Diary of the Unbroken (BOOK #4)

Taking Chances

Luke

            "Ava?"

            I walked outside into the thick North Carolina air. Spring was most definitely in session, and my human allergies decided to act up making the fact that I made the fact that I was merely mortal amongst a group of vampires even more evident.

            "What are you doing out here?" I walked over immediately noticing her tears, which happened to be highly unusual for a vampire. But that was the thing about Ava Sumner—even as a supernatural creature among many of her kind, she still had a way to stand out. "What's wrong? What happened?"

            "William called," she whispered, her voice barely audible with the sound of the orchestra inside. "They have him. The Originals do."

            I swallowed. "What?"

            "He said he loved me, and then they took the phone from him. Their leader, whoever he is—he's up to something. I don't know what to do, Luke. I feel so helpless just sitting here. He said he'd come back, but I shouldn't have let him go in the first place."

            " No matter what you could have said, it's not like he would have done any different," I reminded her. "He made a choice, Ava. He did what he did to protect you. He and Jane left on their own, and there is nothing you or I can do about it."

            She sniffled and looked up at me with those big blue eyes I used to love so much. Now they did little for me. I found others. It was odd, watching the girl I once loved as she fell apart over someone else. All I could feel was utter sympathy. Maybe, though I'd hate to admit it, even empathy. William left her just as Jane left me. But there were differences there. At least William said goodbye.

            "They'll make it through this," I told her, lowering myself to sit on the steps beside her. "I don't know about William, but Jane's hard-headed. She wouldn't let anyone take her down."

            "You and Jane..." She raised an eyebrow. "What exactly happened between you two?"

            I avoided her gaze now. The past month I tried my best at forgetting. We hadn't exactly left things in the best place, Jane and I. She said we could never be together, and I let her walk away.

            "I told her how I felt and she told me we could never work. We're just too different. A vampire and a human don't mix well together. It would only bring about more heartbreak."

            "The cure," she muttered. "Jane wanted it so badly."

            "I know. She would have given anything to be human." I thought about our first encounter—the first where I awake, anyway. "Our first conversation she asked me about you—how I used to be in love with you and all. She claimed love was just a word. That it rarely ever meant anything. Then things changed. I watched her shift from this broody vampire who I knew could stomp on my heart any minute into this...wonderful person. Almost human. She told me one night that people change people. I believe that, but not that I just changed her because I'm not the same boy who you turned down in the parking lot that first day of school this year. I'm different."

            She shrugged, staring at me. "But you're still you. I know you care about Jane. A lot. I could see it. Part of me tingled every time I saw you two together and my stomach would drop. But then I realized just how happy you were."

            "Well." I shook my head. "It doesn't matter anymore. It's over."

            "She's been through so much, remember? I'm sure everything with Chris and all didn't help. It just reminded her of everything she couldn't have. The Originals stole the cure. They destroyed it along with my mother and everything she knew. And what if it didn't work anyway? What if did what it did to Liv all over again?"