Page 47 of Awakened
"Open up," Liam grated.
He listened as Mike stormed over to the door and swung it open. Mike glared at him from bloodshot eyes. "When I want to talk you tell me to go away, but it's all right to wake me up at six thirty in the morning!" he snapped.
Liam glowered at him as he swept into the room. A young brunette sat up in bed, she blinked sleepily at them as the blankets fell down to expose her nude body. Liam scooped her clothes off the floor and threw them at her. "Get out," he ordered.
"What?" she cried as she scrambled to gather her clothes. "Michael..."
"Go on." Mike collapsed onto the couch.
The girl cast him a scowl as she tugged her shirt over her head. "You're an asshole!" she spat.
Mike laughed and draped his arm over his eyes. "Bye sweetie," he drawled as Liam opened the door, and closed it behind her.
"You know, one of these days I'm going to come barging in on you and Sera," Mike mumbled. "Kick her out of the room naked."
"Don't even think about it," Liam warned.
Mike removed his arm from his eyes and looked up at him. "Then again, I doubt that she'll be sticking around for much longer. You've messed up Liam, bad. What are you going to do about it?"
"I was hoping you'd have some suggestions."
"You could make her forget, take the whole night away from her."
Liam closed his eyes as he slumped onto the bed. He absently rubbed his temples in order to ease some of the pressure in his skull. The idea was completely and utterly tempting, and the easiest thing to do. He could make her forget about Jacob's body and everything that had followed afterward. He wished that he could take everything about Jacob away from her, but that would take more power and capabilities than all of them had. Plus, he would have to change Kathleen, Danielle, and Michelle's memories. It would be too much, but he could make her forget enough so that she was no longer frightened of him.
"I don't know if I can."
"Why not? You have the power and the ability to do it."
"It's not that."
"Then what is it?"
The truth was, he wanted her to know, he wanted her to know it all, and he wanted her to decide what she was going to do. If she left him, than he could and would deal with it, but if she stayed... If she stayed there would be no barriers between them. He wouldn't have to worry about her finding out, wouldn't have to worry about losing her.
Liam lifted his head to look at him. "I don't know if I want too," he admitted.
Mike's brow furrowed as he swung his legs off the side of the chair and planted them on the floor. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"I want to tell her the truth."
Mike's mouth dropped as he stared at him in stunned amazement. What he had just said went against all the rules, rules that he had made in order to keep them all safe. Right now though, he didn't care about the rules.
"Why?"
Liam had expected Mike to explode. Instead, he was still staring at him in astonishment. "Because I can't do that to her, I can't change her memories, I can't invade her mind like that. I won't do it."
"You don't have a choice Liam," Mike grated through clenched teeth. "You've screwed up bad. I don't know what you want me to say, but you've got to do something. There are other people that need to be protected. You know that. If you can't do it, then one of us will."
"No one," he said firmly. "Is going to harm her, in any way, do you understand me?"
Mike looked away from him to stare angrily at the poster on his wall. He sighed as he ran a hand through his disheveled blond hair. "There may be no other option. You have to understand that. I know how you feel about her, but..."
Liam launched to his feet, his hands clenched into fists as he glowered at him. "No! You don't know how I feel about her," he spat. "If you did, you would realize that what you're suggesting is not, and never will be, an option."
Mike's eyes shot back to his. "You need to talk to her. See how things go, but Liam you have to realize what all of this could mean."
"I do realize what it could mean Mike."
