Ashes to Ashes (Barbie the Vampire Hunter Book 3)

by Lucinda Dark

  “Barbie?” Maverick looked down at me, confusion clouding up his autumn gaze. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I lied. “Just tired.” I took a step back and let my hand drop to my side, even though I felt pressure against my gums where my fangs threatened to protrude. “I’m going back to school tomorrow,” I said. “I think I should turn in early. It’ll be a lot to handle after being away for so long.”

  “Torin said he worked all that out,” Maverick said. “So, you should be…” He trailed off, watching me curiously. I turned around and faced the bed, snatching up my backpack and setting it on the end of the mattress. I could still feel the burn of his gaze across my upper back. “Okay,” he said, “you’re right. I—um—I’m sorry if I did anything to—”

  “No!” I turned back to him, my shoulders lifting as I clenched my fists at my sides. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Mav,” I assured him. “I’m just…” I took a breath and released my fists. “Tired,” I finished lamely.

  He nodded, though if the pucker of his brow was anything to go by, he didn’t necessarily believe me. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” he answered. I nodded, unable to reply. Except he didn’t leave right away. He stopped, hovering in the doorway with his hand on the knob—the door halfway open. Then he turned back to me and took two steps towards me, his hand spanning against my waist before he pulled me forward. With how fast his movements were—especially for a human—I expected another intense kiss, but that’s not what I got. Maverick pressed soft lips against the top of my forehead, a chaste press there that he held for a moment before he pulled away and looked down. He nodded again, as if to himself, before turning and leaving the room. Leaving me more confused than ever as I reached up and brushed the tips of my fingers against the spot he’d kissed.

  There was a dull roar as several dozen people tried to talk over one another at the same time. It echoed up the hallways of St. Marion Academy as students headed to their designated homerooms with friends and classmates alike. Maverick walked alongside me as we pushed through the throngs of people. A certain familiar redhead appeared over the top of the crowd. I pulled myself away from Mav and headed straight for her.

  “Barbie!” Olivia’s excited face greeted mine as she pushed through people at full Olivia speed. She slammed into me, nearly knocking me down, as she squeezed what would’ve been several years off my life if it weren’t for my new inhuman lifespan.

  I laughed. “Hey,” I said.

  “Oh my God, you bitch! I didn’t know you were coming back to school today. Why didn’t you tell me when we talked on the phone?”

  “I—” I cut myself off, stiffening when a new figure appeared out of the crowd at her back. I relaxed a moment later when I realized who it was. “Hey, Ben.”

  He lifted a hand in greeting, a boyish grin appearing on his face. “Hey, Barbie.”

  I turned my attention back to the redhead clinging to my body. Slipping an arm down between her chest and mine, I pried her off and lifted a brow. “Jesus,” I said. “Stop. Someone might get the wrong idea and think you’re attracted to me or something.”

  “So?” Olivia clung even harder. “Maybe I am. Maybe I’m super-lesbian for you. I’ve got a lady boner so hard for you, Barbie. Tell me we’re meant to be?”

  I snorted and finished peeling her away from me. No matter how hard she tried, I was still stronger. “Nope, sorry, I like dick.”

  “Good to hear.” I stiffened when Torin’s voice sounded right in my ear. I jerked and pulled away, turning towards him with a scowl.

  “Hey, Torin!” Olivia waved as Ben came up to her side and slid an arm around her shoulders. I noticed the movement and hid my amusement at the protective, somewhat territorial behavior. Olivia didn’t seem to notice or mind. She settled into his side with ease as if she’d been doing it all her life, and suddenly, I could picture it. Olivia with a belly as big and round as a basketball, snuggled up to Ben with her hair cut short above her shoulders and a beautiful smile on her face as she absently reached for a smaller version of herself and hefted them into her arms. A mother. A wife. Normal.

  Wanting to come back felt like a pipedream to me now as I stood there and stared at her. Completely and utterly selfish. After everything that had happened in Rome, I wanted to feel like I still had some sort of control. That I was still the same Barbie that I had been. But looking at Olivia—as unchanged as she was—made me realize the truth. I would never grow old as she would. I wouldn’t develop the soft laugh lines at the edges of my eyes that the older version of her had in my mind’s eye. I wasn’t going to get married or have children. She would go one way and I would go another.

  “Barbie?” Torin’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts as the last warning bell rang throughout the now empty hallway. “We’re gonna be late.” His hand touched my arm, sending sparks through my flesh. I jerked away, taking a step towards Olivia.

  “Yeah, you’re right.” I reached for Olivia, dragging her away from Ben and down the hallway. “See ya later, gotta get to class!”

  Olivia giggled and waved goodbye to Ben as she let me lead her around the corner. As soon as we were out of sight, I dropped her arm and released a sigh.

  “Oh my God, you little hussy!” she whisper-hissed.

  I blinked at her as I kept walking. “What?”

  “You were supposed to be sick as a dog,” she said. “But you did it, didn’t you?”

  I looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Liar!” She jumped up and down at my side. “Oh my God, you did, didn’t you?” She squealed, muffling the sound as she clamped her hands over her mouth excitedly. “You and Torin,” she said, nodding.

  I pursed my lips as I kept walking, keeping my mouth firmly shut. Olivia wasn’t the least bit put off, as per usual. She leaned into me as we reached the classroom. “Don’t think you’re getting out of telling me everything, Barbara Steele,” she said quietly as the teacher shot us both a look of irritation and pointed to the back row. We edged past the other students and took our seats, dropping our bags next to one another. She wasn’t done. Olivia leaned across the aisle and tapped the surface of my desk with a long painted nail. “I want every. Single. Delicious. Detail—or else,” she swore with a smile. That smile was only a hint at the type of voraciousness she would soon show.

  Nine

  Torin

  “Hovering around her like that, you’re starting to look desperate.” Maverick’s dry comment penetrated my mind like a stake to the heart. I scowled, pivoting towards him.

  “Big talk for someone with the same problem,” I said. He shrugged, grinning, as we both turned to watch Barbie pull her friend down the hall. There was another reason I’d caved to her demands to come back to school. Days like these would be over soon. She deserved to live them as long as she was able. And the closer she was to her human side, the better her bloodlust would be.

  “I…uh…gotta head to class too, see ya later,” Ben mumbled as he excused himself and raced away.

  I ignored him as I caught Maverick’s arm before he, too, could disappear. “A word,” I said. It wasn’t a question, but he nodded nonetheless. “I’ve got to head out.”

  Maverick’s shoulders lifted as he crossed his arms across his chest. “Care to tell me where you’re heading off to?” he asked, one eyebrow arching.

  “You don’t need to know, but I’ll keep my phone on in case you need me. If Barbie needs me, tell her to call. No matter what, I’ll answer.”

  “Are you going to give me any information on your whereabouts?” Maverick scowled, his muscles tightening and knuckles whitening over his clenched fists.

  I scrubbed a hand down my face and sighed as the closing of a door somewhere down a side hallway echoed up the nearly silent main hall. “I might have a lead on Esperanza’s whereabouts,” I said, lowering my voice. “I don’t want to get into it here, but I’ll text you.”

  “If that were the case, why’d you e
ven bother to show up to school?” Maverick asked, narrowing his eyes on me.

  “Just wanted to check on her for myself,” I said, nodding towards where Barbie had disappeared to.

  Sighing, he lowered his arms and shook his head. “Fucking whipped,” he muttered as he turned away. “Don’t get yourself killed. Call me if anything turns up.”

  “Will do,” I promised as he lifted his hand and waved a half-hearted goodbye without looking back.

  I tossed the backpack I’d brought from home as a prop into my locker before I headed to the student parking lot. Slinging my leg over the motorcycle I’d left parked on the sidewalk alongside the school’s picnic lunch area, I revved the engine, pushed a pair of sunglasses onto my face, and gripped the throttle. The bike eased off the sidewalk and onto the wet asphalt before I took off, curving out of the parking lot’s exit close to the ground. Leftover rainwater splashed up onto my pants. Wind whipped over my face, burning across my skin as I thought about my plan.

  Esperanza was once part of a coven before she’d helped my father sire me. That coven had since been wiped out, likely intentional on Arrius’ part to ensure she’d have nowhere else to return to after she’d broken the sacred witch law to use forbidden magic meant for unraveling human souls. But every coven was intertwined with multiple others. Their way of life was so very different from that of vampires. By nature, people like my father were territorial. They separated into the ideals of us versus them.

  To witch covens, all covens were of one body. Each was a limb—a branch on the tree of life they worshipped. I only needed to find the closest branch to Esperanza’s old coven and I’d be able to at least track down a piece of information that might give me a hint as to where she could’ve gone.

  I clenched my teeth and pushed the motorcycle to go faster. Barbie was right, we’d already wasted too much time.

  Ten

  Barbie

  Olivia was like a dog with a bone. Once she latched onto something, she didn’t let it go. If I rolled my eyes one more goddamn time at one of her ridiculously inappropriate questions, I was going to eye roll my way into another dimension. At least, that was the hope. Anything to get away from the Torin-Barbie Inquisition.

  “Come on,” she whined as the final bell of the day rang, granting me sweet peaceful fucking release from the monotonous drone of the teacher’s voice. I’d wanted to come back to school in an effort to feel normal, and normal I felt—normalled to death. “You have to give me something. A crumb. A hint. Was he as good as everyone thinks he is? Are you guys dating now?”

  “We’re not dating,” I assured her as we gathered our things and headed out into the already crowded hallway.

  She hummed in her throat. “You’re not?” I shook my head. “Interesting…”

  I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant by that when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Shooting Olivia a narrow-eyed look, I fished it out and hit answer. “Yeah?”

  “Hey, can you ask Olivia to take you home today?” Maverick’s voice was breathless as if he were running.

  “Yeah, probably. Is something going on?”

  “Nah, just gotta talk to the coach about off-season shit. I’ll see you back at the house.”

  “Okay, I’ll see—” The line clicked and I pulled the phone from my ear, staring down at it in confused irritation. “You,” I finished lamely.

  “What’s wrong?” Olivia’s question made me sigh.

  “Nothing,” I lied. “Can you give me a ride home?”

  “Obvi,” she said, flipping a red curl over her shoulder. “Then I can totes ask Beth if she’ll let you come shopping with me in the city.”

  “I don’t know about that,” I said as we traded out books at our lockers and followed the crowd of students leaving to the parking lot. I grimaced as we got into her little white Porsche and she was already backing out before I’d even put on my seatbelt.

  My hand gripped the seatbelt as I hurried to clip it in. When she slammed on the brakes a split second later to keep from running over one of the people milling about behind the parked cars, I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes—praying for patience.

  “What do you mean you don’t know about that?” she asked, ignoring the dude cursing her out as she whipped the little sports car around and headed for the long line of cars waiting to exit.

  Finally managing to finagle the seatbelt into place, I sat back and blew out a breath. “I just got back,” I said. And going to the city seemed dangerous without Torin or Maverick with me.

  Not that I’m complaining about being around two slices of beefcake 24/7, but are you really going to spend the rest of your unnaturally long life shackled to them because you’re scared of what you might do? Satrina piped up. That doesn’t seem very healthy.

  No, I replied, but I should probably stay close in case anything happens. At least while I was still getting the hang of the bloodlust. School had gone over well. I hadn’t had any cravings all day. My fangs had stayed firmly in place. Other than being able to smell pretty much everything, including what the teachers had for lunch—what kind of monster would open a can of tuna in the teacher’s lounge? I probably didn’t need to have a new over sensitive nose to smell that shit—I’d pretty much aced being around humans for the first time without someone hovering over me. At least—I glanced over at Olivia—not someone who knew what I was hovering over me. She was a completely different matter with completely different reasons to hover.

  “What about prom?” Olivia asked. “I still haven’t gotten my dress. It’s our last prom—your first and last. I still can’t believe you were homeschooled until this year. I can’t imagine it. But regardless, we have to go to the city to go prom dress shopping.”

  “You can go to that boutique you took me to for the homecoming dance,” I replied, my fingers clenching on the seat cushion as she sped through a stop sign. Jesus fucking Christ—it was a goddamn miracle she’d ever managed to get her license.

  “Are you insane!” she shrieked, making me flinch as my new, exceptionally good hearing took the note in her voice and turned it up several notches. Olivia’s wild array of cherry red curls slapped the back of her seat as she looked at me and then back to the road. “I cannot buy a boutique dress for prom,” she stated. “That’s absolutely out of the question. This is prom we’re talking about. It’s like the red carpet of high school. And since this is our senior prom, it’s the last chance to put everyone else to shame. I have to hurry up and get my dress, though, so I can let Ben know what color I—hey, are you going with Torin?”

  “What?” My eyes were peeled open wide watching her weave in and out of traffic as she sped through the streets.

  “You and Torin fucked—you say you’re not dating, but…are you going to prom together?” she demanded.

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “I’m probably not going to go to prom.” I would likely be back on Arrius’ trail by then.

  “You have to go,” Olivia said. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  “Oliv—”

  “We’re here!” she said cutting me off as she pulled into the McKnight’s driveway. My body slammed into the passenger side door as she spun the wheel and pulled up to the house with a sharp jerk of her hand. The car was yanked to a standstill, the engine cut off, and her seatbelt was unclipped by the time I managed to get my bearings.

  “Wait, Olivia!” I cursed as I reached down to undo my seatbelt, accidentally breaking the thing in my grasp. “Fuck,” I whisper-hissed as I let the mangled clip go and the belt snapped to the side. I really didn’t have time for this.

  Getting out and closing the car door behind me, I hurried to catch up with Olivia as she waved at me from the porch. Her hand lifted and knocked as I came up behind her, confusion sliding through me. What was she doing? She knew I had a key.

  “Hi, Mrs. McKnight!” Olivia exclaimed as the front door opened and Beth appeared.

  “Olivia? Hello.”

  She wouldn’t, I thou
ght, narrowing my eyes in suspicion at the short redhead.

  Wouldn’t she? Amusement was clear in Satrina’s tone, as if she were trying valiantly—and failing—to hold back her laughter.

  “Olivia,” I growled in warning.

  “It’s so good to see you, Mrs. McKnight,” Olivia gushed, stepping into the house. “It’s been too long. How’s Maverick? I just stopped by to drop Barbie off from school. I’m so glad she’s doing better.”

  “Yes, we are as well,” Beth said as she moved to let Olivia by. Beth’s head lifted as she glanced from me to Olivia. She frowned, her brows furrowing.

  I sucked in a breath and scrubbed a hand down my face before reaching for my supposed friend. “Olivia don’t—”

  “I was wondering, do you think I could take Barbie into the city for a girls’ weekend?” Olivia asked, clasping her hands together in front of her chest beseechingly. “I was hoping we could go prom dress shopping and spend the night after getting some dinner and a movie. I haven’t seen her in so long and we really didn’t get to do anything in Rome since…well, since she got sick and I had that…erm…attack.”

  Hook. Line. Sinker. Olivia had her. Beth’s face softened and her hand lifted to her chest. “Oh of course, dear, you’re such a good friend.” More like devious. “I think a girls’ weekend sounds wonderful. You should go.” Beth turned her eyes on me. Those trusting, honest, sweet eyes. At her side, Olivia’s lips twitched with accomplishment as she winked my way.

  “Wonderful, it’s settled then!” she announced with one of her usual bounces as she spun back around and headed for the front door, breezing right past me.

  “Where are you going?” I demanded, turning on my heel and gaping after her—irritation surged forward. I gritted my teeth as my arm snapped out and my fingers closed around her upper arm, bringing her up short.