The Dead of Night

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter 14

Mirror Images

"So let me get this straight," Ary said with a stifled chuckle before shutting the door to her bedroom. "You decided to come over here because I wasn't at school?"

"No," I insisted while my eyes poured over Ary's gigantic room in awe. I was pretty sure the entire top floor of my house could fit inside this one space. The walls of were dark cherry wood, while the furniture was adorned with black upholstery. From the nightstand to the chest and drawers, everything was a rich ebony color. My eyes panned over to the corner where, propped against the wall, I saw a platform-style bed. I was confused for a few seconds, thinking of Edward's statement that vampires didn't sleep, but remembered that Ary was only half vampire. The concept of her sleeping wasn't completely absurd. I turned to see her standing in the doorway, watching m with a humored smile.

"So what did they tell you?" Ary inquired and leaned casually against the wall, staring at me with heightened interest.

"What do you mean?" I asked and moved deeper into the room, briefly noticing a series of deep scratches in the walls. My brow indented heavily as I inspected them from a distance. They were not scratches; they were deeper than that. Whatever made those had to be big—really big.

"Well," Ary startled me by suddenly appearing at my side, following my gaze with her own eyes and grimacing a bit. "Since you didn't come over here just because I wasn't in school, I can only deduce that the others told you something that forced your curiosity. Am I right so far?" I nodded and she continued, moving around the room with her hands behind her back. "Now, knowing my family the way I do, I'm guessing it was Ira."

I bit my bottom lip as Ary turned back and stared at me expectantly. Not wanting to rat out anyone, I stared at the floor and twiddled my fingers anxiously. However, as I continued to look anywhere—except at Ary—she strolled across the distance separating us crossed her arms.

"Bella," she chuckled lightheartedly and touched my arm lightly, making me lift my head in curiosity. "It's okay; I'm not mad, just curious."

I briefly contemplated if I should tell her, and, after another reassuring smile from Ary, I sighed and nodded. "Ira told me that Lazarus contacted you—that's all."

Her smile slowly retreated to a frown and her eyes lowered to the ground. With a heavy sigh, she shifted and sat down on the edge of the gigantic bed. I struggled not to let my eyes roam around the room, knowing that I should be worried about Ary, so I followed and took a seat beside her.

She remained silent, despite my close proximity, which made me increasingly nervous.

"Ary, why does he bother you so much?" I asked, breaking the silence after a few minutes. My knowledge of Lazarus had grown—but not by much. My biggest question was: why did he upset Ary?

"He's my husband, Bella," she said with a forced smile and turned to face me.

"Oh." I guess it wasn't unthinkable that Ary was married, I just never saw her with anyone, so assumed she was single. My eyebrows pulled together as I remembered the Cullens and their habits with their own mates. They were never away from one another for extended periods of time, except to go hunting. So what was different about Ary and Lazarus? "I didn't know that you were married."