Eden wasn’t so convinced. In all the stories, in all the times she’d met other people like them - some already full blown creatures of the Blessed and others still awaiting the awakening - she’d never heard of someone who hadn’t even fed on their first soul yet taking down one of the Blessed. Eden groaned and flopped back on her mattress. “I’m not ready, Stellan. I don’t care what you promised Ryan and Ceecee.”
Stellan snorted. “I told you not to let her hear you call her that.”
“Whatever.”
“Come on, Paradise.” He nudged her, his dopey smile making her grin back up at him. “Do this for me. Just let me try to change your mind, OK? Who knows… if you become one of the Blessed you’ll probably be strong enough to kick Teagan’s ass and change Ryan’s mind about the betrothal.”
Eden froze. “You think?”
Stellan’s grin widened. “Totally.”
She mused over this for a moment. That was tempting. Really tempting.
Stellan nudged her leg. “Well? Will you let me try?”
As his warm grey eyes washed over her face, she thought about how cool and kind her brother was to her. He always had been. And he didn’t kill people… he just did what his nature compelled him to. He wasn’t a bad guy right? And maybe if she did this, if she did the Awakening Ceremony, all her anxieties and worries and guilt would just… melt away.
“OK.”
That night someone opened the iron door, leaving it open a moment too long. The scream that wrenched through the mansion made Eden stiffen in her bed. She heard the horrified plea just as the iron door slammed shut, a frightening hush descending over the house. Try as she might, Eden couldn’t get the picture of the red-headed woman out of her head.
Worse. She wasn’t a little girl anymore. She had the power to do something. To help whatever poor soul was trapped down there at the mercy of Ryan and Teagan’s perversions.
But she was so scared.
Burrowing deeper into her duvet, Eden began to cry softly into her pillow to muffle the sound.
No matter what she promised Stellan, she didn’t know if she could do it.
I can’t do it.
Chapter Four
BFF
Eden shrugged off the prickling sensation on the back of her neck that told her she was being followed by one of her dad’s goons. She picked up her pace, letting her long hair fall in a dark curtain around her face. Not that that would do anything. Bozo behind her would just pick up his pace and… well… her hair was what pretty much gave her away since she was the only one in the family with hair as black as midnight.
“Hey, Winslow!”
Eden glanced up and smirked at Noah. He stood by one of the bench seats at the lake, ignoring the Saltonians who had decided to take a Saturday morning stroll too. A sense of peace flooded Eden’s chest even as the hunger snapped from somewhere deep inside her. She reached him with a wry smile on her face. “S’up dude.” She nudged him with her shoulder, and then gave a little jerk of her head. “Just a warning, we have a Code Goon a few yards behind us.”
Noah frowned and checked out the goon with barely a flicker of his eyes. She had no idea how he did that. He was so cool and surreptitious. “Clocked him.” He nodded grimly and started walking in the opposite direction. Eden dug her hands into her jacket pockets and followed. “I thought you were going to talk to your dad about that?”
Eden sighed. “Ryan and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms these days.”
They were silent a while as they walked the path along the lake. Subconsciously they moved closer together when they recognized a few seniors from school. The group just stared at them with disgust, their eyes washing over Eden and Noah dressed in black, while they popped in their yellows and pinks and blues. There were no comments made, however. None ever were when Noah was actually in the vicinity. While Eden found Noah’s company soothing, others were a little wary of him. He had this dangerous teen vibe thing going. Eden had told him on more than one occasion that he should trade in his car for a motorcycle.
They passed the group and Eden remained silent. She felt Noah glance sharply at her. “Are you OK? You’ve been quiet all week.”
Eden sighed again. She and Noah didn’t really talk about their parents. Noah’s mom and dad were academics and socially inept, so Noah had never invited her over to his house because his parents wouldn’t like it. And Eden had never invited Noah over to her house because she didn’t want him to die. But sometimes all she ever wanted to do was tell him the truth… maybe just to have someone to talk to. And maybe just to see how far she could push their friendship; to test him. In the end, Eden would never tell him because Noah knowing the truth was dangerous, and she would never do anything to put him in jeopardy. Ryan would hurt him. She knew deep in her bones that if he got the chance, Ryan would do what he had to, to cut her off from all human emotion. He was aware of Noah. The fact that he allowed her to hang out with him told Eden he was hoping Noah was going to be the one to push Eden to her limits. Bastard. He was so twisted. No wonder she was messed up. “If I ask you a question, will you promise not to judge?”
She saw the concern flicker in Noah’s eyes but he nodded quietly.
“Do you think… do you think it’s possible to hate your parents?”
He smirked. “Of course.”
“No, Noah.” Eden shook her head, swallowing back the bitter rage. “I mean… really hate them.”
She felt his eyes on her face, studying her intently and she flushed. Finally he sighed heavily. “I don’t know what to tell you. I guess, I don’t know.”
“But what about you? How do you feel about your parents?”
“Eden, look-”
“I know we have this unwritten rule that our parents are off limits but I’m not asking for anything, Noah, I just want to know… if you love them?” This time she looked him directly in the eye. For a moment he didn’t say anything and she got lost in the clearness of his gaze. The color had always amazed her, not blue, or purple, but pale violet. But it wasn’t just the color. There was so much going on behind them and yet there was no deceit there. No hate. No sociopathic blankness. And now, pushing out into the fore was sadness. Sadness for her.
“I don’t talk about my parents much because there isn’t a lot to say. However, I also don’t talk about them much because I know you don’t have a great relationship with yours, and my mom and dad and I are really good friends. I love them, Eden. I’d die for them.”
For some reason his confession made her want to cry. Her throat began to close and she blinked rapidly to stop the tears.
“Hey dude,” he teased, nudging her gently. “I don’t judge you for hating your parents right now. I know they’re pissing you off.”
Frustration gnawed at her and she wanted to scream at him that he didn’t know anything. She wanted to tell him the truth about who they were, what they wanted of her, what her father intended for her. She laughed humorlessly, bitterness ringing in the sound. Noah flinched a little, concern tightening his jaw. “You have no idea, Noah. No idea.”
“Then tell me.”
She shook her head. “It’s too sick. And too tragic.”
Noah drew to an abrupt halt. “Eden, you’re really starting to scare me.” He towered over her, his eyes narrowed with anger. Her heart triple beat and a wave of nausea made her stumble back a little. Oh crap. She’d said too much. Her mind whirred as she tried to come up with something, even a little piece of the truth. “It’s nothing, I’m probably overreacting. You know what a freak I am.”
“If it’s nothing just tell me.”
She glanced around, catching sight of the goon from the corner of her eye off in the distance. Teagan had teased her about the bodyguards last night. She’d finally had to escape to her room, leaving in the middle of the Xbox game she’d been playing with Stellan. She’d heard Stellan yelling at Teagan in admonishment the entire way up to her room. “M-my cousin,” she finally breathed, turning to look back up at Noah, who seemed braced to take on the world for her. She felt warmed by his protectiveness even though she could beat his ass from here until Timbuktu. “It’s totally sick, but my mom and dad are pushing Teagan on me.”
Noah grimaced, genuine disgust darkening his eyes. “Your cousin? Your first cousin? That’s not even legal.”
Eden shrugged, ignoring the moths of revulsion that erupted in her belly just at the thought of Teagan. She started walking again and Noah followed. “Yeah, well my dad is really, really old-fashioned and he loves Teagan, and he has a lot of money to make certain legalities go away.”
“Eden, this is twisted.”
She ignored the spark of panic that flared in her chest as she said, “Have you finally reached your freak quota? Is this the friendship over?”
“Of course not,” he growled, seeming insulted. “But you gotta admit this is weird – beyond weird. Damn, I just wish I could do something…” Suddenly he paled and grasped a hold of Eden’s shoulder, pulling her to a stop with a surprising amount of strength. Eden frowned down at the hand that had halted her so effortlessly. “Teagan hasn’t done anything, right? That’s not why you’ve been so quiet all week, because I swear to God, Eden, I will rip him apart if he so-”
Eden laughed, happily this time, and braced her hands against his chest to stop him. He seemed surprised by the gesture and she felt his heart pick up speed under her palm. Their eyes locked for a moment, and Noah’s fingers brushed her wrist, sending a flurry of goosebumps rising up all over her skin. Eden pulled back and grinned at him, trying to ease the sudden tension and afraid the hunger would decide to make an appearance. “Nothing happened. I can take care of myself. I just… my parents are really trying to drive me up the wall, what with this debut party and now Teagan…” Noah was still looking at her like he’d never seen her before and she raised an eyebrow at him. “Dude, are you even listening?”
He let go of his breath and grinned. “I told you not to call me dude.”
“Hey, we’ve been over this. You were given options and you chose dude.”
“My options were dude and dick. That’s not a choice. That’s sadism.”
“What is so wrong with dude?”
“Well every time you say it my IQ drops ten points.”
“Wow, and you only started out with ten in the first place. We must be way into the negatives.”
“I’d be a vegetable if that were the case.”
Eden made a face. “You said it, not me.”
Noah raised his eyebrows. “Keep up the insults and you’re going in the lake, Winslow.”
She snorted. “I’d like to see you try.”
“Oh you would, would you?” He reached for her, grabbing her around the waist. Eden started shrieking.
“You wouldn’t dare, Valois!” she yelled, trying to pull out of his embrace as he dragged her down the grassy slope towards the lake. Jeez, he was strong for a human. She elbowed him in the gut but it didn’t even slow him down.