“Well, are you qualified to be Head of Research?”
“Qualified?” he scoffed. “More than. I've spent my entire vampire life at university studying. I only quit a few years ago when I joined the Blood Army.”
“How’d you go to university if you had to leave every year?”
“It wasn’t easy, but it made my experience broader. It meant that I was taught by hundreds of different lecturers and, as a result, was exposed to many different opinions and lessons. So, it was hard, but beneficial at the same time.”
I leaned my butt on one of the tables. “Well, I’ll need to get approval from the House, but, I’ll run it by them in the next House meeting. Sound good?”
He shook his head, his mouth wide with a smile. “That would be, for lack of a better word, wicked!”
Chapter Seventeen
I sat on the deckchair in the lower garden, reading my book, enjoying the sunshine and a quiet moment to myself. But shadows formed around my face and the sweet scent of orange-chocolate filled the air.
“Guess who?” said a voice in my ear.
“Uh, gee, is it…” I turned around, pulling the hand down from my eyes, and gasped. “Oh, my God. What are you doing here?”
The face of my husband grinned back at me. “What, I’ve been here for days, Ara.”
“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “Yeah, sorry, Jason. I just meant what are you doing in the garden?”
David sat on the deckchair next to mine, running his hand over the warm golden tones in his hair. “I came to check if you were okay, you know, after finding out about your dad the other day.”
I nodded. “I'm…coping. I mean, it was a shock, but, I'm kind of getting used to it now. And you never called me, by the way. I’ve been waiting for you to let me know if you got any info from that book of Arthur’s?”
“I couldn’t find it.” He reached across and took my hand. “Sorry. I just forgot to mention it. Did you take that pregnancy test?”
“Not really any need. You said you couldn't smell any difference in my scent.”
His hand tightened on mine. “I’d still like to know.”
“Okay. We have one in the Medic room. I’ll do it later and text you.”
“Thanks.” His secret smile showed that lovely dimple in the side of his cheek, making his eyes sparkle like the Emerald City. “I uh…I spoke to that friend of yours—the one you asked to have a word with me about not being around to make a baby.”
I nodded. “And?”
“And, I'm sorry. It’s just bad timing. I'm too busy, my love.”
“You’re here now,” I said suggestively.
He looked at the book in my lap and smiled. “Not today.”
I looked down at my book, too. “When?”
“Just…not today.”
“Fine.” I ground my back teeth together, the irritation making a question I was going to leave alone—in the past—creep up my tongue. “Hey, Da—Jase?”
“Yes?” He laughed.
“Why did Nate say that Em was, quote, ‘David's Emily’?”
His eyes shifted to the side, his spine straightening. “He said that, huh?”
“Yes. In front of everyone.” My voice quivered. “So what did he mean by that?”
He cleared his throat and sat back, dropping my hand. “What are you really asking, Ara?”
I stared at him for a long moment. “Did you sleep with her?”
“When?”
“Ever. I don't know. You share blood, you were clearly ‘best buds’ in high school.” I sat up, placing my feet to the floor in front of David's. “Have you slept with her?”
His gaze stayed on my feet. “No.”
“Look me in the eye and say that.”
He looked me in the eye, the pupil small and black, swimming in the green. “No. I never slept with Emily.”
“Was she your girl?”
“I just…she…” He ran his hand through his hair again. “When I first got to the school, Emily was the only nice person there. I had to work my way up in the ranks, Ara. I was pretty much the jocks’ punching bag for the first semester.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He laughed. “Good thing I can handle a punch. But it wasn’t until I joined the football team that people started to respect me.”
“And you let them treat you like that?”
He shrugged. “What can I say; I was pretty broken. I just didn't care.”
I took his hand. “I'm sorry.”
He pulled his hand from mine. “Emily was nice to me, Ara, and I found out a few things that made me feel kinda…I guess, bad for her.”
“Like what?”
He hesitated. “This is her personal business, my love. All I can say is that I kind of took her under my wing—told the jocks to lay off.”
“What were they doing?”
“Nothing. Just…they just treated her like a piece of meat. She didn’t deserve that.”
“In what way?”
He stood up, his shadow taking the warmth of the sun from my face. “It doesn't matter. It’s in the past. I protected her, I guess. Made it seem like we were some kind of item.”
“Like you owned her?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“And she was okay with this?”
He turned around to face me, dropping his hands from his head. “Yeah.”
“Did you know she was in love with you back then?”
He laughed. “Yeah. But…it was little-girl-love, Ara. Very different to how she feels for Mike now.”
I nodded. I understood that love only too well.
“Jason?” Walter said, coming down the stairs toward us.
“Walter,” David said, tipping an imaginary hat. “Lovely day.”
“Splendid. And I see you’re making yourself acquainted with our queen.” Walter clapped him on the shoulder. “So, there may be hope for this prophecy child after all?”
David turned his head and winked at me. “If I have anything to do with it.”
I nearly laughed. He played his brother so well even I was convinced; he became lighter—the weight of the world leaving his shoulders, his eyes and his voice for a second.
“Good. Good. Hopefully we’ll have word of an heir within the month, then we can name you king.”
David bowed, smiling, and Walter headed down the base of the garden, leaving us alone again.