Chapter Eighteen

~ Remy ~

I glanced at the clock on the wall and then made a decision. "Vanya, I need to make a phone call. I"ll be in the common area."

I wish it was the common area for the campground, but it wasn"t. We had just gotten done packing and the guys were now loading everything into the trucks.

It had taken less time to pack than it had to deal with all the students coming to our door to ask what had happened. Apparently, having SWAT called on us was big news around campus.

The day had seemed to drag on, but that was due to all the interruptions, including being called to the dean"s office to explain our part in what happened. We had taken time after that to go to the admissions" office and officially withdraw from school.

I"m sure the dean was thrilled.

I walked out of my dorm room and went to the common area, finding a corner that was quiet enough for my conversation. I didn"t really want to make this phone call, but I knew I needed to before my parents found out I had dropped out of school from someone else.

They would not be happy.

I pulled my cell phone and dialed their number, and then waited for someone to answer my call. The time difference should put them around breakfast.

"Remington, what"s wrong?" my mother asked as soon as she answered.

"Nothing is wrong, Mom."

"You never call unless something is wrong."

That wasn"t true. They just never heard what I had to say unless something was wrong. "Nothing is wrong, Mom. I promise. I just wanted to let you know that I"m going to take a term off from school."

"Oh."

"I promise I"ll go back as soon as I can." Little white lie there. "I just need to take a break."

"Well, of course, dear. If medical school is too hard, you could always—"

I groaned as my mother started in on me about switching from going to school to be a doctor to wanting to be an archeologist or anthropologist. Neither of them understood that I wanted a career where I"d be in the same place for years instead of globetrotting around the world.

"I just need a little break."

"Do you know what you are going to do?" my mother asked. "You could come visit your father and me. We"re on this dig of a Late Cycladic settlement of Akrotiri, located on the island of Santorini. It"s truly fascinating. Did you know—?"

"Mom." I had to stop her before she got going. She could talk about this stuff for hours, maybe days. "For now, I"m going camping with some friends. I"ll call you once that"s over and we can decide from there."

"Oh, camping. Did I tell you about the time your father and I spent three months camping at the Philae Temple in Aswan?"

I smiled. Not only had she told me, but I had seen the pictures and read the article her and my father had written for the International Journal of Historical Archaeology.

"Yes, Mom. I"m sure my trip won"t be that exciting, but you never know."

"No, I suppose not, dear." My mother sighed. "Do you need any money? Trips like this are not cheap."

"No, I—"

"I"ll have your father drop a little spending money in your account just in case."

I contained my groan. While I had wanted to borrow a little money from my parents, I hadn"t worked up the nerve to ask them, not yet. Maybe her offering was better.

"Thank you, Mom."

One of these days, they would not throw money at me to keep themselves feeling like good parents.

"I"d better go, dear. Your father is waiting for me."

"Okay. I love you, Mom. Have fun at your dig."

"You, too, dear. Love you."

And the conversation was over.

I shook my head as I hung up the phone and slid it back into my pocket. My parents would never change, and in this instance that might be a good thing. For once, I was glad they were so hands off. If they hovered over me like I"d seen other parents do, this conversation could have gone a lot differently.

My phone dinged before I made it back to my dorm room. I pulled it out and checked my messages.

My jaw dropped.

I gripped my cell phone tightly in my hand as I ran back to my dorm room. Vanya spun around when I slammed the door open and ran into the room.

"What"s wrong?"

"I just got off the phone with my mom. I called to tell that her I was taking the term off."

Vanya frowned. "Did she yell at you?"

"No." I held up my cell phone. "She sent me twenty-five thousand dollars."

"I"m sorry, what?"

"I told her I was going camping with some friends and she was worried that I wouldn"t have everything I needed so she said she would send me some money. She sent me twenty-five thousand dollars."

Vanya"s eyebrows lifted nearly to his hairline. "Your parents have that kind of money?"

"They both come from money and they are tops in their individual fields, so yeah."

Archeology and anthropology didn"t usually make a lot of money when people first started out, but my parents had been at this for decades. They"d made some earth-shattering discoveries in the field of archeology. They had written numerous papers and books on the subject, and been on a ton of talk shows and documentaries.

That all equaled money.

"So." I wagged my eyebrows. "You think this can help us at the camp?"

"Remy, your parents meant that money for you."

"Us," I corrected. "I told her I was going camping with friends, which is probably why she sent me so much money. We"re probably going to be up there awhile, maybe even through winter. I want us to be prepared."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "I"m sure."

"Well, there are a few things we could use."

"Make a list," I said. "We can pick it up on our way out of town, which I hope will happen soon."

I didn"t want to be here any longer than we had to be.

"We already got all the boxes downstairs in the trucks," Yeri stated. "All we need to do now is turn in our keys and then get the hell out of here."

I dug my dorm room key out of my pocket and jangled it. "I"m ready when you are."

Yeri snorted. "I"m more than ready."

"You two should do a quick run through to make sure we didn"t miss anything," Vanya said.

Not a bad idea.

Yeri and I went into the dorm room we had shared for the last couple of years. A sense of sadness entered me for a moment. This room wasn"t much, but it had been home for the last couple of years. As much as I was excited to see where life would take me, I was kind of sad to leave it.

"Anything?" I asked when Yeri stopped in front of me.

Yeri shook his head. "I think we got everything."

"Let"s hope."

I wasn"t sure I was coming back.

Staying with Vanya was sounding more and more like a good idea. Not that the man had offered, but I had hope that he would. Whatever this thing was that was going on between the two of us, it was more than a green glowing meteor.

I didn"t know if Vanya felt the same way, but the way he kept me close to his side and always protected me said he did.

Or was that the wolf?

I glanced at Vanya and then sucked in my bottom lip, nervously chewing on it. I wanted to ask, but at the same time I didn"t. I wasn"t sure I wanted to hear the answer.

He frowned as he looked at me. "Did we miss something?"

"No, we got everything."

"Then what"s wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. I was just thinking of something."

"You don"t have to leave if you don"t want to, Remy. Everyone gets to make that decision."

"Leaving here is not the issue."

Vanya moved in closer, his hand coming up to cup the side of my face. "Then what"s wrong?"

"Can I tell you later?" I wasn"t ready to talk about it yet, but I doubted Vanya was going to let this go.

Vanya looked as if he really wanted to continue the conversation, but he nodded instead and said, "Sure."

"It"s nothing bad." I hoped it wasn"t bad. "Just some things on my mind."

"Okay." Vanya pressed a quick kiss to my lips before smiling at me. "You don"t have to talk about it if you don"t want to, but if you do, I am always here to listen."

That was part of the problem. I didn"t know if he would always be here. If this thing was only temporary, would Vanya leave me if we both turned back into full humans or would he stick around?

Was he only with me because I smelled good?

I wasn"t sure I wanted to know.

I sighed as I followed Vanya out of the dorm room. Yeri and I handed our keys into the resident aid and then headed outside into the afternoon sunshine.

I was in no way surprised when Yeri climbed into the truck with Hudson, leaving me to ride with Vanya. There was something going on between the two of them and I suspected it was the same thing that was going on between me and Vanya and maybe Carmine and Akio, although I wasn"t sure about those two.

The trip out of town took a little longer than I would have like, but only because we stopped to pick up Carmine"s stuff. After that, we stopped at a few places and picked up supplies. I wasn"t sure what some of the stuff was or why we would even need it, but apparently, Vanya did and he had plans.

As long as the toilet flushed, I didn"t care.

When we were finally headed out of town, I stared out the passenger side window and watched the countryside pass us by. My mind felt heavy from all the things floating through it and I didn"t like it. I was tired, exhausted really, and my skin felt prickly.

I don"t think that was a good thing.

"Hey."

I turned my head and looked at Vanya.

"Why are you sitting all the way over there?" Vanya gestured toward the seat with his head. "There"s a middle seatbelt."

"I"m good," said before going back to looking out the window.

I let out a cry and caught my hand on the dashboard as the truck suddenly screeched to a halt on the side of the road. A moment later, my eyes rounded when Vanya reached over, unbuckled me, and pulled me across the bench seat to the spot next to him.

He even buckled my seatbelt for me.

There was something dark and predatory in his eyes when he grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. "Your spot is next to me."

My eyes narrowed. "Since when?" If he wanted to have this out right here on the side of the road, I would oblige him. "You"ve never even given me the time of day before that stupid meteor changed us. Why now?"

Vanya let out a heavy sigh before releasing my face and turning to stare out the front window. "I"ve always been attracted to you, Remy, but I don"t know if I would have acted upon it if this hadn"t happened to us."

I gasp at the dagger like pain I felt in my chest. So, it was like I thought. If we hadn"t been changed, he never would have touched me.

"I can"t say I wouldn"t have either."

What?

I wasn"t reassured by the grimace on Vanya"s face when he turned to look at me. "You have to understand, you are ten years younger than me."

I wasn"t sure what that had to do with anything. I was a legal adult, able to make adult choices.

"And I was in the service."

My eyebrows snapped together. I wasn"t sure if it came from anger or confusion. "I know that."

"Being in Marine Force Recon is dangerous, Remy. As much as we train and as good as we are, there is a danger of us losing our lives on every mission. I refuse to leave someone behind to grieve for me."

Okay, that might be a little more understandable.

"But I feel like what happened to us was a blessing."

My jaw dropped. Okay, that one surprised me, shocked me really. "You..." Yeah, I had nothing.

"I"m no longer in the service so I won"t be leaving anyone behind and because of what happened I was able to get over whatever doubts I had about being with you."

I swallowed tightly. "And if this thing is only temporary? If it fades away? What then?"

"Too late." Vanya grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss against my skin. "You"re already mine and I"m keeping you."

"You mean that?" I whispered, afraid to speak louder and shatter whatever dream world I was in.

"Yeah," Vanya replied. "I mean, if that"s what you want."

Oh, it was.

"Yes." I nodded even as tears flooded my ears. "I want that very much."

Nothing on earth could have kept me from kissing Vanya after that statement...except Hudson knocking on the window.

Way to ruin the moment.

I was going to strangle the guy.

I heard a small growl come from Vanya as he rolled down the window. "What"s up?"

"You guys have been sitting here for like ten minutes," Hudson replied. "I just wanted to make sure everything is okay."

Vanya glanced at me and then gave me that smile I"d only seen a few times before, the one that said I was the center of his world. "Everything is just how it should be."