The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER NINE

Silence stretched on between them as they tried to process the fact that Ember was a true blood. All that time, a true blood was right next to them. It felt like a lie, but, unfortunately, it was the truth.

            "Fucking hell! What are we going to do?!" Landon's voice broke through the silence.

            "We can't turn her in," Reed stated, surprising himself.

            "This is our secret. Don't go blabbing your mouths around to other vampires," Casper told the three of them, specifically Jared and Landon.

            "I've never tasted blood like that before," Jared thought out loud, running his tongue over his tingling fangs.

Blood like Ember's was extremely rare to come across. The mere thought of having her blood all to himself was unbearable. No matter what, Jared had to get to Ember before the rest of them did.

            "We're not allowed to bite her, Jared. It would be dangerous for her and you," Casper shut down Jared's fantasy of drinking Ember's blood.

            "We can always have a taste of her during Predator and Prey," Reed ignored Casper's wise words.

            "That's way  too long of a wait!" Jared complained.

           "I never said I was sharing her with you," Reed growled, not even wanting to imagine Jared tainting her blood with his fangs.

            "Stop it, you two! We'll just tell her-..."

            Casper was cut off by Landon, "We're not drinking her blood and we're definitely  not telling her anything. If you were a seventeen-year-old true blood, you would do anything in your power to keep it a secret. She'll run from us the moment we let her know that we figured her out."

Although Casper would much rather tell Ember than hide it from her, he didn't offer any rebuttal to Landon's statement. Ember was already skittish enough around them. If they told her they were aware of the fact that she was a true blood, she would probably leave and never come back. Still, holding such a heavy secret within yourself seemed painful to Casper. If anything, it would be better to know that you have other people by your side to help protect that secret. But, as of right now, he wouldn't say a word to Ember, not until she trusted them.

            Jared sped his way to the door, letting out a fake yawn, "Well, I'll be off then."

            "I'm getting the feeling that he's not  going to bed." Casper went to go after him, but Landon placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from getting up from his chair.

            "He has a tendency to do some pretty stupid stuff, but I doubt he would do something to Ember," Landon tried to convince himself along with Casper.

            "Stop worrying about her. We can't get too attached to the girl. Once this whole thing is over, we'll go back to acting as High-tiers should around humans," Reed said, even though he was just as worried as they were.

            "Who gives a shit about our reputation as High-tiers?" Casper muttered, anxiously tapping his finger against the armrest of the chair.

... ... ... ...

The soft pitter-patter of the rain overpowered the thumping of Ember's heart. There standing by her bedside was Jared, who went from Casper's room to Reed's in less than a second. Thunder rumbled through the sky, making Ember stir in her sleep. Jared stumbled back a few steps, as he thought she was woken up due to the loud noises erupting from above. Or, maybe, that was what he hoped would happen. If she were to open those green eyes of hers, he'd leave without hesitation. But, even as he stared at her, her eyes stayed closed. Carefully, as to not make any noise, Jared kneeled down.