The Hidden (The Hidden Trilogy) (28 page)

The hair on the back of my neck pricked as soon as I saw her name light up my phone’s screen. I
so
did not want to talk to her right now. Or ever, really. But I’d been avoiding her calls for almost two weeks now.

Closing the door to the laundry room, I leaned against the dryer and answered my phone. “Yeah?”

Even her breath on the other end of the line sounded irritated. “Is that any way to answer the phone?” Her tone was icy. “I’d have expected better from you, Thomas.”

We both knew her “expectations” didn’t apply to my conversational skills.

“Hello,
mother
.”

She sighed, and I could just picture her–pinching the bridge of her delicate nose as she shook her head, her blond hair up in a perfect chignon, dressed immaculately with some kind of over-the-top jewelry for four o’clock in the afternoon. Probably diamonds.

“Gemelle told me about your girlfriend,” she said finally.

Goddamn
it, Mel. It wasn’t her place to say anything. Next time I saw her, I’d have a few choice words for my bitch of a sister.

“It hurt my feelings to hear it from someone else.”

I rolled my eyes. She didn’t hurt shit. And she didn’t have to hear about it
at all
, as far as I was concerned.

“I want to meet her, this Emma girl you’re seeing,” she said in a bored tone.

“
Emily
,” I corrected through gritted teeth. She knew damn well what her name was. Surely Mel hadn’t misspoken, and we had excellent memories. She was just trying to get under my skin.

It worked.

“Fine–
Emily
,” she huffed, and I could practically
see
her eye roll. “I want to meet her.”

“Why?” I demanded. “You don’t even care enough to get her name right.”

“Don’t you think I deserve to meet the girl that has bewitched my son? Something apparently
Cassandra
couldn’t even do?”

My mouth pressed into a hard line at this woman’s audacity. Jesus Christ, she knew
exactly
what to say to push my buttons. My free hand squeezed into a fist as I struggled not to put a hole in the wall. “Knock it off with the Cassandra shit. It wasn’t gonna happen a hundred years ago, and it’s sure as hell not gonna happen now.”

“Why not?” she asked, as incredulous as Cass had been that I’d turned her down. “Cassandra’s of suitable standing, and she’s quite lovely. What else
is
there?”

“I don’t love her.”

“And you love this Emily girl?
Please
,” she scoffed. “She’s a just shiny new toy. As soon as the novelty wears off, you’ll come to your senses and see that Cassandra is better suited for you.” She exhaled sharply. “For God’s sake, the girl was raised among
humans
, Thomas. The others will never accept her.”

“I don’t give a good goddamn what the others think.”

“You should. These are the people you have to share the rest of eternity with–
not your little human pets
,” she spat.

She kind of had a point, although she’d twisted it into something spiteful. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “Look, we can go ’round and ’round for hours–just get to the point and tell me what you want.”

“I’m having a dinner party on December fifth,” she said, her voice sugary-sweet and full of feigned politeness, like our little tiff never happened. “I want you and–
Emily
–to come.”

I laughed without humor. “I can’t even
begin
to tell you how much that’s not gonna happen.”

“Hmm, perhaps I should come visit my son at school. Tell me, sweetheart–how do you think Emily will react when she finds out her boyfriend’s mother appears
younger
than her boyfriend? I’m willing to bet it won’t be good.”

She’d do it, too. If there was one thing I knew about my mother, it’s that she didn’t bluff. You could bet your ass she’d follow through on any kind of threat she made, no matter how big or small. She was petty like that.

All of them were.

“
Goddamn it,
” I said through gritted teeth. Any semblance of composure I’d tried to maintain went right out the window. “Why are you like this? Why do you have to be such a fucking–”

“I’ll take that as ‘yes’ to my dinner invitation,” she said, back to her usual icy demeanor. “Be there at seven.” The phone clicked as the line went dead.

Well, shit. It looked like I had until December fifth to tell Emily I wasn’t human.

Chapter Forty-Five

Sunday, October 25
th

Thomas frowned as he moved his food around with his fork. He’d been in a weird mood all day. Not really upset, just…distracted. His fork clinked against his plate as he set it down. Was he done? He’d hardly touched his food. Normally he’d eat enough for three people.

I swallowed the forkful of mashed potatoes I’d just shoveled in my mouth and took a drink of water. “You okay?”

He looked up at me, still frowning. “I have a favor to ask.”

Uh-oh. I pushed my plate away, setting my napkin on his dining room table. “What is it?”

“My parents are having a dinner party, and I’d like you to go with me.”

My brows drew together. There had to be more. “And…?”

“And what?”

I laughed. “That’s it?
That’s
the favor?”

“Yes.” He picked up our plates and carried them into his kitchen.

Grabbing our glasses off the table, I followed him. “That’s not really the type of thing you use a favor on.”

“Yes, it is. And after you meet them, you’ll know why,” he muttered, dumping the plates in the sink.

“You don’t sound too excited about this dinner party.”

“I’m not.”

I leaned back against the counter. “Then don’t go.”

He sighed and matched my stance. “Unfortunately, I have to. And they insisted I ask you to come, because they want to meet you.”

My heartbeat spiked. “You told them about me?”

Things were pretty serious if a guy told his parents about you. Especially if that guy wasn’t close to his family and didn’t share those kinds of details with them.

But Thomas and I hadn’t had the “where is this going” conversation yet, and I was
not
going to be the one to start it. I didn’t want him to think I was too pushy or anything, and well…guys aren’t exactly known for being quick to commit. So I still didn’t know
exactly
how he felt about me. I knew he cared about me–that much was obvious. But did he love me?

I didn’t know. What I
did
know was that I loved him. It was impossible not to.

Thomas lowered his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t…
exactly
tell them about you.”

My eyes narrowed on him. “Then what
exactly
did you tell them?”

“Nothing… Mel let it slip that I’m seeing someone.”

“Oh.” My heart sank, and I looked down to the beige tile of his kitchen floor, trying to hide my disappointment.

Stepping forward, he picked me up by the waist and set me on the countertop, so we were closer to eye level. He’d made it seem effortless.

The granite was cold, and I felt it through my jeans. He parted my knees and stepped into the space, running his hands up my thighs until they rested on my hips.

Suddenly I wasn’t so cold anymore.

“I’m not asking you to go with me because they want me to. I’m asking because I want to show them that you’re not just
someone
to me. You’re…special.”

“I am?”

He put his hand under my chin and brought my face up, his pale blue eyes searching mine. “You really don’t know, do you?”

I had to remind myself to breathe. My voice came out husky as I said, “Know what?”

His fingers traced down my neck, along my collarbone, as he touched his forehead to mine. “That I love you.”

“You do?”

He smiled. “Yes. Very” –he gripped my waist, placing light kisses along my jaw– “very much.”

My heartbeat was all over the place. I put my hands on his soft face and kissed him deeply, tasting him all over me. Between kisses, I breathed, “I love you, too.”

He rested his head against mine again, his steady breath washing over me. “So…will you go with me?”

“Of course. When is it?”

“A little over a month from now. We can make a night of it, stay in the city if you want.”

I couldn’t stop the huge grin that spread across my face. “Yes, I want.”

Chapter Forty-Six

Monday, October 26
th

THOMAS

“
Gemelle!
” I slammed the front door to Mel’s house behind me. The entryway shook for a moment, and I heard running water coming from the kitchen. Half a second later I was there, standing next to her. “Have you lost your goddamn mind?”

Mel pulled her soapy hands out of the water-filled sink, piled high with dirty dishes, and used her forearm to brush hair out of her face. “What?” she asked, wide-eyed and innocent.

“You told Kate about Emily?
Why?
What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I didn’t mean to, it just kinda…slipped out.” She wiped off her hands and dropped her eyes from my murderous glare.

“Something like that doesn’t just
slip out
,” I retorted. “She knew everything, Mel.
Everything
. And
you
told her,” I said, stabbing my finger in her direction.

“I’m sorry, okay?” She looked up at me, her eyes pleading. “She asked me how you were doing, and I might’ve accidentally said something about how you’re really happy now, and…” She lost most of her steam and fiddled with her fingertips, looking at the pruned skin. “She loves you, you know.”

I snorted. “The only person that woman loves is herself.”

Mel looked up at me with an incredulous expression. “How can you say that? If you knew how many times she–”

She shook her head and walked around me.

I followed her into the living room. “How many times she what?”

Mel whipped around to face me. “How many times she
defended
you after you left.”

I froze, dumbstruck. “Huh?”

“After you left, Isaac made sure everyone knew you’d gone soft. We were ridiculed left and right, and each and every time
that woman
 stood up for you. She
never
stopped defending you.”

I shook my head. “You’re lying.” Even to me, my voice sounded unconvincing.

Her mouth pressed into a hard line. “Ask Matt if you don’t believe me.”

Matt wouldn’t lie to me about this. Even after all this time, and all that’d happened, he would still tell me the truth. I was sure of it.

“I take it she invited you and Emily to the dinner party.”

My eyes flicked back to Mel. “You
knew
about that?”

She bit the inside of her cheek, looking away sheepishly. “It was kind of my idea…”

Well, that was just fucking great. My own sister, conspiring with my mother. Just fucking perfect. “And no, she didn’t
invite
me, she blackmailed me.” Inviting me would’ve been far too simple.

Mel huffed. “She won’t
say
anything to Em, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

My brow lifted in a “bull-fucking-shit” look. “She
won’t
?”

Her lips pursed as she thought about it. “All right, I’ll talk to her.”

Chapter Forty-Seven

Wednesday, October 28
th

After my last class of the day, Thomas drove me to his place where Mel waited to take me shopping for their parents’ dinner party. Matt was there, too. Him and Thomas were going to have a “boys’ night.”

Thomas took his eyes off the road and glanced at me. “You sure you’re up for this? We can always reschedule if you–”

“Babe, I’m
fine
. I promise.” I loved Thomas, but ever since the accident, he’d been driving me a little crazy with his over-attentiveness. And truth be told, I
was
fine. The bruises had completely faded and I had no pain in my chest or ribs. It was actually kind of weird just how fine I was. The doctor said it’d take six to eight weeks for my ribs to heal. It hadn’t even been two, and I felt perfectly normal. I’d even stopped taking my pain pills a week ago because I hadn’t needed them.

Thomas sighed. “Okay… Thank you for doing this, by the way. Mel’s really looking forward to it.”

“She is?” I pulled my sweater tighter and sank into the passenger seat of Thomas’s Jeep Wrangler. I was surprised to learn last week that Thomas even
had
a second car. He said he mainly used the Jeep in the winter. Something about the salt on the roads when it gets icy could ruin a car’s paintjob or whatever. I had a tendency to tune him out when he started with the car talk.

Thomas nodded, bringing my attention back to him. “You and Mel haven’t really spent any time alone, and she doesn’t have many girlfriends. It’ll be nice to go out, just the two of you.”

We pulled into Thomas’s driveway and he killed the engine. Mel came out of the house almost immediately, a huge smile on her face. “Are you ready?” she called out to me.

I nodded as Thomas opened my door, holding out his hand to help me step down. My arms wrapped around him as I stepped out, giving him a hug goodbye. “What are you and Matt gonna do?”

He kissed the top of my head. “Not much. He’s probably already playing video games.”

“You would be correct in that assumption,” Mel chimed in.

“Here.” Thomas tossed Mel his car keys. “You can take my car.” He playfully slapped my ass as I got back in, making me squeal. “And be careful with her,” he said to Mel, pointing at her as his face grew serious.

She rolled her eyes and turned the ignition, the engine rumbling as she restarted it. “I’m always careful with your car,” she said.

Thomas bent down inside the door and kissed me one last time. “I wasn’t talking about the car.”

I turned to buckle my seatbelt, seeing Mel wink at me as she said, “I know,” to Thomas.