Suddenly they were zipping through her neighborhood and lurched to a stop in front of her house. Silence fell between them again as Tabitha gathered her purse and jacket and opened the car door but before she got out or could mumble a thanks for the incredible, heart-pounding night out Sebastian grabbed her wrist and pulled her back in with one jerk. She hit the seat and faced him, a scowl on her face.
“Would you like to make one more mistake tonight before our night is over?” he whispered, his eyes roving over her face, from her eyes to her lips.
Tabitha's body tingled, and her heart began to pound. She nodded and smiled. She did. Just one more mistake. Tonight, she was playing the role of the girl who was friends with a vampire. The hunter who fought side by side with a vampire after kissing him. A blissful night where no one was judging either of them. One night of throwing caution to the wind. The one night where she could be that other daring and dangerous Tabitha instead of the impulsive yet rule-bound girl. She didn't even glance at her house.
Tabitha leaned over the middle of the car and cupped his face in her hands, what she'd wanted to do the whole car ride home and pressed her lips fiercely and passionately against his. He growled deep in his throat and grabbed her face in his own hands, pulling her in close. For a single minute, sixty seconds they wrestled with each other. Kissing and trying to prolong this moment of freedom. Tabitha pressed herself against him as he kissed every part of her face but didn't go anywhere near her neck and shoulders. She didn't care. Just as long as she got to have this one moment with him.
He kissed her chin and trailed his lips down her jaw and then back up to her mouth, deepening the kiss just before he pulled away, both of them gasping for air as their one minute of bliss ended.
“I'll see you tomorrow at school,” he purred, his voice rough and edgy.
Tabitha grinned and straightened her dress. Maybe she was drunk on his kisses or high from the hunt and the kill, but she grinned ruefully and grabbed his shirt, pulling him toward her instead of the other way around. She planted one more passionate kiss against his lips and then shoved him back. “I'd better and you'd better have information from Keller for me.”
And then without looking at him again she slid out of the car, slung her purse over her shoulder and slammed the door shut, grinning like an idiot and strode up to her house. She wasn't sure she would ever be able to forget that night.
Chapter Eighteen
Tabitha scowled down at her phone for the millionth time. When she went into school that morning, she'd found a text on her phone from Sebastian saying he was busy “interrogating” Keller and that he wouldn't make it in today. Figured. Kiss a girl and then don't show up the next day to talk about it. How predictable was that?
Shoving her phone into her back pocket, she shut her locker, making up her mind. She had a free period before lunch which gave her about an hour of investigative work. Jonas had found her this morning before classes had started and said he might be onto something. He said she could come over after school and check it out with her. Tabitha didn’t feel like waiting, though.
“Hey Tab, you're looking... rather determined today,” Chelsea said coming up beside her.
Tabitha slung her backpack over her shoulder, forcing a smile on her face. “Yeah I am. I'm heading out for my free period and lunch. Forgot I had to help Mrs. Carter with something today... So I'll see you in study hall, okay?”
Chelsea raised her eyebrows as they stopped in front of the exit door between two lockers. “Okay... try not to skip like you did last time. Your mom just about killed you.”
Tabitha grinned and saluted her, winking as she pushed open the door. “You got it. See ya Chelse.”
“See ya...”
Keeping her pace even, Tabitha made her way around the school building and toward her car. She threw her backpack in the passenger seat, started the engine and headed out. One hour. That was all she had. And luckily Jonas was in school and the Carters were out.
Tabitha followed the wooden blue painted sign pointing down a gravel road. In white cheery letters it said THIS WAY TO ROSEWOOD INN.
Tabitha used to see Jonas all the time. They would hang out and talk and train together at least two to three times a week. Especially before her dad died. Afterwards, they saw each other mostly in school.
She pulled up the long driveway in front of the three-story, wide cottage. A thatched roof painted white and the shutters a pretty robin egg blue. On the first floor was the check-in office, the Carter's actual offices, the kitchen and dining area. Second floor and some of the third floor for guests and the rest of the third floor held the Carter's rooms.
Tabitha turned off her car and headed up to the large wrap-around porch with the two wicker rocking chairs on either side of the door. A whoosh of warm air blew into her face as she stepped in. To her left was the front office counter with papers strewn all over the desk and a swivel chair behind it, a laptop's screen up and on. To her right was a large cozy dining area with wooden tables and cushioned chairs and a few booths in the corners, a large buffet style bar counter by the kitchen. All the walls were painted the same blue as the shutters outside, the rooms accented with white and brown.
She tapped her knuckles against the counter and glanced around. Seemed pretty empty to her. “Hello?” she called. Jonas had said they didn’t have any guests right now, so Tabitha had the whole place to herself.
Tabitha headed around the front desk. After spending almost every summer of her life working at this place, the Carters’ Rosewood Inn felt like a second home. She had had every birthday party there, slept over there with Jonas and Chelsea. Almost every room had happy memories for her. Tabitha shut Mrs. Carter's laptop as she headed to the back offices. She knew the inn had a basement, but she'd never been down there. Her dad said it was their base of operations, where they kept an eye on everything that's going on in the entire organization. Tabitha was tempted to go check it out, but there was a hand scanner to open the door and she didn't feel like trying to find out a way to get around that.
The first office, with no door, just a threshold was Mrs. Carter's where she kept all her calendars and planners and charts of who was staying where and when guests were arriving. All the boring details of the inn. But as Tabitha stepped through the second door that was when things got interesting.
The second office was Mr. Carter's and was full of all the important vampire files. Tabitha shut the door behind her and stepped farther in the room. A window sat on the far wall, letting natural light in and a light on the ceiling illuminated the room even more. Mr. Carter's prized fish tank sat in the wall to the right. There was a giant desk in the middle of the room, strewn with papers and looking completely unorganized. The walls were a dark maroon color and were decorated with an assortment of old weapons from crossbows to swords and stakes. There was even a picture of Bram Stoker's Dracula hanging over his desk.
The only Carter that was organized was Brenda Carter and Tabitha had a feeling she hadn't been in her husband's office for a while. A forgotten coffee mug sat in the corner, his laptop half closed and charging, a cord connecting the computer to one of the outlets on the floor.
Tabitha sank into his comfy swivel chair like she'd done countless times before, only with supervision and opened his laptop fully. She felt a tinge of unease and guilt at betraying the Carter's trust but... Tabitha needed answers. About the trials, about Sebastian. Did they know more about Alistair than they were letting on?
She clicked through his computer and tapped on the file button, a USB drive with a curvy M on the front already hooked into the computer. At first as she scanned through the documents on the drive. When she found nothing but inn details and charts, Tabitha started to regret coming in there. Maybe they really didn't have anything here. That was until she scrolled down and stopped, her heart speeding up as she found her name.
Why was her name on Mr. Carter's computer?
Without hesitating, she clicked the file and a documen
t committed entirely to her popped up. Her stomach fluttered, her hands going clammy as she scanned the long document: a study journal by Mr. Carter... on her. They... were watching her. Watching her for a very long time and writing it all down. As she scrolled down, she saw words like advanced, incredible stamina, senses, instincts and... after a while, threat. At first all he could do was praise her. The report was dated when she was ten. He said how proud he was of her and how proud her father was of her. Jonathon Sterling surely had a prodigy on his hands. And he was right. Tabitha remembered being ten and on the track team. She had surpassed all her peers and won every race and track tournament.
Mr. Carter had written nothing but praise for her up until her father died. Then she saw a difference in his wording as she began her hunting career. Words like prodigy, and proud became threat and concern. He was concerned for her. For her incredible stamina and instincts. Afraid that she would fall apart. How she killed her first vampire without so much as blinking. She'd walked away from the scene with a smile on her face, raving about how good it felt to stake one of them. Tabitha's heart fell as she remembered that day. She had been so high on adrenaline and the thrill of the hunt she hadn't noticed how the others didn't feel or look as happy as she had felt.
Mr. Carter had had someone tracking her this whole time. A shiver ran down Tabitha's spine, and she swallowed the giant lump in her throat as she continued down the journal and stopped at one particular entry. It talks about how he wanted to bring Sebastian in to help train her. Hone her skills. Tabitha frowned and leaned forward at what he said next. It didn’t make any sense at all. He talked about needing to keep a close eye on her because of what she was to the Moirai. The next Sterling hunter. Tabitha knew that Sterling’s were stronger than other hunters. Faster with sharper instincts. But no one had ever told her that… they were a part of something greater.
I’ve never worried about Tabitha before this. She’s always been a strong-willed and independent girl and with her father around, I had trusted the guidance he gave her. But with Jonathon dead… I worry about Tabitha’s future and the future of the Moirai. The girl doesn’t even know all that rides on her shoulders. Jonathon had promised me that when she was old enough, he would tell her. He hadn’t wanted his daughter to grow up with such a huge responsibility on her shoulders, and I can respect that. I would have done the same if it were Jonas. But now I wish he had told her sooner. She’s become impulsive and reckless, going hunting late at night and not returning till the morning. Unsanctioned hunts to be precise without any backup.
We can’t lose her. She’s too important. Too strong. Too dangerous. If she were to join Alistair or turn into one of them, we wouldn’t stand a chance. With her Sterling blood running through her veins, no one would be a match for her.
The rest of the words blurred through tears and Tabitha squeezed her eyes shut, slumping back in the chair. He had been keeping tabs on her this whole time. They were all worried about her, threatened by her. They thought she was dangerous. How could he even think for a second that Tabitha would turn against the Moirai? She would never do anything like that. And what was he talking about, about responsibility on her shoulders? What had her dad failed to tell her?
She had gone in there to get answers and now she was having to leave with more questions.
With a shaky breath, Tabitha clicked off the documents and shut down the computer. She felt chilled to the bone as she exited the office and then the inn, making sure there was no sign of her presence there.
In her car she blasted the heat, not caring how hot it got and drove out of the inn parking lot. When she got to the fork in the road with one road leading back to the school and the other leading home, Tabitha hit the break and pursed her lips, trying to figure out which way to go. There was a chance – a small chance since he had been mentioned in the document – that Sebastian didn’t have the answers she needed. But there was almost a hundred percent chance that her mom did. Her parents never hid anything from one another. She couldn’t wait a whole day to get answers. Making up her mind, she hit the gas and turned the wheel, heading home. The words Mr. Carter had written made her stomach twist into knots, her mind blank from either shock or pure anxiety.
Mr. Carter may think Alistair was after Tabitha, that Tabitha wouldn't stand a chance against him, but Tabitha would prove him wrong. She would figure out what the heck this ancient psychopathic vampire had to do with her family and then she would go out and kill him before he could kill her.
Seemed the saying was true, she thought. Ignorance is bliss.
Chapter Nineteen
Tabitha’s mom worked at home as a secretary for the Carters. She sifted through all their paperwork and everything, made sure everything was organized not just for the Moirai but for the inn as well. So, she knew she would be home when Tabitha opened the door and strode into the kitchen where her mom sat at her computer and surrounded by papers.
“Derrick don’t be ridiculous. We want you to come. I don’t see you enough, and I know Tabitha would be happy to see you,” her mom was saying on the phone as Tabitha walked in.
Her mom’s eyes went wide when she saw Tabitha standing there with her arms folded. “Derrick… I have to go. I’ll call you back. But you know you can always come any time without notice. Love you too. Bye.”
She set her phone down and frowned at Tabitha. “Derrick’s coming over this weekend… What are you doing out of school?”
“I had a free period. Jonas told me he was onto something, so I went over to the inn to take a look around and I found something,” Tabitha ground out, her fists balling in anger.
Her mom’s mouth dropped over and Tabitha could have sworn her face paled. She knew. She knew what Tabitha was talking about or at least suspected. “Why would Jonas be looking into something? What something?”
“I thought it was suspicious that the Carters would bring Sebastian in to train me. A vampire training a hunter? No one else got that kind of special treatment. I had a feeling people were lying to me too, so I asked Jonas to look into it for me and turns out, I was right to. I wasn’t being paranoid,” Tabitha shouted, jabbing a finger at her mom. Her whole body practically shook with anger. “You and everyone else has been lying to me! Dad was keeping a secret from me.”
This time her mom’s face really did pale. She let out a heavy sigh and shut her laptop, her hand shaking as she gestured for Tabitha to sit down. “What did you read?”
“Not enough apparently because I feel like I’m missing a piece of the puzzle. A huge freaking piece of the puzzle. He talked about how special I was. Strong, fast all that stuff. I already knew that. Sterling’s are stronger than other hunters and blah, blah, blah. But then… he started saying how I was becoming dangerous, and he talked as if… as if I ever turned against the Moirai all hell would break lose or something. Like I could make or break the Moirai,” Tabitha explained in a loud rush of words.
Unsurprisingly her mom didn’t look shocked by what she said. She nodded slowly, shuffling all the papers away. Getting rid of all distractions. That was when Tabitha knew something was going down, when her mom didn’t reach for her phone and made sure they were distraction free. Things never went well when that happened.
“You’re right,” her mom said at last, reaching for Tabitha’s hand. Tabitha didn’t pull away when her mom placed her hand over hers. “Your dad and I have been keeping something from you… but it’s not because we didn’t trust you or thought you were dangerous. We just didn’t want you to grow up with such a weight on your shoulders.”
“That’s what Tom Carter’s file on me said. But what does it mean? What weight?”
Her mom’s deep brown eyes stared right back at Tabitha head on. “You were right when you said that all Sterling hunters are stronger than others. But… some Sterling’s are even stronger than others in their family line. It’s this whole story about one of your ancestors saving a Soothsayer who had the ability to bless.”
Tabitha fr
owned and held up a hand. “Uh, what in the heck is a Soothsayer?”
Her mom grimaced. “They’re… individuals – humans – with unique abilities. They’re different from others, but usually not dangerous.”
“And why was I never told about them? What is this? Just another lie?”
“Honey, please. Very few know about Soothsayers. It’s classified information.”
Tabitha narrowed her eyes and folded her arms but allowed her mom to continue. So, Soothsayers, whatever they were, were a thing. Just another thing to process.
“Anyways,” her mom continued, giving her a pointed look, “he saved her from a vampire and so in turn she gave him the strength, speed, reflexed and instincts of a vampire. She made him the perfect hunter and blessed his family line so that in every generation there would be one like him. Well… that was a long time ago and as the years went on and Sterling’s married and blood mixed, the blessing became every other generation and then every, every other generation. That sort of strength became a rarity. But when it did occur… those Sterling’s were given an immense responsibility Tabitha,” her mom explained, grasping her hand with both of hers. “Before the Soothsayer parted with her savior, she told him that if any of them were to ever become a vampire… their strength, speed and instincts would be unparallel. They would be the ultimate weapon.”
“And… I’m one of them?” Tabitha whispered.
Her mom nodded. “You are. But the thing is… the reason Tim is so worried is because years ago there was another like you. A girl, Marcie Sterling. It happened in 1965. She… became unstable and it was a pretty close call. She almost had a vampire turn her. If he had she could have left the Moirai in ruins. That’s why the Carters are concerned about you and that’s why they brought Sebastian in to help train you.”
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