Did I get the lonely and tired Aila O’Hara?But as alone and exhausted as she was, it never stopped Aila’s light from shining through.
The Landslide vampires were just too far into the dark to see it.
As another teardrop of blood gets heavy enough to run down my face and fall onto Aila’s, something happens.
My vampire eyes see Aila’s eyes open.So does her mouth, and she catches the drop of blood on her tongue.Licking it with relish, she is hungry for more only milliseconds after.
Struggling against my hug, she sits up.
We look down at the hole that was blasted through her ribs.Aila prods at it with one curious finger until her probing takes her all the way to the other side.Twisting around, she is able to observe the bullet hole blasted into the couch behind her.Her expression is full of wonder as she reaches around to feel the exit wound next to the spinal column in her back.
“Ouch.No… not ouch.But it doesn’t look nice.”Tapping her fingernail over one of the splintered ribs, she grimaces at the scratchy sound it makes.
Then she licks her finger.
The skyquake creaks and rumbles above us, hidden by the ceiling of Ben’s house.
“I kn-know why skyquakes happen.”Aila wants to confide in me.“It’s the gates of heaven opening to let in my soul.”
“Has it gone?”
She nods.“Yes.My soul is gone.It ran away from the expert runaway that I am.So, I guess I should be used to the feeling, because I’ve been running for so long.”
I help her push the viscera back into the ribcage hole so she can stand up.
The first thing Aila does is check on her mother.Only when she is satisfied that Amelia is okay does Aila begin to make decisions for herself.
“Where is he?”
“He hid the ATV at Jerry Steele’s house and then backtracked here.”
Aila sneers.“He thinks his money and power are going to be enough to get him out of this.The gun will already be in the creek.Or it will be planted to incriminate someone else.”
“Creek water is no problem for vampires.We will find the gun if that’s where he chucked it.”
She shrugs.“It won’t lead back to him, so why bother?No.I think we should find Mr.Jordan the old-fashioned way.”
“Let’s make that quick.I can hear Ben racing back.He must’ve gotten Vince to take him to Angle Inlet.”
Unconcerned about her blood-soaked tank top and shorts, Aila casually holds her hand over the wound hole as she moves to the door.But she stops and turns after opening it.The dark skyquake clouds and groaning thunder fade.
“Am I still alive?Or are we dead?”
“A bit of both.”
She smiles, those beautiful dimples peeking out.
“Perfect.”
ChapterThirty
Aila
Ifeel… marvelous.
It is hard to describe.My new lease on life has removed all the negatives and honed the positives into a sharp edge.
Bullet hole in my torso?No biggie.Exit wound ripped through my back?That’s all good.The spirit that carried all my insecurities and worries everywhere I went is gone.
