Dark Secrets (51 page)

A pompous smirk
occupied his face. “Pretty passionate about this, aren’t
ya?”

“
It’s because I’ve
been there. I almost crossed that bridge a few times.”

He swallowed hard,
becoming suddenly very still. “Will you come to it again when I
leave?”

Maybe
. “No.” I smiled. “And you
won’t, either. Look, I know you can’t die, but you have to promise
me that no matter what—” I took both David’s hands in mine,
“—promise me you’ll keep going, and that you’ll try to make your
life good again after I’m gone.”

“
Do you mean gone as
in old-and-grey-dead, or gone as in
you’re-not-coming-with-me?”

I sighed. “You have to
be prepared for it, David. What we have is so wonderful, it will
always be wonderful, but it might just be a wonderful memory.” I
squeezed his fingertips until he looked at me. “Promise me that if
I choose to stay human, you will love again—you will keep fighting
for happiness.”

David wrapped his
wrists around my lower back and pressed my waist to his. “I
am
nothing
without you. I won’t promise to go on, because it would be a
lie.” He kissed my brow. “When you die, when you no longer exist, I
will give myself to the monster inside me, Ara. I won’t survive,”
he said, then smiled. “You will just have to promise me
forever.”

“
I
want to. But today, I can only promise
my
forever—not
yours.”

He exhaled heavily,
leaning back, a mischievous grin igniting his eyes as he looked
into mine. “I’ll make you see reason. I can be very
persuasive.”

“
And I can be very
stubborn.”

“
And that, mon amour,
is one of the things I love about you,” he said with a husky laugh.
“But please, just don’t be too stubborn. I only have until the last
leaf turns red and falls from the last tree. Then, I must
go.”

There was nothing more
to say. A choice had to be made. We could have the summer
together—it was our only promise. But everything else would just
take more consideration.

I sat down between his
legs, my back against his chest, his soft breath warming the top of
my head, and awed the tranquil serenity of the lake for a while.
Then, as my mind wandered over everything we just said, it stopped
on one particular inquisition. “Okay, so tell me?” I squinted
against the sun as I turned slightly to look at him. “When exactly
did you want to feed from me?”

David laughed aloud.
“It was right here on this spot, actually. The second time we came
to the lake. Do you remember it?”

He obviously didn’t
know how clearly I remembered
everything
he and I had ever done
together. “When you should’ve kissed me.”

“
Yes. It was very
stupid of me. Not just because I didn’t kiss you when I had the
chance, but also because I hadn’t had blood in two days. Which
would’ve been fine if it weren’t for these—” He ran his thumb along
my lower lip; I closed my eyes, revelling in the tickly sensation.
“Then, to make matters worse, I had to contend with your warm,
velvet skin, your sweet smelling breath and this.” He placed his
hand on my chest. “I nearly completely lost control.”

“
Really?”

“
Yes, but, after that
day, I now know what I’m capable of. I need you in my life more
than I need nourishment. I’m pretty sure that—” he grinned warmly,
“—kissing you shouldn’t be a problem.”

“
I
think I kinda knew.” I laid back against his chest. “I mean, I knew
there was
some
reason you wouldn’t kiss me, but I just never imagined it was
because you wanted to bite me.”

He smiled and kissed
my forehead.

“
Well,” I mused, “I
suppose that’s the best excuse I’ve ever had for a boy not wanting
to kiss me.”

“
There’ve been
others?” David asked, curiosity lifting his tone.

“
No, well, one—when I
was about five. But that was because of cooties.”

“
Hm, yes, cooties.
Horrible disease. Caught it once, myself,” he joked.

“
Was it from a
girl?”

“
Well, it wasn’t from
a cat, if that’s what you’re asking.” David chuckled and pulled me
tighter, kissing my forehead again—like his lips couldn’t get
enough of me.

We sat still for a
while, quietly listening to the sound of our own thoughts—or maybe
just mine. David and I could exist like this, in perfect unity,
where the silent whispers of our minds filled the warm space around
us. It didn’t feel uncomfortable. And despite him knowing every
little thought I had, including things like needing to go to the
bathroom, it, strangely enough, wasn’t awkward.

“
David?”

“
Yes, my
love.”

“
No matter what I
choose, you know I’ll love you for as long as I live,
right?”

He drew a long breath,
becoming so still the only sound around us was the gentle songs of
birds along the soft breeze. “Then, I guess,” he said softly,
releasing his breath, “I must hope that you will choose to live
forever.”

I wrapped his arms
tighter around my shoulders and sat back, imagining it, as a
darkened summer glow trilled across the southern sky, lighting the
dusk with a brilliant red. The treetops turned orange first, and
then, as the shadow of the night descended into the forest, I could
no longer see the lake beside us, but marvelled at the
heavens—littered with thousands of brightly twinkling
stars.

In that moment, there
was no death, no immortality, and farewells were for the unlucky.
There was only David and I, and the night—forever.

For
my
forever.

Chapter
Nineteen

Leaning my shoulder
against the window frame, I watched the sun rise over the hills to
the east—the very same hills David ran to when he stole the blue
rose. It’d been only four days since I was thrust into the world of
the supernatural, but I still felt just as confused. No clarity had
come with time passing. No decision had come waking me in the
middle of the night, telling me if I should go with him or remain
human. I was starting to wonder if it would.

The morning breeze
brushed over the trees outside, forcing those below to hold onto
their hats and papers a little tighter as they headed into the
school. And I saw them all in a different kind of light now. Any
one of them could be like David—there was no way of knowing. They
all looked so normal, so human. Like he did, I guess.

I looked down at my
soft, pale white hands and the little blue veins running under the
skin, rising slightly over the bones.
These
were the hands of a
mythological vampire, not David’s; his were warmer than mine, and
pink and strong, and they shook a little when he held them out in
front of him for too long. I wondered how much of that was
well-rehearsed human behaviour, or really just the way his hands
were, which made me wonder what he would have been like when he was
human.

“
Morning, beautiful.”
He sprung up on my windowsill.

I stumbled back, hand
over chest—trying to stop my heart from leaping out. “David. You
have a habit of popping up when I’m thinking about you.”

“
Do I?”

“
Mm, but I think you
already know that.”

He grinned and placed
a paper bag in my hand, kissing my cheek as he stepped into my
room. “For the ogre.”

“
Ooh. Yum.” The warm scent of vanilla and cinnamon wafted out
in a moist puff from the bag. “Afraid I’ll bite you if the ogre
gets
tempestuous
again?”

“
Don’t joke—” He
pointed at me as he flopped down on my bed. “Your bite is pretty
sharp for a fangless wonder.”

“
Says he whose
bruises recovered in ten seconds.” I walked over to sit next to
him. “You want some?”

He shook his head.
“I’ve eaten already.”

“
Food or…”

“
I missed you last
night,” he said softly, pushing the curtain of hair away from my
face, totally ignoring my question.

“
Oh, what? You mean you
didn’t
sneak into my room?”

“
Well, I came by to
check on you, but I never stay if your dreams are
peaceful.”

“
How would you know
they’re peaceful?”

“
I can see them.” He
grinned and laid back on my pillow. “Last night, you were dreaming
about Mike.”

Dread spread through
me, stiffening my arms.

“
Ha!” His lips turned
up sharply, showing his fangs. “So, you remember your dream,
then?”

I rolled my eyes. “It
wasn’t like that.”

He scoffed, tucking
his hands behind his head. “Looked pretty intense to
me.”

“
You’re reading into it wrong,” I said, trying my hand at
dream analysis. “I wasn’t dreaming about
Mike
, specifically, just the
friendship I had with him…that I now have with you—only that
with
you
, I have
so much more. His face was a representation of
our
relationship, but the body,” I
scoffed, motioning to David’s fine chest, “was clearly
you.”

David nodded, still
smiling, with an edge of mockery in his eyes. “Should I be
worried?”

“
No,” I said with a
mouthful of pastry. “Don’t be silly.”

“
Do you love
Mike?”

“
No.”

He sat up, dropping
his elbows to his knees, his hands clasped. “You sure?”

I sighed. “Look, I do
love Mike, but it’s a different kind of love. Here.” I took his
hand and placed it against my cheek. “You told me you can see the
past if I let you—see for yourself. Read my mind.”

His emerald-green eyes
darted over my face. “Really? You’ll let me read your
mind?”

“
Mm-hm.”

He closed his eyes,
exhaling slowly. “Thank you, Ara.”

“
Did you
see?”

“
No.” He pulled his
hand down from my face. “If you say you don’t love him that way,
then I believe you. I don’t need to see it in your memories. Just
don’t break my heart, okay?”

“
Okay. I promise.
Now, can you stop hassling me and let me get ready for school?
We’re gonna be late.” I popped the last bite of pastry into my
mouth and kissed David on the lips. “Thanks for breaky, by the way.
It was delicious.”

“
I imagine it must’ve
tasted the way you would,” he said thoughtfully.

“
Well,
you’ll
never know.” I winked at him, then practically skipped into
my wardrobe. After I pulled my shirt off and snapped the clasp of
my bra behind me, a warm, honest chuckle filled my room. I peeked
around the corner.

“
How old were you in
this photo?” David asked, without looking up from the small square
sheet.

“
Two or three, I
think.”

“
The boy next to you
is Mike?”

“
Yup, and he’d just
tipped a bucket of bathwater over my head.”

“
Yeah, I kinda
gathered that.” David nodded, smiling tenderly at the picture. “He
picked on you a lot, didn’t he?”

“
Yup. Not much has
changed, really.”

David slipped the
photo back into my nightstand where he’d been snooping. “You were a
very cute baby.”

“
I know. So, what
about you?” I headed back to my wardrobe and shimmied into my
jeans. “Do you have any baby pictures?” His pause of consideration
turned into a long silence, so I stepped back into my room.
“David?”

“
There were some.” He
nodded, his gaze distant. “My father was never one for portraits.
As Jason and I grew older and would sit for long enough, my uncle
had a few done. There may still be one in existence.”

“
Didn’t your mother
ever have one done?” I asked, and David’s eyes darkened instantly.
I covered my mouth with both hands. “I’m sorry—that just slipped
out. I forgot she passed away.”

“
No, no, Ara, it’s
fine. Please—” he took my hand, “—don’t be sorry.”

“
But I am. I feel
really bad. I should’ve remembered that.” I slumped down on the bed
beside him, sucking my gut in a little since I had no shirt to
cover it.

“
Make you a deal.” He
ran his thumb over my bra strap. “You can say whatever you want to
me, if you do it dressed like this.”

I laughed. “Should I
go put on a shirt?”

He smiled.
“No.”

“
Will you tell me
about her—your mother?”

His gaze drifted to
distant places. “I mentioned once that she died when I was a
baby?”

“
Yes.
Childbirth?”

“
Yes.”

I clicked my tongue.
“Aw, David.”