“Everything okay?” Josie asked.
“Yeah. I’m just not feeling well. I think I just need to lie down for a while.” I crawled on to the bed closest to the bathroom. My stomach was starting to twist up and I had a feeling it would be safer if I slept closer to the bathroom. I wasn’t ready for this. All this power, the need to feed, and everything else that came along with being a vampire. I just needed rest. I was sure as long as I got some rest I would be fine. No need for blood.
In the morning I received a text from Josef wondering if we were going to come for breakfast. I hesitated before I replied. The last thing I wanted to do was spend the morning with that wretched woman, but I needed answers and this was the first lead we got. I didn’t know what I should do so I asked Josie. “I don’t know Ella? That’s up to you.”
“You’re a lot of help,” I mumbled. I replied back saying yes we would come over for breakfast. “Where’s Billy?” I asked Josie when I finished texting Josef.
“He went to go get supplies. He said he’d be back in time for us to leave.” I nodded and made my way into the bathroom to get cleaned up. I got in the shower and stood there for a few minutes. I was feeling week – weaker than I did yesterday. I was having a hard time just lifting my arms to wash my hair. I thought back to what Billy had said to me last night. Was he right? Was that why I was feeling so beat? I finished up and stepped out of the shower wrapping a towel around myself.
I was in over my head. I had no idea what was happening to me, my body, my mind. I learned so much but at the same time so little. I had so much more to learn about what I was. I looked at myself in the mirror. What happened to me? How did I let this happen? I needed to get a grip.
Billy was right.
I could no longer deny who I was. If I was going to find Tristan I needed all my strength and my sanity.
After I got dressed, I sat and waited with the girls until Billy returned. We each packed a small bag of supplies and headed down to the car. “Ella wait, I need you to help me with something,” Billy said, giving me look. “You guys go ahead. We’ll meet you down at the car.”
“Anything I can help with?” Josie asked.
“No. Be right down in a minute,” he said, giving her a quick peck. She gave him a suspicious look, but left with Cameron.
Billy waited a few minutes before he turned to me. He reached into his backpack and handed me a bottle. “Here, drink this.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s what you need,” he said.
I already knew what it was and knew I could no longer argue with him or my body. When I didn’t take it right away he thought I was resisting again. “Ella you have to take it it’s –”
“I know,” I said, sighing. I took the bottle and unscrewed the cap.
“Little sips,” he said after I took the first gulp. “You need to take it gradually. If you do too much too soon you’ll get sick.”
I nodded and started to slowly sip it. “Why is it that I already have the blood lust?” I asked curious, hoping Billy had the answers I needed.
He sunk down into a chair. “Honestly Ella, I don’t know. My guess would be all the powers you possess. You’re the first Wanderer ever to possess as many powers as you do. That’s probably the reason you’re developing the desire for blood so quickly. The stronger the vamp the more blood you’ll need. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I believe a lot of it stems from all the power you’re using. That’s why you are weak. You’re not letting your body regenerate itself.”
“Am I going to have to drink this every day?” I asked.
“No. Just until you are well again and only if you use a large amount of power otherwise you should be fine.”
“Thank you Billy,” I said, taking another small sip. I was already feeling better.
“It’s not a problem.” He waved me off.
“Not just for this,” I held up the bottle. “I mean for everything, for not giving up on me and well just…thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he smiled. “I know this can’t be easy for you. Having all these powers and not knowing what’s happening to your body, but I just want you to know I’ll help you the best I can. I won’t leave you to be alone in this. I’ll do what I can for as long as I can,” he said, squeezing my hand. I gave him a thankful smile and took another sip. “Drink half of that now and finish the other half later and you should be fine for the day. I want you to continue to drink at least half a bottle a day for the rest of the week or until you get all your strength back and then you should be fine.”
I drank half as he instructed me and followed him downstairs to the car. I knew I wasn’t a hundred percent better but I did feel a lot stronger than this morning which was a plus.
I started to get a little nervous on the way to Tristan’s grandparents. I had a bad feeling his grandmother, Deirdre, would not be so cooperative. I went over in my head all the questions I wanted to ask and all the questions I should ask. My head was full of so many things I hadn’t even realized we arrived. I got out of the car and made a hesitant step toward the house. Josie stayed back with me waiting patiently. I let out a slow breath and pushed open the gate.
Josef greeted us at the door happy to see us this bright and early in the morning. I smiled at him politely as he welcomed us into the house. Deirdre was sitting in her chair. She was not as welcoming as Josef and Caleb. “Can I get you something to drink?” Caleb asked. “Breakfast should be ready momentarily.”
“Would you like some help?” I offered.
“No, no Josef can help. Just sit and relax.”
“Kind of hard to do with Deirdre sitting there glaring at me,” I thought. We all sat there silently while Josef and Caleb finished fixing breakfast. Sensing how uncomfortable my friends were I decided to make nice. “So, I like your garden. How do you have so many different flowers throughout the seasons?”
She just narrowed her eyes at me, got up, and then left the room. “O-kay,” I said, looking at my friends confused. Josie just shrugged her shoulders.
Caleb returned to the living room to let us know breakfast was done. As we all gathered around the table, Caleb informed us that Deirdre would not be joining us. He said she was not feeling well. I tried to act disappointed.
During breakfast, Caleb told us all about the favorite places Tristan liked to go. All his favorite places to eat, hang out, and shop. He told us stories of his childhood, including all the trouble he used to get into when he was little. His face lit up when he talked about him. I smiled. There was no doubt how much he truly loved his grandson.
When we were done I offered to help clean up, but Caleb said no, we were guests in his house and him and Josef would clean up later. I thanked him for the breakfast and all the information. Then we said our goodbyes as we headed out to start our search.
We began with checking out one of the places Tristan liked to eat. Unfortunately, most of the time was spent driving around and trying to figure out where the hell we were. Billy made the mistake of letting Josie control the map. She didn’t even know how to read a map. “Doesn’t this thing have GPS?” Josie whined.
“No, that would have cost more,” Billy grunted, trying to keep his anger in check.
“Give me that,” I ripped the map from Josie, tired of their bickering. “The town is about a mile that way.” I pointed to my left. “How about we start there and walk around to see if we can find anything.”
We spent all day driving and searching the areas Caleb suggested. We had a hard time finding any clues. Most people weren’t too eager to talk to out-of-towners, which told me we were going to have a hard time getting the information we needed.
It was almost night time and Billy suggested we call it quits for the day. I agreed only because my stomach was growling at me in protest. We stopped and grabbed some food on the way back. When I reached our room, I opened the door, and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw him sitting there. “Dean, what are you doing here?”
“I uh…”
“Relax, no one knows I’m here and I’m not going to bust your ass or tell you how dumb it was to leave the hospital.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m here to help,” he smiled.
“Really?” I asked not convinced. Dean never did anything that wouldn’t benefit him. I knew there had to be an ulterior motive.
“Yes,” he glared offended.
“How’d you even know where to find us?”
“Cameron.” I looked over at her and she just shrugged. “Who you think got you the car to leave,” he said.
“Why didn’t you just leave with us then?”
“Would have brought up too much suspicion us leaving together so I waited until they discovered you were gone and left the next day so they thought I left to look for you.”
I sighed relieved that he was here to help as oppose to attempt to take me home kicking and screaming. I threw the greasy bag of food down on the table and plopped down into a chair to take off my shoes. Dean automatically helped himself to the food.
“So do you actually have a plan here or you basically flying by the seat of your pants?”
“Both,” I replied.
“Well, I had a long flight,” Dean crumpled up his napkin and threw it on the table. Then he got up and made himself comfortable on one of the beds. I stifled an eye roll and got ready to crash. Luckily we managed to get a room with two king size beds so we were able to fit three to one bed. Unfortunately I somehow got stuck sharing a bed with Cameron and Dean. I wasn’t happy about it – Dean kicks in his sleep.
I spent most of the night curled up close to Cameron. “Ella, I know I said I would be here for you, but even I have my limits.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. Tired of being kicked in the shins, I got up, grabbed a blanket and pillow and tried to make myself comfortable on the small couch. I would rather be cramped then kicked.
We spent all morning searching and trying to find clues, but once again, nothing. Feeling exhausted and rundown, I asked if we could head back to the hotel for a little and take a break. When we got back to the hotel I found the nearest bed and crashed. I was so exhausted from this morning I didn’t even bother to take off my sneakers.
I slept for several hours. Finally getting the rest I needed. When I woke, I noticed the girls were doing their hair and makeup. “What’s going on?” I asked.
“We’re going to a club,” Josie replied from over her shoulder.
“Josie, that’s not why we are here,” I said annoyed.
“Hello, it’s Tristan we’re looking for. Where else are we going to start?”
“True,” I thought.
“From what Caleb told us Billy thinks we should start there. Billy said he remembered Tristan telling him he went to this club a lot.”
“What kind of place is this?” I asked, looking at Josie’s choice of outfit. She had on her black knee high boots with a tight, short, red mini skirt and black lace halter top.
“It’s a night club that caters to our kind.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means if you’re not on the supernatural team you don’t get in.”
“What’s the dress code? Less is more?”
Josie scowled at me. “We have to blend in and from what Josef told us about this place it’s very slutty chic. Okay, not his exact words, but you catch my drift.”
“Josef?” I said skeptically.
“He called while you were asleep and I asked him if he knew anything about this place. He’ll be here in an hour, by the way, oh and apparently Dean made a big stink about getting his own room because you snore.”
“Okay one, I do not snore,” I knew Dean just used that as an excuse to have his own room which was fine by me. “And two, why is Josef coming with? He’s only sixteen and I really don’t want him involved in this. It could get dangerous.”
“Ella, he’s a local. He knows the ins and outs and could really help us out.”
“I guess,” I mumbled to myself. I didn’t really know how I felt about including him in our little adventure.
“Here,” she said, throwing what looked like a shirt at me. “I went shopping with Cameron while you were sleeping.”
Clearly there was a lot that happened while I was asleep. “What is it?” I asked, holding up the dark blue satin material.
“It’s a dress,” she said rolling her eyes.
“Where’s the rest of it?”
“Ella, live a little.”
I sighed and got up to get ready. The dress was strapless and just covered my butt. I made a mental note to remember to not bend over. The blue satin matched my streaks and I have a feeling that’s why Josie picked it. I wore my hair down and Josie did my make-up. It was heavier then I would have done, but Josie insisted it completed my look. Then she handed me a pair of strappy silver heels and said we were to meet everyone in the lobby.
Chapter three
“Damn Ella, where you’d get that dress? Hookers R us,” Dean said. He gave me a look that said he clearly did not approve of his little sister wearing something so scantily clad. “You couldn’t find something that maybe actually covered you?”
“Not my choice,” I mumbled walking past him. No need to start a fight now. “Is everyone ready?” I asked.
“We just have to wait for Josef,” Cameron replied. “He should be here any minute.”
“I didn’t know we would be babysitting tonight,” Dean complained.
“Dean, knock it off,” I warned. As usual he ignored me. I fidgeted with the hem of my dress trying to pull it down as far as I could until we heard a rumble of motors. I looked around to see Josie and Cameron shrug. Billy and Dean exchanged a look. I decided to step outside to check it out for myself. I tugged at my dress as I walked out, feeling over exposed. Josie swiped my hand away saying it was fine. I stifled an eye roll and searched for the cause of the noise.
In the distance I spotted a pack of bikers, who just so happened to be coming right for us. I took a step back. The biker leading the pack pulled right up next to me and took off his helmet. “Hey Ella.”
“Josef,” I said surprised. His eyes widened as he looked me up and down making me feel self-conscious. His cheeks flushed red when Dean cleared his throat, indicating he was staring longer then he should have.
“Um…yeah, hey,” he stuttered.
“You already said that,” I teased, making him blush more.
“Sorry I…”
“It’s okay,” I smiled. “Are these your friend’s?” I gestured to the other bikers hoping to distract his gawking eyes.
“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. I thought they could help,” he said uneasy.
“No, I don’t mind. It would help to have a few extra set of eyes,” I told him. “Are we just going to follow you then?”
“I thought it would be better if you rode with us,” he said.
“Okay,” I looked around. “Is there someone else coming in a car?” He gestured to the motorcycles. “You’re kidding, right?”
“It’s easier this way. Hop on.” He held out his hand.
I looked down at my dress and then back at Josef who was waiting expectantly. “This isn’t going to work.”
“There’s enough of us that we can all ride,” he said, not understanding my issue.
I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant.” I pointed to my outfit making him blush again.
He got off his bike and handed me his jacket. “Here, this should help,” he said, helping me put it on.
“Thank you.” I looked back to my friends and noticed Billy was admiring one of the bikes, going on about I didn’t even know what. I knew nothing about motorcycles. From what I could gather from the conversation he had one back home, but had to give it up. The guy offered to let him ride it and I’ve never seen Billy so giddy. Josie hopped on the back squeezing Billy tight while Cameron got cozy with one of the
bikers who looked like Jax from ‘The Sons of Anarchy’. If I got to choose I would have picked him as well. Not normally into the rugged type but, hello, have you seen Charlie Hunnam on S.O.A.? Holy-hotness-batman.
“I’m sorry but I’m not riding bitch,” Dean whined.
“Dean, I’m not in the mood for this,” I said, glaring at him.
“Dean, you can ride with Gina,” Josef told him, gesturing to the only girl in their group. She was dressed head to toe in leather and had two long dark braids that hung over the front of her shoulders. The ends of her braids were tied with suede shoe string and had feathers hanging from them.
Dean turned to her and smiled. “Hey sweetheart, how about you slide back and let me drive.” She just looked at him and revved up the gas. Clearly she was not going to move and looked like the type you didn’t want to piss off. Dean rolled his eyes and hopped on the back.
I carefully got on the back on Josef’s bike, put on the helmet he handed me, and grabbed on tight as we took off.
I never rode on the back of a bike before. The wind felt cool against my bare legs and blew the hair off the back of my shoulders sending shivers down my spine. I wanted to spread my arms out wide and welcome the night. The ride was exhilarating like nothing else I’ve ever experienced before. I didn’t want it to end.
Unfortunately the ride to the club was short. If I had the option I would have asked Josef just to ride around for a while. We pulled into a side alley next to the club and they parked their bikes. I slid off the back and handed Josef back his helmet and Jacket, but not before I made sure my skirt was pulled down as far as I could manage it. Josie cleared her throat when Josef started to stare again. He averted his eyes quickly, embarrassed. I just smiled bashfully and walked over to Josie and joined the rest of the gang.
Unforgiven (Wanderers #3) Page 3