Tempest (7 page)

Luke had turned off the
TV now and I tried to ignore his scrutiny.

“About yesterday…”
she started, much to her chagrin.

“What about
yesterday? Here,” I handed her breakfast that I picked up from the
café downstairs on my way back from the car.

“Thanks,” she said
again, clearly not knowing what to do now. At least she didn’t seem
angry with me. Yet.

“I suppose you slept
well,” my eyes darted to the bed that was a mass of tangled sheets
and pillows. Luke, oddly, was lying in the center of it, pretending
to ignore us.

“Sorry. I have been
having the worst nightmares lately.”

“I know.” When a
ghost was haunting someone, they could get into their dreams. Ana’s
tossing and turning last night proved just that.

“Hayden, we’d
better get going,” Luke stood up now with a renewed sense of
urgency.

“Where are we going?”
Ana took on Luke’s urgency.

“Evacuating,
remember? We’re in Mississippi and the hurricane‘s supposed to
hit here tonight. Plus, we have a long drive ahead of us.”

“Are you taking me to
my uncle’s in Atlanta?” Her eyes were optimistic and I had wished
I would have seen disappointment.

“Sorry, you don’t
get off that easy.” I kept my tone light, playful almost, and she
made no further protests as we went to the car. A smile curved my
lips.

As soon as we exited
the parking garage, rain sloshed our windshield. Unfortunately for
Luke, he was driving. But that meant I could focus on finding out as
much as I could about Ana.

We talked for hours as
we passed through two new states finally making it into Florida. Even
though we were driving further away from where the Hurricane would
hit, the weather was worsening.

“We’re not really
brothers you know,” I finally gave up on dodging her questions.

“Oh?” Her eyes
beamed with intrigue.

“Let’s just say our
families have a
long
history together.” I laughed to myself
before turning serious for Luke’s sake. “After Luke’s parents
died, my family adopted him. In every way but blood, we’re
brothers.”

Ana turned toward Luke
after hearing this new information. Luke clenched the steering wheel,
and I had wondered if it was because he was upset with me for
revealing such information or uncomfortable with the sympathy Ana was
giving him.

Ana turned forward with
an unreadable expression.

“What are you
thinking?” I asked, trying to see what was in her eyes.

She smiled, “That
maybe all the rumors in school about you aren’t true.”

“What have you
heard?” I was surprised, intrigued, and a little nervous to hear
what people had come up with. It was an odd feeling, never caring for
what people thought about me, mortal or not. But now it suddenly
seemed important as I wondered how it could affect what Ana thought
of me.

“Let’s see…that
you’re a model and that your parents are millionaires in real
estate, building a hotel in downtown New Orleans.”

Luke laughed along with
me. I doubt I would ever hear the end of being mistaken for a model.
I figured it was just as a novelty to him to hear what people thought
of us.

“So none of it is
true?”

“It’s very
interesting what people can come up with, don’t you agree? Like the
way some people portray you: shy, normal, a know-it-all. In fact you
are just the opposite: exceptionally beautiful and unique. But still
a know-it-all,” I teased.

She playfully hit my
arm.

“You are perfect,
Ana.”

“You don’t even
know me,” she refused to meet my eyes.

I smirked. “But I do.
That’s why I will do whatever it takes to protect you.” If she
only knew she was my mate, the other half of my existence, the being
I was meant to be with the remainder of my eternity.

Luke grunted a protest
and I was glad we both had ignored him. Ana was looking at me now;
something in her eyes had changed.
It was as if— almost as if
she recognized this, too.

“I—”

Ana was interrupted as
the truck jerked to a stop. I gave Luke my best
“what the hell?”
expression when I noticed he had decided
now
to stop at one of
the rest stops. I looked back to Ana, willing her to finish what she
was about to say. But she shook her head and blinked, as if whatever
thoughts were there were now gone. I kept staring at her, amused that
she was squirming under my scrutiny.

She finally chuckled
and looked away.

“Well, I guess we’ll
just keep going,” Luke prepared to restart the car.

“No!” Ana was quick
correct him. “I mean, I do need to use the restroom, if that’s
ok.”

“That’s why we’re
here,” Luke got out of the car and walked with Ana and I toward the
restrooms, even though he was immortal and didn’t have those needs.

Ana didn’t run for
cover, she instead let the rain dampen her skin and hair. We were the
only car parked in the lot so I didn’t bother hesitating to follow
Ana into the restroom. Restrooms were a perfect opportunity for
someone to attack.

Ana stopped, “Are you
really going to follow me into the bathroom?”

“Luke can, if you’d
like.” I stifled a laugh. In reality, there would be no way Luke
would be here instead of me.

“No way!” The way
she spit out her words was humorous and she quickly went for
something more polite. “I mean, no, thank you.”

I waited by the door as
Ana went right for the sink, splashing water on her face and
regarding her expression in the mirror.

I frowned when I
realized she must require privacy. Of course, she did. I had been
immortal too long to remember simple modesties. I regretted not being
able to wait for her outside. Sansha already confirmed there were
others after her and I couldn’t risk someone with friends of the
soothsayer sort anticipating our moves. “We’ll be stopping at a
motel shortly and you’ll have some privacy then.”

She nodded, then went
to leave.

My arm shot out,
blocking her exit. She stopped inches from me. “I’m sorry,” my
face was titled over hers, and the urge to kiss her was strong, “for
anything I have done.” I remembered how it felt when her lips were
on my neck yesterday and the will to resist her again was completely
gone. I knew if she let me, I would go through with it. “And
whatever I am about to do.” Her lips parted in invitation and I
crashed my mouth over hers. My hand weaved through her hair, pulling
her tighter into our kiss. I fought a groan of leashed passion as I
felt her respond in my arms. Her fingers snaked up my chest, curling
into my shoulders. I was not prepared for the intensity of our kiss,
for how heatedly she would react. I knew I was on the verge of losing
control.

I broke our kiss and
she swayed, lips red and slightly swollen. I became angry. Angry at
myself for what I was and angry that we couldn’t continue this.

“Why did it have to
be you?” My mate could have been a witch, a Halfling, anyone who
understood our world. How would she react when she found out what I
was? Would she even be able to comprehend? Would she still want me?

“What are you talking
about?” To my surprise she leaned forward to kiss me again.

It took every ounce of
strength I had left not to react. “I’m the worst person in the
world for you. I’m your complete opposite.”

Her eyes flew open,
suddenly the passion in them was cooled. “Complete opposite? My
opposite
?” She stepped away like she couldn’t get away
from me fast enough. “Why? Because you’re so perfect and good
looking that someone like me is your opposite! Nice, Hayden, real
nice.”

“That’s not what I
meant—“

“Well, then why don’t
you tell me what the hell you meant and stop with these secrets!”

How could I tell her
yet when I hadn’t even won her over?

She stalked toward me
at my non-response. “Let me through!” I dropped my arm and she
stormed out.

“Don’t worry, Luke,
I am not going to try to escape!” I heard her snap at him and
wondered if she would be able to forgive me this time.

Luke was already in the
car with her so I retrieved her some packages of food from the
machines.

When I returned to the
truck, I noticed she was even further away from the passenger seat.
Great, she would rather be close to my brother who hates her than to
me right now.

“I got you—“

“I don’t want it,”
she cut me off quickly, and my hope of using the food as amends was
shot down.

She ignored me for the
remainder of the drive that day and I let her. Going over my words, I
knew it seemed like to her that she wasn’t adequate enough for me.
Ironic, considering I feared I wouldn’t be adequate enough for her.

Luke made the decision
to stop for the night. He would have to forgo his luxury suites
because the only thing around was a motel. I checked out the room for
before instructing Luke and Ana up. Ana went straight for bathroom
locking herself in for five minutes.

When she came out, she
was as angry as before. I watched with a slightly amused expression
as she dug through the suitcases I packed for her. Clearly, she was
not thrilled by the choices in clothing.

“Do you mind?” She
was looking at both of us and I realized Luke had been watching her,
too.

“Not at all." I
crossed my arms over my chest but Luke took the hint and went into
the bathroom.

“Fine. Suit
yourself.” She had her arms criss-crossed, ready to take off her
shirt.

I whipped around,
having to clear my throat as I uttered an apology.

“Yeah, you apologize
a lot. I wouldn’t bother anymore because it means nothing to the
person who doesn’t believe it.”

“I didn’t know that
it would affect you like this.” I hadn’t realized just how much
we might share the same feelings until our kiss. If only she would
have been able to finish what she was going to say in the car.

“Just drop it okay?
Now I know how you really feel and that I was a fool.”

“You have no idea how
I feel…” I heard the rustling of clothes stop and turned around
to face her. She couldn’t really believe that I didn’t like her?
She was mine and the more time I spent with her the more I knew I was
falling in love her. If she only realized I couldn’t put myself out
there because I couldn’t risk losing her.

“Listen, it’s been
a long day – actually a long week—and ironically, the one thing I
was to do is sleep.”

She pulled back the
sheets and climbed into bed. She lay on her side, facing away from
me. I kept watching her in concern until I heard her breathing even
out, indicating she had fallen asleep.

Ana had said my name in
her sleep last night, I was sure of it. When she woke up with a
start, and ran right into the bathroom with flushed cheeks I knew,
with satisfaction, that she had been dreaming about me.

Luke flipped on the TV
now that she was awake. He made a complaint about the “old school”
television not having satellite.

“Stop changing the
channel.” Luke and I mutely watched the news coverage of the storm.
It had hit New Orleans, like we knew it would. What I wasn’t
expecting was the damage, or how one mortal in particular would react
to the destruction it left in its wake.

I heard the bathroom
door open. “Ana…” She regarded my grim expression questionably
and I stepped aside so she could see the TV.

“Oh my God, it hit
New Orleans,” the agony in her voice had nearly sent me into a
rage.

Ana watched the news,
each report wounding her worse than the last. I knew how much she had
loved New Orleans, how she called it home. I could feel her pain and
longing like it was my own.

“We’re going to
need you to call your dad,” Luke spoke up and I was thankful that
at least he was thinking clearly. Obviously, we would want her to
call her dad so he wouldn’t send someone to look for her. He
thought she had stayed behind to ride out the storm. Luke handed her
the cell phone he took from her purse the first day.

She stared at it with
longing. “My friends,” she offered as an explanation, “they are
probably really worried about me since they haven’t heard from me
in, well, who knows how long.”

“Call your father
first and then you can take care of your
friends
,” Luke said
while he stopped her from texting.

“You should call him
first, Ana. I am sure he is very worried about you.”

“Yeah,
right
,”
she spoke with sarcasm.

As she pressed the
buttons on her phone, tears started pooling in her eyes. “Are you
all right?” I asked discreetly but little good that did.

“C’mon, get
yourself together. You can cry later. Right now, you have to call
your dad.” I gave Luke a harsh look at his insensitivities. “Say
you’ve already left—for Atlanta. That will buy us some time
because he won’t expect you for a while. Tell him—“

“I know,” she
stopped him.
Good.
Otherwise I would have and it wouldn’t
have been with words.

I tried to ignore Ana’s
conversation as she spoke to her father. She had easily gone along
with what Luke had told her. Her father bought it easily and she
didn’t have to make a lot of excuses. When I heard her heartbeat
start to change, I decided to listen in. With my hearing, I could
make out everything that was said on the other line.

When she finished
arguing with her father, and threw her phone against the wall, I felt
guilty
for listening in.

She dropped to the bed,
muffling her sounds in a pillow. My instinct sent me to sit beside
her.

“Please, just leave
me the hell alone,” Ana turned her head to yell at me.

“No, Ana, I am here
for you. I don’t want to see you hurt.” The sight of her tears
pained me.