The Vampire Legacy; The New Queen Rises (16 page)

"So, what do we do now?" Julian said and
looked out the window.

"I don't know, maybe we should try being
friends, siblings for a while and if it's too odd, then I'll
leave," I whispered in his ear.

"Are you going to tell Quinn?" Julian turned
and looked at me.

"I can't say that I won't tell him, but not
right now. I'm not going to suddenly get up and run out to him and
announce anything," I reassured him. "But I can't promise that
nothing will happen."

Julian kissed my cheek and stood up, then
walked out of the room. I sighed and put my head back on the window
glass, and when I looked outside again Quinn was looking up at me.
I watched him for a few moments and then I moved away and started
to get dress.

When I walked down and entered the sitting
room, Julian was talking quietly to Lauren, who was holding his
hand. Michael was caught up in a television program and a woman was
dusting the counter.

Michael
, I whispered to him. He turned
and looked at me then stood and walked over. He stood near me and
kissed my cheek. "Where's David?

"He's not a threat to you anymore," Michael
whispered. I looked him in the eyes and shook my head.

"No one was ever a threat to me personally
Michael," I replied and put my hands on my hips. "He was only a
threat to himself for choosing the wrong side. If you feel the need
to keep him locked up, feel free. However, don't keep him there
because of me. My son is a prisoner and I don't want this to turn
into a game of who-has-who."

"You want me to release him?" Michael
asked.

"What?" Quinn questioned as he walked into
the house. I looked at him.

"Nothing," I told him. "It's none of your
concern." Then, I looked at Michael. "Yes," I told him and turned
to walk away. Quinn took my arm and pulled me out of the room. We
stood just on the other side of one of the pillars in the room.
"This is not a good time, not right now."

"Now is a perfect time," Quinn said and put a
hand by my head and leaned on his arm. "Are you nuts? Did those
goons knock something loose in there?"

"I don't want David locked up. I want him to
be free to roam and lead me right back to Victor and my son," I
replied trying to slip away from him.

"So, you do have a plan in that thick scull
of yours. Here I thought you were just going with the flow." Quinn
smiled. Julian walked by and the two of them looked at each
other.

"Don't start," I told him quietly.

"What?" Quinn asked as Julian passed by. "I
wasn't going to start anything, not with him anyway."

"Quinn, please don't. Now is not the time and
here is not the place," I told him and grabbed his arm, moving it
out of my way. A jolt of something flashed through my body and I
looked at Quinn, who had obviously felt it to.

"Hey, you two. Is you're secret discussion
over with?" Lauren asked. I looked at her and nodded. "Good,
because tonight they're having a bonfire and we're invited, so you
better behave."

Quinn smiled his trademark mischievous smile
then raised his eyebrows at me. I walked away and tried to keep
myself busy until then. My world had been flipped upside down and I
was totally lost.

Julian was out of my reach. Quinn seemed to
make me anxious whenever he was near. Michael had a connection to
me now that almost scared me.

Lauren found me on the rocks just passed the
beach house. I was barefoot, but I had shorts and a sweatshirt on.
She walked up and sat beside me as I stared out at the water.

"Hey," she said and smiled.

"Hi," I whispered. "I didn't think you were
speaking to me."

"No, I'm still speaking to you, but you seem
to not be speaking to me." She pointed out and put an arm around my
shoulder. "So, do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?"

"You and Julian, you and Quinn, and you and
Michael. What's up with you and the boys?" She questioned.

"Wow." I smiled and then it faded. "Where to
start?"

"How about what all the yelling was about
between Quinn and Julian."

"I'm not sure about that, but it lead to
Michael coming in and exchanging blood with me."

"Okay, that's a little weird," Lauren
stated.

"Julian came to check on me and asked me if I
loved Quinn. Then he asked if I was in love with him and I couldn't
tell him either. So, we decided to try and be friends." I smiled
and then looked back out at the ocean. "As for Quinn and I, I'm too
scared to think of it. I mean, do I love him, am I in love with
him? I don't know. He just drives me up the wall, constantly trying
to be the hero, never listening to a word I say, and I'm not sure
if it makes me want to kiss him or strangle him. I'm afraid to be
attracted to him, but I am. I'm afraid to want him, but I do, and
I'm afraid to touch him."

"Touch him?" She asked me.

"Quinn seems to give off this powerful,
strange, and erotic sensation when I touch him. At first, it
frightened me. Now, I'm just afraid of how I can't resist it when I
touch him." I smiled and looked at her. "I'm afraid to give into
him, because I'm scared that I might like it."

"That's a new one." Lauren laughed. "Have you
asked anyone about this feeling that you get from him?"

"No, it's too embarrassing, but I know he
feels it too." I giggled. "Besides, who would I ask?"

"Michael," she replied. "I could ask Julian
for you."

"I don't know," I said shyly.

"Are you going to go swimming with me later?"
Lauren asked me, changing the subject. "They're having the bonfire
over there, at the beach. Julian said that they have it every year
about this time. The city asks to use the property and they give
their permission."

"Yeah, sure." I smiled at her.

After dinner, before the bonfire, I took the
back staircase to the second floor. When I walked by the reading
room and I heard voices. Being the nosy person that I am, I stopped
and peeked around the corner at Julian and Lauren, and then I stood
back against the wall and listened.

"I'm not sure I want to talk about it,"
Julian said softly.

"Maybe it will help," Lauren said and I heard
Julian sigh.

"I miss her. She's here, but she's so far
away and she said that she loved me, but wasn't in love with me,"
Julian said in a whisper. "I couldn't tell her that I felt the
same. Over eight years something transformed and my love became
strong, but it was a possessive, protective love. She was my life
that year and for the rest of her life, I was going to protect her
no matter what. When she came back, I thought that I could rekindle
it. I tried, but it got harder and it wasn't that I was mad because
of what went on between her and my brother. It was more of the fact
that I wasn't there to protect her from the pain."

"Can I ask you a question, but if it's too
personal, you don't have to answer it?" She asked him. Julian must
have nodded because suddenly she went on. "Ash told me that she
gets this strong sensation from Quinn when they touch, have you
ever heard of anything like that?"

"I've heard of it but I've never actually
known someone who it happened too," Julian replied.

"So, what is it?" She questioned.

"In every species there is a connection
between man and woman, male and female, with us, it is no
different. It's what some people would call soul mates; I believe
that's the term. One man and one woman connected by their inner
souls, through countless generations of dying and being reborn.
With the two of them, it could be possible. They would be the same
age if her mother had her when she was supposed to." Julian sighed
and then cleared his throat. "I thought something like that might
have happened. Quinn usually doesn't just suddenly get that mad
because of someone. He tries to be cool all the time and hold his
composure. However, when I saw him explode at Michael when she was
missing, I knew something was up."

That would explain the strange face that he
had given me when I was looking through Lauren's eyes, trying to
calm Quinn down. This is not what I expected. Soul mates, what is
this some kind of soap opera? What’s next? UFO's? This was all too
weird. All I wanted to do was get my son back and now I felt like I
was on prime time television.

I stood in the shower, letting the hot water
calm my nerves. In that moment I felt completely alone, and I
wanted to stay that way for a while. Low and behold, it wasn't
meant to be. There was a knock at the door and I turned off the
shower.

"What do I have to do to get a little privacy
and quiet time around here?" I yelled loudly as I wrapped myself
with a towel and walked to the door. When I swung it open, Lauren
stood outside with a big smile on her face. "Come in, you're
letting all of the hot air out."

She walked in and sat on the toilet seat
cover as I stepped back in the tub and started to fill it up so I
could sit in it.

"He told me," Lauren said and giggled.

"I know. I was listening," I replied and sat
down it the tub. I pushed the curtain across so that my head was
the only thing showing and I looked at her. "Why me? Why Quinn? Why
now? Now is not a good time."

"Hey, the universe works in mysterious ways."
Lauren smiled. "So, are you going to tell him?"

"No!" I replied and looked at her as if she
was nuts. "That's all I need is for him to pester me when I'm in
the middle of getting Jack back. Or worse, to insist on going with
me to ‘protect’ me."

"You're just scared of the connection," she
laughed.

"You're damn right," I replied and looked at
the ceiling. "You've never felt it. It's overpowering, like nothing
I've ever experienced before and I don't know how far it will take
me. I'm not sure I even want to find out."

"Well, get you're lazy butt out of the tub,
get your suit on and let's go, woman. I want to party." She laughed
and danced out of the bathroom, leaving the door wide open.

"Do you live in a freaking barn?" I yelled as
I grabbed the towel, wrapped it around me and got out to close the
door. Quinn was walking by, just as I made it out of the tub. He
stopped and looked at me, as I stared at him. The knowledge of what
Julian had said was still fresh in my mind. I slowly closed the
door and leaned against it. This was going to be one hell of a
night.

10

The bonfire light was irresistible. I
couldn't take my eyes off of it, as I stood there with a two-piece
bathing suit on and a light wrap around my waist. I don't know how
long I stood there, but it wasn't until Lauren grabbed my arm that
I even flinched. She smiled at me, and then turned my head to where
Quinn, Michael and Julian stood.

They were all wearing shorts, and they all
had their shirts off. As I looked at them I stopped and stared at
Quinn, who glanced over his glass of whatever it was that he was
drinking and caught me staring. He looked me over once and then
looked back at Michael. I looked at Lauren and I shook my head.

"I can't do this," I replied and took her
hands in mine. "I can't be here, with them. I can't control
myself."

Quickly, I walked away and went across the
lawn to the ramp that led down to the ocean. I stopped and stood in
the sand as I looked up at the moon, hugging myself tightly.

"Ash?" I heard his voice whisper. I closed my
eyes and turned; when I opened them, I looked at Quinn. He had his
hands in the pockets of his shorts and he stood less than two feet
from me. I glanced up at him, then looked down and away. I saw, out
of the corner of my eye, his hand reach out to touch me. I quickly
stepped back out of his reach and looked at him.

"Please, don't," I begged him. His hands
dropped to his side and he looked defeated. This made my eyes fill
up with tears and I looked into his eyes as they started to move
down my face. "I'm sorry, Quinn, I really am. It's not you. I don't
know if I can handle this, I'm not sure I'm ready yet."

"Ready for what, Ash?" He asked softly. I
realized then that I knew what I was afraid of. It wasn't his
touch, or the feeling I got from him. It was something more
powerful, more emotional than that. I had thought that I had
experienced it before, but it was nothing compared to this.
"Please, tell me what it is?"

"I'm afraid to love you, Quinn," I said and
wiped my face. "It seems that everything I love, I lose and I can't
do that again, not now." He knelt down on the sand and looked up at
me.

"You're not going to lose me," he spoke
softly. I walked in a circle and then knelt in the sand in front of
him.

"You don't understand, Quinn. This is not
some petty kind of childish love, not something that's going to
fade or lessen and to know all that, what if something happens to
us?" I wiped the tears from my eyes. "I want to love you. Inside I
know that I already do, but, I just can't seem to bridge the
gap."

"Can I help you try? Can I hold you?" He
asked softly. I shook my head.

"Not yet. I'm still afraid of the feeling," I
replied and stood up. "I'll be around the grounds, please don't
worry."

Lauren found me, as she always did, and
brought me out into the water. She did everything to distract me
from my problems. Luckily, it seemed that everything was
working.

Once, while we were in the water, someone was
tossing people. They would step on his hand and he would toss them
up in the air, then they dove into the water. I was floating on my
back when Lauren yelled to me, grabbed my hand and pulled me over.
This made me smile, until we came face to face with the person
doing the tossing. It was Quinn and his smile faded when he saw me.
Lauren's also faded and this made me a bit sad. I got up the nerve
to try it. ‘What could a little tossing hurt?’ I thought and walked
up to Quinn.