Chapter 15 #4
Asher was hot. He was kind and protective and attentive in a way that made my chest ache, but so were plenty of other guys. I needed to focus on school, not him. And it wasn’t fair to Daphne. I wouldn’t be that girl.
I took the first SkyRide car back with Celia, an injured Madison, and Silex. Madison was doing okay, conscious and in less pain.
“Great job, Stella,” Celia told me.
I smiled but it didn’t reach my eyes because my thoughts were tangled around the sire’s words, looping endlessly. ‘ Reinstate the payments or else.’
Or else she’d kill my mother. How could you kill someone who was supposed to have been dead my entire life?
My head throbbed as we stepped out of the portal and Celia hurried Madison toward the campus healing ward.
“Stella!” Harper and Luna screamed my name, and I spun to see them waving a sign that read I’m sorry .
I frowned as I walked toward them.
“Did you get two kills?” they asked breathlessly.
I nodded, and Luna flipped the sign over so it read Congrats!
I laughed and they crushed me into a hug, sandwiching me on both sides.
“Tell us everything!” Harper demanded as students and professors spilled out of the portal behind us. My attention snagged on Daphne standing off to the side, waiting for Asher. She looked pale, eyes red like she’d been crying or was on the verge of it.
“It was crazy,” I said, distracted as Daphne’s lower lip trembled when Asher reached her.
He moved to hug her, but she stopped him with a hand, saying something I couldn’t hear.
“Like how?” Luna pressed.
“I…got a concussion after my second kill.” I forced my gaze away. “But a wafer fixed it.”
“Wafer for the win!” Luna said, then eyed the bloody brass knuckles still on my hands. “Whoa. Those are cool.”
I glanced down at them, suddenly aware of the dried blood. “I have to turn everything in. I’ll meet you back at the room?”
They nodded. “We’ll grab ice cream to celebrate.”
I grinned. “Peanut butter chocolate for me.”
“Black cherry for me.” Luna bowed dramatically.
“You know I love strawberry,” Harper said as they skipped off together.
I headed toward the armory when a sob broke through the night air. I turned just in time to see Daphne bolt toward the dorms. Asher stood frozen, shoulders slumped, his chest rising and falling slowly.
My feet stalled.
Is everything okay? Did someone get hurt?
I took three steps toward him and then stopped myself, turning back toward the armory instead. He had a best friend. He had a girlfriend. If he needed comfort, it shouldn’t come from me.
Inside the armory, I signed my name and dropped the bloodied weapons into a bucket labeled dirty .
Imagine being assigned to scrub vampire guts off weapons. Maybe that was detention here.
When I turned, I inhaled sharply. Asher stood right behind me.
“Sorry,” he muttered, stepping aside.
“It’s okay,” I said quietly as he returned his sword and stake and signed out.
The room was empty now, even the professors gone. Just the armory clerk, Asher, and me.
When I reached the door, Asher moved ahead and opened it for me.
Of course he did.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
Outside, instead of heading for the dorms, Asher dropped heavily onto the armory steps and sat, face in his hands as he peered out into the night sky.
I stopped, then turned back. He stared at the trees at the center of campus like they might explain everything he didn’t know how to say.
“You okay?” I asked, sitting beside him.
“Yeah. I am.” He sounded oddly relieved.
I frowned. “Okay. I mean, I saw Daphne crying, so I hope she’s okay?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure. She just broke up with me.”
Shock flared through me. “She did? Why?”
He stayed quiet, and I winced.
“Sorry. That was probably too personal. I mean, you guys have been off and on before, right? I’m sure she’ll take you back.”
He tilted his head. “I don’t want her to take me back. And this is the first time Daphne’s broken up with me. I’m always the one who ends it.”
My heart pounded. “You are? Then why do you always get back together?”
He exhaled slowly. “Honestly?”
I nodded.
“Because she’s fragile and I’m afraid she’ll hurt herself, and I love her too much for that.”
Something twisted painfully in my chest. Hurt herself? Had she ever threatened it?
“Has she gotten help for that? Spoken to someone?” I asked.
He nodded. “For years. But it’s like no matter how strong she is, how hard of a fighter and badass vampire killer, her own mind is her biggest enemy.”
That statement hit me hard. It was a truth I think everyone could relate to at some point in their life. We were our own worst enemy.
“So I’ve stayed with her to be her safe place,” Asher said.
“That’s really sweet,” I said softly.
“No, it’s not. It’s cruel.” He stared into the darkness, then stood and brushed off his pants. His green eyes locked on mine, intense and unguarded. “Because I’ve been with Daphne since we were twelve, and I’ve never wanted to kiss her as badly as I’ve fantasized about kissing you.”
Then he turned and walked away while I stayed there, frozen.
Am I still concussed, or did Asher Voss really just say that to me?
I lay awake for hours that night, replaying his words until sleep finally claimed me.