by RK Close
Something was wrong. And then I smelled a scent that shouldn’t have been there. I could smell another vampire, ever so light, ever so lingering. My heart raced and I bolted for the door. A thought occurred to me, and I went back to the kitchen and opened the fridge door. Sure enough, there were my delivery goods, in large Styrofoam cups, covered with plastic lids, and double wrapped in plastic grocery bags.
Without hesitating, I snatched them from the fridge and rushed out the door. Guilt and fear spurred me on. I made it back to Victor’s house in record time. I hesitated at the edge of the yard.
Was Victor’s fear already a reality? Were they waiting in the house for me?
I was afraid that if they’d found Douglas, he’d have no choice but to give them my address. I hoped they hadn’t hurt him. Pulling an innocent person into my nightmare was one of the worst things I could imagine at the moment. Another was imagining them in my house--searching through my things.
I couldn’t go back there tonight, but where could I go? Moving away from the house, I made my way into the historic district. I walked quickly but not as a vampire. Hunger and exhaustion forced me to move slowly to conserve my energy.
When I finally stopped walking, I found myself in front of the auto repair shop staring up at Seth’s dark apartment windows.
13
Seth
The night with Olivia flew by. We sat on the sofa and talked for hours. I’d always considered myself a social guy, but I did not remember ever having deep conversations like the ones Olivia and I shared in a single evening. And it was good not to have to hide my wolf nature around her. She knew my secret and I knew hers.
She’d shared with me that she was dying of cancer when Victor turned her. The thought of never meeting her seemed like a tragedy, and I selfishly thanked Victor for what he’d done, even if it was against her will.
Olivia didn’t know if she possessed a soul anymore but she felt no differently since becoming a vampire. That thin thread of hope may have been the only thing that kept her going.
Her faith had faltered when she was labeled terminal. Victor found her before she could reconcile herself with God. She’d struggled with her fears silently ever since.
I was no stranger to these thoughts, so we understood each other. Maybe we’d figure it out together. She told me how close she was with her parents and her only sister, and how sad she was that she’d pushed them all away at the end.
“I’m sure they understood what you were dealing with. You’re not giving them enough credit. I know they’ve forgiven you,” I told her when she grew silent.
“I hope so,” she said, sounding sleepy. “They didn’t even have a body to bury.”
She suddenly tensed. “I’m so sorry that I didn’t learn more from Victor about your past. I should have asked him about it.”
I’d been torn about that myself, but I knew it wasn’t her fault, so I’d pushed that disappointment down. If Victor knew something about our mysterious past, then others did too. Someday, we’d learn the truth. Maybe one or all of us would finally remember what happened. I was more certain of discovering the secrets to our past than I’d ever been before.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll find the truth, or the truth will find us. I’m not thinking about that right now. I’m glad you stayed,” I said, moving a few strands of her hair from her cheek. Olivia smiled shyly before getting up to add more wood to the fire.
I looked at my watch to discover it was just before five-thirty in the morning. I groaned. “I hate to leave, but I have to be at the station by seven, and I need to shower and shave before I can show up to work.”
Olivia’s face fell. “It’s probably for the best. I’m feeling pretty lethargic. I’m not good company during the day,” she said, shoving her hands in her pockets and walked me to the door.
I looked at her messy hair and thought she couldn’t have been more beautiful. She noticed that I was staring and nervously ran her fingers through it. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I was just thinking about how beautiful you are.”
Her cheeks flushed bright red. “Yeah, right.”
I pulled her toward me and kissed the top of her head while she hesitantly slipped her arms around my waist. I’d been with plenty of women, but this felt different. I hadn’t even thought about sex. Well, I’d thought about it, but it wasn’t the end game. Not with her. And I liked that it wasn’t. I wanted to know what Olivia was thinking, how she felt, what made her smile, and eventually, what turned her on.
Reluctantly, I pulled away, and she quickly crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the door.
“I’m at the station for the next twenty-four hours, but you can call me if you need me. Will you be okay by yourself?”
She gave me a confident smile that reminded me of when I first met her at the Burning Moon Bar. Olivia looked like she could handle herself in any situation. I liked that about her, but I also appreciated the vulnerability she’d shared with me.
“You obviously have mistaken me for a damsel in distress. Nobody’s messing with this vampire,” she said smugly.
“That’s my girl,” I said, walking down the porch steps.
“I’m my own girl, Seth McKenzie!”
“Whatever you say, beautiful. Whatever you say.” I held my arms out to the sides in surrender. She laughed and closed the door. With other women, I always knew where I stood. With Olivia, I wasn’t certain what she was thinking. It was frustrating and exhilarating at the same time. I liked it.
I drove home to shower and shave, then made it to work a few minutes early. Liam was climbing out of his truck as I pulled up. He waited for me and we walked in together. I couldn’t seem to wipe the silly grin off my face, even though I was dead tired. Liam noticed right away.
“Somebody get lucky last night?”
“Something like that,” I said without elaborating. I sort of felt lucky. Lucky that she stayed, lucky that we talked for hours, lucky that I got a kiss from her. Yeah, lucky was a good word.
Liam studied me. “It must have been incredible. You haven’t stopped smiling since you got here.”
I laughed and then began to greet the sleepy firefighters who were ready to come off shift. Cole showed up a few minutes later, and we sat around the dayroom, drinking coffee, making breakfast, and shooting the shit with the two paramedics who worked on A-shift.
Later that day, when the medics were out on a call, I shared the news about the vampires leaving town. Cole just about did a happy dance, right there in the kitchen. It didn’t seem to concern him that Olivia was sticking around. It was as if he’d placed her in a different category than the one he’d previously put her in. I wondered how long that illusion would last.
“Problem solved, just like that,” Cole said enthusiastically.
“What about Victor? Did Olivia learn anything more before they left?” Liam asked, not looking as excited as Cole.
“No, it seemed to happen so fast. I don’t know if he would have given up the information, even if she’d asked,” I said.
Cole realized what the vampires’ leaving truly cost us, and some of the wind left his sails. He slumped down in his chair, no longer in a good mood.
“I didn’t think about that,” he grumbled. He looked confused for a moment. “Then why are you so happy, Seth?”
I smiled at him in reply. I didn’t need to fully understand it, but I also didn’t need to explain that to my younger brother. Liam was deep in thought and looked troubled. “What’s on your mind, Liam?”
“I’m wondering why the vamps felt the threat was serious enough to leave town in such a hurry,” he replied, running his hand over his jaw.
“I was wondering the same thing, but Olivia seemed to think the threat was directed at Victor for something he did to get on the bad side of the godfather of vampires,” I said. The more I thought about it, the more concerned I became. Would Olivia have been safer with her clan? “Do you think we sho
uld be worried?”
“If the vampires felt the threat was real, we shouldn’t take it lightly. I’m surprised Olivia stayed behind. You wouldn’t have had anything to do with that, would you?” Liam asked me pointedly.
I raised my hands in the air. “They’d already left before I arrived. She’s never felt connected to them, according to her. But I won’t deny that I didn’t want her to leave.”
Both my brothers stared at me as though I’d just announced I was running for president. A slow grin spread across Cole’s face.
“You are actually falling for someone,” Cole said in amazement.
“I don’t believe it,” Liam said, but he was looking at me in a strange way, like he did believe it.
“Don’t get all crazy on me. I didn’t say anything about falling in love. I wanted her to stay because I like her.” I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling like the walls are closing in on me.
Was I falling for Olivia?
It didn’t help that both Liam and Cole were leaning back and looking at me like a science project they needed a good grade on.
“A vampire,” Cole said. “Of all the women you could have chosen—”
“It’s not a choice for us,” Liam interrupted, shooting Cole a look.
I leaned forward and put my forearms on my knees. “Are you trying to suggest that she’s my true-mate? That Olivia, a vampire, is who I am destined to find?” I asked, incredulous.
“You were the one who pointed it out to me when I was drawn to Jessica in a way I’d never felt with another woman. Why is this different?” Liam smiled smugly as if everything made sense now.
“It just is. You’re different,” I argued.
Liam looked like he’d found the final piece to a complicated puzzle. “Have any more dreams, Seth?”
I looked at Cole and he burst out laughing. “Yes! Don’t deny it, man.”
I shook my head, but the thought had already crossed my mind. It simply seemed more plausible when someone else mentioned it. “How could that be? And why don’t we have shifter mates? Isn’t that more logical?”
“I don’t know. But I know someone who might,” Cole replied. We knew what he was going to say before he said it. “Zoey.”
It was true, that our resident witch knew far more about the paranormal workings of the world than we did, and that wasn’t saying much. We were clueless, besides what we’d experienced firsthand or what we’d learned from her.
“You’re right. We need to have another chat with Miss Zoey,” I said.
Cole looked pleased. Could Zoey be Cole’s true mate? It seemed like the attraction would be both ways, but since she’d turned him down, maybe Cole was barking up the wrong tree.
“Let’s plan to meet at the Moon tomorrow night. I’ll go early and butter her up.” Cole rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He had it bad for the secretive redhead.
“Agreed. We need to handle Zoey with care. She’s under no obligation to share information with us and seems reluctant to do so,” Liam said.
“She’s cautious. Haven’t you noticed? She’s always looking around, making sure she knows where everyone is and who is in the bar at all times. She’s good at hiding it, but it’s pretty obvious to me,” Cole said.
He’d nailed it. I’d never thought about it, but he was right about Zoey. “She doesn’t like it when people try to get personal. Have you noticed? She avoids questions about herself or outright refuses to answer. I always thought it was just a personality quirk, but I think you’re right, Cole.”
“Maybe Zoey has something in her past that she wants to hide,” Cole said.
“Or something she’s hiding from.” Liam glanced between Cole and me before continuing. “Don’t press her on her business. She has secrets and so do we. The last thing we need to do is alienate our only ally in these matters.”
The medics returned from their call and we dropped the conversation. I went to my room and thought about everything Olivia told me about her past. Were our lives a bunch of random accidents, or was there purpose in certain things that happened to us?
I couldn’t help but think about Olivia getting cancer at such a young age and then Victor deciding to extend her life the way he did. And now she was here and I couldn’t stop thinking about her, like a teenager and his first crush.
Did she think about me the way I thought about her?
Since when did I care if a woman was thinking about me or not? I’d always been more of an in-the-moment sort of guy. Would this feeling go away in a few days, weeks, or in a year? It hadn’t diminished when I kissed her or several kisses after that. If anything my attraction was stronger. By the end of the day, I felt exhausted, mentally and physically. I closed my eyes and nodded off with Olivia’s face on my mind.
14
The forest is dark and cold, like a soulless beast. Ordinarily, the woods were home--they called me.
Something was off. I caught her scent before I found her in the shadows of the trees. Olivia was running as if the devil himself, were chasing her. She didn’t move like a vampire, but like a human girl—stumbling and floundering as if possessed by sheer panic. A fight-or-flight reaction where escape was the only option.
Her fear was a bitter scent on the wind. I wanted to help her, call out to her, but I wasn’t really there, only a futile observer in someone else’s nightmare. The very essence of a nightmare was one’s powerlessness. Something hunted her, but I didn’t know who or what the enemy was.
My vision was swallowed by inky darkness before another scene slowly came into focus. Olivia was still running, trying to outdistance herself from the predator. Only, now it was down the deserted halls of a hospital.
She ran in slow motion, looking over her shoulder fearfully. As she passed the fluorescent lights in the hall, they flickered and blinked overhead like an electrical disturbance. Olivia knocked over trays and carts as she fled, trying to place obstacles between her and whatever hunted her.
I watched helplessly as she darted through a door that closed behind her. The door opened of its own accord, and I searched for her. It was a patient’s room, and in the bed, connected to an IV bag and various machinery, was Olivia.
She was so pale. Her skin was paper-thin and her bones protruded like a skeleton covered by a sheer cloth. My heart broke to see her luxurious chestnut hair had fallen out. Her head was mostly covered by a pink bandana, but there was no denying the truth. Olivia was at death’s door.
As if appearing from thin air, a man stood by her bed. They shared words that I couldn’t hear. He bent to whisper into her ear and I could almost read her lips as she told him to go to hell.
The man turned to look toward the door cautiously. I could see his face fully. It was the man from my dream—the one who watched my brothers and me in the woods when we were young.
Could this be Victor, the same man who turned Olivia into a vampire? I watched, furious but helpless, as he bit into her neck. Her feeble attempts to stop him were pathetic and ultimately ineffective. She was far too weak and he, too strong.
Her struggles ceased, and he pulled away to stare down at her still body. Looking cautiously over his shoulder, he carefully scooped her up and cradled her in his arms.
As he walked toward the door and peered down the halls, her lifeless eyes seemed to stare at me. The vampire turned the corner and disappeared, along with Olivia’s cancer-ravaged form.
The fire station tones pulled me from the dream and alerted me that there was a call to respond to. The dark of night seemed to have been pulled from my nightmare into reality as I gazed out the small window of my dorm room at the station.
The dream shook me to my core. It was so real, like a memory—as if my subconscious filled in missing details from the bits and pieces of the story Olivia shared with me.
She was vague regarding how she became a vampire. Mostly, she wanted me to know that it was against her will. She’d never chosen that life.
She was so brave, so much more t
han I would have imagined. Would I have passed up an offer to go on living? Was this vision a premonition that Olivia was in danger, or simply a manifestation of my concern for her? Was she pursued by a predator, or was Death itself her only pursuer? Victor, if that’s who it was, stole her from Death.
What happens when one cheats Death?
I pulled on my boots quickly and hustled out to the bay, where I stepped into my turnout pants and then grabbed my jacket and helmet from a row of hooks on the wall. As I picked up my phone from the bench, it slipped from my grasp and landed in a bucket of dirty mop water.
In a panic, I snatched it out as fast as I could and attempted to dry it off on the way to the engine. Damn. This was my third phone under one contract. I didn’t have time to check it out, so I shoved it in my pocket and kept going. Nobody to blame but myself. I was supposed to have emptied the bucket after mopping down the bay, but I was distracted and forgot.
Cole and Liam were already in the engine by the time I slid behind the driver’s seat and pulled on my headphones. The large-engine bay doors were already raised.
The call came in as medical, but since the medics were already out on another call, and we were trained EMTs, we were next in line.
A short five-minute drive put us on the east side of the Northern Arizona University campus, where the fraternity and sorority houses were located. It was four in the morning, but you’d never know it from the number of people milling about or coming and going from the student housing.
I pulled the engine up to the Alpha Phi building and we climbed out and made our way to the entrance, where we were met by a twenty-something woman with blonde hair and studious glasses.
“Did you call 9-1-1?” Liam asked.
She looked nervous. “Yes, we have two girls with wounds on their wrists and . . . thighs,” she said averting her gaze as she used the key fob hanging from a lanyard to unlock the glass doors.
Cole raised his eyebrows at me in a suggestive manner. I shook my head. The lobby was crowded with young women dressed like summer, even if the weather outside felt like it might snow.