Chapter 279

Tessa’s POV

I couldn’t get to the phone fast enough. As soon as it was in my hand, I pressed the unmute button and put the phone to my cheek. I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous; my last talk with Ruby before she left for the academy was fine. She felt remorseful for trying to kill me and I didn’t hold it against her.

She wasn’t mad at me for keeping this stuff from her, at least I don’t think she was. I knew she was a little hurt over the entire situation, but I couldn’t blame her for that either. I would have been hurt too if roles were reversed.

“Ruby?” I finally said after a moment of pause.

“Tessa?” She asked on the other end and my heart immediately swelled from her voice.

She sounded so normal and unlike the girl who had just woken up after being dead. I wanted to burst into tears from the relief I felt, but I bit my cheek and kept myself calm. The last thing she needed right now was for me to lose my shit while on the phone with her.

“Hey,” I said, trying to sound as normal as possible. “How are you feeling?”

“Honestly?” She asked, surprising me.

“Of course,” I answered.

“Better than I had in a while,” she admitted, much to my utter shock.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes,” she confessed. “I feel stronger, and everything is heightened. I can see better, I can hear for miles, I can smell literally everything. Being a vampire is so weird. I never thought any of this stuff was possible, but here I am. Living a vampire life and it’s surreal.”

“But you’re enjoying it?” I asked, a bit skeptical.

“Oddly enough, yes,” she admitted. “I didn’t think I would. The first night I woke up and…” her voice trailed off as the memory came back to her. I winced at the thought because I knew she was thinking about the night she almost killed me. “Well, you know…” she said sheepishly. “I thought that was it for me. I thought I was going to live a life of severe hunger and bloodlust. I thought I wouldn’t want anything else other than to kill people and drink blood. But after Bernard gave me the blood bags and I drained those animals, I started to see things more clearly. I started to feel better. Now that I’m at this academy, I feel like I can finally breathe.”

I sighed, relieved to hear my best friend say this.

“I’m so glad, Ruby. Joseph told me that your advisor is singing your praises.”

“My advisor is so nice,” she said with a lighthearted laugh. “She’s been teaching me a lot these last few days.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said, and I felt a heaviness in my chest that I wasn’t expecting.

“I miss you,” she said as if she could read my mind.

“I miss you so much,” I confessed. “I’m really sorry about all of this.”

“About what?” She asked.

“Not telling you the truth,” I told her.

She was quiet for a moment and then I heard her light sighing.

“This is weird for me to say,” she said, her voice low like she was afraid someone might overhear her. “But humans can’t know about us, Tessa. I understand that now more than ever. They would never understand, and they would never accept us. My advisor had told me this and I got it. I don’t think I would have fully understood. Hell, Carter tried to tell me, and I thought he was joking. I thought he was insane for even coming up with such an elaborate lie. I don’t blame you for not telling me.”

“There’s something else you need to know,” I told her, biting my lower lip as I met Joseph’s eyes.

His brows furrowed like he was trying to figure out what I was thinking.

“What is it?” She asked, a bit hesitant.

“A couple of months ago… I got hurt,” I told her softly. “I lost a lot of blood during an attack and—”

“And I gave you some of my blood so you wouldn’t die,” Ruby surprised me by finishing for me.

I froze.

“Yes, how did you remember that?”

“My memories came back when I turned into a vampire,” she admitted simply. “I remember everything, and I know my memories were wiped. I remembered my connection with Carter from before and I remembered how upset he was that the decision to wipe my memories was made. I also know the reason he ghosted me wasn’t because he didn’t love me. It was because he did love me and he wanted better for me. He didn’t want me to be in danger and being with him would have put me in danger. But I guess now that I’m a vampire, that doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I’m so sorry, Ruby,” I said, tears quickly filling my eyes.

“Don’t be,” she said softly. “I would have done the same thing. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the one who’s sorry. I’m sorry for almost killing you. I’m sorry for being so mad at you a few weeks ago when you disappeared. I still don’t know what happened there, but I imagine it’s related to all of this.”

“It is,” I told her quickly. “We told you that I’m kind of… uh… special, right?”

“You mean that you are some kind of badass witch, yes,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

I laughed.

“I wouldn’t say a badass, but yes, I am a witch,” I confessed. “There’s a lot I’m trying to figure out and I even found a witch mentor to help me train my abilities. But I guess my mother’s coven has been after me for a long time. The problem is my mother put a parental block spell on me when I was born. Without my father’s given consent, the coven isn’t allowed to take me away.”

“Like a security feature?” She asked.

“Yes, exactly,” I told her. “I’m not exactly sure what would happen if they were to try, but I guess they aren’t stupid enough to do so because they haven’t. But the day after graduation, I guess my father was desperate to keep me away from Joseph. Or something like that. I’m not entirely sure what provoked him to give them consent, but he did, and I didn’t know about it.”

She gasped.

“They took you?” She guessed.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “They took me and brought me to the coven. They put a spell on me or a barrier around the coven so I couldn’t leave. I found out that Joseph was shot with a silver bullet during that time, and he wasn’t able to come for me because he was practically dead.”

She gasped again and I could hear a sob escaping her lips.

“It was really bad, Ruby. During those couple of weeks, I thought I had lost him. I thought my world had crumbled around me. I drowned myself in my training. Then an owl came to me through my window and brought me a note.”

“A carrier owl?” She breathed.

“Yes, you’ve heard of them?” I asked, surprised.

“It was mentioned around here a couple of times that it’s an officiant way of communication. Phones aren’t really allowed here, so some new vampires use owls to communicate with loved ones so they know that they are okay. It’s also not really allowed, but it’s looked the other way.”

I raised my brows and looked at Joseph, I knew he could hear this entire conversation and he shrugged at the mention of the owls. I knew from his face though that he knew exactly what Ruby was talking about.

I smirked at him and he crinkled his nose in response, making me chuckle.

“What?” Ruby asked.

I shook my head.

“Nothing,” I told her. “Joseph just basically confirmed that.”

“Ah,” she said, chuckling as well. “Is Carter with you too?”

“No, we are in New York actually,” I told her.

“Oh,” she said, and I could hear the disappointment in her voice. “He hadn’t tried to call me, but he’s probably assuming I wouldn’t be able to talk to him.”

“I’ll let him know that you are able to communicate,” I assured her. “I’m sure it’s just because phones aren’t typically allowed, and he doesn’t want to bother the Elders at the school.”

“Probably,” she agreed. “So, that’s where you’ve been for the last couple of weeks? Trapped in a coven?”

“Pretty much,” I told her. “That letter I got from the owl was from Joseph and that’s how I knew he was still alive, and he was coming to rescue me.”

“And he did,” she breathed; it wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “Then, he took me to my father, and he revoked the granted permission he initially gave the coven and now they aren’t allowed to take me away. But that doesn’t mean they won’t try to come after me. We left the town and returned to the city.”

“And then you came to see me,” she whispered.

“And then I came to see you,” I confirmed.

“And I was awful to you…”

“It’s okay,” I said quickly. “I get it; I would have been mad too. I never wanted to worry you, Ruby, and I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she said, and I knew she was crying from her tone. “I’m just glad you are okay.”

“I’m glad you’re okay too. I thought I lost you twice,” I whispered. “The first time I thought I lost you as a friend, and the second time I thought I lost you as a person. You almost died.”

“I did die,” she told me. “But I was saved and I’m not going to take that for granted.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but she spoke again.

“Tessa, they are telling me I have to go. If others see me using a phone, they will get jealous and cause a scene. Our lunch hour is almost over,” she told me and then laughed humorlessly. “It’s weird having lunch at midnight, but I guess that’s my new normal.”

I looked at the clock and sure enough, it was past midnight.

“Wow, I didn’t realize how late it was,” I said softly. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay; I wanted to talk to you,” she told me cheerfully. “And we will talk again soon. I have your number so when they let me use the phone, I’ll make sure to call you.”

“That would be nice,” I admitted.

“I love you,” she said sweetly.

“I love you too, Ruby,” I said in return.

On that note, the line went dead, and I sighed, looking at Joseph through my tear-filled eyes.

“Better?” He asked, breaking through the silence.

I smiled at him and to answer his question, I lunged in his direction and attacked him with my lips.