Wisdom (My Blood Approves series)

by Amanda Hocking

  The only thing I could see were his blue eyes. They were the only thing I wanted to see. They never wavered, not even when the chain slid off my wrist.

  27

  I hit the concrete hard. I had wanted to fall over the edge of the cliff, following Jack down, but I’d been angled just the right way so I landed on my back on the ground. I stared up at the bricks on the ceiling, and for a minute, I couldn’t feel anything.

  I heard Peter grunting. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I should help him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

  With some effort, I turned my head to see Peter crouched over the edge of the cliff next to me, the chain in his hands. It took me a second to realize what I was seeing. Hand over hand, he pulled the chain up, and within a few seconds, he heaved Jack up over the edge.

  “Jack!” I screamed and crawled over to him.

  With his hands still bound and his chest and stomach covered in wounds, I dove at him. I pressed my lips to his, kissing him. I brushed back the hair from his forehead and sobbed.

  “I love you, I love you, oh my god, I love you,” I repeated over and over between kisses.

  I had thought that I had truly lost him, and there was a desperation to the kiss that he matched with equal fervor. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him to me, breathing him in, tasting his lips, relishing his heart pounding against mine.

  “I’m okay, Alice,” he smiled, looking me in the eye.

  “I’m sorry for everything I’ve put you through,” I said. Tears of relief streamed down my face, and Jack just smiled at me. “I’ve never stopped loving you. Never. And I was wrong. You’re all I need to be happy. You’re all I’ll ever need.”

  “I’m not all you need, and I don’t even want to be. I just want to love you, for the rest of my life, and as long as you let me do that, we’ll be okay.”

  I leaned to kiss him again, but he stopped me.

  “I hate to do this, but would it be okay if we popped my arms back in their socket before we made out?” Jack asked, and when I apologized, he laughed, sending the same dazzling tingles through me that he always did.

  “Need help?” Peter asked, crouching down next to us.

  I got over the shock of seeing Jack alive and looked over Peter for the first time. He’d sustained a few blows himself, but Thomas was the one with a metal poker through his heart in the corner.

  Jack grimaced as Peter shoved both his arms back in place. Peter got to work getting the chain from around Jack’s wrists. He might’ve dislocated Jack’s thumb in the process, but he got the chain off.

  He sat up, rubbing his battered wrists, although they didn’t look as bad as my completely wrecked hand. Peter tossed the chain off the cliff, still crouched down in front of us, and Jack looked at him.

  “Hey, Peter?” Jack said, popping his thumb back into place.

  “Yeah?” Peter turned to him.

  “Thank you.” Jack met his eyes, and they looked at each other for a moment. Peter swallowed and nodded.

  “We should probably get you guys out of here,” Peter said, standing up. “Your girlfriend needs to get that hand fixed.”

  “Holy hell.” Jack noticed my hand for the first time.

  It looked like a bloody piece of meat. The tingling heat had taken over, scrambling to heal. I’d actually lost a lot of skin, and I wasn’t really sure how it would grow back.

  Peter grabbed a towel, and I wrapped my hand in it. He helped both Jack and I out to the car, and Jack explained how he’d ended up there in the first place. He’d gotten home to find the vampire hunters demolishing the house, and Matilda in the process.

  Apparently, they were obsessed with finding Daisy. They were certain she was part of the movement and sent to expose vampires. The hunters would do anything to stop that, and nothing Jack could say would convince them she was dead. If he’d been there when she’d been buried, that might’ve helped.

  Samantha had seen the Lamborghini parked outside the tunnels before when they were following me, and she insisted that Jack take them down there. When they still didn’t find Daisy, they resorted to torturing Jack for information, and that’s when I had walked in.

  On the car ride back to the house, I called Milo to tell him to come home. Ezra and Mae were already waiting, and something about the crisis had set Mae back into motion. She wrapped my hand in gauze.

  The skin would grow back in a few hours, but I didn’t want a bloody hand until then. Ezra took care of Jack, checking his wounds and forcing him to compensate for his blood loss.

  As soon as Milo and Bobby arrived, Jack sent them back out to take Matilda to the emergency vet clinic. Ezra thought she had a few broken bones, but he figured that she would be alright, once she had proper medical care.

  After Mae finished tending to me, I headed upstairs to lie down. Jack was already up there, and I could hear him arguing with Ezra. Ezra told him that he needed to let the blood work, and Jack kept insisting that he should be at the vet with Matilda, even if he did have bleeding wounds all over.

  Peter was in the dining room, picking up the mess the vampire hunters had left, and I stopped.

  “How are you?” I asked.

  “Better than you.” He looked down at my hand. “How is that doing?”

  “I’ll live,” I shrugged.

  “Glad to hear it,” he smiled, and he looked at me. His emerald eyes met mine, and though they didn’t captivate me the way they once had, they still held my attention.

  “Thank you, Peter,” I said softly. “For what you did tonight.”

  “You know, I didn’t save him for you.” He looked towards upstairs, where Jack was. “He’s a good guy, and the world wouldn’t be as nice a place without him in it.”

  “I know,” I smiled. “But thank you anyway.”

  I went upstairs, and Ezra stood in the bedroom doorway, blocking Jack from making an escape. He sat on the bed in his boxers. Most of his cuts had healed, but some were still raised and red. A bad one his stomach still bled.

  “Mattie’s gotta be terrified without me!” Jack said.

  “Milo and Bobby are with her.” Ezra sighed and looked back at me. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him.”

  “I’ll try,” I said.

  He left us alone, and I walked over to Jack. I could see him working up some argument about how he needed to leave, but I climbed on his lap, straddling him. I kissed him on the mouth, so deeply I could feel his blood pulsing through his lips. His arms went around me, pressing me close to him.

  Maybe I had never been meant for Jack or Peter. Maybe I had only been meant to be a vampire. That thought had terrified me before, but I realized it was better this way. When I held Jack to me, feeling how much he loved me and how much I loved him, I knew it was real.

  I loved Jack because of every little thing about him. The way he laughed, the way he made me smile, the way he’d stay up until nine in the morning watching zombie movies he’d seen a hundred times, and the way he could never hold a grudge.

  I loved him because I loved him, not because it was fate or destiny or in my blood. We had chosen each other, and that felt more powerful and more magical.

  Matilda came back home with three broken ribs and a broken back leg, but she was slated to make a full recovery. Jack babied her like crazy since she’d been injured protecting him, but I didn’t blame him.

  After things had settled down a bit, I sat down with Jack and told him exactly what I wanted to do. After everything that happened with the vampire hunters, I felt like I had to do it.

  People and vampires were being hurt and tortured, and I wouldn’t stand by and let that happen.

  Jack wasn’t thrilled about it, but he was supportive. I drove to Olivia’s with his blessing, and that was all that mattered.

  I arrived at V in the early morning hours when the club was empty. That’s the time they received deliveries of alcohol for the drinks for the human bar. The club always looked bizarre and cavernous when it wa
s empty, but I supposed that was true with all clubs.

  Olivia sat at the bar next to the dance floor, going over her inventory checklist. Violet was behind the bar, helping the delivery guy stock up. They were at the opposite end, far enough away where they couldn’t hear me talk to Olivia.

  “If you’re looking for Rebekah, she left last night, since you didn’t need her anymore,” Olivia said, and I got up on the stool next to her. “Though, lord knows why anybody would willingly spend time with her.”

  “No, I’m not looking for her,” I shook my head.

  “Then what can I do for you, doll?” She lifted her head and smiled at me.

  “Those vampire hunters that were here, they were bad people,” I said, and she nodded. “They didn’t do what was best for vampires or humans. They only cared about money, and they were monsters. We never did anything to them, and they tortured us.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Olivia said, and I knew she meant it. “That’s not how they should be. That’s not how I was, and I’ve always hoped that hunters could live on the side that benefits both humans and vampires.”

  “Ezra told me that because we’re vampires, there are no good guys. But I don’t think that’s true. I want to be one of the good guys,” I said. “I want you to train me to be a vampire hunter.”

  “Honey, it would be my pleasure,” she smiled.

  # # #

  Read an excerpt from the first book in Amanda Hocking’s new paranormal romance the Trylle Trilogy:

  Switched – available July 2010

  Drool spilled out across my desk, and I opened my eyes just in time to hear Mr. Meade slam down a textbook. I’d only been at this high school a month, but I’d figured out that was his way of waking me up from my naps during his History lecture. I always tried to stay awake, but his monotone voice lulled me into sleeping submission every time.

  “Miss Everly?” Mr. Meade snapped. “Miss Everly?”

  “Hmm?” I murmured.

  I lifted my head and discreetly wiped away the drool. I glanced around to see if anyone had noticed. Most of the class seemed oblivious, except for Finn Holmes. He’d been here a week, so he was the only kid in school newer than me. Whenever I looked at him, he always seemed to be staring at me in a completely unabashed way, as if it was perfectly natural to gawk at me.

  There was something oddly still and quiet about him, and I had yet to hear him speak, even though I had him in four of my classes. He wore his hair smoothed back, and his eyes were a matching shade of black. His looks were rather striking, but he weirded me out too much for me to find him attractive.

  “Sorry to disturb your sleep.” Mr. Meade cleared his throat so I would look up at him.

  “It’s okay,” I said.

  “Miss Everly, why don’t you go down to the principal’s office?” Mr. Meade suggested, and I groaned. “Since you seem to be making a habit of sleeping in my class, maybe he can come up with some ideas to help you stay awake.”

  “I am awake,” I insisted.

  “Miss Everly, now.” Mr. Meade pointed to the door, as if I had forgotten how to leave and that’s what was holding me back.

  I fixed my gaze on him, and despite how stern his gray eyes looked, I could tell he’d cave easily. Over and over in my head, I kept repeating I do not need to go the Principal’s office. You don’t want to send me down there. Let me stay in class. Within seconds, his face went lax and his eyes took on a glassy quality.

  “You can stay in class and finish the lecture,” Mr. Meade said groggily. He shook his head, clearing his eyes. “But next time, you’re going straight to the office, Miss Everly.” He looked confused for a moment, and then launched right back into his history lecture.

  I wasn’t sure what it was that I could do exactly – I tried not to think about it enough to name it. About a year or so ago, I’d discovered that if I thought about something and looked at somebody hard enough, I could get them to do what I wanted.

  As awesome as that sounded, I avoided doing it as much as possible. Partially because I felt like I was crazy for really believing I could do it, even though it worked every time. But mostly, I didn’t like it. It made me feel dirty and manipulative.

  Mr. Meade went on talking, and I followed along studiously, my guilt making me try harder. I hadn’t wanted to do that to him, but I couldn’t go to the principal’s office. I had just been expelled from my last school, forcing my brother and aunt to uproot their lives again so we could move closer to my new school.

  When class finally ended, I shoved my books in my bookbag and left quickly. I didn’t like hanging around too long after I did the mind control trick. Mr. Meade could change his mind and send me to the office, so I hurried down to my locker.

  Bright colored fliers decorated battered lockers, telling everyone to join the Debate team, try out for the school play, and not to miss the fall semi-formal this Friday. I wondered what a “semi-formal” consisted of at a public school, but I hadn’t bothered to ask anyone.

  I got to my locker and started switching out my books. Without even looking, I knew Finn was behind me. I glanced back over my shoulder to see him, getting a drink from the drinking fountain, but almost as soon as I looked at him, he lifted his head and looked at me. Like he could sense me too.

  This guy was just looking at me, nothing more, but it freaked me out somehow. I’d put up with his stares for a week, trying to avoid confrontation, but I couldn’t take it anymore. He was the one acting inappropriately, not me, and I couldn’t get in trouble for just talking to him. Right?

  “Hey,” I said to him, slamming my locker shut. I readjusted the straps on my bookbag and walked across the hall to where he stood. “Why are you staring at me?”

  “Because you’re standing in front of me,” Finn replied simply. He looked at me, his eyes framed by dark lashes, without any hint of embarrassment or even denial. It was definitely unnerving.

  “You’re always staring at me,” I persisted. “It’s weird. You’re weird.”

  “I wasn’t trying to fit in.”

  “Why do you look at me all the time?” I rephrased my original question, since he kept avoiding it.

  “Does it bother you?”

  “Answer the question.” I stood up straighter, trying to make my presence more imposing so he wouldn’t realize how much he was rattling me.

  “Everyone always looks at you,” Finn said coolly. “You’re very attractive.”

  That sounded like a compliment, but his voice was emotionless when he said it. I couldn’t tell if he was making fun of a vanity I didn’t even have, or he was simply stating facts. Was he flattering me or mocking me? Or maybe something else entirely?

  “Nobody stares at me as much as you do,” I said as evenly as I could.

  “If it bothers you, I’ll try and stop,” Finn offered.

  That was tricky. In order to ask him to stop, I had to admit that he got to me, and I didn’t want to admit that anything got to me. If I lied and said it was fine, then he would just keep on doing it.

  “I didn’t ask you to stop. I asked you why,” I amended.

  “I told you why.”

  “No, you didn’t,” I shook my head. “You just said that everyone looks at me. You never explained why you looked at me.”

  Almost imperceptibly, the corner of his mouth moved up, revealing just the hint of a smirk. It wasn’t just that I amused him; he was pleased with me. Like he had challenged me somehow and I passed.

  My stomach did a stupid flip thing I had never felt before, and I swallowed hard, hoping to fight it back.

  “I look at you because I can’t look away,” Finn answered finally.

  I was struck completely mute, trying to think of some kind of clever response, but my mind refused to work. My jaw slacked, and I imagined that I looked like an awestruck school girl, and I hurried to collect myself.

  “That’s kind of creepy,” I said at last, but my words came out weak instead of accusatory.

&nb
sp; “I’ll work on being less creepy then,” Finn promised.

  I had called him out on being creepy, and it didn’t faze him at all. He didn’t stammer an apology or flush with shame. He just kept looking at me evenly. Most likely, he was a damn sociopath, and for whatever reason, I found that endearing.

  I couldn’t come up with a witty retort, but the bell rang, saving me from the rest of that awkward conversation. Finn just nodded, thus ending our exchange, and turned down the hall to go to his next class. Thankfully, it was one of the few he didn’t have with me.

  True to his word, Finn wasn’t creepy the rest of the day. Every time I saw him, he was doing something inoffensive that didn’t involve looking at me. I still got that feeling that he watched me when I had my back to him, but as it turned out, I couldn’t seem to do much about feelings.

  When the final bell rang at three o’clock, I tried to be the first one out. My older brother Matt picked me up from school, at least until he found a job, and I didn’t want to keep him waiting. Besides that, I didn’t want to deal with anymore contact with Finn Holmes.

  I walked quickly over to the parking lot at the edge of the school lawn. Scanning quickly for Matt’s Prius, I absently started to chew my thumbnail. I had this weird feeling, almost like a shiver running down my back. I turned around, half-expecting to see Finn staring at me, but there was nothing.

  I tried to shake it off, but my heart raced faster. This felt like something more sinister than a boy from school. I was still staring off, trying to figure out what had me freaked out, when a loud honk startled me, making me jump. Matt sat a few cars down, looking at me over the top of his sunglasses.

  “Sorry,” I opened the car door and hopped in, but he looked at me for a moment. “What?”