Page 79 of Blade

“Grams, if you would sit still for two seconds, I will tell you what happened.”

I led her over to the couch so we could sit down while I told her about last night.

Telling her the complete story was non-negotiable. She would draw it out of me, anyway. So, saving time, I told her everything. How he ordered for me, how he got angry when my mind wandered. When I got to the part where he attacked me, she was fuming.

I worried her head would explode like it did in the cartoons I used to watch as a child. When I told her how I got away, she smiled. When she asked how I got home, Itold her about Blade coming to get me, and that he kissed me.

Hey, in for a penny in for a pound, right?

By the time I finished, her smile was as wide as the Cheshire Cat.

“He wasn’t making any sense, Grams. He made it sound like he was colluding with someone. And what land is he trying to get back? The whole thing was very odd, not to mention terrifying.”

“What did the boys do about it?” she asked.

“Why do you assume they did anything?”

She cocked an eyebrow at me as if to say,really?

Sighing, I confirmed what she was thinking. “He’s in the hospital, in the ICU.”

“He’s still alive?”

“Why do people keep asking that?”

Honestly, I had to once again question whether or not I knew what I was doing by getting involved with the club.

“I need to have a talk with King and find out why he’s still breathing,” she mumbled, getting up and heading for the kitchen, before filling the kettle and setting it on the stove. “Would you like some tea?”

“No, thank you. Actually, I’m headed over to the clubhouse soon. Blade asked me to come to the party tonight.” I leaned against the doorway, debating how much to tell her. “I spent some time with him this afternoon. We went for a ride, and he took me up to Lookout Mountain.”

Grams spun around to look at me.

“Really? You shared that with him?”

“No, actually, he thought he was sharing it with me. He said he found the trail not too long after he moved here.”

“Hmmm.” Grams opened the cupboard with the teacups and her box of various teas. “How did that go?”

I twisted my hands together. Grams had her back to me. She probably thought it would be easier for me if she wasn’t looking at me.

“I told him.”

She rested her hands on the counter for a moment before going back to choosing her tea.

“How did that go?” she asked, still not looking at me.

“It was ok. I didn’t go into detail, just told him how we met, what happened and that my life basically stopped that day.”

I moved to the table and took a seat as Grams brought two cups of tea over and placed one in front of me. She knew me better than my mother ever did. Knowing she wouldn’t ask more, I continued.

Looking down at my tea, I whispered, “He asked me if there was room for him.”

“And what did you tell him?”

I looked up at her, hurt and angry, though I couldn’t say why.

“I told him how broken I was and didn’t know how to live for anyone else.” Standing up, I started pacing, then shouted, throwing my hands in the air, “You know what he said to that? He told me to live for me! How the halibut am I supposed to do that?”

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