Chapter 113: Boyfriend
By the time Quaid returned, I'd lost the edge of my anger and the need to tear things apart and was further along the road to bawling my eyes out.
He took it all in stride, his chest the perfect place for me to pour it out.
When I was done, he looked down into my face, fingers swiping at my tears. "You cry a lot," he said.
Jerk. I whacked his chest with my fist, feeling the solid muscle beneath my hand. "Thanks a whole lot," I said, pulling away even as he chuckled and hugged me again.
"Just practicing," he said. "For later. You know. When we're an old married couple."
That thought didn't make me cringe anymore.
Still. He was a jerk. "How did this turn into such a mess?" I wished I could fix it. That he could. But I knew I probably just ended my friendship with Alison permanently because of my temper.
"What do you have against Benjamin, anyway?" Quaid sat at the kitchen table. I joined him, slumping over with my head in my hands.
"He gives me the creeps." I shuddered at the thought of his smile, his eyes. Everything about him made me want to run away or beat the crap out of him.
"That's it?" Quaid held out one hand. "Show me."
So I did. I let him feel all of it. Every shiver, every pinch of anger, even the stuff I wasn't proud of. And my fear of losing my friends.
When he pulled away he looked troubled. "I'm sorry, Syd," he said.
He was? Really? "For what?"
Quaid shrugged his shoulders, T-shirt pulling over his chest. My demon drove my mind to the memory of him earlier, when there was nothing between him and us but air. I snapped her back to the present. This was more important.
"I thought you were jealous or something." He looked uncomfortable. Served him right. "I really thought you were just being a bitch."
"And now?" His fingers tightened on mine when I asked.
"Maybe you're right." He frowned into the sunlight pouring through the kitchen window. It made him look older, wiser. "I admit the guy is a weirdo. And I can't stand him either."
I sat back, mouth open, horrified. "Why didn't you back me up?"
"Because," he said. "All your friends are weirdoes."
Okay. Fair enough. But still. And hang on a minute. "You're my friend," I said softly.
His smile hit my pulse rate so hard I had to gasp a breath. It just wasn't right he was that sexy. Not right at all.
"No," he said. "I'm your boyfriend. There's a big difference."
His power hooked my chair, pulled me toward him. He gently lifted me into his lap, fingers sliding my ponytail over my shoulder and out of the way. He leaned in and pressed his lips against the base of my neck.
Our power reached out and connected. But for the first time, I noticed it wasn't seamless. Not like I thought. And despite the fact Quaid nibbled my earlobe, it was enough to distract me long enough to turn to face him.
He must have known what I was thinking about, felt it in me. "We'll figure it out together," he said, his rumbling voice making my whole body vibrate, pressed to him like that.
I really believed we would.
I know something terribly inappropriate but incredibly amazing would have happened between us if Meira and Sassy hadn't interrupted. From the glint in my cat's eyes, he was now keeping an eye on us as well.
Probably for the best. This was no time to fall apart and do something with Quaid we'd both fail to regret in the least later.
Still, when darkness fell with no answers in sight and not even a communication from the coven, my dad or Uncle Frank and Sebastian, Quaid offered to stay again.
It was so tempting. Waking up to his power in the same house. But when he made the offer he was sitting on the couch with me in his lap again, the TV on and Sassy glaring at us from the recliner.
Quaid laughed at us both and kissed me so deeply my knees wobbled before he went home.
"Just reach for me," he said. "I'll be right here."
I knew it. And held onto his power until he reached the Vega's, only letting him go because it was too hard to sustain through their wards.
I crawled into bed and lay there, trying not to think. Not the easiest thing to do when I had so much to think about.
I'm tired of this sitting around, my demon snarled. If you don't act, I will.
Oh, and what exactly did you have in mind? If I wasn't in the mood for Alison's challenge, my demon was no exception. Only problem, there was no getting rid of her.
I'll think of something, she said. Just let me out.
No way. I slammed up another layer of wall to hold her in. You promised.
Meira's back, she said. Truce over.
She wouldn't. Not with Mom missing.
Just try me, she said.
Great. Like I needed more trouble.
Go ahead, I said. Run off without a plan and get Mom killed. Great idea.
She grumbled sullenly at me. I would never do that.
If you take off without an idea of what's happening and do something stupid, what do you expect? It was like lecturing a kid. Or me about six months ago. Now I knew how Mom felt. Wince.
She thought about it, turned it over and over, but finally she settled.
I had to take that as a win.
There was no way I would be falling asleep anytime soon. Every flicker against the wards made me sit bolt upright in bed, heart pounding, sweating. When I felt a mind touch the barrier, I was so hyper aware I knew immediately who it was, even through the wards.
I thought I'd taken the run to Meira's room fast. My path to the back door should have qualified as light speed. I banged open the screen door and almost crossed the wards when his deep voice, no longer full of velvet, shouted, 'NO!"
I looked at Sebastian, really looked at him and felt fear of him for the very first time. The glow was gone, but hints of it flickered. It wasn't the power he emanated as much as the look of him.
All humanity was missing from his face. As I'd seen with Cesard, Sebastian was stripped to the very ideal of vampirism. Though unlike Cesard, this picture wasn't hideous or ugly.
On the contrary. Sebastian looked like an angel. An angel of death.
"Stay where you are." His voice came in a whisper. "Syd, I need you to stay behind the wards."
There was an undeniable pull to him, a call to peace and serenity. If it hadn't been for my demon, I would have crossed the shields and gone to him anyway, just to embrace the eternal joy he offered. She roared her displeasure and rattled my mind so hard I gasped from the pain.
"Sebastian," I said.
"Where is your mother?" His body was motionless, a stunning statue, terrible in his beauty and the purity of his purpose. "I need Miriam, demon girl."
"She's gone." How did I tell him without just blurting the truth? "Nicholas took her." Sebastian shuddered. "Nicholas." The name passed his lips like a sigh. "My brother. Is here?"
I nodded, trying not to look directly at him. That made it easier to resist running to his arms and giving myself to him forever. What was happening to him? It was like he had turned into a grim reaper no mortal would be able to resist.
Was that the real purpose of the blood plague?
"This cannot be." Sebastian moved so fast all I saw was a flicker. When I turned my head, he stood right on the other side of the threshold. The déjà vu was almost too much. Hadn't I just had a similar meeting with his twin? But there was no comparing Nicholas to Sebastian. Not to this Sebastian, anyway. I half expected him to sprout a pair of black feathered wings.
"I will find her," he said. "I will bring her back. And Nicholas will pay for his arrogance."
I swayed, eyes locked on him, the need for him stronger than even my demon could break. It was as if everything about him called me to die and I was happy to do it. If he hadn't flickered into a white flame and vanished, I know I would have been lost.
Sleep was a long time coming after that. I contacted Erica, told her what I knew. Not much, but at least she was prepared. If and when Sebastian showed up, she and the others were warned.
I was surprised when I jerked awake, disoriented and foggy. I had been having the best dream. Quaid was in it. T-shirtless Quaid.
All thoughts of him left the moment I sat up and looked down at the foot of my bed.
And saw Sunny standing there, watching me.
***
