Page 27

I nodded, hating myself for it. This was the stupidest thing I’d done in a while, hands down, but I couldn’t seem to resist…

“Yes,” I whispered. “I want more.”

It cackled, and struck. I took that as its agreement.

I was back at the café the next day after school. It was easier than it normally would have been to slip away from my friends. I’d been moody for the last few months, spending more and more time on my own, and they were getting used to it.

My parents had been called away to fight two months ago, an unprecedented order from my uncle, the European Arch. No other kid I knew of had two parents away fighting, and I’d felt more than a little slighted, even when the Arch himself explained to me why he’d needed them both to fight. They were both exceptionally strong warriors, two of his best, and he’d felt both of their skills were needed for the battles. They worked better together, he’d explained. Talking to him hadn’t lessened my angst, and most of my friends were smart enough to let me be while I worked through it.

Jillian wasn’t in the main room when I entered. A tiny, dark-haired woman was waiting tables. “Kids’ room?” she asked me.

I shrugged. “Sure,” I said, mostly hoping that Jillian was in there.

“What can I get you to eat?” the woman asked as she led me down the hallway to the left.

“Whatever’s on special and a glass of water, please.”

“Sure thing, sugar.”

The kids’ room was bigger than I’d expected. And emptier. Only one corner of the room was occupied by about a dozen kids ranging from a few years younger than me, to a few years older. They were grouped around a large corner booth, where they were all intent on some sort of card game. Jillian was at the center of it all, cards clutched loosely in one hand, while she laughed as loud as any of the kids.

It was a heart-stopping sight.

She glanced up briefly at my entrance, spoke softly to the table, then set down her cards, and made her way to me.

She sat across from me.

“And how are you today, Dom?” she asked, giving me a small smile.

I shrugged, looking down.

“Did you come just to visit me?” she asked. Her voice was soft and careful, but she sounded almost pleased.

I nodded, looking up into her beautiful eyes. She sucked in a breath. “I’m sure you hear this all the time, Dom, but you have the most amazing eyes I’ve ever seen. They are quite exceptional.”

I stared at her, feeling a sense of power there. I knew she saw me as a child, but my eyes held some hold over her. She couldn’t seem to look away, as though mesmerized. I thought that was fair, since she completely captivated me. “They are a legacy from my mother’s family. She and I are the last alive to carry them.”

She looked a little sad at that. “Well, I’m sure when you grow up and have children, you’ll pass them down to the next generation. It would be a real pity for something like that to die out.”

I wanted to reassure her that they wouldn’t, because I wouldn’t die out. My kind didn’t age, and we didn’t die of old age, but our deaths were all too common. We could be beheaded, and we fought often and furiously. There were those of us that were thousands of years old, thanks to some dark magic that our ancestors had performed, but most of my kind didn’t live for more than two centuries. A warrior’s life was often cut short.

I suddenly processed what she’d said about children, and my gaze ran over her greedily, drinking in her perfect figure. She had spoken of my children, and I suddenly had an unbidden vision of her bearing them. I wanted that, I realized. It didn’t take me long to decide. I wanted her, wanted everything about her. We were nearly strangers, but every instinct I had told me that she was my mate. Obviously, with our age difference and her seeing me as a child, it would take me some time and work to convince her of that, but I knew I was up to the challenge.

Something in my gaze, hunger I’m sure, made her uncomfortable, and she glanced away suddenly. She took a deep breath. When she was finally able to meet my gaze again, hers was smiling, her expression a little too bright. “Will you play cards with me?”

We played for nearly two hours, and she had me laughing as I watched her. When she was in the room, it was nearly impossible for me to look away from her. She seemed to have a similar problem, and we found ourselves looking into each other’s eyes often. I could tell this made her uncomfortable, but she tried to shrug it off. I went out of my way to give her the best of my charm, surprising carefree laughs out of her that I could tell caught her off guard.

I visited her often after that, slipping away to see her whenever I could. She always found a few precious minutes to spend with me, sitting to laugh and joke with me. I found myself opening up to her about everything that I was allowed to speak about in my life, my parents’ absence, my frustration with time spent in a school that had little to teach me. I picked things up very quickly, and had little patience for relearning things that I had learned the first time. The growing alienation I felt with kids my own age, who could never seem to understand that life was about more than the everyday anecdotes of being a teenager. She always listened, and I was always soothed by her calming presence, and her sensible advice. She would often walk me out of her restaurant. She owned it with her sister, so she could usually do as she pleased. She would touch my hand with a smile, saying things like, “I value our friendship, Dom,” or, “you are a dear boy, Dom,” and I was putty in her hands. I would have done or said anything to get her approval, her smile, her laugh, her regard.

She was very close-mouthed when talking about herself, but over time, I was able to uncover some precious gems. She seemed kind and genteel, not the kind of person I was used to dealing with, but she would often refer to the fact that she was no saint.

I had made some reference to her kind benevolence once, and she had smiled sadly. “I wish I was as you see me, Dom, but I have a rather…violent and colorful past. I’ve done things that you would never associate with kindness. I’ve had to do many dark and horrible things to survive. And there is a rage inside of me that is hard to contain. You and I are more alike than you could ever realize.”

Rather than be put off or alarmed, her words had been like a balm to me. I hadn’t wanted her to be a perfect and pacifist spirit. I was a warrior, it was my legacy. And the women I was used to dealing with were just as vicious and fierce as the men. That she knew about the leashed beast inside of me, even a little, and still wanted my friendship, was a relief. But that she could understand it, perhaps even had a similar disposition herself, well, that was a marvel. I didn’t question the things she said. I just accepted them and relished them.

I began to embrace her when I saw her, and when we parted, light hugs that made her stiffen at first, but over time she began to accept them with ease. I could be patient. Someday she would return my love.

I overheard her and her sister talking about me once. She hadn’t made an appearance since I’d arrived, and I’d gone snooping, intent on finding out if she was even there, if it was even worth waiting for her that day.