??A Howl In The Night??
?(She’s Mine)?
?From Novel R0mance?
?Chapter 16?
“will you still auction yourself? ”
Xavier smiles. “Of course not, Mona. I’m all yours.”
I look away to hide my growing blush. Why is it that I always get red around him?
“You should have met Xavier before he got mated to you,” Wes laughs, “he was a bigger player than I am now.” I find that rather hard to imagine. Xavier… a player? Never.
“Twenty thousand dollars less every week,” Jake almost moans, “it’s very sad.”
“Don’t worry buddy,” Wes pats him on the back, “I’ll be your moneymaker from now on. Xavier, we got to find another job for you.”
“Why wouldn’t women want him?” I interrupt.
There is silence, then uncontrollable laughter. “I don’t think you understand, Mona,” Wes gasps, sputtering with chuckles, “they do want him. But wouldn’t that be unfair to you if he becomes some other girl’s boyfriend?”
“Hey Xavier,” Jake smiles, “you should be partying right now. Mona just indirectly admitted she was attracted to you.”
“Shut up!” I say angrily, and they eventually quiet down. Silence reigns in the room, each of us unsure of what to say. It seems to suit them; this glamorous lifestyle they hold. Their looks guarantee nothing less.
“Where is the person you guys almost killed?” I suddenly start up, remembering past events.
“In the guest bedroom,” Wes says dismissively. I look at him in bafflement, and he laughs. “It’s not like we have a dungeon to throw him in,” he points out.
“I don’t understand why you didn’t just let us kill him-” Jake begins.
“No!” I stand up, banging my hands on the table, “I think I can force the shifter out of him.”
They all stare at me, Xavier becoming rather distressed. “No, Mona, please,” he starts, and then stops abruptly.
“I could access his mind, and I was able to hear the two voices. If I can somehow… further this ability, then I know I can save him!” I say determinedly, “then you will never have to kill another human again!”
“You can’t think of them as humans, Mona,” Jake sighs, “once they’re possessed, their soul is as good as gone. We aren’t murderers.”
“But he was there!” I exclaim, and then my hand is fiercely grabbed by Xavier.
“We need to continue this conversation elsewhere,” he whispers into my ear, standing up.
“Let go!” I struggle as he forces me out of the room. I am whisked away, super speed taking over, air rushing past me like a tornado.
We end up back in the garden, Xavier standing right in front of me, still holding my hands. Skies as clear as can be hang above us, a slew of colors in the flowers below. Everything is so beautiful, although now a piece of yellow tape stretches from tree to tree of the entrance to the path I had traveled before. It says DANGER.
Wow. They must really think I’m stupid.
“Please, Mona, forget about the man,” he begs, “we’ll take care of him. Worry about… I don’t know… just don’t worry about anything. You don’t have to get into this.”
“But I do! I can’t just let you guys kill him while knowing I can save his life-”
“How, exactly?” Xavier says slowly, “How can you save his life?”
Time stops as I look to the floor, examining my shoes. “I don’t know much about being a Spier, but from what I heard, it seems as if I could really help you guys-”
“No!” he says agitatedly, “you’re helping us just fine by being right here.”
“But even if I wasn’t able to help you, rescuing that man… wouldn’t that be worth the risk?” In my head, it is perfectly simple. I can’t live with the fact that I could have saved a person and didn’t. Why can’t he get it?
“Nothing is worth you,” he says with pain, squeezing my hands tightly.
“Xavier…” I sigh, “Please understand.”
“I understand perfectly,” he says angrily, his voice dangerously low, “and I’m not letting you blow your life away for a lost cause.”
“You don’t believe I can do it?” my voice is sharp, shrill.
He pauses, drawing a little picture in the dirt with his foot. “Mona, it’s not like I think you can’t, but it does seem rather-”
“I get it, Xavier. You don’t want me to do it. You don’t believe I can,” my voice is low, defeated. I start walking towards the door, desperately trying to veil the determination bursting within.
“No, it’s not that! It’s just that there is a big chance you will die,” he yells after me, “I… don’t want that. Please, Mona…”
I reach the wooden door, turning the knob to swing it open. Without casting one glance behind my shoulder, I slip inside, closing it after me. It feels, strangely, as if I have shut him out forever.
I quickly banish that thought. Xavier will always be around for me, no matter what the situation is.
I hope.
Wandering through the hallways, I suddenly discover the faint outline of a man lingering against the stone wall. He turns, as if he is waiting for someone, slumping until he is sitting on the floor. There are a few moments of complete and utter stillness, and then he regally rises to his feet. The lights suddenly give out, dying against the overwhelming darkness, as he flicks a switch. He pauses, and then starts walking. Not knowing quite why, I follow him, almost hypnotized by the footsteps as they ring through my head.
At the end of the hallways, a faint light lingers, growing brighter with each fear-stuffed step. My heart seems to pound even more erratically as we walk, my steps mirroring his. As the light shines brighter on the man, the outline begins to be illuminated, and I know instantly who it is. He enters the room, deliberately leaving the door wide open, and I step inside.
“Ray,” I say softly as the man stands before me.
“This is the library. Sorry about the lights, by the way, I was afraid one of those idi0ts would follow us,” Ray wastes no time, getting directly to the point. He gestures to the piles and piles of books, stacking from the floor to the ceiling, the rows and rows of even more. It is a huge room, the books on either side, lounge chairs and a spectacular fireplace in the middle. Over our heads a truly stunning chandelier hangs, colossal with a ton of sparkling crystals, and a giant TV is mounted directly above the fireplace. It is on, the display of a computer showing up instead of TV shows. “That’s our computer,” he explains, “We just use a TV monitor.”
“Wow,” I gasp, awestruck, “this is absolutely amazing!” It is another dream of mine; a fantasy I never thought would be accomplished. It is the biggest collection of books I have ever seen. With joy I rush to the first aisle, marveling at their assembling of many encyclopedias, the informative books I have missed so much.
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