Orange Roses - REVAMPED

Chapter Six: Never Wake up an Elf

Ruth let me borrow some clothes before I left with Antonio. My hair looked a bit scary with streaks of blood. I tried washing out the blood in my hair. I got the worst of it, but not great. It made my hair almost look like copper in some places. 

My heart beat against my ribs. I gripped the sink as I focused on breathing. Drake. 

RUN! 

I dunked my head under the water. 

It'll be okay. 

Right? 

I went out to find Antonio waiting for me. He gave me a small smile. I glared. This guy knew about me. He knew about me and knew that there were other humans with sight. He knew about me before I knew about him. That's it. How screwed up is that? He never thought to tell me about it. Never thought to mention it. 

"You ready?" He asked as he leaned back a bit from me. 

Oh, so he wanted to pretend that this didn't happen? 

"Traitor." I said. 

Antonio shook his head. "You don't understand." 

"Of course I don't understand! You never mentioned this." I said. 

"It's complicated and I didn't think you needed to know-"

"Hey guys!" Ruth came running up to us. "Sorry I had to get dress. You guys ready?" 

I nodded. We went out into the dance floor and some people recognized Antonio as the bartender so they moved out of the way for him. There was still a long line outside with people trying to get into the club.

We walked. I felt tempted to ask Antonio to carry me.

"So,  Ari." I said. "I just met him today. Kind of weird to see someone else with scars like me."

Ruth looked at Antonio. "Is that why you're throwing a hissy fit?"

Antonio tensed. "I am not throwing a fit."

"You broke a shot glass when someone asked for shots ," Ruth said, "that didn't make anyone suspicious by the way. Do you know how many dancers I had to send their way before they tweeted?"

I let Ruth give him an earful as we walked.

I tried to keep my mind quiet. Thoughts kept poking up. 

This...couldn't be happening. This morning, Drake was fine. He was lecturing me about how I was being nosy.

And now?

"Matty?" Ruth looked down at me. "It's going to be okay. Drake is too stubborn to...go anywhere. I'm sure Keeva will find something too. He's not going to let you go walking around by yourself. He'd let his wings get so ruffled if you did." Ruth shot Antonio a look.

"The Dragon will fight hard," Antonio said. "I'm sure if he's going to die, he'll leave the Nightmare court bleeding."

"Antonio! That is not comforting!" Ruth said.

"Comforting sentiments does her no good."

"Antonio-"

Looking at Antonio, he looked paler. His skin always kind of glowed like most supernatural creatures. Vampires kind of looked pale and soft glow around them. The scent of corpses lingered around them too, but it could be covered up. At some point, Antonio put his hands over his ears. Ruth glared and puffed out her cheeks, but relaxed.

"Antonio," I said. "How do you know Ari?" It explained a lot now that I thought about it. He stuck around because I was like Ari. He knew I had sight. Vampires can't tell right off the bat.