Invincible (A Centennial City Novel) - By Fionn Jameson Page 0,55
experienced. Hated her more than I hated my father, hated her more than my mother for the way she let him step all over her, hated her more than this life that would not let me die. “Should you really be standing there asking questions, hm? Wasting time?”
Jason was heavy in my arms but in that moment, I truly thought I could support him for eternity as he stared at the wraith of a woman he loved.
“I think I would rather brave Vincent’s anger than walk off with some vampire who swore to kill me if I involved myself further with Jason,” I said.
A corner of her crimson lips lifted. “And yet you are still alive, aren’t you? Trust me when I say you do not want to be around for when the Lord of Centennial City shows his anger.”
“There are three more like him.”
“And yet all three of them defer to him,” she said. “Doesn’t that tell you anything?”
Jason pulled himself free of my arms, straightened the collar of his coat. “What do you want, Shannon?”
Voice colder than the heartlessly frozen air swirling around us, for the first time in a while, I felt hope blossom in my chest. Was he free of her? Or was this just the thrashing of a wounded beast that only seeks to return the favor?
“Jason,” she said and her expression softened. Did she still love him? Impossible. Why, then, did she leave? “This really wasn’t how I wanted to come back to you. Please. You’ve got to trust me. I know what you’ve been going through, just to find me.”
Even her tone had softened. Perhaps she truly did love him.
And despite all the warning alarms that blared in my head, I could not hope to stop him, could not hope to keep the siren from her prey. They still had unfinished business and it would have been nothing but stupid for me to keep him from that. After all, I was not his lover, just his Ailward.
His protector.
That was the only thing I was to him.
I would do well to remember that very important fact. “Jason.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, Ran. I don’t...”
“Either way, we have to leave.”
And even though it was almost two in the morning, the sounds of a lone car drifted through the thick air, and instinctively, I took a step back, one hand on his shoulder, even though the car, if it wanted to run us down, would have to jump onto the curb and make it three feet across the sidewalk to the front of the silent casino.
But I had survived this long by being so damn paranoid and suspicious of those around me.
Shannon took a step back onto the sidewalk and we watched the car drive to us, a sleek black Toyota Celica, windows tinted darker than the night.
We waited for it to pass.
It did not.
Instead, it stopped in front of us, blocking us from Shannon and the passenger side’s window went down.
For a moment, I froze, half expecting an Uzi to start spraying bullets.
But no.
Just the driver leaning over, the brilliantly blond hair familiar, but somewhat annoying at the same time.
Although, I suppose I did owe him.
“What the hell are you doing? Get the fuck in the car before he gets here!”
Jason blinked. “You’re...”
The blond vampire grinned at me, exposing those wicked fangs. Was he making fun of me? “Hey, Ran. I’m here to pick you up.”
“For?”
He laughed. Surprisingly, I found I was not completely averse to it. There was something free, something so damn childish and innocent that reminded me there was indeed something beyond all the death and darkness surrounding me.
Not...that I would ever admit it. “Our date, silly!”
That I had just heard such words from a so-called monster of the night made me wonder if I wasn’t currently passed out somewhere and this wasn’t just some crazy dream. “Date?”
He pouted. “You forgot? Christ, woman, you’ve got the memory of a gnat.”
Shannon tapped on his window. “Ryder? For once in your life, quit flirting with every woman under a hundred and open the damn door.” She peered at us over the hood of the low-sitting sportscar. “Get in. I promise you no harm. I’ll explain everything once we’re out of this place.”
Face Vincent?
Or get in the same car with two people to whose allegiance I could only guess at?
Jason let out a breath. “We don’t have a choice, Ran.”
With that said, he opened the passenger’s seat and pulled the seat forward, exposing