Shades of Amber (14 page)

He walked toward me but
the piano was somewhat of a barrier. “If I come at you from the
side, you’ll be cornered. Wouldn’t you rather just come to
me?”

My gaze flew to the spot
near the couch, and then back to him. His smile turned predatory as
he watched me.

“
What happened to
you?”

He ran his hand through
his hair and sighed. “It’s a long story, but I do owe it to
you.”

“
Why?” I had two choices:
squeeze between the wall and piano to get to the hallway or make a
run for the bathroom, and lock myself inside.

Troy stepped closer.
“Because I need you, and you have to know this if we’re going to be
together.” Now, he was less than four feet away.

“
No, I’ve already decided
we can’t be together.”

“
You’ve already decided
that, have you?” He stepped to the left.

“
Yes. You and I are a lot
different than we used to be. We can’t go back to the way things
were.”

Running a finger over the
smooth piano lid, he stared at me with eyes so piercing I felt it
in my soul. “And… what about what
I
want?” he asked, taking another step to the
left.

“
You can’t have
me.”

His eyes glittered as they
held mine. “I’ve already had you, remember? You weren’t ready for
me back then, but now that you’ve given yourself to
me.…”

I balked at his cocky
attitude. “What?”

He smirked. “I think
you’ll find it a lot harder to go on without me.”

A shiver crept down my
spine. “Why?”

Troy moved to the left
again, and I realized what he’d been doing. He was at the side of
the piano—one more step and he’d have me cornered. I lunged before
he could move, but he grabbed me, holding me so close that I
couldn’t breathe anything but his scent. There was nowhere to
go.

“
We’re a part of each
other now. You might’ve been able to escape before, but now you’ll
always be mine.”

I pushed at his chest
before I noticed the silver medallion around his neck. Pulling him
close, I fingered the engraved coin. After all the time we’d spent
together, I still didn’t know what it stood for. “What is
this?”

“
Saint Christopher is the
patron saint of travelers.”

I looked at it again,
studying the etchings. “You like to travel?”

“
I went to the ends of the
earth to occupy my mind, but no matter where I went, I longed for
you—I wondered how you passed the time, and if you were thinking
about me.”

“
Why did you come
back?”

“
I’d rather be where you
are.”

Such sweet sentiments, but
I couldn’t ignore the truth. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Troy leaned his head on my
shoulder. “I have to tell you something.”

“
Okay.”

He led me to the couch,
and put his arm around my shoulder. “Centuries ago, two men fell in
love with a woman whose light brown skin, and soulful grey eyes
were the most divine of any woman in the area. One man offered his
love and an amber palace he helped build with his own hands, while
the other offered a future filled with powerful magic, and a
hundred room mansion on the Bayou.”

Troy examined the carpet.
“Angelique was a powerful psychic. People used to come from all
over just to discover the future she saw for them. Where Nikoli saw
Angelique as a way to move up in the magical hierarchy, Christian
believed they could have a magical love.”

Troy pinned me with his
fiery gaze. “And in a way he was right. They had a wonderful life
until their fairy tale became a nightmare.”

“
Why are you telling me
this?” My breath caught when I finally looked at him. I grabbed his
face, eyeing him closely.

His eyes were more than
hazel—flecks of amber illuminated them like the facets of a
diamond. My fingers traced his frown as I tried to put the pieces
together.

“
What happened to them,
Troy? Who are they?”

When he stopped staring at
the ceiling, his eyes were a solid hazel. “They’re my
ancestors.”

Although many thoughts had
flooded my mind, I hadn’t pictured that. I opened my mouth to ask
another question, but someone knocked at the door.

Rubbing my chest, I tried
to calm my racing heart. Who knew what he would’ve said next. It
wasn’t often that I got the chance to learn about his past. I
glared at the door, wishing they’d go away.

¤¤¤¤

Secrets

I’ve waited years to tell
you this…

The secrets that have made
me tick,

But you will never
understand

How hard it’s
been

To play
pretend.

To act like I

Don’t know that
I

Am living on this borrowed
time.

But something sweet beats
in the dark,

Tempting fate with all its
heart.

-Troy

Chapter 15

…
Troy…

My fist unclenched as I
opened the door to a small woman with greying hair.

“
You have a call in the
library.” Miss Maggie’s voice was as soft and gentle as her
appearance, which hadn’t changed much since I was a
toddler.

I sighed.
“Regarding?”

“
They wouldn’t
say.”

“
I’ll be there in a
moment.”

“
Yes, sir.”

I slammed the door and
went back to Jade.

“
You don’t have a phone in
here?” she asked as I pulled her onto my lap.

“
I don’t like
distractions.”

If Miss Maggie had arrived
a few minutes later, I could’ve had my talk with Jade, and we’d be
one step closer to moving forward.

Sensing the pin in our
conversation, Jade kissed my cheek and got to her feet. “Come on,
your call is waiting.”

I grabbed her hand as she
raced toward the exit. “You don’t know where you’re
going.”

“
I can’t believe I’m
saying this--” She held up her wrists and tugged at imaginary
handcuffs. “Take me to my cell, I need some space.”

I smirked. “Come on, the
call will only take a minute.”

After two attempts, she
finally allowed me to take her hand. Somehow, Jade remained quiet
as we passed through the halls and down a flight of
stairs.

It would’ve been more
polite to ask what she was thinking, but I picked her thoughts
instead.

Jade was a tornado of
emotion—anger, irritation, joy, with a tinge of lust.

Unfortunately, we reached
the library before I could comment. I opened the door to a spacious
room with floor to ceiling shelves.

Her lips curved up when
she saw the couches and chairs around the fireplace.

“
Help
yourself.”

She hugged a leather book
to her chest and wandered toward the sitting area as I picked up
the phone.

“
Hello?”

“
Troy? You need to get
down here. There’s a six-foot hole in the bow.”

“
My Father can handle
it.”

“
He won’t be back for
weeks.” Milton’s voice rose. “The coastguard wants you here while
they conduct an investigation.”

“
Now is not a good time.”
I managed to sound menacing, even though the sight of Jade draped
over my favorite chair stole my attention.

“
It looks like
sabotage.”

“
You’re
kidding.”

The longer he stayed
silent, the angrier I became.

“
Fine, I’ll be there
shortly.”

I slammed the phone on the
cradle.

Sabotage. I didn’t want to
leave Jade alone, but she’d probably get into more trouble if I
brought her.

I bent down, tracing her
collarbone with my index finger. “Hear anything
interesting?”

“
Hmm?” Her radiant brown
eyes landed on my face.

I set the book on the
coffee table and took her hand. “Since when do you speak
Latin?”

“
High school. She exhaled.
“Where are you going?”

“
I have to take care of
something for my father.”

She looked away, but I
caught the hint of her smile.

“
Don’t worry, I’ll be back
before you get into anything.” I stood up, enjoying the way she
inhaled when I stretched.

“
You can take your
time.”

“
Can’t wait for me to go,
can you, cher?” I offered my hand, yanking her against my chest
when she hesitated. “We’ll have to work on your trust issues.” I
guided her to the door, knowing that the sooner I left, the sooner
I could return to my feisty beauty.

Other than a muttered
“bite me,” she didn’t acknowledge me until we were in her
room.

“
You are the worst!” Jade
said as I hugged her and strode toward the door. “Wait! Are you
going to lock me in?”

I rested my back against
the wall as she fidgeted. “No, not this time, so be
good.”

¤¤¤¤

Outsider

Waiting,

Watching,

Looking in,

Seeing all that

could have
been.

When I look at

how things are,

I wonder how

this life
occurred.

I take a

CHANCE

to wonder if

This life I
live

is worth the
risk.

Chapter 16

Jade

There was so much to think
about, but someone knocked before I could lay all my thoughts on
the table. I rose from my vanity and opened the door.

Miss Maggie smiled. “Good
evening.”

“
Good evening.”

“
A letter came for you.”
The matronly woman produced a white envelope with my name printed
in bold font.

I studied it front and
back. “Who’s it from?”

She shrugged. “It came
through the mail slot.”

“
Oh.” I opened the
envelope and examined the white piece of copy paper.

HE IS NOT WHO YOU THINK HE
IS.

GET OUT WHILE YOU
CAN!

The note fell to the floor
as I rubbed my hands down my face.

“
What’s wrong?” Miss
Maggie squeezed my shoulder.

“
Are you absolutely sure
you don’t know who left it?”

She nodded. “What did it
say?”

Fear gripped me as I
looked around the room. I needed the slippers from yesterday;
better yet, my sneakers. Running to the closet, I dug around,
resolved to put on whatever I could find.

“
Come on,” I muttered as I
tossed sheets and clothing over my shoulder.

Bingo!

I sat on the couch once I
found my sneakers and purse. Everything was there except my phone,
which must’ve still been in the car. “I have to leave.”

Miss Maggie sat next to me
and held my left shoe as I worked on the right. “If you leave,
he’ll be extremely upset.”

I took a deep breath and
tried not to take my anger and fear out on her. It was
difficult.

“
Do you know what he
is?”

She folded her hands in
her apron. “No, Miss. What is he?”

I sighed and ran my hand
over my wild curls. “I don’t know, but that note says I would be
stupid to stick around.”

Her grey eyes sought mine.
“Don’t you love him?”

“
I did love him… once. But
I don’t know who he is anymore and I can’t make myself pick up
where we left off two years ago.”

She touched my hand.
“Where will you go?”

“
I’ll go home. What city
are we in?”

She looked surprised. “New
Orleans.”

That meant I was almost
500 miles from home.

“
Yes, Troy was born and
raised here, left for college, and moved back a couple of years
ago—been here off and on since then.”

“
He’s only 23, isn’t
he?”

“
Oh, yes, still young,
that one.”

I was still young, too. I
loved Troy, but I didn’t want to know how much of him had stayed
the same. That letter told me to get out and my gut said I should
listen.

“
Will you please help me
get out of here?”

She shook her head. “I
can’t, Miss Jade.”

I took her wrinkled hand
in both of mine. “Please, please! Could you call me a
cab?”

She exhaled.
“Alright.”