by Jayme Morse
“Austin?” Anna asked, feeling hopeful. If Greg could just let her see Austin, she felt confident that the two of them might be able to come up with some sort of plan to get out of this situation.
Greg laughed at her. “No, I’m not going to let you see Austin. If Lexi doesn’t get back to you soon, you’re never going to see Austin again.” His face took on a more serious look. “I’m going to see my wife. I’ve moved her to a new nursing home. No one knows she’s here yet. I mostly want to visit her, but it can’t hurt for you to see why it’s so important for her to drink from your friend.”
“But Lexi’s blood won’t save your wife,” Anna protested. “Her blood isn’t the same as it used to be. It’s . . . different now.”
“How is it different?” Greg questioned.
“She’s an imm—” Anna started to say ‘immortal’ before it dawned on her. She had been worried that Greg Lawrence and the rest of the vampires of Briar Creek could do something to hurt Lexi, and while there might be some small element of risk, Lexi wasn’t a human anymore. She wasn’t human anymore, so it didn’t seem likely she could die. If she could, no one knew how she could die.
Greg eyed Anna curiously. “She’s what?”
“Nothing,” Anna replied. With a smile, she added, “I guess you’re right. Maybe it still is possible that her blood could cure your wife. Hopefully she’ll call us back soon so we can find out for sure.”
Greg smiled. “I knew you would eventually come around to this idea, Anna,” he said. “And don’t worry. I won’t let you regret your decision. You’ll know this is the right thing.” He elbowed her in the ribs playfully. “This is a good deed you’re doing, you know.”
Anna tried to force a small smile. She just hoped that Lexi wouldn’t be too mad at her over this—and that Lexi would be able to come up with some sort of plan to save Austin and kill Greg.
Chapter 20
Kevin stared out the windshield as Caroline drove them back to her family’s house. She’d claimed that she had forgotten something important there, and even though Kevin didn’t understand why she couldn’t just have someone mail it to her, he wasn’t about to complain.
The whole car ride back to Pennsylvania, the only thing he could think about was Lexi Hunter and how he was going to drink her blood if he could get her alone. In fact, Kevin wasn’t even sure if he would try to restrain himself in front of Caroline anymore. At this point, he was positive that he didn’t want to continue living with her annoying, piano-playing self anymore. Kevin wasn’t going to go with her when she went back to Juilliard, and what better reason than to make her think he wanted to cheat on her?
“You’ve been quiet,” Kevin said, glancing over at Caroline, who was twirling a blonde lock of hair around her finger nervously.
Caroline kept her eyes on the road, as she answered, “I don’t know what to say.”
Kevin had a feeling that little Miss Caroline Nichols was tiring of him already—which was perfect, really, since all he could think about was Lexi. “What’s on your mind?” he asked.
Caroline shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, Gabe. I’m not sure if we’re meant to be, after all.”
Kevin stared ahead of him, feeling a knot tightening in his stomach. Even though it made him sort of happy that Caroline didn’t want to be with him anymore, Kevin didn’t like to be broken up with. He wanted to be the one to call the punches. He would have broken up with her when he was ready to do so, but why was she breaking up with him—or trying to break up with him—before he had the chance to break her heart?
“What do you mean?” Kevin asked aloud, feeling the anger rising to his cheeks, as he watched the rain begin to start hitting against the windshield. The noise of the drops as they hit against the glass irritated him, the same way the sound of hands moving on a grandfather clock grated on his nerves.
“I’m just not sure if I can do this anymore,” Caroline said. She sniffled, and Kevin realized that she was crying.
“Of course you can still do this,” Kevin said firmly. “Because I’m Gabe and you’re Caroline, and we’re in love with each other.”
“I thought I was falling in love with you, but now I’m not so sure,” Caroline said quietly.
Kevin reached over and grabbed Caroline’s chin, turning her head so that she was facing him.
“What are you doing, Gabe?” Caroline shrieked, as she lost control of the wheel. She slammed her foot on the brakes as the car swerved into the middle of the road, nearly hitting an oncoming vehicle, which loudly blared its horn at them.
Teary-eyed, Caroline struggled to turn her face back to the road, but Kevin kept a firm grip on her chin. “Are you letting someone else drink from you, Caroline? Are you cheating on me?”
“No, I’m not,” Caroline whispered. “Please let me go so we don’t get into a car accident.”
Kevin stared at her for a moment. He studied her face and tried to decide if she was telling the truth before reluctantly letting her go. Even though he wasn’t sure if he believed her—and even though a car accident wouldn’t kill him anyway—he didn’t feel like dealing with the hassle of having to file a police report if they did get into an accident.
Caroline pulled the car forward and moved into the right lane. She slowly moved forward, her hands shaking.
“So, tell me why you don’t want to be with me anymore,” Kevin said, glancing over at her impatiently. He wanted her to confess that she was cheating on him, so he would have a reason to kill her.
“I was falling for you in the beginning, Gabe. It’s just that I feel like we’re two different people lately,” Caroline said, shaking her head. “When we first met, you seemed so interested in me and my music. I just, I thought . . .”
“You thought what?” Kevin asked, fully expecting her to say that she thought she was falling for someone else.
Caroline glanced over at him and gave him a sad smile. “I thought you were different. That’s all.”
Kevin let out a slow, easy breath. He wasn’t sure if he believed anything that Caroline was saying, but he was going to have to try to trust that she was—at least until they made it back to the Nichols’ house. As tempted as Kevin was to drink her blood until he drained her entire body of it, he knew that there was no way he would be able to face Dan without getting questioned over the whereabouts of his sister. And if Dan didn’t trust him anymore, there was no way he was going to be able to drink Lexi’s blood.
Both of them remained quiet the rest of the way back to the Nichols’ house. When Caroline climbed out of the car, she didn’t say a word to Kevin or even look at him, which made him angry.
He reluctantly got out of the car and followed her to the front porch. Caroline was already inside the house by the time he got to the front step, but she left the door open for him so he followed her into the house.
“Danny! Lexi! I’m home!” Caroline called as she entered the dining room.
Kevin heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and Dan came into the dining room. His normally tan face had paled with a look of horror.
“Lexi’s gone,” Dan said quietly.
Chapter 21
“How did you get back here?” Lexi questioned Mary-Kate. “I thought you got trapped in the 1800s.”
Mary-Kate shrugged. “I don’t know how I got back, but I did.” She peered at Lexi through the rearview mirror. “No thanks to you, of course.”
“You tried to kill me!” Lexi protested. “If you had been nice to me, I would have helped you get back.”
“Well, guess what, Lexi? I wasn’t nice to you. And I might not have succeeded in killing you the first time, but I will succeed in killing you this time. At least, one of us will.” Mary-Kate glanced over at Gabe with a sly smile, and Lexi realized that killing her was supposed to be Gabe’s job.
The feeling made Lexi feel even sicker to her stomach. She knew that Mary-Kate was deranged enough to kill her, but was Gabe? He had been crazy enough to kill Justin and Rosie�
��and who knew who else—but would he try to do the same thing to Lexi? Gabe had once loved her. He had to still care about her enough to let her live.
Lexi quickly shook the thought away. Obviously Gabe didn’t care about her that much. If he did, he wouldn’t have kidnapped her this way.
Deep down, she knew that it didn’t really matter if Gabe tried to kill her. Well, it sort of didn’t matter. She was an immortal now. Nothing could kill her. At least, nothing that she knew of could.
“So, where are we going?” Lexi questioned, as she stared out the windshield, even though she was pretty sure that she already knew the answer. Mary-Kate was taking Lexi to Briar Creek.
Mary-Kate laughed mercilessly. “That’s for us to know and for you to find out.”
Lexi slumped back in the seat and glanced to the right of her. Erica was buckled into her seat, and there were tears streaming down her face.
“It’s going to be okay,” Lexi whispered to her and reached over to grab her hand.
Erica locked her fingers through Lexi’s and squeezed her hand tightly. She reached over to the other side of her and held Connor’s hand, too.
“Okay, fine, Lexi. I’ll tell you where you’re going, if you really want to know,” Mary-Kate told her. “It’s hard for me to keep it to myself, because I’m just so excited!”
Lexi braced herself for whatever Mary-Kate was about to say next. “Okay.”
“I’m taking you back to Briar Creek, where I will let my lovely mother drink your blood,” Mary-Kate said.
“But my blood won’t save her, Mary-Kate,” Lexi said sadly. “I wish I could help you, but it’s too late. I already drank the immortality potion that Belinda gave to me.”
Mary-Kate shook her head. “No, Lexi. That’s not necessarily true. We don’t know that you can’t save my mom. There’s still a chance,” she insisted. “You haven’t tried to let anyone drink from you since you drank the potion, now have you?”
“Well, no,” Lexi replied hesitantly. “I haven’t.”
“Then there’s still hope,” Mary-Kate said firmly. “There’s still a chance you could save my mom. We have to try.”
At that moment, Lexi suddenly felt different about Mary-Kate. Her sister was crazy and had some serious issues she needed to work through, there was no doubt about that—but it was beginning to make sense. Mary-Kate was desperate to do everything she could to cure her mother of Wilkins’ Syndrome. Lexi would have done the same thing if there had been a chance, even a small one, that she could have prevented her own mother from dying.
“Okay, Mary-Kate,” Lexi said. “I’ll try to save your mom. I will.”
Mary-Kate glanced at her in the rearview mirror, a genuine-looking smile on her face. “I knew you’d make the right decision. Now stop talking until we get there, or you’re going to upset the kids. And I don’t think our daddy would be too happy about that, now would he?”
Lexi felt the heat rise to her cheeks. Maybe she didn’t feel that bad for Mary-Kate, after all.
*
Austin was surprised when the door to the room he was being guarded in opened and Anna walked inside, followed by Greg Lawrence.
“Anna? What are you doing here?” Austin asked, feeling both surprised and hopeful knowing that they had been reunited. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen—or why it was even happening—but he knew that it didn’t really matter, as long as he was with Anna while it happened.
Anna kept her head lowered to the floor, though, and she didn’t meet his eyes. She looked different than the last time he had seen her for some reason—and it wasn’t just because her pink highlights were growing out and her hair was almost shoulder-length now. Her skin looked paler than usual, and there were bags under her dark brown eyes.
“Anna is here to watch you die, Austin,” Greg said with a wicked laugh. “Of course, your time hasn’t run out just yet. There’s a chance that you could still be able to live. We’re waiting for Lexi to get here. The sooner she gets here, the sooner we’ll find out if your life is going to come to an end today or not.”
A lump formed in the back of his throat, and Austin looked over at Anna. “And you’re behind him in this? Is that where you went during that time? To plot with the mayor about how the two of you were going to kill me—how you were going to watch me die?” The words left a bitter taste in his mouth. As much as he wanted to believe it wasn’t the truth, he didn’t know what else could be going on.
“Austin, I—” Anna started to say, finally looking at him for the first time since she had entered the room, but Greg interrupted her. “There’s no need for you to explain this to Austin, Anna. Let him wonder what’s going on.”
Anna gave Austin an apologetic look, but she didn’t say anything after that. She simply stood in the corner and stared down impatiently at her cell phone, as though she were waiting for someone to call her.
“Why is Lexi coming?” Austin questioned. Eyeing Greg curiously, he asked, “You’re not planning to do something to her . . . are you?”
Greg laughed. “Now, do I look like the type of person who would do something to your precious little Lexi? Of course I’m not going to do anything to hurt her. What I am going to do is tell you this. If Lexi doesn’t come here today, if Anna can’t get her here, your life is over.” He met Austin’s gaze. “I might not hate you myself, Austin, but Lexi needs to learn a lesson. If she can’t donate her blood to save someone I care about, then it only seems fair that something bad should happen to someone she cares about, too.”
So, that’s what this was all about. Greg wanted to get back at Lexi, and he was going to use Austin as a pawn in his little game.
Well, Greg was going to need to come up with a new plan. Austin didn’t know what was going to happen tonight, but he did know that he wasn’t about to let the mayor get away with this.
“Has Lexi called you back yet?” Greg asked, eyeing Anna curiously.
“Not yet,” Anna said, shaking her head and nervously running a hand through her pink highlighted hair.
When she met Austin’s eyes, he could see everything that she was feeling: worry, panic and fear.
He felt the same way.
Chapter 22
“Gabe, get her out of the car,” Mary-Kate instructed, motioning over her shoulder at Lexi.
Gabe climbed out of the car and went to the passenger’s side. He opened Lexi’s car door and let her step out of the car on her own. When she met his eyes, Gabe noticed how scared she looked.
“Why are you doing this, Gabe?” Lexi questioned, her cat green eyes filled with a look of scrutiny. “I trusted you, damnit. Dan didn’t want you to come back to his house to stay, but I told him we couldn’t just leave you in Ohio. I wanted to help you, and you betrayed me. Again.”
“Lexi, this isn’t what it seems like,” Gabe hissed at her quietly. “I have a plan, but you have to trust me.”
“What is it? What’s your plan?” Lexi demanded to know.
“I can’t tell you right now, but trust me,” Gabe whispered, as Mary-Kate climbed out of the car and stood along the sidewalk beside them.
“Hmm, what are we going to do with the children?” Mary-Kate questioned, staring into the backseat at Erica and Connor, who were staring at them with wide eyes.
“They’re coming with us,” Lexi said firmly. She leaned into the car and unbuckled Erica. Connor unbuckled his own seat belt, and both of the kids climbed out of the car and took Lexi’s hands.
Gabe was glad that Lexi was there. As much as he had tried to calm her half-siblings, they seemed to be so much more relieved to have her there with them.
Mary-Kate sighed. “Well, I guess I’ll let you have your way, since it might be one of your last wishes.” She smiled over her shoulder at Lexi. “Are you looking forward to being my mother’s blood donor?”
Lexi shrugged her shoulders, leading Erica and Connor down the narrow sidewalk. She helped them pull their hoods over their heads, trying to protect them from the rain,
which was falling down hard around them.
Gabe followed after Lexi, and Mary-Kate trailed behind all of them. When they reached the building, she opened the door and went inside. She walked past the nurse’s station, where there was nobody working.
Gabe knew that Briar Creek’s nursing homes were much different than nursing homes in other towns. The rules for visiting hours were less strict, mostly because there were less patients—and the patients who did need to stay there were usually so sick that they were nearly on their death beds, so no one cared if they had visitors after hours or not.
Mary-Kate led them down a wide hallway and around a corner until they reached a closed door. She pushed it open and gasped when she found that the bed was empty.
“What the hell,” Mary-Kate murmured. She turned to Lexi and Gabe. “My mom never leaves her room. She can hardly walk. They must have moved her to another room or something. Let me go find a nurse to see if they know where she is.”
As Mary-Kate headed off in the opposite direction, Lexi turned to him. “Gabe, where is Caroline? Did you come home earlier without her, or did you do something to her, too?”
“What do you mean did I do something to her, too?” Gabe questioned, feeling a knot tighten in his stomach. “Look, Lexi, I know I hurt Justin, but . . . what I’m doing right now, kidnapping you? The whole reason I did it was to make up for what I did do to Justin.”
“What do you mean?” Lexi asked, raising her eyebrows at him. “Nothing you could ever do could possibly make up for killing an innocent guy! He was just a teenager, Gabe. He was too young to die . . . and just because you got jealous, no less.” She rolled her eyes with disgust.
“If I didn’t kidnap you today, Mary-Kate was planning to let the whole town drink from Connor and Erica,” Gabe told her quietly. “The only way she agreed to not do that to them was if I kidnapped you. I did this for you—and for them.”