
her?

“So you probably don't know that she's being released.”

Kia's mouth dropped open.
What did he just say?
“You mean ... you mean she's cured?” Her voice didn't sound like her own. She sounded about ten years old. “She's all better now?”

Her dad took off his glasses. He rubbed them with the end of his shirt for a few minutes. Kia was struck suddenly that his eyes were the same color as hers.

He put his glasses back on. “Not exactly,” he said. He looked down at his hands. The white patch where his wedding ring used to be had long since faded and become tanned like the rest of his hand.

“Wh-what do you mean?” Kia asked.

“They can't keep her in the hospital anymore. They've done their treatments and the surgery and now they're sending her home to see how things go.”

“Oh.” Kia nodded. She nodded again. “So I should pack?”

“Well, no.” Her dad stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets. “The treatments ... you know how they wipe her out. You're going to stay on here.”

“Till she's better,” Kia said.

“She has daily health aides to help her, and Maggie is going to stay with her.”

“Maggie?” Kia asked. Maggie was a longtime friend of her mom's. When Kia was little, she had thought they were related. “Why not me?”

“Your mom is still really sick,” her dad said. “And weak. She—
we
think it would be better for you to just stay here. You know, be a kid. She doesn't want you to have to take care of her. You've got your own stuff. School. Friends.” Her dad smiled. “Boys,” he added in a teasing voice.

“So this is what Mom wants?” Kia asked. She realized that was what actually mattered here.

Her dad nodded. “It's how she wants it. How we both want it.”

“This is good news, right?” Kia asked. “They wouldn't send her home unless they thought she was getting better.”

Now he sighed. “I won't lie to you, Kia. I just don't know. I think they want to see if the treatments worked this time.”

Kia pressed against the back of the sofa, her feet hard and solid on the floor. She felt light-headed, as if her brain were a balloon trying to float away.

“So, we'll see how everything goes,” her dad said. He gave her a big, fake smile. “Things are going well here, don't you think? I'm not such a bad roomie.”

Kia stared at him and then made the edges of her mouth curve up. “Sure thing. You up for a pillow fight?
Roomie?”

Her dad laughed. He obviously didn't hear the acid dripping from her voice.

“Maybe another time.” He stood and stretched, as if the conversation had tightened all his muscles. “So, I'm going to take off. Are you working at the store today?”

“Yeah, the late shift,” Kia said. “Since it's Saturday.” She wasn't actually scheduled, but it gave her an excuse to get out of the house.

“Well, take a cab home, all right? I worry about you on the subways after eleven.”

He patted himself down for his glasses and wallet, grabbed his coat, and left.

Kia stared out the window.
Mom is going home.
That had to be good.

Greta, the other NightTimes employee, was at the cash register when Kia came in later. “Are you on tonight?” she asked, surprised.

Greta was in her thirties and also into the vampire club scene. So into it, in fact, that she wore her fangs at the store, and her talon-like fingernails often interfered with her ability to do many of her tasks. Kia didn't mind. Greta seemed to look up to her. Probably because of Damon.

“Nah,” Kia replied. “But I figured I'd stop in. Say hi.” She looked around the store. “Is Hecate around?”

Greta nodded toward the storage room. “In the back. Oh, your friend Virgil stopped by earlier.”

“Yeah?” Kia said, feigning interest.

Kia went into the storeroom, where Hecate was making a list on a notepad. She glanced up when she heard Kia come in.

“Hi, what's up?” Hecate asked.

“My mom's going home,” Kia blurted. “That's good, right?”

“Wow,” Hecate said. “Yeah, that's good.” Her brow furrowed. “I think.”

“It was good when your gramps got released,” Kia pressed.

Hecate nodded. “Definitely.”

“They wouldn't boot her out of a hospital if she was still really sick, would they?”

Hecate shrugged. “I don't think so.”

Kia sat on a box. “That's what I think too.”

“So does that mean you're leaving rich papa uptown?”

“Nah,” Kia said. “He said my mom is still too weak to have me there. I'll probably move back in sometime soon, though.”

“That'll be cool. Though your mom is more likely to keep closer tabs on you than your dad. That'll cut down on some of what you're doing.”

Kia sat up straighter. “You're right. I've been able to see Damon because Dad is out of town so much.”

Hecate bit her lip as if she were deciding something. “Kia,” she said slowly. “You're not exactly seeing him. Not in a boyfriend-girlfriend way.”

Kia stared at Hecate. “I know. But he does think I'm special. Every time I go to a club where he is, he pays a lot of attention to me. He's even kissed me. In front of Kali.”

“Great guy,” Hecate muttered.

Kia stood up. “You don't know him. Not like I do.”

“You don't really know him either,” Hecate said.

“I know more than you think,” Kia replied.
Like the fact that he might actually be a vampire.
Even just letting the thought run through her mind gave her an icy chill, the same one she felt whenever she wondered if it could really, possibly be true.

“Was that party what you expected?” Hecate asked. “That was way wiggy. And it was Damon's scene. Did you know that side of him?”

Kia's jaw tensed. Yes, it did kind of shock her to see Damon at the center of such a wild event. Funny. That party freaked her out more than the idea that he might be an actual vampire.

“I was okay with it,” Kia said. “I'm sorry I brought you there since you weren't.”

Hecate frowned.

She's turning into another Carol,
Kia thought.

“Hey, don't get pissed,” Hecate said. She shrugged. “If that's what you're into, that's what you're into. I just think the Damon thing has danger zone all over it.”

“You're wrong,” Kia said.

“Here's hoping,” Hecate said. Then she grinned. “So, spill. What kind of kisser is he? Insistent and eager? Forceful and strong? Gentle and soulful?”

Kia giggled. “All of the above. And more.”

“Way to go, girlfriend.” Hecate smirked. “Mmm. I need to get some action soon.”

“You could have had plenty at that party,” Kia teased. “Too bad you left.”

“I like my action blood-free, thanks. Saves on the dry cleaning.”

“Got a point.” Kia felt better now that they were joking about this stuff. Still, she knew she'd have to tone down some of what she told Hecate.

Back to having secrets,
she thought.

Greta appeared in the door of the stockroom. “Hecate, can you ring up a customer?”

Hecate rolled her eyes. “You've got to cut your nails, Gret. They've become a workplace liability.”

“But they're finally looking lethal,” Greta objected. “It took a long time and a lot of care to grow them.”

“Whatever.”

Kia followed Hecate and Greta into the store. Julie stood at the cash register.

“Hey, Kia, are you going to Crash tonight?” Julie asked.

Crash was a regular goth club on the West Side, though vampires sometimes hung out there too—without their fangs.

“Probably,” Kia said. After all, her father thought she was working. And Damon was DJ-ing.

“Cool. Then I'll go too.” Julie took her bag and left. Almost immediately, the door chimes rang and Aaron walked in.

Kia stared. What was he doing here?

Looking completely out of place among the leather, velvet, and rubber in his khakis and L.L. Bean jacket, he strode straight over to Kia. He looked upset.

Kia had avoided Carol and Aaron at school all week. After her meltdown during their stupid spell night last weekend she couldn't bring herself to look at them—much less talk. Just seeing them reminded her of her humiliating crack-up.

But now Aaron was practically hyperventilating in front of her.

“I'm really glad you're here,” he said. He spoke rapidly, as if the words were being thrust out of his mouth. “Can we—can we talk somewhere private?” he asked.

It occurred to Kia that Aaron might be worried about her, might be reaching out.

“Sure. I'm not actually working today.” Kia led him to the storeroom, wondering if she could handle the conversation they were about to have.

Still, she thought, flipping a carton over to sit on, it was because she fell apart that she and Damon had wound up together in Central Park.
Maybe I ought to be thanking Carol and Aaron instead of being pissed at how far they pushed me.
Why should she care if they were into that silly Wicca stuff and not into the vampire thing? She preferred keeping Damon and that world all to herself anyway.

“Michael dumped me,” Aaron blurted.

“Oh.” Kia blinked a few times, trying to grasp the fact that Aaron was here to talk about something entirely different than she had expected.

Aaron paced the small room. “Out of the blue. For no apparent reason.”

“Wow.” Her head whirled as she played mental catch-up. So, apparently he
wasn't
at all worried about her since the last time he'd seen her, when she'd been a complete wreck?

“I thought we were getting on fine,” he continued. “He actually seemed to like me. I liked him.” He covered his face in his hands. “I must have come on too strong. Too ... needy. Scared him away. Maybe I can get him back. Tell him I didn't mean all those things. Make him think I don't like him at all. That should help, right? But why would liking someone less make them like me more? It makes no sense. Oh, man. What do you think, can get him back? Kia?”

Kia opened her mouth, closed it. She had been a blubbering mess of tears, snot, and gulping sobs on his floor last week.
Michael. Elf Boy.
She was really struggling to focus.

“Kia?” Aaron repeated, his forehead wrinkling.

“Sure,” she said.

“Are you even paying attention?” he snapped. “It's like I'm talking to a brick wall.”

Kia bristled. “Sorry I can't get all misty over your love life,” she said. “I've got problems of my own.”

Aaron stared back at her. “You know, I realize that your mom is sick and that's hell,” he began, “but you don't have a monopoly on problems. We've given you a lot of space, a lot of slack for not being so on top of the whole ‘best friend' thing lately. But I think you might want to remember that it goes both ways—we're going through stuff too, you know.”

Kia's jaw tightened. Typical. Define her solely as the kid with the sick mom.

“What happened to you, Kia? You used to give a shit.”

Kia's eyes narrowed as he continued his tirade.

“Do you even care what is going on with Carol?” he demanded, his voice growing louder, his face red. “Her brother has completely vanished—not a word for weeks. She's sad all the time now.”

“Gee. I guess your little magic spells didn't work,” Kia said. The cold words spilled out before she'd even really thought them while a mixture of emotions fought inside her—worry for Carol, sympathy for what Aaron was going through, anger and frustration that they were all so far apart now and none of them could help each other if they tried. “I guess you're discovering that there's a big difference between playing kiddie games and being the real deal. So grow up and get over it,” she finished.

Aaron stared at her for a long moment, shook his head, and walked out.

Kia pressed her lips together, fighing a queasy feeling in her stomach, the flush creeping across her face.

She stalked to a rack and yanked the hangers, pawing the new corsets. She was going to treat herself to a brand-new outfit. Screw Aaron and Carol. Tonight at Crash she was going to begin her quest.

She was going to uncover Damon's real identity.

P
ounding music blasted as Kia strolled past the bouncer at

Crash later that night. She never paid a cover anymore, never worried about getting in.

The club was bigger than it looked on the outside, with three bars and a stage at the far end. Girls danced in cages on either side of the stage, and another three danced on the bars.

Mixed crowd,
she observed. She recognized vamps from other clubs scattered throughout, along with a large contingency of goth followers. Some faces she thought she remembered from the private event at the loft, but she avoided them. Without Damon by her side, those people made her nervous.

She ordered a bloodbath, which the bartender didn't charge her for, and moved through the club, searching for Damon.

So far, ever since that amazing, magical night in Central Park almost two weeks ago, they hadn't seen each other anywhere but in clubs. Was he avoiding her on purpose? Did he not want to be alone with her?