Chapter Sixteen

Chapter 16

“What’s wrong?” Cole whispered hugging me quickly.

“I think I just did something very bad.” I whispered knowing that he hadn’t read Jonathon’s mind because I’d put a spell on it when I’d first turned to block him from all such talents including mine. The first twenty years of my existence Jonathon had still had me under his spell and convinced me that Kalila and I needed him to survive and that I actually loved him.

“What happened?” Cole asked.

“Kali, will you give Cole and me some time?” I asked I couldn’t tell both of them the truth about my horrible secret at the same time and Cole would be the hardest to tell he already knew I’d been lying about things about my human life. I wasn’t sure how he’d handle knowing that I had secrets about the time we’d been together too.

“Of course,” She promised thinking all of this was still just fear of telling him the truth about our human life. She jumped out the window and I waited for Cole’s nod telling me she wouldn’t hear a thing even if we yelled.

“I brought you here to finally tell you the truth about everything I’d hidden about my human life and my change but…” I took a deep breath, “I need to start with the end of my human life and parts of our life together and I just beg you not to hate me.” I whispered.

“I could never hate you Lily-be.” He whispered gently tightening his hold.

“Cole I was a mistress in my human life. I took up the job because after our mother died mine and Kali’s father sent people to us who abused us. We ran away and couldn’t support ourselves so I found a rich man and set up a sort of contract. I would be his mistress and he would take care of us. He would hit me sometimes if I didn’t keep up my end of the bargain and then he’d come to the house and expect to make-up right there even if Kali was home but he’d give us more money that week because I’d have to move into his house for the week. The contract said I had to be ready whenever he was and I constantly had to be up for anything he wanted. He convinced me after a while that it was love. His name was Jonathon and he eventually…” I took a deep breath I was about to tell the first person in my life the truth and his arms were still tight around me but they weren’t going to be soon. I was about to get to the lies that were still going on. “He eventually changed me and tricked me into changing Kali when she came to visit me. I’ve never forgiven myself she had everything she’d ever wanted she had a husband that loved her and kids, she had tons of kids. I wasn’t allowed to see them though. It was the one rule her husband had set up she could see me but the kids weren’t allowed I was a bad influence what I was doing was evil.

“After he tricked me into changing her he convinced me that I still needed him and his pull on me was even harder it was like I really did love him after all the years…”

“Your maker has a pull like nobody else sometimes if somebody that you have history with changes you… you do end up falling in love with them.” He said tightly and I knew he was figuring out that I was getting close to the ‘don’t hate me’ part.

“We were together secretly for twenty years before I was able to pull myself together and remind myself that a good relationship isn’t one that you have to hide from your twin and the family that you’ve found.” We’d found Piper and Leo ten years into our lives. “I told Jonathon to leave me alone that I never wanted to see him again…” I took a deep breath, “Like most things I told him though he didn’t listen. I got used to keeping his visits a secret though every few years he’d come and annoy me… Then you came…” I snuggled closer to him for a second wondering if he’d blink away from me and leave me to fall onto the ground. “We kissed and found out we were imprinted and so his next visit I told him thinking it would make him mad but he’d get the point. He didn’t visit the rest of your life that time so I thought it had worked. I thought I’d be able to just leave my human life alone and never have to worry about being hated for it again and I’d never have to deal with Jonathon again. You died though and even though I knew you’d come back I came here to grieve the place that I’d suffered the most grief and Jonathon found me.

“He was sitting on the bed waiting and told me he’d been waiting here in Mexico for me to come knowing I would when you died. He said he knew I would come to my senses after I had watched you die and I would come back to him. I thought after I’d explained to him that it didn’t change anything that I still loved you and I’d just wait for you it would be over but he still comes back a few times every one of your lives trying to convince me to come back to him and trying to get me to bring Kali to him.” I felt the tears on my face finally and realized I had been crying.

“What is this room?” Cole asked and I heard in his voice that he was asking the meaningless question so he could get his temper under control and not hurt me. He had decided I was punishing myself enough and that Jonathon wasn’t going to come between us.

“I set it up so that I could store everything I took of Mom’s when I left Japan.” I whispered another little fact I’d never told him but I figured he already had figured that out both my parents were fully Japanese I was too tall to be Japanese, I was too tall to be any race of human, but that was the vampire in me.

“It looks expensive?” he asked.

“My family was like right below the king.” I whispered I knew he hadn’t figured that one out. His arms just tightened though and he held me tighter. “Thank you.” I whispered.

“I’m not going to let anything come between us now.” He promised, “This life has been hard enough without more complications.”

“I should probably tell Kali though. He said he was going to see her this life whether I told her or not.”

“How did you explain your changing to her?”

“I told her that I wasn’t talking about and then that I didn’t see the guy.”

“She knows that you know who did it.”

“The important thing was that she didn’t know who did it. She’s felt guilty everyday of her life for what I had to do to keep us alive.”

“You’ve felt guilty for one hundred fifty years about changing her.”

“We don’t speak my age you know that.”

“I didn’t say your age if I was going to do that I’d say one hundred sixty seven.” He whispered in my ear and pushed me down on the bed but I tensed and all the teasing was done. “I’m sorry, Lily-be. I didn’t think it through.”

“No I’m sorry I shouldn’t still be so sensitive to the house.”

“I should have blinked us to a different house.”

“Let’s not fight over whose fault it is.” I laughed and he smiled glad that I was better, “Can we go get Kali from wherever she is now and talk to her there?” I asked.

“Of course are you sure you want me there?”

“I need you there this is going to be hard.”

“Wait when I walked in you said you just did something bad what happened?” he asked and I tensed suddenly remembering and then I started to shake terrified.

“Jonathon’s coming to get his payment from me.” I whispered feeling Jonathon’s presence close by.

“I don’t hear his thoughts.” Cole assured me.

“He had me do a spell.” I shook my head and Cole looked down at me, “I used to be studious when Jonathon and I were together.” Cole nodded understanding why Jonathon would want me studious Jonathon knew what I could do it’s why he changed me. I hadn’t known what I was doing though; Piper hadn’t explained it until she’d done the same to Cole.