Dad smiled as he glanced over at her. Watching them look at each other was like watching dialogue in a movie with the sound off; things were being said, I just couldn’t hear it. There was so much depth to their silent conversations. And yes, most of it was ooey-gooey, just like Starla had complained about, but it was rare in this day and age, and there was something to be said for romanticism. Or maybe I was just having a sappy moment after my little encounter at the library. Whatever the reason, my parents’ mutual affection made my smile widen. “Nope, just a normal day.”
When we got to our Bavarian mini-palace in the ‘burbs, Mom received a phone call from Aunt Ashley and went upstairs to talk to her. I yelled a “love you, miss you, Auntie,” into the phone as Mom skipped up the stairs. Aunt Ash still lived in California with her husband. We’d visited her just a handful of weeks ago, during summer break, but I still missed her. Julian matched my sentiment, then started heading up the stairs, probably to put away his backpack since Mom had scolded him about it last week. I heard Mom laugh into the phone then call back, “Ash misses you guys, too.”
As Mom and Ashley settled into a conversation, Mom sighing as she sat on her bed, Dad twisted to face me. “I think I lost my helper for the evening.” Smiling, he raised a dark brow at me. “Want to fill in for your mom? Help me make dinner?”
I nodded at Dad, still on a small high from my boy-next-door encounter. Removing my backpack from my shoulder, I told him, “Sure. I’ll go put this away and be right back.”
As I was turning, Dad slowly said, “I’m making chicken. Do you want to do it?”
Inhaling, I twisted back to Dad. I knew exactly what he meant by that. Dad bought live chickens, kept them in a coop in the backyard. When Dad said he was “making chicken,” he meant from scratch—from being alive and well, to plucking and cooking. I was used to it, though; he’d done this my entire life. But Dad usually did the killing, draining them dry in a matter of seconds. Julian and I had never actually killed anything. We’d never even bitten a living animal. The blood we drank was poured into containers for us, and it felt different drinking it that way. Not quite so animal.
I bit my lip, thinking about what it would feel like to take the life of a creature, even a stupid creature like a chicken. The vampire in me drooled at the idea of fresh, from-the-vein blood, but I was more human than vampire…and I just couldn’t do it.
Shaking my head, I frowned. “No, I don’t want to do that.” Feeling bad that I couldn’t live up to the non-human side of my nature, I dropped my eyes from his. “Sorry.”
Dad blurred in front of me, lifting my chin. “Hey, you don’t have to be sorry for that…ever. Respecting life is honorable, Nika.” He smiled at me, lifting my mood with his acceptance. “I’m proud of you, no matter what side of yourself you embrace, okay?”
While I nodded, Dad added, “Besides, your mom won’t do it either.”
From upstairs we both heard, “That’s because it’s disgusting!”
Dad rolled his eyes, then walked to the slider that led out back. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen when the chicken’s ready to be cooked.”
Exhaling in relief, I nodded again and turned to go put my stuff away. Mom was laughing with Ashley over the chicken conversation when Julian popped his head into my room. Leaning against my door frame, his face was as amused and intrigued as his mood. “So…good time at the library. You find a really, really, really good book or something?”
He chuckled a little as I scowled at him. “We really need to nip this bond in the butt,” I muttered, glad that Mom was so busy with Ashley that she wasn’t paying attention.
Julian grimaced as he sat on my bed. “Preaching to the choir, sis. Preaching to the choir.” Leaning back on his hands, he searched my face with curious eyes. “So, what did happen to you?”
Listening closely to Mom, I whispered, “I ran into the neighbor boy from down the street.” Sitting beside Julian, I opened my heart to the feelings that had been surging around me all afternoon.
Julian closed his eyes for a second as my emotions pummeled him, then he shook his head. “The guy with the five o’clock shadow? Nika…is he even our age?”
I shrugged, not wanting to talk about this with Mom nearby…or Dad. He was in the backyard, and preoccupied in his own way, but he could still hear us. “Close enough.” For my parents’ benefit, I added, “He just pointed out some really good books for me. Gave me some helpful advice, then let me show him around the library.” Glancing through the wall to Mom’s room, I added, “You know how much I love exploring that place.”
Julian frowned, seeing right through my misleading comments. “Yeah, I know…I felt it.”
Putting my hand on his arm, I mouthed, “Later.”
Julian nodded, understanding, but he was concerned, and I was sure it was the “close enough” comment that had him on edge. Well, that and the swarm of feelings I’d let flow from me just now. They were still coursing through me; just thinking about my afternoon had me elated. Julian sighed as he stood up.
“We should ask Gabriel again about our bond. There’s got to be a way to block it.” His face was solemn, and I felt the same reluctance that he felt. As annoying as our connection was at times, we’d had this bond since birth. Severing it would be…hard. But continuing to keep it as we grew and matured would be hard too. There were feelings that we were each beginning to have that were really private. And…sex… God, I couldn’t even think about sharing that moment with Julian connected to me. I’d rather stay a virgin my entire life.
I nodded, my face equally solemn. “I know. It’s time.”
Julian lowered his head, a small amount of sadness sweeping over him. I felt it too, the loss, and gave him a swift hug. “We’ll just have to stay close the old-fashioned way, Julie.”
He grinned at me as we pulled apart. His mood lifting, he let out a dramatic sigh. “Yeah, and besides, with our luck…there won’t be a way to block it.”
I laughed, then groaned. God, I really didn’t want us to be connected through everything in our lives. Julian laughed at my reaction, completely understanding me, like he always did. Arm around my shoulder, he walked with me back downstairs.
Dad was just entering the kitchen when we got there. He had a small smile on his face as he went about plucking the chicken. Mom was right…it was disgusting. Julian stayed to help him, but I headed to the living room to wait out the gross part. I’d help when the chicken no longer looked like it had just been walking around the back yard. I might have grown up around this kind of stuff, both here and at the ranch, but I didn’t necessarily like being an active part of it. It made me feel a little weak at times that I didn’t want to do it. My grandmothers could butcher a cow in seconds without being bothered in the slightest by the carnage. But me? I just couldn’t handle it.
Mom joined me in the living room once her conversation with Ashley was over. Sitting down beside me, she exhaled and relaxed back onto the white cushions. She twisted her lip as she listened to Dad and Julian working. “You know, I’ve seen him do it a hundred times, but it’s still too disgusting to watch.” Looking over at me, her frown deepened. “You’d think I’d be numb to it by now.”
I chuckled at her. “I was sort of thinking the same thing.”
Mom grinned and slung her arm around me. I shivered as I nestled into her chilly side. “Well, aren’t we two peas in a pod.”
Dad chuckled in the kitchen while Julian muttered, “Wusses.”
Before I could object to Julian’s comment, Mom looked at the solid wall that separated the living room and the kitchen. Clearly talking to Dad in the next room, she told him, “Ashley said Ben wants to come up soon. You’re supposed to call him.” I brightened at Mom’s comment. I loved Ben. He was one of Dad’s best friends, and even though we weren’t blood relatives, he felt like family, and all of us were very close…even though his wife and child had no idea what we really were.
Dad blurred into the room, his hands full of f
eathers. Mom and I grimaced at the exact same time. Dad ignored our reaction in his sudden excitement. “Really? I didn’t think he’d be able to come up this soon.”
He looked over at the handset next to Mom on the couch, then started heading to it, like he was going to call Ben right now. Mom put her hand over the phone, frowning as she pointed at Dad’s feathery-fingers. “I don’t think so, chicken-plucker. Maybe after you’ve cleaned up?”
Dad’s face was torn between amusement and annoyance. Seeing his expression, Mom smiled and murmured, “Besides, Ash said he went out to dinner with Tracey. They’ll be gone for hours.”
Dad blinked, his expression relaxing. “They’re back together?”
Mom looked down. Shaking her head, she sighed, “I don’t know. I think they’re working on things.”
Mom peeked up at Dad as Julian walked into the room. A layer of melancholy fell around everyone as we all absorbed Ben and Tracey’s marital troubles. From the little I’d overheard when we’d all been down there several weeks ago, Tracey had finally gotten fed up with Ben’s habitual lying.
The fact that Ben was lying to cover up the existence of vampires cut a little close to home for us. In his desire to help our family, and his own, Ben had become the human liaison with Gabriel’s old nest in Los Angeles and the growing number of vampires taking up residence in San Francisco. With Gabriel and Jordon’s help, Ben was implementing “rules” that any vampire living inside the city had to obey. Rumor had it that Ben was also “taking care of” any vampire who chose to not follow his rules. Ben was sort of the guardian of my birth city. Pretty cool. And, not that I’d mention it out loud, since Ben was practically family, but he was super-hot to boot.
But even if Ben was helping humans and vampires live in harmony with each other, my parents felt a huge amount of guilt over his muddled relationship. They felt responsible for showing him that our kind was real, for pulling back the curtain, so to speak. In fact, they felt so bad about the dissolution of his marriage that I’d heard them discussing finally wiping Tracey…and Ben…so they could have a fresh start. They’d already been blurring Tracey’s mind whenever we visited her, smudging the details of Mom and Dad’s youthful appearance in her brain. But Halina couldn’t run down and “alter” Tracey whenever she suspected something odd about Ben and his role as enforcer and peacekeeper. A full wipe was a more permanent solution, one they were reluctant to make.
Mom’s eyes watered, and she looked away. Dad sighed and looked at the floor. “Emma…we should…”
“We’ll talk about it later, Teren.”
I felt Julian’s uncertainty as he stepped next to Dad. I understood, I felt it too. I wanted to help, but it was an odd situation without any real answers. Having one foot in our world and one foot in the “real” world, it was a fine line for anyone to walk.
Clearing his throat, Julian tried to lighten the mood. “So, uh, is Ben going to bring…her?”
A laugh escaped me as Mom and Dad looked over at Julian. He frowned, genuinely unhappy. It only made me laugh harder. Dad smiled, already appearing lighter as he examined his son. “What? It’s cute, Julian.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Julian didn’t seem as amused as everyone else. I felt the slight smile in his mood though, the relief that he’d made Mom and Dad somewhat happier. “It’s annoying, Dad. And a little creepy.”
Mom tightened her arm around me as she told Julian, “It’s just a crush, Julian. All little girls get them. She’ll grow out of it.”
Julian sighed, shaking his head. I eased back on my laughter, feeling his annoyance, but I couldn’t help my glee at his predicament. Ben and Tracey had a daughter named Olivia, and Liv adored Julian. No, adored wasn’t quite the right word. Liv thought the sun rose and set by Julian’s command, thought the stars twinkled in his presence, thought he was the greatest human being ever put upon this Earth. Basically, she worshipped the ground Julian walked on. She might only be eleven years old, but she was already certain that she’d be marrying Julian one day. In fact, they were going to have five kids; she’d told me that during our last visit.
Mom and Dad laughed at the look on Julian’s face, their momentary heartbreak lifted. Dad nodded back at the kitchen. “Come on, let’s finish up. We’ll discuss ways you can thwart her advances.” Dad laughed harder as Julian’s frown turned into a scowl. Before Dad turned to leave, he blurred over to Mom and me. “Em?”
Mom wiped her eyes and looked up at him. Grinning like a little kid, Dad extended his hands full of feathers…then blew the white mess all over us. Mom and I screamed in surprise and disgust. Needless to say, Mom lost her self-control and shot to her feet to whack Dad on the shoulder a couple of times before he blurred back into the kitchen.
After he was gone, Mom stared down at herself. She was covered in little white tufts. Then she looked over at me, equally covered. She started laughing as she plucked a couple of tiny feathers from her hair. “Jackass,” she muttered.
I DIDN’T GET a chance to tell Julian about my day until after Mom and Dad retired for the evening. Kissing us goodnight, they walked to their bedroom hand-in-hand. Right before Mom closed their door, I heard her tell Dad, “You have something to say for yourself for that little feather incident?”
Moments before the door clicked shut, Dad’s husky voice answered her. “I have plenty to say…”
Mercifully, the door sealed a second later, and Julian and I weren’t subjected to any more of our parents’ flirting. Julian blurred into my room through our joint bathroom. “So…spill. What really happened this afternoon?”
I smiled, Hunter’s eyes filling my brain. “It was pretty much what I told you happened.” Sighing, I laid back on my bed. “But it was so much more than that, Julie.” Glancing over at him, I shrugged. “I felt something. Sparks. Something the guys around here just don’t give me.”
Julian grimaced and nodded. “That much of it, I got.”
Sighing, I sat up. “Sorry.”
Julian rolled his eyes. “I suppose it’s payback for all the times you’ve had to endure…” He sighed, stopping himself from talking about her for the zillionth time. “Well, are you two going to start seeing each other? Do I need to prepare for…anything?”
Knowing what he was referring to, I frowned. How were we going to have intimate relationships with other people, and not share it with each other? Well, I guess that question would have to wait. Nothing like that was going to happen with Hunter and me. Not anytime soon anyway. We’d only just met.
“No, nothing like that.” I shrugged. “We might meet up at the library once or twice a week, that’s all.” Julian raised an eyebrow, like he didn’t believe me. Feeling my own mix of excitement, wonder, and nerves…I didn’t believe me either. Putting my hand on Julian’s arm, I added, “But you can’t tell Mom and Dad about us.”
Julian blinked. “There’s an ‘us’ now?” Narrowing his eyes, he asked, “Why?”
I glanced at the wall separating us from our parents. Luckily, the soundproofing worked both ways. “You were right about his age.” I looked back at Julian. “Mom and Dad wouldn’t approve.” Dad especially. He wouldn’t be thrilled about his baby girl dating a boy who was no longer in his teens.
“How old is he, Nick? Can he vote?” I nodded and Julian immediately asked, “Can he drink…legally?”
Biting my lip, I whispered, “Almost…”
“Nika?” The way he said my name clearly implied that he thought I was being an idiot.
Irritated, I shook my head and spat out, “Hey, at least he’s single!”
Julian stood up, anger and sadness sweeping through him. Remorse and grief welled in me as I stood and put my hand on his arm again. I hadn’t meant to justify my crush by belittling Julian’s. That wasn’t fair, or nice. Julian’s temper cooled, but he still wouldn’t look at me. “Sorry.”
It was unnecessary to say it, since Julian could feel it, but he finally looked at me. “Just be careful, Nick,” he said, his m
ood settling. “Don’t turn into an absentminded schoolgirl on me now.”
Lifting a lip, I muttered, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
IT WAS OFFICIAL…my sister had turned into an idiot. Well, I supposed that wasn’t a fair assessment. And Lord knows I wasn’t one to talk about being foolish, but her heart was spouting rainbows and moonbeams for a guy she’d talked to one time. At least my feelings for Raquel had built over time—I hadn’t just looked at her once and known that I’d do anything to be with her. I wasn’t quite sure if that was where Nika’s head was, but her heart was screaming, “Take me, I’m yours.” It was a nightmare for me.
But at the same time, a part of me was happy for her. She was right when she’d said that no other guy had made her feel that way before. I knew that for a fact. And I did want my sister to feel the joy I felt when I thought about…things. But this guy? I wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was my big brother protectiveness kicking in, but there was something unsettling about him. Something I didn’t quite trust. Then again, I’d never talked to him, so what did I know. Besides the fact that he was almost old enough to buy us beer. Hmmm, well, I supposed Trey would be stoked about that.
Nika was a ball of excited energy as Starla took us to school a few days later. I was pretty sure it wasn’t the upcoming hours of tedium that were making her giddy either. When her eyes flashed over to where neighbor-boy lived, I figured he was the reason for her mood. She’d been exceptionally upbeat all week, but nothing like this. She must be planning to see him again today. Great. Well, at least it wouldn’t be at school, since he was too old to be there. I’d have a few hours reprieve before the gushing started.
When we screeched to a stop in the school parking lot, Nika leaned forward in the back seat to tell Starla, “I’m going to the library again after school today.”
Ah, the library…that would explain Nika’s gaiety. I tried to contain my concern as Starla shrugged and popped a bubble with her apple-flavored gum. “Sure thing, kid.” By the way she said it, Starla clearly didn’t see why Nika would want to waste her time with a bunch of books. If Starla realized that Nika’s “library” had just turned into the equivalent of a romantic candlelit restaurant, she might have appreciated it more. And she might have felt the same protectiveness I was feeling. Or maybe not. Starla was a bit ambivalent about the whole parenting thing.