Staying clear of the oncoming traffic, our small group huddled around itself. I didn’t say a word as I stared each of the boys down. They could hardly meet my glare. When I looked at Thayde, he shook his head.
“I can’t tell you, Morgan.”
Flynn threw his hands into the air. “You might as well now, Thayde. She’s going to keep at it until she knows. All she has to do is read our minds and how long do you think it will take until she does that?”
In an instant, Thayde had Flynn by the shoulder. “Don’t forget your place, Flynn.”
Flynn bristled. “She’s the ruler of your species, not mine.”
Shifting his feet, Gavran shook his head at his brother. “Let’s try and be respectful of each other.”
My thoughts whirled. Mom’s voice from my first days as a mermaid made its way to the forefront of my mind. It all became obvious as I looked Flynn up and down, my voice monotone.
“You’re a vampire,” I stated.
CHAPTER SEVEN
FLYNN
“Welcome to Pizza Hut! Can I take your order? Ya’ll want a personal pan pizza?”
The cheeriness of the waitress was more than any of us could stand. Flynn gave her the death stare as Gavran rolled a paper napkin in between his fingers.
“Water, please.” I ordered and her smile fell.
“Ya’ll don’t want anything else?”
“Not right now,” I paused, reading her nametag, “Tiffany.”
She rolled her eyes and puffed her cheeks out as she turned to leave.
“I’ll take a beer,” Gavran called and she turned on her heel facing him.
“You got it?” The pen twiddled quickly in her hand.
“No, but considering the fact that all we’re ordering is water, don’t you think you’re chances of getting a tip increase greatly if you just get me one?” Gavran looked exhausted.
Tiffany thought about it for a second before leaving to get Gavran his beer. I turned my attention back to the group.
“So here we are, in the great halls of Pizza Hut. Do you mind me asking why we are here and not some place private?”
“No one comes here,” Flynn mumbled, as I scanned the empty restaurant. “It’s safe.”
“Safe?”
“You have no idea, do you?”
“She will. All she has to do is access that part and she will know everything.” Thayde ran his hand along the surface of the maple colored table.
“Are there many of you?” I asked, curious as to why Flynn hadn’t ‘come out’ sooner.
Flynn smirked. “No. We’re not like merpeople.”
“Why do you hate me?”
His eyes dropped and he thumbed a nick in the table. “I don’t hate you. I just don’t like you.”
“Why? I didn’t do anything to you.”
He mulled his answer over before looking me in the eyes. “I think you’re too young to be the ruler of your species. You are quick to jump into situations. You don’t ask before you make a decision – just like you did with Gavran. I think you could do your species a lot of good, but you’re too rash to survive long enough to do much of anything. You have no patience.”
His answer punched through to my heart. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. Thayde had been telling me the same thing the whole time we had been together. If he wasn’t the only person who could see it, it must be true.
Tiffany returned with our water and Gavran’s beer. He downed nearly all of it before she had finished placing the drinks on the table. When we were alone again, I spoke.
“You’re right,” I admitted, commanding their full attention. “I am too young, but I didn’t ask for this. I jump into my decisions because I am eager to help others and solve situations right away. Sometimes, the best answer is to leave the problem alone to take care of itself. I realize I have to learn to ask before I infringe on someone’s basic rights.”
I paused, trying to phrase my words the best way I could. “I want what is best for everyone and what I want is not necessarily what everyone else wants. It’s hard for me to think that a person might be happy being paralyzed or blind because I couldn’t imagine being so. That’s my fault. I’m learning that as I go. But you – why do you care so much about any of this? You don’t have anything to do with our species.”
“We are all connected.” Flynn took a sip of his water making me nearly choke on mine.
“How can you drink water?”
“Like you do,”
“Don’t vampires drink human blood?” I asked and his grin made me shiver.
“Of course, but it’s not Human blood vampires crave.”