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“Uh…” Turning slightly, I find the friend who came with me and…the other one. “Willow, Pollux…?”
They stop their very endearing banter for a moment to look at me.
“Do you guys like Olive Garden?”
Confusion bemuddles Pollux’s heavy brows as Willow says, “Yes.” She whacks him in the chest, physically recoils, and puts several feet of space between them. “Heck. Sorry…”
“Are you all right?” Pollux murmurs, unmoved, a mountain made of impenetrable stone.
Willow’s hand shakes, so she grasps it to her chest. “Yeah. Anyway. Olive Garden. It’s a restaurant. Vegetarian options are available in surplus.”
Several long moments pass, Pollux’s dark eyes stay trained on Willow’s tremoring fingers. “I…better not. I’ll wait here to take you back. There’s plenty of nearby fear to amuse myself with in a city like this.”
“We’ll sit at a separate table than Brit and her sister. It’ll be fine. Fun even. You love fun.”
His shoulders rise and fall, reluctantly obliging.
Cool. I guess we’re all going to Olive Garden, then. “Yeah. It seems everyone here is okay with that,” I say.
“Who’s Pollux?” Alana asks.
I don’t have a clue how to explain him. Concentrated fear comes to mind, but that feels somehow incredibly impolite. He led us all this way. Appearance and everything he can’t seem to help aside, Pollux kind of seems…sweet. So, I say, “Another friend.”
¤
“Why can’t I see Pollux?” Alana peers across the restaurant, toward the corner where Pollux and Willow are sitting. Tapping her bread stick against her lips, Alana says, “Is he not powerful enough to make himself known while Willow is?”
I don’t know how to explain that it’s best not to see the giant, terrifying man who makes the booth they’re sitting in look like a child’s playset. Since Alana seems wholly unfazed, I assume the reason I can feel the apprehension he pours into the space around him from here is because I’m claimed. “Willow’s actually part human,” I note.
“That’s right. You told me she was human before.” Alana’s gaze lifts to the ceiling as she takes a bite of her fifth bread stick. “Why is she only part human now?”
I nudge a tomato to the corner of my salad plate. “I didn’t know before that she always has been. Her vampire husband enthralled her, so their lifespans are linked, but she gets to keep an eternal grasp on her partial humanity.”
Alana’s brows turn pensive. “Is that a one-time thing, or…”
My smile doesn’t quite reach my eyes. “I’m told he’s unwilling to do it again.”
“Darn. That could have fixed everything.” Pain ripples, and it occurs to me that Alana hasn’t met my eyes once since we arrived. She can’t. All throughout our childhood whenever her emotions got too much, whether they were anger or sadness or fear, she could no longer look at anyone.
My chest hurts.
Am I really doing this to her? To my parents?
All for what?
Love?
It’s a fairy tale aspiration.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper.
Alana shakes her head and picks up a pepperoncini. “Don’t have second thoughts. And don’t worry. I’ll just find a vampire mate who can do the same for me. Easy.” Her lips purse as she glares at the pepper between her fingers. “I’ll make t-shirts. Wanted: one vampire husband willing to enthrall me.”
“Please don’t do that.”
“I’m joking.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t tell. My throat is so tight it hurts.
