Unraveling Mathias by Marisa Maichel (reading women TXT) 📕

"I spoke to Shadowfang," he said, ignoring my tone. "He spoke back in my mind as well. He says that our family is special, especially to 'his kind'."

"What did he mean by that?"

"I don't know; he wouldn't say anything else. He admitted that he'd spoken to both you and Louis."

"Louis, too?"

"Yes. That's part of the reason why Louis left." Father looked sad. I knew he still felt guilty over Louis. We all missed him, and had tried on different occasions to contact him. He ignored us each time, told us off, or blocked us. By now, he'd blocked both Father and Uncle Soren on everything.

Father sat beside me on the bed. I finished changing into my bed clothes and sat in my desk chair. Father looked at me quizzically. He picked up a book.

"When did you start reading this?" he asked. I looked at the title. It was Moby Dick.

"I just started yesterday."

"And already halfway through? Thor's death, you read fast. What do you think of the captain?"

"I think he's too focused on the whale." I wanted Father to leave so I could go to sleep.

"True. What did you think of Ishmael and Queepeeg?"

"I think they have an interesting relationship." I sat on the bed beside him. He wrapped an arm around me and kissed my temple.

"What did you think of the book overall?"

"Father, I'm not finished yet. I'm only halfway through."

"Ah. Right. Well, good night, Reese. I hope you have good dreams." He finally left. He turned out the light as he left. I closed the door behind him. He opened it, glaring at me. I closed it again. He opened it again.

"Father!"

"Reese, how can I get to you if the door is closed?"

"What, do you think Ambrose will come back?"

"Yes." We stared each other down. "Fine." He closed the door.

Satisfied, I crawled into bed. For a while, I didn't sleep. I heard the window open. It was Ambrose.

Shit. Father was right. I felt his cold arms wrap around my midsection. I turned around to look at him. "Ambrose!"

He slapped a hand over my mouth. "Shhh, little love. We don't want your father to find us." He rolled on top of me. I moved his hand away.

"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you hated me!"

"I did, at first. But I realized that this is perfect. Our love will create a new realm, one where vampires rule over all races."

"Do you realize how cliche you sound right now?"

"Who cares about cliches, as long as they work?" He kissed me, hard.

"Father!" I cried, when he finally broke free. The door was kicked down not a second later.

"Ambrose!"

"Mordecai!" He was standing up now, knees bent, glaring at my father.

"You were right, Father!" I said.

"Father knows best," he said, circling around to me. "Ambrose, leave. Now, and I will not kill you today." Ambrose smirked.

"You're too much of a coward to kill me, Blondie. Besides, your son has admitted his love."

"I most certainly did not!" I cried.

"Reese, hush," Father said, walking forward. "Damn it, I wish Father was here."

"Where is Eilief?" Ambrose said mockingly. "Is he sitting in a chair, wallowing in his own guilt? Everyone knows his past."

"Leave my father out of this!" Father said, launching himself at Ambrose. The evil vampire jumped through my bedroom window, Father right after him. "SOREN! AMBROSE IS GETTING AWAY! DIMITRI! AFTER HIM! FOLLOW HIM TO HIS HIDEOUT!"

"How the fuck did he get to North Hampton, anyway?" I asked out loud.

kicked the rest of the window and laughed humorlessly. "Odin's death, what luck. He climbs into my own house without me noticing. Well, at least Reese is okay. I'm glad I stuck around."

I slept in Father's room that night.

The next day, I was halfway on my commute to school when the Astro started smoking. I cursed and pulled over. I called Father, who sent Spencer to help me. I ended up walking the rest of the way while Spencer took care of my van.

I arrived ten minutes before the first class. I got out my books and homework for my first class and continued on with my day. At lunch, Rouge was all over Noah again. I noticed that Sarah kept glancing over. I finally texted her.

Reese: What happened between you and Rouge?

Sarah: She used to be Scarlett's friend, before Scarlett caught her stealing spells from her. She and Scarlett got into a fight, which became an actual physical fight. And then she tried to steal my boyfriend at the time, which only made things worse.

Reese: Who was your boyfriend at the time?

Sarah: Oh, Reese. It was Jeremy Smith.

Reese:On the football team?

Sarah: That's the one.

So now I knew what had happened between Sarah and Rouge. I still wasn't sure what Rouge wanted with my friend, though, or even if she truly liked him or just wanted to use him. Fairies are hard to understand. I'd dealt with fairies before, but not to this extent. Mostly, I'd been introduced to the odd fairy at a political function or party.

My attention was distracted when I spotted golden boy Caden Cartwright wrapping his arms around Sarah and pecking her cheek. I squeezed the pencil I was holding until the wood became dust.

She happened to glance back at me, and her attention was suddenly on me. She excused herself from the table and went over to me. I think all motion and talk stopped, but I didn't care about that.

"Reese, it was just a hug," she said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Yes, but you're mine. He should know that!"

"Reese, calm down. You don't have to be jealous." The bell rang. "I have to go. Calm yourself."

"Do I sense drama?" Rouge crooned. "Jealous goth boyfriend versus popular football captain fighting over a sexy brunette. How sickeningly sweet."

"Shut your damn mouth," Amara snapped at Rouge. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you like to cause drama?"

"She hasn't caused any drama," Noah argued. "You're just jealous because she's prettier than you." Amara burst into tears, grabbed her stuff, and ran from the cafeteria.

"You're a real asshole, you know that?" Mason said to Noah. "Trust me: Rouge is not who you think she is. Don't throw away something good for something that isn't real."

"Oh, I'm so scared of the wizard," Noah mocked.

"Warlock," Mason corrected. "And don't be so sure that I won't suck all that fat out of your head." Noah looked truly terrified then. Mason grabbed his stuff and left as well. I followed him.

"What the hell is wrong with Noah?" I asked.

"It's that redheaded bitch," Mason said. "She's a fairy, Reese. They're known for pulling tricks."

"True. But how are we going to save him?"

"I don't know. He's too into Rouge."

As I headed to class, I thought about it. I needed to research fairies more. At the moment, I knew next to nothing about them, other than the fact that they can change size, can turn invisible, and had wings that they could hide. And they liked pulling tricks and pranks and causing problems.

The next day, Noah and Rouge sat away from us. Amara didn't show up at school that day, or the next. On the third day, Dimitri returned and said that he'd found Ambrose's hideout. All of his coven was there as well. That could be a problem.

"My spy will not betray us," Father said.

"You have a spy in Ambrose's coven?" I asked, aghast. Father nodded.

"I do. He's trustworthy and I can depend on him. He saved your life earlier this year." I wondered who it was. As it turned out, I didn't have long to find out.

One day, I arrived home after school to find a familiar face talking to my father.

"You don't know how hard it was to get away with Peter and Ambrose watching," Dean said. I gaped at him.

"You?!"

Dean nodded. "Yes, Prince Reese, me. I owe everything to your father. If it weren't for him, I'd be dead. I pledged my loyalty to the Emerson clan hundreds of years ago, long before Prince Louis was born." This was interesting.

"And Ambrose?"

"He has no idea. Neither does my Peter."

"Come, Dean," Father said. "We have to talk."

I wondered if Dean really loved Peter, or if it was a trick.

I called Mason.

"You're not going to believe this," I said, and told him about Dean.

"Weird," he said. "Hey, I have some news."

"Good news or bad news?"

"You decide for yourself. Rouge messaged Amara and told her to go kill herself."

"What did Amara do?"

"She blocked her. Noah is completely blinded by her. I don't know what to think, Reese. Noah is my best friend, and he's turned into a total jerk. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to him."

I thought for a moment. "We need to catch Rouge causing drama. Screenshot anything she says online, and send it to him. Record her doing or saying something. Hopefully that will wake him up."

"Hmm. I can't help but wonder, though...why Noah?"

"I know. It's so odd. He's usually much smarter than this. And what exactly are her intentions? I know it's to use him, but what for?"

"Well, if he insists on getting his heart broken, there's really nothing we can do about it."

"What...Mason, he's your best friend."

"I know. But it's like that thing with Ariella and Damon Sage-she's going to keep getting her heart broken if she keeps going back to him."

"Excuse me? Ariella is with Damon Sage again?"

"Yeah...I thought you knew. Guess I dropped the ball there."

"Are you freaking kidding me? The wolf?"

"Reese, don't freak out."

"How can I not freak out? My best friend is dating a werewolf. How can that not be a problem?" I thought about my recent experiences with werewolves. We still had no word on either Faolan or Sadie. I kept thinking.

"Reese? Don't do anything stupid."

"I'm not going to do anything stupid. I need to think." I realized he was right. There really was nothing I could do except warn Ariella.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah was excited. Not just for school ending, which was coming in a couple of weeks, but for the eventual birth of Cirino. Her belly was still growing every day, and I even went with her to a couple of appointments. She now brought a book wherever she went, and a sewing kit. She had started designing clothes for herself. Her latest project involved a denim skirt with ruffles. She said that she could never pull it off, but Ariella's hips and legs were skinny enough to.

She had a few new hobbies. She now browsed websites for project ideas and organization tips. She loved buying school and office supplies, especially anything that resembled Lisa Frank or Hello Kitty. Or particular boy bands, which, okay, I found I didn't like.

"They're terrible," I said as she pulled out a Maroon 5 folder. She looked at me like I was crazy. We were in her bedroom, and she was going to show me a dress design.

"You're cold," she retorted.

"I tell the truth."

"No, you tell your own truth. There are always two sides to every story. There's your side and then there's my side."

"But which one is the truth?"

"Probably neither," she said cryptically. I noticed a drawing among the debris on her desk. I pulled it out and looked at it. It was a drawing of a girl who looked an awful lot like Sarah. She had curly brown hair, and her head was down, large red tears falling from her eyes. She wore a long black dress that covered her feet. Roses, gardenias, and lilies dotted the picture. Sarah snatched it away.

"Sarah," I said, "is there something you want to tell me?"

"Not particularly."

I sighed. "Sarah."

"Reese. I still have bouts of depression. I'm still not over it-I'll probably never be over it."

"I wish I could erase your pain." I looked at another picture. This one had a picture of a girl with glass in her feet. Sarah put the folder away. "Sarah," I said. "Would you consider getting a joint account with me?"

"Don't you