Caught in Darkness (31 page)

She heard what he wasn’t saying. She
remembered how starved she’d felt when she’d first woken up the previous night,
and she imagined that if someone who’d been freshly Turned had woken up
completely alone that that could go much worse. Especially if the new vampire
didn’t know what had happened to them.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, her
hand tightening around his. “I’m sorry to be dragging you from your job so
much.”

Seth shifted, reaching around her
and tugging the glass from her loose grip. He set it down on the coffee table
and then dragged her into his side, wrapping his arms fully around her and
holding her tight. “You don’t need to apologize,” he assured her quietly. “I’m
the one who should be apologizing for letting this happen to you in the first
place.”

“Don’t go getting all guilty on
me,” Veronica scolded half-heartedly, her head resting on his strong shoulder. God
he smells good. Had she noticed that before? She must have, but her new
enhanced sense of smell made him smell infinitely better. It took effort just
to drag
herself
back to the conversation they were
having. “The situation might not have been the way I’d wanted, but I had
already decided to ask you to
Turn
me.”

Seth’s arms tightened around her
and he shifted until his lips were beside her temple before he asked, “Why?”

“I already answered that,
remember?” she teased quietly, her eyes drifting shut.
“Because
I love you.
Because I can’t imagine going a single day
without you.”
And if the worst happens, now I have a few million more
days to worry about. She wasn’t sure where the thought had come from, but it
startled her enough to make her tense in his arms, her fingers curling into his
shirt. “So, do
me
a favor and don’t die anytime soon,
okay?”

“Veronica,” Seth murmured, his
breath ghosting over her ear as he eased back gently. He tipped her chin up
with his forefinger, holding her gaze for a moment before bowing his head and
capturing her lips in a slow, tender kiss. Then he pulled back and added, “When
this is over, remind me to ask you about Bonding.”

“Bonding?”
Veronica repeated as she blinked up at him. It was hard enough to restart her
brain in order to think about normal things (though what passed for ‘normal’
anymore was up for debate), but did he have to go and throw a new term at her?

“I’ll explain it later,” Seth said,
pressing his lips to her forehead.
“When you’re ready.”

Her heart tripped in her chest. The
very word sounded promising. “Who says I’m not ready now?”

Seth chuckled, the sound vibrating
through his chest and straight into hers. “Your body needs to stabilize first,
sweetheart. Give it a few more days.”

She swallowed, a smile tipping her
lips. That was the first time he’d ever called her anything other than
Veronica. Okay, so maybe he still hasn’t said the words back to me. That’s a
hell of a start. “Oh,” she teased softly, “you meant that kind of ready.”

Pounding on the door roused
Veronica from a light, restless sleep on Friday afternoon and she groaned as
she squeezed her eyes open. She officially understood why Seth had covered all
of the condo’s windows with thick, dark drapes. Even through the heavy fabric
she felt like the outside sunlight was burning her. She wasn’t looking forward
to her first trip outside in the daylight—which Seth had told her they should
work on in the next day or two. He’d even said something about going for a walk
(just a couple of blocks, at least) through downtown by the end of the weekend,
to test her strength of will against the onslaught of temptation. Of course, he
hadn’t quite worded it like that.

“Where is she?”

The question—more like a command
and an accusation all rolled into one—drew Veronica’s attention back to the
present as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. She would know that
voice anywhere; it was Allison. Guilt tightened like a vice in her chest,
clamping over her heart. She sucked in a sharp breath but before she could
really dwell on the guilt something else was churning inside of her. Even from
the opposite end of the condo she could smell Allison’s perfume—and, more importantly,
the blood beneath her skin. This was the first time she’d been anywhere near
someone who wasn’t a vampire since she’d been Turned.

“What are you talking about?” Seth’s
voice was cautiously curious and she only barely heard it.

“Don’t play that game with me,”
Allison snapped irritably. There was a heavy thud, indicating that Allison had
likely shoved her way inside and shut the door as she’d been speaking. “You
have to know. Everything around here was completely normal until you showed up,
and now if we’re to believe the police Veronica’s dead? That’s crap! Where is
she? What have you done to her?”

Veronica’s fists
clenched around the sheet beneath her as she fought the urge to go and talk to
her friend.
Oh, Ali, I’m so sorry. The guilt was doing an amazing job of
keeping her from focusing on the smell of the freely-flowing blood just down
the hall, but Allison’s ever-rising blood pressure (and subsequently increasing
heartbeat) was doing its best to earn her attention. She had never fathomed
being able to hear so well, but in the moment it was only a curse.

Seth released a low sigh and
replied, “I’m sorry, Allison, but I haven’t done anything to her. And you
really shouldn’t be here right now.”

The unmistakable sound of a slap
echoed throughout the apartment and Veronica cringed. She’d have to apologize
to Seth for her friend’s behavior later.

“You bastard!”
Allison cried, tears in her voice. “She trusted you! She relied on you, and you
can’t even be bothered to be upset over this? Or do you expect me to believe
that you’re innocent and just didn’t know until right this second?”

“I am upset,” Seth assured her
calmly. “But I don’t show it the way you do. I’m sure she would be touched to
know you tracked me down for her, but you need to leave.”

“Why?” Allison challenged,
suspicion vying for dominance in her voice now. “What are you hiding?” There
was a poignant pause before Allison exclaimed, “Oh, god…she’s here, isn’t she? You’ve
got her, and you won’t even let me see her? What kind of a monster are you?”

Veronica really, really wanted to
go out there and smooth things over between them. Not that she expected Allison
to be all that calm and cool with the truth. But she knew she shouldn’t—she
knew she couldn’t. Seth had been right before; she really couldn’t put that
kind of weight on Allison’s shoulders. But it was so hard.

“Allison,” Seth
said,
an almost undetectable twinge of alarm in his voice, “you really can’t be here.
I’m not hiding anything, but I’m expecting-”

“Just shut up,” Allison snapped,
her voice shaking with a mixture of fury and heartbreak. “Shut up and move out
of my way or I swear to god I’ll call the police and blow all your secrets
right out of the water.”

Veronica released the mattress and
wrapped her arms around herself, lips tightly secured between her teeth and
eyes squinted against the sudden burning of tears. She felt like a terrible
person for sitting there and letting her surrogate sister continue to believe
she was lost. She just didn’t know what else she could possibly do.

The front door opened a beat later
and for an instant hope sparked in her chest. But before she could remind
herself that she knew better that hope was squashed.

“I didn’t know we were expecting
company,”
Jasen
declared smoothly. And despite the
fact that Veronica suspected there was a threat behind every word he spoke she
couldn’t help but feel like the threat was more apparent this time. Her stomach
rolled and her heart clenched. This was not going to end well.

“Who’re you?” Allison demanded
fearlessly. Her heartbeat betrayed her undoubtedly confident posture, but she
had no way of knowing that.

“He’s a friend of mine,” Seth
interrupted. “Please understand that this isn’t a good time or place for you to
be, Allison. I’m sorry.”

“Friend?”
Allison repeated carefully. “Is he in on the conspiracy, then? Because I don’t
care how many bloodsucking nightmares stand in my way, I won’t stop until I get
the real answer.”

Oh, no.

“You want a real answer?”
Jasen
asked pointedly. “The ‘real answer’ is that you
should have left the first time Hunter told you to. I don’t have his patience,
woman. Leave.”

Allison’s heartbeat increased again
and Veronica could practically see the look on her face. “Make me.”

No! Before she knew what she was
doing she’d leapt to her feet and run from the room. Only, she was still
getting used to being more than human, and instead of running she’d ended up
dashing. She was standing at the other end of the hallway before she’d even
realized that she was on her feet, but she was just in time to see
Jasen
reaching for Allison’s crossed arms with a dangerous
scowl on his face. Only then did she realize that she’d done more than run out
of the bedroom.

Jasen’s
hand was poised in the air, one eyebrow raised pointedly, and his dark gaze was
focused on Veronica.

Allison had turned, arms falling to
her sides, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open in shock. Tears were still
swimming in front of her eyes.

It wasn’t until Seth released
another almost silent sigh that Veronica’s brain kicked back into gear. She had
just done the absolute worst thing she could have—exactly what she’d told
herself only a minute ago that she wouldn’t do. Now she was going to have to
tell Allison the truth and ask her not to tell another soul for as long as she
lived. She couldn’t even take solace in the fact that she may have just saved
Allison’s life, because she knew—realistically—that Seth wouldn’t have let
Jasen
hurt her.

Veronica swallowed, straightening,
and self-consciously wrapped her arms around herself again. Up close, now that
the adrenaline was fading, the scent of Allison’s blood was overwhelming and
the pounding of her heart was nearly deafening. Her throat was already dry with
anticipation. It was disgusting. She was disgusting. This was her best friend,
not a buffet! What have I done?

“V?” Allison
breathed,
astonishment heavy in her voice. Despite her earlier words it was clear that
she hadn’t really expected to find Veronica there.

“Um, hey, Ali,” Veronica offered
lamely, managing a tight-lipped smile that was really half grimace.

Jasen’s
arm fell back to his side and he declared, “I can see this is going to get
weird. I’ll be back in half an hour.” He cut a pointed glance to Seth and
added, “Don’t let her do anything stupid.”

He was out the door by the time
Veronica found the energy to aim a glare in his direction.

“What,” Allison began carefully,
the awe fading rapidly from her voice, “what the hell is going on? Veronica?”

“I,” Veronica started before
cutting herself off. What am I supposed to say? She couldn’t think of a lie
that would be convincing enough to get Allison to go along with it, and at the
end of the day whatever she told her friend would still be putting her in that
position. Her gaze slid to Seth, desperately searching for help.

“Maybe we should all sit down,”
Seth offered, gesturing toward the couch. Veronica didn’t fail to notice that
he remained standing very solidly between them, though off to the side. And she
couldn’t bring herself to be upset about it because she understood.

Allison’s gaze flicked between them
a few times before she slowly nodded and shifted toward the couch.

When her back was turned Veronica’s
eyes snapped to Seth’s again. She still wasn’t sure what to do or say or even
if she should come any further into the room.

Seth moved toward her, dropping a
hand on her shoulder, and whispered, “It’s all right. Just don’t sit too close,
and don’t push yourself. I’ll be right here.”

She nodded, offered him a grateful
smile, and together they stepped properly into the living room.

“Let me guess,” Allison said
carefully as she watched Seth and Veronica settle on the far side of the couch
from the chair she’d claimed, “you’re a vampire now.”

Seth betrayed no reaction, sitting
back and allowing them to speak directly to each other without looking over his
head. Veronica was jealous of his reaction control, because she knew the shock
was apparent on her face. She did her best to return her expression to normal
and nodded slowly.

Allison spared her from having to
offer a verbal response when she said, “And since you hadn’t told anyone, I
have to assume I’m not supposed to know and therefore really not supposed to
tell anyone else.”

Veronica nodded again, this time
offering, “I’m sorry, Ali.”

Allison looked away for a second,
swallowing heavily, before finally asking, “Was it on purpose? Did you…turn or
whatever…on purpose?”

Veronica hesitated for a beat. She
had wanted to spare her friend the gruesome details, but if she only said ‘yes’
then Allison would thoroughly misunderstand. “Yes and no,” she finally said. “I
had decided to…but I had also intended to see you and Mom—at least—one more
time first. But that option was…taken from me.”

“Taken?”
Allison
repeated, eyes narrowed.
“How?”

“I got hurt,” Veronica heard
herself saying. “And if I hadn’t
Turned
, then…I really
would be dead now.”

Allison swallowed again, a slim
line of tears running down her cheek. It took her nearly a minute before she
managed to ask, “And your mom doesn’t know?”

“No,” Veronica replied, shaking her
head firmly. “She doesn’t even know vampires are real. She can’t. I’m so
sorry,
Ali, but…you really can’t tell anyone.”