Dark Secrets (Dark Secrets #1)(123)
Author: A.M. Hudson

“Probably not.”

I cleared my throat, unbuckling my seatbelt, but as I turned to open the door, looked up at the vampire standing there.

He offered his hand. “Would you like to go back to the island today?”

“Yeah.” I took his hand. “Sounds great.”

Raindrops broke the glassy stillness of the water, distorting the deep red reflection of autumn foliage. Ripple upon ripple stretched closer to the shore, pushing the clusters of orange and brown leaves in laps up onto the clay banks. David and I stood at the cusp of the lake, hand in hand, watching the watery road out to the island.

“It’s magnificent this time of year, isn’t it?”

“It’s always magnificent,” I said. “But I wish I’d worn a skirt instead of jeans.”

“Hm,” he hummed, giving an automated smile.

I stood between him and his distracted glare. “David?”

“Hm?” He managed to look at me this time.

“I know there’s something wrong. What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“That’s not nothing.”

“Well, it’s nothing that needs discussing right now.”

Above us, the dark grey clouds closed in, swallowing the last smudge of blue left in the sky, making the sudden dread in my gut go deeper. “So?” I closed my eyes for a second, pushing the swell of worry aside. “Are we going to the island, or are we gonna stand here and get incredibly wet?”

He looked up at the sky. “Perhaps we should go home. I’m not sure even the island can contain that storm.”

I hugged myself, shivering a little as dots of rain fell over my bare shoulders.

“You cold?” David asked, rubbing my arm.

I nodded. “I can feel the autumn coming on.”

“And so follows the winter,” he said absently, his shoulders dropping. “Come on then.”

My hand linked with his. “Home?”

“No. The island. Never know when it might be our last chance to go back there.”

“I’ll always go back there—even when you’re not with me anymore.”

His nose and chin stayed pointed at the island, while his eyes slowly drifted onto me, narrowing, the question on his mind a breath away from his lips. But I squealed, my arms flailing out in an octopus manner when he bent down and scooped me up.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting us to the island faster.”

“Oh. Crap!” I buried my face in his neck, my teeth making a cage as the forces of gravity tried to hold me down under the vampire’s need for speed. It felt kind of like going upside down on a roller coaster, gravity pushing at my head, compressing my arms and legs, possibly trying to cube me.

We stopped abruptly and my gut kept going as my feet touched the ground. I folded over, feeling heat rush into my cheeks and ears.

“You gonna be sick?” David laughed.

“I’m okay.” I reached up and grabbed his arm, using it to steady myself. “I’m okay.”

“Just take slow breaths. It’ll ease off.”

I nodded, rolling to a stand under the majesty of our secret little island. Even if I was about to puke, the cool cave of foliage stole my thoughts enough to make me forget how fast I’d just travelled, and the fruity tingle of wild flowers filled my senses, making it easier to breathe.

“Better now?” David asked.

“Yeah. Better.”

“Good.”

In my peripheral, a vibrant purple petal caught my eye; I turned to David and smiled.

“For you,” he said, tucking my hair back with the flower.

“You know, I still have the one you gave me here last time.”

“I know,” he said, sliding his hand down my arm to take my hand. “Ara?”

“Mm?” I tore my eyes away from the canopy—the way the gaps in the leaves, if I looked only at the grey behind them, looked like blurry, floating lanterns.

“I need to tell you something.” As our eyes met, a flash of sadness turned his pale green. “Something which, I’m afraid to say, is not good news.”

“Okay.” My small voice trembled.

“I told you I’d warn you when it was time for me to leave?”

My stomach sunk; I bit my bottom lip.

“Well…the—” his voice steadied with a chest-lifting breath, his gaze fixing on my lips, rising up to my eyes. “The time has come.”

“No.”

“I’ve been called to return to duty.”

“What? When?”

“Two weeks.”

“Two weeks? But, that’s not enough time. How can I—how can you expect me to…” I fought several arguments with him in my head, not winning any of them. “No, you can’t do this. You have to tell them no.”

“That’s not the worst part, Ara.” He took another deep breath. “In that two weeks, I am expected to operate the Set from the New York offices. I will only be able to see you at night.”

“Night? Two weeks? And that’s it? For forever?”

“Unless you change your mind and become a vampire,” he said in a low, dry tone.

“David. I can’t make a decision like that in two weeks. How can you possibly expect me to—”

“Because you have to, Ara!” He looked at me long enough to see the hurt infect my face. “The time is now. Like it or not. You have to choose. When the full moon rises in a fortnight, I will be boarding a train and leaving for Le Château de la Mort—with or without you beside me.”

“You can’t do this to me. Mike’s here for the next two weeks. How am I going to choose between life and immortality while he’s distracting me?” I wiped fat raindrops off my shoulder, moving out from under the giant leaf collecting them. “Can’t you reason with them? Can’t you do something?”

“Ara. You don’t understand the ways of the Set. I’ve been ordered to return by the head of the World Council—the king, for God’s sake. One does not refuse an order from the king.”

“But—”

“Look.” He dropped his head with a dejected breath. “Two weeks to get my affairs in order was a generous courtesy. He needn’t have offered that at all.”

“Why? Are you in trouble?”

“In ways.” He looked up at the leaf above us and grabbed my hand, leading me to the shelter of a larger tree. “The man I entrusted to run things in my absence has proven less than reliable. I must return and pull things into line.”