Unraveling Mathias by Marisa Maichel (reading women TXT) 📕

"In some places, yes. I mean, when we're out of high school."

"We'll see how things go." That hurt. That implication that we may or may not be together still.

"Anything we buy with it, we'll share. Anything you want, you can buy."

"I can buy anything I want now."

"I mean, if you want a second house, or another car, or a jet ski, or a boat. Anything big like that."

"I'd rather spend my money on the kids."

"Kids? How many are we shooting for?"

"At least three, including Cirino." She put a hand on her stomach. "I know, I know. I'm hungry, too."

"What do you think of Noah and Rouge?" I asked as Sarah sat down and started eating her salad.

"I think it's sick and he's stupid to date her. I should probably warn him."

"We've already tried," I said. "He's enamored by her."

"I can't believe she's a fairy. All that magic, and she still tried to steal the Hart sisters' magic."

"Fairies like magic," I said. "Whether it's good or bad."

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen or heard Scarlett or Jordan lately. Have you?"

"No, thank the gods. We're dealing with enough as it is. Have you heard from Glen?"

"Nope."

"Thank Aphrodite." I kissed her temples. My Aphrodite. She finished her lunch and got up to throw away the plastic bowl.

"I love you so much, Sarah," I said.

"I love you too, Reese," she replied. Then she froze. "Crap."

"What is it?" I asked, tipping her head up.

"Nothing. I thought I saw...well, it's nothing."

"Sarah."

"Reese." I turned around and sniffed the air. I scented another male. I kept sniffing. His scent was electrical, yet sweet, like sugar and herbs. I wracked my brain, trying to remember if I knew anyone who smelled like that. I looked back at Sarah, who looked confused.

I listened carefully. I heard light footsteps. "Stay here." I walked to the front of the house, where the scent was strongest. I looked around. The neighborhood was quiet, almost too quiet. I kept smelling the air and listening for enemies. I walked around the house. I climbed over the fence into Sarah's backyard, where Spunk and Coffee were looking at me curiously.

"Did you see anything?" I asked the dogs. Spunk's tail wagged. I doubted he understood what I had said. "Want to go inside-" I was cut off by a scream. I ran inside the house, followed closely by the dogs. Sarah was fighting a large dark male.

Glen.

"Hey! Fatass!" I cried. He glared at me, then threw a jet of blue light which hit me in the chest. Ignoring the pain, I let my fangs grow. I bit him, causing him to let go of Sarah, throwing her against the wall. I relinquished him and ran to my mate. "Sarah! Are you hurt?!" The pain in my chest was intense, causing me to gasp and fall to my knees.

"Reese!" She rolled me over, tears in her eyes. "Why do you do this?!" she screamed at Glen. "Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"Sarah, come with me and be my queen," Glen said.

"No! Fix him right now!" Glen glanced at me.

"No, I don't think I will. If he was human, he'd be dead already."

"NO!" Sarah screamed.

"Sarah, I'll be fine," I said. "Go. Call Alexander or my father. I can deal with this."

"I can't leave you!" She buried her face in my stomach, which tightened painfully.

"Take my phone," I said, reaching into my pocket. Glen threw a jet of blue light, which nearly hit the phone before I tossed it to Sarah. Glen paused. He had a ball of blue light in his hand, but he didn't want to accidentally hit Sarah. She quickly typed in the password and started dialing. Glen hit the phone, causing Sarah to clutch her hand and hiss.

"I'm sorry, lover, but I can't let you call anyone," he said.

"I'll go with you!" Sarah cried.

"What?" I was aghast.

"I'll go with you, Glen, as long as you promise not to hurt Reese," she repeated. Glen stared at her.

"Deal." He grabbed her arm and pulled her up, dragging her away. I grabbed what remained of my phone and dialed Alexander's number.

"Hello?" he gruffly answered.

"Alexander, I need your help," I said, quickly summarizing the situation. Glen glared at me, but did nothing except drag Sarah out the door. Spunk followed them, barking. Glen threw a ball of light at the golden retriever's feet.

"Hey! That's my dog!" Sarah cried. Spunk kept barking as Glen dragged her out the door and out of sight.

"Hang on," Alexander said. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

The pain in my chest grew. I started drifting off.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - SARAH

I woke up covered in wetness, which I realized was saliva. Specifically, my father's. Feeling disgusted, I sat up, only for him to put a hand on my stomach and push me back down.

"Stay, boy."

"I'm not a dog...where's Sarah?" Father looked at me sadly.

"We had to fight him to get her away from him. It was brutal and bloody. Spencer lost an arm, which Dimitri is currently reattaching. We managed to get her away, though. Specifically, your mother got her away from him. I've never seen her so vicious. Her eyes turned red and her pupils became slitted. I think she frightened Sarah, but she wanted to get away from Glen."

"Did Sarah survive?"

"Of course. Marina is taking care of her right now."

"Did Glen survive?"

"I don't know, honestly. He was beaten to pulp when Marina was done with him."

"Father, you need to hire more guards."

"I see that now. I'm working on it."

"Great. Now will you let me take a shower?"

"Oh, take a bath instead. I'd rather you not aggravate your heart anymore."

"What was that curse?" I asked.

"I had Krauvas take a look at it. He says it was a Heart Explosion curse." He shuddered. "Luckily, he and Mason were able to fix you."

"Mason, too?"

"Yes. Krauvas wanted him to have hands-on experience, and I suppose you were the perfect person to start with since he knows you."

I sat up, slowly. "I need to see Sarah."

She was in Mother's arms, still crying lightly.

"Sarah," I said, getting her attention.

"Reese!" She threw her arms around me. She broke apart and looked at me, cheeks and eyes covered with smeared makeup. We kissed for a full minute. She looked into my eyes. "You are so damned lucky."

"So are you," I told her. "Odin, I love you." She started crying again.

"Shh, my little one," Mother cooed, trying to extract Sarah from me. I hissed at her. She hissed right back. "Are you all right, Reese?"

"Yes, I'm fine," I said, wondering at her attitude. Mother seemed embarassed.

"I apologize for hissing at you," she said.

"Apology accepted."

"So, you're awake," said Mason's voice. I looked back at him. Krauvas was there, too.

"Yeah, I'm awake. Thanks for healing me."

"Always. Do you need anything else? Blood?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine. You can go home." Mason looked at his father.

"Your father insisted you eat," Krauvas said.

"I'm not hungry."

"Dad, let's go," Mason said. "He doesn't want to eat." Krauvas finally listened to Mason and left.

I held Sarah while she cried. I knew that she blamed herself. "Baby, look at me," I told her. She looked up with shining eyes. "I'm fine. I'll live. Please stop crying."

"I c-can't," she squeaked.

"Sarah, you have to calm down. Think of Cirino." She punched me in the shoulder.

"Damn you! You are so damned beautiful, and then you save me, more than once, and then you turn out to be beautiful on the inside, too! Why did I have to fall for you! Why?!"

Needless to say, I was confused, and her words stung. Where did this come from?

"Where did all this come from?" I asked.

"Why can't guys leave me alone? And why did I have to be attracted to you? And why didn't you tell me you were a vampire?"

"Sarah, please stay calm," I said. I picked her up and carried her to my bedroom, where I locked and barricaded the door. She watched me, fascinated by my strength. I turned off the light and shut the blinds on my window.

"Reese, your eyes are glowing," she said.

"It's a natural defense mechanism," I explained. She looked at me, then squealed and backed away. I crawled on top of her. "Sarah Harper, look at me."

"But your eyes..." Her voice shook.

"I know. My pupils are slitted. They'll do that if I'm angry or horny sometimes."

"Are you angry with me?"

"Should I be?" She whimpered, and I sighed, aware that I have frightened her again. I carefully put one hand on her chest, the other on her shoulder, pushing her into the bed. I covered her legs with my own.

Okay, I was starting to get angry, I admit that. I was afraid, too. Sarah looked up at me with wide eyes. My control was slowly leaving my jurisdiction. My teeth grew, and I slowly wrapped them around her neck without piercing her skin. She lay as still as a statue. I pressed my chest to hers, our stomachs touching.

"Sarah, where did all of this come from?" I asked, my fangs shrinking. I licked her tears away, disliking the taste of her makeup in my mouth.

"It's my-"

"If you're going to say that it's your fault that Glen attacked me, you might as well keep your mouth shut." She shut up. I licked her eyes and her cheeks. "It's my own fault I got attacked. I wasn't careful enough. None of this is your fault. I refuse to let you blame yourself." I kissed her. Her lips were cold and tasted unusually sweet. "If I lift up from you, will you be okay?" She thought for a moment.

"I have to go," she said. She scooted out from under me.

"Sarah," I held her back. "What happened?"

"I can't deal with this anymore," she said.

"Can't deal with what?"

"You putting yourself on the line for me. Guys chasing after me. Your jealousy. The pain. I just can't deal with it anymore!" She left then.

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

I'd asked Mother and Alexander to watch her, and Alexander had replied that they couldn't watch her twenty four seven. So I assigned Dimitri to watch her instead. I trusted him the most out of the two guards we had left.

Father had put a notice out, asking for more vampires to apply to be guards. He would accept werewolves and Elves, too. Finally, he hired a vampire named Stephen, who was to be my personal guard. He called Toby a couple times, asking him to come back.

I busied myself with schoolwork and song writing. I finished a book report on Dracula by Bram Stoker.

One day, I spotted Scarlett behind me as I walked to my Advanced Junior English class. I hurried to class and took my usual seat. She sat beside me.

"You're not in this class," I hissed.

"I changed my schedule. It's okay, I won't even notice you're here most of the time."

"Why do I not believe you?"

"Face it, Emerson. What do you have, besides money and smarts, to make me even interested in you?"

"You were interested in me before."

"True," she said, and blew me a red kiss. She pulled down her bra strap a bit. I noticed how thin her arms were. "I'm still interested in you."

"Hypocrite," I said, shaking my head.

"Loser. You don't know what you're missing out on."

"I think I do. Don't talk to me again."

Throughout the rest of the hour, she would nudge my leg with her foot. It didn't hurt, despite the sharp heel, but it did bother me a lot. I tried to focus on our next project, The Scarlet Letter, but Scarlett kept bugging me. Finally, I'd had enough and moved my desk two inches closer to my other neighbor.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Emerson?" the teacher asked.

"No," I said grouchily. He looked unsure.

Throughout the day, I kept running into Scarlett or Jordan. I felt harassed. At lunch, I sat with Duke and Mason, again, by ourselves. Amara was sitting by herself in a corner of the lunchroom, her hair a dull brown, sulking and eating very little. I personally