Page 52 of Fanged Embrace
Then I stole another glance her way. “Sooo… nice weather we’re hav?—”
“We should have stayed.” Laurie’s head snapped back to sneer at me, halting my sorry attempt at small talk. She folded her arms tighter, thrusting back against the seat with adisgruntled sigh. “I was fine—Iamfine. I could’ve handled that.”
“Laurie, the hybrids aren’t going anywhere.” I turned back to the road, mentally working to keep her aura under wraps. It had calmed ever so slightly since I’d carried her out of the hall, but the turmoil was still there, writhing under the surface. “You’ll be no use to anyone if you push yourself to an early burnout.”
Laurie scoffed at that last part and slid her gaze back to the window, furrowed brow wrinkled low over stormy eyes. She didn’t look at all interested in a pep talk, but I was on a roll now and decided to say my piece.
“Actually, on that note.” I hit the brakes a little too hard at the stop light and Laurie scowled at me when the motion jolted her forward. She muttered something unintelligible, but I spoke over her grumbling. “You can’t just keep diving headfirst into dangerous situations without a plan.”
“I make plans!” Laurie’s protest was delivered with an indignant slam of her fist against the dashboard.
“Really?” I hit the gas pedal when the light turned green and glanced at her. “What was your plan back there exactly? You got your fists out—were you just gonna start swinging on that woman until she changed her statement?”
“No.” Laurie huffed back into her seat and looked away again.
“And back at the warehouse, you went straight ahead and scoped the place out when I specifically told you to stay away and let me handle it.”
At that, Laurie’s mouth dropped open in a gape and she rounded on me. “Excuse me, I’m the reason you got out of there alive!”
“Yeah, and I appreciate that—but that’s exactly what I’m talking about.” I knew I was probably taking it too far. No doubtLaurie was already fully aware of her reckless behavior. But even so, it was something she needed to hear.
I kept my eyes on the road, waving one hand around while I spoke. “I’m avampire, I can take care of myself. You don’t need to go sticking your neck out for me. You’ve got to put yourself first sometimes.”
When I threw another glance her way, something I couldn’t decipher rippled across Laurie’s features. She opened her mouth, closed it again, and sat back with a resigned sigh like the idea of putting herself first was simply unthinkable.
Maybe I overstepped.
After what I’d heard from her conversation with Mary, I had decided to rethink my approach to making her feel comfortable. She’d lost something precious—she’d lost achild. The revelation still had me reeling. It was a puzzle piece that fit too perfectly amongst her nightmares, her reckless actions, and her thorns.
I could see now that she’d built plenty of walls to protect herself from the pain that loss had caused. I couldn’t go kicking them down in one conversation. I couldn’t ask her to prioritize herself when her single-minded mission was the only thing protecting her from a tidal wave of grief.
“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life. I just…” I mulled over the words, searching for the best approach to the situation that wouldn’t get her overly defensive. “I just think you should be a little more careful. This organization is dangerous—we both know that—and I know you want to take them down more than anything, but…”
I looked over at her, waiting in vain for her to meet my eye. “Think about your future. You’ve got a life to live once all of this is over. You have to make it there in one piece.”
Silence. She kept her head turned away, her eyes fixed on the sidewalk streaming past outside. She was quiet so long I assumed the conversation had ended.
Then she spoke again, and her words were brittle, crackling like dead leaves underfoot. “I have no future—there is no life for me when all of this is over.” A deep exhale from heavy lungs. “This is it.”
My mouth went dry and a distinct sense of unease curdled in my stomach. “What do you mean?”
Laurie didn’t answer. Her stare drifted to nothing, eyes locked on some distant point beyond the window.
I pressed my lips together, apprehension flaring in my gut. I wanted to reach out, pull her into my arms and demand to know what was going on in her head, but she’d retreated too far into herself for me to even glean anything from her aura.
So I eased off the accelerator and we coasted along in silence. I didn’t press further—not now. But the unease remained, a writhing knot of tension in my stomach. I watched her from the corner of my eye.
Something wasn’t right here. And I reasoned it would be best to keep a very close eye on Laurie moving forward.
We arrived at the Museum of Modern Art just as the sky ignited in a fiery sunset, and I was beginning to question my grand plan. I wasn’t sure if Laurie was going to enjoy herself or coil even tighter into her little defensive bubble, but it was too late to turn back now.
I climbed out first, then rounded the car to open Laurie’s door and offered her my hand. She gave me a skeptical look, suspicious as ever, but she took my hand tentatively and let me steer her up the broad stone steps.
“I should warn you,” she muttered, eyeing the building with quiet distaste, “I’m not one for wandering through art exhibits. I don’t know Da Vinci from Picasso and I don’t particularly care to, either.”
“Relaaax.” I threw my head back and gave her hand a squeeze. “We’re not here to ogle the artworks. And besides, this is the museum ofmodernart. Da Vinci was high renaissance.”
“Uh-huh.” Laurie deadpanned beside me, but she let me drag her along all the same.
