by Lana Melyan
Simply hearing Alec’s name put Eleanor’s teeth on edge, but what choice did she have? Time was running out, and the picture of the woman was the only clue they had. She didn’t know if this was the right way to go about it, but there was no other. “Hanna’s right. We can’t just sit and do nothing. We have to give it a shot.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Ruben.
“How are you going to do this?” asked Kimberly. “You can’t just call him, it would be too obvious.”
“No,” said Hanna. “But if Debra is spying for them, we can use her. I can pay her a visit and—”
“No,” said Riley firmly. “It’s a pointless risk.”
“Riley, that picture might help us,” said Eleanor. "Weren't you the one who said I have to use him?"
"I said use wisely." With both hands, Riley leaned on the table and looked at Eleanor where she sat on the other side of it. “Just because Alec won’t kill you doesn’t make him our friend. Alec wants Fray to win. Kimberly’s right; he’s not going to help you defeat Fray. If this woman really is a clue to something important, simply mentioning her would be equal to giving away our only weapon.”
Eleanor didn’t agree with Riley. She was sure she could find a delicate way to get information from Alec without raising suspicion. But she decided not to argue. “So what now?”
“Yesterday, Ruben contacted Mike and asked him to track down Alec’s car for us. Mike said he still lives in his house and he isn’t alone there. He described a few men staying in the house. Ruben and I recognized two: Mark and Fray.”
“Those bastards,” grumbled Hanna, putting back the plate she had just picked up from the pile next to the sink. “They aren’t even hiding.”
“And that’s a good thing,” said Riley. “Now that I know where he’s staying, I'm going to keep an eye on him.”
“How are you going to do that?” asked Eleanor. “Just because they’re not hiding doesn’t mean they’re not careful. They know you. And since you’re not invisible and they’re not blind . . .”
“I rented a van. Kizzy is new here. She agreed to be my driver.”
“All right, then,” said Ruben. “If that’s it for now, I’ll go change.”
Eleanor waited until everyone left the kitchen, then stood up and stepped closer to Hanna. “I’m doing it,” she said in a low, conspiratorial voice.
Hanna, who just resumed the cleaning, stopped again. “Doing what?”
“Meeting Alec.” Eleanor took the plate from Hanna’s hand and put it in the dishwasher. “And I need you to visit Debra.”
“Eleanor, you heard Riley,” said Hanna, sounding a little alarmed. “While Samson is away, he’s in charge.”
“He doesn’t have to know. We’ll tell him only if it works.”
“If he finds out, he’ll kill me.”
“Hanna, what else is there? We have nothing else to go on.”
Hanna dropped to the chair, and after a moment of consideration, she breathed out, “Okay. What do I say to her?”
“I don’t know. Something to hook her.”
Hanna absently stared at the syrup bottle for a moment, then said, “I’ll say we were worried about her. I’ll ask about Mark, then mention you wanted to come, too, but something came up. You had to meet an old friend . . . where?” she looked up at Eleanor. “Where do you want to meet him?”
“Meet a friend,” repeated Eleanor, thinking. “At the cemetery.”
“All right, but not now. If Riley sees us leaving, he’ll ask questions, and I can’t lie to him, he sees through me. Let’s wait until he leaves.”
21
Nicole was buried the day after Kimberly’s mother was killed, so none of the three girls attended the funeral. Hanna contacted Nicole’s parents to find out the name of the cemetery she was buried at, and now, walking between the rows of tombstones, Eleanor looked for Nicole’s grave. It didn’t take long to find the fresh mound under the low branches of a young willow tree, with a temporary wooden sign containing her name and the dates of her birth and death.
Putting flowers on another grave made Eleanor feel useless. Her job was to protect people, but all she’d done since returning was mourn them. First Melinda, then Nicole, then Kimberly’s mother, and there were also three of her schoolmates killed at the party. Those deaths were the consequences of their inaction, but no matter how badly the Hunters wanted to tear Fray apart, Riley was right; they couldn’t go against him empty-handed. Beating him up might make them feel better for a little while, but it wouldn’t solve any of their problems. It would only bring more deaths and could scare Fray into hiding. At least this way they had one less thing to look for.
Eleanor glanced around. There were no people, except one woman heading to the gate. A few graves away, under a maple tree, was a bench. Eleanor walked to it and sat down. She didn’t know how long she’d have to wait. She wasn’t even sure the plan would work, but she was certain that Debra spying on her was Fray’s decision, not Alec’s. “Meeting with a friend at the cemetery” sounded mysterious enough to get their attention.
And if Alec showed up, what would she say to him? Alec wouldn’t just hand over the picture. She needed to start a conversation and then wriggle it to the point. But even then, she’d need to push the right buttons to crack him, to make him at least consider her request.
Eleanor snorted. That would require a lot of patience. Could she do all of this without punching him in the face?
She heard someone approaching from behind and turned. It was Hanna, and she didn’t look happy.
“It didn’t work,” she said grimly, sitting next to Eleanor.
“What? Debra didn’t take the bait?”
“No.” Hanna shook her head. “It was the wrong bait,” she said quietly. “If I had brought her a blood bag . . .”
“What?” Eleanor jumped to her feet. “No.”
Hanna looked up at her. “Her mother said she was in her room, that she didn’t feel well. When I got upstairs, I wondered why Debra would close the curtains in the middle of the day, but then I looked at her, at her eyes. She was in pain, transitioning. The moment I walked in, she looked at me with horror and started crying. Then she asked if I’d come to kill her.”
“She knows who we are,” murmured Eleanor. “What did you do?” She stared at Hanna. “Hanna, did you—”
“How could I?” Hanna stood up, too. “First of all, her mother was home, and second—Eleanor, it’s Debra.”
Eleanor walked back and forth. Then she stopped and gazed at Hanna. “They turned her and left her at home. Hanna, she’ll need to feed soon. She won’t be able to control herself and she’ll kill anyone near her. That means she might kill her own mother.”
“You think I don’t know that? There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t get her out of there, it’s still daylight. Besides, where would I take her?”
“You’re right. It’s not our job to take care of her.” Eleanor pulled the phone out of her pocket and found Alec’s name. She tapped it, and he answered almost immediately. “I need to see you,” she said, barely holding her anger. “Now.”
“Where?” asked Alec.
Eleanor was too angry to sit still and wait for Alec to get to the cemetery from the other end of town. Instead, she preferred to drive toward him. “In the grove, behind the school.”
“I’ll come with you,” said Hanna the moment Eleanor hung up.
“No, there’s no need for that. You better get home before Riley is back.”
“I can’t let you go there alone. And I don’t think you should go either. I don’t trust him.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” said Eleanor, rushing to her car. “Go home.”
“Not gonna happen,” said Hanna, following her. “I’ll come a few minutes later so he won’t see me. I’ll watch you from a distance.”
It was getting dark, and the school’s parking lot was almost empty. Alec’s car was already there. Eleanor got out of her car and l
ooked around. There was nothing suspicious, except a gray Honda with tinted windows standing by the side of the lot. Eleanor went behind the school building, passed the empty football pitch, and checked to make sure no one had followed her before walking into the grove.
Peering into the semi-darkness of the woods, she saw Alec leaning on the thick trunk of an old tree. He straightened when he saw her and took a few steps toward her.
Eleanor glared at him. “How could you let that happen?”
“And by that you mean. . . ?” He squinted. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean!” said Eleanor with irritation. “How could you let them do that to her?”
“Oooh, you’re talking about Debra.” He looked at her, puzzled. “Is that why you’re here? I thought. . .” He tilted his head.
“You thought what?” Eleanor spread her hands. “That I called you out on a date?”
“No. Actually, I do now,” said Alec, pondering. “You never liked Debra. Why would you suddenly care about her? I think you’re using her as a reason to see me.”
Alec’s words caught Eleanor off guard. She blinked.
Alec smirked and drew closer. The smug look on his face stirred Eleanor’s blood and brought up the urge to punch him. “You think this is funny?” she said sharply. “She is home with her mother and is getting hungry.” Eleanor pushed him away from her. “She might kill her own mother. Her whole family.”
“Then maybe you should stop her,” said Alec, looking at her seriously. “Isn’t that what you do? Kill vampires?”
“You want me to kill her?” Eleanor stared at him. “She would do anything for you.”
“I never loved her, she knew that. I didn’t get her into this mess,” shouted Alec. “She did it all by herself, by trusting Mark, by letting him use her. I told her to stay away from him, and you know what she said?” He lowered his voice. “She said I never treated her as well as he did.”
“She was trying to make you jealous. She loves you.”
Alec shrugged. “So what? Is that my fault too?” he said indifferently, then added with a crooked smile, “Now she can love me forever.”
“This is funny to you?” Eleanor flashed forward and punched him in the chin. Alec flew back a few feet and hit the tree behind him. Eleanor darted to him and raised her hand again, but Alec caught it and pushed it down.
“Don’t.” His gray eyes gazed into hers. “You might be more experienced, but I’m stronger than you.”
Eleanor wrenched her hand out of his and turned away. In a split second, Alec was standing in front of her. He grabbed her by her arms and pressed her against the tree.
“You just got your powers back and still need time to remember how to use them. Fray has been training me for ten years, and from the moment I got the powers, I’ve been fighting him. He’s been teaching me as he taught most of you, as he taught your Craig.”
“And in the meantime, he is teaching you to kill people, to be unfeeling like him, to betray people who care about you,” said Eleanor, panting from anger.
“This is war,” hissed Alec. “I can’t save everyone. You’re alive, and that’s what matters to me.” His dangerous glittering eyes were fixed on hers. He put his hand around her neck. Eleanor’s hand moved up his spine. Alec closed his eyes from the pleasure, and when he opened them again, his look was softer, happier. He bowed his head, but before his lips could touch hers, she grabbed him by his jacket and threw him aside.
“You know,” said Eleanor, walking to him, “Fray never trained me. But I had a few lessons with Samson. You wanna have a go?”
“No.” Alec slowly shook his head. “What I’m saying is, I’m not going to be your punching bag. I can fight, too, but I’ll never hurt you, you know that.”
“Why not? This is war, you said it yourself.”
“You know why.”
“Because you love me,” Eleanor scoffed. “What about Fray? You think he cares about your feelings? He’ll kill me the first chance he gets.”
“He does, he cares about me. He’d never do that.”
Eleanor released a mirthless laugh. “Fray never cared about anyone but himself. He never loved anyone.” She frowned. “If he’d known what love is, he would never dare to kill Gabriella.” At these words Eleanor realized that, even though she didn’t do it knowingly, she had brought the conversation to the right subject, to the reason she wanted to meet Alec in the first place. “I’ve known him a bit longer than you have,” she said, “and believe me, I know him much better. Did you ever ask yourself why he’s alone? The man has lived eight hundred years and has no one but vampires. Samson could turn a woman for him, but he never brought one, because he never loved anyone. He had no friends.”
“That’s not true,” said Alec, his eyes burning with anger. “He told me everything. Everyone Fray asked Samson to turn for him ended up dead. Samson killed them. And he had a woman, but she was different, and Fray knew Samson would kill her, too. That’s why—”
“Don’t say another word,” said a voice from between the trees.
It was already dark, and Eleanor couldn’t see any more than the man’s silhouette. But she didn’t need to. She would recognize that voice from a million others.
“Don’t you see what she’s doing?” said Fray, coming forward. “She’s fishing for information.”
Eleanor could see him now. “You brought him with you?” She glared at Alec.
But Alec looked as shocked as Eleanor herself. “What the hell are you doing here?” he said, clenching his teeth. “Were you spying on me?”
“I can see you’re still in one piece,” said Fray, ignoring Alec’s question. “You know why? Because she’s playing you.”
“Stop it. I’m not an idiot, I know she’s here for a reason.” He turned to Eleanor. “I didn’t know. I came alone.”
“Yes, you did. But she didn’t,” said Fray with a gloat.
Eleanor’s narrowed eyes peered into the trees behind him. In the light coming from the football pitch, she saw several figures moving toward them. The figures got darker as they walked into the grove, but Eleanor already recognized the one in the middle. Her heart fell.
“She brought her,” said Fray, pointing at Hanna, who now stood behind him. She was surrounded by seven vampires.
“She didn’t bring me,” snapped Hanna. “I came because I knew you would come up with something. I know what a son of a bitch you are.”
A blade shone in the hand of the vampire standing next to her. But before he could jab her with it, Fray raised his hand.
“Yes, you’re right, little firecracker,” he sneered. “I’m full of surprises. Now.” He looked at Eleanor. “I came for information, too. I want to know where Samson is and what he’s up to.”
“Why? Are you scared?” Eleanor started toward him, but Alec grabbed her by the arm and pulled back. Eleanor jerked her hand away. “Don’t touch me.”
“You’ll tell me what he’s planning,” said Fray furiously, “or I’ll kill your Hanna.”
Two vampires clutched Hanna’s arms. The one behind her gripped her neck, but Hanna managed to swing her head backwards and hit him in the chin.
“You bitch,” hissed the vampire, grabbing Hanna by the hair.
Eleanor rushed forward, but Alec caught her again.
Something moved in between the trees. Eleanor stopped. A shadow flashed behind Hanna and the vampires. The next moment, she felt the air shift behind her. It seemed that Alec noticed too, as they both looked back at the same time.
It was Riley. He stood a few steps away from them. Eleanor froze, part of her relieved, the other part abashed, as if she were a criminal caught in the act.
Riley didn’t look at her. His eyes were fixed on Fray. “How are you going to kill her?” he asked calmly. “Did you bring the dagger?”
They heard a moan. The vampires clutching Hanna’s neck and holding her left arm dropped simultaneously, and Eleanor saw Ruben. The moment Hanna’s arm was fr
ee, she punched the vampire on her right, jerked her hand out of his grip, and snapped his neck. Ruben killed two more, but he didn’t follow when the rest ran away. He pulled Hanna behind him and stepped to Fray.
“Your vampires tortured us for decades,” said Ruben, gazing at him. “But they aren’t much help now, are they?”
“You just wait. I’ll kill you all,” growled Fray. He glared at Riley. “Starting with you.” He turned his eyes on Eleanor. “This is all your fault. If you hadn’t closed the Book . . . I’ll make you suffer.” He walked to her. “I’ll rip your Craig to pieces and make you wa—”
Riley didn’t let him finish the word. He flashed forward, and his fist landed on Fray’s face.
Fray shuddered and took several steps back. “Is that it?” he laughed. “Is that all you got?”
Riley sent another blow, this time to his chest. Fray flew back and fell on the ground between the trees ten feet away.
Now it was Alec who moved forward. But Eleanor pulled him back. “Let the grown-ups handle this,” she said, then added, “Don’t worry, he can fight back, he knows how.”
Fray got up and walked back to Riley. But to Eleanor’s, and everyone else’s surprise, Fray didn’t hit back. “I’m stronger than you, and you know that,” he said, catching his breath. “But I’m not going to fight you.”
“Why not?”
“Because he doesn’t have it,” said Ruben. “It isn’t fun without the dagger, is it, Fray?”
Riley glanced at Eleanor and nodded toward the football pitch.
“Get Debra out of the house,” Eleanor said to Alec, gazing at him over her shoulder.
Riley crossed to Fray. “You know how badly I want to rip your guts out. But I can’t,” he said in a stony voice. “If you get near anyone in my family again, I’ll crucify you in the backyard of the castle and watch you dry out under the sun, without food or water. I might put your boy next to you, for company.” Riley walked away.
“We’ll see about that,” Fray threw after him. “Your days are numbered.”