“Thanks, but you really didn’t have to skip the rest of the school day to bring it to me.”
“Yes, I did.” She stares at her own container of double fudge brownie for half a beat before turning her rich caramel colored eyes over to me. “Are you okay? I know how hard breakups can be.” Her gaze glosses over and I know it’s because she’s thinking about Jamie Abrahams. They were the ‘It’ couple all of last year until he suddenly found the love of his life while vacationing with his family over summer break. Paige spent the entire month of July closed up in her room, drowning her sorrows in pint after pint of double fudge brownie ice cream and chocolate éclairs from her mom’s bakery. Taylor and I thought we were going to have to stage an intervention until Paige woke up one day in August and decided she was over him. She said it was karmic justice that helped her move on when it turned out Jamie’s so-called soulmate found somebody else.
“You know I was just teasing you the other day in school about Sebastian,” she adds.
“I know.”
“Although, I do think he has a thing for you. He stares at you way too much to not.”
“Got the spoons.” Taylor waves them in the air as she exits the kitchen, saving me from having a Sebastian conversation with Paige. She grabs hold of my wrist and pulls me up the stairs. “Can we get back to the subject of Evan, now?” Taylor shoots a glance over her shoulder at Paige who’s trailing a few steps behind us. Paige sticks out her tongue then gives me a sympathetic look. We both know how Taylor is—a pit bull that refuses to let anything go until all demands of explanations are met.
In my room, Taylor hauls me to the bed then plops herself down beside me. She scoots back, leaning against the pillows. “Ice cream me.” She stretches her arms out, flexing her hands open and closed like an impatient toddler. “You know I hate it when it’s too melty.” Paige tosses her the container while sticking out her tongue, yet again. Taylor returns the gesture, pops the lid off, and immediately digs in. “Mmm, strawberry cheesecake ice cream is so good.” She closes her eyes, licking the spoon clean. “So good.” She nudges me with her foot. “Now talk. You’ve been acting weird lately, and today you dump Evan. What’s up with that?”
I poke at my ice cream with the tip of my spoon, trying to figure out what to tell them. Obviously, I can’t tell them the truth. Oh, you know my family is made up of witches with magical abilities. I’m one too. Vampires want me dead for some reason. Also, my father is an angel of death. His side of the family wants me dead too. So you know, didn’t want to drag Evan into all that. Yeah, I’m sure that would go over well.
“You don’t have to talk about it right now if you don’t want to. Whenever you’re ready is fine.” Paige wraps her arm around me in a hug.
Taylor throws a pillow at Paige, hitting me with it too. “Don’t tell her that. I want to know what’s going on with her. She’s been weird since the night of the Imagine Dragons concert. Skipping Evan’s game—” She holds up a hand before I can interject. “I know, I know, you were sick that weekend. Allegedly. But you’ve also skipped lunches and been evasive, and now you’ve dumped Evan. Evan. I just want to know what’s going on with you. I feel like you’re avoiding us. Paige and I are your best friends, so let us do our job. Now spill on whatever’s been bothering you.”
Paige throws the pillow back. “Don’t listen to her, Indi. Tell us whenever you’re ready to tell us. We’re here for you no matter what.”
Maybe I can give them some half-truths?
“I’m just dealing with some family drama right now. My head’s not in the right place to focus on a relationship and I knew it wouldn’t be fair to Evan.”
“You’ve told us that much already downstairs, which is pretty vague and lame, by the way. I want details. What is this head-spinning family drama and why don’t you think Evan can handle it?” Taylor holds me under the weight of her gaze until I seriously begin to worry about beads of sweat popping up on my forehead. Normally I admire Taylor’s tenacity, but now is definitely not one of those times. I wish she’d just drop it, but since it’s Taylor, I know it’s not likely to happen. “Come on. Out with it. I don’t got all day you know.”
Taylor fixes me with an intense gaze she’s perfected into a superpower. Once you’re caught in it, there is no escape or conceivable way to not meet her demands, no matter how hard you try to resist. I grit my teeth and bite my lip anyway, despite knowing I’m doomed to fail at holding out. Her gaze only gets more intense and I cave, blurting out the first thing to pop into my head. “It’s about my dad, okay.” My mind goes into overdrive trying to come up with some plausible lie to go with that sentence since the truth is out of the question. “He’s involved with some shady people and now I could be a target.”
Gah! I feel like slapping my hand over my mouth. My dad’s involved with some shady people? Really? That’s what I come up with?
“Your dad? The one who split when you were a baby?” Taylor narrows her eyes then takes a giant bite of ice cream, cursing the brain freeze afterwards. “And that’s why you dumped Evan? That’s stupid. I’m sure he can handle whatever ‘daddy issues’ you have.” She rubs her forehead with her palm.
“Wow. Indi, that’s crazy. Are you and your family in danger?” Paige asks. She’s so concerned and sincere it nearly breaks me. It’s hard to lie to someone when they’re looking at you with big believe every word you say eyes. She’s so trusting its killing me.
It’s not a total lie, I rationalize, hoping it’ll offset the guilt Paige’s look is making me feel. There really are people who want to kill me and potentially harm my family because of my dad. They’re just not human and more of the angelic variety.
“Come on. Details. Who are these people? Why are they after your dad? Why aren’t you telling Evan?” Taylor prods.
“I can’t tell Evan. You know what kind of guy he is. He’d throw himself in front of whatever could come after me and I don’t want him doing that. I don’t want him risking his life for me. And I can’t tell you guys the details either. I’ve already told you too much as it is. It’s an active case and we’re not supposed to talk about it with anyone. I’m sorry.” I put as much feeling behind my words as I can, hoping they’ll accept it and leave the topic alone.
“Says who?” Taylor gives me the stare down again and I become the proverbial ant under a microscope. Geez, she’s relentless.
“The FBI.” Oh my God. This is going to come back and bite me in the butt one day.
My stomach churns, the chocolate milk and ice cream, creeps up the back of my throat. I force it down, praying I can keep the anxiety raging inside from showing on my face. If Taylor were to even get a whiff of it, she’d rip all my lies apart until she reached the truth. I can’t let her do that. I don’t want to pull the world out from underneath her or Paige—especially Paige. I don’t think Paige could handle knowing what’s truly out there in the dark. She’d break.
A tree branch slams against my window and all three of us jump.
“Wow, the wind is really blowing out there.” Paige strides to the window to get a better look. “Must be a storm blowing in.”
Crap. Crap. Crap. I bet it’s me. Taylor’s third degree is stressing me out. It’s supposed to be nice outside not stormy. I need to calm down and get a hold of myself. I take a few deep breaths and change the subject to something less volatile. “So, Taylor, have you decided how you’re getting your hair cut?”
“I know what you’re doing, Indiana Grace Bellamy, and I’ll allow it since my hair appointment is today. Just know the subject of you and Evan will be revisited.” She pulls out her phone, opening her photos tab. “I’ve got a few ideas. What do you guys think of these?” She scrolls through several pictures she’s taken from the web, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Even if it’s a temporary reprieve I’ll take it, at least it’ll give me time to work out all the details with my lies before I end up getting caught in one.
After showing Paige and me a gazillion different photos,
Taylor swivels around the clock on the nightstand. “Oh, crap, I hadn’t realized it’s gotten so late. We’ve been looking at pictures for an hour. But I’m confident we’ve settled on the right one. Thanks guys for helping me pick it out.” Taylor stares down at the photo on the screen with a mishmash of excitement and fear warring for dominance over her face. “I’ve never had my hair cut this short before. It’s going to be so weird.” She pulls out her keys and fidgets with a tiny Doctor Who figure, hanging from them.
“You’re going to look great,” I assure her.
She nods her head a few times until a nervous smile emerges. “Thanks.”
“Do you have time to drop me off at home before your appointment?” Paige asks.
Taylor checks the time once again. “I should be able to, but we’ll need to go now.”
“Awesome. Thanks.” Hopping up from the bed, Paige grabs the empty containers of ice cream and hands me the spoons. “Call me later if you want to talk about Evan, or your dad, or anything.”
I nod my head then walk them to the door. “Thanks for stopping by with ice cream. It was really nice of you guys to do that. Remember though, you can’t say anything to anyone about my dad, okay? Cross your hearts?”
Taylor and Paige both draw an X over their chests with the tip of their fingers. “And hope to die,” the say in unison.
“Jinx,” they both yell and then laugh.
I reach around them to open the door. Sebastian is standing on the other side.
“New Boy. What are you doing here?” Taylor rakes her eyes over his body from head to toe.
“Investigating witches,” he says with a sly grin.
“What?” Paige asks. Her complexion seems to pale and I do a double take. She’s completely composed. Maybe I’d imagined it.
“History assignment. Due at the end of the week.” He pushes his way between Taylor and Paige. His eyes seek me out. “We really should get started.”
“Right.” I turn toward my friends. “Thanks again for the ice cream. And don’t forget what I said.” I let my eyes say the rest. “Send me pictures of your new haircut,” I tell Taylor, as I usher her and Paige out the door.
Taylor pulls me close. “You sure dumping Evan was only about your dad and not about…” she trails off, nodding her chin toward Sebastian. “Because if it wasn’t, I can totally see why.” If she undresses him any more with her eyes, it’s going to have me blushing.
“I told you. It’s not like that.”
“Uh-huh.”
I break away from Taylor before she can goad me any further. “I’ll see you guys later.”
Once they’re gone, I close the door and lean my back against it.
“You ready to go?” Sebastian asks.
“Go?”
“Training day, remember?”
“Right. Training. We really do need to work on our school assignment though. Maybe we should do some of that first?”
“You wouldn’t be stalling would you?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know. All of this stuff with vampires, witches, chasers, bounty hunting angels, and now the ridiculous lies I just told my friends, I feel like I need a break. Couldn’t we pretend for a little while that the world isn’t as dark as I’ve discovered it is?”
“By working on a paper about one of history’s darkest times. Mass hysteria. Innocent people accused of making pacts with the devil to cause harm to others. The torturing and hanging of said people.”
“Well, when you put it that way, I’d rather do the training.”
“Is it really necessary to do this much running?” I stop in the middle of the trail to catch my breath. Hands on my knees, I lean forward, while a line of perspiration runs down my back.
Sebastian hands me a water bottle. “Absolutely. You should be able to run for miles effortlessly.”
“How many miles have we run so far today?” I look up at him. It’s odd seeing him in a simple plain t-shirt, basketball shorts, and running shoes after only ever seeing him in a leather jacket, dark jeans, various band t-shirts, and motorcycle boots. It makes him look less ‘bad boy’ and more like your average high school student. But average he’s not. My gaze drifts to the jagged scar cutting down the length of his leg from his knee to his ankle, reminding me of the dangerous life he leads, and the one I’m heading into. No, there’s nothing average about Sebastian Chase, and now, I guess there’s nothing average about me either.
He smiles down at me, the urge to laugh evident on his face. “We’ve barely reached a half a mile.”
“Only a half a mile?” I pout and fall back on my butt. “That’s all?” I don’t care if we’re in the middle of a popular jogging path; I lie down and spread out, anyway.
He leans over. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be running ten miles like it was nothing and slaying vampires as easily as swatting flies. You’ll be as good as any other chaser. Maybe not as good as me, but good.” He steps over me, placing a foot just outside my thigh, so he’s now straddling me. Reaching down, he grabs both of my hands then hauls me up off the ground, pulling me so close there’s hardly any space between us. He stares down at me. “What did you lie to your friends about?”
“What?” It’s hard to hear what he’s saying over the sound of my heart beating erratically, let alone think clearly when he’s standing this close. I take a step back, but he doesn’t let go, keeping my hands firmly grasped in his.
“You said you had to lie to your friends. What about?”
“My dad. Taylor kept demanding to know why I broke up with Evan, so I told her my dad got mixed up with criminals and I could be in danger and I didn’t want to risk Evan getting caught up in my family drama. And then I told her the FBI swore us to secrecy and I couldn’t say any more.”
“It’s a plausible lie. If you need any help to maintain credibility let me know. Chester makes an excellent fake FBI agent. Plus, people find his eye unnerving so they tend to go with whatever he says just so he’ll stop looking at them.” He lets go of my hand to tuck loose strands of hair that have fallen out of my ponytail behind my ear. “I’m sorry you have to lie to your friends. Living in two worlds isn’t easy, but we do what we have to so we can keep those we care for safe, even if it means we have to lie to them.” His eyes drop to my mouth. “So, you broke up with Evan, huh?”
A branch snaps somewhere nearby in the surrounding woods, disturbing the quiet. I take a step back, the both of us now scanning the tree line. I glance up and down the path. “When was the last time you saw another jogger?” The afternoon sun hangs above the treetops, nightfall still hours away, but I can’t shake the uneasiness settling in the pit of my stomach. My body goes on high alert, my feet ready to bolt at any moment.
The look in Sebastian’s eyes has changed. I can tell he senses something too. “We should head back.” He takes my hand.
A body lands at our feet with a loud thud. A scream bubbles up my throat. I slap my hands over my mouth, but I can’t stop it from coming out any more than I can stop the shuddering sobs from taking me to my knees. I’ve seen this guy before. We passed him on the path ten minutes ago.
His eyes are open, staring blankly into space. The front of his shirt is ripped to shreds and soaked in fresh blood, the side of his throat completely torn apart. If I were still in the dark, I’d say a wild animal mauled him to death, but now I know better. Now I know what’s really out there in the shadows.
“Now why would you want to leave when we have so many fun things planned for you both?”
21
A young—or at least young looking, for all I know he could be four hundred-years-old—guy meanders up the path as though he doesn’t have a care in the world, his chin and shirt saturated in blood. A stark contrast to his bleach blonde dyed hair and pale complexion. Using his sleeve, he wipes his face mostly clean. His gaze holds strong on Sebastian and me, never wavering for even a second. If his goal is to scare us with looks alone, it’s working. Or a
t least it is on me. I’m not so sure Sebastian’s scared of anything.
Sebastian pulls me to my feet, keeping me held closely to his side. Around us more vampires emerge, trapping us where we stand. They sniff the air as they circle around us, all except for the one covered in the jogger’s blood.
“You weren’t easy to find. Even now your scent is hidden.” Dye Job angles his head. His cold eyes glide from me to Sebastian. “But his isn’t. His I could smell a mile away and it led me straight to you, Indiana, just like I knew it would.”
“What do you want?” It comes out small and whispered and I curse myself for being weak. I want to be strong like Sebastian. I want to be able to defend myself against whatever comes after me without breaking down. I want to not be scared. I want them to be scared of me.
But…
I can’t stop staring at the dead jogger. At the way his body lies in front of me haphazardly, drained and tossed to the side as though the life he had didn’t matter. And how one day—maybe even today—it might be me because I’m not as strong as I need to be. Not yet anyway. I’m only just now coming into this life and there’s still so much I have to learn before I’m able to protect myself. So far my survival has been reliant upon sheer determination, blind luck, and, Sebastian. But eventually determination wavers, luck runs out, and Sebastian will be assigned somewhere else.
“I think you already know what I want,” the vampire says with sureness, pulling me back to the horrors unfolding before me. The color of his eyes glow from within, turning them from a deep shade of blue to the color of the ocean being kissed by the soft morning rays of the sun. They’re mesmerizing in the way they shimmer with each subtle shift of his eyes. No doubt an alluring trait meant to ensnare victims with their beauty as it hides the hunger beneath, promising to steal their lives away in a violent gnashing of teeth into flesh. But I know the truth they hold and it sends a cold shiver tiptoeing down my back, leaving the fine hairs along my neck standing on end. The vampire’s gaze lowers to the rapid beat of my pulse, pounding at the side of my throat. “But if you’d like me to spell it out, then what I want, Indiana, is the tangy, sweet taste of your blood on my tongue. To watch your life slip away as your body goes limp in my arms. To reap the benefits of being the one who rips you from this world.” The muscles of his face pull back, twisting his mouth into a menacing smile. “He wants you dead. One way or another you will be. It might as well be by my hand.” He licks his lips, his eyes raking over me before shifting to Sebastian. “My friends can share your chaser.”
Of Blood & Magic: Blood Descent Book 1 Page 23