Batting his hand away from mine, I turned my back to him, crossing my arms.
“You really think I’m evil, don’t you?” he said softly. “That my word means nothing? That I relish the fact that I made Brooke what she is? I’m really not like your Angel at all, am I.…”
I felt myself hesitate. I had always thought Jonah was trying his best to find his humanity again, that he was dealt an unfair hand for which he was trying desperately to redeem himself. But I couldn’t get past this. Brooke was more like me than I had first thought—forced into an existence that she didn’t ask for.
“She loves you, Jonah. Every time she drinks from you, she becomes more and more connected to you.”
At the end of my sentence, as if by magic, she appeared, standing ahead of me.
“And he will never feel the way I do, because he can never drink from me. He’s too strong and he’d end me. But he looks after me, he sacrifices his own hunger for mine, and he protects me. And you do love me, in your own way, don’t you?”
Jonah must have nodded behind me, as she smiled in return.
“You gotta forget that you know this. If the Purebloods ever discover what Jonah has done, they would hunt us down and end us both. They don’t know about me and that’s the way it has to stay.”
I wondered if they even knew it could be done. But she was right, she was born into this life through Jonah; none of the Pureblood Masters would know of her existence. If they did, they would end her. And if they thought that their Second Generation Vampires could create a new breed, they would certainly exploit that fact to add to their armies.
“How can you even tolerate him, knowing what he did to you?” I asked. “How can you love someone who would take your life?”
“He saved me,” she said, shrugging.
From what? I wondered.
Standing quietly for what felt like an eternity, they waited for me, and finally I broke my silence.
“Fine. I won’t speak of this again, but, Jonah.” I turned around to face him. “What you did, there is no excuse. I don’t care what you were or how you try to make amends for it now. She might tolerate you because she has no choice, but I do. You need to stay away from me.”
I could no longer believe in him.
My sides twinged as I watched his face, cold and frozen, glower back at me, his eyes wide with regret.
“Cessie, you don’t understand—”
I butted in, “Don’t! Just leave me alone!”
By the time he’d thrown his jacket back on, his sorrowful expression had molded back to one that was hard and uncaring.
“Did you bring the car like I said?” He directed himself at Brooke only.
“Yes.”
“Take her back to the house,” he ordered. “I need to go and clean up the mess left behind.”
With that, he was gone, the vines shaking as he sped through them.
The mess he was referring to was the torn-up pieces of the body that once belonged to Bradley.
How could I have been so wrong about Jonah?
TWENTY-FOUR
A TERRIBLE SINKING FEELING stewed in the bottom of my stomach as I sat perched on the end of my bed. Two days had come and gone since the night of the club.
Ruadhan had greeted us at the door when we returned that night, very disappointed with my behavior; he had made sure that I knew it too. We spoke nothing of what had happened and I wondered if Ruadhan and Gabriel knew about Jonah and Brooke. I hadn’t even seen him since I’d left with her from the clearing; he was obviously granting my wish.
I hadn’t managed to get Gabriel on the phone. I hoped he was deeply embroiled in Angel-business and not Hanora-business.
As that thought crossed my mind my phone rang and I felt a nervous flutter as Gabriel’s name appeared on the screen.
“Gabriel…”
“Lai. I’m coming back.”
“Did you find out—well, did you get anything useful?”
He paused. “Yes, I think so. He wasn’t in Boston. I’ve been three steps behind him, but I finally caught up with him today in Montreal. He’s traveling back with me. He seems to know what you might be, but he won’t say until he sees you for himself. We’ll be with you no later than tomorrow night.” His voice was hurried.
“Does he know about the company you keep?”
I wasn’t sure how comfortable an Angel would be in a house of Vampires.
“Yes. He’s not altogether happy about the situation, but he is, well, accepting. Listen, I have to go. Is everything okay? Are you all right?”
His words were smooth and caring and I felt safer just hearing his voice.
“We’re all still in one piece, but I … I feel terribly alone. I miss you,” I said, letting my hurt feelings take a backseat to my overwhelming need to connect with him again.
“I miss you too, Lai; we’ll be together again very soon, I promise. And once we have all this sorted, well, we have forever to figure out the rest.”
I heard a female’s voice in the background.
“Is that Hanora?”
“Yes. I should go.”
I felt betrayed all over again.
“Right, you should go. To her.”
I hung up.
* * *
I COULDN’T STAY IN MY ROOM FOREVER. Showered and dressed in jeans and a plain T-shirt, I climbed the stairs up to the living area.
I found Brooke throwing her phone and her lipstick into a bag before pulling her arms through a denim jacket.
“She emerges at last!” Brooke smiled hesitantly at me, tidying the stray bangs around her forehead and eyeing my modest attire. “Really?” she scoffed. “I know you don’t care about your appearance, but for my benefit could you at least try to look less like a homeless person!”
Ignoring her, I asked, “Where is everybody?”
I headed for the fridge and helped myself to some orange juice.
“Ruadhan’s in the study, where he always is. Jonah hasn’t been back since we left him.” She was careful with her words in case Ruadhan was listening.
Grabbing her car keys from off the table, she eyed me curiously. “Jonah’s texted. I think you hurt his feelings, if that’s possible. He wanted to make things easier on you and give you some space. I’m heading out for a drive now, to see if I can find him.”
Good, I was glad I had hurt his feelings. I hoped he stayed away and that I never had to see him again. I had been so foolish thinking that he had anything good inside of him.