Apprentices: Waning Crescent

The Last Drop

Marcus doesn’t come to lunch. Or he maybe tries to avoid seeing me, like I’ve been doing for quite some time. I feel bad for having to hurt him like that. I was desperate, to be honest. I didn’t know what else to say to make him stop harassing me.

He just wouldn’t understand that it’s over between us! Maybe I could’ve been a little less harsh, but it was just so damn hard. He kept pressuring me into giving in and I don’t react well when someone tries to tell me how to live my life.

“Stop blaming yourself. He pushed you into a corner, I know you tried to take the high road. It’s not your fault he wouldn’t quit,” Katie tells me as we’re walking towards the cafeteria. I take a deep breath, nodding.

Then, I glance at her cautiously. “I know. But Jake’s going to hear my opinion about this,” I inform her as calmly as I can. She looks at me in surprise, then frowns.

She seems to be searching for words for a moment, before finally responding. “Why would you talk to Jake about this?” she wonders, seeming confused. I send her a meaningful gaze, making realization take over her face. “Oh. You don’t think …” she trails off, seeming like she’s feeling guilty.

“Sweetie, you’re making me worry about your memory. Your boyfriend heard what I told you this morning. Marcus is his beta and his best friend. Do you really think he didn’t at least hint at what’s going on in my life?” I murmur, raising an eyebrow. She frowns again.

“You’re right,” she realizes, then sighs. “I’m sorry, I really tried to warn you, but everything just burst out of you when I opened the door and I didn’t get the chance at all,” she apologizes, pulling her eyebrows even closer together.

I wave my hand at her dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. I did it to myself. And maybe I should’ve warned him to keep his mouth shut … Well, he’s going to hear about it now for sure,” I remark, trying to remind myself that I just mended things with him. We’re on the way to becoming friends again. So, I need to keep my cool.

I patiently wait for the boys to come to the cafeteria, but when they show up, half of them are missing. I don’t see Jake, Marcus or Gabe. I try to find out where they are, but the other three literally don’t say a word. I bet it’s some werewolf bro code. And by the way they look at me I can tell that they all know what I said to Marcus.

Great. Like I didn’t already feel like crap about it. I exchange looks with Katie and she stares at me like she’s trying to assure me that it’ll be fine. Yeah, right. I stiffen as Bubba sinks her claws into my leg, making me look at her and wonder what the hell got into her.

Once I glance into the direction she’s staring at, I realize why she reacted this way. I can see Sheila, watching me. But the moment she notices me turning my head towards her, she looks away. Huh. No challenging wiggling of eyebrows? No nasty glares? Not even some middle fingers for me? Well, that’s a new one.

I don’t see Marcus or Jake until late in the day. They come into the library. I see them both walking past the aisle where Katie and I are studying, with Gabriel slowly trailing behind them. I stiffen for a moment, then breathe out in relief as I realize they didn’t see us.

But I forget about one thing. The damn mate bond. Katie turns around the same moment as Jake stops in his tracks and goes backwards to glance straight at her. Then, he heads towards us and I sit there, hoping that Marcus won’t come along too.

I notice him peeking from behind the corner as he realizes Jake has stopped, but the moment our eyes meet, his face hardens. Then, he rushes forward, leaving poor Gabe standing there, not knowing what to do. Finally, he simply waves at me in greeting, before running after Marcus.

I wave back just in time for him to see me. In that moment, Jake already stops beside our table, greeting Katie with a loving embrace and a kiss on top of her head. I smile sadly. At least they get to be happy.

“Evelyn,” he then acknowledges my presence and I nod at him. “I suppose you want to talk to me,” he continues as he realizes I’m not saying anything. I already take a deep breath, but as I glance at Katie’s face, I see that she’s afraid I’m going to shout at him. No worries, dear, we’re in the library. I don’t want to get thrown out. Especially since I snuck Bubba in again.

Finally, I breathe out, nodding. “I know I didn’t specifically tell you to keep your mouth shut about what I blurted out in the morning … But did you really have to tell Marcus about it?” I ask him quietly, making him stiffen.

He takes a deep breath, then shakes his head. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. It’s not like I told him everything you said. I just hinted that you might have eyes on someone else. I didn’t realize he’d put two and two together,” he explains and I narrow my eyes at him.

“Come on, you know that he’s been in a bad place since our breakup. Why did you even have to say anything? Now look where we are,” I retort a little more sharply than I intended to. Jake presses his lips together, then crosses his arms against his chest.

“With all due respect, he’s my beta and my best friend. I’ll always be looking out for him. And I already warned him about how it might end, when things between you two started, but he refused to listen. He’s been obsessed with you for a long time,” he speaks up, almost making my jaw drop.

I have to force myself to remain calm and keep my tone down. Because I’m on the edge of yelling at him. Who the hell does he think he is to be telling me this? “You know what? All due respect, but Marcus knew what he was getting himself into. I told him that I’m not up for anything serious. And despite that, he screwed it up himself,” I grit through my teeth.

Jake already breathes in to defy me again, but Katie puts her hand on his crossed arms in a pleading way. “You guys … Please stop fighting,” she practically begs, glancing at me after she manages to catch his gaze.

Her grey eyes are screaming for peace, even if she spoke so quietly that I could barely hear her. I give her a short, but firm nod, then turn towards Jake again the same time he looks at me. He nods slowly.

“I know. I didn’t warn him because of you. I warned him because I knew he wasn’t ready to be with you the way you deserve,” he suddenly lets me know, leaving me speechless. Okay, now that was completely unexpected. “I just want what’s best for him,” he then adds.

But the longer I stare at him, the more something doesn’t give me peace. “Is that why you told him to reject his mate? Because you knew it wasn’t good for him?” I wonder, unable to keep my mouth shut.

By the look on Katie’s face I realize that this is news to her too. Jake raises his eyebrows in surprise, while my best friend keeps glancing between the two of us, trying to figure out what I’m talking about.

“She was human. Humans don’t last here. Deep down, you know it too,” he finally speaks up, making his mate gasp in shock. Well, it seems like he has some filling in to do. This time, I’m the one nodding. I know it very well. She’d probably end up in the vampires’ feeding room. Humans just can’t seem to resist the ecstasy that comes with their bite. I can’t even imagine how Marcus would take that.

“Yeah. I know you’re right. But it still destroyed his one chance of happiness. It led him to me. Did he tell you … Of course, he did. You’re his alpha,” I murmur, but Jake seems confused.

“Tell me what?” he wonders, sounding alerted. Could it be possible that Marcus didn’t reveal his biggest, deepest secrets to him? I thought these two shared everything.

I stare into his searching eyes for a moment longer, then breathe out slowly. “He saw me as the replacement for his mate. Even if we had no bond,” I reveal, seeing Katie cover her mouth with her hand, while Jake’s eyes seem like they’re going to bulge out. “You didn’t,” I realize, shaking my head in disbelief. Well, well. The one thing that Marcus didn’t think he could share with his beta.

He's staring at me without being able to get a single word out of his mouth. As he glances at Katie, they both share a pitiful look. And I know who it’s meant for. He needs them more than I do right now.

“Please, make sure that he’s alright. Help him get over me,” I ask Jake, as I realize he’s still speechless. He swallows nervously, looking like he can barely keep it together. He places a hand on Katie’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. Finally, he starts nodding so violently that it looks like his head is going to fall off.

He breathes in sharply, then gives me one last, slow nod. “I will do everything in my power, I promise,” he assures me. I offer him a grateful smile, but it doesn’t quite reach my eyes. I watch as he kisses Katie before leaving, then notice the way she stares after him longingly.

“You go too,” I tell her, making her turn towards me with her eyebrows raised. She starts shaking her head stubbornly, clearly wanting to stay on my good side. But she doesn’t realize how much I care about her happiness too. I’ve been making her choose between Jake and I lately. I can’t do that to her anymore. “Go, he needs you there. We’ll talk later. At dinner,” I encourage her furthermore.

She watches me cautiously for a few moments, before her expression turns into a worried one. “Are you going to be okay by yourself?” she asks, clearly feeling bad about having to leave my side. I nod calmly.

“Of course. Besides, I have Bubba to keep me company. And maybe … Maybe I’ll go check up on Cyrus if I don’t feel like studying anymore,” I let her know. She grows even more worried at those words, but she knows she can’t make up my mind.

She nods, then starts putting her things together. I watch as she shoves them into her bag and wait for her to get up. We smile at each other in greeting and I already mean to turn my gaze back to my books, when she walks over to me rapidly and squeezes me into a hug.

“I know you never thought of yourself as a good friend to me. But you’re the best friend I ever had. Just thought to let you know,” she murmurs somewhere close to my ear, leaving me completely speechless. As she pulls away, I’m watching her with wide eyes, while she’s still smiling. “Laters, Evy,” she greets me, making a smile appear on my face again.

It’s been a long time since someone used that nickname for me. Lately, I’ve been hearing a completely different one. The reminder makes the smile fade from my face. No, I’m not going to let him confuse me now. I’ll study some more and then … Maybe, just maybe, I might stop in his office before dinner. And hope that he’s not there as I put my things away.

I place my elbow onto the table, so I can lean my head onto my palm. But not even a few minutes pass, when I already start trembling. I put the hand down quickly, looking around myself like there could be someone watching me. Silly Evelyn. You’re sitting at the end of an aisle. No one is behind you.

I try to ignore the quenching feeling inside me, but then my other hand starts shaking too. The one that’s been resting on the table this whole time, not having to be used at all. I glance up, watching the other students as they study.

It’s okay, I can do this too. I’m fine. I can turn my gaze back to the books and study. I don’t need anything else right now. I’m full, I’m breathing, I drank water. But it’s already there. It’s gripping me around the neck, forcing me to rush to my room to rip that last bag of blood apart and pour it down my throat.

I close my book with such a bang, that it makes Beelzebub jump in surprise on my lap. I pet her, trying to get her to calm down. But even petting a cat turns out to be a little difficult when your hands are shaking. Let alone putting books into a bag.

Two minutes later, I’m already hiding Bubba under my top, rushing out of the library like my heels are on fire. I need just a sip. One little sip and I’ll be fine. I knew I should’ve drank it in the morning. Damn it!

As I try to unlock the door of my bedroom, my hands are trembling so violently, that I can barely put fit the key into the lock. Once I finally step in, I basically bang the door closed and let Beelzebub from under my top, letting her wander around the room freely, while I practically crawl to the minifridge, ready to tear it apart to open it.

I pull at the door with such force that the whole fridge sways violently, and I’m barely able to stop it from falling over with my trembling hands. I grab the last bag of blood, not even caring what I’m going to do tomorrow, when I’ll have no blood left to drink. I just need to quench this thirst. It feels like it’s killing me.

I gulp down the content in two minutes or even less. And then I sit there, leaning on the fridge, finally feeling at peace. This is literally the only thing that’s keeping me grounded in my life right now.

As I notice the way my cat is staring at me, it irritates me. She’s sitting on the desk, watching me with those big green eyes, full of disapproval. “What? You’d get it if you tried it,” I defend myself in a harsh tone, then sigh at myself. I’m arguing with a cat. Like she’ll talk back. I scoff, then glance at the empty bag, pouting. I’m still feeling a little thirsty. I think I’ll have to steal one from Cyrus’s fridge tonight.