Cut by Danielle Llanes Page A

mournful tune. The café was empty for the holiday. I looked around as I said,
    “He must have been her boyfriend.”
    “She called him by his name. How could she get wrapped up in a loser like that?” I shrugged, I couldn’t recall her talking about previous relationships. As far as I was concerned when I met her I was the first.
    “Didn’t you meet her when she was really young?”
    “Yeah, she was sixteen, her uncle had been tracking us for as long as I can remember. Octavius promised that we would play nice. That was until I met her. Things soured after her uncle’s death. She was sent packing and I followed.”
    “No wonder she went ape shit when you were fooling around on her.” I shook my head,
    “Things had ended. I wanted to marry her but she didn’t know what she wanted. I moved on but she never left. I’d come home and she was still there.”
    “Did you tell her it was over?”
    “Yeah, she didn’t take it well. Samara liked to be in control all the time. It made her angry when things didn’t go her way.” We grew silent as we drank our coffee, the saxophone player was talking to a couple of college girls. I thought about Ava and Nina now. I wondered if they had spilled what they had done with me. Or if they had bottled up what had occurred and chalked it up to a random encounter.
    “Who’s at your house now?” I cursed as I reached into my pocket and produced a few bills. Marc laughed as he said,
    “Did you forget about the girl?” I nodded as I headed for his car,
    “Would you mind giving me a ride home?”
    “Oh, I take it you forgot how to fly?” I laughed as I opened the door and got in. I didn’t know anyone knew that I could fly. It was a strange rumor that had started long ago.
    “Flapping your wings does not make you fly, Rent.” I glared at Marc as we headed Uptown. I could see the sun rising now,
    “You’ll have to stay at my house today.” He nodded as he sped up, without his sunscreen I would have to explain his burns to Octavius.
    I offered him my bedroom as he headed for the darkened room. Because he was still new to it all, when dawn came, he was exceptionally tired like a newborn. It would be impossible to wake him. I understood why fledglings never made it past the first century. Having been around so long it was easy to spot the newer ones. They could sit and fall into a deep sleep almost immediately.
    “Goodnight Marc.” I headed for her room as I pushed open the door. She was sitting on the edge of the bed now. She held a cup of hot tea as she looked up,
    “I heard you come in.”
    “It was a late night.” She nodded as she pushed her hair behind her ear,
    “I have tried to figure out why you were in the cemetery that night and the only thing I can guess is that you rob graves.” I burst out laughing as I shook my head,
    “It’s far from that.”
    “So tell me, why were you out there? I mean you don’t seem like the caped crusader type.” I looked down at the jeans and gray hoodie I wore now.
    “No, I’m not. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time.” She nodded as she took a sip of her tea. I noticed she had changed from her clothes into a nightgown that Meredith had sent over. With the gown, I could see how thin she truly was. She noticed I was staring as she reached for the covers.
    “I was just noticing how thin you were. Do you think you might be ill?”
    “No, I don’t think so. I mean I feel fine except for when I think of that night. I do think I might be hungry.”
    “You look like you haven’t eaten in ages.” She nodded as she looked down at her arms then felt her stomach.
    “I don’t know why I’m like this. I feel really tired too.”
    “I could have my friend look you over, he’s a doctor.” She set the mug down as she stopped then plucked it off the nightstand.
    “I feel badly for putting this on your furniture. I’ll take it back to the kitchen.” She began to stand when she stopped and sat back