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Once I’d gone inside the house and locked the door behind me, I realized I was thirsty. Heading into the kitchen, I pulled the refrigerator door open and pulled out a carton of orange juice.
As I grabbed a glass from the cabinet, I heard Mila’s voice say from behind me, “There you are.”
I turned around to face her.
“I was looking all over for you,” she went on, the relief flooding her eyes. She put her hands on her hips. “Where were you?”
“Right here. I got a snack,” I lied, not wanting to tell her about my decision to go outside and nearly get killed by those wolves. I didn’t want to admit how stupid I’d been. “And then I got really thirsty.” I held up my glass of orange juice, as if to prove it.
“Well, I’m just glad you’re okay. I had a really bad feeling,” Mila told me.
“I’m fine. Thanks for checking on me.” I forced a smile. “Come on, let’s go back upstairs. I don’t want to wake anyone up.”
She nodded and followed me back up the stairs and into my room. Once we were both in my queen size bed again, covers thrown over us, she turned to me.
“So, what’s the game plan for tomorrow? Stay for the bloodline ceremony, make sure Zoe’s okay, and then get the hell out of here?”
I refrained from telling her that my game plan was slightly different. It was more like stop the bloodline ceremony from even happening, and then get the hell out of there. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“Okay. I’m not gonna lie. I totally can’t wait to sleep in my own bed.” She flopped over onto her back and sighed. “For being so rich, you’d think Demetrius would’ve invested in a more comfortable mattress for his daughter.”
“Pft. It’s not like he really considers me a daughter.”
She glanced over at me out of the corner of her eye. “What makes you say that?”
“Well, it’s not like he’s ever been a part of my life until now. That’s not exactly a fatherly thing to do.”
Mila bit her lip. “I don’t know if I should give you my opinion or not. If I do, promise you won’t get pissed at me?”
“I promise,” I agreed.
“So, I believe the reason Demetrius hasn’t been a part of your life – and why he’s just such a bitter person, period – is because he’s lost you, your sister, and your mom so many times before,” she explained. “I don’t think he doesn’t love you guys, but I think he detached himself from the situation so he wouldn’t get hurt when he loses you again.”
“When,” I repeated. “Not if.”
She glanced over at me, an apologetic look in her golden brown eyes. “I’m just a firm believer that history tends to repeat itself. And in your case, so far it has. I hope we’re all wrong. I’m just trying not to get my hopes up. I have a feeling I might lose you again.”
My eyebrows lifted in question. “Have you ever actually been sad about losing me? Since we both know you weren’t sad in my last lifetime.”
“Honestly? Yes. Not in your last lifetime, but the time before that, you and I were best friends for a few years.”
“Wouldn’t I have already died by then?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Jax made it a point of avoiding you, but... you still ended up kissing him at one point.”
I groaned. “I don’t really understand him. I know it’s hard for us to stay away from each other, but... didn’t he ever get that my life would’ve been easier without him? By kissing me – or letting me kiss him – he’s basically put three lives in danger. And then he’s come back to do it over and over again.”
“Oh, tell me about it. He and Elias have gotten into some really heated fights over this. Elias scratched him up so bad the one time, I wasn’t sure if he was going to live.”
“Elias almost killed Jax over him kissing me?” I gaped at her.
“Yeah. Don’t be fooled by the quiet, nice guy vibes he gives off. When you piss Elias off, you’re asking for trouble.” Tossing her hair over one shoulder, Mila added, “Jax’s stupid choices used to make him really mad, but... I think he’s given up on trying to get it through his thick skull. No matter what anyone says, Jax will never listen. He’s too ‘drawn to you’.” She made finger quotes in the air.
“Maybe he is that drawn to me,” I said with a shrug. “I feel really drawn to him.”
“Maybe. I wouldn’t know what that’s like, personally.”
“You didn’t even feel that way with Winston before he died of diphtheria?”
“I felt attracted to him, but... I didn’t feel drawn to him the way I hear wolves describe what it’s like to meet their mates. There was no magnetic connection or force pulling us together or anything like that. My attachment to him was the way any humans would be attached to one another,” she said with a small smile.
“So, you haven’t met your mate yet,” I noted.
“I guess not. But I’m kind of glad for that.” She yawned.
“Why?”
“Because,” Mila replied sleepily. “I can’t imagine what it’d be like to feel so connected to someone that you’re willing to risk three people’s lives just to be with them.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I admitted.
Before she got the chance to say anything in response, I heard the sound of her snoring softly.
Rolling over to the other side, I stared at the clock on my nightstand. It read 5:13 a.m.
Ugh. I was never going to get any sleep tonight. I could just forget about it.
My mind shifted to the bloodline ceremony. I still hadn’t figured out a way to stop it. I supposed the easiest way would be to try to talk to Zoe before it took place. If I could just get her to agree with me that this whole thing was a bad idea, then maybe I could convince her to run away again. We could find one of those secret doors that I now knew, for sure, existed and sneak out without anyone noticing until we were gone. Then, we would call Mila to come pick us up.
I wasn’t sure where we would go from the compound. We couldn’t go back to Cedar Falls, at least not if we didn’t want Demetrius or Sal to find Zoe. Maybe we could somehow convince Blair’s dad to let us stay with him in London, even though the odds of that seemed slim.
Well, where we went didn’t matter yet. I would figure that out once I convinced Zoe to leave.
Mom would probably go with us. I hoped. I didn’t want to just leave her in our little town.
Poor Roxy. I was the first – and possibly only friend she’d made so far, and I was already planning to leave.
I hoped I would at least be able to make it to her birthday party on Saturday. The last thing I wanted to do was ditch that.
Crap. I realized that I still hadn’t done anything about the invitations situation.
Reaching for my phone, I opened a new text message to her.
Camryn: Hey, I completely forgot about your party invitations. I’ve had a family emergency to deal with. If you want, I can send you a list of names and streets so you can look up their numbers in the phone book.
I set the phone back down on my nightstand, but it immediately lit up with a new text message a few seconds later. I was surprised. I didn’t expect her to be awake at this time of day.
Roxy: Ok, yeah, that works! Thanks! : )
Camryn: No problem. Why are you up so late?
Roxy: I’m a bit of a night owl. How bout you?
Camryn: Family drama.
Roxy: Oh no! : ( We’ll have to talk about it when you get back to town.
Back to town? I hadn’t told her I’d left, I realized, as I set the phone down on the nightstand. How could she have possibly known?
Jax’s warning about her popped into my head. She didn’t have a scent. If she wasn’t a human – or a wolf – then what was she?