To Save a Vampire - A.K. Koonce Page 0,54

his steps leisurely. My chest hurts from him leaving me here after how close we were just minutes ago. A pain splinters my ribs. I’m left sitting at my mother’s feet like a child. She glares past me at Asher’s wide back, her arms crossed tightly.

I rise to stand and walk quickly past my mother before she can lecture me any further. I settle into my blanket next to Ripper who has slept soundlessly through what should be my most embarrassing moment to date. But I’m not embarrassed. Not now anyway. I’m not ashamed of the way I kissed him. Instead of the guilty feeling I thought would settle in, a warm, elated happiness furls in my chest and washes into my dreams when I finally drift to sleep.

Eleven

Hope

The following morning slips by without any hint of last night’s events. Thankfully, no one mentions it, but Ky keeps looking from my mother to Asher. No one has mentioned last night because no one has spoken a single word since we packed up and left.

“I don’t think I’ve seen her this mad since you brought a yippy little dog home to camp, claiming he wouldn’t be any extra work,” Ky says in a hushed voice, bumping his arm playfully into mine.

Of course, he would have to mention it.

He lowers his dark gaze down at Ripper as he laps water from my palm. I can’t help but laugh at the memory. He’s right; she was furious. Me kissing a hybrid, probably a little worse by society’s terms. A lot worse. But just like when I was a child, I’m not going to apologize. It’s not like I’m going to ask if we can keep him like I did Ripper.

A weighted feeling presses into me as I realize it’s true. I can’t keep him. Just like with everything else in my life, he’ll have to leave.

Why did I let him kiss me?

It wasn’t the same as when Ayden kissed me. I thought the simple, relaxed feeling I felt with Ayden was normal, but, after experiencing the opposite of relaxed last night, I know there’s more than just friendship between Asher and myself. Why did I even allow myself to become close to him?

“Have you always loved my mother?” I blurt out, attempting to distract the building anxiety in my chest.

“Always,” he says without hesitation or thought.

I try to sift through the emotional mess that swarms my mind and body.

“How did you know?”

Ky stops and thinks for a moment, his eyes shining under the sun like he’s lost in a memory. A smile threatens to form on his lips. He rests his arm on my shoulders, and I lean into him as I listen.

“I knew the moment I had to walk away from her. It tore me apart leaving her in that camp when I entered the military. The feelings only grew when I returned and realized nothing would ever change for us. Not life and not love. But she makes this world we have to live in so much brighter just by being here. There’s a spark in me that she put there.”

He stops walking and looks at me as his words hammer into my chest. “Don’t ever ignore that spark, Fallon. If it’s there, hold on to it. Some people go their whole lives stumbling alone through the darkness.”

He smirks at me, knowing I’m processing his advice. He shakes his hand over my hair like he did when I was a kid.

What he said wasn’t at all what I expected. It’s like he loves my mother more than the friendship they’ve always kept with each other. Do I feel that way with Asher? My heart thrums in my chest. Is this what a spark feels like?

I think about confusing sparks and darkness as we continue to walk in silence. After another mile, we stop for a short break again. My mind is a mess and not even a five-minute break will help clear it. I walk away from Ky and try to act like my life isn’t teetering on the edge of a cliff on a windy day.

Sunlight filters in through the dry leaves clinging to the branches above. Ky takes a spot on a boulder, his metal prosthetic laying at his side while he massages his limb just below his knee. Pain is etched across the strong angles of his face, but he doesn’t say a word.

My mother leans her head against his shoulder, her light skin to his dark. They’re