Before her time on the island, she was goingto attend college in Rhode Island, but plans changed. Some of thepeople she went to high school with were also going to the samecollege. Not wanting to run into any of them and have to come upwith a reason why she never showed up for graduation or where sheand Mollie abruptly moved to, she decided to attend collegeelsewhere.
Thanks to Julian’s talent with a computer,her new college was in Arizona, and she was excited to go somewhereelse and explore something new. Mollie was not thrilled she wasgoing so far away, but she was happy for her.
If Aida didn’t leave now, she might neverleave, and though she’d never made a decision about her plans forwhen she grew up, she wanted to experience life and not become ahermit. Her knowledge of the supernatural and what she mightencounter out there again petrified her, but she wouldnotlet fear rule her.
“What’s up, J man?” she asked.
“I came to see what you were doing,” hesaid.
“Packing.” She waved a hand at her suitcaseand the small pile of clothes beside it. “Want to help?”
He covered the ten feet of space separatingthem in three strides. At six foot two, he was nine inches tallerthan her, and she tipped her head back to look at him. He smileddown at her, but she’d never seen the sadness in his eyesbefore.
“Are you still looking forward to leaving?”Julian asked.
“Yes, and I’m a little scared.” She’d neveradmit that to anyone else, but he was so easy to talk to, and heunderstood her.
“Of what?” he asked.
“Of… everything,” she admitted on a breath.“I always knew the world was big, but I didn’t realize how biguntil the island.”
Julian ignored the burning need tearingthrough him when he rested his hand over hers. “You don’t have togo.”
“Yes, I do. If I stay locked away here, I’llnever get the chance to experience all the things I’ve alwaysdreamed about.”
“You could wait and go in the winter or nextyear when you’re feeling more confident about it.”
“If I don’t go now, I never will.”
He understood, but he’d hoped she would staya little longer. It might only make it worse for him if she did,but he would give anything for more time with her.
“I’m being stupid,” she said as she moved herhand away from his and placed the jeans neatly in her suitcase. “Ididn’t sleep well last night.”
“More nightmares?”
He hated the forlorn look in her eyes, thequiver in her lower lip, and the way her golden-brown eyes dartedaway from him. Those eyes, more gold than brown, were the mostbeautiful eyes he’d ever seen.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I didn’t see you go outside.”
Somehow, he always knew when she woke fromher nightmares and fled her house. She’d never been alone on thenights when she roamed the property in search of some way to escapeher past. She couldn’t escape, of course, but having Julian by herside made her feel safer.
“This is my third time repacking since 2:00a.m. I don’t know what I’m going to do if I have a nightmare atcollege and I don’t have things to pack or you to walk with.”
“Study,” he suggested.
She laughed. “I’m eager to go back to school,but I doubt I’ll do much studying.”
She liked learning, but studying had neverbeen her strong suit. She was more of a just wing it kind of girl,and as long as she passed, she didn’t care about her grades. HerGPA didn’t matter if she had a diploma in hand.
“Who knows, maybe once I’m away from here,the nightmares will stop,” she said.
“Why do you think that?”
She gave a small, sad laugh. “It’s impossibleto forget being tortured by vampires while surrounded by them.”
Her words plunged a knife into his chest. “Noone here wouldeverhurt you.”
