A Man of Honor (A Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (The Honor Trilogy) (8 page)

“Storm…Storm.” The sound of Honor’s voice pulls me from my state of shock. “What…what… is it?” Her question is wavering. She doesn’t really want to know. My heart pounds in anticipation. Not sure what to say, I say nothing.

“Storm, c’mon, what is it? I’m scared. I
wanna throw up, so I know it’s something bad,” she insists.

How am I going to hide this? “Honor, it’s nothing.” Not the best explanation, but all I can think of.

“You’re lying. I know it’s bad.” She nudges my knee. “Tell me,” she nearly cries. “I’m feeling you. What is it? Please, you have to tell me.”

Bringing my head down, I’m ashamed. How do I keep her from worrying when she can feel every emotion? I wrap my hand
around the inside of her knee. “Honor.” I pause a long while. “You’re just gonna have to trust me. Yes, I’m scared, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. So please, don’t worry. Everything’ll be fine.”

She pushes my leg harder. “This is about that man who wants the elixir, isn’t it?”

I shake my head. She shouldn’t know this. Ethan must have told her. “What are you talking about?”

Honor pushes my leg one last time and stands. “You and Ethan are lying to me. I know it. I feel his anxiety every day. He’s scared. And I just know it has to be that man. He came back. Or he sent his men, didn’t he? Who was that guy who left me the note?” She’s standing with her hands on her narrow hips.

“I’m not sure.”

“He was one of them though?”

I nod. “Yes.”

My b
ody grows warm when she sits back down, this time right next to me so that our thighs are touching. Her hand grazes my leg when she asks, “Why are you hiding this from me? Do you think I can’t handle it?”

Crossing my arm over hers to place my hand on her thigh, I take a breath. “I know you can handle it. I just don’t want you worrying. Your heart doesn’t need the extra stress.”

“Stop.” She raises her voice. “You treat me like I’m going to break. I’m not made of glass, Storm. I’m stronger than that.” I watch her eyes roll. She’s annoyed. I get it.

“I’m sorry…I just…it’s bad.” My voice drops at the end of my sentence. Disheartened and out of control, I cannot bring myself to tell her that her life may be in jeopardy.

“How bad?”

“Very.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

Her scent is so sweet, it’s overwhelming, and I cannot help but bring my hand up to her face to touch her. Since she doesn’t back away, I let my fingers caress her ear and her neck. She’s beautiful. And so soft. “I’m trying.”

When her head leans into my hand, I pull her close and wrap my arm around her. With her head on my shoulder, I hear her whisper, “What are you trying?”

“I’ve concocted another elixir.”

Her head pops up. “What?”

“Yeah, well, since you wanted Ethan to get rid of the original…
and he actually listened to you
,” I shake my head in disbelief, “I had to come up with a new one.”

“How do you make an empath immortal elixir?”

“I have no idea. But I used the blood of empaths,” I say, silently asking her to believe the unbelievable.

“Whose?”

“Ethan’s. Tom’s. Hunter. Eli.”

“Oh…well…that’s all you need to make one?”

Shaking my head and pulling her back to me, simply because I want to be holding her again, I tell her about all the organic ingredients I had to buy.

“Turkey tail?” she asks. “What the heck is that?”

“What it sounds like.”

“Yuck.”

I laugh. “Yeah, tell me about it. The whole process was yuck.”

Popping her head back up, realization sets in. “
You
had to mix all that blood with all that stuff?” Her eyes narrow, trying to comprehend what I’m telling her.

“Yup. And cook it too.”

“Eww. Gross.”

“Yeah,” I answer, trying hard not to remember the stench.

“So now what? You have to give it to them?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Whenever they show up. It’s ready though.” I get up and walk to the kitchen, signaling for her to follow me.

“This is it,” I say, lifting the jugs and placing them on the table.

Her fingers reach out to touch the old glass. “You think it’s
gonna work? Will it really make someone an immortal empath?”

“No,
princess. It won’t. I’m just hoping to trick them for fifty years or so.” I say it as a joke, but we both know it’s not.

“Aren’t they going to be able to tell?” Honor pulls a chair from under the table and sits.

Sliding out another chair, I sit too. “Maybe,” I say, wishing I could know definitely. All this worrying has exhausted me. So when I rest my cheek in my palm, Honor asks me if I’m okay.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head,
sweetheart. We’ll be fine.” But the words come out monotone and she frowns.

“Don’t talk to me like that.”

My head jerks up. “Like what?”

“Condescendingly.”

“Where in the hell did that come from?”

“I don’t know.” She sighs. “Like calling me
pretty-little’
. I’m nearly as tall as you, so obviously you meant it in a way that you think you’re superior to me.”

“Oh my god, Honor. Really? How ‘bout I say my pretty large sweetheart? Oh, but wait, then I’d be calling you fat.”
Making sure I smile so she doesn’t get offended, I bat my eyes at her.

It works. She laughs.

Relief washes over me when she finally breaks into a smile. Then tingles stream up my arm when she reaches for my hand.

“I’m sorry, Storm. I’m just touchy because of all this. Your emotions and Ethan’s emotions – they’re scaring me. And until you just told me, I didn’t know why. You always try to protect me and…” She shrugs. “It makes me feel stupid.”

I drop my shoulders in realization. “Oh, Honor, that is not my intent. At. All. I just don’t want to see you hurt. I know you can take care of yourself.”

“Then stop treating me like I can’t, and tell me things. I can handle it.”

Turning my hand to grasp hers, I squeeze it. “Okay. You want the truth?” I ask with as much warning as I can, just to give her a chance to change her mind.

Her teeth graze her bottom lip. “Yes,” she says resolutely.

Taking both my hands in hers now, I scoot closer and look her dead in the eyes. “If this man doesn’t get the elixir,” I pause, hoping for courage to continue, “he will come after you. He knows your blood is powerful. I don’t know how, but he knows you’re different. Maybe because your grandfather was, I’m not sure. What I do know is, if he takes you, that’ll be it. He’ll use your blood for
his
good only.” I wait for her reaction. It’s just a swallow. “There’s even a chance that when he gets the elixir…he’ll still take you.”

This time her hand shoots to her mouth, and I hear a soft gasp.

“I will do my best to keep him from doing that,” I promise, now taking her one hand in both of mine. “Even if I have to find him and kill him myself.”

Her bulging violet eyes scream at me in terror, arresting my heart and suspending my speech. My own chin trembles in fear along with her. My deep love and concern for her causes empathy I’ve never felt before – even when I actually could feel the pain of others.

My throat closes and my lungs are tight. Honor’s eyes, still unblinking, glisten with tears as she sits there zombie-like at my kitchen table. I need to find my voice. I need to suppress my own fear in order to provide her comfort.

Though my chest is tight, I force myself to inhale big and slow, exhaling even more slowly before I speak. “Honor,” I whisper, pushing out my chair to stand and pulling her up with me as I do. “It’ll be okay. I promise. We’ll figure it out.”

Still holding onto her hands, I lead her onto the couch. She sips the water waiting for
her on the end table.

“We just have to come up with a plan
,” I tell her and hope to begin alleviating some of her anticipation.

Honor still holds her glass – staring into it as if it has the answers.

“First of all,” I proceed cautiously, speaking to the side of Honor’s head, since her gaze hasn’t left the glass. “I know you are capable of taking care of yourself,” and I think, obviously in this situation, she feels incapable. “But in this case, you
will
need protection.
Every minute
,” I emphasize.

She finally turns toward me but says nothing.

“What’s this with Ethan going to his apartment after school? Why doesn’t he just stay with you?”

She just shakes her head slightly.

“Honor. We need to talk about this.”

Sitting back against the couch, she places her glass down and puts the bottom of her palms against her temples.

“I know it’s hard to hear. You’re only seventeen and someone’s after you, but now that it’s out there, we have to discuss it.”

She leans her head back against the couch and moves her palms to her forehead before dropping them on her lap.

I scoot over.

“Storm,” she says quietly. “I’m afraid. What will my parents do without me?”

“Your parents? That’s what you’re worried about – what your parents will do? Aren’t you afraid for yourself?”

She shrugs and looks at me with big eyes. “Sort of. I mean, yeah, definitely. But…I’m all my parents have. They’d be worried sick if someone else took me. They barely made it through the last time.”

I can’t help but laugh. A good, hearty laugh. Not that what Honor says is funny, but it cracks me up nonetheless.

Draping my arm around her, I pull her close. Her head feels nice on my shoulder. I kiss the top of her head and leave my lips there for a few seconds.

“Honor, does Ethan always just drop you off and go to his house after school?”

“No, just a couple times a week to get more clothes or do his laundry. He feels funny doing it at my house.”

“Well then on those days, please let me know and I’ll come over. Your parents are usually working then, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Will you be honest with me? Let me know when you’re gonna be alone?”

“Yeah. I’ll be honest.”

I sigh. “I’m sorry it has to be this way.”

Honor says nothing, but I hear her moan beneath her breath.

“There’s another matter we need to talk about.”

She raises her head from my shoulder but stays in my arms. “What?”

“Moore.”

“
Mr.
Moore?”

I nod.

“Why?”

“I’m almost positive he has something to do with this.”

Her eyes grow wide, and she raises her eyebrows. “What?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s an empath. And I’m pretty sure he’s up to no good.”

“But his eyes aren’t violet,” Honor exclaims.

“Maybe he’s wearing contacts. I don’t know. All I know is…there’s something not right where he’s concerned. I have to figure out what it is.”

“How you gonna do that?”

I unwrap my arm from hers and lean back into the couch. “I don’t know yet.”

“Can I help? He likes me, maybe I can find things out.”

I lean forward, turning to her. “You
cannot
be alone with him. I don’t trust him.”

“Well,” I see in her eyes she’s searching for an idea. “What if I go for help again after school, and you can stand outside in the hall? I’ll put your phone on speed dial, and if I call, you run right in.”

“Hmm,” I think out loud. “That may work…let me think about it – what we can ask and stuff.”

She nods.

We stare at each other now. Since some of our fears have been appeased, other emotions take over. She has that look in her eyes. The one that makes me want to kiss her. But we’ve been here before. I do not want to go there again…not right now.

“I think I should get you home,” I whisp
er, still gazing into her eyes.

“Um, okay,” she says, holding my stare with the want she shows in her eyes.

I know she wants me. I think. Maybe she’s absorbing my desires and bouncing them back to me unintentionally. But who knows. Whatever it is, right now we want to kiss each other. Her eyelids drop just a hair, but I know the look. She’s inviting me. My heart races. My breathing picks up. While still looking into her intense violet eyes, I catch her chest rising and falling quite rapidly. When she leans in, it takes all I’ve got to break the connection and stand up. I want her, yes, but not until she can give herself fully to me.

Not until she is done with Ethan.

“Well, princess.” I resort back to my cool, distant self – a protective tactic I’ve grown very good at. “Let’s get you home.” Grabbing my keys off the table by the front door, I say, “We’ll put your bike in my trunk so you don’t have to leave it here.”

Reluctantly, and pleasing to me to know she likes it here, Honor rises from the couch and follows me out.

“Cute bike, princess. Love the basket,” I add. “But you shouldn’t leave your purse where anyone can take it.”

“Oh my god,” she cries. “I forgot I had it in there.”

When we pull into her driveway, Ethan’s sitting on her front step. He sees us and storms toward the car.

“Where were you, Honor? I’ve been worried sick. Why didn’t you answer your phone…or call me back?”

“Oh, Ethan,” she says, barely out of the car, “I left my purse with my bike and forgot about it. I’m so sorry.”

Ethan gives me a stern look of the eye before responding to Honor. “You had me worried, sweetheart,” he says more calmly.

“I’m sorry, Eeth,” she says, giving him a quick peck on the lips. And don’t think I missed the fact that she darted her eyes at me right after.

Ethan eyes me up and down but talks to Honor when he asks, “What were you doing with him?”

I wheel her bike up to the garage door, and I hear him ask, “And why does he have your bike?”

“He didn’t want me driving it home.” Her voice is quiet, as if she’s unsure of what to tell him.

So I interject. “Ethan,” I snap. “We need to talk.”

His eyes shoot from me to Honor, and I can’t help but chuckle at what he must be thinking. “Calm down, little brother, I’m not talking about Honor and me.” Though I wish I were. “It’s
him
, he’s made contact with Honor.”

“What?” he exclaims, livid as hell.

“Let’s do this inside. I don’t trust it out here,” I suggest. “Are your parents home, Honor?”

“Not yet.”

“Good. Though we’ll need to tell them soon.”

Honor’s eyes close for a second, her shoulders drop, and she sighs.

We walk into Honor’s house with me lagging behind. I take a quick look around, swearing I feel something dark around us. I close the door.