A/N: Finally, an update! Sorry for all the random author's notes, guys, but I wanted to make sure I was happy with the story before I wrote any more of it.

So, here's chapter six, as promised. If all goes according to plan, there should be sixteen total, so I'll let you guys figure out what percentage we're at (Sorry, I've been doing math all day, and I don't want to look at another number for as long as I live, haha).

Update: All of the character pictures in my profile have been updated. Everybody's finally got a picture (Jasper and Gillan included), and I changed Kane's photo. I'd had numerous photos for him saved, and decided I didn't like the one I had. Also, to clear up some confusion, I know the woman in the photo I chose for Fiona isn't blonde, or wear glasses, but you'll just have to use your imagination. I'm sure you're all capable of it :-)
I've also added photos of the Danver's farmhouse, Sebastian's mansion, and Kane's home, as well as Lady Jane's Diner. So now you have some visual cues as you read!

I think this chapter harkens back to the Fiona and Kane of Bloodlust, but I could be wrong, haha. In any case, I hope you enjoy!

My playlist for this chapter can be found at the bottom. I think it's fun to know what people listen to while they write. If you have any suggestions, too, please send them my way.

Always,
Sammy

---

Chapter Six

The sun was shining as I tentatively pulled the curtain back from my window. The sky was a pure cerulean blue, and the air was crisp as I drew in a sharp breath. Red, orange, and yellow leaves were scattered about the yard, and a gentle breeze blew them haphazardly across the driveway, forming a small pile against the side of the garage. I could feel the wind against my cheek, felt how cold it was, and with trembling hands, carefully allowed a few fingers to dance in the morning sunlight.

“Please don’t catch on fire, please don’t catch on fire,” I whispered under my breath. I was waiting for my skin to ignite, or my body to turn into a pile of smoldering ash, but nothing happened. The only thing that occurred as I stood there, my hand dangling out the window, was that the tips of my fingers began to grow warm, a sensation I hadn’t experienced in nearly six months.

“What the hell?” I asked the morning in awe.

I stared in wonder at the autumn sky, the sun now partially obscured by clouds. I used to love fall, and I’d been afraid I’d miss it this year, what with the whole undead, can-only-go-out-at-night-or-you’ll-die-again thing. I didn’t know if this was a one-time offer, or what I’d done to deserve it, but if the sun wasn’t going to render me a pile of ashes, I was damn well going to enjoy every minute of it.

My heart swelled, and I eagerly climbed out onto the roof to watch the sun slowly climb to its rightful place above the trees. I hugged my arms around my body and grinned, tears of joy streaming down my face. It was morning, and sunlight danced across my pallid skin, making it look almost freakishly translucent. I could feel the cold, and the sun’s gentle kiss, and while I was still hesitant, my fear of incineration slowly faded the longer I stared out over the yard. It had been nearly five minutes since I’d tested nature’s limits, and I hadn’t gone up in flames yet.

With feline grace, I leapt from the third story and landed in a pile of leaves with a soft “oomph.” I lay there, staring up at the sky for a while, admiring the way clouds drifted lazily past, picking out familiar shapes here and there. The sound of crackling leaves echoed in my ear each time my body shifted, and I could feel their itchy stems against my arm, leaving faint pink traces as they were dragged across my skin.

I would have been content to lie there all day, had I not wanted to explore the rest of the world in daylight as I once had.

“What to do, what to do,” I murmured, trying to decide where to go first. I thought about visiting Kane, or stopping by the Gazette, but something much more personal came to mind after a moment of careful consideration. Clambering to my feet, I headed in the direction of the woods that separated my house from the abandoned Molaneaux mansion.

The forest was dense, but I’d learned how to navigate the undergrowth, having spent the majority of my childhood wandering amongst the trees and underbrush. I knew these woods like I knew the back of my hand, and so I settled on a favorite place I’d discovered years ago, when I’d first come to live with the Danvers’s, back when I was still trying to absorb the realities of my parents’ murders.

It didn’t take long to get there, the tiny stream that formed the boundary between both properties. I spotted my log, the one that ran over the creek, and swung up onto it, letting one leg dangle on either side. My toes skimmed the surface of the water, and I leaned forward and rested my cheek against the bark, inhaling the familiar scent of oak. I’d missed this place, missed watching the sun dance across the water, or listening to the sound of birds chirping nearby. The night offered a similar experience, but it paled in comparison.

I let my eyes close and my mind wander, childhood memories skimming the surface of my memory. I could recall one afternoon that Gillan and I had played tag near the stream. I’d tagged him, but he’d said that I hadn’t, and I’d eventually gotten so mad that I had punched him in the gut; Lewis had bragged about his daughter’s boxing skills for weeks after. There had been another time where Gillan had decided we were no longer friends (six-year-olds had a tendency to change their minds on a regular basis), and so I’d shoved him into the creek.

There were the years of being a teenager where I’d come to this place to hide from Paul and Jesse, and their endless jokes and constant insults. I would sit on my log and scribble my thoughts in a leather-bound diary, which I could no longer find. There was a chance I’d simply lost it, but I had a feeling Sebastian had probably taken it at one point or another. A vampire for a kleptomaniac – how was that for unusual?

After I’d turned eighteen, I’d started coming to my secret place less and less. It hadn’t been because I was too busy, or no longer liked it; I’d stopped coming because I could feel eyes on me every time I visited. Now, years later, I realized it had been Sebastian keeping tabs on me, but at the time I hadn’t even considered it. At the time, Sebastian had been nothing more than a name and a face. I hadn’t know much about him, or what he was capable of, and I vaguely wished I could regress back to a time where he wasn’t such a huge part of my life.

Then a more recent memory surfaced, one I wasn’t necessarily very fond of. It was of the night I had run from Sebastian’s home those many months ago. I had feared for my life, and had raced through the icy water in heels and a dress, desperate to reach the safety of my own home. Though he hadn’t followed me, I hadn’t stopped until I was enclosed in the warmth – or rather, coolness – of Kane’s embrace.

In retrospect, I guess the night wasn’t a total bust, I recalled with a sense of irony. I’d been proposed to, had turned the man down, and had fallen in love with someone else entirely.

A twig snapped nearby, and my eyelids fluttered open. From where I lay, overlooking the woods, I could see a lone figure standing a few hundred feet away. I didn’t need to see his face to know who it was.

Is it backwards day? I wondered. I’m not burning up, so neither is he? You’ve got to be kidding me! This is ridiculous.

“What do you want, Sebastian?” I called out, eyeing the trees wearily. The faith in my ability to be out during the day was fading, and it was fading fast.

The figure began to walk towards me, and yet his face remained hidden. He was wearing a floor-length black jacket, black pants, and a black shirt. For some odd reason, he was wearing a faded top hat, and the shadow from the brim hid his face well.

I raised myself to a sitting position, just as the figure came to a stop beside the log. He didn’t seem to care that he was standing in the middle of a creek, and when I glanced down, I noticed that his feet weren’t even touching the water. When I looked up again, the man had removed his hat, and my eyes grew wide.

“Kane?”

“How could you lie to me, Fiona? About this? About Sebastian?”

My heart dropped, and I drew in a shuddering breath, the air suddenly colder than I remembered. My lungs began to burn, and as I glanced up at the sky, the sun seemed to explode.

“Damnit!” I cried, averting my eyes.

And that’s when I noticed that the skin on my hands was slowly melting away. It took another moment for the pain to register, but when it did, it hit me full-force.

This is my punishment for lying? I’m allowed out during the day, and then have to watch it all be snatched away while I die? God sure does have a sense of humor.

I panicked, trying to estimate the time it would take for me to reach the safety of the farmhouse’s basement. At the rate I was going, I’d be a pile of ash before I hit the front porch.

“Kane, help me!” I begged, reaching out to him. I was surprised, then, when he took a step back.

“You lied to me, Fiona. You don’t know what you’ve done. No one can save you now.”

I sat frozen in horror, numbed by Kane’s words. He was angry, I could understand that, but his refusal to help scorched me more than the sunlight now consuming my body. I’d probably done worse than lie to him, but he seemed to be forgetting my other less-than-shining moments.

“Please,” I whispered brokenly, reaching for him again, trying to ignore the smell of burning flesh as I began to tip. “Kane!”

I crashed into the stream, trying to douse my hand, but the water did nothing to stop the sun from melting away my exterior. Tears began to stream down my face, and I thrashed around, trying to find my fiancé amidst the trees. He seemed to have vanished, because I could not see him, no matter which direction I looked.

“Kane?” I called, my voice cracking. “Kane, you son of a bitch, help me!”

But no one came.

The pain was mounting, and I could see bone begin to emerge as muscle fell away.

“Kane!”

My eyes snapped open, and I stared around me, eyes wide, hands shaking uncontrollably. I was in my room, and the bedside clock told me it was five forty-seven in the evening. My blinds were still drawn, but the heat of the day had long since faded. My chest was heaving as I slowly recovered from my nightmare, for that’s all it had been. As strange as it had been, a tiny part of me wished it had been true, if only to be allowed out in the sun again.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” I muttered, covering my face with a pillow.

“Bad dream?” came a familiar voice from a shadowed corner.

My head snapped in the direction from which the voice had come, and as my eyes adjusted, I found Abel leaning casually against my bookshelf, staring at me with an expression that bordered on annoyance. He was wearing Kane’s signature all-white look, and I couldn’t help but notice he didn’t pull it off nearly as well. His slightly darker skin offset the color well, but his piercing blue eyes, which were such a rarity, were lifeless in the sharp planes of his face, and he had none of the striking qualities of his brother.

Also, the sour expression permanently fixated to Abel’s face put quite the damper on any and all meetings with him, and I often found myself wanting to punch him. Especially when he randomly showed up in my bedroom, much like he was now. I wondered if he’d stolen Kane’s key again.

“Hi, Abel,” I mumbled around a huge yawn. “Any particular reason for this unexpected visit?”

“Kane was busy. I’m babysitting.”

“Why the hell-” I began, than silenced myself. I wasn’t in the mood to argue. I wasn’t in the mood for much of anything, really. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep and pretend that last night hadn’t happened. I was such an idiot. Not only had I fallen for Sebastian’s lies, but I’d turned around and intentionally kept secrets from Kane, who was supposed to be the one person I could trust. Was all this inner-turmoil crap worth a stupid name? Probably not. And yet I still hadn’t called Kane to tell him what had happened.

I’m a walking dictionary of what-not-to-do-to-your-vampire-boyfriend, I thought grudgingly.

Without another word, I pushed back the covers and reached into my closet for a change of clothes. I blatantly ignored Abel and his horrified gasp as I changed into jeans and a sweater; I’d let him explain to Kane why he’d seen his brother’s fiancé naked.

I noted, with some amusement, that Abel seemed a bit flustered by my inability to stay clothed in front of him, for he was chewing away at his lower lip, much like I did when I was nervous, and had turned his back on me. However, he spun around in surprise when he heard the sound of rustling curtains.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, as I shoved one leg through the open window and began to climb out.

I turned around briefly to answer. “Sitting on my roof. Or is that not allowed?”

Abel actually looked uncertain as he scowled at me from across the room. “Kane told me to keep you in the house,” he muttered, crossing his arms. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to make my job a little easier?”

Definitely not.

But I wasn’t up for confrontation, not tonight. With a sigh, I headed back towards my bed and took a seat, folding my hands in my lap like a good little girl.

“Happy?” I asked with a frown.

Abel just grunted.

My mind was a whirlwind of ideas, and I tried desperately to snag one and hold onto it. The one I managed to grab onto, however, wasn’t necessarily the one I would have liked. I was now left to wonder what Kane was so busy doing. Tentatively, I posed the question.

Abel just shrugged. “He said he had something to take care of. I didn’t ask what.”

“Did he say when he’d be back?”

“Nope.”

“So, hypothetically, you could be here all night.”

Abel scoffed. “I certainly hope not.”

Usually I would’ve taken offense, but Abel’s narrow-minded comments no longer bothered me. Sure, they proved my theory that he was an insensitive bastard, but they did leave me curious on occasion.

“Is there a specific reason why you hate me so much?” I dared to ask. “Because if there is, I’d really like to know now, so we could move past it.”

Abel looked slightly taken aback by my perceptiveness, but quickly arranged his features into one of ambivalence. “It’s nothing personal, I just don’t like you.” Another shrug.

“But why? The rest of your family likes me well enough. You don’t even pretend to try.” I’m surprised he hadn’t tried to stake me while I was asleep, to be honest.

“I guess I just don’t see any point, that’s all. You’ve drawn my brother into this messed up… whatever-it-is with your ex-whatever-he-is, and I don’t like it. He almost died because of you.”

“Well, he didn’t,” I pointed out. “I did. That has to count for something.”

“Not much.”

I could tell that Abel really didn’t want to talk, but I needed to keep my mind occupied. I didn’t want to think about Kane, or what I was going to say when I saw him next. Guilt was nagging at me, begging me to tell him the truth, and I had a feeling that I’d have to tell him if he asked again. This wasn’t a game of life or death anymore – I had all the time in the world to gather the missing pieces of my soul, and I should never have relied on Sebastian in the first place. If there was one small piece of my humanity that hadn’t failed me, it was my ability to continually trust the wrong people.

What worried me most was the reaction I was envisioning when I finally decided to tell Kane the truth. I’d seen him angry before, and it was not something I wanted to repeat. Knowing him, he’d grab a stake, or a gun, and run after Sebastian with every intention of ending his poor, pathetic, miserable excuse of a life. What had happened last night was much worse than anything we’d gone through before – at least in my opinion – and I didn’t even want to imagine the kind of anger I’d have to deal with if Kane knew what had really transpired in the past twenty-four hours.

My conscience was telling me to stop worrying about things that hadn’t happened yet, so before my mind could wander any further, I asked offhandedly, “Do you like Scrabble?”

Abel looked confused.

“You know, the game,” I clarified.

A pair of suspicious blue eyes were following me around the room as I dug through my closet for the box.

“I don’t know,” he finally conceded when I turned around, holding the box out triumphantly. “I’ve never played.”

“You’re centuries old, and you’ve never played Scrabble?” It was an outrage. “Pull up a chair,” I instructed, unfolding the board and spreading it out on my bed. “I’ll teach you.”

But Abel seemed weary of being in close proximity to me, and remained where he was, his back against my shelf.

“I won’t bite,” I said with a small smile. “Please, Abel? I need a distraction.”

Uncertainly, Kane’s brother finally came to take a seat on the very edge of my bed, staying as far away from me as he could. I wasn’t sure whether I should be offended or not, so I decided to remain neutral, and proceeded to hand him the black bag where all the pieces were kept.

“Now choose seven letters, and don’t let me see them,” I instructed.

When we’d both chosen the letters for our limited vocabulary, I reached out and put down one tiny block at a time.

“A-s-s,” I spelled out with an impish smile. “Your turn.”

Abel stared down at his letters in confusion. “None of these spell anything.”

It was hard to imagine Abel failing at something, since Kane often spoke so highly of his brother, but the vampire’s inability to understand the basic concept of Scrabble made me laugh.

“You have to build a word off of the one I just created,” I explained.

Abel considered this for a long moment, then tentatively reached out to spell his word. His massive arm blocked my view, but when he pulled his hand away, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. ‘Slut’ had been added onto my ‘ass,’ and even Abel was having a hard time containing a smile.

“Since when did we decide to play naughty Scrabble?” I asked, placing a few more pieces on the board.

“Since your ass became huge,” Abel quipped, adding ‘huge’ to the puzzle.

Despite the animosity between us, Scrabble seemed to be neutral ground. I almost caught Abel smiling at one point, and he even managed to talk to me about mundane things like work, and the weather. November was already upon us, and I wondered how long it would be until the snow began to fall.

Our game lasted well into the night, and when sunrise rolled around, I hadn’t thought of Kane more than a handful of times. Scrabble and an unfriendly almost-brother-in-law, it seemed, were the perfect combination for distraction. I loaded up the game and set it on my window seat for another occasion, having lost to Abel and his novice skills.

Just before the sun lit up the sky, Abel slipped out into the hallway to head home. “You’ll be safe during the day,” he explained, when I shot him a confused look. Not that I wanted, or needed, a babysitter, but I wasn’t all that fond of being left alone, either. Even if I was stuck with a moody vampire for company.

“Tell your brother I hope whatever he’s up to is more important than his fiancé,” I glowered, shutting the door and climbing back into bed. “Because he’s in trouble now.”

I stared up at the ceiling, hands clasped behind my head. It was depressing that the most exciting part of my day had been a dozen matches of Scrabble with a man who didn’t even like me.

“I need a life,” I muttered. “Seriously.”

---

“So, what did you do all day yesterday?” I asked casually, taking a long sip from my glass of water. A plate of french fries lay before me, and I eyed them with disapproval.

Kane reached out and popped one into his mouth before answering. “Not much. Finished up that article on Branson’s expanding school district. I had to stay late, which is why I couldn’t come over last night.” He shrugged. “Trust me, nothing exciting.”

“Really?” I asked, feigning innocence. “Because Abel said you had ‘important’ things to take care of.” I had a feeling articles on school districts didn’t fall under that category.

“Abel talks too much,” Kane muttered around a mouthful of BLT.

“Sorry, what?” I’d heard every word he’d said, and he knew it, yet his reply was something completely different.

“I said, they put too much mayonnaise on this.” As he spoke, a large dollop of said condiment plopped onto his plate. Despite the lie, I smiled half-heartedly. “Are you sure you don’t want anything?” he offered for the millionth time.

I rolled my eyes. “How many times do I have to tell you? Food tastes like soot now. You wouldn’t eat dirt if someone offered to pay you for it, would you?”

“How much money are we talking about?” Kane asked with a wink.

“You’re hopeless,” I muttered. “Seriously. What did you have to do that was so important Abel had to baby-sit me?”

Bring on the excuses, I added silently.

“Nothing. I just want to make sure someone’s watching over you at all times. Is that so wrong?”

“Nope,” I answered, with a shake of my head. “But lying is. Kane Turner, where were you all night?”

“At work,” he insisted. “Ask Bridget. She left me the keys to close up shop when I’d finished.”

I eyed him with suspicion. “I just might do that.” The woman in question was seated a few booths down, so I didn’t have far to go. Kane, it seemed, had just realized that, and was fidgeting nervously with his straw.

“Okay. So you were at work all day. I’m sure you had to eat something – where did you go?”

“Nowhere. I stayed at the office.”

“Bet you a million dollars you didn’t.”

Kane just stared at me, and I stared straight back. I wasn’t backing down, and I knew him well enough to know that he’d eventually cave. Funny how liars hate when other people lie to them, isn’t it?

Our staring contest would have continued if Jasper hadn’t picked that exact moment to pull up a chair and join us.

“Howdy, kiddo.” He grinned affectionately, tousling my hair with a weathered hand. “Kane.”

Kane didn’t take his eyes from me for another few seconds, but we both nodded minutely, then resumed our earlier, more relaxed stances. “Jasper,” he acknowledged, giving the old man’s hand a squeeze.

“Haven’t seen neither of you in a while,” he commented, picking up a potato and handing it to me. “Fiona Goodman, ya look like death. Here. Have a fry.”

“No thanks,” I replied, trying not to sound ungrateful. “I already ate.”

“Sure don’t look like it,” Jasper grumbled, stopping a waitress as she passed. “Kin we git a burger and fries over here?”

After the woman had written down Jasper’s order, he turned back to us with a wicked grin on his face. “So. Rumor has it yer getting’ married, eh? Seems like I’m always the last person to find out these sort a things.”

I stared helplessly at Kane. So far we hadn’t really told anyone about the wedding – Jesse had taken care of that for us. Since I didn’t really get out much, I hadn’t had the chance to fill Jasper in on the details, and now was left feeling terrible for leaving him out of the loop.

Earlier disagreement aside, Kane sensed my anguish and gave the old man a kind smile. “We actually hadn’t told anyone yet, Mr. McHugh. It appears as if someone took it upon themselves to let everyone know, and we’re very sorry that the news never got around to you.”

Playing along, I reached across the table and intertwined my fingers with Kane’s.

“We are getting married, though.” He shot me a 100-watt smile. “I’m the luckiest man alive.”

I snorted into my napkin, trying to disguise it as a cough when Kane glared at me, Jasper being distracted by the food that had just arrived.

“So,” the old man asked with a grin, “when’s the big day?”

“Six m-”

“We haven’t settled on a date,” I said loudly, kicking Kane beneath the table, who flinched. I smiled sweetly as I added, “But we’ll be sure to let you know when we have a date picked out.”

“Well, I’m happy fer ya,” Jasper announced happily, shoving the plate of food in front of me. “Now eat up, kiddo. Can’t have you wastin’ away to nothin’ before yer weddin’ day.”

I stared down at the burger in disgust. Honestly, I would’ve rather been eating dirt, but Jasper was waiting expectantly for me to take a bite, and Kane was silently egging me on. Plastering a smile to my face, I wrapped my fingers around the bun and took a massive bite.

Don’t choke, don’t choke, I warned myself when my gag reflexes began to kick in.

“Mmmmm,” I mumbled around a mouthful. “Just as good as I remembered.”

Kane seemed to be enjoying my torment quite a bit, as he was trying hard not to smile. Determined to win this round, I ignored the unpleasant feeling settling in the pit of my stomach and finished off the entire meal. By the end, Kane was looking more than a little surprised, and I smiled triumphantly.

“Thanks, Jasper. I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t really had time to eat.”

My stomach was making funny noises, and I could feel vomit rising in the back of my throat. Gritting my teeth together, I slid out of the booth and quietly excused myself as I mad a beeline for the restroom.

Once I’d emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet, I sat down on the cool tile floor and closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the stall divider. The bathroom was otherwise deserted, and while breathing wasn’t necessary, I felt better after taking a few deep breaths.

I heard the door open, but the accompanying heartbeat I should’ve expected was decidedly absent.

“Fiona?” Kane knocked tentatively on the stall door. “Are you alright?”

Yes, asshole, I’m fine.

“Pretty stupid thing to do, huh?” I muttered, wiping the inside of my mouth with a tissue.

I could hear the smile in Kane’s voice. “A little, yeah.”

I peered out from under the door to glare up at him.

“But,” he added, “I was sort of responsible. So I’m sorry. And no, I didn’t stay at the office all night.”

Fiona, one. Kane, zero.

“So where did you go?”

The look on his face said it all, and I sighed. “You went hunting for Sebastian.”

“What did you expect me to do? Just let him go?”

I wanted to yell at him, to tell him he was an idiot for chasing the ghost of a man who was more elusive than Satan himself, but how could I when I was the one harboring secrets? Kane had fessed up, as I knew he would, and yet I was still holding onto the hope that Sebastian really did have the name of someone who could help me. God, I was such a hypocrite.

“I went to his house to see if I could find anything, that’s all,” Kane promised. “I didn’t leave town, I never saw him, and I didn’t kill anyone, I swear.”

I smiled ruefully at his last statement, and reached up to unlock the door. Accepting the hand Kane offered, I was pulled to my feet, and found a pair of snowy lips pressed to my forehead.

“Come on,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Thank God,” I muttered, allowing myself to be lead from the diner without so much as a second glance at Kane’s discarded dinner.

The sky was littered with stars, and the moon was almost full. It seemed to be hiding behind a wispy string of clouds, but sooner or later it would have to give up, because it was a clear night, and the wind was blowing the clouds away, leaving nothing but a trail of white powder in the sky.

Kane laced his fingers through mine, and I was suddenly very grateful that a nervous heartbeat could no longer be heard. Despite the fact that I trusted Kane beyond anyone or anything (besides, perhaps, my own stupidity), I couldn’t help but be reminded of what Sebastian had done. I’d never had intimacy issues before, but I had a feeling I was going to be dealing with them for quite some time. Still, handholding wasn’t kissing.

You can do this, I thought encouragingly. And if you can’t, suck it up. Kane didn’t rape you. You’re going to be marrying the guy, for christ’s sake!

“Can I ask you something?” Kane asked, as we made our way down the boardwalk.

“I guess,” I consented. Unless he wanted to ask me about what had happened with Sebastian (again), I’d answer without complaint.

“Why don’t you and Abel get along?”

I raised an eyebrow and gave him a fleeting half-smile. “It isn’t obvious?”

“It’s obvious you dislike each other.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure I understand why.”

A light breeze picked up, and I instinctively pulled my sweater tighter. Across the street, I could see the outer shell of the bar being built, slowly but surely. Lewis, Paul and Jesse were pounding away at the frame, and I waved when I caught Jesse’s eye.

“Funny you should ask,” I continued, “because I was just talking to Abel about that last night. He says he doesn’t like me because I dragged you into this whole Sebastian nonsense. I guess I can’t blame him; if I were your brother, I’d be mad at me, too.”

“I chose to get involved with you, he knows that. He shouldn’t be blaming you for any of this. You’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.”

I laughed hollowly to myself and shrugged. If only you knew.

“So really, Abel has a problem with me. I wouldn’t mind him if he just made an effort to try and be nice.” Because, really, that wasn’t asking too much at all.

“So if I asked him to be my best man, you’d be okay with that?”

I stared up at Kane in surprise. “I’d never tell you who you could or couldn’t have as a part of the wedding! He’s your brother, Kane – he’s an important part of your life.”

“But so are you,” he said quietly, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

God, I couldn’t take much more of this. He thought I was some kind of saint, or something. Boy, was he wrong. If he had any idea what kind of secrets I’d been keeping lately, he’d hate me more than Abel did. And when it came down to it, I wasn’t sure Abel really hated me anymore; Scrabble had proved to be a great ice-breaker. At least we were on speaking terms now.

“You really shouldn’t put me up on a pedestal,” I remarked, more to myself than to Kane, though I knew he’d heard me. He pulled me to a stop, and took my hands in his.

“Fiona, I don’t know what’s gotten into you since I turned you into a vampire, but you need to get over it. I don’t love you any less because you drink blood instead of soda. Hell, I think I might just love you a little bit more. You make it sound like you’re this horrible person, when you’re the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. So stop being so emotional and torn up about this whole being dead thing and move on, alright? We’re getting married. We’ve got forever to be together, and you’re still hung up on piecing together a soul I don’t even think you’ve lost.”

I stared at him in surprise, mouth hanging agape. “You mean…?”

“I was speaking metaphorically. You’re still the Fiona I know and love. You’re still stubborn and feisty, but it’s what I love about you. You’ll probably hate me for saying this, but I don’t really care if we get your soul back – I love you just the way you are, soulless or not. But,” he added, before I could protest, “if you want it back so badly, then I’ll do what I can to help you find it. Just…” He sighed. “Just don’t get your hopes up, alright? We’ve been looking for a while, and we still haven’t found anything.”

“Two months, in the grand scheme of things, is hardly any time at all,” I pointed out. “But I’m glad you’re okay with the person I’ve turned into.” Because I’m certainly not.

We arrived back at Kane’s car a few minutes later, and I was struck with a thought.

“Before I forget, Martine wanted to know what your family's doing for Thanksgiving.”

Kane shrugged as he pulled his door closed. “I don’t know, why?”

I flashed him a brilliant smile. “How would your family like to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family next weekend?”

He seemed to think about it for a long moment, then turned and flashed me a smile that would’ve melted any woman’s heart. “We accept your invitation. What time should we be expected?”

I tried to remember what Martine had said, but the combined effect of Kane’s perfect smile and sparkling green eyes that crinkled at the corners had caused a temporary lapse in memory.

“I’ll get back to you on that,” I promised.

I wasn’t sure what my mother had been thinking when she’d asked me to invite the Turners over for Thanksgiving dinner, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. With two dominant males and only one turkey, I wasn’t sure pitting them against each other was the smartest idea she’d ever had. I did know one thing, though – dinner was certainly going to be explosive.

---

Playlist

Lily Allen - Knock 'Em Out
David Crowder Band - Deliver Me
Cory Lee - The Naughty Song
My Brightest Diamond - Disappear
Aphex Twins - Avril 14th
James Newton Howard - The Village soundtrack
Greenskeepers - You Don't Know Me
Umbrellas - Ships
Christine Fellows - Lost Overtures