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I released a breath. “Omigod, poor Vance. What did he do?”
“He turned around and walked away.”
“He just walked away?” I asked incredulously. “Without a word?”
“Without a word,” he replied.
“What did you do? What did Maria do?”
“She begged me to turn her that evening, because she knew she couldn’t go home and pretend everything was all right. I agreed with a condition that she leave town immediately since I no longer had use for her. She was hurt and confused by my demand, but ultimately decided immortality was more important. I never saw her again until last night.”
I hung my head in between my knees. “I can’t believe this. No wonder he hates you so much.”
He knelt before me and lifted my head. “Karli, that’s not the only reason. There’s one more thing that you need to know.”
I sat back and crossed my arms. “What could possibly be worse than that?”
“I need to preface this by saying that I didn’t know. I swear to you, I didn’t know until it was too late.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Leo, just spit it out.”
He sighed. “When I turned Maria, when her heart began to slow to near death, hers wasn’t the only one.”
I crinkled my brow in confusion. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“She was pregnant, Karli. With Vance’s child.”
Twelve
I shot out of my chair and ran out of the room. “Leo, I have to go.”
He zoomed past me, stopping in front of me about half way down the hall. “My love, please let me explain.”
I shoved past him. “Leo, I don’t need any more explanations. This isn’t about you. I need to get to Vance.”
He put his hands on my shoulders. “My dear, please don’t. I don’t want you to leave like this. Please don’t leave like this.”
I shrugged him off and threw my hands up in the air. “Leo, unless you’re going to hold me here against my will, I’m leaving. My God, don’t you get it? Everything that he’s ever said or done that confused the hell out of me makes sense now! Christ, he knew I was coming here last night. And I’m still here. Who knows what he’s thinking about what happened between us! It’s got to be killing him!”
His body stiffened and his expression could have frosted the desert. As he stepped aside he said, “My apologies. It is obvious where your priorities lie.” He was forcefully projecting his emotions to me to avoid any confusion about how pissed off he was.
“Leo, don’t be mad,” I pleaded. “Please. This is just something I have to do.”
He stepped toward me and kissed me on the forehead. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Go take care of Vance. I trust you can let yourself out?”
“I----” He walked behind the library door and locked himself in before I could finish my sentence.
I banged on the door. “Leo, please open the door.” No response. “Leo, please answer me!” Still no answer. I reached out my feelers and could sense his anger, but it was mixed with a heavy dose of hurt. “Ugh! Fine, Leo, you’re mad. I get it. I’m sorry, but I have to go now. I’ll call you later, okay?”
Not able to wait any longer, I made my way down the hall and up the stairs. It took a little work but I finally managed to get the latch open so I could let myself out.
******
I drove fast and furiously to Henderson. The entire time I kept replaying every crazy conversation that Vance and I had ever had in which I thought he was being irrational or short-tempered. Now I knew the story behind his behavior. Now I knew that my actions probably triggered awful memories about Maria and Leo. I know I couldn’t have helped it since I had no idea what he had gone through before knowing me, but I felt guilty anyway. It was so clear now. I needed to make amends. I needed him to know how I felt about him. I needed to put his fears to rest once and for all.
I pulled into his driveway around noon. I walked up to his door preparing to ring the bell but he opened it before I had the chance. He looked confused. “Karli, what are you doing here?”
“I, um…I needed to see you. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
