Series Firsts Box Set

by Laken Cane

  The vampires began to rise.

  As she watched, her father sat up. He looked different but somehow the same. He glanced down at his wife and saw the end of the stake protruding from her bony chest. “What?” he asked. “What?”

  “Daddy,” she screamed. Oh my God. It’s my daddy.

  “Rune? Is that…oh no, oh no.” He lifted his hands, hiding his face. “Oh no.”

  Her men went completely silent. Stunned, no doubt. Even Sherry shut up.

  And finally, Rune was able to beat her monster back with sheer force of will, and she calmed. “Z.” Her throat hurt from screaming, and her words came out in a hoarse whisper. “I’m okay. Let me up. We have to get out of here.”

  The few vampires that remained were waking, and she couldn’t kill any more of them. Of course not. She had to get her crew out of there.

  Daddy. Mama. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. Her father would hear her.

  Z rose cautiously, unsure, as all the men were. The twins stood with vguns and shivs ready, and she knew their eyes would be darting between her and the other monsters.

  Z put his arm around her. “Everybody out.”

  Sherry opened her mouth. “But—”

  Raze pointed his shiv at her. “Shut the fuck up and move your ass.”

  He’d reached his limit, and Sherry seemed to realize it. She growled but jogged from the room. The rest of the crew followed—Z and Rune first and the others behind them just in case the vampires attacked.

  Z nearly carried Rune up the crude steps, his hands firm on her waist. After he tossed her through the opening, she jumped off the porch and fell to her knees. She couldn’t stop dry heaving.

  Finally her stomach settled and she yanked off her goggles, throwing them as hard as she could at the house. That was all the energy she had left.

  She dragged in deep breaths of the fresh, fragrant air. How was she going to deal with that fresh new hell?

  How?

  Her men surrounded her, helpless in the face of her pain.

  Sherry leaned against the porch railing, quietly watching them.

  Jack was the first to speak. “Fuck, Rune. What can we do?”

  Levi leaned forward and hugged her hard, ignoring her when she immediately recoiled. “I’m so sorry,” he said.

  They all murmured and fidgeted and wondered what to do to make her better. But they could do nothing. There was no better, not for her.

  They knew nothing other than what they’d seen. Her parents had somehow been turned, and Rune hadn’t known.

  What a fucking shock.

  The rest of her secrets were safe. Her shame was still her own.

  Out of the blue, she began to sob. Tearless sobs. Rune never really cried. She wanted to die. What was she? Was she some sort of mutated vampire? She pretty much had to be, if she’d managed to turn her parents.

  She was a monster. The question she’d always struggled with was what flavor of monster.

  “I have to go back down there. I have to tell my father—”

  Denim squeezed her shoulder. “He’s not your father anymore, Rune.”

  Damn touchy feely twins. She shrugged his hand off her shoulder.

  The vampire was still her father. She’d seen it in his eyes.

  And for the second time, she’d murdered her mother.

  Chapter Eight

  She sat in her office, drinking coffee strong enough to rust iron, and put her father and mother away in a little compartment in her mind. Over the years she’d gotten pretty good at avoidance.

  Her men had taken her lead and hadn’t picked at her. Jack simply told her to let them know when she wanted help figuring it out.

  “I don’t want to think about it or talk about it right now,” she’d said. “Not right now.”

  They understood.

  She hoped Jeremy would come to her that night. She needed her fix and needed it badly. If work kept him from her, she’d snatch someone from the shadows and get what she needed before she lost her mind.

  She looked up when she heard the reception-area doors open, head cocked as she listened.

  “She okay?”

  Denim’s voice. She glanced at her clock and realized she’d lost track of time. She’d told them to bring Lex by.

  She stood, happy for the interruption. Anything to keep the thoughts at bay.

  “Come in,” she called.

  Lex looked a little weak, but otherwise fine. She was a stunning girl with her perfect skin and long black hair. She’d dressed in a simple, loose pair of cotton shorts that hung nearly to her knees, calf-length boots that looked like they might be useful in kicking the shit out of a person, and a faded green T-shirt. She held a worn jacket that seemed better suited for early spring.

  She’d covered her crazy black eyes with a pair of cute sunglasses. Rune wondered who chose her clothes and accessories. The twins?

  Ellis stood beside them, gazing at the exotic new girl.

  Rune strode to Lex with her hand out before she realized the girl couldn’t see her. Slightly uncomfortable, she put her hand down. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Lexi.”

  Lex didn’t smile. She turned her face toward Rune. “Thank you.”

  Rune gestured at the two chairs positioned in front of her desk. “Ellis can grab another chair if you’d all like to sit down.”

  Before Rune could back away, Lex shot her hand out and wrapped her fingers around Rune’s wrist. Carefully, she slid her fingers down until she was holding Rune’s hand, her expression solemn.

  Just the tiniest bit, her body began to vibrate.

  “Lex,” Levi said. “Maybe—”

  “Quiet,” she said.

  Rune frowned at the twins. “What is she doing?”

  Lex tightened her grip. “You can ask me, Rune. Just because I’m different doesn’t mean I’m an idiot.”

  Rune’s face heated. “Sorry. What are you doing?”

  “Reading you.”

  “Shit.” Rune twisted her hand out of the Other’s grip, her heart galloping. “Stay the fuck out of my head, Lex.”

  Ellis gasped. “Rune!”

  The twins, as one, sighed.

  Lex only shrugged. “I felt something from you when you touched me that first time. I wanted to follow up.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t.” Rune hesitated. “You’re a telepath?”

  “I am many things. I can sometimes…sense things from certain types of people.”

  Levi shifted his weight and glanced at Denim. She could almost see the thought passing between them.

  “You don’t want to read me, Lex. And I really don’t want you to.” She crossed her arms and leaned against her desk. “So is that the extent of your powers? The boys led me to believe you would be a good asset to Shiv Crew, but I don’t need anyone to read people. Not currently.”

  Ellis sent her a narrow-eyed, disapproving look but she ignored him. Like the girl said—being different didn’t make her an idiot, and Rune wasn’t going to make the mistake of treating her like one.

  “My body wears me down,” Lexi said. “I see by its vibrations. I don’t see in the literal sense of the word. But that doesn’t matter. The point is…”

  She trailed off, as though she’d lost her point and couldn’t find it.

  Levi stepped in. “She’s a fighter, Rune. You know what Denim and I can do.” He pointed at Lex, a gleam of pride in his eyes. “She’s better.”

  “Better?” Rune was skeptical. She knew the twins loved the girl, but it didn’t make sense that they’d lie. Rune could easily test her.

  As though he’d read her mind, Denim pushed a chair out of the way. Ellis grabbed the other one. Levi took Lex’s jacket and tossed it onto Rune’s desk.

  “Try her out,” Denim said.

  But Rune was hesitant. Try out a blind girl? What was she supposed to do, exactly, to test her?

  Levi shot her a smile and pulled his shiv. “We’ll do it.” He looked at Rune. “Give us some space. Y
ou and Ellis stand behind the desk.”

  Rune looked at him.

  “Please,” he added.

  She shrugged. “Come on, Ellis, let’s get out of the way.” But she glanced at Levi’s shiv before she moved. “You’re not to risk hurting her.”

  Denim flashed one of his rare grins. “Don’t worry, Rune.” He pulled his own shiv.

  “We’ll make it fast,” Levi said. “She’s still not a hundred percent since her…”

  “Episode,” Lex finished, when he hesitated.

  What a strange bunch. Rune stood beside Ellis against the wall. “Do it.”

  Lex began to vibrate.

  Rune could understand how the vibrations would exhaust the girl’s body but still wasn’t clear on why, when she had her episodes, her mind was affected as well.

  Beside her, Ellis watched the trio with wide eyes. He was always so in awe of everything, always so genuinely interested. He was like a kid at a circus, except he wasn’t scared of the clowns.

  “She’s just so sad,” he whispered.

  Who wasn’t? It was a sad world.

  Lexi’s vibrations were frighteningly intense at first, but then they seemed to ease. Rune realized that was only because they’d become so fast it was difficult to see that her body was actually moving.

  The girl pulled off her sunglasses and tossed them to Rune, who automatically shot out a hand to catch them.

  Lex smiled.

  And then, in an unexpected move, Denim threw his shiv at the blind girl. He threw it hard, professionally, and with every intention of driving the thing through her heart.

  At least that was what it looked like to Rune. She stood in stunned silence as Lex not only caught the blade but sent it flying into a blank space on the wall where it stuck with a solid thud.

  Levi didn’t wait for Denim’s shiv to hit the wall before he threw his own blade at her. The boys had come loaded with sharp blades and obvious plans to use them all.

  Almost too fast to watch, the twins hurled lethal knives at a girl who should have been dead. But she kept snatching the blades out of the air and flinging them at the wall.

  It was a perfect, awe-inspiring, terrifying show. It was even more impressive than the twin’s stunning test at the Sandbox.

  Every time Levi and Denim had something new to show her, they shocked the hell out of her. And amazed her. Lex was beyond extraordinary.

  Ellis stood with his hand over his mouth, squeaking like a trapped rat. If Rune had been less rigid, she might have done the same thing.

  The twins were really trying. After they ran out of blades Levi yanked two of them from the wall and tossed one to his brother.

  They came at Lex from different sides, quiet and quick, and if she hadn’t witnessed what happened next Rune simply wouldn’t have believed it.

  Lex jumped into the air and kicked Denim in the face. Almost before the blow connected, she hit the floor, turned, kicked the shiv from Levi’s hand and then landed a right uppercut that sent him reeling into the wall.

  There was a small silence in which Lexi stood, her arms crossed, a tiny smile crossing her face. Her eyes were vibrating as fast as her body.

  Rune parted her hands and started to bring them together in a clap of admiration.

  “Don’t applaud,” Lex said.

  Rune froze in mid clap. “How the hell did you know I was going to applaud?”

  But how the hell had the girl fought off a dozen knives and two trained men?

  “Because, Rune, that is what I do. This is my power.” She stopped vibrating as suddenly as she’d started.

  It was visibly noticeable. When she wasn’t vibrating, Lex was blind again. She seemed to grow smaller, even, and the spark that made her shine just…went away.

  And she lost her ability to calculate events, movements, intentions.

  It was one of the saddest but one of the most incredible things Rune had ever witnessed.

  The twins, scowling and holding careful hands over their bruises, looked at Rune.

  “There is more,” Denim said, “but even she doesn’t know everything she can do. She discovers new things all the time.”

  “She can’t hold the vibrations for extended periods,” Levi added. “Not yet.”

  “But I’m doing it longer,” Lex said.

  “And she gets sick,” Denim said. “In time we’ll figure out why and fix it. We will.” He put his arm around Lex, not even flinching when she touched his swollen face.

  “I got carried away,” she murmured.

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “A little bit.”

  Ellis pushed away from the wall and walked to Lex, his face set in lines Rune recognized. It was his “I’ve got a new project and aim to fix everything” face.

  “The vibrations are making her sick,” he said, peering into the girl’s eyes. “And even now, though you can barely see it, she is still vibrating.”

  Lex jerked in surprise. “You can see that?”

  “Yes I can, my sweet, sweet girl.” He looked at the twins. “You can’t?”

  “They’re weak vibrations,” Lex told him. “Too weak to make me tired, too weak to give me any power.”

  “They’re like little muscle spasms,” Ellis noted.

  The twins watched the interaction, interested in what Ellis was saying but not looking hopeful that he’d find a solution to Lexi’s collapses.

  Ellis put a finger on his chin, his eyes narrowing. “What do you do when you’re not calling your power?”

  She shrugged. “I rest. Do quiet things and try to save my energy.”

  “Maybe that’s your problem, dear heart.”

  Denim frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Ellis pursed his lips. “It’s just a thought, but maybe she doesn’t need to rest.” He gestured at the girl. “Obviously she’s never really resting. She’s always low-level vibrating.”

  Rune joined them. She’d seen Ellis as Mr. Fix-it before. He was good. “So?”

  Ellis’s eyes shone. He clasped his hands together and practically danced in place. “When I was a kid I knew a lady who had a dog. A huge dog. It never got exercised.” He looked at them all, his brown eyes bulging. “Mostly it lived in a small kennel. Saddest thing ever.”

  Rune glanced at the twins, as mystified at they were. “Are you saying we should get her a dog?”

  He slapped his thigh. “No, Rune. We should exercise her! That poor dog never had an outlet for all that energy building inside him. Bad things happened—not only physically but mentally.” He grabbed Lex’s arms and shook her gently. “How often do you do what you just did, baby girl?” Ellis had never met a stranger.

  She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, Denim spoke. “We don’t think it’s a good idea for her to vibrate so hard unless it’s an emergency.” He looked at Rune. “Or unless she needs to audition for someone.”

  “Uh-huh,” Ellis said. “Uh-huh. So basically, never.”

  The twins looked at each other. “Not since…”

  Rune understood what he was about to say. Not since her mother was sentenced to death. So for five or so years, the girl had been a couch potato.

  “Hmmm,” Rune said. “What Ellis is saying makes sense.” She did like it when things made sense.

  They all looked at Lex. She stood quietly with a strange little half smile, her unseeing stare on Ellis.

  “What do you think, Lex?” Rune asked.

  “Maybe he’s right.” She took his hand, her head tilting to the side.

  Ellis didn’t seem to care if she read him. “Can you see into my heart?” he asked her.

  Her smile was gentle. “Yes. I can.” Then she let go of his hand and gestured at the others in the room. “But so can they. You are the purest and truest soul I’ve ever met.”

  It was true. Ellis was a good guy all the way to his toes. Too good, really. He believed there was decency to everyone, and that all beings, whether human or Other, should be equal. He was a sweet soul, and the world was
much too harsh a place for him.

  Rune sighed, then shook off the melancholy. “Ellis fixes people, guys. He’s human, but he has a few superpowers of his own.”

  Ellis blushed, his grin wide. “Why, thank you, my love.”

  Rune winked. “Okay then, take her out and let her get some exercise, boys. Every day. See what happens. Can’t hurt, right?”

  “I don’t know,” Levi said. “Maybe not. If she exercises and has problems, we’ll try something else.”

  “I want you all to stop talking like I’m a dog,” Lexi stated, her voice hard. “I don’t appreciate it.”

  “Sorry,” they told her. It was easy to think of Lex as a helpless little blind girl when she wasn’t kicking the crap out of people.

  “I’d like my glasses back.” Lex ignored their apologies and stuck her hand out for her sunglasses.

  Rune looked down at the shattered remains of the glasses. She’d crushed them—likely right around the time she’d thought the twins were going to kill the girl. “I’ll buy you a new pair. I seem to have destroyed these.”

  Lex dropped her hand and turned to Denim. “I’m tired. Take me home.”

  She looked tired, but there was something more. She was depressed as hell. Rune recognized it. Depression was an old, familiar acquaintance. Or was she just projecting?

  “Rune, before we go. Is she in?” Levi’s eyes were suddenly shuttered, as though he feared Rune’s answer.

  “Well, of course she’s in,” Ellis said. Then he gave Rune a rueful, apologetic look. “I mean, isn’t she, Rune?”

  “I should have called the crew in to watch that.” They’d never believe it unless they witnessed it. “But yes. She’s in.”

  There was a collective sigh of relief, then the twins ushered the newest Shiv Crew member out the door.

  “Shiv Crew,” Rune muttered, “is becoming a freak show.”

  She and Ellis smiled at each other, as proud as new parents.

  Damn right.

  Part Two

  MORTIFY

  Chapter Nine

  In the week after discovering her parents were not only dead, but vampire dead, Rune took her break. She locked her door, turned off her phone, and refused to let anyone other than the pizza guy and Jeremy inside her home.