A Shade of Doubt
Page 20
I held my breath as his lips parted, fearing his answer.
“I loved Annora. Deeply. Madly. I doubt I would have put up with her all those years if I hadn’t. When I saw her again on the submarine, as a human… and she kissed me the way I’d wished she would for the longest time, I was afraid. Afraid that all those feelings would return.” He slid his hand beneath my chin, tilting my head up to look directly into his eyes. “But they didn’t, Rose. I wondered at first whether it was just the shock of seeing her and the rush of feelings would come later. But they still haven’t and now I doubt if they will ever return. She’s… different than the girl I fell in love with. Even though she’s human again, she just doesn’t feel like that same girl. I’ve come to realize that I’m more in love with the memory of her than I am with her. I just feel… numb. You, on the other hand…”
I held my breath. He took a step closer to me, slipping his hands either side of my waist and resting them on the small of my back. Dipping his head, he rested his rough cheek against mine as he whispered: “My heart still races every time you glance my way, Rose.”
The emotions coursing through me left me barely able to breathe, much less speak.
Catching my lips in his, he backed me up against a tree. I felt tears in my eyes as his lips caressed mine, slowly, tenderly. I relished every second that kiss lasted, and when he broke apart, I gripped his hair and pulled him down for more. I was starving for him. I felt like I could kiss his lips all day, just standing here lost in this perfect moment.
“So you’ll still come back to The Shade with me?” I gasped.
He kissed me harder until I felt the tips of his fangs against my lower lip. “If we can find a way off this island.”
“What about Annora?” I whispered.
He paused, furrowing his brows.
“Until we can find somewhere safe for her to stay, I am responsible for her.” He stared at me, apparently reading my thoughts. “I can’t just abandon her.”
I feared he might say as much. Caleb was a man of valor and responsibility. After all, he’d grown up in a time very different to mine. Even after all Annora had done, I couldn’t imagine him leaving a young woman alone and helpless. His old-fashioned values were a part of him that I loved, but in this case I couldn’t deny that they were annoying.
“She’s not going to be welcomed by anyone in The Shade,” I said bluntly.
“Oh, I know.”
“Then what could we possibly do with her?”
He looked out at the lake. “I don’t know yet. But while we’re figuring out how to get off this island, we have time to think about it.” He turned back to me, pressing his lips against mine once more before picking me up again, guiding my legs to wrap around his waist. “We should finish scoping out the island now.”
Even as he started running, I couldn’t stop kissing every part of his skin that I could reach. I’d been scheming how to get back at Annora. But now I realized I really didn’t need to. Caleb had already chosen me. And that was enough to cut her deeper than anything I could possibly do to her. What Caleb had admitted to me was enough to wipe her out completely. I’d already won the battle. In fact, based on the way Caleb had just looked into my eyes, I suspected I’d won the battle before it had even begun.
Chapter 12: Rose
Caleb ran so fast my surroundings blurred. But he evidently was taking in every detail as we zigzagged across the remaining part of the island that he hadn’t yet explored. It looked much the same as the rest of the island: dense jungles and sandy white beaches. There was no sign of any human habitation here whatsoever.
As we arrived back at the spot on the beach where we’d first arrived in the submarine, Caleb stopped running.
“Well,” he said, wiping sweat from his brow, “there’s nothing here.”
“Where to now?”
I feared he was going to say back to our camp, but instead he said, “I want to go back to the area where we heard those screams last night. Clearly, there’s something about this island that we’re missing.”
I felt nervous as we raced back into the jungle and drew nearer and nearer to the spot.
He stopped, looking around a clearing covered by trees. “This is where the blood smells strongest still. It was around here that there were a group of humans.”
“What’s that?” I pointed to what appeared to be a piece of clothing a few feet away. He bent down and picked it up. It was a gray woolen shawl.
“You might as well keep it¸” he said, handing it to me.
I held it against my chest. This would be useful as a blanket, since it did get quite chilly up in the trees in the early morning and I couldn’t afford to get sick.
Caleb stood and searched the area for more clues that could help us to piece together what we’d found, but he discovered nothing more. So I climbed back onto Caleb and we returned to camp.
I groaned internally as Caleb finally stopped again at the foot of our tree, bracing myself to hear Annora’s voice grating against my ears, asking Caleb where we’d been.
But as we climbed up the tree, Annora wasn’t there. Caleb went to check near the lake, thinking she might have gone there for another bath, but he returned with a blank look on his face.
“She’s not there either,” he muttered.
Caleb did a broader search of the area, calling out her name, but with no reply.
As he climbed back up to me in our tree, he looked at me and shrugged. “I can’t imagine where she’s ventured off to alone…” He looked concerned. “I’ll wait a few hours. I’m sure she’ll be back. Wherever she’s gone, she obviously doesn’t want to be found.”
“I loved Annora. Deeply. Madly. I doubt I would have put up with her all those years if I hadn’t. When I saw her again on the submarine, as a human… and she kissed me the way I’d wished she would for the longest time, I was afraid. Afraid that all those feelings would return.” He slid his hand beneath my chin, tilting my head up to look directly into his eyes. “But they didn’t, Rose. I wondered at first whether it was just the shock of seeing her and the rush of feelings would come later. But they still haven’t and now I doubt if they will ever return. She’s… different than the girl I fell in love with. Even though she’s human again, she just doesn’t feel like that same girl. I’ve come to realize that I’m more in love with the memory of her than I am with her. I just feel… numb. You, on the other hand…”
I held my breath. He took a step closer to me, slipping his hands either side of my waist and resting them on the small of my back. Dipping his head, he rested his rough cheek against mine as he whispered: “My heart still races every time you glance my way, Rose.”
The emotions coursing through me left me barely able to breathe, much less speak.
Catching my lips in his, he backed me up against a tree. I felt tears in my eyes as his lips caressed mine, slowly, tenderly. I relished every second that kiss lasted, and when he broke apart, I gripped his hair and pulled him down for more. I was starving for him. I felt like I could kiss his lips all day, just standing here lost in this perfect moment.
“So you’ll still come back to The Shade with me?” I gasped.
He kissed me harder until I felt the tips of his fangs against my lower lip. “If we can find a way off this island.”
“What about Annora?” I whispered.
He paused, furrowing his brows.
“Until we can find somewhere safe for her to stay, I am responsible for her.” He stared at me, apparently reading my thoughts. “I can’t just abandon her.”
I feared he might say as much. Caleb was a man of valor and responsibility. After all, he’d grown up in a time very different to mine. Even after all Annora had done, I couldn’t imagine him leaving a young woman alone and helpless. His old-fashioned values were a part of him that I loved, but in this case I couldn’t deny that they were annoying.
“She’s not going to be welcomed by anyone in The Shade,” I said bluntly.
“Oh, I know.”
“Then what could we possibly do with her?”
He looked out at the lake. “I don’t know yet. But while we’re figuring out how to get off this island, we have time to think about it.” He turned back to me, pressing his lips against mine once more before picking me up again, guiding my legs to wrap around his waist. “We should finish scoping out the island now.”
Even as he started running, I couldn’t stop kissing every part of his skin that I could reach. I’d been scheming how to get back at Annora. But now I realized I really didn’t need to. Caleb had already chosen me. And that was enough to cut her deeper than anything I could possibly do to her. What Caleb had admitted to me was enough to wipe her out completely. I’d already won the battle. In fact, based on the way Caleb had just looked into my eyes, I suspected I’d won the battle before it had even begun.
Chapter 12: Rose
Caleb ran so fast my surroundings blurred. But he evidently was taking in every detail as we zigzagged across the remaining part of the island that he hadn’t yet explored. It looked much the same as the rest of the island: dense jungles and sandy white beaches. There was no sign of any human habitation here whatsoever.
As we arrived back at the spot on the beach where we’d first arrived in the submarine, Caleb stopped running.
“Well,” he said, wiping sweat from his brow, “there’s nothing here.”
“Where to now?”
I feared he was going to say back to our camp, but instead he said, “I want to go back to the area where we heard those screams last night. Clearly, there’s something about this island that we’re missing.”
I felt nervous as we raced back into the jungle and drew nearer and nearer to the spot.
He stopped, looking around a clearing covered by trees. “This is where the blood smells strongest still. It was around here that there were a group of humans.”
“What’s that?” I pointed to what appeared to be a piece of clothing a few feet away. He bent down and picked it up. It was a gray woolen shawl.
“You might as well keep it¸” he said, handing it to me.
I held it against my chest. This would be useful as a blanket, since it did get quite chilly up in the trees in the early morning and I couldn’t afford to get sick.
Caleb stood and searched the area for more clues that could help us to piece together what we’d found, but he discovered nothing more. So I climbed back onto Caleb and we returned to camp.
I groaned internally as Caleb finally stopped again at the foot of our tree, bracing myself to hear Annora’s voice grating against my ears, asking Caleb where we’d been.
But as we climbed up the tree, Annora wasn’t there. Caleb went to check near the lake, thinking she might have gone there for another bath, but he returned with a blank look on his face.
“She’s not there either,” he muttered.
Caleb did a broader search of the area, calling out her name, but with no reply.
As he climbed back up to me in our tree, he looked at me and shrugged. “I can’t imagine where she’s ventured off to alone…” He looked concerned. “I’ll wait a few hours. I’m sure she’ll be back. Wherever she’s gone, she obviously doesn’t want to be found.”
