Torn (Dark Desires Duet, #1)

Chapter Nineteen

The past two weeks nothing eventful has happened. Alisha called two days back and asked when I was joining. I freaked out. I had completely forgotten that I promised to go back to work long back. Finally, I knew I had to tell her that I'm not going back anytime soon, giving the excuse of being on vacation in Galveston. She was disappointed but told me that it was fine and she'd find someone else.

Training's going well, but Brandon thinks I shouldn't be in danger at all. He's overprotective as fuck. But whatever, I'm going to learn to protect myself.

Tara and Skye are playing in front of me. The whole charades game that I thankfully opted out of because I'm terrible at acting. I put away the crossword puzzle when Tara comes and sits next to me. "There's a question that I've been thinking about." I start. She sighs and waves her hand for me to continue. "How's Skye coping with being a vampire?"

"Amazing." Tara grins. She tucks her hair behind her delicately pointed ears. Now that everyone knows her true identity, there's no point in hiding it. "Brandon helped her overcome the need to bite random people and she's doing really well with staying awake during the day and sleeping at night. The only problem is that she loves to play out and she can't do it. Poor child."

Looking up, Skye smiles at us and rushes to hug Brandon, chattering about the new book she found. He picks her up and kisses her cheek. "How's my favorite princess doing?"

She giggles and pinches his cheeks. "Kathryn didi is your favorite, I'm a close second. You can't lie to me."

He coughs and puts her down, sheepishly scratching his head. Trying to cover my red face with my hair, I go back to solving the crossword while Tara smirks. "Skye's super smart. Just like me."

I scoff and poke her. "She's not your child." Immediately regretting it, I bite the inside of my cheek. Tara stiffens. "You're right. She's not mine, but I love her with all my heart and I'll never stop." With a dry glance at me, she gets up and disappears into the kitchen.

Cursing myself, I stand to hurry behind her but Kieran stops me. "I heard the entire thing. Don't. Give her some time."

I roll my eyes. "I'm her best friend, I know how to handle her."

He sighs and pats my cheek. "I know, monkey, but I've spent enough time with you all to know how she is."

Scoffing, I cross my arms and sit back on the sofa. My brother doesn't know Tara as well as I do but he's right. She needs space.

A loud bang comes from outside and I gasp, leaning to the side to peep out the window. A dark figure rushes away from my sight.

"Someone's out there!" I call out. Brandon's at my side in an instant, picking up Skye and pulling me along. We move towards the training room, my heart speeding up. Kieran is shouting at Julian to pick up a gun and Tara appears in front of us, grabbing Skye. Leo places a hand on her shoulder and whispers something but I can't hear what he said. My panic makes my vision and hearing too hazy. Brandon grabs my hand and squeezes it. "Here for you. Always. Take the shortsword. Go on."

Breathing deeply, I do as I'm told. The familiar grip of the sword calms me down. I've never been violent minded but the anticipation of the fight is killing me. Maybe if I can get ahold of one of them, we can force answers out of them. I quickly tie my hair up so that it doesn't get in the way and inch past Julian towards the front door. Green curtains hang in front of the huge windows and I push aside one corner slightly, and look out, seeing nothing. It's empty. Turning around, I shake my head, relaying the news. Tara rolls her eyes and pushes the door open. We all step out, weapons held gingerly by our side.

The evening sky is a dull red, with purple bruising the edges. My heart is thundering so loudly, I bet everyone can hear it. Tara brushes past me, giving me an encouraging smile before another sharp bang, followed by a shrill scream makes us turn back towards the sound.