The Trouble with Evie

Chapter 26

Brad suggested that it was ideal that I take a few days off school so that I could learn how to deal with the situation. I don't think it was a good idea, but I had to focus on the issues rather than trying to cram more information into my brain.

I think he was feeling guilty over the lies he told and the secrets he'd kept. We'd talked about it for hours last night, once we got past the blood war. I learned that not only had he been in regular contact with my mother, but when I was younger, he had come around to the apartment. I was too young to remember it, but he said that I was a cute kid.

Despite the issues in our final years together, Brad said that my mother loved me, and he could see it. When I was a baby, it was easy enough for her to move around, but as the years passed, I grew, and then I started asking questions.

Brad stated that it was not my fault. All children were inquisitive. The problem was that the more questions I asked, the bigger burden I became. My mother saved as much money as she could. Most of her savings were spent on moving and finding places that suited her need to hide. Sometimes those places were not cheap.

Getting up from the table, I wandered to the lounge and flopped on it. Brad lifted his gaze from the laptop and looked at me.

"Problems?"

"The book just confirms that I need to kill Drakkus. Not just to ensure there are no issues but to be seen as strong and worthy of my placement. You know that at eighteen, I won't have much backing from the other vampires, right?"

"But you've got vampires on your side."

"Yeah, but Kannon said that to get a following, a vampire needs to have serious years clocked. If they don't, they're susceptible to a takedown from another vampire. This is our land by blood, but that doesn't mean anything if I can't get vampires to join my coven. I'm not even a vampire," I groaned.

Brad was no help, just giving me a sympathetic smile.

"Not one part of that book has any help for the would-be leader, who is only a quarter vampire. I am a freak."

"Never thought I'd live to see the day that you agreed with me."

Pulling the scatter cushion out from under my back, I threw it at Brad. He raised his arm in time, sending it awry with nothing more than a chuckle.

"Do you think that I could get everyone to defer this for a year?"

"I seriously doubt it."

"It's always worth a shot, right?"

"You do as you please. I'm sure it won't hurt your feelings when they laugh at you."

"I just want to get my schoolwork done. Is that too much to ask?"

Clearly, it was. My shadow was never far away, staring at me as if there was nowhere else to look. Pulling another pillow out from under me, I threw it at him. The cushion passed through the boy and hit the wall behind him.