Eternal Shadows (18 page)

“That suits me just fine.” Gianna pushed in her chair then gestured to the door. I matched my pace to hers. “The general tells me you’re a dancer,” she said. “What a wonderful skill to possess. Julius will want you to keep up with your practice. He told me once that it is the responsibility of the vampires to preserve as many things from human history as they can.”

Her tone was far too conversational. Suddenly I felt like she was distracting me. We passed by the stairs and I heard running up above. Quick running. Quiet running. Not human. I stopped and grabbed onto the rail, craning my neck to get a skewed view of the second floor, but there was nothing left to see. I set one foot on the steps, intending to investigate.

Gianna touched my elbow lightly. “This way, Kassandra.”

I looked at her closely. Completely human, that was for sure. She’d been in the kitchen when I came downstairs, and hadn’t at any point left. There was no way she knew something I didn’t. No possible way anyone had asked her to distract me from something. I was getting paranoid, and for no good reason. No one had hidden anything from me really. Not even the body parts in the boxes.

I searched the hall one more time. Nothing. I couldn’t hear anything either. I sighed and let it go. Stepping off the stairs, I twirled my hair together at the back of my neck. “I guess information really does get around quick here. You don’t all sit by the fire and pow-wow about me, do you?”

“No.” She looked clearly relieved that I had come along without a fight. My suspicions returned. “But Julius is impressed with you. He’s so pleased to have you as part of the family.”

“Imagine that. He just doesn’t know me very well yet.” I stepped out the back door and into the sunlight. My earlier snack still fresh, it didn’t bother me so much.

“Yes, well, Rhys likes you. And that’s enough for Julius.”

I hopped off the back deck and grabbed the lowest branch of the closest tree. Leaning backwards I regarded her comment with skepticism. “Rhys likes me, huh?” With one great pull, I launched my legs up onto the branch, then hauled the rest of my body up until I was seated nicely against the trunk. Much easier now that I was mythological.

Gianna strolled leisurely around the yard, never going too far from the tree so she could hear me easily. I would have been able to hear her no matter where she went in the yard. “Oh yes. Anyone can see that.”

I couldn’t. But a tiny part of my brain started a little hopeful happy-dance at her words. Okay, maybe the part wasn’t so little. “How can you tell?” He hadn’t killed me yet, but why kill something when you’d gone to such lengths to make it immortal in the first place? He’d saved me a bunch of times, but I could attribute that to the same thing.

Gianna bent over a small garden I’d never noticed before. The wooden box surrounding the plants implied it was portable. “When you’ve known Rhys a while, you can tell. Though I have by no means known him the longest, Julius goes on and on about him constantly. You’d think Rhys was his son.” She pulled out a pair of scissors and started trimming and cutting at the various plants. “He’s usually a very quiet boy. Sweet, though perhaps a little distant. Since I’ve been here I’ve noticed a considerable change in him. He’s a little more alive.”

“It must be his desire to kill me,” I said, hoping my hyperbole would distract her from where she had been going with all this. While bouts of happiness ran rampant in my brain, right beside them were trails of discomfort and unease. What if she was wrong?

Laughter answered m
e—
light, like the breeze that crept through the tree. “Yes, exactly,” she said. “He hasn’t held so much passion in all the time I’ve known him. Not for anything.”

Oh, crap. “I think you’ve got things a little confused.”

She stood, her hand full of tiny leaves and flowers. She looked straight at me. “You like him, too, I think.”

I almost fell out of the tree. A quick switch of my grip was all that saved me. I prayed, as I repositioned myself on the branch, that it had happened too quickly for her human eyes. But the smile on her face made me doubt that. I shrugged, hoping to seem nonchalant. “It was either like him or hate him. And it’s easier to get through the day if you like the person you’re stuck with most of the time. What did you get from the garden?” Please let the subject change. Please.

She did. Though I could see the glimmer of amusement sparkling in her eyes. “A few herbs. Rosemary, yarrow, aloe. Julius prefers a few older herbal remedies to some of the newer ones. I grow a small supply so they are always on hand.”

“Glad I don’t have to worry about that anymore. No offense, but I’ve been around the world a bit. Those herbal remedies almost never taste good.”

“Unfortunately,” she said with a chuckle.

I heard Warren and Brody at the side of the house. I was fairly sure someone—most likely Warren—had just been tackled, and from the sound of it a chase was about to ensue. Feet scrambled against grass and dirt. I hoped they didn’t come this way. Gianna seemed about ready to go inside and leave me alone, and that’s what I wanted.

“I’m going to put these where they belong,” she said, gesturing to the plants in her hands. “Are you coming back inside?”

“No. It’s kind of nice being able to stand the sun. I think I’ll stay out a little longer.”

“All right. It was a pleasure meeting you, Kassandra.”

“You, too.”

I watched her walk back inside, counting her steps and comparing the number to her heartbeat and breathing. I lost the numbers as soon as I realized I had counted three different things at one time. Couldn’t someone just warn me about all this? Figuring it out myself and being surprised by most of it was just plain annoying.

I tried again, just to see if I could. I closed my eyes and focused on finding the boys out on the other part of the lawn. Warren’s breathing was heavier than Brody’s, as was his pulse. Of course, that was to be expected. Brody was pretty much a physical anomaly. Honestly, where had Millie found him? I had just started counting when the air around me shifted.

I caught his scent too late.

Cade.

Crap
.

I let myself fall from the branch, hoping to avoid him. The action was mostly a success. I avo
ided being slammed into full-force by the bulk of his body, but he still managed to grab my wrist as he came around the other side, pulling me violently to the ground with him.

I landed on my butt, my arm feeling like it had been pulled out of the socket. I could still move it though, so my guess was I couldn’t claim that. Too bad, it would have been fun to see what Cade did if he ever actually hurt me.

“I hate you,” I said once I remembered I actually had the capacity to speak.

“Too bad. You’re doing much better. You knew I was coming this time.”

“I smelled your rank stench.” Lie. He smelled good, of course.

He huffed. “You don’t smell so good yourself, you know.” His hand went out to me.

I took it and pulled myself up, but his comment had me thinking. I had no idea what I smelled like to everyone else. I’d learned all their scents, but not my own. Was that normal? I’d ask Rhys, whenever I felt like I could talk to him again. I couldn’t be sure Cade would tell me the truth only because he’d probably find it amusing to tell me I smelled like dead fish.

“How much longer does this ambush game go on for anyway? I’m getting a little tired of living on constant alert.”

“It never ends. The best you’ll get is someday it won’t be me you’re looking out for anymore.”

I dusted my hands off on my pants and realized my pajamas were now in need of some serious cleaning. Grass stains. Ugh. These were some of my favorites. Now I needed to change, but I had no way of knowing whether or not Rhys was still in my room.

Of course, I could just ask.

I sucked it up. “Have you seen Rhys?”

His expression didn’t change, still all business. “He went out with Aurelia.” He answered me so quickly it was almost like he had expected the question…

“Out with Aurelia? What for?”

“I didn’t ask.”

Yeah right. Cade knew everything everyone was up to all the time. Something was up. I didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting him to tell me though. Millie would be an easier target. I started towards the house. At least now I knew it was safe to go change.

Cade followed me.

Weird.

But his presence got me thinking. “Hey, Cade. Can I ask you something?” I kept walking and didn’t look back at him.

“You can ask.”

But I might not answer, I finished for him in my head. Fine. Whatever. I opened the back door and went inside. “Rhys said something when he was telling me about Malachi, and the more I think about it, the more I get confused.” I heard his steps on the floor behind me and knew he was listening, waiting for me to continue. “He said that when Malachi started turning his own vampires it was a sign of independence. So, that got me thinking because, well, Rhys turned me, but no one seems worried about him branching out on his own.” I took the stairs slowly, forcing Cade to follow me at a human’s pace.

“Normally, becoming a sire is a sign of independence, but Rhys is different. He’s incredibly loyal to Julius, so much so that no one doubts his intentions to
remain with him for the rest of his existence. Aside from that, Rhys turned you under orders from Julius, so that erases any traces of independence that might be seen.”

“Oh.” I stopped at my door. “I guess that makes sense. Have you ever turned anyone?”

“No.”

“Can I ask why not?” He certainly seemed to have enough experience to branch off on his own.

“Because with me it would be seen as a sign of independence. The council has wanted me as an independent for years, but I refuse.”

“Why? Wouldn’t you like being the boss for once? Not that I can’t see that you really like the general and all, but—” I let the rest of my question hang on the air
, unspoken.

Cade didn’t seem offended by anything I’d said. “I prefer to be in the action. If I had Julius’s job, that would no longer be possible.”

“Too much paperwork?”

He actually smiled. “Yes.”

I marveled at the realization that I actually liked Cade. Liked the man who had come into my home and started this whole mess. I supposed when you knew nothing had been done maliciously it was harder to hate the ones at the center of it all.

“Thanks for answering me.” I turned the knob and opened my door.

“You’re welcome.” True to form, he turned and left without another word.

I stepped into my room. Immediately I held my breath.

Rhys’ scent was still there.

Hurriedly, and not risking breathing for fear of the memories it would dredge up, I ran to my closet to get changed.

Chapter Fifteen: Teach Me

“Cut it out, Millie!”

“Stop being such a baby. It’s just a little make-up.”

“Make
-up is for covering things up, not for creating them!” I shimmied away from her for about the thousandth time that morning. Turned out I had returned to school on a Thursday, spent Friday recuperating from my car crash—or car crush as I liked to call it—which meant, lucky me, I’d had the whole weekend to further recover.

Or at least, that was the story I would tell when I got to school this morning. If I even went. This whole cover-up nonsense was getting to be a bit much.

Millie still had the purple and yellow makeup in hand. “Three days is not enough time for a human to be free of bruises. Especially after getting hit by a car.”

I rubbed at where she had blotted a purple mark on my temple to act as the injury acquired when I fell onto the road. “I thought the story was I didn’t actually get hit
.”

“You got hit well enough to put a few bruises on you. And you went sprawling to the pavement. Now get back over here and let me finish.”

I relinquished my resistance. Not because she was right, she was way overzealous with all this, but because I just didn’t care anymore. I wanted to get to school and forget about everything in this house for a few hours.

While Millie added another scrape to my face, I twirled the silver sixpence in my hand. I still didn’t know how to pass it over the back of my fingers. Because Rhys had yet to come home. Millie assured me it was nothing to worry about, that he and Aurelia just had some important things to do. But I had the sinking feeling his absence had more to do with me than anyone was letting on.

“There,” Millie said with a satisfied air after the longest five minutes of my afterlife. “Now you look acceptable.”

I turned my head and took a good look in the mirror. The left side of my face, the side I had supposedly fallen on, was mottled with both bruises and scrapes. All of which looked to be healing, of course. I had yet to get dressed, because Millie insisted on marking up my sides and legs as well. Just in case. I doubted Mr. Mack would make me participate in gym class, so I wouldn’t be getting changed in the locker room. Still, I pulled my hair over my left shoulder, trying to hide as much of my face as I could. Clothes would do the rest.

“Madge could have done a better job,” Millie said, scrutinizing her handiwork.

Too bad there was no way I was letting Madge close enough to get at me with even something as benign as a blush brush. She wasn’t in any hurry to spend time with me either. “Please,” I said, walking to my closet and feeling glad the injuries were fake. “You did a great job. The only way I could look more authentic would be if you actually mugged me.” Which is what Madge would have done, and why she could have done a better job, in my opinion. Millie claimed it was because her twin had a gift when it came to fashion and beauty. Uh huh.

I stepped into my favorite worn-out jeans and grabbed a thin long-sleeved tee-shirt that sported the image of a guitar on the front. It was comfy, wouldn’t make me hot and would do the work of covering my fake bruises as well as keep my skin out of direct sunlight. I’d need to find some more of these.

Millie plopped down onto my desk chair with a sigh. She smoothed the skirt of her blue 20’s dress as she watched me get dressed. “I do wish you’d let me pick out your clothes.”

“I’d stand out like a sore thumb in a dress that’s more than a century old,” I pointed out. “Besides, I’m going for comfortable. I’m supposed to be in pain, remember?” I thought about pulling my hair back out of my face, but opted against it. I threw the elastic around my wrist anyway, though. Sneakers were next. I sat on my bed to slip them on, then asked the question I hadn’t dared to ask all weekend. “So, who’s coming with me?” I wasn’t allowed anywhere alone, not even down the street to the coffee shop. That had disappointed Sara when she stopped by to check on me on Saturday, but she understood that I “didn’t feel well.” I’d gotten to speak with her for all of five minutes before Millie realized I didn’t look like a victim of a car crash. That had been the end of that visit.

Rhys had promised he would be the one to go with me, but since he wasn’t here…

Millie shifted uncomfortably in her seat, glancing out the window. She had been doing that every two minutes or so since she came in here to torture me.

“Millie?”

“Um…give me just one minute.” She stood and hopped onto my bed, opening the window.

“What the heck, Mil? Did someone write the correct answer on the house across the street? Who’s going to school with me? You?”

“Maybe…” She dragged the word out for a while, then suddenly she grinned and bounced back off my bed. “Nope. Not me.”

“Then who?” You’re acting like a crazy person is what I wanted to say, but I held my tongue. I couldn’t imagine Cade suffering through a day of school with me, and the general certainly wouldn’t waste his time. No way was Madge going.

“Time for school!” Mille chirped. She grabbed my wrist in one hand and my backpack in the other and pulled me out of my room, going full speed.
Ouch
. Now I’d have at least one real bruise.

We were outside and on the front walk in less than five seconds. I stumbled when she released me, but caught my balance before I could add any more real injuries to my fake ones. Millie set my bag a
t my feet, then thrust the ruby-colored steel coffee mug we had purchased over the weekend into my hands. It smelled like Warren.

“Have a good day.” She grinned ridiculously at me, then rushed back into the house. I stared at the front door watching it open and close again in a blink.

What the hell?

“Kassandra.”

Oh God. I knew that voice. I knew that scent.

I turned slowly on my heel, not trusting that I hadn’t imagined it. But there he was, leaning against a dark blue car I’d never seen before, looking just the same as he had the last time I had seen him. The light breeze ruffled his dark hair and the shirt he’d chosen that morning almost blended in with the car perfectly. Our eyes met, and suddenly his expression twisted from relaxed to concerned. He covered the ground between us in only two steps.

“What happened?”

I kept quiet for a moment, not sure what he meant. He reached out towards my face. When his fingers brushed my temple I understood instantly. “Oh! Oh. Millie.”

Now he just looked confused.

I gathered my thoughts and tried again. “Make
-up. Millie did it. Seeing as how all my bruises were gone by Saturday, she thought I needed to look a little more like someone who had been hit by a car.”

Relief. He dropped his hand and nodded once. “Ah. That makes sense.”

“Thought she beat the crap outta me, huh?” I smirked.

“My guess would have been Cade.”

“I actually almost avoided him last time.”

“Good job.”

It was when he smiled at me that I remembered I was supposed to be mad at him. I whacked his biceps. “Where the hell have you been?”

He stepped back, clearly not expecting my mood swing. “With Aurelia. Didn’t anyone tell you?”

“Doing what?”

“Finding Cordoba.”

I grumbled. “Nice of you to tell me you were leaving.”

“Aurelia didn’t want to wait.”

“Why couldn’t someone else go?”

He shrugged. “She asked me.”

Convenient. I held the coin up in front of his face. “You owe me a few lessons.” It wasn’t until after I’d spoken that I realized I’d unintentionally brought my little kiss into the conversation.

“Yes. School first though.”

I could see in his eyes he was avoiding the topic as much as I was. Fine. Who said I wanted to talk about it anyway?

He picked my backpack up from the ground, then headed towards the car. I followed, pocketing the coin. “You’re coming with me?”

“Didn’t I say I would?” He opened the passenger-side door and tossed my bag inside.

“I think your words were closer to a probably than a definitely. We’re not walking?”

“You’re too injured to walk all that way.” He left the door open and headed for the other side.

I limped dramatically to the car and got in, sticking my tongue out at Rhys when he rolled his eyes. “Do you even know how to drive?” I asked as I buckled up.

Rhys did the same and put the car in gear. “Nope. Never got around to it.” He pulled out of the driveway.

“Well, I’m good at car crashes now, so don’t worry about it.”

“Just tell me when you see something you want to hit.” He drove normally through town. I’d half expected him to go as fast as he did when he walked. “Can you drive?” he asked after stopping at a red light.

“Nope. Never got around to it.” I looked out the window, watching a few kids I recognized walk by.

“You’re not joking though.”

“Sad, huh?”

“Why haven’t you learned?”

I shrugged. “No time. Dad didn’t want me off on my own anyway.” I turned back to Rhys. “I always had a driver.”

“I’ll teach you.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“But after you teach me the coin trick.”

“The coin will probably take less time.”

The light turned green and he drove again and we didn’t say much until we arrived at school. I had already reached for the handle to the door when I remembered. “Why are you with me?”

He looked at me like I had lost my mind. “Because you can’t defend yourself.”

“Thanks for the tact. I meant, why are you with me, as in what are we telling everyone in school?”

“You already came up with that story.” He smirked and got out of the car.

I sat perfectly still, trying to decipher that riddle. Had I said something?

Oh no.

I jumped out of the car and had to run to catch up to him. “Wait! Rhys! We’re not seriously telling everyone that, are we?”

“Why not? It makes sense, and you already started it. Can’t change it now.”

“But it’s stupid! No one really has a bodyguard!”

“You do.”

I moaned, telling myself not to cry. Rhys had already stepped through the front door.

School was the epitome of embarrassing. Rhys did his best to remain inconspicuous, but it was pretty much impossible. Even if we hadn’t been spouting off the ludicrous bodyguard story he would have attracted the same absurd amount of attention.

I mean, jeeze! I probably would have had more luck bringing Brody into school. At least no one would have believed he was real.

Rhys was gorgeous, handsome, hot, steamy—whatever word you wanted to use, and he actually looked like it was possible for him to exist.

Needless to say I had to spend the day glaring at every other girl in school. I caught myself scribbling signs in my notebooks that said, “Hands off. Mine. Get your own.” Things of that sort. Very mature.

My math book now said “bite me” on almost every page, but all the “me’s” had been crossed out in favor of “you’s” when I realized that made more sense now.

Still, at least everyone bought the story. I guess it made sense after the public attempt on my life for me to have a bodyguard. Lucky me he was so hot, right?

Pretty much every time I exhaled it sounded like dragon breath now.

The only one not buying the whole story was Sara. She had given Rhys the
third degree at lunch.

“So you’re Kass’s bodyguard?
”

“Yes.”

“When did you start?”

“When her father left.”

“And where were you trained?”

“Where wasn’t I trained.”

“How come you weren’t with her last Thursday?”

“We didn’t think the danger was so great.”

“Well, you were almost dead wrong, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

I was amazed at his ability to come up with answers and to play along. He didn’t seem insulted by anything Sara said. If anything, he looked guilty. I wished he wouldn’t. Like he’d said, we hadn’t known anything was going to happen. The whole incident certainly wasn’t his fault.

When the bell rang at the end of the day I was even gladder than I had been after my first day back. I shoved every textbook I had into my bag. Finals were only a week away now. When I couldn’t get it to zip, I simply locked my arms around it and headed for the door.

Sara stopped me. “Kass, I want to talk to you.”

“Uh…Rhys is in a bit of a hurry.” I saw him raise an eyebrow at my lie. He was still leaning causally against the wall opposite my locker.

“I just need one minute, Kass. You can give me that.”

I sighed. “Okay, fine. What’s up?”

She glared at Rhys, then pulled me into the closest stairwell. No door to the outside, no one used this staircase at the end of the day. Great, she wanted privacy.

“Tell me the real story.”

“I’m sorry?”

“About Rhys.”