The Forever Girl Read online

  Ivory and Charles exchanged a glance, then they both looked at me expectantly.

  “What?” Did they think I was going to tell them what happened?

  Charles tilted his head back and covered his face with his hands. “You sound genuinely unaware of what you’ve gotten yourself into, and I have given you the benefit of the doubt. But you must have been up to something if you garnered Marcus’ interest.”

  “Me? Are you freaking kidding?” I looked to Ivory, but her crystal-blue eyes just stared back without expression. “Gotten myself into what?”

  “Were you following me?” Charles asked.

  Ivory lifted her hand. “I told him you weren’t.”

  Charles glared at her before returning his attention to me. “Answer the question.”

  “I thought you were following me, remember?”

  His chest puffed out a bit, and he scowled. “Why would someone be following you? Is there something you’re not telling us?”

  “Why don’t you tell me why someone would be following you.”

  “When we were dancing, you had guilt written all over your face.”

  I’d felt guilty all right, but not because I was following him. “I wouldn’t have even been there if Ivory hadn’t invited me. I don’t see why I’m defending myself to you. You’re the one who left me stranded in the woods.”

  “How do you know Marcus?” Charles pressed. “Did he hire you?”

  “Why are you interrogating me? I’m the one who was attacked!”

  “Nothing,” he said, which wasn’t at all a response to my question. He shook his head, the scowl slowly slipping from his features. “She’s telling the truth,” he said to Ivory. “She doesn’t know anything.”

  “I know,” Ivory said.

  “Can someone tell me?” I asked.

  Ivory frowned. “It’s just … things like that don’t usually happen there.”

  “Well, I fucking hope not.”

  I could’ve strangled her. How could she be so cavalier? My world was crashing down, and I was stuck here in this stupid bed, no one giving me a direct answer, while some man I didn’t know stood to the side of the room, watching the whole thing as though he was about to self-combust.

  I slanted my gaze back toward Ivory. “How do you know Charles?”

  “We met at the club a while back,” Ivory said. “It’s always been safe for humans.”

  “Safe for humans? As opposed to…?”

  Charles stood, sharpening his gaze toward Ivory. “Take her to the hospital, and keep an eye on her.”

  “No,” Ivory said, giving him a hard stare. “You don’t get to make a bigger mess of things and then walk out as if nothing happened.”

  “Not my problem.”

  “I’ll make it your problem.”

  Charles glowered, but her words stopped him in his tracks. “Did you not say you were taking care of this? If you care about your friend, Ivory, you’ll leave it alone. It’s bad enough she got Marcus’ attention. Did you know she was…?”

  Ivory shook her head. “How could I?”

  Just before a scream of irritation nearly burst out of me, the man in the corner interrupted our conversation. “Tell her,” he said, his voice calm, even.

  Charles and Ivory turned to him, their expressions blank.

  “Tell her,” he repeated. “If they know of her, it’s better she knows of them.”

  Charles reseated himself by the window, but Ivory paced away. She approached the other man, who leaned against a wall by her dresser. When she reached his side, she put a hand on his shoulder and gave me a pleading look. “Sometimes people are not what they seem.”

  “Go on…,” I said. I tried to shift my weight on the bed, but the pain in my wrist shuddered through me, and I rested back, closing my eyes. “Whatever it is, please, just tell me already.”

  “Club Flesh is a supernatural establishment.”

  Okay. Maybe I would’ve preferred being eased into things after all. “So why did you take me?”

  “It’s always been welcoming to humans.”

  “And of course I’m the exception.”

  “I didn’t know, Sophia,” Ivory said. “You never told me.”

  “Never told you what?”

  “That you’re different.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Some humans can see these differences. Some cannot. Charles can see you for what you are, but I am limited only to what is immediately visible. Such as the Cruor.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  The man by the door pushed away from the wall and approached. When he reached my side, he tossed his crisp dreadlocks over his shoulder. “I’m sorry our introduction couldn’t occur under better circumstances.” His voice was deep—formal in tone. He did not offer his hand in introduction. His body seemed tenser now than it had from across the room. “I am Adrian.”

  “You’re Adrian?”

  “Yes,” he said, “and I am one of which she speaks.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Please understand,” he said smoothly. “We are not all bad. The actions of the Cruor who attacked you do not speak well of our kind.”

  “Wait—what?”

  Adrian paced over to the dresser to switch the television off. As he fumbled with a small radio, tuning to a classical music station, a gold ring on his right hand glinted in the lamplight. There was a large scripted ‘A’ at the ring’s face.

  Adrian frowned. “You are familiar with the Cruor, yes?”

  “The what?”

  “Earth elementals, as they were originally known.”

  “Earth elementals?” Hadn’t the book Paloma gifted me said something about elementals? I turned to Ivory. “You believe this?”

  She swallowed and gave a slight nod.

  I shook my head. “Quit playing.”

  “I sense you are not a believer,” Adrian said.

  “A believer in ‘elementals’? Seriously?”

  “No one believed in the cobra until someone was bitten.” He paused, closing his eyes for a moment. “Marcus works for the Council. No doubt he was here on Council duty. They’re always on the lookout for the dual-breeds as well as anyone who might be of value, and Marcus is one of their leading men. He is one of the oldest Cruor—an earthborn.”

  “Earthborn?” Who were they trying to protect with these lies? Maybe Adrian wouldn’t be the best person to borrow books from—not if this was the kind of nonsense he was pushing.

  “Earthborns were the first chosen as earth elementals. A darkness had overtaken the human race, and without positive energy for the Universe to feed on, it was beginning to die. At the time, people were being buried alive, mistaken for dead, and the Universe saw this as an opportunity.”

  “People being buried alive? Happened a lot in the thirteenth century, right?”

  “And the centuries before.” Adrian’s nostrils flared. “The Universe resurrected those who didn’t survive the live burials. They were chosen to protect humans at night. Guardians, or, if you will, earth elementals. With their ability to sense the pull of the moon, they knew to rise when it loomed high and to flee from dawn.”

  “So you’re a vampire? That’s what you’re getting at? And the guy who attacked me … he’s a vampire, too?” Something was up. Yeah, the guy last night had fangs, but these days, that was a simple online purchase.

  “The Cruor are the reality from which legends of vampires arose.”

  “You’re full of shit.”

  “You may believe that if you wish,” Adrian said, “but I assure you the Cruor are real, and this is as true as I am standing before you.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but Adrian’s sharp gaze trampled the idea. What was I supposed to say to that? I couldn’t argue with his presence. If he wanted to be a ‘vampire’ or ‘Cruor’ or whatever, who was I to argue?

  “These guardians, trapped between life and death, feared falling upon an ultimate demise. They cherished immortality with greed,
concerned only to prolong their own semblance of life. They lusted for the blood of their prey, for blood is life. Blood is the soul. To drink the blood of another is to steal the life source and maintain immortality.”

  I recoiled deeper into the bed but refused to give in to the panic rising in my chest. “You’re trying to tell me some kind of monster was trying to eat me?”

  “You make our kind sound so … carnal.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  He pushed his lip out, an expression that looked more indicative of a shrug. “I will admit it is not easy. For example, right now, my natural instinct would be to pierce the main artery in your neck and feed. I’m not going to do that, however, because I am civil and have already eaten today. Not a human, mind you, but it did take off the edge.”

  These people were more whacked out than Mrs. Franklin’s cult. “If that eagle hadn’t come along … then what? Cody was going to turn me into a fruit bat?”

  “Those bitten are reborn as Cruor. Newborns. The change was intended to purify evil in the humans, to help those humans harness their desires to kill. They were supposed to join their makers to comb the earth and hunt the other impure humans.”

  “Wouldn’t your Universe-people just kill the bad humans?”

  “The Universe can only create. It cannot destroy.”

  “What does that have to do with me? You make it sound like the Cruor are here to protect. Are you trying to say he mistook me for a criminal?”

  “No.” Adrian returned his gaze to mine. “You don’t seem to understand. The Cruor were not supposed to turn on the pure. There must have been some error in their creation … some lingering darkness. The result was elementals who cared about only one thing—eternal life. This means stealing lifeblood from others, whether they bind themselves to their prey’s soul or kill them.”

  “So the Universe screwed up the humans, then made some elementals and screwed them up, too?”

  “Perhaps,” Adrian said. “No one can say for sure where the original darkness came from, but, since then, laws have been set into place. The Cruor are no longer permitted to attack a human unless the human becomes a threat. Such as those who learn of our true nature.”

  “You said Club Flesh has always been safe for humans.”

  “It’s a great place to make … connections. Exchanges, if you will.”

  “I don’t even want to know,” I said, trying not to think about what Ivory or Charles could possibly get out of that place, or what they were doing to get it.

  Ivory must have read the disgust on my face. “Money,” she said. “In exchange for blood, information, services….”

  “And you?” I asked, imploring her with my gaze.

  “Accounting.”

  “Accounting for elementals?” I shook my head. “Accounting? Really?”

  Adrian nodded, touching his hand to his cheek. “Our world is not so different than your own, yes?” he asked. “Things do not always work as intended. Some, for example, may just claim a human is a threat, even if they are not. Most, however, would prefer not to draw the Council’s attention to their actions. They’d rather find another way to get what they want from humans. Marcus, being one of few remaining earthborns, is strong and set in his ways. He’d surely be excused, as he’s a member of the Council himself, but he’s not known to act on his desires without prompt.”

  At least we were getting somewhere. Cody attacked me for a reason. “So what was the prompt?”

  “You have something.”

  “Like what?”

  Adrian shrugged. “You tell us.”

  “If you don’t know what it is, how do you know I have it?”

  “Some people can tell. Charles being one of them.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I didn’t try to hide my disbelief.

  “Anyone can have a supernatural gift. Immortal, Mortal … it matters not,” he said. “While Charles may not be able to see why you drew Marcus’ attention, he can see how you did.”

  “How is that, then?”

  “Your aura.”

  Charles could read auras? Yeah, right. If that were true, he would’ve known I wasn’t guilty of following him. That’s what auras were for, right? Reading emotions, intentions, that sort of thing. Surely I didn’t glow some vicious shade of evil. That’d be reserved for someone like Marcus or Cody.

  “What about my aura?” I asked finally.

  Adrian smiled. “You don’t have one.”

  {chapter eight}

  IF THIS AURA THING were true, perhaps that was how Charles earned his pay with the club. Did Ivory issue him a check for his services, or were such payments made in cash?

  I still wasn’t sure I was buying it. “Are you telling me nothing bad would have happened if I had an aura?”

  “Mock the situation all you like,” Adrian said, “but I am trying to help you. Would you prefer I leave?”

  We stared at each other for a moment, and I knew he was serious. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him to stay, but I didn’t tell him to leave, either. “In theory, then, is it bad I don’t have an aura?”

  Adrian’s jaw tensed. “This is not a theory, Miss Sophia. And no, it’s not bad to be without one. It’s merely rare and not well understood, which would be reason enough for Marcus to seek you out.”

  “Then why didn’t any other Cruor approach me?”

  “Because Cruor can’t see auras. One of his party, however, might have been able to. It is likely you were pointed out for that reason.”

  “Charles was also able.”

  Charles cleared his throat. “If you’re implying—”

  “I’m not implying anything.”

  “Some people think it’s not possible to read them,” Charles said.

  I tilted my head toward Ivory, suddenly hating her stupid room and her stupid bed that my injuries left me prisoner to. The whole idea of Cruor was bizarre, but Ivory wasn’t one to join in on pranks. Maybe they were trying to protect someone.

  “The aura-thing would explain why they would come after me,” I said, turning to Charles, “but it doesn’t explain why you thought someone was following you. Or why you thought that person was me.”

  “First you’re talking to someone from Marcus’ table, then you’re staring at me. What would you have thought?”

  “So you decided to save me from the people you thought I was helping to follow you?”

  “Oh,” he said, grinning. “You’re a charming dancer, but certainly not the type Marcus hires as a seducer. He’d have chosen someone more … provocative.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “I thought you might be playing stupid,” he went on, ignoring my obvious offence, “but once I noticed how he was looking at you, I realized you were in trouble.”

  From his words, I took away the following: I was not sexy, and I was not badass. “Let me express my eternal gratitude that you found it in your heart to save the enemy. Or, rather, abandon her in the woods with her attacker. That was so helpful.”

  “Just because you make lasting judgments doesn’t mean we all do. Sue me for giving you the benefit of the doubt, but no one deserves to fall victim to the ways of the Council.”

  “How very noble of you,” I said, trying to infuse as much sarcasm into my voice as I could. It was the only way I could mask the real gratitude beneath the surface that threatened to deflate my pride.

  Charles cocked an eyebrow. “Anything else you’d like to complain about, princess?”

  I huffed, turning to Ivory. “What about you?” I asked. “You knew the dangers, and you took me to Club Flesh anyway.”

  “She really shouldn’t have,” Charles said from beside me. As if he should talk. He hung around those monsters, too.

  “Thanks for that, Charles,” Ivory said, “but we’ve been going how long without incident? It should’ve been safe for Sophia. How was I supposed to know Marcus was visiting? Or that she didn’t have an aura? Maybe if you’d told me—”

  “Maybe if I could re
ach you, I would have said something,” Charles replied through his teeth. “Instead, you don’t come around for months, and when you do, she’s with you.”

  Say it like I’m a disease, why don’t you.

  I was shaking from anger. Anger at myself for my attraction to Charles and anger at Ivory for being so reckless. Shit. If I was getting mad, that meant I believed them.

  Ivory sat in the upholstered chair beside the bed. “You must know I wouldn’t have taken you if I’d known this would happen?”

  She rubbed the sides of her pants in a repetitive, inexact pattern, her eyes trembling with regret. She hesitated as she curled a strand of hair behind my ear. “Adrian needs to get going soon,” she said, “but before he does, he will help with your wounds.”

  “Is he a doctor?”

  “This is going to sound worse than it is.” She grimaced. When I said nothing, her words rushed out in one breath. “You need to drink his blood. It will—”

  “What? Why would I do that?” I shook my head, ignoring the pain. “You’re all insane. This whole situation is insane.”

  “Cruor blood accelerates healing.”

  “You’re seriously going along with this shit? What the hell, Ivory?”

  Charles put a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll have to trust us.”

  A familiar calm pushed into my mind. Pain swayed my thoughts, but I grasped to my last shreds of logic. Drink someone’s blood? It didn’t sound sanitary or sane.

  “Besides,” Ivory said, “you can’t go home in your condition. What if your mom stops by?”

  I sat up as much as my body allowed. “So, I guess this won’t turn me into one of these Cruor things? My mom would freak out about that, too, just so you know. In fact, that might even put my dad a little bit on edge. He’s not that open-minded.”

  “Adrian won’t bite you. Promise. He’s very controlled.”

  While Ivory might be willing to trust him with her life, I didn’t exactly share her sentiments. I barely knew him. But even though I wished to fight the offer, something stronger and unnatural urged me to accept. Emotions out of my control smothered my desires, and before I could stop them, the traitorous words tumbled from my lips.