Autumn Calling (8 page)

“Thank God they were there, then.”

“No shit,” he said angrily.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked.

“Damn straight, I’m mad. This is all your
fault.”

“What? How?”

“Where to start? How about with your magical
family pulling Tori into their insanity, with a war that has
nothing to do with her. Or maybe the fact that in an attempt to get
rid of you, my girlfriend was almost killed.”

“Whoa, just hold on there. What makes you
think this is anything other than an accident?”

“The police found the brake lines were
tampered with on a car YOU primarily drive. You, who has a family
of evil witches looking to off you. Seems pretty obvious what’s
happened here.”

“What makes you think I would ever put Tori
in any kind of danger? I love her. She’s a sister to me.”

“You have a sister and she’s a whacked evil
bitch. Tori is not your sister.”

“And if you had your way, what would you
like me to do?”

“Stay away from Tori, and Jackson, for that
matter. Being around you puts their lives in danger, and I won’t
have the people I love put in harm’s way.”

She thought for a moment. Is that what she
was doing? Was she putting her friends in danger? This whole war
thing with the Macabres didn’t even feel real. She’d never met or
even seen any of them. It’s only been the word of a dragon, who was
nowhere around, a crazy old woman who claims to be her great-aunt,
and a crabby old cat that seemed to hate her most of the time. She
was learning magic to what, save the world? It was all ridiculous
and yet one couldn’t make this craziness up.

“And how is it you propose I do that?” she
asked.

“Push them away and out of the picture.”

“Jackson’s already done that. Is that your
doing?”

“Maybe.”

That shocked her. Had he been the reason
Jackson hadn’t contacted her? Would he really stoop so far as to do
such a thing? Did Tori know?

“And Tori, how would you suggest I ‘push her
out of the picture.’ You know as well as I do, nobody tells Tori
who to like and what to do.”

“If you love her, as you say you do, then
you will find a way.”

“Then why did you even bother to call me?
Pick me up and bring me along?” she asked.

“Because it’s not easy to get you alone
without Tori being around, now that you have her learning this
magic crap and spending all her time helping you. This seemed like
the right time to say what’s needed to be said for a long
time.”

“Wow. You really hate me don’t you?”

“I don’t feel anything for you one way or
another. All I’m concerned about is Tori and Jackson.”

She wanted to cry, but she was too angry and
too worried for Tori to let it out. She sat in silence as they made
their way through the city streets to the hospital. She’d always
liked Nick, but realized she really didn’t know him all. She’d
liked him because Tori adored him and because she had no reason to
dislike him.

It really bothered her that Nick had
acquired such distaste for her. But even more so, his words stuck
in her gut. If this wasn’t just an accident, and someone had tried
to off her, then he was right. She had put her best friend in
danger, and that scared more than all the stories she’d been told
about the evils of the Macabres. Maybe he was right. Maybe she
should find a way to distance Tori from her and the craziness her
life had become since she found herself entangled in this
Midnight/Macabre horror.

* * *

Summer followed Nick through the corridors
of the hospital, occasionally asking for directions, until they
came upon room 318, where Tori lay in a bed, bruised, bandaged, and
sleeping to the constant blip of a heart monitor. Her long black
hair streaked with magenta lay on the pillow and flowed over her
shoulder onto the blue paisley on the white gown they had dressed
her in.

One eye was so swollen Summer was sure there
was no way she could open it. She had stitches across her upper
lip. Her right wrist was wrapped in bandages, her foot was in a
cast, and her knee was wrapped. The whole of her left leg was
hanging form some kind of apparatus attached to the ceiling.

Summer’s eyes filled with tears as she saw
Tori so helplessly injured, and Nick went four shades whiter than
his normal vampire paleness. He sat at her side and stroked a few
wayward strands of hair away from her eyes while his other hand
held her unbandaged hand. He looked almost as broken as Tori, and
when his eyes lifted for a moment to reach Summers, pure hatred
poured from them, stabbing at her heart until uncontrollable sobs
came from within.

He was right. She had as good as signed
Tori’s death warrant, as far as she was concerned, and she would
never be able to forgive herself the pain she’d caused. She wanted
to crawl into bed with her and hold her like they’d done when they
were kids, but her feet were nailed to the floor by the glares from
Nick.

She didn’t know how long she stood there
crying before a nurse entered, put an arm around her, and led her
to a nearby chair, offering her a tissue.

“It’s okay, my dear. She’ll be just fine.
She definitely got beat up in the wreckage, but the airbags and
restraints did their job, and kept her from any fatal injuries. The
paramedics who brought her in said the vehicle had some kind of
carpet or cushioned coating?”

“Yes. It was a company car with carpeting on
it to look like a dog. We work for a veterinarian.”

“I see. They said the carpeting had ripped
off in places and actually ended up saving her from glass cuts on
her face. If it hadn’t been for her hitting her mouth on the
steering wheel, she would have been completely cut free,” the nurse
said.

If Summer could have laughed she would have.
For as much as Tori hated the dog mobile, those crazy floppy ears
might have saved her from being hurt more. She knew that would just
drive Tori crazy. But there would be no laughing now, and maybe not
for a long time to come for Summer.

When the nurse found Nick and Summer were
not family to Tori, she told them visiting hours were over and they
would have to leave, but Nick was not having any of that. They
couldn’t have ripped him away from her side if they cut his arms
and legs off. For as close as Tori and Summer were, she felt
uncomfortable in the presence of Nick, and at the nurses’ last
attempt at making them leave, she kissed her sleeping friend’s
forehead and took a cab home, leaving Nick and Tori alone.

Summer wasn’t sure if the tears had ever
stopped after she saw her broken friend in the hospital bed that
evening. By the time she paid the cabby and ascended the steps of
the porch of her little cottage, she was exhausted and felt sure
she must not have another single drop of water in her body. But
when she put the key in the door and Daniel’s hand settled on her
shoulder from behind her, she turned, buried her head in his chest,
and sobbed as he held her protectively in his arms.

Her knees buckled from weakness, and he
scooped her up and carried her into the warmth and safety of the
home within, closing the door behind them. He must have sensed
something was wrong, or maybe he knew what had happened and knew
she’d need him. Either way, she was thankful he was there. No words
were said or needed. He held her and she cried in the curve of his
neck until she could cry no more, then fell into exhausted
sleep.

She was happy to see, like before, that
Daniel stayed the night, never moving. When her eyes opened to meet
his dreamy, golden-brown eyes filled with concern, she simply said,
“Hi.”

“You want to talk?”

“I wouldn’t know where to start,” she said,
rubbing the sleep from her swollen eyes.

“Where ever you like,” he responded lightly,
brushing her hair with his fingertips.

“You already know what’s happened,” she
said.

“That’s not the point. The point is
sometimes you need to verbalize your feelings in order to make
sense of them or put them in perspective.”

“You really have been studying human nature,
haven’t you?”

“Yes. I have.”

“Why? Why are you making such an effort to
understand humans after all this time on earth?” she asked point
blank.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Not to me.”

“I’m surprised at that, since you’re the one
who has taught me most of what I know about humans and their
feelings.”

“But you’re not a human, and I haven’t a
clue as to what you’re thinking or feeling.”

“Right. Okay then, I’ve never much cared to
know humans. I was here to observe and protect, but not interact,
and that was fine for a very long time. But when I was asked to
watch over you, something different happened. I found you
fascinating in ways I’d never found other humans. I became
obsessive, you might say, in doing so, and found myself looking for
ways or reasons to interact with you. And when I did, I wanted
nothing else but to do so again. And when you clung to me the night
you found out Sister Mary Louise had died, I realized I want
nothing more than to protect and comfort you for the rest of
time.”

“Are you telling me you’re in love with
me?”

“I believe that is the phrase humans use for
such a pursuit. Yes, I now understand what my brothers meant when
they tried to describe their ‘feelings’ after finding a human woman
they laid with.”

“Whoa, now. Love is not the same thing as
lust.”

“I realize that. I think many of them went
into their laying with women for lust. It’s a powerful tug at the
physical body, but most of them stayed with the one they found this
intimacy with and began to love them. I have opted to do things
differently than my brothers, and hopefully that is the proper way
to win your heart.”

“So far so good,” Summer said with a
smile.

“Then you have these feeling for me too?” he
asked.

“I’m not sure what my feelings are for you.
I mean, I like you a lot and I find you very attractive. But unlike
you, I’ve only known you for a short while, where you on the other
hand have known me all my life. I need some time to figure out how
I feel about you before I can say.”

“I understand. Should we lie together? Would
that help you understand?”

“Um, no. At least, not yet. I realize your
brothers mixed their love with sex, but I prefer to find love
before the sex part happens. It’s just a little quirk of mine.”

“Oh. I see. But technically, haven’t we
already lain together?”

“ No, we’ve held one another while sleeping,
or while I was sleeping, I guess, but that is not sex, or ‘laying’
with someone as your brothers called it,” she said. But as she
spoke, it dawned on her that he’d been on Earth all this time and
never had sex with anyone? That blew her away. How was that
possible?

Most of the men she knew could barely keep
their hands to themselves, and their fascination with breasts was
unnerving. Being a watcher, he must have come across humans having
sex, but maybe he’d never put the two things together since he
never really found humans to be as intriguing as his brothers had.
Either way, if and when they came to that bridge, it would
definitely be a beautiful thing to explore; making love with an
angel.

She blushed a little and hoped he couldn’t
read her mind or sense what she was thinking. That would be quite
embarrassing.

“Hmm,” he answered mulling over that
statement. “But you’re willing to pursue your feeling in this
venture?”

“Well, if you’re asking me if I’m willing to
get to know you by dating and hanging out, then yes. I’d like that
very much.”

“Great. And this ‘dating,’ it
entails…what?”

“Doing things together, like when we went
for pizza and beer. We could go to movies, or out to eat—just spend
time learning about one another,” she explained.

He nodded and rubbed his chin, contemplating
the concept. “I see. I look forward to this.”

“Me, too.”

“So should we have one of these dates
now?”

* * *

“I’m not sure now is the best time.”

“Why?”

“Remember? Tori? Hospital? The
accident?”

“Ah, yes. Forgive me. I was taken away from
your reality with the anticipation of this ‘dating’ thing.”

“I have to admit I was distracted by it
myself. But the reality is, my friend very nearly died, and it
seems it’s my fault.”

“How is it your fault?”

“Nick said the brake lines had been cut, and
since I’m the one who normally drives the car it stands to conclude
that the accident was meant for me.”

“That doesn’t make it your fault.”

“It does. She got hurt because she’s close
to me. I’ve drawn her into this battle between families that she
doesn’t need to be a part of. Nick wants me to push her away to
keep her out of harm’s way.”

“I understand Nick being concerned about
Victoria’s well-being, but I don’t see pushing her away as a means
of keeping her safe. She’s a willful human and I think that would
only make her more determined to be involved.”

“Only if she knows my reasons.”

“So you’re thinking about lying to
Victoria?”

“I think Nick’s right. She’s in the line of
fire because of me and I have to try to fix that. If I end our
friendship, then the Macabres have no reason to use her as
collateral or accidentally hurt her in trying to kill me. I’d never
forgive myself if she were killed in my place, so I have to do
something.”

“I don’t see this working the way you
intend. And despite Nick’s protective prowess, lying to Victoria
could backfire on both you and him.”

“I know you can see the possible outcomes of
my decisions and that you can’t tell me what those paths might be.
But I would never feel good about myself if I didn’t do all in my
power to keep the ones I love out of danger. So I have to do
this.”