Huffing silently, I looked down at my bare feet and jeans, then flattened my hair with my hands a little. I needed to follow Petey, which meant I needed to give Quaid the slip.
I opened my door again. “Quaid?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you do me a huge favour?”
“Uh, maybe…” He stood taller, looking around. “I am on duty, so, I can't leave my post. But what is it?”
“Um.” I screwed my face up as if this was awkward for me. “I kinda just got that girlie time of the month.”
Quaid went totally stiff, wide eyes and all. “Oh. Right.”
“Yeah, um, and…I don't have any tampons.” Ha! An embarrassed man. I love it. “Could you maybe go down to the Medic room and get me some?”
His eyes shifted to the end of the corridor then back to his feet, anywhere but my face. “I…you know I'm not s’posed to leave you.”
“I’ll stay right here. I swear. In fact, I’ll be in the shower—” I looked down, keeping half my body hidden behind the door. “I can't go anywhere while I have blood dripping down my legs.”
And that was enough for Quaid. I’d never seen black skin go so white. He turned stiffly away, taking wide steps down the corridor.
I ran back to my bathroom, twisted the shower taps on and locked the door, closing it behind me, then left a note telling Quaid to leave the tampons on my dresser.
Petey appeared in my doorway, his head angled like a curious puppy.
“Don't judge, Petey. You’d have done the same.”
He gave a high-pitched groan and turned away, his tail knocking my door into the wall, as if to open it further—inviting me along. And without a second more thought, I grabbed my cardigan and followed him. Hopefully, Quaid wouldn’t call through the bathroom wall to ask if I was all right. If I knew Quaid like I thought I did, he wouldn't. He’d be too afraid my answer might be descriptive.
Petey trotted down the quiet, empty corridors, and I scaled along behind him, keeping close to the wall, making up excuses in my head as to why I might be wandering around at this hour, should anyone catch me. But I owned the breath of relief I took when we reached the Great Hall and tiptoed over the shiny wood floors, past the partially-set breakfast table and into the garden, unnoticed.
Staff were busy all around the manor; the gardener was trimming roses, the maids were obviously dressing in their rooms on the ground floor and there were several people at the far end of the manor, carrying boxes, walking up and down the stone steps leading to the kitchen. Breakfast wafted out through that door with the homely warmth of bacon and stewed apples. My stomach groaned, but my heart jumped with anticipation as I followed my furry friend through the dirt path between the trees of the forest and came upon the field.
It was empty. I squinted against the morning sun to see the tree, and though the base was darkened by dawn’s shadow still, I was sure no one was sitting there. Petey, however, was not convinced. He charged forward, and I followed, glad I hadn’t been sucked into the enchanted forest. The sun was probably high enough now to class this as morning, not dawn. Either that or the forest saw me as a welcome wanderer, given that I was One with Mother Nature now.
“Petey?” I called. “Wait for me.”
He was fast, the little bugger, and in my weakened state, still recovering from the headaches, I’d lost some of my ability to run. I came up on the tree, huffing and puffing, and folded over to grasp my knees.
“Outrun by a dog?” a humoured voice said.
My mouth popped open and I rolled incredibly slow to stand, my eyes wrapping in tearful disbelief around dark hair, intense green eyes and a smile that could melt a glacier. “Jason?”
“In the flesh.” He flashed a grin.
He looked so sassy and so boyish, leaning against the tree in a pinstripe jersey and a blue Yankees cap. I didn't know he was a Yankees fan.
“What surprises you more?” he said, holding his shirt out from his chest a little. “That I'm alive, or that I'm a Yankees fan?”
My shaking hand rose slowly to cover to my lips. “What are you…how are you…?”
“Whoa.” He rushed in, scooping me into his arms before my buckling knees sent me to the ground. “It’s okay. It’s all right.”
“No.” I cried into his collar, cupping my hand around his neck, running my thumb over his hair at the back just to see if he was real. “You’re dead. I watched you die.”
He squeezed me a little tighter. “I know. I'm sorry you had to see that.”
“But…I…” He smelled so normal, like a human; no orange chocolate, just powdery fabric softener and a light hint of some spicy cologne, and it was the most darling scent in the world. My human version of David. “What are you doing here?”
“Well,” he said, his voice vibrating through his throat against my brow. “I got a very heartbreaking call from a strange number.”
I sobbed a little harder.
He laughed and continued. “And, I mean, what could I say to that? I shouldn’t be here, and quite frankly, my uncle will probably give me a beating for this.” He half laughed. “But I needed to be with you. That phone call just cemented it.”
I rolled my face upward to look into his radiant, shining green eyes. “I thought I’d get voicemail.”
“I know. I heard, and I also heard the pain in your soul through only the whisper of your voice.” His eyes seemed distant then, like he was remembering something—something that hurt really badly. “I know my being here stuffs up everyone’s plans, but I couldn't leave you alone any longer.”
“Where have you been? What…how are you alive?”
He smiled—his secret smile. “I was never dead, Ara. I had to fake my death so Drake couldn’t order me to hurt you again. Now that you’re queen, only you can do that, and even then…” He shook his head, smiling down at me.
“So…but, the venom?” I looked at his chest, where the syringe had gone in.
“Created venom.” He smirked.
My world rocked back—everything going blurry and ultimately still. “Holy crap!”
He laughed. “Damn needle broke off in my chest, too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He tapped it. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to get that thing out by myself?”
“Were you…” I pictured the way he was laying; the way breath left his body and he stilled, as though he had no life left, and the way I said goodbye, accused him of being the worst kind of monster. In fact, I'm pretty sure I may have even condemned him to Hell. But it was all kind of fuzzy. “Could you hear what was said once you…fainted?”