“I don’t know.” The woman groaned before she made her way toward Rori.
“Hi, I’m Beth.” She was a petite blond with her hair pulled into a ponytail, a bright smile on her face, and a small pad in her hand.
Rori lowered his menu and shifted his focus to her. He watched as her pupils dilated. “Where is Ted?” He kept his voice low so no one would overhear him. To anyone watching, his face appeared pleasant, as though he were having a normal conversation with his waitress.
“Behind me,” she answered, her tone slightly monotonous. Her voice didn’t match her jovial expression. If he weren’t accustomed to this, it might have disturbed him.
He smiled and held her gaze. “What was he telling you?” If she knew, the problem could be bigger than just one human.
“About a fire person.”
“Like a fireman? Someone who puts out fires?” Rori queried.
“No,” she corrected, “like a person made of fire.”
His mouth tightened. He’d have to hold her gaze in order for the suggestions to stick and keep her truthful. “That’s ridiculous,” he admonished.
“Yes.”
“You don’t believe him,” he ordered.
“I don’t believe him,” she repeated.
“It’s nonsense.”
“Nonsense.”
“Has he told anyone else?”
“Sonia.”
“Who’s Sonia? Is she here?” This might have gotten out of hand. It could keep Rori busy for quite some time.
“Ted’s aunt.”
Rori raised a brow. “Is she here?”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
“Her shift ended a while ago, and she went home.”
“Anyone else know?”
“No.”
“Ted’s a whack job,” Rori hissed.
“Whack job.”
“He’s been acting crazy for a while. You don’t believe him. He’s crazy. Now bring me a piece of cherry pie and a coffee.”
“Crazy. Cherry pie. Coffee.”
Rori smiled and looked away.
The girl blinked a few times, then jotted his order on her pad. “Coming right up!” she said with a nod that made her ponytail bounce. She turned and headed for the kitchen.
Sitting back in his booth, Rori pinched the bridge of his nose. One down, two to go. Out of his periphery, he watched Ted follow the blonde into the kitchen. Rori smirked.
It wasn’t long before the waitress returned with pie and coffee. As she set it down, Rori took her gaze again. “Send Ted over,” he ordered.
“Send Ted over,” she repeated with the creepy smile.
As he sipped at the foul-tasting black water they called coffee, Rori wrinkled his nose. What humans enjoyed about it he’d never know. With a fork, he poked at the pie to give the illusion of having eaten some.
The hushed conversation between Beth and Ted drew his ear. When his command came from her lips, Rori overheard Ted questioning it. Rori waited with bated breath. He didn’t know Rori; why would this stranger need him at his table? Didn’t matter—customer was always right.
A tickling sensation trailed up his neck. The feeling of being watched irked him. Rori scanned the room and found no one in his section. Looking over his shoulder, he caught sight of the host counting out the register. An older gentleman was seated at the counter, and beside him a man who appeared to be in his fifties stared directly at Rori. He wasn’t trying to hide it. Rori shifted slightly. Lifting his chin, he sniffed the air, trying to get a sense of something, but all he got was fried food, sugar, and coffee. Nothing would permeate through that smell, nothing that far away. For a moment, he held the stare. The man shifted his focus off Rori’s eyes, to which the vampire lifted a brow. He knew not to make eye contact. Interesting.
“Hi, I’m Ted.” The lanky young man with a mop of curly brown hair interrupted Rori’s staring match.
Rori turned his focus and made eye contact, waiting for the pupil dilation before he spoke. “You need to leave early and check on your aunt.”
“Leave early,” Ted repeated.
“You’ll wait for me out back, and we’ll go check on her together.”
“Together.”
Rori broke the gaze quickly. Ted blinked a few times, then peered down at the table and scrubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll see you out back?” he asked before strolling toward the kitchen.
The booth groaned as a man slid in opposite Rori. Leaning back, the vampire folded his arms over his chest. The stout man held a serious expression as he made himself comfortable. “She’s a witch, you know,” the man offered in a voice so low Rori almost didn’t hear him.
With an arched eyebrow, Rori regarded him. He wasn’t a vampire. He wasn’t a human. He was something, but Rori couldn’t place it. The man had doused himself in cologne, masking his true scent.
“Got wards out the ass. You won’t be able to get on the property,” he continued as he lifted Rori’s fork and shoved pie in his mouth.
Rori clenched his jaw. He didn’t know the man or why he would offer to help, but if Sonia was a witch, that would be a problem. She could go to the council and report Divina for the magic she showed the human.
“We have a mutual interest,” the man said, as though he could read Rori’s mind. He met Rori’s eyes for half a second before focusing on his forehead. The fork fell to the plate. “That pie is awful.” The man picked up a napkin to spit in.
“And what interest is that?” Rori asked skeptically.
“The human needs to be put down.”
A bit unsettled by the man who had sat with him, Rori paid for his undrunk coffee and uneaten pie, then sauntered around the building, plotting. There was a witch to deal with now. He would have to play it smart.
It would have been nice to have all the details up front. He supposed it served him right. He hadn’t always been up front with Divina. Maybe this was some sort of test for her. Either way, he’d have to come up with some way to handle the human and the witch.
Rori leaned against the cracked bricks, far away from the dumpster, which stank of rotting food. A small puddle was forming beneath it, inching in his direction. He curled a finger around his nose and covered his mouth in an attempt to block out the putrid scent. The floodlight over a door sent a bright beam outward when it opened. Pushing off the wall, Rori stood tall. Showtime.
Ted walked out with a small bag in his hand. He scanned the lot before locking eyes with Rori. He didn’t look pleased or even relieved. Rather, he looked puzzled. Rori hadn’t given any context with the order—but context wouldn’t matter soon anyway.
Ted approached and rubbed the arm carrying a bag of fried foods. Rori looked him up and down. The poor bastard had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Rori locked eyes with him, waiting for Ted’s pupils to dilate before he spoke. “You don’t know Divina. You forget everything you know about her. You forget everything she has done. You forget everything to do with her.”
“Forget,” Ted repeated.
“No fire monster,” Rori urged.
“No.”
Rori looked away and Ted blinked. Rori had held up his end of the deal. He had erased the human’s memory, just as he had told Divina he would. Now, though, he had to clean up the mess—another promise he had made.
Ted raked a hand through the brown mop on his head and looked behind him. He licked his bottom lip and returned to facing Rori. “I gotta check on my aunt.”
Rori nodded. “You should,” he agreed. “I hear there have been some shady characters afoot.”
Ted took a few steps around the building. To Rori’s surprise, the man walked out of the lot and not toward a car. “Yeah, ran into some oddballs outside her house earlier.”
Rori lifted a brow. “Did you now?”
Ted continued on his way with Rori behind him. “Yeah. These three guys. Big fuckers, too. Thankfully she was already at work. I just didn’t like them ther
e, you know?”
Rori nodded sagely. “I do.”
He reached for Ted’s shoulder as an idea came to him. Ted turned, and their eyes met once more. Rori licked his bottom lip. “When we arrive at your aunt’s house, you will not see her. You will see the scariest of the men instead. He will charge you. You will need to defend yourself.”
Ted’s eyes widened. “Defend myself.”
“He will threaten your life. You have to defend yourself, or he will kill you.”
“Kill me.”
Rori nodded. “You have to kill him first.”
“Kill first.”
Rori released Ted’s shoulder and looked around. Ted took a deep breath. Rori was satisfied that he had planted the perfect suggestion to clean up the mess, and their walk continued.
It was only a few blocks before they stood in front of a sagging gray house with peeling paint. The yard looked well kept, with plush foliage surrounding the property line. A chain-link fence marked the perimeter.
Ted opened the gate and walked through without a problem. When Rori went to follow, he collided with something that wasn’t there. The damn wards were up all right. Seemed the stranger was helpful after all.
Rori huffed. He tugged at the bottom of his vest and waited. The back of his neck prickled, and he got the sneaking suspicion he’d been followed. He looked over his shoulder and scanned the vacant street. Nothing. He turned and glanced the other way. No one there, either. Pursing his lips, he strolled to the corner. Had Jonas followed him? That asshole was proving to be savvier than Rori had at first believed. But there was no one.
He came back to the front of the house.
“What are you doing?” The shrill female voice came from inside.
A smile grew on Rori’s lips. His suggestion had taken hold.
“What are you doing here?” Ted demanded.
“Ted!” the woman shouted, and then the sounds of a scuffle ensued.
Rori moved around to the side of the house. He couldn’t help his curiosity. Peeking through the windows at the rear of the house, he saw movement. The woman held Ted’s wrists while he towered over her with a knife in his hand.
“Get off me!” Ted shouted at her.
Rori couldn’t help but snicker. Poor bastard didn’t even realize he was about to kill his aunt. Rori should have felt bad. There was a time in his life when he would have. He had never enjoyed killing; he merely made do and did what he had to.
This was for Divina, for her safety. He had to ensure she was safe. Once that was done, he’d let her know all he’d done for her and not for himself, about all the sacrifices he had and would make for her. It was downright romantic, in a twisted sort of way. He couldn’t think of anything more romantic. This was beyond flowers and poetry.
He soured at the thought. She had specifically asked him not to kill.
Rori looked through the window again. Ted sliced the large kitchen knife through the woman’s chest. He pursed his lips. A shrill cry came from the woman, the witch. Wide-eyed fear reflected in both their eyes as blood spurted onto Ted’s face. Such a shame.
Rori licked his lips as the potent, coppery smell of fresh blood called to him. As sad as the situation was, his nature hadn’t changed. He was still a vampire who survived on blood, preferably human. He stepped closer to the house but banged into that damn ward. She was still alive. Once the witch died, the wards would fall. All the while, his mouth watered at the scent.
The knife rose and came down again. More sprays of blood arced over the young man. The two fell out of Rori’s vision as they toppled to the floor.
Rori hadn’t killed anyone. Ted had. Therefore, technically, Rori had kept his promise. Besides, she’d only said not to kill Ted. She didn’t say anything about the witch aunt.
Suspecting it wouldn’t be easy, Rori had been careful not to promise to keep Ted alive. Shaky at best, and he knew Divina wouldn’t see it that way. Semantics wouldn’t win her over. Rori hadn’t been the one wielding the knife, but someone had died. Sometimes one had to do things in the best interest of those one loved. Even if the loved one didn’t see it that way.
Who was he kidding? He was screwed.
No amount of charm was going to change the fact that someone she had wanted to remain alive was not. The added casualty of the witch would only compound the issue. He’d have to find another way to get forgiveness from her, another thing he’d done that she’d have to forgive. He might have to keep a list to ensure it didn’t get too long.
Rori rounded the house toward the back. Testing the wards again, he found them weak but not quite down. With no back gate, the fencing continued. Annoying little witch. Rori snorted and returned to the front of the house. By the time he reached the front gate, he was able to walk right through. He should have felt good about that. His plan had worked. However, a semblance of remorse struck him. He had been the cause of a life ending. Not just any life, but a witch’s. A witch he had never even spoken to. They had never met. The council wouldn’t be happy about this.
Rori shook the thought from his head. He had done it for Divina, for her protection. He did what was best for her, and he had to stick to that. It was her life or that of the witch and the human in there.
The sacrifices for Divina were piling up.
Blood. The scent of blood bombarded him the moment he opened the front door. He salivated like a Pavlovian dog. Ted stood panting in the kitchen, his chest heaving; a white-knuckled hand clung to the knife dripping with blood. Blood was splashed across his flushed face and shirt. He turned, knife in hand, prepared to pounce again as he stood over the body of his aunt. His brown eyes were wide and wild as he scanned Rori, evaluating him as a threat.
Rori held up his hands, palms toward Ted. “Easy,” he said in a soothing voice. “He’s gone.”
Ted looked down at the woman, no doubt still seeing the image Rori had planted in his mind. “He was going to kill me,” he announced in a shaky voice.
“I know,” Rori agreed.
“I didn’t mean to. But he was going to kill me.” The knife dropped from his hand. He stepped toward Rori.
Rori took note of the man’s posture and how his body shook. Shock set in as Ted began to face what he had actually done. Remorse again struck Rori.
Swallowing, he made eye contact with Ted. At first, Ted wouldn’t comply. He looked down at the body again, then back at Rori. He shook hard. Finally, his pupils indicated his suggestibility.
“You killed your aunt,” Rori said.
“Aunt Sonia,” Ted stated flatly.
“You killed your aunt,” Rori said again. “You are ashamed. You are tortured. You must kill yourself.”
Holding Ted’s gaze, Rori listened while the man repeated what he had said. Then Rori bent down to pick up the knife, using his shirt sleeve to keep his fingerprints from getting on the handle. He offered the blade to Ted. “You must kill yourself with this. Because you killed your aunt.”
Ted hesitated.
“You must kill yourself with this,” Rori repeated. “Because you killed your aunt.”
Ted made no move to comply.
Rori gritted his teeth. New strategy. “Use the knife to cut your wrists.”
With shaking hands, Ted took the knife. His eyes welled with tears, which fell heavily, leaving streaks in the blood on his face.
“Hold out your left wrist.”
Ted did.
“Use the knife and slice deep, Ted.” Rori’s voice was calm and cold. He needed to detach himself for this. He told himself this was for Divina. “You killed her. You killed your aunt.”
The blade came close to the narrow wrist of Ted’s left arm. His eyes remained locked on Rori. The human trembled in front of him, the blade dancing over the skin.
“Use the knife to slice your wrist deeply,” Rori reiterated.
Ted cried out in pain as he sank the blade into his wrist, breaking through the skin, severing veins and tendons down to the bone. Ted howled when blood gush
ed from the wound. It dripped to the floor. The knife clattered there as well.
Rori canted his head. “Show me.”
Ted stepped closer and lifted his bleeding wrist toward the vampire.
Rori closed the distance between them and brought his mouth down. He stuck out his tongue and caught a few of the drops, then closed his eyes and savored the warm, thick liquid.
With eye contact broken, Ted awoke from the trance. “Oh my God!” he screamed.
Opening his eyes, Rori narrowed them at the human. Shit. He had forgotten to plant suggestions about calm and peacefulness.
The frantic man searched for a towel. “I can’t believe… Shit! Oh my God. How?” Ted wobbled, his left hand flopping as he scrambled about. He slipped in a puddle of his aunt’s blood and tumbled to the floor with a loud thud. The rubber of his sneakers squeaked as he continued to slide in the growing puddle. Ted turned in her direction and screamed. “I did that! Oh my God, I did that.”
Rori rolled his eyes. “Ted!” he barked.
Ted turned sharply in his direction. The man’s eyes pleaded with him for answers.
Rori narrowed his own. “Stay. Silent.”
Ted’s mouth tightened, and he froze.
Careful to avoid the blood pools, Rori found a glass in a drying rack. He crouched near Ted and brought it to his left wrist. The blood pulsed, dripping into the cup.
He met Ted’s eyes again. “You will drift off to sleep peacefully. Close your eyes and lie down. You will sleep. You will find peace.”
Ted’s eyes closed, and he lowered himself to the floor. His back was in a pool of blood. His wrist fell limp, and Rori watched the cup slowly fill. Glancing around at the carnage, he frowned. He’d never orchestrated something like this before. He’d never been so savage. But he’d done what he had to do for Divina. It was all for her.
With his stomach flip-flopping, Rori looked away. The things he’d do for her scared him. She’d see that. She’d see that he’d broken his own oath about killing humans for her. He’d done it for her safety. There was no other way for her to survive. If the council heard she’d outed herself, she’d be put to death. He couldn’t let that happen.
She would understand one day. He would make her see. He would make her understand that he had done it for her because he loved her. Until then, he’d have to carry the weight of the guilt of betraying her to save her.
The Wolf of the Prophecy Page 18