Neither (The Noctalis Chronicles 3)

“What are you doing? Let go.”

If I had been human, he would have been able to pull away easily. Only I wasn’t human. I let him struggle a bit longer. I didn't want to hurt him, and the energy he was exerting was making him smell more appealing. So I let go. His arm snapped back and he stumbled.

“You're... really strong,” he said, rubbing his wrist.

“I know. It's because I'm not human.” I leaped back onto the stump, twirling as I did so. From his perspective, I probably looked like a stuntwoman or something.

“How are you doing that?”

“I'm immortal,” I said, turning around. “If you really, really want me to prove it, I can. We just have to go back to the ocean.”

“I don't understand what's happening.”

“I know,” I said. Maybe this was a bad idea. I shouldn't have told him. His bright face was drawn down in a confused frown. I'd done that. “I should have just let you go. Or killed you. I wanted to kill you. That's why I was on the side of the road. I was waiting for someone to try to rescue me, and then you showed up. I've tried to talk myself into killing you so many times. I just... can't.”

“Why are you telling me this?” He was in shock, that was for sure, maybe moments away from catatonic. All my fault.

“I don't really know. You remind me that I used to be human.”

“When were you... not human?” He still didn't believe me, but he wanted to know more so he could try and decipher my real story.

“I was changed two weeks ago. Since then I've killed fifty-seven people. You were going to be number fifty-eight.”

“Brooke, I want to help you. I really do. But you've got to tell me the truth.”

“Oh, Jamie. I wish this wasn't the truth. I was a normal girl, and I met what I thought was a boy when I snuck out of my house. He turned out to be what is called a noctalis. He gave me some of his blood and I woke up like this. Well, not exactly.”

“Drugs? Did he give you drugs? Are you on drugs, Brooke?” He thought I was high. Well, blood certainly could make me feel that way.

“I wish it were that easy.” It was time to bring out the big guns.

“Bet you I can climb that tree in thirty seconds.”

“What?”

“Bet you I can climb that tree in thirty seconds. Time me,” I said, hopping back off the stump. He took a second, but got out his phone.

“Go.”

I made it in fifteen.

“Holy shit,” Jamie said as I stared down at him from the swaying top of the oak tree. Now I was really going to blow his mind. I leaned out and let go of the tree.

“Brooke!” Jamie called as I was already falling. He rushed to catch me and I adjusted myself so I landed right next to his outstretched hands, making a cloud of dust as my feet slammed into the earth.

“Hey,” I said, giving him another smile. The shocked look on his face was so funny that I laughed. He stood, stunned, unable to comprehend.

“Boo,” I said, touching his shoulder.

“How did you do that?” His voice quavered. I didn't like scaring him, but I needed him to know. I was going to follow through with this. He was going to understand. Because then he would leave and he would be saved.

“I told you. I'm not human. You believe me now?”

He swallowed a few times and shook his head back and forth, like he was trying to shake everything I had told him out of it.

“I guess I have to.”

“See? Now you know why I came to see you this morning. Because I can never see you again.” The words pierced me as they came out of my mouth. I wanted to break them, shatter them and take them back.

“What are you?”

“A fairy. Or faerie. However you want to spell it. I'm also a vampire.”

“No, really.”

“Really. I have a genuine set of wings hidden back here,” I said, pointing to my back. Maybe I was going to have to bust them out.

Jamie scoffed. He was a tough nut to crack. “I have a really hard time believing that.”

“I can show you, if you want.” He crossed his arms and jerked his chin up.

“Go ahead.” Even though I'd raced up a tree and leapt to the ground without any effort, he still didn't believe me. I guessed a pair of white wings was in order. Luckily, I had some.

“I'm going to have to take my shirt off. I don't want to ruin it. Unless you don't mind giving me yours.” He hesitated, and then stripped it off, tossing it to me. I had to fight the urge to inhale his smell. “So here I go.”

I pulled the shirt over my head, watching his face the entire time. His pupils pulsed and he swallowed. I smiled inwardly with satisfaction. I wasn't anything special, but that didn't matter to Jamie. He looked at me as if I was the first girl he'd ever seen. Or like I would be the last. The sun hit his hair, and for a moment, he looked like an angel. I forgot for a moment about my wings.

“You ready for this?” I said one last time, just to make sure.

He shook his head back and forth, and his face went red. “Not really. I think I'm still hallucinating.”

I wasn't sure if he was talking about the other stuff I'd done or taking my shirt off. Maybe both. I grinned at him and let my wings come out. They made a strange sort of tearing that freaked me out the first few times it happened. I turned my head and watched them come, like little flags popping out from my skin. I seriously didn't know where they went when I wasn't using them, but then I had no idea why my heart didn't beat, either. I turned to the side so he could see them. They reached about three feet from my back, curved, and reminded me of moth or butterfly wings. Or fairy wings.

I finally looked at Jamie. “Has your mind been blown?” I said, fluttering them.

His mouth was wide open, and he blinked a bunch of times as if he had something in them.

“It's real,” I said, turning my back so he could see them full-on. “You can touch them.”

I glanced over my shoulder and he swallowed again. His heart was racing as if his life was in danger. His blood pumped so loud and quickly, it was all I could do not to lunge at him and sink my teeth into his jugular. Why did humans have to be so irresistible?

“I can't believe you're real. How is this possible?”

He put his hand out and lurched forward, stopping just short of touching them. I flapped them once and he gasped. The sound made me giggle.

“Go ahead, don't be shy.” I moved backward until one of my wings bumped into his hand. He flinched back. I smiled at him and moved my wing slowly so it brushed his hand again. His skin was so warm. He stroked my wing and looked at his fingers, as if something had rubbed off on him.