Eternal

You’re lucky you had your dad to explain it all to you. I have one page from some ancient book, and that’s it.”

A shadow flickered across his face. “What book? You never mentioned a book to me.”

I hadn’t, I realized. “Hold on and I’ll go get it.”

3 ~ Phantom Pains

I hurried to my room, digging out the book from where I’d stashed it in the dark recesses of my closet, away from prying eyes. A minute later, I was back in the living room, trying not to sneeze as I flipped through the dusty pages until I found the folded page with Luc’s translation.

I unfolded it and handed it to Matthew. “There isn’t much, really. You probably know it all already.”

I chewed on my thumbnail while he read.

“Yeah, not much new here,” he said at last, handing the page back to me.

“What about this?” I tapped my finger against a line that made me particularly uncomfortable.

If she fails in her quest and her blood runs through a vampire’s veins, the Megved’s life is extinguished.

“What do you make of that?” I asked, my breath catching. “It doesn’t mean what I think it means, does it?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it does.” He rubbed his jaw with the palm of one hand. “Basically, if a vampire gets you instead of the other way around, then it’s lights-out for me.”

“B-but,” I stammered, “does that mean the vampire has to kill me? Or just drink my blood?”

“Does it matter? Oh, wait. Right,” he said sarcastically, his features hardening. “Your boyfriend’s a vampire, which puts a whole new spin on it, doesn’t it?”

My mouth was suddenly dry. “Because, uh, well . . . he kind of bit me just before break, remember?” I reached a hand up to my neck, rubbing the pads of my fingers across the spot where Aidan’s teeth had pierced the fragile flesh. “It wasn’t a big deal. I swear. Just, you know . . . a nip. And then he healed it right away.” Please, please don’t say you’re going to die because of it.

Matthew’s eyes widened. “Christ, I’d forgotten about that. He broke the skin?”

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t drink my blood. It was more like a scratch, that’s all.” A scratch—okay, maybe a small puncture wound—and then his saliva doing that thing it did. I squirmed in my seat, remembering. Nope, I wasn’t going to mention that.

“Well, your blood doesn’t run through his veins, right? So I guess I’m safe. For now, at least,” he added.

“For always,” I said, my voice thick as a wave of hopelessness washed over me. “He’s gone, remember? He’s not coming back.”

A sharp, fiery pain shot through my shoulders—both of them at once. With a cry, I pitched forward, doubling over in agony.

In an instant, Matthew was by my side, one hand on my back. “What happened?”

“I—I don’t know,” I sputtered, trying to catch my breath. “It’s my shoulders.” Hot, searing pain continued to radiate down toward my elbows.

“What can I do? Do you need ice or something?”

“No, I don’t think so.” I forced myself to sit up straight and unzip my hoodie, exposing the tank top I wore beneath. I examined one shoulder, then the other, not quite sure what I was looking for. Considering the magnitude of pain I was experiencing, I half expected to find torn, ragged flesh, broken bones. Instead, everything looked perfectly normal, my skin unblemished.

I shook my head as the pain receded, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. “It’s gone now.”

“Something to do with that old fencing injury?”

“No. This was both shoulders. And the pain was totally different—like I was being stabbed or something. Like my skin was tearing.”

“That’s odd. They look fine.” He was examining me now, his brow knitted with concern. “Maybe you should have it checked out.”

“Maybe I’m losing my mind,” I countered.

“What about Sophie? Can you call her, ask her to come over and check it out?”

I nodded. “That’s a good idea. She just got back from Saint Bart’s last night.”

“Perfect,” he said, pulling out his phone and glancing at the time. “I’m supposed to be somewhere in a little bit anyway.”

“Let me text her and see what she says.” Maybe I’d ask her to sleep over. I hurried to my room and grabbed my phone, quickly typing out the message and hitting send. She answered before I’d even made my way back to the living room.

“She’s on her way,” I called out.

“Great. I’ll stay till she gets here, and then I’ve got to run.”

“You really don’t have to stick around,” I said, wanting to avoid the awkwardness of a Sophie/Dr. Byrne meet-and-greet. “Seriously, she’ll be here in half an hour. I think I can survive on my own till then.”

He just glared at me, unmoved.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Wow, you really take this whole ‘protector’ thing seriously, don’t you?”

His phone began to buzz, the name “Charlie” emblazoned across the screen. “Sorry,” he said, rising and moving toward the window. “I’ve got to take this.”

“No problem,” I said with a shrug. Hurrying over to the dining table, I busied myself with the remains of our dinner, closing up the containers of food and moving everything into the kitchen.

He kept his voice low, but I couldn’t help overhearing little bits and pieces of his conversation. “I know . . . didn’t forget . . . I told you, it’s complicated. Just give me a half hour, okay?”

“Sorry about that,” he said at last, looking a little discomposed as he followed me into the kitchen.

“Everything okay with him?”

“With who?”

“Your friend,” I clarified. “Charlie. Sorry. I saw the name on the screen.”

“Oh, right.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Yeah, she’s fine.”

She’s fine?

“Her apartment’s around the corner,” he continued. “I can wait for Sophie. I want to see what she has to say about your shoulders.”

“Suit yourself,” I muttered, my cheeks flushing hotly as I fought back unwelcome stirrings of jealousy. Who was this Charlie, and what did she mean to my Megved?

And more to the point, why did I care?

* * *

“Okay, that was kind of weird, right?” Sophie said as soon as the front door closed behind Matthew.

“Welcome to my world.” I collapsed onto the sofa, frustrated. Matthew had made Sophie check my shoulders the minute she’d walked through the door, but she hadn’t found anything that would explain the pain I’d experienced. Apparently, the joints were free of inflammation, the muscles and tendons perfectly normally.

Which meant it was all in my head. I really was losing my mind. “Thanks for coming over,” I said, scooting over to make room for her beside me.

She kicked off her shoes and sat, folding her legs beneath her. “Hey, no problem. Trust me, I’ve had just about enough of my parents.”

“How was Saint Bart’s?”

“Nice. The weather was great. Anyway, where’s Aidan? I thought you two were supposed to stick together over break?”

I took a deep breath, bracing myself. I hadn’t called her to tell her what had happened. I couldn’t. After all, I knew that she genuinely liked Aidan. They all did, my friends, but Sophie most of all.