Page 37
Story: Ache For Her
My jaw ticked. “We need to hurry then.” The emotional pain I couldn’t help, but the physical pain was a different story.
For the next twenty minutes, we went over the story until we were sure it would fly. As soon as Galen’s guy got there, I left for the hotel to tell Kayleigh and Delilah what the story was and bring her back. After texting Kayleigh to find out exactly where they were, I walked into a dumpy motel, scowling at the place. I never would’ve let Delilah set foot in a place like this. It was disgusting.
“It was the closest I could find,” Kayleigh muttered when she answered the door to my angry face.
I glared at her, and then turned toward Delilah on the couch. She tried to smile up at me, but then she hissed in a breath. I immediately dropped to my knees. “Don’t try to move. We’re almost done over there and then we need you to call 911 and tell the cops what happened.”
Her eyes widened.
I held a hand up. “Well, our version of events.”
She nodded.
I didn’t like the look of her. She was pale, and her breathing was labored. “Has she been like this a while?”
“She got shot, Simon. It’s not as if it’s going to be a walk in the park for her. She’s not one of us.”
A growl ripped through my throat, but Kayleigh only rolled her eyes.
“Don’t fight,” Delilah said. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to regulate her breathing. “Please.”
I took her hand and squeezed. I didn’t know what was going to happen after this, but I wasn’t going to let Delilah out of my sight again. I’d woken from that short nap at the estate with a horrible feeling that Delilah wasn’t going to be okay. I’d been right. Galen hadn’t needed much convincing to follow the girls here. And then we’d waited, using our super hearing to hear what was going on inside. Lowlife. To think that Delilah could’ve played any part in what I’d planned. Greenie must’ve been deranged.
I pulled her up in my arms, apologizing when she grimaced. I sank my nose into her neck, breathing in deep. She smelled like the metallic scent of blood and injury, which usually would’ve sent me into a hungry spiral, but we were talking about Delilah here.
Maybe I had more of a heart than I realized.
I carried her out to the car, and Kayleigh drove us back over to the house. By the time we got there, Galen’s guy was gone, and that left us with the last thing to do. I laid Delilah on the couch, placing the phone in her hand. “Like we discussed,” I whispered. “All the cameras were cut as of midnight yesterday, so it looks like they just stopped recording and no one knows why. They’ll be going off your descriptions alone then.”
She nodded. “I remember.”
I looked at Galen and Kayleigh, and they began to walk back out of the house. When they were gone, I crouched down next to Delilah. “You can do this.”
“Where are you going to be?” she asked. Her eyes turned glassy once more. When I’d first met her, she was a determined thing, larger than life. Now she just looked broken. I wanted to mend her. I wanted to build her up again. For all the tearing down her grandfather did, I wanted her to live her life to the absolute fullest, whether she wanted me in it or not.
“I’ll be wherever you want me to be.”
“Don’t go too far then,” she said, her voice thick.
With those few words, my insides cracked. I closed my eyes. Right in front of me was everything I never knew I’d need. I bent over and kissed her forehead. “I’m right here. I’m everywhere.”
I stood. She held onto my hand as long as she could while I walked away, but finally it dropped. I was torn on whether to leave her or not. These next couple hours would be hell on her, but on the other hand, I was ready to start rebuilding her life. She deserved so much more than what he’d ever given her.
There was one thing I was certain of now. There were a lot of things that did not matter in our lives. Things that we placed on pedestals. Money, titles, stature. But in reality, it was the things that came more easily that mattered most. Love, and loyalty. I used to think that feelings—that love—were the hard things in life. But, it was the easiest thing I’d ever done.
I looked behind me to find Delilah pushing the call button on the phone and realized I was a goner from the moment I met her. It had happened just like that, and there was nothing I, or her, could’ve done to stop it.
* * * * *
I sat in the hospital room night after night. Delilah had to have surgery to fix tendons in her shoulder, so she could use it properly again. I was a fixture at her bedside. The nurses all knew me as her boyfriend. My decrepit, damaged heart fluttered when Delilah introduced me as that. Stupid, but true.
Galen and Kayleigh returned to the estate right away to keep things in line there. I’d been gone so long, Galen had to tell me about the trouble they’d been having with the local humans. It turned out there was a sect nearby of vampire haters. Not many knew we existed, but if they did, they usually hated us. Unless they were Kayleigh, or Delilah. And even then, it took some convincing.
I wasn’t sure where Delilah and I would go. I would go wherever she wanted. If she wanted to live at the estate, fine. If she wanted to live in Hawaii, fine. Wherever she wanted, we would go.
The lawyers had been in to talk to her. She was inheriting everything from her grandfather, a legacy in the millions of dollars. She was shutting down his business and moving away. That much I’d already heard her say. It wasn’t safe for her at the house anymore, but she would have to worry about the people who got their livelihood from her grandfather who wouldn’t be getting it now. They were just lowlifes, drug runners, dealers, but she couldn’t stay on the chance they would act out when she took their livelihoods away.
I looked up at her from my spot next to her bed. She was dressed in regular clothes. Not clothes from the house because her grandfather had thrown away all that, but clothes she’d ordered from some website and had delivered to the hospital, so we could leave this place for good.
For the next twenty minutes, we went over the story until we were sure it would fly. As soon as Galen’s guy got there, I left for the hotel to tell Kayleigh and Delilah what the story was and bring her back. After texting Kayleigh to find out exactly where they were, I walked into a dumpy motel, scowling at the place. I never would’ve let Delilah set foot in a place like this. It was disgusting.
“It was the closest I could find,” Kayleigh muttered when she answered the door to my angry face.
I glared at her, and then turned toward Delilah on the couch. She tried to smile up at me, but then she hissed in a breath. I immediately dropped to my knees. “Don’t try to move. We’re almost done over there and then we need you to call 911 and tell the cops what happened.”
Her eyes widened.
I held a hand up. “Well, our version of events.”
She nodded.
I didn’t like the look of her. She was pale, and her breathing was labored. “Has she been like this a while?”
“She got shot, Simon. It’s not as if it’s going to be a walk in the park for her. She’s not one of us.”
A growl ripped through my throat, but Kayleigh only rolled her eyes.
“Don’t fight,” Delilah said. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to regulate her breathing. “Please.”
I took her hand and squeezed. I didn’t know what was going to happen after this, but I wasn’t going to let Delilah out of my sight again. I’d woken from that short nap at the estate with a horrible feeling that Delilah wasn’t going to be okay. I’d been right. Galen hadn’t needed much convincing to follow the girls here. And then we’d waited, using our super hearing to hear what was going on inside. Lowlife. To think that Delilah could’ve played any part in what I’d planned. Greenie must’ve been deranged.
I pulled her up in my arms, apologizing when she grimaced. I sank my nose into her neck, breathing in deep. She smelled like the metallic scent of blood and injury, which usually would’ve sent me into a hungry spiral, but we were talking about Delilah here.
Maybe I had more of a heart than I realized.
I carried her out to the car, and Kayleigh drove us back over to the house. By the time we got there, Galen’s guy was gone, and that left us with the last thing to do. I laid Delilah on the couch, placing the phone in her hand. “Like we discussed,” I whispered. “All the cameras were cut as of midnight yesterday, so it looks like they just stopped recording and no one knows why. They’ll be going off your descriptions alone then.”
She nodded. “I remember.”
I looked at Galen and Kayleigh, and they began to walk back out of the house. When they were gone, I crouched down next to Delilah. “You can do this.”
“Where are you going to be?” she asked. Her eyes turned glassy once more. When I’d first met her, she was a determined thing, larger than life. Now she just looked broken. I wanted to mend her. I wanted to build her up again. For all the tearing down her grandfather did, I wanted her to live her life to the absolute fullest, whether she wanted me in it or not.
“I’ll be wherever you want me to be.”
“Don’t go too far then,” she said, her voice thick.
With those few words, my insides cracked. I closed my eyes. Right in front of me was everything I never knew I’d need. I bent over and kissed her forehead. “I’m right here. I’m everywhere.”
I stood. She held onto my hand as long as she could while I walked away, but finally it dropped. I was torn on whether to leave her or not. These next couple hours would be hell on her, but on the other hand, I was ready to start rebuilding her life. She deserved so much more than what he’d ever given her.
There was one thing I was certain of now. There were a lot of things that did not matter in our lives. Things that we placed on pedestals. Money, titles, stature. But in reality, it was the things that came more easily that mattered most. Love, and loyalty. I used to think that feelings—that love—were the hard things in life. But, it was the easiest thing I’d ever done.
I looked behind me to find Delilah pushing the call button on the phone and realized I was a goner from the moment I met her. It had happened just like that, and there was nothing I, or her, could’ve done to stop it.
* * * * *
I sat in the hospital room night after night. Delilah had to have surgery to fix tendons in her shoulder, so she could use it properly again. I was a fixture at her bedside. The nurses all knew me as her boyfriend. My decrepit, damaged heart fluttered when Delilah introduced me as that. Stupid, but true.
Galen and Kayleigh returned to the estate right away to keep things in line there. I’d been gone so long, Galen had to tell me about the trouble they’d been having with the local humans. It turned out there was a sect nearby of vampire haters. Not many knew we existed, but if they did, they usually hated us. Unless they were Kayleigh, or Delilah. And even then, it took some convincing.
I wasn’t sure where Delilah and I would go. I would go wherever she wanted. If she wanted to live at the estate, fine. If she wanted to live in Hawaii, fine. Wherever she wanted, we would go.
The lawyers had been in to talk to her. She was inheriting everything from her grandfather, a legacy in the millions of dollars. She was shutting down his business and moving away. That much I’d already heard her say. It wasn’t safe for her at the house anymore, but she would have to worry about the people who got their livelihood from her grandfather who wouldn’t be getting it now. They were just lowlifes, drug runners, dealers, but she couldn’t stay on the chance they would act out when she took their livelihoods away.
I looked up at her from my spot next to her bed. She was dressed in regular clothes. Not clothes from the house because her grandfather had thrown away all that, but clothes she’d ordered from some website and had delivered to the hospital, so we could leave this place for good.