Chapter Seven - Part One

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CHAPTER SEVEN

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While lives were short, time remained long in Harbor, and it continued to flow on. Weeks passed, but I heard nothing from Tidus. And no amount of pacing at night, or obsessively checking my phone during the day, could change that. But in the meantime, I had plenty of activities to keep me busy – such as learning more about my Leadership duties, or having Lucas teach me more about Samael Noble, and the history of the Garou.

I began to make more friends in Harbor, and even if a few frenemies still didn't think I belonged (such as the Elder, or Leader Devila), there were two people who always stood irresolutely in my corner. Addy – who I loved deeply for her tactlessness, and loyalty, and Ethan – who I still refused to forgive, no matter how closely the Champion's bond kept us shackled.

Everywhere, and always, did I feel Ethan Raines. He was like my mute and deaf ghost, my invisible companion. He was there in the back of my mind, even when I knew that we were miles apart. And however silent the two of us remained towards each other, our raw emotions were still exchanged between us on a regular. And the closer we were, the stronger the connection would become. But as more time passed, I successfully regained control of my mind, and eventually learned how to silence Ethan's half of our link. And after a while, it was almost as if I were back to normal again.

But despite my newfound ability, I still did my best to stonewall Ethan at every given opportunity. And though he was miserable for it, and suffered greatly, I was a bitch and refused to allow myself to care. I wasn't ready to give him a pardon just yet – I was still grieving for the part of me he had inexcusably stolen. And unfortunately, feeling his despair only added more fuel to that fire.

So in order to smother all of my guilt at hurting my own Champion, I spent more time with Addy, and ignored Ethan even more. I told Adelle everything about what had happened the night I met Claudia, and made her swear to give no mention of the details to Ethan. She balked at first, because she thought Tidus was dangerous and that the note somehow proved so, but all the same, she still remained closemouthed. And although I had my own suspicions that the stranger's note spoke indirectly of the Vampire Council, thoughts of them and the warning, began to slip to the back of my mind. And eventually, even the image of Tidus' face came less often, until one day it disappeared entirely.

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One morning, I was awakened by the extremely weak light of the sun, which spilled from windows that had just had their curtains ripped mercilessly open. With a groan, I flung a hand over my face, praying for the darkness to swallow me again, so that I could hide.

"Really, Adelle?" I grumbled, from beneath the luxury of my comforter. "What the hell time is it?"

"Noon – you slept the entire morning away, babe. "But it's time to get up and get dressed now. You've got shit to do today."

My response to her command, was a groan.

"So, in between all that partying and drinking we did last night, did you get any word from tall, pale and handsome?"

"You mean since the last time you asked me, eight hours ago? No." I said, sitting up grumpily, as Addy yanked the covers from the bed.

"Hey, be annoyed all you want, but I'm gonna continue to be a good friend. Besides, when Tidus finally snaps, and sheets of plastic wind up in your future, at least me and Ethan will have a clear conscience."

I flopped back into the pillow again, rubbing my face as Addy stared down at me expectantly.

"Why are you even talking to him?" I said. "You guys are supposed to despise each other, remember? That hate is cosmic, Addy – it keeps the universe from imploding. And I need that."

"I still think you should reconsider not telling anyone about Tidus and the note." Addy replied, tugging me by the hand until I was in a sitting position again. "I don't get it, you're a Leader now, babe; the Elder would have to back you up on this. And I bet the Leadership could totally kick Council ass –"

"No!" I said, lunging forward, and nearly falling from the bed in order to keep Addy from walking away. And she sat down, haughtily, on the edge of the bed, waiting for my explanation.

"Do you remember how you said the Supernaturals are on the edge of war? Well Addy, what do you think would really happen if we told the other Leaders about this? You do know this wouldn't be solved quietly, right?"

Addy sighed, and rolled her eyes dramatically, before giving a slow nod in resignation.

"I think that's why Tidus is keeping this from the Council – he and Claudia probably know what could happen if this were to get out. And that's why I wanna keep quiet about it for now too. Ok?"

"Oh, goshdamnit." Addy said, with a glare. "Alright fine, but that doesn't mean I trust them. I mean, since when do a Vampire and Witch work together anyway? It doesn't make any sense."

Addy looked to me pointedly, but I only shrugged in reply, leaving her to roll her eyes again.

"And what do you wanna do about Ethan?" she continued. "He already knows about part of this, or he thinks he does at least, and I'm pretty sure that if we don't give him something soon, he's gonna go to Charles."

"Yeah," I said, reluctantly. "You're right. Ok, um, how about this: as long as he swears not to tell the Elder, then we'll answer any questions Ethan has – we just won't volunteer information. And we won't mention the note either. I don't want him overreacting again."

"Well, the boy absolutely worships you, so I think he'll go for it. Seriously, I don't know if it had something to do with the whole 'soul-swapping' situation or not, but last weekend, I saw your boy at a church. He was serving food to the homeless – the homeless, Naomi. The old Ethan would have never been capable of that much generosity. Dude, you broke him!"

"Shutup, I did not." I snapped, climbing from the bed and walking to the closet. "I didn't do this to him, remember? It was the other way around. And who knows? Maybe this will actually be good for him. He's obviously a better person, right?"

"Then why are you still punishing him?" Adelle said gently, causing me to falter in my search for clothing.

"What do you mean?" I said lightly, clearing my throat, and resuming with my search.

"Well, don't get me wrong, but it just seems like when Ethan became your Champion... He got the best part of you, and you got the worst part of him."

"You think I'm a bad person?" I said quickly, feeling hurt, as I turned around.

"No! Of course not!" Addy said quickly. "Look, that was just my really bad way of saying that I don't want what Ethan did to change you too much. And holding a grudge like this... I just don't think it's good for either of you. But not that I don't totally get you for holding the grudge – because to tell you the truth, I'm still pretty upset about how Ethan treated me that night too..."

"Addy, what are you talking about?" I asked with a scoff.

"Well, after we left you with Tidus that night, Lover Boy drove me straight to his house, and then refused to take me home. I had to wait on the lawn and call a cab. Ugh, I could have killed him..."

"Maybe that's what you get for letting Ethan dress up and play superhero." I suggested. "Besides, you don't really want people to see you hanging around the town's biggest player, do you? What would poor Collin think?"

"Hmm, love advice from the girl who almost banged a dead boy? Twice? Yup, that's advice I'm itching to follow."

"Not funny, Addy." I replied sternly

"Really? Cuz' I thought so..." Adelle replied, reaching down and pulling a card from within the purse at her feet.

"Anywho, this is for you." she said, and tossed me the card. "I was so excited I wanted to give it to you in person!"

"What is it?" I asked, turning over the small envelope between my fingers. On the front, in large, silver script, two words were embossed.

You're invited...

"An official invitation to your cotillion next month." Addy replied proudly. "Today, I finally came up with a design scheme for them that your mother didn't totally hate..."

I slid my finger beneath the envelope's tab and opened it to reveal the thick, white card inside, which described (in more silver script) that the cotillion was being held to celebrate my acceptance into the Garou and the Leadership. I turned the heavy card around and around in my hands, contemplating its suddenly sinister implications.

"Why is Paris helping you create invites for the cotillion? The woman practically tried to drive me out of town a few months ago."

"I don't know. And I've only been on the party planning committee for a few months, but when I first joined, Paris never came to the meetings. And now, now she shows all the time."

"Well, your mom is the President of the committee, right? And our moms are still pretty good friends right? So maybe Carolyn invited her?"

But Addy shook her head dubiously.

"Ever since your dad's funeral, Paris acts like she doesn't even know my mom. And they don't ever talk at the meetings, so I'm just having a hard time believing that my mom would go out of her way to ask Paris to be there."

"So Paris is doing this on her own then. Weird." I said, suddenly thinking of the lawsuit. "But maybe she's really doing it to gather evidence for her lawsuit."