Page 163 of The Ghost and the Graveyard (Knight Games 1)
I scrambled for an answer, anything to put him off. The feelings I had for him were too overwhelming. They scared me. I'd already risked too much. "Why don't we just live together?" I suggested, although I knew my father would be upset at me jumping into the arrangement so soon after Gary. "Wait a minute. If we were married in a past life, why do we have two separate houses? Why didn't we live together then?"
Rick's features sagged. He was hiding something from me.
"We were married but didn't live together. Why?" I asked again.
"You needed your space-a space to do your magic."
"You said 'you needed your space' at first. Did we have our problems when we were married?"
"Every couple has problems."
"But ours were enough to keep us living in separate homes?"
He placed his hands on his hips. "You don't understand. There are extenuating circumstances. Each of us has our own seat of magic. Mine comes from the earth. Thus, my home is made of stone and wood. Yours comes from the air, thus the attic arrangement. It is natural for each of us to have our own places."
I thought about that for a while. Truthfully, it wouldn't do to fret over a past life I didn't even remember. But this meant I couldn't rely on some past happiness to confirm if I was supposed to be with Rick for the rest of my life. I needed to find out for myself, in this life. And I needed to change the subject because I was seriously ticking him off.
I lowered my eyes and waited a few heartbeats for the silence to drain the energy from the room. "What do you think we should do about Julius?"
"You're changing the subject, mi cielo."
"I don't believe he didn't know about Marcus. He's up to something. If he's raising an army of vampires, we have to stop him. Too many, and they will be impossible to control."
"I counted fifteen in TiltWorld. We may have already reached the tipping point."
"Do you think he was in contact with Marcus before he escaped? Is Julius Mr. Helleborine?"
"I don't know, but I'm staying vigilant. I believe we should keep a close watch on Julius. It's our best chance of maintaining the peace."
"Peace. I'd prefer an excuse to kill. The only good vampire is a dead vampire," I said.
"That's a harsh attitude, even for you." Rick peered at me through hooded eyes. "Be careful who you say that to. We don't want to alienate the supernatural community."
Who would I talk to? "Julius is up to something. If he changed Gary, that has to be against the rules, isn't it?"
"Not if Gary consented."
"But it's obvious he's building his coven, and Marcus knew just where to go when he escaped."
"We have no proof of that."
I narrowed my eyes. "Yeah...not yet anyway. Maybe I can get some dirt on him from Gary, but then if I didn't trust him before, I certainly don't trust him now that he's undead."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but perhaps you should brush up on your magic before taking on Julius. He's very old and very powerful."
"No offense taken. I know I have some things to learn." I pressed myself up from his bed. "I should get going. I have errands to run today, and I seriously need a shower."
"Are you going to see Logan?" he asked, resentment making his words short and sharp. Standing over me, the sheer size of him was intimidating, but it was this look of possessiveness that made me uncomfortable.
"Actually, no. I need to go grocery shopping and clean up the bloodstain in my foyer. But since you brought it up, I'm visiting him tomorrow. You should come. He needs all the support he can get right now."
Rick's head fell. I couldn't deal with the jealousy shit, not when the person he was jealous of currently was so weak he couldn't get out of bed by himself. I walked to his chest of drawers and pulled them out one by one. I found a t-shirt and some sweats to wear home.
"Oh, and Rick, if we're ever going to do this again, you need to stop shredding my clothes. Those were my favorite scrubs."
I left through the front door, more pissed off than I should have been, with Rick staring after me. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he wasn't smiling. It was a shitty way to leave things between us. But Rick wouldn't be happy until Logan was a distant memory, and I was married to him, to boot. I couldn't talk about it anymore. The answer was no on both accounts, and I wasn't going to cave. No way.
ons of the Truth
