Night Angel

Chapter 11 (Sample)

My brief introduction into the history of vampires ended around four am. I still had so many questions but I began to feel my energy level depleting. Kiernan reminded me again that as a newborn, I would need to sleep more often than some of the more seasoned members of our coven. This was all well and good but I wasn't ready to call it a night just yet.

"I appreciate everything you've done for me." I told Kiernan as he walked me out of the kitchen and back to the elevator. "But I have to know one thing."

"And what's that?" He asked as he leaned against the wall watching me with curiosity.

I took a deep breath then looked him in the eye. "Where's Adam?"

He didn't look at all surprised by my question. More like he'd been expecting it. I watched as the expression on his face changed from curious to somewhat distressed.

He pushed himself off the wall and looked down at the floor as his lips pressed together in a thin, straight, line. Finally, he looked back up at me and the look in his eyes made me shiver. "Come back up to the penthouse with me." He said, and I could tell from the tone of his voice that it wasn't a request. "We have much to talk about."

"Kiernan." I argued, "Please. I need to know..."

He raised his hand to stop me as he shook his head. "This discussion is best had in private." With that, he pressed the 'up' button on the elevator and we waited. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. He motioned for me to step in first and I did. He followed. As the doors closed and we began our ascent I suddenly got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn't know what he was going to tell me once we reached the penthouse but the way he was tiptoeing around the subject led me to think that it wasn't anything good.

***

I was no stranger to heart break. That's for damn sure. Adam was the first serious boyfriend I'd ever had. He'd been my first in many things. But, he wasn't the first crush I'd had. No, that first belonged to David Keets. I was in sixth grade and just starting to realize that I liked boys a little more than I should. David was sixteen and had just moved next door. During the summer, while my mom worked, I would hang out around the community pool. I was sitting on the edge of the pool one day, dangling my feet in the water, when in walked David. The moment my eyes locked on him I felt things stir in my nether region that I didn't wholly understand at the time.

David threw a towel down in the grass, lathered himself in oil, then laid back to catch some rays. I couldn't help but just stare at him. The way the oil made his bare flesh shimmer, the way the sun made his hair shine like a halo around his head. I watched as he flexed his muscles and brought an arm over his eyes to shield them from the bright sunlight. I wanted to walk over and talk to him but I was a twelve-year-old, geeky looking kid and he was an Adonis. What would I even say to him? The idea that he could even be slightly interested in me was ludicrous.

Still, that entire summer I crushed on David hard. Anytime I saw him headed for the pool I followed. Once I'd overheard him talking to one of his biddies about going up to the Circle K to get a soda. I asked him if I could tag along, clamming that my mom was at work and I wasn't allowed to leave the pool area unless an older teenager or an adult went with me. This was bullshit. My mom really didn't give a crap what I did, but it was a good enough excuse to spend time with him. We kind of developed a little friendship after that. More big brother, little brother in his eyes and that was okay with me, for the time being.

I'd had some dumb ass fantasy about the two of us getting closer and then, when I was older, maybe we'd be more than friends. But, as luck would have it, my hopes and dreams were all squashed by the end of that summer when I showed up at the pool one morning and saw him making out with Michelle Nolan. Apparently they had met soon after he'd moved in and started going out. She worked during the day so he only saw her in the evenings but her hours were cut back as we got closer to school starting up again. I was devastated. It was such a kick in the balls that I didn't know how to react. I ran away from the pool, straight home, and threw myself on the bed where I cried my eyes out for over an hour.