by J. Meyers
Stupid little voice.
“Oh, there’s Josh,” Sera said. “I forgot to ask if I could borrow his notes. I’ll be right back.” She headed across the parking lot and waved him down.
Marc looked back at Fey, leaning against the side of Sera’s car watching him. Now that Sera was out of range, he should have no problem hearing Fey’s thoughts—though he shuddered a bit in anticipation of what rotten things he was sure she was currently thinking about him. But he’d get more input about Sera since she and Fey seemed to be tight. An opportunity.
He couldn’t help himself and grinned at her again. She crossed her arms over her chest.
“You seem awfully cheerful for someone who just got dumped,” Fey said.
He shrugged, relishing his big break before jumping in. “We’re going to be friends.”
She snorted, but didn’t say anything. He took a quick glance at Sera to be sure she was still out of range. She was about fifty feet away. Plenty of distance for Fey to be outside her protective field.
He figured it was as good an opening as he was going to get and reached out his mind toward her. He could feel tendrils of his power snaking through the air toward her mind, and—
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
He stared at her. She had this skeptical look on her face, so she was very obviously thinking something he probably didn’t want to hear. But even if he did want to hear it?
He couldn’t.
He looked back at Sera. She hadn’t moved. And Luke was nowhere to be seen. She didn’t have their proximity to protect her thoughts from him.
He tried again. Nothing. He couldn’t hear her thoughts.
And then he noticed it. The silence in his head. The same silence he experienced when Sera, Luke, or the Shadows were near him. He couldn’t begin to comprehend what it meant that he’d found three people whose thoughts he could not hear, who silenced his mind. He’d never come across this before. Never. Not once in eighteen years. And yet, right here. Three people who knew each other well.
She’d said something, he realized. She’d said something and was waiting for a response.
“What?” he said.
She sighed, and spoke loud and slow. “I said, Sera doesn’t need a friend who lies to her.”
He opened his eyes wide. “What makes you think I’ve lied to her?”
She looked at him. Really looked at him, and he had the sense that she could see right through him. See exactly who he was and what he was doing. Man, that was an uncomfortable feeling. “I have a sixth sense for it.”
“For lies?”
“Yes.”
“Cool. You do party tricks?”
“Marc, I think you should stay away from her. From both of them.”
“You don’t like me.”
Fey laughed. “I don’t know you well enough to dislike you.” Her features hardened. “I don’t trust you.”
“Okay, then why don’t you trust me?”
“You mean besides the lying?”
He just looked at her, waited.
She studied him for a moment. “Because there’s darkness around you,” she said. “Like a dark shadow.”
A Dark Shadow? Marc spun around so quickly that his feet got tangled beneath him. He lost his balance and toppled backwards to the ground. He didn’t breathe for a moment as he scanned where he’d just been standing.
But nothing was there. He closed his eyes and let his head fall to the ground.
A roar of laughter from about twenty feet away grabbed his attention, and he turned to see Luke walking over. He started laughing as well as Luke reached a hand down to help him back up.
“Spider? Bee?” Luke said.
“Much scarier than that. Fey.” Marc nodded in her direction, and Luke turned to her.
“Ah, yes. Fey. Much scarier than a spider. Frightening. Terrifying. Intimidating.” Luke went over and put an arm around her shoulders. “And that’s when you’re on her good side. You don’t want to see her bad side.”
Fey raised one perfect eyebrow at Luke, smirked, and poked him in the ribs. “You have no idea,” she said. Luke laughed, but as Marc watched Fey he knew she meant it.
Who were these people? They were like everyone else. And yet they were like nobody he’d ever come across before. A part of him was thrilled. A slightly larger part was seriously spooked.
EIGHTEEN
“Is this good?” Fey said, holding up a book for Sera to see.
“Yup. Very dark. You’d love it.” Sera browsed down the row and Fey watched her. Something was up. It had been hard on her, Fey knew, this first day back at school. But it seemed like it was more than that. Sera was even quieter than she’d been for the past two weeks since her dad died.
Fey put the book back and turned toward the shelf as if she were still browsing, but kept her eyes on Sera, who was engrossed in a back cover write-up. She checked around for Luke, but didn’t see him nearby. One step into the wide aisle of the bookstore and Fey found him pouring over the science fiction and fantasy shelves across the way. A quick scan around the rest of the store let her breathe easier. All human. No one else to worry about.
Good.
She focused again on Sera, who’d added another book to her small-but-growing pile. “So, how did it go with Marc earlier?”
Sera didn’t even look up. “Okay, I guess. He wants to be friends.”
“How’s that supposed to work?”
“I have no idea. I don’t know if it can.”
“Just be careful there.” Fey spoke quietly, her brow wrinkled. “He’s slippery.”
“Luke said something like that, too.” Sera looked up at Fey, concern in her eyes. “You don’t like him,” she said.
“I don’t trust him.”
Sera studied Fey. “Well,” she said, “I’m not that interested in him anyway. So, no worries.”
Just a hint of chill washed up Fey’s spine and over her scalp. She narrowed her eyes at Sera. “That is not exactly true.”
The corners of Sera’s mouth curved ever so slightly up. She held onto it for a moment, but then gave in to the nervous smile, and said, “How do you always know when I tell you less than the truth?”
“I just know. I can always tell when someone’s lying.”
“How? I can’t tell if you lie. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you lie.”
“I can’t.”
“You can’t lie?” Sera raised one eyebrow.
Fey held Sera’s gaze, cursing herself at the slip. “No, not to you,” she said, “because we are friends. But we were talking about your interest in Marc.” She folded her arms across her chest and leaned one shoulder against the bookshelf.
Sera’s face clouded over. “I like him. I can’t date him, but I like him. Okay? Happy?” She turned back to study the bookshelves, so very obviously hoping Fey would drop it. Fey snorted. Sera knew better than that after all these years.
“At your honesty? Yes. At your interest?” Fey shrugged. “I think you could do better.”
Sera turned toward her again. “Why don’t you trust him? He seems really great to me.”
Fey sighed. Marc seemed fine, for the most part. But there was something about him. Something dark around his edges. Something she couldn’t quite identify—she’d have to ask when she next returned home to the Realm. But she felt innately that it was something she didn’t want close to Sera or Luke.
“He’s not entirely truthful,” Fey said. She walked over to Sera and put her arm around Sera’s shoulders, gave her a gentle squeeze. “If you’re going to finally fall for someone, it should be someone who’s honest with you. You deserve the best.”
“Fall for someone?” Sera stepped back. “I’m not falling for Mar—” She stopped herself, clamped her mouth shut and squeezed her eyes tight. Lying to Fey—or herself for that matter—didn’t do any good. “Okay, okay. I’m falling.” She looked at Fey again, and said in a small voice. “I don’t want to.”
“I mean, it can’t work out. Right? I can’t let it happen again.”
“Let what happen?”
“My dad. I should have been there. I never should have gone with—” A lump in her throat wouldn’t let the words get through. Sera swallowed a few times, pushing the tears back down. She hugged the books to her chest, felt the pointy corners press into her arms and stomach, and looked down at them.
“I should go pay for these,” she said, and started to walk past Fey.
Fey fell into step beside her. “It’s not your fault, you know,” she said.
Sera couldn’t speak. Could feel guilt and tears rising to the surface again. It was her fault.
They’d reached the cashier and Sera placed her small stack of books on the counter, then slipped a gift card out of her back pocket. Fey was still right next to her, but Sera stood there looking at the little plastic card in her hand so Fey wouldn’t see her face, wouldn’t know what she had done.
“Sera? It was never—” Fey broke off abruptly. “Great Hills.” Sera looked up at her, but Fey stared across the store. Sera followed her gaze.
To Luke. And Jonas.
Unbelievable. What was the matter with him? Was he stalking her now?
He turned and met her eyes, gave a curt nod. Then he calmly returned to his conversation with Luke.
He obviously wasn’t normal. First he threatened her, told her he was some mythical creature of the night—maybe he even believed it—then she kept seeing him wherever she went. And now he was talking to her brother? She was surprised he hadn’t been lurking amongst the crowds at her father’s funeral. This was too much. He’d just leaped over the line from creep to psychopath.
As Sera paid for her books, she kept looking over her shoulder. They were still talking. When Luke finally looked over, she waved him toward the door and grabbed her bag from the sales clerk. She stormed to the store entrance with Fey beside her. When she glanced back to see Luke coming, Jonas was nowhere in sight.
Almost as if he’d disappeared. A chill shivered over her skin.
Luke caught up to them at the doors.
“What’s up?” he said. “You look less than happy.”
“That guy? Jonas? You were talking to him.” Sera wrenched open the door and stomped through.
“Yeah?” Luke caught the door and held it open for Fey. “There’s something strange about him,” he said. “I’m not sure what it is, but I get a weird vibe.”
“He’s been following me.” Sera stood in the vestibule between the two sets of glass doors, arms crossed over her chest, weight leaning into one hip. She glared up at Luke and Fey.
“What?” Fey said. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“I kept forgetting to tell you. And at first I wasn’t sure because I’d see him, then when I’d look again he’d be gone. But it keeps happening. I see him everywhere.”
“That guy that I was just talking to?” Luke’s brow furrowed, his eyes sparked.
“Yeah. And get this—he thinks he’s a vampire.”
“Really.” Luke’s eyebrows shot skyward, and he bit back a smile.
“Really.” Sera threw up her hands and almost laughed. It was so ridiculous when she said it out loud. “I know. He’s insane, but he’s really starting to piss me off.” She huffed, and shook her head.
Fey didn’t say anything.
They walked through the second set of glass doors and out onto the street. Church Street was busy at this time of day, people bustling in every direction through the crisp air.
Sera turned toward Luke. “What were you two talking about anyway?”
Luke opened his mouth to answer, but was knocked out of the way by some tall, creepy guy. He passed by Sera so closely that it was all she could do to avoid touching him. He glared down at her, his dark hollow eyes glittering, and hissed at her between strangely sharp teeth.
Sera dropped her bag of books, and flinched back.
He whispered, “An eye for an eye—your dad.” But then he was past her in an instant, melting into the crowd.
The stench of him—of stale skin—lingered. And Sera couldn’t be completely certain that what had just happened had really just happened. One word screamed in her mind: Vampire.
She was rooted in place, unable to move. Fey scowled in the direction the guy had disappeared. Luke looked mildly irritated until he saw her frozen face.
“Sera? What’s wrong?” Luke picked up the bag she’d dropped, held it out to her. “Are you okay?”
She couldn’t breathe. She tried to take little shallow breaths, but her lungs wouldn’t cooperate. Her whole body was wound tight, begging her to run, run away as fast as she could. If she could have moved in that moment, she would have.
“That guy—” Sera said, but couldn’t get anymore words out.
“Did he do something?” Luke said, craning around to see where the guy had gone. “Did he say something to you?”
Fey turned, put her arm around Sera, and said, “Let’s get out of here.” Luke still looked down the street. “Luke,” Fey said, abrupt, hard. “We need to get going. Forget about him. It’s not worth it.”
They locked eyes for a moment as if in silent argument, then he nodded. He flanked Sera’s other side. Sera saw Fey looking toward the bookstore again and jerk her head back in the direction the guy had gone. She turned to see what Fey had been looking at and saw Jonas.
Jonas scanned the crowds, seemed to find what he was looking for and strode down the street along the storefront. Sera looked ahead of him and saw a tall, dark shadow lurking at the edge of an alley. Watching her.
She gasped, fear coursed through her body. She could see him snarling at her even from this distance. He was so intent on watching her, however, that he did not see Jonas until it was too late.
Jonas grabbed the guy by the throat, lifted him up, slammed him against the brick wall of the store, and pulled him back into the alley, out of sight.
Sera’s eyes flew wide. So maybe Jonas wasn’t a stalker. That was good. But what was he then?
Luke touched her shoulder as they rounded the corner at the end of the block. “You okay?”
Sera took a deep breath and let it out. “I am now,” she said.
I killed her father. What you should have done, I have done. Xavier’s words echoed in Jonas’s mind as he sat on the shore. The crisp lake air did little to quell the fire in his chest. Xavier was dead. Jonas could tolerate no insubordination amongst his clan. Orders would be obeyed at penalty of death.
Lilith had taught him that. And she would be proud, he was sure. But he hated this, his responsibility. His nature. Something changed when people became vampires. They lost their humanity, if they ever had any to begin with, and it was replaced with a vicious disregard for human life. While many things stayed the same, this one specific change made all the difference. Vampires were more akin to animals than they were to humans, no matter how human they still looked.
Though Lilith claimed he’d never entirely lost his humanity, he wasn’t so sure. Not after what he’d just done to Xavier. And, if he was being honest, had relished doing.
Jonas unclenched his fists and tried to let the calm of the water wash over him. He focused on the birds twittering on branches high above. The earthy smell of the forest. Deep breaths. Water lapped rhythmically at the rocks along the shore. More deep breaths.
His mind wandered to Sera. The look on her face—the complete terror—had pierced him. In that instant he’d recognized just what it was about her that struck him.
His sister.
She reminded him of his sister Haley in so many ways. That look on her face had been the same look on Haley’s face two hundred years ago. The look that had haunted him. The look he had tried hard to forget. The look that had been the last he’d seen of her before her body had been found.
The look he’d killed for.
Jonas hadn’t been able t
o save Haley. But he was going to save Sera.
They were so much alike, he was amazed he hadn’t connected the two before. His sister’s wit and intelligence. Her willingness to help anyone in need. Even those who’d done her harm. Her ability to forgive. To let go. To move on. He hadn’t thought about her like this in so long—the stain her death had left on his memories had been too dark. But now, for some reason, he could remember her as she was in life, not in death. Maybe that was due to Sera.
It brought back the feel of her love, something he hadn’t felt for centuries. Something that was as familiar as his own voice. Funny how a feeling could stay with a person for so long.
An ache opened in his chest. For Haley. And for Sera. He couldn’t let her die. He could save Sera, as he hadn’t been able to save Haley. And maybe, just maybe, a small part of him would forgive himself for failing her. Maybe.
He took another deep breath, feeling calmer again. In control. He imagined Sera smiling up at him, trusting him, depending on him as Haley had once upon a time.
But no, he couldn’t get attached to a human again. He’d save Sera and Luke—for Haley and because it was right—but he wouldn’t start to care about them. He couldn’t.
He shook his head, stood up suddenly. He didn’t want to lose another person he loved. And there was one certainty about humans. They died.
Yellow swirling into red swirling into black. A black sky. Sera tried to let her mind go blank as she painted, but it was no use. Everything kept replaying in her mind. Her father’s death. Her mother’s despair and guilt over their fighting. Jonas talking to Luke. The psycho outside the bookstore. Jonas going after him.
The vampire.
She shook her head. She wasn’t thinking clearly. Dipping her brush into deep purple, she added more depth to the swirling sky as she wondered if she should add any stars.
Vampires didn’t exist. They were myth.
Her brush stopped moving on the wall, and she looked back over her shoulder at her computer. If she were Luke she’d have looked it up already.
She rinsed the paint out of her brush and lay it on top of the jar of water. She wiped her hands on her pants, crossed the room to turn on the computer, and sat down at her desk. This was insane.