She would have had me institutionalized if I’d told her the truth. So I made up a fatal car accident instead.
“Of course I am. But before you go, I have something for you.” He went over to the big, carved writing desk against the wall and opened a drawer.
I watched as he retrieved a flat, rectangular box wrapped in gold paper.
“I have another present for you, for tomorrow, but I’d like you to open this one now.” He handed me the box, and I took it with trembling hands.
My nervous fingers fumbled with the wrapping paper. It finally slipped away, revealing a cream-colored jewelry box. My heart pounding, I opened the lid and peered inside.
Lying against the satin was the most beautiful necklace I’d ever seen — a series of teardrop-shaped diamonds and aquamarines set in what looked like platinum. It was clearly an antique, probably priceless, and I’d never seen anything like it in all my life.
“It’s. it’s beautiful,” I murmured.
He smiled as he lifted it from the silk and undid the clasp. “It was my mother’s,” he said. “Aquamarines were her favorite. Here, turn around.”
He put the necklace around my throat, and I lifted my hair as he clasped it.
“I can barely picture my mother without remembering this around her neck,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion. “I had the clasp replaced, so it should be pretty sturdy now.”
My eyes were suddenly damp. “But it was your mother’s, Aidan. You can’t just give it to me.”
“Of course I can. There, turn around.”
I did, raising my chin, trying to make my neck as long as a swan’s.
“Perfect,” he said. The look in his eyes took my breath away.
“Thank you,” I said, knowing it wasn’t enough, would never be enough. “Just seeing that around your neck makes this the best Christmas I’ve had in. oh, more than a century, I’d say.”
“And they say we’re mortal enemies,” I joked.
“Funny, isn’t it?”
But it wasn’t funny, not really.
“Merry Christmas, Violet,” he said, kissing me softly on the lips.
“Merry Christmas,” I replied, feeling somehow sad and elated, all at once.
I don’t want to do this,” I said, shaking my head. “Enough, okay?”
Aidan scowled at me. “No, Violet. It’s not okay. This is important.”
I nervously ran my fingers down the smooth piece of wood I held in one hand — a makeshift stake, blunt on both ends. For practice. “We don’t even know for sure if I’m a. you know, whatever it’s called.”
“Yes, we do,” he insisted. “And it’s Sâbbat. Get used to the word. Now, c’mon, concentrate. Right here.” With a fist, he tapped his left pec. Which I couldn’t help but notice looked nice and sculpted beneath the T-shirt he wore.
“Yeah, I got it,” I said, rolling my eyes. “The stake, through the heart. You’re out of your mind if you think I can do it.”
“You can do it, Vi. It’s not that different from fencing. Just think of the stake as a slightly thicker foil. You’re already well-trained; this should be easy for you. You did win the All-Ivy title last month, after all.”
I glared at him, my hand tightening on the wooden stick. This was nothing like that, and he knew it. “Yeah, just call me Buffy.”
“Just tell me you’re paying attention.”
“I am. Is that all?”
His eyes were hard. “No, that’s not all. Once that’s done, you’ve got to separate the body from the head, and—”
“What?” I screeched. “You’re kidding, right? Because there’s no way in hell—”
“Listen to me, Vi. If I’m around, I can take care of it, but you need to be prepared to do it yourself. Separate the head and body, and then burn them both. It’s the only way you can be sure—”
“What, that they’re not going to. to come back to life? This is crazy, Aidan. Totally nuts.”
“Maybe so, but I need assurances that you understand what I’m telling you.”
I just stood there staring at him like he’d gone mad. Because he must have, if he thought I was going to “separate” someone’s head from his body, vampire or not!
Aidan just glared at me from across the chapel’s wide aisle, our so-called training ground. Christmas seemed so long ago, as if it had been months since we’d sat opening presents together in Patsy’s living room. An antique copy of Pride and Prejudice for me — and by antique, I mean it probably came from his personal library back in England— and an iPod for him, since I’d never seen him with one. By unspoken agreement, we’d decided to keep the necklace he’d given me a secret.
In reality, it had only been two weeks since we’d returned to Winterhaven — two very long weeks in which Aidan had spent every spare moment trying to convince me to learn to use the stake. He’d finally won the battle, and here we were.
“Anyway,” I muttered, “don’t you think it’s a little weird, you teaching someone how to kill a vampire? I mean, is this normal?”
He shrugged, and once again my attention was drawn to his pecs. Somehow I’d never realized how cut his chest was. And if his chest is that sculpted, what about his stomach? Ripped abs, maybe? I was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to see him without that shirt.
“I have no idea what’s normal,” Aidan said, interrupting my lustful thoughts. “I’ve never met a Sâbbat before, so I don’t know how they usually get their training.”
“Maybe you should take your shirt off,” I offered. “It’ll be easier for me to see where the stake goes.” Yeah, that was a good excuse.
His scowl deepened. “My shirt stays on.”
Amazing how he knew exactly what I was thinking without even reading my mind. When had I become so needy, anyway— so aggressive and clingy?
Since this morning. Cece had pulled me aside right after breakfast, just before first period. “I have to tell you something,” she’d said with a frown, ducking into a little alcove. “I don’t think it means anything, but I feel guilty keeping it from you.”
I followed her into the quiet, windowed space. “What is it?”
“Last night, I was having trouble sleeping, so. I went for a little walk around campus. Astrally speaking,” she added.
She glanced around furtively, then lowered her voice even though we were alone. “I saw Aidan. Right at the edge of the woods, over toward the river. Way after curfew. He was. with Jenna Holley. They were just talking,” she put in quickly, seeing my eyes widen. “Actually, I think they might have been arguing. I thought about eavesdropping, but it’s against the COPA. But if you want me to. ” She’d trailed off.
I’d told her no, but the curiosity had been eating away at me all day.
“What’s the deal with you and Jenna Holley?” I asked Aidan before I had the chance to think better of it.