Chapter 318
Tara looked absolutely normal, sitting on the sofa in her apartment next to Dax, sipping a bottle of water, chatting away. It was nearly impossible to believe only a few hours ago she had been dead, but I was so happy to see her, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, even when my eyelids were so heavy I almost fell asleep sitting upright.
“So Australia, huh?” she asked smiling. “That’s so cool.”
“Yeah. I’m looking forward to the plane ride. So I can sleep,” I joked. I hadn’t told her much about the trip because she didn’t know about the portal. But she knew we were leaving in just a few minutes, and I could tell she was a little jealous that she couldn’t go with us. I didn’t blame her. I would’ve been too.
“I went there once about five years ago,” Dax said. He was sitting fairly close to Tara, and I wondered if their friendship might develop into something else.
“What for?” Brandon asked. “I take it not Vampire related.”
Dax chuckled like those were the good old days. “No, just a vacation with my family. We went to Sydney, though, not Melbourne. Still, it is a long flight.”
It was almost 11:30, and we’d have to leave in a minute to make it to the airport on time. I had thrown a few outfits into a duffel bag, along with my travel makeup kit and toothbrush. I hoped I’d remembered my pajamas, too, but I didn’t think we’d be in Australia long. I’d make it work. “Well, I’m really glad you’re feeling better, Tara. We were super worried about you.”
“Me, too,” she said. I couldn’t even see a scar on her neck from here. “Thanks again, you guys, for everything you did for me. I need to figure out a way to thank Jamie and Christian, too. And Cadence. But I’m not sure how you can ever say thank you to someone for saving your life.”
“You can’t,” I said with a shrug. “But… it’s okay because they don’t expect you to. Not Jamie and Cadence anyway. I mean, Jamie saved my life. Cadence traded places with me so that I didn’t have to go with Giovani and Zabrina, which would’ve killed me. You can say thank you, and they’ll say no problem, but that’s what they do. That’s what they expect to do. Cadence has been in the same position. Jamie’s put her back together a couple of times. Aaron took a bullet for her. We are a team. We do what we have to do to protect each other.”
Tara nodded like she understood what I was saying, but I could tell she still wanted to let them know how much she appreciated what they’d done for her. “Maybe I can bake them cookies or something.”
“Yeah, sugar cookies in the shape of syringes,” Dax joked.
“I’m sure they’d appreciate that.” A thought crossed my mind, but I didn’t know if I should say it out loud. I’d hate to be indebted to Christian. He seemed like he’d call in favors early and often.
“By the way,” Tara said, lowering her voice like there were people who might overhear, “did you guys hear that Ashley went on a date with Christian last night? That’s why he wasn’t there at first.”
“Yeah, I heard,” I replied.
“Have you talked to Ashley?” she asked me.
“No, I haven’t had time.” I wondered if she had, and by the look on her face, she knew something.
“Well, Addy and Gabbi stopped by to visit me earlier, and they said they went to the gym this morning and Ashley was there. She didn’t say much but she did say, ‘Never again.’ They both said he’d asked them out when they first got here. What is his deal?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Christian really was a creep. I’d known it all along, but hearing that made me a little nauseated. I began to wonder if there was something I could do to get my sister and Aaron to transfer him somewhere else. I knew he’d been there a long time, but he got on so many people’s nerves…. And if he was asking out a lot of the new girls, that didn’t sit well with me.
“I don’t know what his deal is,” I admitted, “but you should stay away from him. He’s not going with us.”
“He’s not?” Dax asked.
“No, we’re trying to sort out the trackers, so Aaron asked him to stay here and monitor that. I think he was just trying to separate Christian and Elliott, though. They don’t get along.”
“Maybe because Elliott can see through him?” Tara asked.
“My dad doesn’t put up with people who act like that,” Brandon agreed. “Especially if they don’t treat women right.”
I thought about all the lies Amanda had planted in Brandon’s head about his dad over the years and how sad it was that they were so far from the truth. I was so glad he’d gotten to know Elliott now. Even if it did mean I was about to encounter two of the worst Vampires in creation because of it.
“We have to go,” I said, standing and walking around Tara’s coffee table to hug her. She started to get up, but I motioned for her to stay seated. Even if she looked just fine, there was no reason for her to overexert herself. “Get some rest,” I suggested.
“You, too,” she said as she hugged me way tighter than she meant to.
She released me, and Brandon bent down to hug her as Dax stood to give me a quick embrace. “Thanks for taking such good care of her,” I whispered to him.
“Thanks for staying with me last night,” he replied. “You be careful. This seems dangerous.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him. “Brandon won’t let anything happen to me.” I winked at him, and Brandon and Dax did some sort of fist bump thing. What I’d said was true, but it wouldn’t just be Brandon there to protect me—not that I needed protecting. I was itching for a fight myself. My time was coming. I could feel it.
