Page 30 of Resurrecting His Soul
Lisandra turned to the fridge and started snatching bags of blood. Clearly, she wasn’t thrilled about the idea of her friend moving out. Ricardo put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her. “I’ll take care of this. Why don’t you help Allison settle in?”
“Fine,” she ground out through clenched teeth.
She shut the door hard enough to shake the refrigerator, and walked past him and Allison, snatching up both of Allison’s bags and headed towards the bedrooms.
Allison pointed behind her. “Well, I’m just going to go get my ass-chewing over with.”
Ricardo nodded, and she turned to follow in Lisandra’s footsteps. He smiled to himself while he pulled blood bags from the fridge and dropped them into a basket so he could carry them out to the garage. They were both so protective of each other. He hoped that there would be no reason for all the extra precaution, but he couldn’t shake the bad feeling that had settled over him earlier. He wished in all his years he had taken the time to learn more about computers. Then, maybe he could have figured out how to see what Melina had deleted. He had been so wrong about her, trying to find something good inside of her to alleviate his own guilt. There was no question he had taught her to be brutal as a vampire, but he had to admit she had not taken any convincing and never once hesitated to take a life from the beginning. The more he thought about it, the more he was beginning to believe Lisandra was right; Melina liked being a monster. It’s not like he’d known her before he changed her. He’d thought he sensed something a little dark in her, but that didn’t automatically make her evil. If that was the case, she would never change. Vampirism would only enhance those traits within her, and she wouldn’t be able to stop herself. Hell, he was still shocked he hadn’t already fallen off the blood bag wagon even though he’d never liked the monster he had become. Meeting the other half of his soul had been a very substantial motivator to make the changes he needed to be a better person. He didn’t know where everything was going to go, but there was one thing he knew without a doubt. He would do anything to keep Lisandra safe, even if that meant taking Melina out permanently.
ChapterNineteen
Lisandra
Lisandra tossed Allison’s bags on the floor inside the walk-in closet of the bedroom she had been calling her own since she met Ricardo. She quickly started pulling clothes from the bag and putting them on hangers inside the closet without saying a word. Several minutes passed while she hung up clothes and Allison stood with her shoulder leaning against the doorway leading into the closet, just watching her. She knew her friend wanted to say something, but she was waiting for some reason. It made the hair on the back of Lisandra’s neck stand up in annoyance. When she finished hanging up the last pair of pants from the bag, she tossed the bag into the back corner of the closet and turned to face Allison with her arms crossed over her chest and just stared back at her friend. Two could play the staring game.
Allison broke first and looked down at her fingernails like she was suddenly concerned that her black polish was chipped. “What’s got your panties in a twist?” she asked, before looking back up.
“Nothing,” Lisandra snapped.
She was being irrational. She knew it, but that didn’t mean she could stop herself.
“We’ve already been through this, Lis.”
She brushed past Allison and started roughly fixing the blankets on the bed. “I don’t know what you mean.”
A hand covered hers and she stopped messing with the blankets and looked up to meet Allison’s eyes.
“I know you are worried about me, and right now I even understand why. I talk a good game, and I’ll fight my heart out, but Melina is a real threat. But if she is out of the picture, there is no more threat to me than there was before we found out vampires existed. You need the chance to live your life with the man you have fallen in love with without your friend in the guest house. I need to live my life, too, and maybe find someone to love for myself. I can’t do that if I’m living in your boyfriend’s house or guest house. You know I’m independent. I won’t apologize for wanting to live on my own.”
Lisandra turned around and sat on the edge of the bed. “I know. I love that about you. I just… You’ve always looked out for me, and now I am finally in a position where I can return that favor.”
Allison put an arm around her shoulders. “And you will, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to change who I am, or that I’m going to stop looking out for you. You know I won’t go far, just further than Ricardo’s back yard.”
Lisandra released a deep breath. “Okay. I understand. Sorry. I don’t think I’ve got a grip on my heightened emotions yet. Everything goes from zero to a million in a split second and I just react.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” Allison patted her on the back. “It’s nice seeing you follow your own feelings without worrying about how someone else will react every minute. That’s something you always should have been able to do.”
“Yeah, it is kind of nice knowing I don’t have to watch what I say every second.”
“Right,” Allison grinned. “Just don’t get too carried away and give into any urges to take a taste.” She ran her fingers down her neck dramatically. “I know I’m delicious, but I’m not ready to get that intimate with you. Maybe Ricardo would like to take a test drive, though. He did look really good the other day.”
Lisandra laughed and pushed her away. “Shut up.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “And stay away from my man. I’m not into sharing.” They both laughed, then Lisandra dropped her smile and held Allison’s shoulders, staring into her eyes. “Now, it’s time to get serious.”
Allison pursed her lips. “Like we haven’t been serious all day?”
Lisandra stared her down. “I get the right side of the bed.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“Not at all. It’s closest to the door.”
Allison rolled her eyes. “I was serious when I said you should stay with Ricardo. You know that’s where you want to be, and I like my own space. And I’d honestly prefer not to fight you for my half of the bed all night.”
She shook her head. “Maybe it’s just Ricardo’s bad feeling rubbing off on me, but I need you to let me stay here tonight.” She took a breath to calm herself. “And what are you trying to say? I always stay on my side of the bed.”
“Hah!” Allison laughed. “If your side of the bed is equal to at least three quarters of the mattress, then sure.”
Lisandra’s jaw dropped in mock shock. “I never.”
