Intangible

by J. Meyers

  For Sera’s life.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Sera waved to Marc as he drove away, her lips still tingling from the goodbye kiss. And the kisses before. And after. She ran her fingers over her lips as she slowly made her way up the front walk to her house. Luke and Fey had gone to the coffee house without her. She had homework she wanted to finish early so she’d have the evening free for Marc.

  Her mom was gone for the week—had left this morning on a business trip. She and Marc planned to take full advantage of that by seeing each other every night. He was coming over that evening, and she envisioned lots of time on the couch in front of some movie they wouldn’t watch. Her stomach fluttered just thinking about it.

  Something shimmered in her peripheral vision, and she looked quickly to the left, into the dense shrubs. A short, dark-haired guy stood there. Flickering. He was one of them. Whoever they were. She had a feeling she was about to find out.

  She halted just feet from the front porch steps. Her heart beat furiously, and she had a hard time taking a breath. She didn’t like that these shimmery people were following her to her house. What if he wanted to…she didn’t want to even form the thought, but unwelcome images flashed on the screen of her mind.

  “What do you want?” Sera tried to make her voice sound strong, hard.

  He took a step forward and held his hands out, palms up. “Your help.”

  Her eyebrows shot up and then knit together. She hadn’t expected that answer. She looked toward the street for a broken down car, but there was none. Looking back at the guy again, she said, “Is your car—”

  “No.” He didn’t even let her finish her question.

  “Do you need to use the pho—”

  “That’s not the kind of help I need.” He took another step toward her, and though she was still wary, she didn’t get a creepy, evil vibe from him. “I want you to change me.”

  That’s when she noticed his fangs.

  Sera could feel the color drain from her face as her mouth hung open. She could not form words. Only thoughts.

  He. Is. A vampire.

  Oh. My. God.

  Vampires. Do. Exist.

  For a moment, in the midst of her shock, she had a brief flash of Jonas, who, it turned out, wasn’t insane after all. He had been telling her the truth and she felt strangely glad for that. Then it occurred to her that perhaps it wasn’t a step up for him to actually be a vampire rather than simply delusional.

  “Change you?” All she managed was a whisper, not loud enough for him to hear. And yet he had.

  “Like you did for Meghan. I want to be human again.” He was almost out of the shadows and in the late afternoon sunlight, but he stopped. “Please.”

  He knew about her. He knew what she could do. She gasped, suddenly realizing why all those flickering people were watching her. They were all vampires and they all knew what she could do. That idea was almost more unsettling than the fact that vampires were real.

  Almost.

  She looked at the house. Only a few more steps and she could be inside. She couldn’t do this. Couldn’t have people—vampires—coming to her house. She didn’t want this.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You must have me mistaken for someone else.” She turned to go up the steps.

  “I’m not mistaken. You know I’m not.”

  Instantly he was in front of her, several feet away, at the top of the stairs. She jerked backwards and almost tripped over her own feet. She made ready to flee—as if that would work, but she didn’t have any other options, really—when he spoke again.

  “Please,” he said. “I won’t hurt you. I just need your help.” His black eyes held a deep sadness.

  “I don’t know how,” Sera said, her voice small. “With Meghan I didn’t know it was happening. I thought I was healing her, not changing her.”

  “Would you try?”

  It was such a simple request. How could she say no? She couldn’t.

  “Where do you want to do it?”

  He shrugged, and so Sera set down her book bag on the front steps, and walked up to where he stood on the porch in the shadows. She assumed he probably didn’t want to venture into direct sunlight, because hadn’t she read that vampires burst into flame or something? She cringed and hoped he didn’t do that in her yard. Or while she had her hands on him.

  She stood in front of him, fingering her necklace, and wasn’t sure what to do, where to put her hands. He wasn’t hurt, so it was different. She wasn’t even sure if it would work.

  Well, she wasn’t going to find out until she tried. So she carefully placed her hands on him—one on his forehead and one on his heart. They seemed as good a place as any.

  His eyes followed her hands, and he stared at the inside of her wrist for a moment. She followed his gaze and was surprised to see the fleur-de-lis so stark against her skin.

  He met her eyes. “I see you’re protected.” He indicated the Mark with a nod.

  “What?” she said. “Oh, that. No, that’s—just something we did for fun. I thought it had almost washed away.”

  “That kind of Mark doesn’t ever wash away,” he said.

  She squinted at him. He must think it’s a real tattoo, she figured. No sense in arguing about it. He could believe whatever he wanted to believe.

  She closed her eyes and drew the energy down into her body and let it flow out her arms and hands into him. Her ring glowed as white light raced out of her hands and into his body, centering in his core. The brightness was blinding, just like it had been with Meghan, and Sera closed her eyes and turned her face to the side. She could feel the power of the energy surging through her. Transforming apparently took more energy than healing.

  She could think about it objectively while she was doing it, but still her heart thumped wildly at the unfamiliarity of the feeling. Human. She pushed that idea into him. She didn’t know if it would help, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt. Hopefully.

  “Wow,” the guy said, closing his eyes and smiling. Sera took a sidelong glimpse at him and could see him almost softening around the edges. Weird that she could see that.

  The energy pulled more and more strongly, anchoring her hands onto the guy’s head and chest. She again felt the impulse to pull away—the intensity of it scared her—but she stayed with it, understanding better this time what was happening. The light changed to light purple, the transforming energy. Human. Her ring glowed purple with the change.

  She turned to look at the guy again and could see that he was no longer flickering, that he looked normal. Like any other person. The purple light dimmed and was gone. It was over. Sera removed her hands, glanced at her ring—it no longer glowed—and took a couple of steps back.

  He slowly opened his eyes. He stretched out his arms, moved his fingers around, put his hands over his heart, and then laughed. He reached out a hand to her and she grasped it. She laughed too, at his sheer joy.

  His other hand sandwiched hers and he said, “Thank you. Thank you.”

  Then his eyes flew open wide, his breath caught, and he let go of her hand and ran. In the span of three seconds he was off the porch, through the trees, and gone. Faster than humanly possible.

  Sera whipped her head around to see what had scared him off, and gasped.

  Jonas.

  He stood, feet wide apart, arms lifted up slightly at his sides as if poised to duel. His face was absolute fury. He paid no attention to the guy who’d fled. His wrath was directed at Sera.

  She crossed her arms over her chest, leaned into one hip. Let him, she thought. Just let him try to turn this into some big deal. She was only helping someone. She couldn’t be faulted for that.

  In an instant he was in front of her, mere inches away. She hadn’t even seen him move. She flinched, fear flooding her veins. He was a vampire. A blood-sucking vampire.

  “What are you doing?” Each word laced with venom, his voice was low, dangerous. She backed aw
ay from him toward the steps, he strode forward, stayed right with her.

  “I’m—”

  “She was right about you. Damn, but she was right. We do not need to be fixed or healed by you. We do not want that from you. We want to continue as we have for centuries.”

  “I wasn’t trying t—”

  “You cannot do this.” He was in her face again, and she jerked backwards, lost her balance, and landed on her butt near the top of the porch steps. She scuttled around until her shoulders hit the front door. Maybe if she just stood up she could get the door open and slip inside to safety. He leaned down to put his face close to hers. Sera’s eyes were unwillingly drawn to his fangs, and a shiver swept through her. They looked…sharp. “You cannot just change us at your will. You cannot get rid of our kind so easily. We will not let you.”

  “That’s not what I—”

  “You take one of ours and we’ll take one of yours. That already happened with your father. Who else are you willing to lose before you stop?” He had placed his hands on either side of her body as she’d tried to slide up the door to standing, but at this she’d stopped, her eyes wide. “Your mom? Your brother? Who?”

  “You…you killed my dad?” Sera blinked hard and fast, willing away the tears that always came when she thought about him. She had to have misheard him because she was pretty sure he’d just told her he’d killed her father. Time crept to a maddening halt as that swam around her brain. But then it sank in.

  Her voice changed. It got low and quiet. “You killed my dad?” With each word she jerked up to standing, glaring right into his heartless undead eyes. “YOU KILLED MY DAD?”

  His eyebrows shot upward. She stared at him, waiting for an answer and noticed his uncomfortable glance at her hands.

  Her hands. He was afraid of her hands. Afraid she would touch him.

  She lifted her hands and reached for him. He reared back with such force that he threw himself backwards off the top step. He pushed off with his legs and launched himself into the air, his long black coat sailing out behind him.

  And then he was gone.

  Sera gasped. He’d disappeared. She’d watched him do it. Her eyes darted all around the front yard and he was nowhere.

  There was a tap on her shoulder. She screamed and whipped around to find Jonas behind her on the porch. She narrowed her eyes at him and reached out again, stepping forward as he backed away.

  “No,” he said.

  “No? No what?” Sera kept walking toward him.

  “No, I did not kill your father.”

  That. Just that deflated her and she dropped her hands. Her father had been killed. Her face crumpled and the tears came as she sank down to sit on the porch floor. He hadn’t just died, he’d been killed. She brought her knees up and held her head in her hands. Jonas knelt down across from her, still out of reach, but nearby.

  “But another vampire did because you changed Meghan.”

  She looked up at him. Her father had been killed because of something she’d done? Oh god. It was her fault it had happened and her fault that she hadn’t been there to save him.

  “But I didn’t know she was a vampire. I didn’t even know I could do that.”

  “I know.” Jonas spoke quietly. “It wasn’t right, what they did. I’m sorry.” He seemed to remember suddenly what he’d just seen her do, and gestured toward where she’d transformed the other vampire. “But I warned you not to do it again.”

  “I do not take orders from you. Or anyone, for that matter.” She took a breath. Calmed. “He asked for my help. He wanted to change.” She shrugged. “I helped him.”

  Jonas shook his head, curled his hands into fists. He didn’t speak for a moment.

  “You cannot do that,” he finally said.

  “I help people when they need it or ask for it.”

  “You are putting yourself in danger. And those you love.”

  “Danger from you?” Sera’s eyes were icy.

  “No.” Jonas shook his head. “From much worse than me. You don’t understand what you are doing, what the others will think if you keep doing this. They will kill you, if they can, to stop you.”

  All air left Sera’s lungs in a whoosh. And she felt like she couldn’t get another breath in. He was serious. They would kill her for helping people?

  “But why?” Her voice sounded so small when she spoke.

  “Because you are a danger.”

  “I am?” Sera laughed. “To who?”

  “To me and mine.”

  “To you? You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re superhuman. I’ve seen you. What could I possibly do to you?”

  He held up his hands and reached toward her as she had done to him.

  “Because of my new-found power?” Sera laughed without mirth. “Because I’m suddenly the Changer? Able to change vampires with a single touch. Vampires beware! Or is Changeling better? I don’t know. I probably need a better name than that because then Luke might be called the Seeling, and that’s terrible.” She shook her head. “Oh! And my evil laugh is going to need some serious work because it’s not very good at all.”

  “I think,” Jonas said, “that you don’t understand the great risk your power puts you in.”

  “Look, I’m not trying to change anyone—he asked for my help, so I helped him. That’s all I did. I’m not out to get you all or take over the world or anything.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Honestly? I didn’t even believe vampires existed until about ten minutes ago. Yes, I know you told me several weeks ago, but I thought you were just some escaped mental patient in need of anti-delusional medication. I didn’t believe you. Why would I?” She swept her arm out in the direction the guy had gone. “But how can I not help someone who’s asking for my help? Is it so awful that some vampires apparently don’t want to be vampires? I mean, don’t they get a choice now that they know they have one?”

  Jonas shook his head. “I agree with you, but it’s not me who must be convinced.”

  “Then who do I have to convince?”

  “I have to convince her. Lilith. And now that you’ve changed another of my kind today, I don’t know if I’ll be able to.” Jonas looked hard at Sera for a long moment. “I believe you are as Feyth says you are. But I need your cooperation. You are not safe now that the others know where you live. You and your family should stay someplace else while I do what I can to smooth this over with Lilith.”

  He held out his hand to her. He hadn’t wanted her to touch him before and now he was reaching a hand out to her. She didn’t get this guy. She grasped his hand in hers, while he searched her eyes intently. She looked back into his and had the feeling that he could see her. Really see her. See who she was deep down. No one but Luke had ever looked at her that way.

  Then he looked down at her wrists. The Mark was just visible under her sleeve. He pushed her shirt sleeve up to see the whole thing.

  “Ah, Feyth has been busy, I see.” He almost smiled, Sera thought, when she looked at him in surprise. Almost, but not quite. Maybe vampires didn’t smile. “I recognize her work.” He looked down at the Mark again. “Good. That will help you.”

  She had no idea how a drawing on her arm could possibly help her. Maybe he was a little crazy after all.

  Jonas stood up, and pulled Sera to her feet before he let go of her hand. She retrieved her book bag from the bottom of the porch stairs and then went to unlock the front door. She turned to look at Jonas one last time. He waited at the top of the stairs for her to go in the house. After she got inside, she did something she’d never done before when she was home during the day.

  She locked the door.

  It made her feel only slightly better. She dropped her bag by the door, and started down the hall toward her room. She had a lot of questions for Fey.

  But first she needed Luke. As she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket to dial him, she heard shouting outside.

  Jonas.

  He needed help.

 
TWENTY-EIGHT

  Where is Luke when I need him? Sera bolted for the front door. She grabbed the handle, twisted it, but it didn’t budge. She cursed as her fingers scrambled to undo the deadbolt, and she finally swung the door open.

  At that same moment Jonas came flying backwards toward the door. He turned in mid-air, a look of surprise on his face when he saw the door open and Sera standing there. He scooped her into his arms as he fell. They rolled over in the air and landed with Jonas underneath her.

  “What are you doing?” Jonas looked really pissed. Again.

  “I can help.”

  He blinked. “What can you do?”

  Sera hadn’t thought that far in advance. She held up her hands.

  “Stay inside, Sera.” Jonas got up off the floor and looked out the door.

  “I thought you said I was a danger.”

  “You are. To yourself at the moment. Stay inside. I’ve got this.” And he shut the door behind him as he launched himself off the porch.

  “You’re a danger to yourself,” Sera mimicked, the side of one lip curled up. “Stay inside, Sera.” She huffed, and stood there feeling stupid and helpless.

  Something—or, more accurately, someone—crashed into the side of the garage and snapped her attention back outside to her front yard. She peered out the window to see seven of the biggest, nastiest looking thugs she’d ever laid eyes on. They were all at least six and a half feet tall, and looked like body builders gone horribly wrong—way more muscle than humanly possible.

  But, Sera realized with a jolt, they probably weren’t human. The guy Jonas had just thrown against the garage? She could see his fangs.

  One of them pulled out a very sharp, strange looking dagger. Long metal curlicues wrapped around the guy’s beefy fist like a protective metal ball, and the blade gleamed down to a fine point. Strange swirls and symbols adorned both sides of the blade. As the guy waved it back and forth, Jonas just tilted his head to one side and shook it. He swaggered toward the armed thug, and the other six guys pulled out blades of their own.