It dawned on her then that maybe this wasn’t a monster in Chase Wylie’s body. Maybe this was what he had been the entire time and now, thanks to Frederik and Allison, the monster had been let out.
As Chase’s grasping hands went for the button of her jeans, a burst of strength, borne of desperation and fear, surged through her veins and she somehow landed a blow that sent him toppling sideways and then she was up and running.
But, then a sound hit her ears. An agonized growl that she knew had come from Kyle.
Something akin to a murderous fury flared up in her belly and she was spinning around toward that sound, her gaze landing on Frederik, who had Kyle held up by the throat, cracking his fist against Kyle’s face again and again and again.
Lanie was suddenly racing back to Kyle, the only thought in her mind of helping him. Frederik might kill him this time, if he thought Kyle was standing in the way of what Allison wanted!
Lanie was at Frederik, throwing herself against him and cracking her fist into the side of his face, which didn’t even seem to faze him. So, she tried again, hitting him as hard as she could, which snapped his head sideways, but didn’t stop him from pummeling Kyle with all his strength.
The sound of fast footsteps pounding the ground fell on her ears and before she even knew what she was doing, Lanie was grabbing one of the shards from the pouch strapped to Kyle’s leg and whipped around, driving the stake as hard as she could right into the body that was hurtling at her. A pained howl split the air and Lanie shoved harder, pushing the shard until it was buried in flesh and bone and her hand was against the wall of Chase Wylie’s chest.
For an instant, Chase’s eyes went wide, but Lanie knew she’d missed. The shard was in the center of his chest, not in his heart, but the pain was apparently enough for him because he was suddenly on his knees, clutching at the shard, trying to pull it from him, but it was embedded too far. Blood was spilling down the front of his shirt and Lanie drew back, fear tingling through her at the sight of that curtain of crimson…but nothing happened. There was no velvety taste on her tongue, nor was there a need to taste it.
As she was watching Chase Wylie writhe in agony, she was keenly aware that Frederik was still pummeling Kyle and again she spun around, jerking another shard from the sheath on Kyle’s leg and, knowing she couldn’t plunge it through his heart, she drove it straight through the side of his neck, causing Frederik to let out an enraged snarl and drop Kyle, who instantly tackled him, knocking him to the ground. Kyle went down with him, his hand grabbing for a shard on the way down. As they both hit the pavement, Kyle lifted the shard above his head and drove it downward. But, before the shard could touch Frederik, a wild shriek tore the air and a shape came from out nowhere, hitting Kyle head on and sending flying him backward. For a few seconds there was nothing but a writhing, snarling ball of shadows flailing on the ground and suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the two shadows separated and were standing there, facing one another.
Lanie felt a sickening wave wash over her as she watched the expression changing on Kyle’s beautiful face. At first there was nothing, just a blank void as his eyes took in the person standing before him. And then recognition slowly washed over his features, followed again by that blank stare.
And then Kyle’s face filled with such stark…relief that Lanie felt as if someone had physically stabbed her in the heart.
“Allison?” he rasped, taking a step forward and reaching out to her.
But, Allison shrieked wildly and lurched away from him, streaking over to where Frederik was struggling to his feet. Within a split second, she jerked the shard from Frederik’s neck and whipped back to face Kyle, her teeth out and her eyes gleaming. She was flying at Kyle then, hitting him with enough force to send them both sailing through the air and landing with a crash on the sidewalk across the street.
Lanie shrieked as Allison plunged the shard downward and Kyle let out an agonized roar, but the next instant Allison was sent hurtling backward away from him, landing hard on the pavement. Kyle was on his feet then, his face enraged, the blood spilling down him turning his shirtfront red. Lanie streaked over to him just as Frederik made it to Allison’s side, pulling her up to her feet.
Lanie saw the shard protruding from his chest and she felt a chill sweep over her. It looked like Allison had barely missed his heart.
“I told you to kill him!” Allison was suddenly shrieking and Lanie glanced over to see Frederik working hard at restraining her. “I’ve told you to kill him a thousand times! You should have listened to me! He’s ruining everything again!”
Lanie glanced back at Kyle, who was now holding the loaded crossbow, which he had aimed right at his sister. Hearing the words his sister was shrieking seemed to be causing him physical pain.
“Why didn’t you kill him before! You’ve had a thousand chances!” Allison shrieked, struggling to get away from Frederik.
“Allison, stop! Allison, stop!” Frederik was snarling at her. “Leave him be! Let’s collect the girl and get away from this horrid place!”
“No! I want him dead! You were supposed to kill him four years ago! I just want to be left alone!” Allison screeched in outrage, turning around to let some of her anger loose on her mate.
“Stop this!” Frederik roared and with startling abruptness, brought a fist down across Allison’s face, knocking her to the ground. And there she lay, silent and unmoving. Frederik let out an angry snarl and bent down, slamming his fist against her face again and then again for good measure. “Damnable female! You never listen!” he snarled at the still form.
Lanie watched in horror, thinking that might be her fate if Frederik or Allison managed to get hold of her.
Frederik straightened up and pinned Lanie with his gaze. “We’re leaving this place, Lanie. Come along.” He lifted Allison up into his arms and shot a glance at Chase, who was struggling to his feet, still trying to pull the shard from his chest.
Lanie steeled herself for another fight. “I’m not coming with you.”
“Girl, I am your family! You will be by my side when I leave this hellhole!” Frederik snarled at her.
Lanie didn’t remember how it happened, she just suddenly had the crossbow in her hand and was aiming it at Frederik. She started to open her mouth to give him the warning, but instead pulled the trigger, sending the shard whistling through the air and driving right into the center of his chest, staggering him. An instant later, the crossbow was loaded and back in her hands and another shard was flying through the air, hitting Frederik just to the left of the first. The crossbow was loaded again and Lanie knew her next shot would kill Frederik.
In that second Frederik realized it, too, and as the stake left the crossbow, he jerked sideways so that the gleaming shard struck Allison in the shoulder. Frederik was out of Lanie’s line of vision then and she looked around for him, finding him standing next to Chase Wylie, who was wild eyed and wobbling unsteadily on his feet.
“She’ll never let you go, Lanie,” Frederik told her, his face hard. “And neither will I!”
Lanie was leveling the crossbow at him again. Frederik was speaking the truth. Allison would not stop until she had a sister. Frederik would not stop until he had a new mate. They would hunt her until they both had what they wanted. A new plaything.
Unless she hunted them down and killed them first.
The next instant, Frederik, Allison, and Chase Wylie were gone, leaving the street quiet and empty. After a frozen moment Lanie forced her gaze to turn to Kyle. There was no color at all in Kyle’s face as he looked at her with huge green eyes filled with disbelief and betrayal.
“I don’t understand, Lanie,” he said in a thick voice, his tone one of utter confoundment. “All this time…she’s been with him all this time…”
Lanie didn’t know what to say that would help him, so she said nothing.
“She’s been trying to get him to kill me all this time?” he asked. “She’s been…she’s been out there…killing pe
ople all this time?”
Again, Lanie said nothing.
A sardonic chuckle suddenly burst out of Kyle and Lanie was quickly swept off her feet and settled into his arms. “I’ll get some help for you, Lanie,” he told her, visibly pulling himself together. “I promise.”
Those words said, Kyle sped them off through the night.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Lanie sat on the sofa of her aunt’s very pink house, listening to the silence pushing in on her and…waiting. She had been waiting for hours and hours while the others were taking care of what needed to be taken care of. There were bodies littering Fells Pointe that needed to be beheaded, burned, and then buried. Her aunt’s body had to been taken to the funeral parlor days ago, labeled yet another victim of the vicious killer, who would undoubtedly leave Fells Pointe just as mysteriously as he’d come.
Sam, Deputy Sterling, Kyle, and Johnna were all out there, working away to try and clean up what Frederik and Allison had done. Lanie ached to be out there with them, helping to clean up the mess that had been left behind. But, she had been remanded to the house for fear of what she might do. And not even her own house. Kyle had thought it best if her father didn’t invite her inside his home yet, just to be safe.
She honestly didn’t think she would tear her dad or Johnna apart just because she set her eyes on them. She wasn’t that weak. She didn’t even feel… hungry. If she was supposed to feel hungry. In fact, she wasn’t feeling much of anything at the moment.
Her aunt was dead. Half her friends were dead. Her dad had been torn up and nearly killed. She was a vampire. She was going to leave her home and what was left of her family, her life. She was going to be hunted by two vampires who wanted to make her their life sized…toy. And she was going to be hunting them back because she wasn’t about to suffer that fate.
That was a lot of heavy stuff. Yet, she felt…numb. There was no sadness, no fear, no worry. She was just…numb.
It was strange, not feeling anything at all. She had to wonder if this was how it was supposed to be for her now. Did vampires feel nothing inside? Or maybe it was because she was in some sort of shock. Either option seemed to make sense. And really, she was almost glad that she wasn’t feeling the things she knew she should be feeling. If she could feel, she knew it would hurt.
She honestly just wanted Kyle to come back so they could leave. She wanted to get away from Fells Pointe and away from everything that she would never have. It would make things easier. She wanted to do it quick, like ripping a Band-Aid off so fast that it didn’t hurt. At least, for a few seconds. The hurt came later.
She was the last reminder of all the bad things that had happened and once she was gone, everyone in Fells Pointe could move on and forget about the horrible thing that had been sent on them. They could all move on and forget.
She, however, would have to live with it. And live and live and live…
She would be fine, though. She had Kyle. He would help her. He promised to get her to Father Cristos, who would teach her how to live without hurting anyone. She would be fine. She believed that. No matter what Allison had done to her, she was still…her.
Lanie Bancroft was going to be fine.
As she sat in the silence, she heard the sound of a car engine from outside and the more she concentrated, she began to realize that it was actually two car engines she was hearing. One smooth and easy, one loud and full and throaty. The engines approached and then stopped just outside the house.
Kyle and the others were back.
Lanie glanced at the clock on the wall. It was four thirty a.m. They had been gone for hours and hours, with Kyle coming back every little while to make sure she was where she was supposed to be. He seemed to think she’d sneak out of the house and bleed half the town dry.
She had no thought of that. She did not desire to go out and feed on anyone else. She would have to live with Hayley Strong on her conscience for the rest of her life and that was enough for her. She was thankful that at the very least, she didn’t have to remember what she’d done to the girl in vivid detail.
There were slamming car doors and mumbling voices and then the front door opened and Kyle stepped inside, his gaze going to her and relief washing over his face. “Lanie, are you okay?” he asked, rushing over to her.
“I-I’m fine. Why? What’s wrong?” she asked, getting to her feet.
“Nothing. I-I…I’ve been gone longer than I meant to and I was worried that you…” he let his voice trail off.
“I’m fine. I didn’t leave the house. I promise,” she told him, noting how dull and flat her voice sounded.
“I know you promised,” he said, pulling her to him and giving her a hard hug. “But, you might not be able to help yourself if you start to hunger.”
“I’m okay,” she assured him. “I feel fine.”
“You will feel fine, right up until the second you decide it’s time to feed. You’re new, Lanie. You can’t control it.”
“I’ll learn to,” she told him determinedly. She would. She would never kill another person to sustain herself. Not even if it meant that she would wither away and die.
“I know you will. But, in the meantime, it’s a long drive between here and New Mexico,” Kyle told her. “I hope I can get you there in time.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“You father and I managed to find some…food for you, but if it’s not enough to get you from here to Father Cristos...I’ll have to find some or you won’t make it.”
Well, it was going to be an interesting trip.
“I’ll be okay,” she told him. “I’m not worried.”
Kyle was. It was written all over his face.
“Your things are in my car and your dad and Johnna are waiting to say goodbye to you. We have to get going,” he said, putting an arm around her and leading her to the front door. “You can’t get too close to them, Lanie. Do you understand?”
Lanie nodded. She might not want to hurt her dad or Johnna and she might even believe that she wouldn’t, but she wasn’t going to risk it. She would not be able to live with that on her conscience.
Kyle pulled the front door open and they stepped out into the chill night. Lanie’s gaze instantly went to her dad and Johnna, both standing by the cruiser parked in the driveway. Johnna’s hands went to her mouth and Sam straightened up, his handsome face going so white that Lanie could see it even in the darkness.
Her stomach tied itself into a knot and she tried to step back inside the house, but Kyle prevented her. She knew that look on her dad’s face. It was fear. And she knew it was because of what she looked like. She hadn’t seen herself yet, she hadn’t had the stomach to see a monster staring back at her in the mirror, but she knew she had the gleaming red eyes and ashen skin. She knew if she ran her tongue around her mouth, she would feel the sharp teeth, but she refused to do that, too.
“Tell them goodbye, Lanie,” Kyle said to her, easing them down the steps.
Lanie wanted to go to her dad and throw her arms around him. She wanted to at least get to hug him one last time. Who knew how long it would be before she got to see him again. But, Kyle’s arm was so tight around her that she couldn’t.
Kyle walked her down the front walk and stopped a few feet from Sam and Johnna, both of who were standing frozen and obviously struggling to keep the terror and repulsion off their faces, but they were failing. Sam still bore the marks from his encounter with Frederik. His arm was in a sling, there were bruises marring his face, and a long row of stitches running down the side of his neck.
Frederik had nearly killed Sam Bancroft.
“Say your goodbyes. I need to get her on the road,” Kyle said quietly.
There was a strained silence during which Lanie could only focus on the sound of the two heartbeats filling her ears with their staccato rhythm.
“Lanie, I-I’ll…I’ll miss you,” Johnna finally spoke up, her voice thick with the threat of tears.
Lanie tr
ied to speak, but found that her own voice was forsaking her.
“You’ll be back here before long, squirt,” Sam put in, clearly working hard to keep his voice steady. “As soon as you’re…better, Kyle will bring you back home. Right, Kyle?”
Kyle nodded, but did not answer and Lanie knew it was because he had no intentions of bringing her back home any time soon.
“You’ll call me, Lanie?” Sam went on. “I want you to call me every day and let me know where you are and that you’re okay.”
Lanie nodded. Johnna had given up her phone, to replace the one that Lanie had lost so they could keep in touch.
“And call me, too,” Johnna said stiffly. “I’ll worry sick if you don’t.”
Devyn would have said, “Oy gevalt! I’m so farklempt! But, you’d better call me, too, or I’ll kick your tuchas!
Devyn would have said…
“I’ll make sure she calls, Sheriff Bancroft,” Kyle promised. “And you don’t have to worry. My friend will help her. And I’ll be with her the entire time.”
“But, you’ll call if you need anything?” Sam persisted. “I’ll do anything I can for you. I’ll keep money on your bank card and—“
“And if you have internet service you can Skype with us. I put your laptop in with your things,” Johnna cut in, plastering a big, fake smile on her face.
“I’ll answer my phone any time, day or night, squirt,” Sam assured her. “If you need anything, you just call and you’ll have it.”
“I’ll call every day. I promise,” she whispered.
Sam took a step forward, but Kyle stiffened and held up a hand. “That’s not a good idea,” he warned quietly.
Sam moved back, taking in a deep breath. “You’ll bring her back, right? She’ll be coming home soon?” he asked Kyle, his large blue eyes shining with tears.
Lanie was suddenly very glad she wasn’t feeling anything. Seeing her dad’s eyes filling up with tears would have killed her.
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