“Did you know about this?” I demanded, ripping the flyer from the corkboard. Mark stopped at my side, and I saw sympathy in his eyes. “I’ve been looking for you since dusk.”
“Who’s responsible for this?”
“Not here,” Mark answered, looking around cautiously. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Because I didn’t have a good reason not to go with him, I let him lead me out the door and to my car.
“Maybe I should drive,” he offered. That was pushing it, and apparently the look on my face told him so. He went to the passenger side and climbed in without another word. I started driving, not caring which direction I was headed.
“Talk.”
Mark took a deep breath and said, “I don’t know who is responsible for the flyers.” Flyers. That meant there were more. “I came to warn you.”
Mark was hurt that I’d been keeping so much from him. He’d never been good at hiding his emotions, and tonight was no different. But as I studied him with my power, I knew he was sincere in his desire to help me. He was still my friend. After everything. It was more than I deserved from him.
“I spoke with the Synod,” I explained. Mark obviously hadn’t heard the entire story. The situation had already been dealt with, and as angry as I was about having my name dragged through the mud, it would pass eventually. “Trey doesn’t know what I am. Once I’d proven that to them, the Elders ordered me to cut ties with him and let me go.”
Mark was silent for a second, processing what I’d said. “I’m glad to hear that, but it doesn’t change things.”
“What do you mean?” That made no sense. Working things out with the Synod meant everything. Trey was safe, and whatever the cost to me, it was worth it.
“The danger you and your human face is not from the Synod.” Mark’s tone was grave and apologetic. He didn’t look at me, staring at the city lights as we drove.
“Then who?”
“The flyer you just found is proof that your secret is out,” Mark said. “You went to a red carpet event with the human, correct?” All I could do was nod. After all this time keeping Trey a secret from Mark, it was strange to be openly discussing our relationship. “Well, that flyer was a screen shot of footage that can now be found all over the internet.
“Why would a vamp go to all that trouble?” I wondered out loud.
“What makes you certain it was another vampire?” Mark asked. I stared at him, incredulous. “This human you’ve been dating is a celebrity, is he not?”
Mark’s words took the wind out of me. I hadn’t once considered that Trey’s fans might have spread pictures of us all over the internet. Of course they would. If they had pictures or footage of us kissing at the VMA’s, which someone obviously did, why wouldn’t they post it all over? The new mystery woman in Trey’s life would be a big discussion topic in the forums on Catalyst’s official fan club site for sure. They would have no idea that putting our relationship out in the open like that would be dangerous for Trey.
“Even if the Synod has decided Trey isn’t a threat,” Mark continued. “The rest of our kind doesn’t see it that way. Some of them are angry that you let a human, and a powerful one at that, get so close to our world. They won’t care to learn Trey has no knowledge of vampires. Some consider him a threat to our concealment. Others are simply curious to see what it is about this particular human that made him worthy of a vampire’s adoration.”
Had I been so disconnected from my own world lately that I hadn’t considered all of the ramifications, even if the Synod weren’t after Trey? The answer was painfully obvious.
“I overheard a conversation tonight at the club.” Mark paused and focused his eyes on something outside again.
“About what?” I waited impatiently. “Don’t make me get in your head.”
“A group of vampires were talking about hunting Trey down. They’re convinced that his blood must be irresistibly palatable. They can’t imagine that you’d have been with him if that were not the case.”
The sick feeling that rose in my stomach at the thought of using Trey to feed from was more than a little ironic. I had been hunting the night I’d met him. If he hadn’t sparked something inside of me from the start, I’d have fed from him and that would have been it. He’d have gone on with his life, with a new and unknown aversion to our kind, and I’d have gone on with mine. There was no question now that he’d have been better off if things had worked that way. Me? Well, that was a different story.
“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “If I’d been feeding from Trey he’d instinctively know to stay away from me. We wouldn’t be hanging out and going to award shows.”
“I’m not the one you need to convince,” Mark said. “Your reputation proceeds you,” he added. “Some believe your mental prowess might allow you to control the human and combat the aversion that comes with being bitten.”
I sighed. “Only full vampires can do stuff like that. I’m not nearly as powerful as everyone wants to believe.”
“I’m your best friend and sometimes you scare the hell out of me,” Mark said, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Then his face grew serious again and he said, “If the vampires are determined to find your human, he is as good as dead.” The finality in Mark’s tone sent a shiver down my spine.
I’d rounded back toward the club and was only a few blocks away from it now. I pulled the car over and looked at Mark. I wanted to be alone, and he didn’t have to read my thoughts to see that. He opened the door and got out.
“Mark?” He leaned back down to look at me. “Thanks.”
He gave me a quick nod and then raced off in a blur of shadows. The tires squealed as I sped down the road again. There were a million things running through my mind and I knew of only one way to organize my thoughts. I went to The Waking Moon and started haphazardly painting on a huge canvas while I ran through all the many scenarios my imagination was working out. Trey was in danger, that much was certain. And if he was in danger, it stood to reason that O’Shea, Jonas and Chase were too. They were always together, especially now that the album was almost done. If word had spread this quickly about my relationship with Trey, surely every vampire out there would know and recognize the famous human who had been so close to one of their kind.
The worst part was that I couldn’t go to him and protect him. I was forbidden by the Synod. Even if I somehow found a way to keep an eye on him from a distance, I could never fully protect him if other vampires were determined to taste him, or worse, get rid of the human threat. Trey’s life was extraordinary as it was. Before long he would go on the road again to promote his album, and then the band would tour. I couldn’t possibly follow him around from state to state or across the ocean. I’d never heard him mention having bodyguards, but now I really wished he did. But what would it matter? What good would a couple of human bodyguards be against vengeful, thirsty vampires anyway?
Chapter 45
I don’t know how long I sat in my car in Aurora’s driveway, but it felt like the middle of the night when I forced myself to drive home. The sick feeling in my stomach refused to dissipate and I knew it wasn’t something that would just fade with time. I went straight up to my room and collapsed on the bed, kicking off my shoes and wracking my brain for a reason. I’d known the bad feeling in my gut last night had meant something. Whatever had happened to make Aurora act this way, I was certain it had happened then. I was also fairly sure that the men in the strange suits that had showed up at the restaurant in search of Aurora were part of the problem.
Despite everything she had said tonight, she hadn’t been able to deny what we had together. She loved me. Whatever had happened, that hadn’t changed. And as long as Aurora still loved me, I wasn’t going to give up.
I spent at least an hour running over the possible scenarios of what could have made her break up with me, but it was like trying to compare my life to a movie, nothing seemed to fit just right, no matter how many options I had to choose fro
m. Eventually the exhaustion won out and sleep overtook me, but it wasn’t a peaceful sleep. I re-lived the argument at Aurora’s place over and over in my dreams, and even though my subconscious mind changed some of the details each time, it always ended the same: with her leaving me.
I woke up to my cell phone buzzing in my jeans pocket. I rolled over, groggy from the dream-filled night, and managed to pull it from my pocket.
“What time is it?” My voice was heavy with sleep when I answered.
“It’s almost eleven. Are you still in bed?” O’Shea chuckled and then added, “Is Aurora there?”
The mere mention of her name heightened the sick feeling that was trying to make a permanent residence in my gut. “No.”
“Okay…. What are your plans today?”
To sulk around for a while and then get myself together so I could figure out a way to make Aurora tell me the truth. But I could hardly tell O’Shea all of that. I couldn’t even bring myself to tell him that she’d broken up with me. Saying it out loud would just make it seem … final.
“I haven’t made any yet.” I went for vague instead. “I was kind of hoping to take the day off, actually.”
O’Shea sighed. I knew that sigh. It meant his creative juices were flowing and he needed an outlet. He was a master guitar player and wrote amazing riffs but he had to have a sounding board to actually get anything done. I was the glue. If I had a dollar for every time one of the guys had called me that to an entertainment reporter or a magazine editor I’d have … well, two huge houses.
“I guess it can wait,” O’Shea said. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I forced my voice to sound upbeat. “Just have a lot of stuff I need to do today. That’s all. Are we still going to Ken’s tomorrow night?”
“That’s the plan.”
“I’ll see you there,” I said, feeling a little guilty. I hadn’t been spending as much time with O’Shea outside of recording since Aurora and I had gotten serious. As I got off the phone I made a mental note to try and make it up to him.
I sat up on the bed and stretched. Then the package on the night stand caught my eye. Aurora had given it to me last night just before she’d gotten in her car and drove away. I hadn’t wanted to open it then, but curiosity got the best of me now. I grabbed it, turning it over in my hands. It was wrapped in shiny black paper. I found the seam on one end and slid my finger through it, pulling the paper off to reveal a pick guard for an electric guitar. But this wasn’t just any pick guard. This one had been hand painted. The painting was abstract but cryptic at the same time. Aurora had put our band logo in large letters right in the center. It was amazing, but it was also a harsh reminder of the fact that she and I were no longer together. For the life of me, I still couldn’t figure out why.
Chapter 46
I went to bed only a few hours before the sun went down. When I felt the presence of the moon in the sky it gently pulled me from my sleep. I didn’t know what I was going to do about Trey yet, and a little piece of my heart broke with every hour that went by without a phone call or a text from him. Even though convincing him to give up on us had been the goal last night, that didn’t make the fact that it was working any easier to swallow.
I drove to The Waking Moon and saw that Kacie’s car was still parked out back. She must have had some catching up to do with paperwork or something. I opened the back door and caught a whiff of Trey’s scent as I walked inside. I paused, reminding myself that he’d spent a lot of time here and that it would take time for his scent to fade. I made a mental note to open all the windows and see if that wouldn’t hurry the process along. Then I set my bag down on the desk and hollered for Kacie.
I heard her call from out front. “Come here, I could use your help for a second.”
I rounded the corner and found her standing in the middle of the showroom. “What’s up?” I asked, unable to read the look on her face. I was about to reach out with my power, something I didn’t do with Kacie often, but then I heard it.
The sound stopped me in my tracks. I’d have known it anywhere; a familiar heartbeat that I recognized only too well. I forced my feet forward and reached the stairway to the loft. Trey was sitting there on a step wearing a vintage superhero t-shirt, his hair perfectly tousled, and holding his favorite acoustic guitar.
“I know you told me not to come around anymore,” Trey said in a hurry. “Please just hear me out.” He got to his feet, his intense blue eyes pleading with me.
“Give him a chance,” Kacie said, elbowing me softly.
“And to think I trusted you once,” I said to her.
Kacie smiled while I glared at her. “It’s getting late and I’m going to go now so you kids can kiss and make up.” And with that she was out the back door.
Trey’s posture shifted into that confident, relaxed air I’d observed so many times before as he lowered himself back down onto the steps. He began strumming his guitar, which wasn’t really what I’d expected, even though he’d obviously brought it for a reason.
He began to play a haunting melody, but the thought of having to stand there while he sang about how I’d tore his heart into pieces wasn’t something I could handle tonight. I opened my mouth to interrupt but he started talking without hesitation. “I don’t know why I’ve never played this one for you before now. I guess it scared me to let you know just how affected I was the night you walked into my life.”
I felt the muscles in my face soften as he began to sing the first verse, the sound of his voice echoing off the walls. It wasn’t something I’d ever expected to hear again. I waited in silence, taking in every word.
“It used to be that I would dream
Of things that I can now call mine
Successes are a funny thing
There’s always something else to find
“What good is all the fortune found
With no one here to share
My heart drums a familiar sound
A pain I cannot bear.”
Trey paused just long enough to look up at me. My breath caught in my throat and then his fingers were moving over the guitar strings again, his voice stronger as he sang the chorus.
“I spend my days
Waiting for the night
The hours pass with fading light
She’s a poison; I’m addicted
To the sweet and secret darkness
“My nights are hers
My dreams are not my own
Without a word she speaks to me alone
She’s my poison; midnight poison
I’m afraid that it’s too late for me
“Run away, at least you’ll say you tried
I’ve said it once if not a thousand times
This perfect beauty in my mind
Is something that I long to find.”
He sang the chorus again, sending shivers down my spine. He didn’t know my secret, but he was more intuitive than I’d given him credit for. How had I ever managed to walk away from him? How could I do it again?
“Never have I seen her face
Waiting for a single trace of you
My hope is desperate
“I spend my days
Waiting for the night
The hours pass with fading light
She’s a poison; I’m addicted to the sweet
Fatality of …
“My nights are hers
My dreams are not my own
Without a word she speaks but I’m alone
She’s my poison; midnight poison
I’m afraid that it’s too late for me.”
The song was passionate, cryptic. It was hard to believe he had written this just after we’d met. It hadn’t been that long ago, but so much had happened since that night. When the song ended, Trey put the guitar aside and slowly got to his feet, descending down the last few steps cautiously like I was a wild animal he had to be careful around. There was more truth to that than he knew.
“I wrote that s
ong about you,” Trey said, standing before me now. “I’m not even sure I realized it at the time, but I’d been having major writer’s block, and these dreams about a woman whose face I could never see. Then I met you, and her face sort of filled in and the dreams stopped. I wrote it just after we met at Carlie’s and I realized shortly after that my mystery woman was you.”
“Trey-”
Trey sighed and caught my wrist in his hand. He pulled my palm to his chest, holding it tightly over his racing heart. The gesture was so familiar and sweet it was almost painful. “Look me in the eye and tell me you’re not in love with me,” he said. I gazed into his eyes for the space of two heartbeats and then looked away. He took my silence for an answer and lifted my chin gently, forcing me to meet his gaze again. “I know something’s going on that you haven’t told me. It might even be something big, but I also know that you don’t want things between us to be over any more than I do. We’re good together. So just tell me whatever it is that’s keeping us apart so we can face it. Chaos is my way of life, you know that. Give me a chance.”
I hadn’t had a plan as I’d driven to The Waking Moon that night. I hadn’t known what to do about Trey, or anything else for that matter, but at that instant, as I looked into Trey’s eyes, I understood what I had to do. There was nothing left in me but the truth. Trey’s heart hammered against my palm and I forced myself to meet his gaze.
“You’re right,” I said, before I could change my mind. “Walk with me?”
Chapter 47
Trey took a quick breath like he wasn’t sure he’d heard me right. Then he lowered my hand from his chest, entwining his fingers in mine and squeezing a little tighter than usual. “Lead the way.”
Blood and Guitars Page 23