“Vampires are the children of demons whoonce walked this earth. Those demons mated and had children withpeople to create vampires. We have human tendencies from our humanDNA, but supernatural abilities from our demon DNA.”
“I see.” Maggie dropped her head into herhands and rubbed at her temples. “This is all so crazy. Ever sinceI learned the truth of my mother six years ago, I’ve dreadedbecoming like her. I’ve constantly searched for some sign realitymight be slipping away from me. Acknowledging my father was mostlikely a vampire feels like a step toward the crazy train for me,but I can’t deny everything I saw last night or the fact you ranfifteen miles with me today when your spine was exposedyesterday.”
Aiden squeezed her knee. She glanced at hishand as if she were contemplating removing it from her leg, but shelet it remain. “Vampires are real. Admitting it won’t make youcrazy.”
“Have there been others, who had only onevampire parent, like me?” She wiped away the sweat trickling downher neck as she braced herself for his reply.
“I don’t know, but I know someone I can askif you want me to?”
Maggie bit her lip and turned to gaze outthe window. She’d love nothing more than to remain in blissfulignorance of everything, but unless she asked Aiden to wipe hermemory, she couldn’t stick her head in the sand.
“Yes,” she said. “I want to know.”
“I’ll call as soon as we’re settled.”
“Okay.”
She realized he’d pulled over near Fenway.From where she sat, she could see the Citgo gas sign. The streetshere were busier with people wandering the stores and bars.
“Baseball season starts soon,” she murmuredas she watched a woman hustling her child across the street towarda deli. “A.J. and I came to Fenway every opening day from the timewe were twelve on. If we couldn’t get tickets for the game, we’dhang out and soak up the atmosphere. There’s nothing better thanthe smell of hot dogs cooking, the crack of a bat on the ball, andthe cheers of the crowd. When we got older, we would sit in thebars and celebrate with everyone else. A.J. could always get thebest fake ID’s.”
Maggie dragged a hand through her hair asshe pulled herself from her strange reverie. When she focused onAiden again, she noted the clench of his jaw, but his hand remainedgentle on her thigh.
“What happened to A.J.?” he asked.
Maggie glanced at Blue. She hadn’t wanted totell him anything about her when he was so unwilling to talk abouthimself, but now that she’d opened this box of memories, much likePandora, she couldn’t close it again.
“He made the mistake of getting in his carand driving at the same time astupidkid decided planninghis seventeenth birthday, via text, was more important than notkilling someone.” Maggie had worked through most of her grief, butthe lump in her throat made talking difficult. “The kid survived;A.J. died on his way to the hospital. At one time, that knowledgeinfuriatedme. I wanted to kill the boy myself, but I’vemostly gotten past that.”
She said this, but she heard the bitternessin her voice as she revealed this to Aiden. “I’ve stopped wishingit had been the other way around and A.J. survived, butoccasionally I wonder what would have happened if the kid had beensmart enough not to use his phone or to at leastlookupa few seconds before the crash.” She didn’t doubt A.J.would have a child by now, and she would have been a kick-assaunt.
“However, the lack of skid marks on theteen’s side of the road revealed he never realized he’d switchedlanes and was driving head-on at someone. A.J. saw because he’dbraked and jerked the wheel. The kid didn’t know his life was aboutto change forever; A.J. watched his death coming at him.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Aiden said.Jealousy seethed within him when she spoke of A.J., her love forthe man was obvious, and he could never compete with a ghost.However, her sorrow tore at him, and he would give anything to takeit from her.
“I once heard someone say, ‘Life sucks get ahelmet.’ It’s something I tell myself every time something badhappens. I strapped my helmet on really young. It’s dented,scratched, and it’s almost broken a few times, but it’s kept megoing. Things can always be worse. I know, they’ve been worse forme. They’ve also been better, but every day I take a moment to findsomething good in all the bad.”
Of course, she’d never expected to have vampDNA tossed into her mixing bowl of lemons, but it might alsoexplain some other facets of her life. Facets she’d never realizedrequired explaining.
Aiden released her knee and brushed back astrand of her silken hair. His finger lingered on her cheek untilher charcoal eyes lifted to his. He didn’t see bitterness in hergaze, only a steely resolve to face every day with a determinationmany didn’t possess.
From what he’d learned about her life, somewould have been broken by it, others would have become bitter, butMaggie had chosen to be strengthened by it. Drawing her closer, hekissed her forehead. Now was not the time for anything more thanthe briefest of kisses, but he needed to connect with her.
“Is what happened to A.J. the reason youbecame a paramedic?” he inquired when he sat back again. He loweredhis hand to cup her nape and leisurely ran his thumb over hersilken skin.
“I became a paramedic because I can handlethe sight of blood and gore better than most people. I saved awoman’s life one day, and Roger happened to be working on theambulance called to the scene. When Roger saw how I handled thewoman, he took me under his wing and helped me get through my EMTand paramedic training. I enjoy helping people, but no, I didn’tlook to this field because of A.J. I was already four months intomy training when A.J. died.”
“Were you still dating A.J. when hedied?”
“No.” Maggie glanced out the window again.“He was my first everything from kiss to sex, but more than that,he was my first best friend. For years, he was my only friend, andI was the same for him. I think we only started dating because wehad no one else and because we did love each other so verymuch.”
She focused on Aiden again. “Being togetherseemed like the next logical step when we were all we had. Growingup, we were both bounced through numerous foster homes, grouphomes, and anywhere the state could find a place for us. We’d besplit up, only to rejoin two weeks or months later. From the timewe were sixteen on, we lived in the same group home while we waitedto turn eighteen.
“I think we both worried we’d lose the otherif we didn’t progress into a dating relationship, or at least Iknow I feared losing him. We started dating when we were seventeen,but by the time we were eighteen, we realized it wasn’tus.We were better friends than lovers. There was no big breakup, notears, we simply went back to the way things were supposed to befor us, and we were happy with it.
“After we turned eighteen, we lived togetherfor a while as roomies. When A.J. died, he’d been preparing to askhis girlfriend to marry him. I went with him two days before theaccident to pick out the ring, and I hid it away until he was readyto propose. I gave her the ring after his funeral.”
A single tear streaked down her cheek, andshe wiped it away. “I dated a few guys after we broke up, butnothing serious. I’ve always been a bit of a loner and fine withbeing single. Once I started EMT school, I became focused on mystudies and getting through my training.”
