“You need me. You know it. I know it. Just accept it.”
“You do realize that this is dangerous?” I said, concerned for his safety.
“Did you not see what happened to my house? I’m in this, whether I want to be or not.”
My mother nodded. “The boy’s right.”
“Does my father know about you, Mrs. Weathers?” Adam asked, turning the attention to my mother.
“The senior members of the church know I’m… something.” She laughed. “I’m not sure what they think I am, to tell the truth, but they feel that I’m trustworthy, that I have a direct line to the supreme power.”
“And do you?”
“I don’t know about a direct line, Adam,” she murmured. “But we talk from time to time. And I can tell you that he does exist.”
“I figured he did after I saw Helen’s wings.” Adam smiled brightly at the memory. “Dawn, I want to see yours.”
There was an eerie silence as all eyes, but Adam’s avoided mine.
“Dawn doesn’t have wings,” my mother answered before I had to.
“Huh? If she’s like Helen, shouldn’t she have wings?”
“Her father and I were stripped of ours, which in turn means she was stripped too. Helen was raised by adoptive parents. Dawn has to earn hers.” My mother looked sadly at me.
Adam frowned. “How does she do that?”
“I don’t know,” my mother whispered. This was something she didn’t want to discuss, I could tell.
“I understand,” said Adam, nodding, and looking wise. “So, will you tell me what you all know about what’s going on in town right now?” He was moving on to another subject, letting my mother off the hook.
“It’s true that I know more about these murders than most people do,” my mother conceded. “Many things you thought weren’t real are. There is truth in many of the stories going around. A vampire attacked Noreen and Nathaniel. It probably followed Noreen when she snuck out of her house. Nathaniel was probably looking around where his girlfriend’s body was found, and instead, the vampire found him.”
Adam looked incredulous. “Vampires?”
“As I said, you will learn that many things you thought were not real actually are.”
“I would think you guys nuts if it wasn’t for Helen and her wings,” Adam muttered.
“I had to share it with someone,” Helen explained for the benefit of everyone else. “Nobody was answering my questions about where I came from, or how they found me. Adam was the only person that I trusted besides my adoptive mother.”
I could tell she felt like she had to give an explanation as to why she had done the one thing that we weren’t supposed to do, expose ourselves to the human world.
“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into,” Nick said suddenly, standing up and leaving the room.
“You guys need someone with you who won’t attract attention,” Adam told the rest of us.
“How are we going to attract attention?” I said, laughing dryly.
“With all due respect, Dawn, if I didn’t know you, I would be scared shitless of you,” Adam informed me. “And Helen… well, she may look sweet, but she can be downright ruthless.”
Helen let out a hearty laugh and looked at me. “I always loved his humor.”
I grinned, but then my phone began to buzz in my back pocket. I took it out and frowned.
“I have to take this,” I said, getting up and walking out of the living room. They were still laughing together when I reached my bedroom and shut the door.
Chapter 13
Revelations
“Hey,” I said, trying to sound bright and excited.
“Hey,” replied Aaron on the other end of the line. “Did you hear?”
“Yeah, of course, I heard. My mom had to tiptoe around the subject before she told Adam and me.” I sat down on my bed.
“I heard Adam was staying with you,” he went on. “Bummer about what happened to his house.”
He sounded odd. Was that a hint of jealousy that I heard in his voice?
“It was scary, Aaron,” I said, biting my thumbnail.
“I’m sure it was, babe. I just wish I knew what was going on in our town. Nothing ever happens in Midvale, and now we are having this slew of murders.” He sighed. “I’m just worried every second that I’m not with you.”
“What are you worried about? I’m a tough girl.” I laughed.
“So was Noreen and look what happened to her,” he said not joining in the laughter. “Now Nathan… I’ve known that boy since kindergarten. It sucks that he’s gone. He really was a good guy.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty shocking,” I said, trying to sound suitably sympathetic. Actually, I did think it was horrible that they had died, and the way they had died was beyond tragic though it still didn’t change how they had treated me before it happened.
“I don’t want you to go anywhere alone. If you have to go outside for a smoke you take Adam with you,” he demanded.
“Aaron, I don’t smoke.”
“That isn’t the point I’m trying to make. The point is that I don’t want you by yourself for a second. If I could be there to keep an eye on you, I would. I love you, Dawn. I don’t want anything to happen to you, not before you realize you love me too.” He was dead serious. His tone was demanding but sweet. I knew he meant well, but he didn’t know what I was capable of if something tried to kill me.
“I promise, Aaron, nothing is going to happen to me.”
Each time he said “I love you” it drove a stake through my heart. I loved Wesley, and right now nothing was changing the fact that all I wanted was my blue-eyed boy back with me. Why couldn’t he just break the contract? It would make things so much easier on both of us. Yes, I enjoyed spending time with him. Yes, he made me laugh. But it was just wrong, wrong to keep him stringing
