Fallen Tears: A Blood Crave Novella (Blood Crave Series) (6 page)

“Indefinitely? She’s staying here?” Remy asked, confused. “But what about Kaji?”

Faith crossed her arms together as if suddenly cold. “Kaji just went by their place to fetch her things. She told him what happened. Apparently the lapsus who attacked her knew she had been around a lamia. That’s why she was stabbed. Kaji feels it’d be safer for her if they were to keep away from each other.”

Remy thought that train of thought was illogical, especially coming from Kaji and considering Rowan, too, was now a vampire. He wasn’t the only one to question it however, when a voice suddenly erupted into the room, loud in protest.

“No!”

CHAPTER 7

The lapsus all looked up in surprise to see Rowan standing, clutching the doorframe with all her strength before her body sank low to the floor. Kaji must have left the door ajar, for Rowan would have been too weak to open it on her own. She regarded them all with fresh tears streaming down her face, eyes bloodshot and face pale.   

Sage rushed toward her as she knelt down beside her. “Hey, now. You can’t be up like this. You’re too weak and you’ll pass out. Kaji will be here shortly so why don’t you just wait until he gets back, okay?”

“He can’t leave me. I can’t be alone.” She whispered this as if in a trance, her pupils dilated. She seemed to be staring at something only she could see.

“You’re not alone. There’s me, Remy, and my mom. My name’s Sage.” She smiled kindly down at Rowan. “Why don’t we go back down so you can rest until Kaji gets here? You’re still pretty damp from the rain so I’ll get you some of my clothes to wear and a towel to dry yourself off, okay?”

Rowan refused to look at Sage, staring straight ahead. She repeated in a monotone voice, “It’s dark down there. I can’t be alone.”

Confused, Sage bit the corner of her bottom lip. Then she nodded her head firmly as if in understanding. Her voice became gentler. “You don’t like the dark, do you?”

Rowan finally looked up, staring straight into Sage’s eyes. The naked fear Sage saw when she observed Rowan made her want to blink back tears suddenly forming in her own eyes. Still staring at her, Rowan whispered again, “I don’t want to be alone.”

“You won’t.” Sage shook her head then looked over toward Remy and Faith. They were both watching quietly with solemn expressions. She sighed as she asked, “Remy, why don’t you help Rowan downstairs so she can relax until Kaji gets back. I’m going to go get her some clothes from my room.”

“Why doesn’t Faith do it?” Remy, a bit apprehensive at the thought of being alone with Rowan, shifted his eyes from her and over to Faith.

Sage regarded her brother in exasperation. “Because
Mom’s
exhausted after depleting all her energy. I can’t believe you even have to ask that. Besides, you’re a strong man. Be strong.” She smiled widely up at him as she mockingly flexed her biceps at him for emphasis.

Remy inwardly rolled his eyes but approached Sage and Rowan. Sage stood up, looking over at Faith. “Mom, get some rest. Remy and I will handle everything.”

“Are you sure?” Faith looked almost as fatigued as Rowan did as she leaned next to the banister.

“Absolutely. Go on, now. I’ll see you in the morning.” Sage gave her mother a smile of encouragement.

“Okay.” Faith glanced back down at Rowan, a look of concern showing on her face then murmured, “Goodnight, Rowan.” She slowly ascended the stairs to her room, the stairs creaking under her weight. Sage looked one last time at the dark-haired girl, saying nothing. Then she followed her mother up the stairs, going to her own room. Both Remy and Rowan were left alone, Remy staring down at her dark head as she in turn stared silently down at the floor.

“Hi.” He didn’t know what else to say.

She glanced up as he spoke but then quickly looked away. She managed to mumble a reply in return. “Hi.”

Remy walked closer to her where she crouched but she recoiled away from him, her eyes wide in fear. He paused in mid-stride, shocked by her action as he watched her helplessly, not knowing what to do next.

“I’m sorry.” Rowan couldn’t look him in the eye as she spoke so instead stared straight ahead, focusing on his dark blue shirt. She was able to see the color in the darkness, which she found strange, her senses on high alert. “Kaji told me that a lapsus attacked me. And that you’re also lapsus. I guess I’m still a little nervous.”

“That’s alright.” Remy looked down at her for a moment then spoke again. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

He slowly reached out a hand, which Rowan stared at for a moment. Then she tentatively took ahold of it. Remy grasped her cold fingers in his as if he wanted to warm them up with his heart.

“I really won’t hurt you. Do you trust me?” Remy bent down so his golden eyes could stare directly into her own brown eyes.

At their sudden eye contact, Rowan felt so many things at once. She was tired and had an indescribable hunger in the pit of her stomach. But when she looked at this golden boy with such trustworthy eyes that gleamed brightly in the dark, she instantly felt better.

She wasn’t so afraid.

“Yes.”

With that, she let him carry her down the stairs to the basement, his arms wrapped around her. It was pitch dark and Rowan once more felt a sense of panic that rose up from within her as she clutched Remy’s shoulders tighter.

There were no windows or anything—just concrete walls on all sides. It was also excruciatingly cold. Three beds in the room, Remy walked toward the closest one as he placed her gently on it, her body sinking heavily into the soft mattress. He found a blanket on the edge of the bed and opened it up, placing it over her cold body. Moving back, he took a seat on a chair off to the side, Rowan shivering in her still damp clothes. Noticing her discomfort, Remy intricately shifted his fingers together as a flame suddenly erupted from within his hand. Eyes blazing bright, he lit the lamp that was on a table next to the bed, warming the cold room.

Rowan looked startlingly from his flaming eyes to the flame in his hand, its orange light dancing before her. She then asked warily, “Is that one of your powers?”

“Oh, this?” She saw him smile wryly, looking into the flame. “Yeah, I’m good at making fire. It comes handy in times like this when there’s no electricity. Both Sage and Faith use me as the household lighter all the time.”

He moved his hands again and the flame vanished from his palm. His eyes instantly dimmed as they went back to his normal, unique color.

“Your eyes.” Rowan swallowed hard as she looked up at the ceiling, finding herself feeling awkward when she thought of those eyes. She was unable to look directly at him. “They got really intense when you did that thing with the fire.”

Remy looked over at Rowan, who still refused to look at him. Staring at her face, he answered nonchalantly. “Yeah, that happens sometimes.”

“Is that like a witchy thing?” She still had her gaze staring straight up as if she were suddenly fearful of him again.

“Witchy?” Remy chuckled softly at her description. “Yeah, I guess you could call it that. Over time, the humans that noticed our powers began labeling us as witches. It’d be too crazy to actually believe there were fallen angels walking around, huh? But in actuality, the correct term is lapsus. As lapsus, our eyes harness our abilities so whenever we use them, they kind of start to glow.”

He paused, adding, “Kind of sucks because that means I always have to wear sunglasses if I don’t want my powers known.”

Rowan suddenly sat up in bed and timidly glanced over toward Remy, not quite believing she was technically having a conversation with a witch. Scratch that—lapsus. She chose to ignore the little history lesson. “The witch who attacked me, his eyes lit up like that.”

“Oh.” Remy’s mind went blank.
Jesus, she makes me nervous.
Clearing his throat, he tried thinking of something else to say. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

They both got quiet, neither knowing what to say to the other as an awkward silence filled the room. Remy started to find his nails extremely interesting while Rowan’s eyes darted across the basement when they both decided to speak at once.

“So how’d—”

“Can all—”

They stopped abruptly and looked at one another. Remy gave another smile, which seemed to come easily to him as he gave a wink to Rowan. “Go ahead.”

Rowan was momentarily dazzled by his smile and the way he winked at her. Her head started to feel lightheaded.
What is he doing to me?
She pressed her lips together, giving her head a shake. “I just wanted to know if you could all do that?” she murmured, pointing toward the lit lamp.

“Make fire?” She gave a nod at Remy’s question. “No. It’s more of a ‘luck of the draw’ kind of thing.”

“Oh.” Rowan didn’t know what else to say. The witch who attacked her must have had the power to implant thoughts into her mind, thoughts she still couldn’t get out. Her brows puckered as she realized she’d probably always have this underlying fear.

At the thought, she felt this overwhelming sense of dread creep back inside her head. Frantic, her chest felt heavy, alike to the sensation of having a ton of bricks lying atop her. 

“Sage should be here shortly,” she heard Remy say, but barely. Oblivious to her current state of distress, he ran his fingers through his golden hair at her lack of response. “Really, I don’t know what’s taking her so long.”

He finally looked over at Rowan, who seemed to be having difficulty breathing. “Are you okay?” He moved away from his chair and crouched by the bed next to her as he clutched her shoulder.

Rowan tried to force her rapid breathing to slow down and nodded her head a few times, feeling reassured by his presence. “I’m sorry. It’s just—the dark.” Her mind was beginning to play tricks on her.

She wondered how long this would last.

“You mentioned that before. Upstairs. Are you really that afraid of the dark?” Remy perched himself on the edge of the bed as he looked at her curiously.

She sighed, glancing up at him. “I wasn’t before. But tonight …” Her eyes got dark at the memory.

“There’s no need to explain.” Remy knew something horrible must have happened for her to act this way. He clenched his fist tightly on the bed at the thought of someone wanting to hurt her. He tried to get her mind off it by changing the subject. “Just relax until Sage and Kaji get back.”

As soon as he spoke, his sister came barreling down the stairs with a pile of clothes in her arms. Being Remy’s clue to leave, he gave Rowan one last look before he silently leaped off the bed and sprinted up the stairs, leaving Sage gazing after him strangely. As he reached the top step to the main floor, he bumped into Kaji, who had just arrived. There were many black trash bags littered on the floor, which could only be Rowan’s belongings.

“How is she?” Kaji looked stoic as he asked the question. Almost as if he’d break somehow if he showed any trace of his feelings.

“She’s scared, Kaji. Tired. What else did you expect?” Remy looked up at him, wondering why he was acting so distant.

Kaji stayed quiet then handed Remy a plastic bag, who took it instinctively. “Give this to her.”

Remy looked in the bag to see plastic water bottles filled with blood. He made a face in disgust and gave them back. “No thanks. Do it yourself.”

“I’ll be in the way.” Kaji didn’t budge from his spot as his eyes flicked toward the open door to the basement.

“If you’re planning on leaving her, you better explain the situation to her instead of just running.” Remy stared at Kaji, shaking his head in disbelief. “Man, you’ve changed. I used to look up to you as a kid. Since when are you scared of a girl?”

Kaji clutched his jaw tightly at Remy’s comment but didn’t answer him. Remy was right, he was a coward. Deciding to do the right thing, he silently walked passed Remy as he entered the stairs to the basement. Minutes later, Sage came up the stairs, shaking her head. Looking exhausted, she uttered, “Poor girl.”

They walked into the kitchen and each took a seat at the table, mirroring each other’s image, both cradling their head in their hands.

They were twins, after all.

Sage gave a sigh. “So what do you think about their relationship?”

Remy frowned as he grumbled, “No comment.”

She ignored him and went on. “You think they’re, you know? Together?” She raised her eyebrows high at the notion of Kaji and Rowan as a couple.

Remy grimaced at the thought and blurted out before he could think. “God, I hope not.”

Sage looked suspiciously at him, perplexed by his response as she ran her fingers through the ends of her long ponytail. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing!” He held up his hands in surrender and gave a shrug. “It just seems like a relationship with Kaji might be a bit difficult, is all I’m saying.” He hoped that explanation would suffice but it was always difficult hiding anything from Sage.

She stayed silent, but continued to look at him like she didn’t believe a word he said. Then she spoke in his mind.

I don’t believe you.

Shut up, Sage.

Then Remy spoke aloud to her, trying to irritate her as he eyed her up and down. “Do you know you’re still in your pajamas?”

Mortified, Sage peeked down to realize that she was, in fact, wearing her favorite yellow pajamas, hugely decorated with sleeping sheep.

“Remy! Why didn’t you tell me earlier? God, Kaji
saw
me in this. My life is officially over.” Sage stopped her dramatic rant as she looked across at Remy to see him laughing hysterically. The moment caused Sage to also start laughing as well but then she sobered up quickly as another thought crossed her mind.