Cold Blood Excerpt

Excerpt: “Jack pulled me aside yesterday. He said he knows he can’t handle things himself with The Cause.” He paused. “He wants me to step up, help run things.” He finally looked up and met my eyes. “He wants me to lead.”

I blinked back at him, relieved to hear what was behind his mood and glad it wasn’t something… well, bad. Or maybe it was, for him at least. He didn't exactly look thrilled. “But what’s so bad about that?”

Without a word, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me off the bench, half dragging me into the woods. He ducked behind a massive oak and pulled me behind it with him, wrapping his arms around me and burying his face in my hair. My surprise at his sudden affection eased, and I pressed closer and let him hold me.

Until this moment, he’d been so careful with me, as if I’d break from any physical contact rougher than hand holding or lips grazing. This was so much better.

When he pulled away, his expression was halfway between pained and hungry. “I was going to come with you,” he said.

I pulled back. “To school? Really?”

He nodded. “But now, with everything happening with Jack, I can’t. I have to stay.” He didn’t give me a chance to answer, instead pressing his lips to mine in short, hungry kisses that left me dizzy and breathless. The pull between us sprang to life, and my body ached to be closer, a part of him.

"You can come visit me," I said, between kisses.

His lips slowed and stilled against mine, and then he pulled away. His eyes were sad. "No, I can't. At least not for a while. Jack wants me to take over immediately. I'm moving in to help until he's up and around, and then I have to start travelling. He needs to introduce me to all of the allies we have left, so they'll trust me enough to work with me when he hands the reigns over. It's a full time job. I'm sorry."

"I understand," I said. And suddenly I did. Vera’s vision sprang to mind – a picture of Wes and me leading The Cause–and I wondered if this was the first step towards making it true. I shook that off, not wanting to make this bigger than it already was. I focused on the fact that Wes had wanted to come in the first place. His reluctance at talking to me wasn’t about not wanting to be with me, or worrying about the long distance part of our relationship; it was about his responsibility to The Cause. That made me feel better. "It’s okay,” I assured him. “I'll be home for the summer. We'll see each other in a few months."

"I know," he whispered, still gazing at me with a mournful expression.

"So what's the problem? You don't want to take over?"

"It's not that. I...." He stepped away and began to pace in front of me. "I don't know. My father was in charge, and look what it got him. An early grave. It's not like I care about my own life, but–" He broke off and looked up at me. "What if something happens to you, up at that school? And I wasn't there to stop it, because I put business before you? My father put business before family, and it got him and my mother killed. I won't let that happen." He walked over to me, running his hand through my hair.

"Wes, you are not your father. And nothing is going to happen to me." I slipped my hands inside his jacket, running my palms over his chest. I wanted to comfort him, but I didn't know what to say. I thought of Vera's vision again, wondering if he even realized what his taking over meant.

He leaned over, pressing his lips to my forehead, then my temple, then my cheek; I held on to him as his lips trailed along my jaw and then found my mouth. “You have to promise to be careful,” he whispered, between kisses. “Stay on school property. Don’t go anywhere alone.”

All I could do was mumble a noise that resembled, “Okay.”

He finally pulled away, on a long, almost painful exhale and cupped my face in his hands. “I’m going to find Miles and end him. And then you’re going to come home to me, okay?”

I smiled crookedly, too caught up in the moment to mind his protective demands. “And if my mom still hates you?”

His lips curved. “I have three months until summer break to wear her down with my charm. Piece of cake.”

My laughter was interrupted by my mother’s shrill voice cutting across the yard. “Tara, time’s up. Get inside!”

“Coming!” I stayed wedged between the tree and Wes, waiting for him to move and let me free.

“Don’t forget about me up there,” he whispered.

“Never,” I whispered back, already missing him.

 

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