“No,” he said.
“Pardon me?”
He took a deep breath and rubbed his temples before answering. “I said no. You cannot go to this wedding.” I frowned deeply and felt anger rising in my chest. “You can’t tell me what to do. I’ll go wherever I want.”
He was on his feet then, hands clutching the edge of his desk, his expression dark with anger. “Stop acting like a child. You can’t go anywhere you want; you can’t do anything you want. Not anymore. Your actions of the last day have jeopardized all you see around you. Don’t you understand? Going out of the city will mean that I’m unable to protect you, and I have enough to concern myself with here.”
I felt my throat closing up, but I wasn’t backing down. He couldn’t bully me, no matter how scary he got. No way. No how.
“How have you been protecting me holed up in this place planning to kill yourself? Yeah, you’ve been a lot of help. And sorry for saving Quinn. I guess I can’t just turn my back on people dying in the street. I’m funny that way.”
“I don’t wish to argue with you, Sarah.”
“No, you just want me to obey your every command the way everyone else around here does. Well, forget it. Not going to happen.” I turned again to leave, but before I could get to the door, he was there, blocking my way. He grabbed me and pulled me closer to him. For a crazy moment I thought he was going to kiss me again. But he didn’t. He just stared down at me while his fingers bit into my upper arms. “If you leave here and ignore my warnings…” He paused for a moment. “Don’t ever return.
You’ll be completely on your own.” There was no more anger in his voice; it was simply a cold, monotone statement. He released me.
I stared up at him and felt a tear slide down my cheek. I swallowed hard. “That’s fine with me.” I moved past him and out the open door. I commanded myself not to turn around to look at him—to see if he wore any telltale expression on his face. The anger had left me as quickly as it had come. I felt sick and tired and terribly alone.
Thierry’s main problem was that he was too rigid. He was black or white, there was no give-and-take with him.
My problem was that I was exactly the same way. But what was I supposed to do? Bow my head and say, “Yes, master, whatever you say, master”? Not going to happen. So that was it. I left Midnight Eclipse through the back door and tried to put his words out of my mind, but they ate at me like hungry termites.
Was I really fooling myself? Was it a mistake to go to the wedding? My hometown was as safe as anywhere I’d ever been. Almost too safe. And I’d be fine, just fine, without the arrogant and demanding Thierry de Bennicoeur in my life. Jerk. Despite my unease with traveling back to my apartment all alone, I sucked it up and took public transit instead of calling for a taxi. I was in such a bad mood the hunters should be scared of me today. On the way back I stopped at Blockbuster and rented three movies to watch for the rest of the afternoon to take my mind off things. After perusing their selection I decided on the original Dracula, with Bela Lugosi; Interview with the Vampire, with Tom Cruise; and Love at First Bite, with George Hamilton.
The phone was ringing as I pushed open my door. I ran to it, throwing my purse and the DVDs on the kitchen counter. It had to be Thierry, I knew it. He’d apologize for the argument and everything would be okay between us again.
“Hello?” I said breathlessly.
“Sarah! I’m glad you’re there.”
My shoulders slumped. It was only Amy. It had been twenty-four hours since she’d abandoned me in the food court of the Eaton Centre, just before my little adventure with Quinn began. I hoped she hadn’t ended up spending too much money trying to make herself feel better. She was in major credit card debt. But I had my own problems to worry about.
“Amy, about yesterday—”
“Forget it,” she cut me off.
“Forget it?”
“Yeah, I think maybe I was totally being unreasonable. It’s none of my business if you’re
seeing a new guy. In fact, I’m completely happy for you.”
“You are?”
“Yeah, he’s a cutie, too. Quinn, right?”
“Quinn.” I felt the sudden stirrings of a migraine. Or maybe it was a brain tumor. “Yeah, that’s his name, all right.”
“So, how did you two meet, anyhow?”
I tried to think up a good lie, then gave up. It hurt too much to think. “I kind of picked him up at a bar and he hasn’t left me alone since.”
“That is so adorable. Who says you can’t meet a great guy in a bar anymore?”
“Actually, I say that.”
“Well, silly, I guess you’ve finally proven yourself wrong. Look, I don’t want to keep you;
I know you probably have your hands full getting ready for the wedding, but I just wanted to call to say thanks.”
“Thanks? What for?”
She giggled. “When I left you two lovebirds alone yesterday, I went off to feel sorry for myself and ended up meeting a fantastic guy I never would have met if I’d spent the afternoon with you. And I bought the coolest new shoes. Wait till you see them.”
“Oh,” I said with surprise. Well, not that much surprise. This was Amy we were talking about here. “Well, that’s great. The guy thing, that is. What’s he like?”
She took a deep breath before she started gushing. “Well, he’s sexy as hell for one thing. He’s new in town, so maybe it’s totally fate. I think he might be the one. You would love him. In fact, I’m thinking that when you get back from the wedding, maybe you and Quinn and Peter and me can get together for a double date?”
I didn’t answer for a moment.
“Sarah?” Amy asked. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“So? A double date? How much fun would that be?”
I nodded, mostly from imagining how much fun that would not be. “Yeah, superfun.”
“Major superfun. Why don’t you give me a call the moment you get back and we’ll set something up?”
“Okay, I promise.” I was crossing my fingers. “Oh, and, Amy—”
“Yeah?”
“Sorry. Really. I’m just sorry if I made you feel bad yesterday.”
She laughed. “Forget it. When do we ever have boyfriends at the same time? It’s all good.”
I hung up feeling guilty. There was no way I was going to go on that double date. For too many reasons to list. It wouldn’t be the first time that week I’d agreed to something I had no intention of following through on. Besides, with Amy’s track record, she’d have moved on to her next perfect man by the time I got back. For the rest of the day I sat on my couch and watched all three movies back-to-back while feeling very sorry for myself. Every few hours I’d have a small sip from the bottles of newbie special Zelda had made for me. I didn’t learn much from the movies. Well, other than the fact that when you’re a vampire, you seem to have a need to sink your teeth into any available vein. The thought made me feel a bit ill. There was no way I was doing that. Ever. Cross my heart and hope to…
Oh, never mind.
I packed my suitcase and went to bed early. I wanted everything to go smoothly over the next two days. I’d prove once and for all to myself that Thierry was wrong. I could still have a normal life. It would be okay. After the week I’d just had, I wasn’t in the mood for any more bad stuff to happen.
But seriously, what could possibly go wrong at a wedding?