“Whatever.” Trevor shook his head sending water spraying around him. “Like you could do better. You could never do a backflip without belly flopping.”
“So that’s my dare.” Jill snorted, knowing he was right. She never could do a damn backflip off the vine, but she was part vampire now and was going to make him eat his words while buying her dinner, even if it was a pack of crackers which seemed to be the only thing that didn’t make her nauseous. Feeling weaker by the minute, Jill knew she could pull this last feat off; she didn’t have a choice. For once and maybe the last time, she would beat her brother at the backflip contest. Anger and sadness pulsed through her, but she pushed it away.
“Oh, yeah.” Trevor huffed as he climbed up the incline toward her. “I can taste that steak and lobster tail bought with your money as we speak. I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving.” Jill snorted.
“And you’re stalling.” Trevor smirked at her. “Come on with your bad self. Show me what you got.”
Jill narrowed her eyes at him and backed up with the vine. Trevor had taken his jeans off and was in his boxers, but Jill kept hers on, stepping on the heavy soggy hems of her pants leg.
Stepping back far enough, her hands tightened, preparing for her final dismount from their trusted vine. With confidence, she glanced at her brother. “Prepare to lose.”
Her brother’s laughter made her even more determined. Once again, Jill swung over the ledge, letting go at the perfect moment. With everything she had, she put her body into not only one backflip, but two. Seeing the water coming up fast, she hoped she had enough for the second flip. Relief filled her when her feet hit the water first. She’d finally beat her ass of a brother in a backflip contest.
As her feet hit the soft moss-covered bottom, she again used her arms to remain submerged. Looking around the murky bottom, she flinched when a large catfish swam toward her to investigate. How cool was it to be able to stay under as long as she wanted, or at least longer than she had before she was a half-breed. Not wanting to freak her brother out too much, she bent her knees to push off, but a loud muffled noise reached her ears startling her. Before she could turn to see what it was and kick off the bottom, something grabbed her around the waist.
“What in the hell are you doing?” Slade’s angry voice boomed as soon as they broke the surface.
“A double backflip.” She held onto his shoulders. “Which I killed!” She shouted up at Trevor with triumph. Then it suddenly dawned on her who was holding her and who was surrounding her brother.
On the ledge were Trevor, Adam, Jax, Blaze and a wolf, who she assumed was Hunter, and the damn thing looked like he was grinning, staring down at her. Jill frowned, looking away from the wolf to Slade.
“What are you doing here?” She wiped at the water dripping into her face.
“You stole my car, dammit!” Adam yelled at her.
“Oh, chill out!” Jill yelled back, still looking at a very wet Slade. He did wet really well. “It’s in one piece as I’m sure you’ve already seen, and you weren’t going to use it anyway.”
“And you knew this because you asked?” Adam stomped toward the ledge, but stopped when loose dirt gave way. “No, you just hotwired it again and rode off without telling anyone. I swear if you mess up my ignition from hotwiring my car, you’re going to pay to have it fixed.”
Jill snickered. “What is it with him and that piece-of-crap car?”
Slade didn’t smile. A frown marred his handsome face.
“You look really sexy wet,” Jill whispered, giving him a half grin as she wrapped her legs around him, pressing their wet bodies together. Even though they were both fully clothed, he felt damn good. She never thought she would have Slade in her swimming hole.
“Your lips are turning blue.” Slade glared at her lips.
“Then warm them up.” Jill went in for the kiss, but his next words stopped her.
“You can’t be doing stuff like this, Jill.” Slade pulled his head back.
Hoping he wasn’t talking about what she thought he was talking about, she frowned. “Okay, I won’t hotwire Adam’s car anymore.” She went back in for the kiss, but he pulled his head further back.
“I don’t give a fuck about Adam’s car.” He growled with a hiss. “You need to take better care of yourself. Keep your strength up until I can fix....”
“Fix me?” Jill tilted her head looking at him. “You can’t fix everything, Slade. I’m dying. You said it, everyone sees it and I feel it. I’m not going to lie in a dark room waiting for death.”
“I never said you were dying.” Slade’s eyes shifted for a split second, but it was enough for Jill to see.
“When Hunter said he smelled death, you remained quiet. To me, that’s saying more than words ever could.” Jill looked toward the empty ledge; everyone had slipped away.