Chapter 24

Jade woke up, her back ached and she was freezing. She pulled Benjamin’s jacket tighter around herself, fending off the cool November morning air, before realizing it was probably Benjamin himself who was chilling her. She sat up and maneuvered out of his arms, trying not to wake him. Oddly, she didn’t feel embarrassed about spending the night with him in his car.
She loved having him hold her and comfort her. Sure, her parents would flip when she got home, and she would have to figure out what to say to Aiden. But for once, Jade wasn’t going to worry.
She looked out the car window at the ground brushed with dew. The sun had just started peeking through the sky. Soft tendrils warmed her skin, and she realized that the events of last night had awakened something inside of her. She felt different and more in control, as though her memories had allowed her to acknowledge her birthright—to understand that it wasn’t horrible but beautiful. She could save people perhaps; she had been born not for chaos but for life.
Jade opened her palm and let a little flame rest on her hand like a small campfire. Her fingers warmed instantly, as did her body. Feeling the sun gather on her skin left her completely, content. The swelling under her eyes receded, her scratches from the forest mended themselves, and finally, Jade found something better to wake up to than coffee.
"You’re beautiful. You know that?"
She turned to Benjamin, happy to wake up to his barely opened eyes and lazy smile. Distracted, she let her light grow until she saw him wince.
"Sorry," she said and winked it out of existence.
"I don’t mind." He sat up.
"So, what now?" Jade asked, letting her head fall back on his shoulder.
"Do you need to go home?"
She shook her head there were too many things they needed to talk about. She wanted Benjamin to open up and tell her about his past. Jade if she went home, he would close himself off again to protect her.
"Good, then just trust me," he said, hopping into the driver’s seat while
Jade moved to the passenger side, Benjamin started the engine and slid his hand into hers as he sped out of the school parking lot. She couldn’t help but wonder if anyone had seen them sleeping in his car last night, someone must have thought they were in the middle of the parking lot and not everyone had left the school dance before they got there.
Aiden might have walked by and glanced in, but she didn’t want to think about that. He would be so angry and hurt. Aiden would never understand why she wanted Benjamin, but she and Benjamin were the same in many ways, both outcasts who didn’t belong anywhere.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Benjamin asked.
She relaxed and placed her feet on the dashboard, letting her eyes meet his, knowing they sparkled like Lacey had said earlier.
"I’m happy just sitting here with you like it’s completely normal." She smiled, and he grinned back, clutching her fingers tighter.
"I’m also thinking, damn I wish I’d brought a change of clothes." He snickered, and Jade glanced at her leather-covered legs, happy she at least had his coat.
"Don’t worry. We’re not going anywhere public."
"And where are we going? You don’t have to be so mysterious all the time."
"Maybe I just like keeping you on your toes."
Jade rolled her eyes and settled into her seat, listening to the music and letting Benjamin concentrate on driving. Eventually, they pulled up next to a riverbank. He led Jade along the shore, pulling her until they reached a giant oak tree with branches that reached out over the water. He slid on the branch in front of her and then helped her up. Jade let her back rest against the tree trunk, watching Benjamin as he inched further out past the few feet of marsh until his feet dangled overflowing water.
Jade listened to the birds’ chirp, the water swoosh, and the trees rustle and felt at peace.
"It’s beautiful. What river are we on? How’d you find it?"
"The Ashley River. I’ve come here ever since I was a boy."
"One hundred and fifty years ago?" She asked.
This was what they had come here to talk and to tell their stories. Jade looked at him, watched him peel the bark off the branch with his fingers, and struggled with what to say.
"It’s okay," she murmured, wishing he would move closer so she could hold his hands and provide some comfort.
Benjamin took a deep breath, let the air ease out, and began to tell his story.
"I awoke or you could say born in 1850, right here in Talahi, to two wealthy plantation owners."
He glanced up at her, trying to gauge her reaction, but she just nodded encouragingly. "My house wasn’t far from this spot, and I used to play on this tree as a little boy. I was often by myself, left alone to explore and play. My mother was the only one who ever understood me we’d go to Atlanta, and she’d buy me expensive drawing materials. The first time she bought me a canvas, she took me up to the steeple I showed you and told me to draw the city. It was life changing."
He paused, and Jade tried to picture him as a little boy, hiding away with paints and drawing pads, exploring the forests alone. It was a sad image of a lonely childhood and Jade was suddenly more grateful than ever for Abby and the parents she did have.
"You have to understand that I never liked slavery," he continued, "never wanted the family business, and never wanted any part of cotton. That was for my brother. I needed beauty and not savagery. But when the war came, I did my duty. We both went off fighting, my brother fighting for power and I fighting to protect the city I loved, but not the lifestyle. One night in 1864, the Northern army surprised my regiment, and I got shot twice—once in the shin, once in the shoulder. I fell instantly and watched as my fellow soldiers retreated to leave me stranded. Other dying men lay moaning all around me, and I slowly bled out, awake for what seemed like hours, hearing others fall silent beside me until a man came. I saw him kneel with the dying, leaning in close. At first, I thought he was a priest saying prayers for the dead, but then he came closer, and I saw the markings all over his face and started screaming. When I woke up hunger enveloped me, I knew hate for the first time. I wished I’d died."
Benjamin eased his eyes shut, lost in his thoughts for a moment. Jade knew he was struggling with the memories of the life he had lost. He opened his lids and stared out into the distance, at the trees on the far side of the riverbank, swaying in the wind. Jade had a feeling he was staring through them into a scene she would never be able to see.
"Mayron, my awakener, was not a good being. He kept dungeons filled with human prisoners and enjoyed torture and murder. For twenty-six years, I stayed with him. He forced me to kill, to feed off terrified and crying women, and I thought it was the only way to live that I was damned."
Benjamin let out a sad smile and ran his hand through his hair. His shoulders were hunched, but he turned his head to look at Jade. "One night, a band of Vindicators raided his home. We all fled, but I purposely let the Seraphina separate us. I knew it was my only chance to escape, so I let him think I’d died. I haven't seen him since I don’t know whether he lived or died, and I never want to."
Jade wanted to cry for him, for the horrible things he had lived through. He moved closer to her, back toward the shore, and she grabbed his hand when he was within reach. She pulled him to her until he had shifted so that his back rested against her stomach.
Hugging her arms around him, she whispered, "It’s all right, now."
"I may be a demon, but I’m not a bad man. I swear it." He sounded as though he was about to cry. She realized his memories still haunted him.
"I know," she said and nodded, hoping he felt the movement against his head, understanding she was sincere.
"After I escaped, I kept to myself for a long time. I fed off people because I had to, but never enjoyed it and never killed again. I traveled, jumping from one city to the next, trying to see the wonders of the world and meeting different sorts of demons along the way. Some were just as bad as Myron, and some were just like me. During the First World War, I scavenged on soldiers dying in Europe, but a few years later a discovery changed my life. I stumbled upon a blood bank, found bags full of blood, and realized my days of feeding on humans were over."
"When did you meet the others?" she asked, thinking of Skye, Shaun, and Owen.
"I knew Skye from the start." Benjamin angled his head to look at Jade. She hoped she covered her shock well enough. Skye and Benjamin had known each other for more than a century.
"She was with Myron for years before he woke me. She took to his teachings far more than I ever did, but she always believed we were meant to be together. She was the one who helped me escape, and I never heard from her again, until I returned fourteen years ago, finally ready to come back home. I was tired of drifting off being alone, and I missed home. It hadn’t changed much in the years, and I was walking through the old town one night when I saw her with Shaun and Owen. She welcomed me back with open arms, and even though I disapproved of their lifestyles, it felt so nice to have a family again. But all that changed when I met you."
"Why?" Jade couldn’t understand how two months of barely knowing her had changed Benjamin so deeply that he would betray the one person he had known for so many years. Because surely that’s what Skye saw as a betrayal. The past two months had flipped Jade's life upside down, but she never imagined they had done the same to him.
"When I first saw you, in the classroom, I had no idea what you were. I never dreamed Seraphina could form half breeds, but Skye knew right away, and she wanted to capture you and kill you. As soon as she said it, I don’t know why but all I could think about was protecting you. Well, some protector I turned out to be." He shook his head and sat up, jumping from the tree to stand on the shore. He knelt to gather some flat stones to skip along the water’s glassy surface.
Jade watched as he beat himself up over the events of the past few weeks no wonder, he always seemed sad, she thought. He blamed himself for everything, even things completely outside his control. "I’m alive, aren’t I?"
"Because you discovered your power Skye almost killed you."
"But Benjamin…" She sat up and grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to face her. "I might have never discovered anything if you hadn’t helped me, in the classroom, when you scared me. It awakened my power and made me know I could somehow help myself. And let’s not forget that you saved me from almost drowning."
His features softened and he leaned back against the tree branch, covering her hand with his own, keeping it securely on his shoulder. "You must have questions. Fire away."
Jade chewed her lip, thinking of what to ask first. Her mind was practically bursting, but she didn’t know where to start. What do you ask someone who is old enough to be your great, great times two grandfather but looks young enough to date? Normally, Jade thought a guy his age would be married…married? How many girls had he been with? Jade had only been dating for a handful of years and had already had at least one boyfriend. Benjamin had been doing it for one hundred and fifty years. He must have had tons of lovers.
Jade pulled her hand from his, suddenly very conscious of their age difference. She’d never done more than kiss a boy, and she could only imagine what sort of creepy, demon things Benjamin had done.
"Jade? What are you thinking?" He turned around, resting his elbows on the tree branch and looking at her.
"Ah…" She twiddled her thumbs, fighting the urge to blush. "So, how many girls have you, you know…dated?" God, she thought, why am I acting like a tween?
Benjamin burst out laughing. "Of all the things, that’s what you want to know?"
"Well, it’s a start. Why? Something to hide?" she asked, lifting her eyebrows. Jade was becoming defensive, and it brought her out of her dazed schoolgirl mood.
"No. I don’t even know. No one serious, if that’s what you’re asking. But I’ve been around for a while, so I’ve met some women along the way, and well…" He trailed off.
Jade hid her face in her hands, suddenly not wanting to know. No one serious—that was good enough for her.