Free Tainted Blood by Joann I. Martin Sowles

door. I’m sure it helped that Isaac had thrown in some information about knowing a little martial arts.
    Kiera shrugged it all off, and those of us who were suddenly aware that Ashton knew too much exchanged knowing glances around the room. Except Oliver, he and Hayden were having a quiet, yet heated, conversation back over by the party chair. I don’t know if she’d stopped him from doing something stupid or if it wasn’t related at all but I didn’t care because right then my brain was too preoccupied with wondering what Ashton knew.
    That’s when Kiera handed me a slice of cake. The smell hit me again, and I thought I was going to regurgitate my cheese and crackers right there at my own party. Zoey rushed me to the bathroom, and I rinsed my face with cool water until the nausea passed. Zoey rubbed my back while I waited, hunched over the sink.
    Once the feeling that I was going to hurl was gone, we expressed our concerns about Ashton, and what he might know. Carter tapped on the bathroom door and asked if I was okay. Zoey peeked out, and after surveying the room, she opened the door and jerked Carter inside, closing it behind him. This wasn’t going to look good when we left…
    We rushed through every scenario we could possibly think of and came to the conclusion that the mind-wipe thing Felix had done hadn’t held on Ashton. Or, that maybe it had never worked to begin with. Carter agreed that he’d be the one to call Felix to talk to him about Ashton, and then we tried to leave the bathroom as casually as possible.
    Only Hayden seemed to notice our less than stealthy exit. Kiera was too busy cleaning up leftover cake and getting it into the freezer before it melted to notice anything.
    We’d just started helping clean up the party mess when Oliver came into the kitchen and slipped his arms around me from behind and very sweetly said to Kiera, “If you don’t mind, I’m going to steal the birthday girl now.”
    Kiera smiled at us and told us good night.
    I told everyone good-bye, gave hugs, and said my thank yous and also made plans to have lunch with Zoey sometime the following week.
    Oliver ushered me out of the apartment and led me down the path to his place. “What are we doing?” I asked, suddenly feeling all bubbly with excitement.
    “The birthday celebrations continue,” he said as he opened the door to his apartment.
    The room was lit only by candlelight and the table was set for two with a dozen red roses placed in the center. Shadows of the flames danced on every wall of the apartment. Even Oliver’s room was alive with candlelight. I felt a chill of excitement rush through me as I entered. I took in the whole place and felt myself smile wide. I noticed a small silver box sitting on the dining table, and more than anything, I wanted to know what was inside that box. But I kept going past it and peeked in his bedroom. Oliver took my hand, slipping his cool fingers between mine and led me away from his room.
    “Later,” he whispered against my neck as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. I felt more good chills run through me. I turned in his arms and noticed his glasses were finally gone. I smiled up at him and said, “You’ve outdone yourself.”
    The smile he gave in return was one of the best I’d ever seen. Then he said, “The night’s still young.” He kissed me long and slow, and that familiar hum stirred inside.
    When he pulled out of the kiss, he told me to wait where I was, and he went into his room for a moment. Music began playing softly from his bedroom, and my heart was melting over all that he’d done to make my day special. First, trying to make me breakfast in bed. Granted, he’d failed, but it was the thought. Next, he’d spent the entire day with my bossy little friend to help get my party ready. Now, there was this.
    I took in the dancing candlelight again. I felt so warm and happy inside. Even though it started out on a weird note, and I’d missed Lilly