Blood Haze Read Online Free PDF Page B

her heart began to pound at his hesitant words. Ara… we need to talk . Those five words,
said so ominously, hit her in the gut. She tried to reach him, but the call
when straight to his voicemail.
    She
heaved a sigh of relief as she stepped through the old, oak doors of the Night
Owl Nightclub, with just minutes to spare. The sooner she got through the set,
the sooner she could try to catch up with Drew. His call had unnerved her. He’d
been her rock and stabilizer for so long, she didn’t know what she’d do if… she
didn’t even want to consider not having him in her life.
    She
saw Karmyl sitting at the bar, leaning forward, talking to Tobias. Karmyl was
dressed in a stunning red dress which went surprisingly well with her red hair.
She was an amazingly beautiful woman. Now that she’d met him, Arabella could
see the startling similarity between Karmyl and her brother.
    “About
time you got here,” Karmyl said with a raised eyebrow.
    “What?
I’m right on time,” Arabella replied distractedly.
    Glancing
at her watch, Karmyl said, “Well, it’s about that time. Tom’s already on the stage. Come see me before you go,
okay?”
    “Okay.”
Arabella groaned to herself, Not tonight .
She knew Karmyl would have been told about what had happened in the club the
night before.
    She
went into her small dressing room and stowed away her purse and wrap before
heading back out. She’d just turned when her cellphone’s familiar ringtone
played. Knowing she’d be late, she dove for it anyway and dug it quickly out of
her purse. Drew !
    “Drew,
hey, it’s me,” she said quickly, afraid he’d hang up.
    Silence
filled the other end.
    “Drew?”
    “Ara…
I… you… I don’t know… about what you asked me last night. I… I think we need a
break,” he said quietly.
    Her
chest burned. “Drew,” she whispered, more scared than she’d ever remembered
being… more alone than she ever remembered being.
    “I’m
sorry. I should have said something last night when you asked me. But I… I
didn’t want to hurt you… I still don’t.”
    Her
throat felt like a boulder had been lodged there. “Is it because of last night?
About the glimpsing?”
    He
sighed heavily. “Its… it’s a lot of things, Ara. We’ve just been together so
long. I don’t know… its stifling sometimes. Half the time, I already feel like
a husband to you and a father to Ian. I… just… need a break.”
    When
she didn’t answer… couldn’t answer, he continued, “Ara, I… I’m tired of scenes
like we had last night. I thought I could handle it, but I just can’t. It was
one thing when we were kids, but now, well now, I need to build a life for
myself. Things like last night… well, they could impact my future.”
    I thought it was our
future , she thought. Swallowing hard, she nodded, even though
she knew he couldn’t see her. Finally, needing to get off the phone before she
embarrassed herself by begging him to stay, she cleared her throat, and said,
“I understand.” Clearing her throat once more, she said in a rush, “Listen, I’m
late for the stage. We’ll… um… we’ll talk soon, okay?”
    “Ara…”
he began.
    “I’ve
got to go. Bye,” she said quickly and hung up as fast as she could. A cold
stone settled in her chest. When all the wicked twists of her life had
transpired, she’d always had Drew. Now what did she do? Inhaling deeply, she
closed her eyes and struggled to pull herself together. She had a job to do.
She had people who depended on her. She could do this. She’d gotten through
worse... but not without Drew. Woodenly, she walked from the dressing room and
slowly made her way to the stage. She glanced covertly to the horse-shaped
benches in the back, but there was no dark-haired, bad-boy in any of them. She
was thankful she didn’t have to contend with Lynx Rogan on top of what’d just
happened with Drew.
    She
gave a small nod of her head to Tom and closed her mind to everything but the
sounds of