Forbidden Darkness (The Forbidden Darkness Chronicles, #1)

Seventeen

Dinner was already starting by the time we made it downstairs and my mother was trying to get everyone a plate. When she turned around and saw me, she nearly dropped the plate in her hand.

"Heather," she said softly. "You're awake."

"Yeah, Mom," I replied. "I didn't die. I haven't changed yet." And hopefully when I did, I wouldn't die.

She stared at me, seeming quite dumbfounded. Her blonde hair fell to her shoulders and her blue eyes seemed so bright in comparison to all the other times I'd seen her. Tears glistened behind her eyes and I realized why she looked so surprised; I called her Mom.

Lena and Kristen were already at the table with plates and Philip took the one from my mother, patting her on the back, and went to sit at the table. My mom barely moved from her spot for some time and I said, "Um, we should probably start eating. We don't want the food to get too cold."

She nodded and got another plate ready, with a hamburger and some baked beans, and I went to sit beside Philip. I still couldn't believe that earlier he had said all of those things to my mom knowing that I was awake. He actually wanted to help me, and give me some information even if he wasn't really planning on it at first. Philip, unlike everyone else, seemed to believe I could handle the truth no matter how hard it was.

There was something about him that I couldn't put my finger on, something mysterious yet bright, and when he saw me staring at him, he smiled at me and said, "Do I have something on my face?"

Which was an unusual question considering none of us had taken a bite of our food yet. Damn it, he knew I was checking him out. I was sure my face was probably flaming by that point and I said, "Uh...no, your face looks fine." Oh God, what did I just say? "I mean, um, yeah. I mean, no! Nothing's on your face."

Kristen snickered across the table from me and I kicked her leg.

"Ow! What was that for?" Kristen yelled.

She really wasn't getting the hint. "Hey, Kristen. Shut up."

My friend obeyed reluctantly and when she was sure Philip wasn't looking, she winked and gave me a thumbs up.

Yeah, I think I had enough embarrassment for the night. Or for the rest of my life.

My mom finally joined us at the table and we ate mostly in silence, and almost the entire time I watched the way Philip's arms moved as he picked up his burger and ate it. His forearms were nice and I desperately wanted to just reach out and touch them. If he knew that I was crushing on him right now, he'd probably never look at me the same. Considering he was a legal adult, there was no way he'd ever want to get with me, even if sixteen was the age of consent. He probably looked at me more like a little sister he needed to care for.

The silence continued on after dinner as well, and as everyone put our plates in the sink one by one as we finished, Philip and I were the last ones at the table. Neither of us said anything at first but the silence was killing me.

"Thank you," I said.

Philip turned to look at me, his green eyes shining. Was that a Monster Hunter thing? "For what?"

"For...you know, letting me in on some of the things you talked to my mom about," I whispered so no one could hear. "Do you really think a war could break out between this new species and the Hunters?"

He shrugged. "It's a possibility. Ever since we were made, we were sure we were the only ones, but clearly we aren't. The Council might want to make sure it goes back to the way it should have been."

I couldn't even believe what I was hearing. The Council was probably going to start a war on this new species simply because we thought we were the only paranormal things out there. "Why? Doesn't that seem a little narcissistic? Like, we thought we were the only ones, so we need to stay the only ones? That's kind of a messed up logic."