Dabbing her eyes with a paper serviette, my mom confesses.
“I… I don’t think you should get too complacent about that man, baby.What if he comes after you?”
Gulping down the last few inches of OJ in my glass, I push back my chair.
“Stop getting into my business, Mom!It’s over, okay?I guess I don’t have your magic touch when it comes to hooking men.Theron is a coldhearted son of a bitch!There, I said it!So, put that in your pipe and smoke it!”
Backing towards the door, I wipe the tears away from my eyes.I can’t end it like this or else my mother will come after me.
“I’m really happy for you both, and I love you, but this is a difficult time for me, so please try to be understanding when I tell you that I don’t want to make a big deal about saying goodbye.”
I can’t take the confused look on their faces anymore.When Mom tries to follow me, I snap back.
“Leave me alone.Please, Mom, for once in your life, will you stop sticking your nose in my affairs?”
How humiliating.Ben is going to tell everyone at the bar tonight.The rugged, raunchy Midnight Rider, Theron Rabane, is letting me go.He couldn’t be making it any clearer.
His speedy exit from the bar last night.His curt dismissal of my choice in music.And he never even bothered to say goodbye.And now that the sun is up, it’s too late.
Trotting to my bedroom as quick as I can, I begin to throw stuff into my case the moment it’s open.
No doubt, I hate myself right now.I should have realized that the beautiful time we spent together on this bed would shake me up and change my mind.
My blasted pride!I can’t handle that I might have met my match.
I can taste my freedom—and it tastes like ashes in my mouth.
Too soon, the clock on my phone shows me it’s nearly seven in the evening.
Dragging my bag to the door, I see Ben has backed up his truck to the entrance.He gets out to help me.He looks embarrassed after having seen my emotional ranting.
“Probably best this way after all, Aila.Your mother’s pretty cut up about you leaving.”
“Time for me to see what good old United States has to offer, Ben.”I’m speaking over the lump in my throat.
Shaking his head, Ben tosses the last bag into the back and gets in, then puts the truck into gear.“The thing is, Aila, I think you should have let your mom finish saying her piece.It wasn’t your relationship with Mister Hunter she was worried about.”
The truck bounces down the circular road, past Luna’s house, past the sign about the dead riding fast.
“I know she’s concerned about me living on my own, Ben, but I’m not about to put down roots here just because I’m afraid of what’s out there.”
Taking his eyes off the road, Ben stares at me like I’m crazy.“From what Amelia told me, Aila, that isexactlywhat you should be afraid of!”
ChapterTwenty
Theron & Aila
Theron
Shadow bangs on the panel of wood that lines the walls of our hidden coven lair.
“Church in a couple of hours.Get moving.”
Reaching for the bottle of condensed fluids on the floor beside me, I drain the dregs and then let out a long sigh as the spirits hit my bloodstream.The smell of booze fumes fill the secret paneled room.
Using one of Tempest’s recipes, Luna brews a batch of concentrated fluids mixed with spirits once a year.When genetic material is exposed to alcohol, it disrupts the integrity of the structure, causing genotoxicity.
Do I remember this drink has the ability to get me totally hammered?Yep.But wasted as I am, I can’t block out what might happen if Aila decides to get on the ferry.
