A/N: Yay for a quick update! I realized that if people voted against the lemon all they would do is not read it, so I went ahead and wrote it. It is called 'Mindblowing', it's posted now, and you should read it (but only if you are 18 haha). It is my first lemon so be sure to let me know if it's good or bad. I'm really curious to hear what people think.
To my amazing reviewers, EdwardAlways, Forever Your Angel, vampire's kisses 4 me, shimmershadow30, J.K. Meyer, JmacKarla: You guys are totally freaking sweet.
Chapter 8 recap:
The party started winding down and people were about to start heading back for bed. Before the first ones left Maggie moved to the center of the group.
She cleared her throat and began talking. "Before anyone leaves I just wanted to clear up a couple of things."
Chapter 9
Everyone turned to look at Maggie with varying degrees of shock on their faces. I saw Sharon's devious smile and knew that they were taking advantage of the current situation. They would never have a better opportunity.
I snatched Jared's hand and turned to face him. His eyes were half-lidded and he had a dopey smirk on his face. He was definitely wasted. I moved a hand to the side of his face to get his attention. "Jared, I need you to focus. Maggie is going to try to get her claws in tonight and you have to stop her," I whispered.
"Claws," Jared chuckled. "Is she a lobster?" I groaned.
I shot Wanda an urgent look, letting her know that she had to do the same with Ian. She got in his face and he quickly pulled her off of the ground into a passionate kiss. I could see her resolve crumble as she kissed him back. This was going to be harder than I thought.
I turned my attention back to Jared. I grabbed his chin and pulled his face within inches of mine. I gave the most intense look I could manage, hoping to convey the urgency of the situation. "Seriously. You need to concentrate. This is important."
He looked at me like I was speaking another language. "Wait, what's important?"
I sighed and knew he was a total loss. Wanda and Ian were still going at it in the back of the group. And Kyle seemed completely oblivious that anyone was even talking. This wasn't going to be pretty.
Jamie came and stood next to me, taking my hand. He smiled at me and I knew he would be on my side in this. As much as I hated to involve him in this, he was my only ally right now.
Everyone had congregated around Maggie and when I turned my attention to her she wore an expression of triumph. She thought this was going to be easy. I had news for her. Just because her three strongest opponents were currently in a drunken stupor didn't mean she was going to get this handed to her.
"I just wanted to say a few words about Jeb before everyone left," she said innocently, but I saw through her. This was just her jumping off point.
A few people visibly relaxed while I only tensed more. If I didn't know where this was heading I would have a harder time cutting her off.
She took a deep breath and made her best pained face. She was such a fraud. She hated Jeb for allowing Wanda and I to live when we first arrived. She would never forgive him for it no matter how much time had passed or even in death. I had a feeling that deep down she was happy that Jeb was gone. She saw his sympathy for souls as a cancer that had taken over the caves. And there were the only feelings that I had knowledge of; these were the feelings she'd been willing to share in front of the group. I could only imagine what she had wanted to say but never had.
I was fairly certain that Jeb's death had only made her more audacious in her accusations of wrong doing. She held no respect for the dead. I wanted to walk over to her and slap her for her blatant disregard for the man that was the only reason she was still alive. The only thing that stopped me was Jamie's hand tightening around my own. He must have seen the change in my expression and I was glad he stopped me from doing something I could regret.
Maggie began her deceitful eulogy. "Jeb was my brother. We didn't agree on anything and we rarely got along for more than ten minutes at a time. Despite this fact, I still loved him. He was a great man who knew what was happening long before the rest of us did. I realize now I never thanked him properly for convincing me there was something fishy going on." She paused now for dramatic effect, looking pointedly at Wanda and Sunny.
Wanda and Ian had finally managed to tear themselves away from each other and Ian's jaw tightened in anger. She rubbed his arm and whispered in his ear. Whatever she said seemed to calm him infinitesimally, thought he still glared at Maggie. I glanced to Sunny, tucked tightly into Kyle's side. Kyle was too inebriated to know what was going on around him and I was secretly thankful. There was no need for him to cause a scene.
Maggie continued. "I know that I am not the only one here that he saved from the certain death at the hands of those parasites." A few people nodded their heads in agreement. I couldn't believe they didn't see through her thinly veiled stab at Wanda and Sunny.
"So it seems only right, as repayment for his kindness to us that we carry on life as before. Never take life for granted. Appreciate everything he has given to us including these caves." A few people began murmuring as she paused again.
Here it comes, I thought. And I wasn't disappointed.
"It seems that in our grieving process we have allowed the caves to fall into disrepair. I know it has only been two days, but the jobs being left undone could cause more problems if they aren't taken care of sooner rather than later. So I ask all of you to please, if you have any respect for Jeb and all that he did to make sure we were safe here, start working again tomorrow."
I looked at her with wide eyes. So that was how she was going to play it. She was going to slowly and gradually assert herself as the person in charge. I had to say that plan was preferable to the one I had been expecting which would have resulted in a screaming fight with everyone taking a side. This was sneakier, well thought-out, something I should have seen coming. I kicked myself for underestimating Maggie. She was a lot smarter than I gave her credit for.
She started naming off tasks for people, going a step further than I expected. She assigned some people to weed on field, a few more to plant another. Every task she doled out wasn't far from that person's usual job so no one saw it as an issue. Until she came to her last assignment. "And if Wanderer and Sunlight Passing Through the Ice would please come see me tomorrow morning, I have a special assignment for you." I tensed. I hadn't expected Maggie to assign them anything, since that would have meant addressing them directly. She showed no uneasiness in speaking to them, although she did use their full names, once again driving home the point that they were not like us. As if we could forget.
I didn't know what her plan was, but I was sure that Wanda and Sunny would not be meeting with Maggie alone tomorrow.
"And now, it's very late. If we're going to get back to work tomorrow we should all get to bed."
A few people rolled their eyes but no one seemed as outraged as I was. I knew I should have spoken up but I had no idea what to say. Why did Jared have to get drunk? He always knew what to say in these situations and would have shot Maggie down before she even got started. Instead he stood next to me like he was senile. I was angry. Not at him, but at the situation. And a little bit at him for not thinking his wake idea though.
I sighed and took Jared's hand, keeping Jamie's in my other hand. "Let's go," I said urgently.
We were the first to leave as I led the way from the game room. We walked silently through the corridors, moving slowly as Jared seemed to stumble every few feet. We dropped Jamie at Aaron and Brandt's room. He gave me his best puppy dog eyes but I would not allow him in with us tonight. I wasn't sure how drunk Jared was, but I thought it was probably drunk enough that it was going to take some effort to keep his hands off of me.
We reached our room and I pushed past the screen, feeling him lean into me as he lost his balance slightly. I led him over to the bed and pushed him over with ease. He started laughing uncontrollably.
"You're hot when you're drunk Mel," he told me running his fingers though my hair.
I was annoyed with him now. "I'm not drunk," I informed him as I attempted to pull his feet from the ground so I could remove his shoes.
"Oh, well then you better not try to take advantage of me," he said with a smirk.
I couldn't help but laugh. The damage done tonight by Maggie wasn't irreversible, and Jared was kind of hot when he was drunk.
He deserved some kind of punishment for the extra stress I had endured due to his intoxicated state, though. I contemplated for a moment before a smile spread across my face. I hoped he woke up with one hell of a hangover.
A/N: Sunny's name is Sunlight Passing Through the Ice right? I'm not 100% sure and my book is loaned out right now so I can't check. If I'm wrong, let me know and I'll change it.
Review...please?
