by Shona Husk
She wished he’d crawl away and leave her and Finley alone. “What are you doing here?” She kept her smile in place. She knew what he was doing, but was he following Finley or her?
“Just getting some pictures while I’m out and about.” The lie rolled off his tongue.
“You took pictures of me and I’m not even skating.”
“Pretty girl with a nice car. I didn’t take you for a sports car kind of person.” He tapped the hood. There was a smear of blood on the paint that she hadn’t noticed before.
Alina didn’t believe him. He’d know this was Finley’s car and he was waiting to see what was going on and how ill Finley was.
“It’s my boyfriend’s.”
That wiped the smile off his face. “You’re still with him?”
“Yep. Did you think I’d walk away because some random guy told me not to date him?” Water gathered around her even though she didn’t know what she was going to do with it. Maybe she could give Will an actual rain cloud to live under.
“I know him. I’ve been in this business for a while—”
“What business? Are you on the same show? Do you know his friends?” She beamed as though it was interesting, an insight into Finley.
“No, but I know his kind.” Frustration clipped his words.
“Right…” Her smile fell away and she glared at him. “So you make a sweeping statement about all actors being trouble and I’m expected to be ever so grateful you warned me?”
Will squirmed, then looked indignant. “I’m trying to help you. He’s a fraud and a liar and I’ll prove it to you.”
And was she then supposed to jump into his arms in gratitude? She knew exactly how to use the water.
She flicked her hand and let the moisture she’d gathered gravitate toward his fly. It wasn’t much, just enough to make it seem like something had gone wrong in his pants. He didn’t realize. So she didn’t say anything.
“You do realize I can make my own choices?” She gave him a slow once-over. “And you aren’t my type. I don’t like people who live to bring down others. Trust me when I say I am familiar with those kinds of people. Competitive skating is cutthroat.”
“You’ll thank me soon. Tell me, how is Finley?” His grin became a sickening smirk.
“Fine, just getting his hand stitched up by a family friend.” She put every bit of sugar she could manage into her smile. “It will take more than a scratch to keep Finley down.”
“And the drugs found on set? I heard he got fired. Was he using when he crashed?”
“You really are a nasty little man, aren’t you? And if Finley drops dead tomorrow, what exactly will have changed in your life? Instead of working to change your lot in life, you exist to pull others down. How many others have you taken down?”
Will stepped back as though she’d slapped him.
“Oh god, you’ve destroyed the reputation of other actors, ones who took something you thought of as yours.” She stared at him. He wasn’t a parasite feeding on others’ fame, but a spider that wrapped the fly in its web before slowly eating its prize.
“You’re a crazy bitch. You deserve him.” That was when he realized the front of his pants were wet. He gasped.
Alina tried not to laugh. Wetting his pants was so very third grade and yet right now it was exactly what she needed. She let the laugh come out even though she knew it would bring trouble later. “You’d best get some clean pants.”
“I didn’t.” He brushed at it. “Jesus. How did that happen?” He backed away farther, then darted across the road.
Well, he wouldn’t be trying to be her friend anymore. That was fine. Hopefully he’d leave before Finley came out. It wouldn’t be good if there were pictures of Finley looking ill posted up everywhere when he needed to convince everyone that he was fine.
He would be fine. She had to hold on to that thought because the alternative was unacceptable.
Chapter 19
There were already photos of a sweaty and pale Finley online. Drugs were being blamed. Now people were speculating if drugs had caused the car accident. Will had of course followed him to the doctor’s. He’d even had the nerve to confront Alina. Finley doubted Will would ever come after him alone again. If Will learned what Alina was, she’d be in his sights too.
Being around Finley was dangerous.
Alina was making mac and cheese from scratch. There wasn’t much to it from what she’d said. And it would be safer for them to eat in instead risking being photographed by Will again. He didn’t want to give Will any extra chances to get more photos.
She glanced at him and smiled, but it was tight at the edges. “This is almost done. Are you feeling better?”
He’d told her about his options and what Walter wanted. He hadn’t told her what it would take to change him only that Walter had said that someone close needed to die to make a vampire. How was he supposed to know if he loved her or not? Love didn’t come with a warning siren or flashing light. Maybe he didn’t and they just had a tighter connection because of the magic. He’d never dated an Albah before so he had no idea. And if he didn’t love her then the magic would fail and he’d be dead and so would she.
It would be better if he didn’t love her. If he didn’t love her, he should be kicking her out of his place so he could get on with his life. Or at least what was left of it.
But if he only had a few days left, he didn’t want to spend them alone. He wanted to spend them with her. He wasn’t going to let his father agree to the waking a Keeper of the Law. That wouldn’t work out well for anyone. He wasn’t even sure his father would agree and he certainly didn’t want to hear his father condemn him. He wasn’t going to become a vampire either so that didn’t leave any other option that involved living, not for him anyway. He didn’t want to be tempted on that last day when his desire to live overrode all other thoughts. “You should get away from here.”
“What do you mean?” She kept stirring, her gaze on the sauce.
“Exactly that. Will is dangerous. I’ll become dangerous.” He didn’t trust himself, so there was no way she could trust him.
“And where would I go?”
“I don’t know, somewhere safe.” And far away.
She put down the spoon and faced him. “There is nowhere safe. If it’s not Guardians, it’s something else. I understand why my mother didn’t tell me about magic or what I was. If I’d never met you, I’d have been ignorant, and you know what, that would’ve been easier instead of questioning everything. My grandfather is a vampire, and probably killed my grandmother to get that way. That’s my family and they’re strangers.”
That was true of all family. Random people thrown together by blood but with personalities that didn’t mesh and dreams that clashed. “You barely remember your grandparents, and your mother was trying to protect you. This isn’t your fault.”
“I never said it was, but I’m trying to understand what’s going on. My mother is earth. He used to take her out camping to train her allegedly. Was he using her to search for the Keeper he wants to wake?”
“Probably.” And he already knew that Walter was prepared to wait and plan. He had all the time in the world. The Albah did not. “Go home. Stay away from me. Nothing good will come of the next few days.”
The pain had been numbed by the drugs Walter had prescribed, but Finley was still weak. His muscles trembled with any exertion and he couldn’t muster a breeze strong enough to shift a piece of paper. His body was already dying because of the iron. There would be no healing taking place, no regeneration of cells. He didn’t need to wait for the inevitable.
He could make it easier on everyone, except part of him still had hope that his father or half brother would have a solution that didn’t involve an Albanex. He’d been trying to think of ways that he could turn this to his advantage, but had failed to come up with one. If
he threatened Walter, Walter could vanish and it would be Finley left dangling and dying.
Alina brought two bowls of pasta over. She put it down in front of him, but he wasn’t hungry even though it smelled great.
“You need to eat.” Her voice was soft.
“Do I?” There was no point in eating and prolonging his life.
“Don’t be like that.”
“What would you have me do? Wake the Keeper?” From the expression on her face and her small nod that was exactly what she thought should happen. “You don’t know my father. Duty to his people comes first. I am a dead man.” He’d delayed talking to his father because he didn’t want that theory confirmed. “Or I let Walter kill you to save myself, how does that one feel?”
Her eyes widened.
Ah fuck, now she knew that he might love her. Now she’d never leave and get somewhere safe.
“If the Keeper is woken no one knows what to expect. It could be a bloodbath. It could be insane. It will be more powerful than any other Albanex seen for the last thousand years. They were old when they were buried, Alina. They knew what happened when it all went wrong. They were there for our destruction.”
“So you say.” She sat next to him on the sofa, her body turned toward him. “Stories get twisted after one hundred years. How stretched is the truth after one thousand, or two thousand? How many languages has the tale been told in with each translation changing a little and each teller adding their own embellishments? You told me that no one knows the truth, yet you seem very certain about these Keepers. Maybe they’re dust. Nothing can sleep and starve for millennia. People can only survive a coma if hooked up to machines.”
What she said made sense, but nothing in his life was as it should be at the moment.
“The Albanex aren’t people. They aren’t alive like you and I.” She’d checked his pulse when he’d come out of the doctor’s, wanting to be sure that he hadn’t been bitten. Vampires didn’t bite, and he had no idea how that story had gotten started. “They chose to sleep, to wait.”
“You have no idea what these Keepers are. No one does.”
“You really think we should wake one and find out?” He’d expected her to be against it. For her to be leaving because this was all becoming too much. Hell, he’d be leaving if he could. But he was kind of stuck until he died. Or miraculously survived.
“Mom could find it.”
He hadn’t thought of that. Silence stretched between them. Neither of them had touched their dinner. “And then what?”
“Well, we could find out the truth once and for all and get it to save you.”
Assuming that the vampire spoke English, which Finley very much doubted, and wanted to help him. “And Walter?”
“What does he want with it?” She poked at the pasta. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to give a man already obsessed with magic access to a powerful vampire. Wouldn’t it be better if the powerful vampire was in safer hands?”
“I don’t think there are any hands able to hold a Keeper.” He put his hand on her leg. “You should go. Get free of this mess. I don’t know how much worse this is going to get, but I don’t want to do something I will regret.”
She held his gaze. “You won’t. But you are going to call your father—”
“I’m not calling my father.”
Alina put her fork down with more force than needed. “But there’s a way to cure you.”
She didn’t understand that the price was too high. He shook his head. He wanted to be able to call his father and know it would all right, but no matter what answer his father gave, it would end badly.
“You’re going to call your father and I’ll call my mother and maybe we can come up with a plan. After dinner. I didn’t cook for it to go cold and turn into a congealed blob.” She ate a mouthful. “Besides, you have several days. So I figure I’m safe enough here tonight. Tomorrow I’ll go.”
“And not come back.” He didn’t want to be sending her away, but he didn’t see an alternative.
“Did you mean what you said about needing me to become a vampire?” A smile danced over her lips.
The lie was on his tongue, but he couldn’t spit it out. The truth was easier to say. “Yes.”
* * * *
He loved her. Even though he hadn’t said it, that was what his admission meant. She should be happy. The joy was there, but it was buried beneath fear. He could turn on her if he got desperate and that was why he wanted her gone. Did she love him? Maybe if they had longer. She knew she liked him enough that she couldn’t walk away and leave him to fight on his own. She’d wanted to know more about the Albah and now she was learning everything.
A crash course in all things magical.
Alina gave him a hug. His skin was sticky and warm and he was too pale. There was nothing she could do for him except leave so the temptation was gone, but she didn’t trust him not to do something stupid. There had to be a way out of this. While he was refusing to call his father, she thought it was the best thing to do.
After dinner, that was eaten without pleasure or conversation, she put on some music and then ran him a bath. While he bathed she gathered up the dirty dishes and started doing them. As she cleaned the idea cemented itself. She was going to have to call his father for him and tell him what Walter had said. And she had to do it now while Finley was in the bath.
It was telling that his father hadn’t called back with his own solution.
She dried her hands on her jeans and picked up her phone. She hesitated for only a heartbeat before pressing the button. She had no idea what time it was in Australia but figured that Quinn was waiting for an update on his son. She’d be waiting, or was Finley right to be worried about what his father would say?
“Hello?” a tired-sounding man answered.
She hesitated, not sure how to address him and she hadn’t exactly been polite this morning. “It’s Alina, Mr. Ryder, Finley’s girlfriend. I spoke to you earlier.” She couldn’t remember how long ago that had been. It seemed so long ago that Finley had called her to ask her to meet him here. She sat on the edge of the sofa and kept her voice low. “I wanted to let you know he’s still alive in every sense.”
“What happened with Dr. Silverman?” Quinn suddenly seemed much more alert.
Alina swallowed and glanced over her shoulder to makes sure Finley wasn’t behind her. “Walter stitched his hand and gave him something to help clot his blood, but it’s temporary.”
“I’m coming over. I’ll be there in two days.”
She had no idea how long it took to get from Australia to L.A., but his father was concerned. That couldn’t be a cheap flight either. That reaffirmed that she was doing the right thing. His father needed to know there was a cure. “Walter can remove the iron.”
“What do you mean? And why hasn’t he?”
Alina took a breath. “Why would he do that for nothing?”
“I’ll give him whatever he wants,” Quinn said.
Finley thought his father didn’t care. It broke her heart that he didn’t see how much his father loved him. “Don’t make that promise just yet; you haven’t heard what Walter wants.”
“I don’t care. If Finley can be saved, then do it.”
Finley really needed to hear this from his father’s lips. “You need to tell him that. He thinks you want him dead.”
“Who wants me dead?” Finley said from the doorway.
Alina twisted around. He was wearing only a towel and using the doorframe for support. Quinn was still talking wanting to know what she meant by that. She couldn’t answer him with Finley standing there. He was supposed to be relaxing not eavesdropping.
“I thought I heard you talking.” His eyes narrowed as he watched her.
“Um, I thought you were…”
“Out of the way? I’ll bet my life that’s my
father you’re talking to.” He shuffled over, behaving far older than he was. The iron seemed to be aging him. What had he said about his body not being able to heal? Did that mean he was actually aging? He didn’t look older, but his features were pinched and he wasn’t due for another dose for over an hour.
“I take it he didn’t want you to call me,” Quinn said.
“I’ll put you on speakerphone.” She pressed the button and put the phone on the table. “I was about to tell your father what Walter wanted.”
“Finley, whatever it is I will pay.”
“It’s not money, Dad. If that’s all it was I’d have called you with the good news that I was cured.” Finley sat and rubbed a hand over his face. “I wish she hadn’t called you. It would’ve been better.”
Alina stared at her hands. She’d thought it better that his father knew. He was the king. He needed to know what was happening to his eldest son and that Walter was the vampire and had plans, not that she’d gotten around to talking about them yet.
“He wants to wake a Keeper.”
“Why?” Quinn asked without missing a beat.
“Because he wants to relearn what has been lost. He wants to know the truth about what happened back then.” It didn’t sound like a bad idea to Alina, but then his blood flowed through her veins and maybe this obsession with magic was an illness in her family. Perhaps her mother had shunned magic and refused to teach her because she’d been worried about her ending up like Walter. Thoughts of magic had consumed her since she’d discovered what she was. She wanted to know everything. It was a hunger. But she wouldn’t become undead to further that quest. She knew that without having to stop and think. She could never kill someone she loved. The pursuit of magic and knowledge wasn’t enough to sustain her.
She was missing skating and her connection with the ice. It had been part of her for so long. But she didn’t have to skate competitively. She could coach, or do any number of things. Or she could just skate for pleasure and do something completely unrelated. She had the rest of her life ahead of her to decide.