Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (21 page)

I put on my jammies, grabbed a blanket from the bed on my way through the bedroom, and I curled back up on the couch with Oliver. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep with him just on the other side of the wall. I used his thigh as a pillow again and curled on my side, snuggling the blanket around me.

Oliver whispered that he loved me and rested his hand on my hip.

I was out in seconds.

The Gothic Princess’
Baby Sister

Oliver was better by morning. Other than his head still hurting a bit, he was fine. I did not like that I
had been unable to help him or fix what had been wrong. He claimed it was the beer, and that sometimes having two had a bad effect on him. But I think he still suspected something from dinner may have been an added culprit.

After getting ready for the day, we headed out to meet Nikki for lunch. Levi
wasn’t joining us for two reasons. First of all, his sun allergy was a problem. That man already drew enough attention to himself, and adding an umbrella on a beautiful sunny day would draw far more. Too much, most likely. Second, Nikki didn’t know Levi was back in town, and as long as that was the case, she would be more willing to meet for lunch, as well as respond to any of Oliver’s messages.

I was curious to meet this Nikki, the only girl willing to turn down Levi. She was bound to be something. And considering who she was related to… Yeah,
this was sure to be interesting.

Heading out into the sunshine, the streets and sidewalks were busy as Oliver and I walked to a small cafe downtown. I found that, much like “Treeville’s” downtown streets, Sacramento’s were also lined with buildings crammed together
, but these buildings seemed taller especially with the occasional skyscraper. Oh, and trees were not scarce in the downtown area. If there wasn’t a building taking up space, there were sure to be several trees in its place.

When we reached the café that sat on the corner of a busy street, Nikki wasn’t there yet, but Oliver ordered her a peppermint tea and a shortbread cookie. I did not see how tea and a cookie
was lunch, and it bothered me a little that Oliver knew what Nikki would want. I wondered if he would know what to get me.

However, I wasn’t really hungry, and I told him I didn’t want anything. He seemed to know I was bothered, most likely because he could feel it, so I told him I would take a bottled water.
He didn’t seem satisfied with my response. He knew something was bugging me, but he didn’t pry. Which was probably smart, but it also bothered me that he didn’t.

Once Nikki’s tea was ready, Oliver picked it up at the counter. With
her “lunch” in his hands, we headed back outside. We sat at one of the café’s umbrella-covered tables and waited for Nikki.

Even under the umbrella, the sun warmed me, but
a cool breeze from the nearby river kept me from getting too warm.

I sat back in my metal chair and sipped my water as I watched people going by,
all the while wondering every time I saw a woman if she was the Nikki everyone seemed to be making such a fuss over.

Okay, I realize nobody but me was actually making a fuss, and a silent one at that, but it just bothered me that this
Nikki
, Julz’s sister, had a relationship with
my
Oliver. I also realized that the fact he was my Oliver was reason right there why I needed to let go of my petty feelings.

“Hey,” a quiet female voice said.

My head spun around to see who it was. I knew immediately that she was Julz’s sister, and of course I compared her to the gothic princess.

Nikki stood a little taller than Julz. Her hair was also longer, but just as curly, and minus the streaks of purple. Nikki’s hair was also a lighter shade of brown, almost a dirty-blond, not the somewhat copper
color of Julz’s.

She was wearing a plain pair of jeans and a black, long-sleeved, fitted tee. She was heavier, not fat by any means, but not a petite little rail like her sister
—just normal, I guess.

But the craziest thing was, even though I knew Julz was thirty-five, she
looked much younger, so it actually surprised me that Nikki looked older than her older sister. My guess was that Nikki was at least thirty, maybe a little older.

Oliver stood to welcome Nikki
and gestured for her to take a seat in one of the other two empty chairs. She took a seat across from me on the other side of Oliver. Through the holes of the metal table, I saw her hang her purse from her knee after she crossed her legs.

I eyed her more with my sunglasses in place. Honestly, considering how eye-catching Levi was, I had expected Nikki to be something amazing. I guess I had expected Nikki to be some sort of supermodel. But she wasn’t. She was just a woman who had at least ten years on me.

“Nikki, this is my girlfriend, Laney,” Oliver said as he returned to his seat.

“Hi,” Nikki said politely, her brown eyes meeting mine.

Of course I expected her to have her sister’s attitude, but as our visit with her progressed, I was proven very wrong.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” she said softly.

“You, too,” I said, still slightly stunned. She was not at all what I had expected, and it did make me feel a little better that she knew about me.

“Thanks,” she told Oliver as he pushed her tea and cookie in front of her. She lifted her tea to take a sip. Setting her cup back down in front of her, Nikki rested her elbow on the metal table and proceeded to fiddle with the back of a small diamond earring in her earlobe. “So, what’s up?” she asked, her gaze fixed on Oliver.

He rested back in his chair and nodded toward me as he spoke to her. “Meet us tonight, after work.”

“Okay…” she said, her brown eyes, the same color as her sister’s, narrowing on him. “Why?” She was on to him, and he knew it.

“He’s back,” Oliver said, referring to Levi.

Nikki sighed. She looked down at her cookie. “I thought
we’d moved beyond this,” she said.

“He is not going to give up so easily. Or at all, actually,” Oliver told her.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” she said with a sigh.

She lifted her head and looked around, searching the faces of the people who passed by us. It made me look too.

She seemed shy in comparison to her sister. This made me wonder what Julz was like before she had become a vampire. I wondered if she was any different, or if she had always been a bitch.

“If you don’t meet him at the bar tonight,
he’s going to make me take him to your house again,” Oliver said, the hint of a smile appearing.

“That’s not fair,” she quietly replied, her eyes on the cookie again.

I noticed things as I watched her. I noticed that she had a watch on one wrist but she didn’t look at it. Instead, she pulled her cell from her purse to check the time. I also noticed that when she lifted her hand to brush her hair from her face, there was a thick pink scar on the inside of her wrist. It started right in the center of her wrist and went up her arm, disappearing under her sleeve.

She dropped both hands to her lap and tugged her sleeves down. I don’t know if she noticed me staring or not, but I was fairly certain Nikki had tried to take her own life at some point.

I turned my attention elsewhere as I recalled what Oliver had told me about her: that he had never seen anyone so broken… I was curious if he would tell me more.

“Fine,” she finally said. “I’ll see you after work. But only to tell him goodbye, again.”

“That’s your choice, Nikki.”

“Stop it, Oliver,” she said as she stood, slinging her purse over her shoulder. “This is hard enough as it is. I know what you think I should do, but I don’t agree. So please, just let it go.” Her tone had stayed level the entire time, but she was clearly upset.

I imagined her sister would have been screaming and drawing all kinds of attention. Although…Julz seemed to have mellowed a bit since she and Isaac were no longer on speaking terms…so maybe not.

“I’m sorry, Nikki. You know I just want to see you happy,” he said as he looked up at her, his dark sunglasses in place.

“I am happy, Oliver.”

“You know you can’t lie to me,” he responded.

With a shake of her head, she huffed and looked down at the ground before looking back to him. “Right,” she said. “I’ll see you later.” She leaned down and gave him a quick hug that he returned with one arm.

I felt a silly hint of
jealousy bubble up inside of me and squirmed in my chair while I watched them embrace.

Nikki straightened and turned to me. “It was nice to meet you, Laney.”

“You too,” I said, a hint of irritation in my voice.

She left—taking her cookie and her tea with her—
and disappeared in the crowd.

Oliver crossed his arms, resting them on the table and leaning on them. “You okay?” he asked.

I turned my attention from where I had watched Nikki disappear. I shrugged.

He stood and held his hand out to me. “Come on.”

I stood and took his hand. I knew I was being ridiculous. It was probably just the lingering vampire blood that was triggering any silly protectiveness I was feeling.

But Nikki had cheated on her fiancé with Levi,
so who’s to say she would stop there…?

As we started down the crowded street, Oliver informed me it was time for him to get his blood tested. He made a call to one of the coven’s blood donation trucks and arranged for it to meet us downtown. It was only minutes before the truck arrived.

Inside the truck, which was very similar to the one I’d been in back home, I held my breath while a male vampire in scrubs took Oliver’s blood. I wasn’t sure if I would have the same reaction I’d had the previous time when I’d gone with him, but I also didn’t really want to find out. And Oliver had refused to let me wait outside, so I sat there, silently, unbreathing, while I watched a vial of dark liquid being removed from a vein in my mate’s arm.

Once the nurse-vamp was finished,
and the vial was labeled and ready to go, Oliver requested that it be noted in his chart what had happened the previous night. He also wanted it noted who he was with for alibi purposes, where he had eaten, and what he had eaten, just in case something turned up in his results. This caused me some worry.

“Why would something be in the results? And what if something does show up?” I asked as we left the truck.

He took my hand and we headed toward Old Sacramento. “I’m just being cautious. Let’s hope there’s nothing.” While we walked, he pulled my hand to his lips and kissed the backs of my fingers.

“But what will happen? They can’t take you away from me again, can they?” I felt panic creeping its way into me.

“Laney, it’s okay,” he calmly responded. “I won’t ever let anyone take me from you again. We’ll run if we have to.”

I stopped, and of course he did too. We were on a more residential street downtown, but people still littered the sidewalks. “How can you expect me not to worry when you say something like that?”

He came closer, right in front of me actually. His fingers left mine and both hands held my face along my jawline. He dropped his head so his face was close to mine. His voice was low when he said, “I told you so you would know, that whatever happens, it’s you and me. That’s it. Just us. You come first, Laney. Now and always.” His lips met mine.

With my heart racing,
I gripped the front of his shirt with both hands and pulled him as close to me as I could. His tongue brushed mine, then he reluctantly pulled his lips away and gazed down at me. I wished he wasn’t wearing his sunglasses so I could see his eyes.

“I told you that so you
wouldn’t worry,” he said in a very low tone.

I nodded. It was all I could do at that moment.

He pressed his cool lips to my forehead and I closed my eyes.

That test had better come back clean.

As great as running away from it all sounded, I truly did not think we could run for long before life would catch up with us. We would face whatever came our way. Together. No matter when or what it was. We had to.

After a long walk, we were finally wandering the old wooden-planked and cobblestoned streets of Old Sacramento. We spent a good two, possibly three hours there. The place was amazing! The streets were lined with historic buildings, and it still held its Gold Rush charm. Oliver bought me an ice cream cone
, and I happily ate it while we explored.

We visited a couple of the museums, watched the gold bridge rise as one of the historic riverboats passed under it, and we watched as people loaded on and off of a train that took short trips up and down the tracks.

Then, after I gawked at a couple of the horse and carriages that went by, taking people on tours around the cobblestoned roads, we took a walk down by the river before heading back to the hotel. We didn’t get close to the water, but we did stop and find and shady spot under a tree. We sat in the grass, and I leaned on Oliver with my back to his chest while we watched the river rush by. We also watched a few private boats and more of the tourist attraction boats move up and down the river before we finally decided to head back.