Simmer (18 page)

"Yeah, okay," Kira eased back into the seat,
relaxing. He was right. No matter how many crazy things they did,
he never got in trouble.

Tristan jumped into his seat and pushed off
the dock with his foot, grabbing Kira's hand in the process.

They pedaled out towards the center of the
water, enjoying the silence. After a while, Kira stopped moving and
leaned over to put her head on Tristan's shoulder. He stopped to,
releasing her hand to put his arm around her.

She looked up at the scene above her. No tall
buildings or glaring streetlights blocked her view of the endless
glowing specks spattered across the sky: some larger, some brighter
and some nothing but dusty glitter.

Normally, people looked up at the vast space
and felt small, nearly insignificant. With so many endless
possibilities, how could one person's life be so important? But
Kira saw something else.

"What are you thinking?" Tristan asked softly
into her ear.

"I'm thinking of the stars and how much they
scare me sometimes."

"Scare you?" He asked with a hint of surprise
on his words.

"So many planets are just floating around in
space with no purpose, completely devoid of life. It scares me. The
earth is one in a billion, one in a trillion, and I don't want to
screw it up." She shook her head, "but that's so stupid, isn't
it?"

"Not at all," he said, hugging her a little
closer. "But you have nothing to be afraid of."

"Don't I?" She asked, staring up at him and
then down at her palms, so small and dainty yet powerful at the
same time.

"You know, I tried to draw the night sky
once," he said and hugged her closer to his body. "It was a long
time ago, right after I'd seen Van Gogh's
Starry Night
for
the first time. But I found that it was too difficult. Something
about that endless darkness, sprinkled with light but still the
blackest black you'll ever know, is too emotional. You have to look
inside yourself to paint something that raw, and I've always been
too afraid to actually do it."

"You, afraid?" Kira laughed at that. He was
always the first one to step into a fight.

"It's easy to draw other people and look
inside of their heads to come up with a secretive expression or an
open smile, but it's another thing entirely to look at the truths
in your own heart," he kissed her on the forehead. "And that's
okay, Kira. I promise."

"Eventually, I'll have to face it
though."

"Yeah," he said, "but eventually is not
tonight."

Kira reached up and pulled him into a long
kiss. One that only ended when a beam of light landed on their
faces and a voice shouted, "hey, you!"

Kira jerked back and covered her eyes from
the unbearably bright whiteness.

"What do we do?" She punched Tristan on the
shoulder. "You said we wouldn't get caught!"

He grinned down at her. "I've been known to
be wrong on occasion. Rare, but it happens."

"Pedal!" She wanted to scream, but whispered
as if it would keep them hidden for a moment longer.

"Relax, do you see that guy? He's not even a
real cop, just harbor police. And, I think he's had one too many
donuts if you know what I mean."

Kira rolled her eyes and kept pedaling. They
skipped the dock since the cop was standing right there and pedaled
towards their hotel instead.

"Stop!" The man yelled at them.

They slowed when the harbor wall neared and
Tristan jumped three feet high to land solidly on the brick path.
Kira reached her hands up and he easily pulled her free of the
boat, which was carried away from them by the waves.

She put her arms around his shoulders and let
Tristan carry her piggyback-style towards their hotel. They made it
through the lobby doors, into the elevator and into their room
before Kira erupted into giggles.

"Did you see his face when you lifted me out
of the water?" She asked Tristan, who imitated the wide-eyed
shocked look of the cop, causing another fit of laughs.

They stumbled together back into the room and
Kira noticed Luke on one of the beds. He was sprawled out and
belly-down with his face planted firmly against the pillow.

Quieting down, Kira pulled off her jeans and
slipped back into the shorts she had been wearing earlier. Tristan
beckoned her to the bed where he was already stretched out and she
crawled in next to him, curving her body to fit against his.

Kira grabbed his hand and drew his arm across
her stomach, letting him cradle her. She fell asleep peacefully
listening to the sound of his breath in her ear.

Chapter
Eleven

Kira wanted to puke. Wait, her sleepy mind
asked, do I want to puke or do I need to puke?

Her eyes weren't even open yet. All she knew
was that Tristan still held her in his arms, she was still in bed,
she could feel his breath a tantalizing millimeter from the back of
her neck and she wanted to vomit.

Kira stirred, moving her muscles and waking
Tristan in the process. He kissed the soft spot under her ear and
whispered, "good morning," just loud enough for her to hear.
Instinctively, Kira smiled and rolled over to look into his clear
blue eyes.

"Morning," she said, still half-asleep.

Her gag reflex grew stronger. She wanted to
smile and continue dozing in the peaceful confusion of waking up,
but her stomach recoiled. Kira sat up and held her head. What was
going on?

Tristan looked at her, concerned. She slipped
her feet over the edge of the bed to put her head between her
knees, but halfway bent over, she caught Luke's eyes — Luke's
fuming eyes — and everything became clear.

"Luke!" She wanted to scream but it came out
as more of painful groan as the vomit feeling started anew — at the
exact moment Tristan's arm rested on her shoulders.

"Do you know what's wrong with her?" Tristan
asked Luke, confused.

"Not a clue," Luke replied, but Kira heard
the overly cheerful tone in his voice. She glared at him and tried
to separate the gagging sensations in her mind from her bodily
responses. Reading his mind could affect her physically now? This
was so not cool. And, judging by the almost smirk gathering on
Luke's face, he knew just what his thoughts were doing.

Kira tried to focus but she was still so
tired that separating his thoughts from hers wasn't easy. Forcing
herself to think happy thoughts, she slowly pushed the sick feeling
to the back of her brain. But not fast enough, she thought still
clutching her stomach. How dare Luke work mental sabotage on her!
Okay, yes, she had sort of forgotten that he was sleeping in the
bed next to her and Tristan. And yes, that probably frustrated him.
But, it's not like they had been making out or anything. She had
been asleep!

It was, Kira thought as the need to vomit
slowly got replaced by the need to slap Luke across the cheek, time
for him to pay.

"I'm going to kill you!" She shouted and
bolted upright, charging him. Luke slid over to the other side of
his bed and stood. Kira jumped on the bed and lunged for him, ready
to wipe the grin off of his face. Luke easily evaded her and ran
over toward the foot of the bed.

Not caring how ridiculous she looked, Kira
raced after him. Luke dodged again and before Kira could make
another attempt at a lunge, strong arms held her from behind.

"Let me go, Tristan," she said, struggling
against his iron grip.

"As much as I would love to see you beat Luke
up, I have to ask: what is going on?"

"Your girlfriend has officially gone insane,"
Luke said. His features were still alive with laughter at the game
of cat and mouse he and Kira had just played.

Kira stopped struggling against Tristan,
suddenly realizing what she had done. She would have to confess now
and tell Tristan she could read Luke's mind. But, it would hurt him
so much to know they had a connection like that. Maybe, Kira began
to think of an idea...

"Luke gave me food poisoning."

"I did not," he said indignantly.

"Really? You're ready to bite his head off
over food poisoning?" Tristan was highly doubtful.

"When it makes me want to throw up, I do! It
must have been the snacks in the car." She added, trying to think
on her feet, but it sounded lame even to her.

"This is all in your head, Kira," Luke said,
trying to come off as serious. His attempt was undermined by barely
contained laughter.

"All in my head? I don't think so," she
jerked her arm again, hoping to surprise Tristan but he held her
steady. "None of that was in my head." She stared pointedly into
Luke's eyes. To think, when she first realized she could read his
mind, she was worried he would think she would invade his privacy.
Who was the one being completely ridiculous and unfair now?

Luke shrugged, "Then I'm sticking with my
initial diagnosis — temporary insanity."

"Gah!" Kira breathed in frustration. "I'm
going to the bathroom. Let me go," she said and Tristan's grip
instantly fell.

"Women," she heard Luke say to Tristan as she
walked off.

"Tell me about it," he responded.

Great, Kira thought, they both think I'm
PMSing. She slammed the door behind her and splashed water on her
face. Should she have told Tristan? It would have been the perfect
moment to come clean about the mind reading. Now, if he found out,
it would seem like Kira had been hiding it from him, like she had
been keeping a secret. And what if Luke ever mentioned it? Kira
didn't think he would ever go behind her back like that, but things
had a way of coming out in the heat of the moment.

Trying to let it go, Kira brushed her teeth
and mindlessly continued with her morning routine.

A few minutes later, she emerged from the
bathroom, much calmer but still giving Luke the evil eye. Both boys
sat in armchairs bent over a piece of paper resting on the low
coffee table. Tristan eyed her with caution.

"I'm okay," she told them. She held her hands
up. "I promise. No secret weapons or anything."

"Don't believe her," Luke said and leaned in
towards Tristan. "I think I saw one of those poison dart guns in
there earlier."

Kira rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"We were just talking strategy," Tristan
said, steering the conversation away from any more bickering.

Kira tugged one leg underneath her bum and
sat on the couch to look at the piece of paper. It was blank.

"I see you've been very successful," she said
sarcastically.

"Well, it turns out neither of us found any
useful information," Tristan sighed and dropped his forehead into
his hands. "I know Diana was on her way here two days ago. She may
have stopped in somewhere else first, but I know she was looking
for someone or something in Baltimore. But, no one's seen her here
yet. No vampires at least."

"Same here," Luke chimed in. "No conduits
have seen her around."

"So where does that leave us?" Kira asked.
Both boys remained silent, but shared a telling look. "No!" She
looked at them with wide eyes.

"Just one more day," Tristan pleaded.

"No, you can't leave me behind again. That is
totally unfair!"

"It's not because we don't want you to come,"
Tristan said while taking her hand, "it's because we can't afford
to be under attack again. We got pushed out of Charleston and
pushed out of Sonnyville. If the local vampire population gets wind
that you're here, we might be pushed out before we can find Diana
or any clues to her whereabouts."

"It will keep all of us safer," Luke
added.

"Fine," Kira said while collapsing against
the back of the couch, "but only for one more day. Deal?"

"Deal," they both agreed in unison.

"So where will you be going? So I can at
least live vicariously," she said while grabbing one of the
complimentary apples to munch on for breakfast.

"Tea," Tristan said looking sheepish. Kira
stare at him under raised brows. "What? The head vampire here is
five hundred years old. He couldn't give up his English ways if he
tried."

"Can vampires even have tea?" Luke asked.
Tristan glared at him.

"It's not tea, exactly..."

"Oh, right," Luke said while looking
uncomfortably towards the floor. Maybe he didn't do that on
purpose, Kira thought.

"Anyway, he said we had things to discuss in
a wonderfully profound way. After I hear what he has to say, I'll
do some digging around the city."

Kira nodded and turned to Luke.

"Ditto. The local conduits are going to show
me their usual hotspots." He leaned back in his seat and put his
feet on the table. Stretching his arms over his head with a yawn,
he said, "The real question is what will you be doing? What I
wouldn't give for a day off right now."

"I don't even know. Maybe take a bath?" Kira
said, knowing she would really look at the papers her grandfather
had given her. But, they were private and she didn't want to tell
Luke or Tristan. If she was about to uncover some deep, dark secret
about what she was, she wanted it to stay that way — a secret.

"In our four hundred dollar a night
bathroom?" Luke asked with a smirk. Kira choked on an apple
chunk.

"About that..."

Luke waved her off.

"Don't worry about it. I'm only kidding. I'll
find a way to pay for food somehow."

"Luke," Kira said sternly, trying to see if
the price actually mattered or not.

"No, really. I've heard that Baltimore has a
thriving strip scene," he said, pretending to consider it. Kira
tried to contain herself, but the image was too much to handle.

"I don't think you could pull off a
thong."

Tristan covered his face so his grimace
didn't show.

"Hey, I'll have you know," Luke started
saying, but then he shook his head and burst out laughing. "Okay,
okay, you got me. I do not even want to joke about that."