Talisman 01 - The Emerald Talisman

head swam as I remembered back to that day. I’d poured my heart and soul into that letter never intending for him to read it. And now that he had, I felt violated.
    “Well, that’s a dirty trick,” I said, scowling at him.
    I turned away and crumpled up the note in my hand.
    “You didn’t want me to read it?” he said confused.
    “No.”
    “Then why is it addressed to me?”
    Even though he had a point, I hated that he justified his actions. How could he think I wanted him to read it?
    “I didn’t give it to you. You only got it because you were spying on me.” I clenched my jaw, completely mortified.
    He sat for a minute, his face hard like ice, insides full of frustration.
    “Fine,” he growled. “I knew I shouldn’t have done this. Today was a mistake.”
    “Yeah, you shouldn’t have after knowing how I felt about you.” Hot angry tears flowed over my cheeks. “Why would you want to tease me when you knew that this could never be?”
    “Because I’m selfish,” he said, raising his voice. “I was hoping it would make things easier.”
    “Well, I don’t know how you figured that!”
    “You have no idea what it’s been like for me the last ten years, Julia—watching you from afar and never able to even talk to you. It’s been a lot worse for me. For you, it’s only been a little over a week!”
    His angst hit me like a tidal wave causing my anger to subside. His admission left me confused and bewildered. I felt foolish for not seeing that his experience had been far worse than my own.
    “Oh,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
    We sat in silence while Nicholas fumed. I realized I really hurt him badly. I reached over to grab his hand. At first, he didn’t respond, but then he interlaced his fingers with mine and the tension between us melted.
    “I’m sorry,” I said, looking down feeling a little ashamed. “I wasn’t being fair.”
    “It’s fine. Like I said, I’ve accepted it.”
    He pulled up in front of my house and I felt a pit form in my stomach. As we sat for a minute, I tried to think of a way to prolong my exit when Nicholas spoke.
    “Before you go, we need to talk about Phil real quick.”
    “Oh,” I said, remembering Phil was the real reason for our tryst.
    “Do you have any idea what he’s going to do next?”
    “He still wants to talk to me.” I bit my lip, unsure if I should mention that small detail. “But I don’t know what about.”
    Nicholas kept quiet for a minute, his lips pursed together. I pictured Phil’s face the night before when he tried to coax me out of the car and my cheeks blushed in response. I knew partly what he was after, but I wasn’t going to mention it.
    Even though I longed to be with Nicholas, Phil’s attention flattered me. But the tug between the two made me feel like a stretched rubber band. On one side was Nicholas, the most amazing but unavailable guy because he killed a few vampires. And on the other, Phil, the incredibly hot, new, bloodsucking vampire, who wanted me and wasn’t afraid to show it. If something didn’t stop the tug-of-war with me in the middle, I was going to snap in two.
    “I’ve been thinking about this all day and I think I’ve got a solution to protect you.” Nicholas said, interrupting my thoughts.
    I focused on his vibrant eyes. “What?”
    “I want you to stay in your house at night.”
    I furrowed my brow in disbelief. Was he crazy? I just finished a stint of house arrest with my ankle and wasn’t about to do it again because some vampire wanted to talk to me. Especially when that vampire was Phil. No. Completely out of the question.
    “I can’t. What about my job?”
    “It’s just for now. Make up an excuse, quit, whatever you have to do. I’m serious about how dangerous these vamps are. Especially Phil. Your house is the only place I know he can’t penetrate, where you’ll be truly safe.”
    His brilliant solution infuriated me. Not only was he overreacting, but now he acted like a tyrannical parent.
    “No,” I said with folded arms. “I refuse to be cooped-up in my house.”
    Nicholas let out a huge frustrated sigh.
    “Julia, you need to listen to reason. I’m not doing this to be mean. Phil will stalk you.”
    “You think it’s reasonable to lock me up in my house? What are my dad and brother going to say? They’ll know something’s up.”
    “You’ll have to figure it out. I’m just saying I can’t always be there. You have to do this to protect yourself.