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  Chapter Ten

  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.

  “Well get used to it!” She seemed to cry even harder.

  I ran my hand over my face. Man, why did I have to screw up everything ? I should never have put her through all this. I should have just told her everything from the beginning. About why I was avoiding her, about why I had to kidnap her. “I am sorry for hurting you. I was just trying to protect you.”

  “I don’t care, ok? Take me wherever. Kill me for all I care. I have nothing to go back to, anyway.”

  I smirked. “That is just like you to be so melodramatic.”

  ` She was talking about her conversation with her father. I had overheard him basically kicking Ana out so his girlfriend and their baby could move in. I wouldn’t have let her go back there anyway but I knew because of the hurricane it seemed like she had lost so much. “You will always have a place to go back to—with me. You can live with me. We have a house in New Orleans,” came out of my mouth before I could think how she would react to such a declaration.

  I held my breath, waiting for her response. I was relieved when she turned her back to face me. Her tears had stopped and although she didn’t reply, she seemed comforted at my words. She sat up, inching closer to me to rest her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms tightly around her and pulled her back down to the bed. I clenched my teeth together as she squirmed in my arms. Again, satisfaction came over me that I was able to comfort her, protect her. She nestled her head closer to my heart and I made sure to keep it beating steadily. When her breathing steadied, I knew that she had fallen asleep. A human. Falling asleep on me. My arms tightened around her.

  Chapter Eleven

  Hours later, Ana was still sleeping. I wondered how much of her need for rest was due to what she’d been through and how much was because the potion was still in her system. I would be having a serious chat with Sansha about this later.

  Luke was getting impatient and I ignored him as he went to wait in the car. Slamming the door on his way out was intentional, and not shortly after Ana awoke quietly.

  She looked around, letting the memories come back to her.

  “Luke’s already outside. The weather is calmer so we should get going shortly, if that’s ok with you.” I had wondered why I even gave her the opportunity to say no.

  To my surprise, she nodded. “When we get back home you can have your things sent over to our house. It’s actually not that far from yours.”

  “What a surprise,” she had a hint of playfulness in her tone when she said, “and what will your parents have to say about that?”

  I remembered I still hadn’t told her where we were going. “I guess we will find out.” One corner of my lips pulled into a smile.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why don’t you go get changed and I will tell you everything when we get going?” I leaned over, taking the opportunity to press a kiss to her forehead. I could really get used to this, to having her be mine, to be able to kiss her whenever I wanted.

  “Everything?” She asked, catching me.

  “You're right, not everything.” I winked at her as she walked to the bathroom, smiling.

  While she was getting ready, I left. I told Luke to watch the room while I ran an errand. I had wanted to buy Ana something. But what could you get a girl like her, and from where? I drove into the small town, finding a bookstore on the main street. I smiled at my luck.

  A bell chimed as I opened the door. “Can I help you?” an elderly man behind the counter asked.

  “Just looking.” I was quickly scanning the bookshelves, when something in the case at the register caught my eye. I walked over to examine the leather-bound journal. Perfect. “I’ll take the journal.”

  “Young man, that journal is really just for display. It is handmade and about fifty years old. “

  Perfect. I smirked at how he called me young man. I was older than his grandfather. I took out the cash and set it on the table. “I’ll take it,” I reiterated, trying to remain polite.

  The man thumbed through the cash and cleared his throat. “I’ll just wrap this up, then.”

  The man was no doubt suspicious of why I was in a bookstore in a small, unknown town buying a nine-hundred-dollar leather journal with cash.

  I shrugged. Can’t win them all.

  I looked at my watch, knowing I didn’t have much time left. When the man finished, I thanked him quickly and sped back to the motel.

  Luke was still standing outside the door when I got back, and I was a little relieved that he hadn’t gone inside. “Thanks,” I said honestly as I opened the motel room door.

  I just heard the shower turn off as I stepped inside, and was pleased that she had taken the time to relax after all of her ordeals. I started packing the rest of her things and put them in the car with Luke. When I got back to the room, she had emerged. Damp hair clung deliciously to her cheek. She smiled at me and the breath left my lungs.

  I was propelled to her. “I have something
for you,” I said as I brushed my lips against hers, no longer having the willpower to keep from touching her.

  “Really?” she asked distractedly as I traced two fingers down her collarbone. My hands brushed her necklace and I picked it up, remembering when Luke had touched her there in the car, giving the first compliment I have ever heard him make.

  “It really is a pretty necklace.”

  Her forehead creased and I knew she wanted an explanation.

  “Here.” I tried to change the subject by holding up my gift.

  “Thank you.” She looked baffled that I would buy her a gift. Oh, Ana. You'd better get used to it, you are mine now. She took the wrapped journal from my hands and slowly began to peel back the brown paper.

  “It’s a journal,” I said as she freed it from its wrapping. Her hands ran over the soft leather and I watched her eyes light up.

  “I know how you like to write…”

  She still didn’t say anything, just continued to stare at the journal.

  “…and I am sure now you will have a lot to write about!” I tried to lighten the situation.

  Perhaps she doesn’t like it? Perhaps she—

  “Thank you.” Suddenly, she flung her arms around me, crushing her lips to mine.

  Before we could get any further, the horn from the truck blasted.

  Ana jumped back in surprise. “He has got to stop doing that!” I was amused that she was irritated.

  “Shall we?” She took ahold of my arm as we walked outside to the truck.

  I had opened the passenger side door for Ana when I noticed Luke was now occupying it.

  I questioningly threw my hands up in the air.

  “Your turn to drive.” He didn’t even bother looking up from the book he was flipping through.

  “Here, you can get in on my side, Ana.” I didn’t know what game Luke was playing but I was irritated that he was starting it now. Now that Ana and I were finally getting along.

  “What'd I do?” Ana whispered, Luke’s behavior not going unnoticed.

  “You didn’t do anything.” I shook my head in Luke’s direction as I helped Ana get in the truck.

  We had barely pulled away from the motel when Ana began her inquisition. “Well, go ahead. You promised to give me answers.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “What did you mean by 'we’ll find out?' About your parents, I mean? And where are we going?

  “We are going to my parents' and that’s why we’ll find out.”

  “We’re going back to New Orleans? But the aftermath…”

  “My parents live in Tampa.”

  “So who you live with in New Orleans?”

  I glanced at Luke to answer her question.

  “Oh,” her mouth formed a perfect O shape as she thought over the information I had just given her. “So you live in a house by yourself in New Orleans while your parents live in Tampa?”

  “Precisely.” This wasn’t so bad after all. She could handle the truth.

  “And don’t you think that’s a little odd, two seventeen-year-olds living alone in a house?”

  I winced. “We may not be exactly the age you think we are.”

  “I don’t understand. Why do you live in New Orleans then?” Her voice had risen and I was starting to rethink how good an idea this was.

  “Ana, please calm down. I can explain.”

  “No! Stop telling me what to do. Answer my question. Why were you in New Orleans?”

  “Because of you,” Luke took that moment to answer one of her questions.

  “Don’t,” I warned him.

  “No, I have the right to know,” she told me, then turned back to Luke. Why were you in New Orleans for me? I don’t understand. I don’t understand any of it! You went to my school!”

  “That was an act,” Luke shrugged, unconcerned with the consequences of his words.

  “You were in my classes…” Ana’s voice trailed off and she gasped. I knew that she had put too many pieces together. “Oh my God.” She hid her face in her hands, horrified.

  “Ana, please calm down. You have been under a lot of stress lately. Sansha’s potion may be still in your system. When we get to my parents, they will explain everything.” I had no choice but to introduce her to our world now. Luke screwed up my plan to ease her into to it.

  Ana’s body was responding at an alarming rate. She sucked in breaths, reminiscent of the time she fainted near Sansha’s. Before I could respond, her body went limp.

  Luke caught her in a surprisingly gentle motion. “Keep driving, I got her.”

  I looked her over as Luke laid her down to rest on his lap. I clenched my jaw. He wouldn’t have had to “get her” if he had been the one driving. It had started bothering me every time he touched her. Ana looked peaceful yet again, now that she was asleep. I listened to her breathing for any signs of trouble.

  I shook my head. How could I forget she was human, how much she has been through? Her mind had taken in too much and her body was trying to preserve itself. We still had a few hours until we got to Tampa. I looked over again at Ana on Luke’s lap and cursed. It was going to be a long couple of hours.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Hayden!” My mother met me in the driveway, hugging me with relief.

  “Mother,” I smiled, though I had nothing to smile about. Luke remained in the car with Ana who was still sleeping it off. He didn’t want to disturb her until we moved her inside because he said he was “like her pillow.” I clenched my fists. That was not his job to be her pillow! What was going on with him, anyway?

  My father stood inside the front door. “What are you all doing out here? Come inside, already.”

  I cleared my throat. “Well, we are not alone.”

  My father’s lips parted and my mother could barely hide her excitement.

  “Where is she?” My mother asked.

  “She has been through a lot, especially with the kidnapping and the hurricane. She is still sleeping it off.”

  “Kidnapping?” My mother gasped. “You had to kidnap her?” Her tone was instantly scolding.

  “Mother, it’s ok. If we hadn’t, she would have stayed behind, suffered the storm and been left vulnerable to the Vasquez.”

  My mother’s head bobbed up and down in a nod. “Ok, well, what’s Luke still doing in the car?”

  “He… The car is small and she is lying on his lap. He didn’t want to disturb her by getting out.”

  My mother and father each held the same dumbfounded expression.

  “Luke?” my father even thought he didn’t hear me right.

  “Well, ok then. I will have to get the guest room set up for her, then he can bring her in. I suppose.” She looked at me to judge my reaction. My father must have filled her in on the conversation we'd had. The one about finding your mate.

  That conversation would have to be left for a different day. “I’ll meet you inside with her things.”

  * * *

  I prolonged getting Ana settled in. I knew that my parents would want more of an explanation for everything when I was finished. My mother jumped right into her role as nurse and a smile tugged at my cheeks because of this. She had always wanted more children, especially a daughter, but Hunters only had one son. Their heir.

  I stood in the kitchen, thinking.

  “She was awake the last time I went in, Hayden,” my mother told me as she stirred the broth boiling on the stove.

  I immediately started toward the guest room. “No, don’t. She is still resting. Besides, she didn’t seem too thrilled about being here.”

  “We had an argument...” I let my words drift off.

  “About what?”

  I shook my head, “She’s human. I couldn’t tell her everything from the beginning. She would have never believed me and then I would have lost her forever.”

  “You were worried that she would look at you differently if you told her what you were?”

  “Perhaps.” I rounded t
he kitchen island to sit on the bar stool.

  “So you told her and she reacted how you thought. Her mind couldn’t handle it, which is understandable.”

  “I haven’t even told her everything yet. I was trying to explain things but she put the pieces together, about us living in New Orleans, about why we were there, why we were at her school. She probably thought we were serial killers.” I winced, remembering the real reason why we had came to New Orleans; because someone offered us our freedom in exchange for killing her. “So yes, she reacted badly. And Luke was not a big help,” I scoffed.

  “Luke. Hm.”

  “What?” I asked her.

  “Nothing. So you are going to tell her everything, right?”

  “I messed things up the first time by not. As soon as she’s awake she deserves—and will probably demand—an explanation.”

  Just as I said those words, I heard the sound of Ana’s scream. I immediately busted into Ana’s room. I wrapped my arms around her as breathing racked her lungs.

  “Ana, it’s ok,” I turned to my family, “she was probably having a nightmare.” I had already explained to them about the ghost that was after Ana.

  “No, no,” Ana said in between breaths. “It wasn’t a nightmare. I saw someone! Someone was outside the window.”

  My teeth were bared in anger, ready to go after them. I could barely contain the rage that was threatening me, knowing that they had come onto our territory, that they had come so close to Ana.

  “No, Hayden. Now is not the right time,” my father commanded. Despite everything, I knew I had to listen. He was right. I could not lose control now when Ana needed me.

  “Adriana, I know you have been through a lot.” My father used one of his many charms to try to calm Ana down.

  “Why isn’t anyone moving? You need to call the police! Someone was just trying to break in.”

  I could smell Ana’s fear. And it only incited me further. I wanted nothing more than to track down the person who made her feel this way.

  “I need you to be calm right now. Hayden needs you to be calm, before he does something he’ll regret.” My father was still trying to comfort Ana. Finally, she took a deep breath and then nodded.