Tainted Blood (69 page)

When the kiss was over, although I think it was just the beginning of things to come, I whispered because I was still slightly breathless, “Let’s get packed and out of here before they get home.” Meaning Carter and maybe Felix. Although I suspected Felix would be keeping his distance for a while.

We hurried around the apartment, shoving what we could into a couple of duffle bags as quickly as possible. As I zipped the backpack containing all my bathroom essentials, I asked, “You ready?” He kissed me again to tell me he was.

Next, we locked the door behind us and rushed down the stairs to his car.

“Wait!” I said, and I saw his expression change. He thought I was backing out. “What about your seventy-two-hour check-in?” Oliver was scheduled, as part of his probation, to have his blood tested for any abnormalities every three days.

His smile returned. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve still got a good sixty hours to figure it out.”

I smiled back. We hopped into Oliver’s car and took off. I saw my car coming, Carter driving it, as we pulled out of the apartment parking lot and I wondered if they’d all still gone out for pancakes or if Zane had been shunned by my friends. As I wondered about this and plenty more, Oliver reached for my hand, and he held it on the console as we headed out of town.

I was nervous, in both a good and bad way. An angel had been sent to save me and I wished I had gotten a chance to learn more about them, that I hadn’t missed those lessons so that I’d have a better idea of what was going on. That was the bad feeling. The good feeling: Oliver and I were finally going away together. We were finally getting the privacy and alone time that was well overdue.

As I settled back in my seat and relaxed for the first time in who knows how long, I sighed a happy sigh and watched as the town of “
Treeville
” faded in the distance. Oliver lifted our hands and pressed his cool lips to the back of mine. I watched him do so, and my stomach fluttered with a thousand waking butterflies.

I was
so
ready for this.

Chapter 36
–
CARTER

“That her boyfriend?” Zane asked. He gave a nod behind us. All of us: Kiera, Zoey, and I, and even Jack, turned back to see Laney and Oliver in an intimate greeting. Felix was the only one who didn’t turn around, and when I’d glanced back at Laney, I caught an expression cross Felix’s face. It was an odd expression, and I couldn’t figure it out. Dude was being weird, but I figured it was because he’d just spent so much time with Professor Amber. She was probably still pretty pissed at him over the Gwen thing.

“Yeah,” I responded.

We stopped so Laney and Oliver could catch up. I was sure Oliver would join us at the Pancake House just so he could be with Laney. It wasn’t like the guy could eat anything there.

Suddenly, Oliver shouted toward us and I instinctively and protectively pulled Kiera close. It was the craziest thing. Felix started toward Oliver and Laney. Oliver stopped him, holding up his hand telling him to keep his distance. I didn’t get it. Felix and Oliver were friends, partners even, but Oliver didn’t want Felix near him and Laney. Then Oliver doubled over and Felix rushed toward him. I pulled Kiera along and we were right on Felix’s heels.

Laney was asking what was going on and trying to comfort Oliver at the same time. Oliver lifted his head, and looking past us to where Zane was, he pointed and shouted, “Him! He’s your angel!”

No, way…

Zane looked at Oliver, pausing a moment from pacing like a wild animal, and said, “I still have the right to have a life. Even if she doesn’t need me, for now.”

Instantly, I wanted to beat the dude’s ass. After all that Laney had been through…she was happy again. I’d stop whatever I could to prevent her from hurting again. Kiera must’ve felt me tense ‘cause her grip on my arm tightened and she held me to her.

“Wait. What’s going on?” Laney asked. I saw her step closer to a still doubled-over and clearly distressed Oliver. Then, all of a sudden, Oliver bolted upright and challenged Felix who was only a few feet away. “You said he would not be released!”

Felix pinched the bridge of his nose, something he did when he got frustrated. It happened to be something I’d seen him do a lot. “That all changed when you broke the law,” Felix told Oliver.

“Why wasn’t I told?” Oliver demanded.

“You didn’t need to know,” Felix responded.

“The hell I didn’t! You put him in her class! I had every right to know!”

“No,” Felix told him in that voice that he used when he wanted to be sure you shouldn’t argue. “She is not yours, and until she is, Zane has a right to her.”

This was bullshit. I glanced over to the pacing Zane and caught a sneer. Now I wanted to beat his ass and Felix’s ass. I considered bashing their heads together, even got a nice visual of it in my head. I figured Oliver would be game to join me.

Even though I knew I shouldn’t argue or question Felix, I did. “Whoa, hold up,” I said when I saw the look on Laney’s face. “Are you saying that this dude here is a fallen angel? That he’s Laney’s fallen angel, sent here to save her?” Felix nodded, and Oliver doubled-over, yet again.

“Yes.” was all Felix said.

Poor Laney, she didn’t know what any of this meant. She didn’t know that in order for Zane to go home he would have to save her then he could save himself. That meant
bonding with her the same way vampires bond.
She also didn’t know that, if Zane wanted, he could take her home with him. Take her away from us, forever, against her will. Honestly, angels were not real high up there on my list of favorites, and Zane—suave gray-eyed mother…—was way at the bottom of my list. At the moment, Felix was just above him.

“Save me from what?” Laney asked quietly.

“From my brother,” Oliver mumbled, still doubled over.

My eyes met Laney’s then and more than anything I wished that she and Oliver had bonded. Because if they had, none of this shit would be happening. The angel would have failed, meaning he’d probably be crazy and locked away somewhere.

I saw something in Laney’s eyes, like she was trying to tell me something and I wished I had Felix’s ability. Then she told all of us to get lost.

“Delaney, please listen,” Felix said and she turned on him. Now, Laney can be downright scary when she’s pissed, but I must say, it surprised the hell out of me that when she turned on Felix he stumbled back. As she went toe-to-toe with the enormous Felix, I felt why he’d stumbled.

There was something pushing us, we all felt it. It was like some sort of invisible force nudging us away from her. I looked to the angel thinking it might be him, but he too was stepping away.

“I will not listen to anything you have to say!” Laney shouted at Felix, and he was forced to take another step back. “I have heard enough of your vague riddles. If you want to be honest with me, I’ll listen, but I refuse to play whatever game it is you think you’re playing!”

I swear to you, Felix looked scared as shit! When she took one step closer to him and told him to go, he was forced to take two steps back. He turned and left. The rest of us followed. That feeling of being pushed disappeared.

Zane lingered for a minute, watching Laney, and I stopped to watch him. “You stay the hell away from me! I don’t need you!” Laney shouted at him, and he turned to follow Felix. I followed too with Kiera and Zoey attached to me.

Felix was hurrying to his truck. I left Kiera with Zoey and took off after him. “Hey!” I shouted. He was at the door to his SUV. He didn’t turn and look at me. He had his hand on the handle when he said, rather irritated, “What?”

“How could you do that to them? After all they’ve been through?”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“What do you mean you didn’t have a choice? There’s always a choice!” I hadn’t realized how much this had upset me until I heard the words coming out of my mouth. “What, did you use Oliver to get her back to normal just so you give her up to someone else?”

He slowly turned toward me and his face was dark. I took a step back. “Boy, you have no idea what I can and cannot do. Some of us do not have choices. You know very little about me and my way of life and it would be best if you keep that in mind.” I said nothing. Believe me, I wanted to, but I stayed silent and waited. Felix pinched the bridge of his nose once again and the darkness that had surrounded him lifted. His eyes met mine. “I apologize,” he said and I nodded. Then he continued, “I cannot show Oliver favoritism because of who he is or because of Delaney. I want this no more than they do but I have my orders.”

“Your coven has serious issues,” I told him then turned my back and walked away.

Kiera and Zoey were waiting for me by Kiera’s dad’s car. Jack was there too. Honestly I’d forgotten all about Jack. Zane was a few feet away. “What do you want?” I snapped at him as I walked toward K and the others.

His creepy gray eyes settled on me. “You know exactly what I want.” I felt a heavy level of rage pulsing through me, every muscle tensed. All I saw was him and I wouldn’t let him have her.

Zoey was suddenly in my line of sight, her hand on my chest. “You let this go, Carter.” I blinked at her and focused on her pale green eyes. “Oliver will not let him take her from him,” she said in a steady voice.

I blinked past her to Zane and he was walking away, his shoulders hunched and hands in his pockets. He reminded me of a dog running away with his tail between his legs and I felt somewhat victorious.

“Jack,” Zoey turned to our new friend. “I’m sorry, but I think we should do this another time.” She flashed him one of her beautiful Zoey smiles.

“Sure, okay,” he said. “I’ll see you guys Thursday.” He hopped in his beater of a car and left.

“Did you guys feel that?” Zoey asked when it was just the three of us. So it hadn’t been just me that had felt that weird push. “Do you think it was another side effect of Laney having Oliver’s blood?” she asked.

“You think Laney did that?” Kiera asked, voicing my thoughts.

“Who else?” Zoey asked. “I can’t do that, can either of you?” We shook our heads. “I’m pretty sure the only special ability Jack has is talking someone to death.” I laughed for a second and Kiera shot me a dirty look. It was kinda mean. “If Felix could do that, don’t you think he’d have done it when we got attacked the other night?” Kiera and I nodded. “Only ones left are Zane and Laney.”

“What about Oliver?” Kiera asked.

“I don’t think Oliver was capable of anything just then, let alone pushing us back,” I told her.

“It could have been Zane,” Kiera said, but we all knew the truth. Laney had developed some sort of defense when she was given Oliver’s blood. I wondered if she knew and I wondered if it would fade or if she’d be able to defend herself with this new gift. If so, that would be totally awesome! It was like she could use the force, like a Jedi. I must admit, I was a little jealous.

We talked about it some more and about how messed up the whole situation was. Zoey left, and I kissed Kiera good night, telling her to be sure to let me know when she got home.

Thankful I had Laney’s car keys in my pocket, I headed home and hoped they were both there so I could find out what their plan was. I wanted to get Zane out of the picture as soon as possible, and I was certain they did too. I’d have no problem helping them with this task. But, while I was heading home, my stomach rumbled, so I took a detour and
hit up
the Taco Bell drive-thru.

They were gone when I got home. I was pretty sure I’d seen them pulling out of the apartment parking lot as I got close. I hauled my
Taco Bell bag-of-goodness
up the stairs and sat at the dinner table while I devoured my late night grub.

Kiera had left a wedding magazine on the table. I pulled it closer and began to flip through the pages as I ate. She’d also left a spiral notebook, and the words scribbled across the front of it caught my attention. I turned the notebook so I could read it. She’d written out her full name several times. She’d written her full name as it currently was, another with her last name hyphenated with my last name, and a third one. It was the last one that made it all real, and it felt like my heart kicked me from the inside. “Kiera Lynn Thomas” was written under all of the rest, and it was circled like that was the name she’d chosen. This one made her mine, all mine, my responsibility. I think I was about to experience a panic attack, but instead I about choked on the last of my taco when Zane busted through my front door.

“Where is she?” he bellowed. Dude looked like full on crazy. When I scrambled to my feet, knocking my chair down in the process, he came at me. He was fast, and I didn’t have time to defend myself. He punched me. Knocked me flat on my ass! I cracked my head, and he’d bloodied my
nose. He
didn’t break it, but it hurt like a mother… The whole thing had blurred my vision and rattled my teeth.

A couple minutes later he was gone. As much as I didn’t want to talk to Felix right then, I called him anyway. It was for Laney’s sake, not my own. I was fine, just pissed and aching. Not feelings I was unfamiliar with.

So I called Felix and told him that the crazy-ass fallen angel had just jumped me. He told me he’d get on it and that assault was grounds to take him back in. Glad I could help.