“You won’t be laughing if it’s real,” Jayce shot back. “You’ll be dead. All of you.” He glared at Lincoln. The Gothic visitor licked his lips.
“Enough,” said Jim. He leaned toward Jayce with a whisper. “Can you chill out for the day? It’s her birthday, man.”
“One day,” Jayce responded. He rose his finger toward Abby. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
As Jayce marched back to his room, the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” Todd said, hopping out of his chair. “Hope it’s them bullets.”
Mallory thought the situation was settled until she heard Abby say . . .
“Jim. I want her out. Now.”
7
The Delivery
“I’m sorry.”
Mallory’s apologies weren’t working.
“It’s not her fault,” Jim added. “Jayce is going on seventeen-years-old — he should be able to control himself. You can’t blame her for setting him off.”
“No,” Abby admitted, “but I can blame her for sneaking around the house and pocketing my stuff.”
“It was only the key,” Mallory assured. “Honest.”
Before Abby could lecture her on how “one is enough,” Lincoln joined the conversation.
“We should leave,” he smirked. “It’s for the best.”
“She has no home,” Jim reminded them.
“I’m here now,” said Lincoln. “Mallory is the love of my life. I will provide for her.”
“No offense,” Jim added, “but these problems didn’t start until you got here.”
“What are you insinuating?”
Jim shook his head in disgust.
“What kind of ‘boyfriend’ has the ‘love of his life’ running scared to the point that she’d rather live in a tent than be with him?”
Mallory, Fang, and Acorn flinched.
“It is called ‘the rebellion phase’,” Lincoln grinned in a calm manner. “She is running away to test the depth of my love for her. It is my duty to capture her heart — no matter the sacrifices.”
“That was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Jim.
“He can stay,” Abby interjected. “It’s her I don’t like.”
“But—” as Mallory went to speak, Lincoln clutched her arm.
“She is quite annoying, isn’t she?” he asked. “She gets that from her foster mother.”
“Why don’t you just leave her alone,” Jim asked Lincoln.
“Because she’s an idiot,” Lincoln smirked.
Jim stepped to Lincoln’s face.
“Get the hell out of my house.”
“What a senseless order. This house doesn’t belong to you.”
Jim and Lincoln faced off like a boxing promotion poster. A call from Todd broke the tension.
“Guys! Get out front! Quick!”
They all needed a break from the tension, and what they found outside was the perfect distraction. If only the Fletchers weren’t distracted, they could’ve seen that the reaction to the cold separated them from their Gothic visitors. Abby, Todd, and Jim wore coats, whereas the Goths entered the brisk morning air with nothing but their normal costumes. It would be enough.
“Would ya look at that?” Todd said when they arrived. Outside, perched on the top of the Fletcher house, stood a pack of vultures.
It was a shame that Jayce missed it. As the neighbors and Fletchers watched the birds survey the area with their bald heads, long necks, and dark feathers, they noticed that some of the vultures were tucking their heads in.
“Why are they doing that?” a young boy pointed. Lincoln slapped Fang to attention and waved him off to answer the boy’s question. The lanky man bent over and flipped his hair.
“The same reason you’ve got your head tucked into that coat,” he smirked at the boy. “They’re cold.”
The boy didn’t seem to care what Fang had to say. He pointed, “Woah!” midway through the lesson. Lincoln had set out his arm, to which one of the vultures immediately perched upon it. When Lincoln moved his head closer to the vulture’s beak, many who saw could’ve sworn the vulture was talking to him. He then raised his arm for the vulture to return to its committee.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Lincoln whispered to Mallory. “My brothers have found more of your friends.” The suave visitor set his hands upon her waist and gently pushed her forward.
“We’ll be returning to attend the party,” Lincoln informed Abby. “We’ve got to meet a few friends. Do you mind if I bring them back?”
“The more the merrier,” Abby smiled. “Be warned: if I don’t like them, they can leave with her once the party’s over.”
“Are you serious?” Mallory grimaced. “It was just—”
Lincoln pushed her a bit stronger.
“Come on,” he smiled. “No need to make things worse.” Lincoln waved off Fang and Acorn. As if on cue, they took a knee before Abby and then followed their master. When Lincoln left, so did the Old World vultures. The feat lightened Abby and Todd’s moods. Jim was still furious, scowling at Lincoln as he took Mallory off in his red tailcoat and the spotless, white dress shirt underneath it. His slow, arrogant strut was even more obnoxious.
“That man is an imbecile,” Lincoln told the other three Goths. “He knows nothing about love.”
“Jim is a good man.”
“He will die a lonely one if he keeps it up.”
Mallory turned to face Lincoln.
“Dear,” she interjected, “may you do us all a favor? Please stop drawing attention to yourself.”
“Jealous, eh?” he smirked. “You must hate the way those human broads ogled your man.” Mallory hadn’t even noticed. She was too busy catching Jim’s stares. He’d look away for a moment, but whenever they caught each other’s eyes she could read them without entering his mind. Jim was pained by Lincoln’s presence.
“Yes,” Mallory lied, “I was severely jealous.”
Lincoln grabbed her waist and picked her up with ease. She wrapped her legs around his waist and set her arms on his shoulders. Between Lincoln’s pecks to her lips, Mallory attempted to speak.
“We will — get in trouble — if anyone — suspects — those vultures — are yours.” Lincoln stopped kissing but continued his walk with her clinging to him.
“Stop worrying about The Enterprise,” he told her. “They won’t bother you. I made that very clear to them after our last meeting.”
“How?” asked Mallory, dropping her legs to the ground. “You’re underestimating their reach.”
“You need to worry about yourself,” said Lincoln. “You’re on my tail about a venue of creatures when you were spouting off about The Death’s Dawn.”
“Lincoln,” Mallory grabbed his arms, “the wand in the box is The Death’s Dawn. I’m positive about it.”
“Hogwash!” Lincoln countered. “A weapon that powerful would never be found in a dump like this.”
“I’ll bet you. If I win, you go back to Avalon until I return. If I lose, you can stay here as long as you like.”
“I’d never hedge our love over something so trivial.” Lincoln clenched Mallory’s arms, causing her to grimace in pain. “And how dare you consider such a thing? You sound as if you want us to separate.”
Mallory tried to push him away, but it had no effect.
“We’re not even together!” the princess yelled. “We broke up!”
“No,” said Lincoln, “You broke up. I never accepted your proposal.”
“Neither did I! Daddy did!”
“Grow up. Your father gave me your hand, but you swooned at my advances.”
“That was before I found out you’ve been stalking me my whole life! And that you’re a jealous, controlling, tyrant!”
“Women are emotional creatures — they do not have the capability of making rational decisions. That’s what a real man’s for, and that’s why you’re in this mess.”
“But yet two women came together to give birth to Aval
on. Remember? Men ruined it!”
“Queen Victoria was a weak leader, and Kassandra — Kassandra is a whore.”
Mallory gasped.
“If you continue making such wenches you’re role models, then you’ll die along with the former Queen and her liberal policies.”
Mallory clenched her fists. The princess felt a tap on her waist. It was Acorn. She widened her eyes as if saying, “Please, princess, do not tempt him.”
“I hate you,” Mallory admitted, thrusting herself at Lincoln and punching his chest. The blows were so powerful that Fang covered his ears. “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!”
Lincoln suddenly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She struggled to escape his hug, but he held it firm. When Acorn stepped up, he gave her a glare that sucked the wind out of her. She fell to one knee and struggled to keep her balance.
“I love you,” Lincoln gritted his teeth. “Despite your faults, I love you, Mallory Vice. You may sexually torment me with your prude ways. Your ideas may be too progressive to ever work in a reasonable realm. You may be a moron. You may be an obnoxious clutz who never ceases the opportunity to embarrass me in front of everybody we meet. But you’re my clutz. And I love you. Forever.”
Mallory didn’t want to cry, but the tears streamed down her cheeks and her arms fell to her side. She knew Lincoln was abusive. She knew that he was wrong for her. She knew that she would kill him the next chance she’d get. But she still felt her arms wrap around him. His embrace was too warm — and despite the abuse, she was surely the crown jewel of his existence.
“Now move on,” Lincoln said, pushing her away. “You’ve ruined my suit, you little brat.”
The princess began patting his chest to fix the problem. Lincoln leaned over and shared a long, passionate kiss with Mallory. Acorn couldn’t believe it. But after their kiss, she was the madman’s next target.
“Pick yourself up before you lose your legs.”
Acorn struggled to stand, but she had no choice.
“They’re just around the corner,” said Lincoln. He turned to point at Fang and Acorn viciously. “You two better be on your best behavior for the rest of this trip. Mallory is Mallory, but you will not find such mercy from me. I will burn you at the stake and feed you to my brothers. Not a scrap will remain for any realm to remember you by. Do you understand me?”
Fang and Acorn nodded without hesitation. They made sure to stand straight with their chins up and chests raised.
Nearly ten minutes away, in a neighborhood just beside The Fletcher’s, The Goths met more of their comrades. Both were handsome in their own ways — Brenden in his tall, lanky glory and Jett with his bulging biceps, long, wild hair, and chiseled abs. Mallory had always had a severe crush on them both, but she leaned towards Brenden for the Gothic features that came along with being fifty percent human.
“Brenden!” Mallory exclaimed. “Jett!” The young princess caught them off guard with a running hug. The two Sperns were crouched beside a large bush in a random front yard.
“Where’ve you been?” Brenden smiled. Mallory peeked over her shoulder as Lincoln approached them.
“Long story.”
Suddenly, Mallory was thrust to the ground. The push came from Jett. He didn’t say a word, but his face said a thousand.
“Jett!”
As soon as she called his name, Jett kicked her side. She tried to stand, but another push came. Jett continued this — pushing Brenden away from helping her — until the group followed them into the backyard. That’s when she saw it — her worst nightmare.
“Not the pool!” Mallory pleaded. “Anything but the water.”
“Do it!” persuaded Lincoln. “Let’s see if angels drown.”
Mallory couldn’t believe it. Lincoln had always been like this (placing her in extremely dangerous situations just so that he could make his heroic entrance and save her), but this was too far.
“Don’t. Please. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the trip, I’m sorry for the Beans . . . I’m sorry for everything!”
“You lose Beans,” Jett growled.
“But I can get them back,” Mallory gulped.
“She’s lying,” laughed Lincoln. He began a chant, “Drown her! Drown her! Drown her!” Only Fang joined in on the madness. Instead, Acorn parted from her master and stood before Jett. Brenden joined her.
“Let her up, bro,” said Brenden. “We need as many hands on deck as possible.”
“Acorn, stop acting like a fool and get over here!” Lincoln snarled. Acorn stood there, turning back to make sure Mallory was fine, before Lincoln screamed, “Now!” When she got into range, Lincoln stretched out his arm and yanked her towards him so hard that she slapped against his chest. He pointed his finger in her face and whispered something so viciously to her that the others were glad they couldn’t hear him. Mallory used the tense situation to stand. By the time Jett was finished grinding his teeth in anger towards Lincoln, the princess was behind him — as far away from the pool as possible.
“We met Malik and the others a few hours ago,” said Brenden. “That’s why Jett’s mad. They told us everything.”
The group was lucky the homeowners were away because Jett’s anger would’ve gotten them into a great deal of trouble. He turned to Mallory, growled, and then punched the tree beside him. His fist caved into the bark like a speeding bullet. Then he did it again. And again. Mallory and Brenden had to risk their lives to prevent him from sending any more strikes. Black blood dripped from his knuckles after the outburst.
“Your anger is cringeworthy, you fool,” said Lincoln. “What will the owners of this beautiful home say when they return to see this mess? It’s not their fault, it’s Mallory’s. If she’d brought me along to lead you idiots from the beginning then your vacation would be spotless from error!”
“You’re right,” Brenden admitted. “She messed up. Royally.”
“She’s a princess, the only way they can mess up is royally. Otherwise, they’re flawless.”
“But everyone deserves another chance. Nina, Loo, and I had to stop Malik from persuading the others to kill her. They want the blood of an Angel. Everyone does. But she’s trying her best. She doesn’t deserve to die.”
“How many chances will you fools give somebody before you’re all dead?” Lincoln smirked.
“Shut up,” Mallory muttered. Lincoln pointed in her direction.
“Watch your mouth.”
“As many chances as it takes,” said Brenden. “When she stops trying, so will I. That’s when she deserves to die.”
“Aww, Brenden!” Mallory gave her friend another hug. Lincoln grimaced.
“What are you two blockheads doing here anyway?”
“Hunting,” said Brenden.
Lincoln burst into a fit of laughter, shocking everybody.
“Hunting?” he continued. “You fools? Hunting? Each and every one of you is too wet behind the ears.”
“Never hurts to try,” Brenden glared.
“This is the Human World, you twit. There is no mercy for Sperns caught hunting humans. Tryouts are that way.” Lincoln pointed behind Brenden, causing him to look. When he turned back, Lincoln was so close to Brenden that he was breathing down his neck — literally.
“Fang. Acorn. What do you think of this — hunt?”
“Stupid,” Fang grinned. “Ridiculous. Idiotic . . .”
Lincoln stared at Acorn as Fang spit out synonyms to “stupid” like a thesaurus.
“Acorn!”
The high-heeled beauty stood straight. She must’ve zoned out, as she still didn’t lend him an answer. Lincoln was so furious he clenched his fists and shook his head.
“Where’s your mother?” he asked Brenden.
“I don’t know. They were supposed to be back by now.”
“They?” asked Mallory.
“Her and Turner. We split up to hunt down a member of those thieves in suits.”
“The Enterprise?”
“Right. He was disrespectful when giving us our “rations” — as he liked to call it. We met him outside of a corner store. They must have pictures of us or something because he knew who we were. Anyway, he pulled up in his fancy car and called us out. When we looked, he dropped a handful of Beans out his window and told us to, “fetch.” Each and every one of them fell into the storm drain next to us. Mallory, I kid you not, Jett nearly bit this dude’s arm off. He drove away yelling out a bunch of stuff, so we had Jett and Turner follow his scent.”
“And now we’re here,” Lincoln concluded.
“Now we’re here,” admitted Brenden. “Listen, the reason why everyone’s so pissed right now is that we came here to be free. Some of us risked WAY more than the rest. I know The Enterprise watches over Gatsby’s Sperns and all, but we deserve to be free. And since they want to treat us like grime, I think it’s time we earn some respect. We’ll eat this son of a bitch and they’ll give us back our Beans.”
“Brenden, no,” Mallory advised, “They’ll retaliate. This is their world, not ours.”
“I love that plan,” said Lincoln. “You fools should’ve told us sooner, instead of beating around the bush. Such a tease — the both of you.”
“He coming,” said Jett.
The other Goths followed the ripped Goth as he crept beside a large bush. Their target was a young adult cyclist in spandex — hardly the villain Mallory expected.
“Do you see his sweat?” Lincoln asked the others. He put his lips right beside Jett’s ear and spoke seductively. “The way it drip, drip, drips from his tan, succulent flesh?” Mallory tapped Lincoln’s side.
“Don’t tempt them,” she advised. She knew it was tempting the others because it had the same effect on her. The princess had to control the urge to sneak up behind the man and sink her fangs into his skin. The blood would refresh her. She needed Beans — and fast. Her thirst was getting out of hand.
As the cyclist entered his garage, The Goths found their chance.
“Go!” Jett whispered.
The cyclist pressed the button to close the garage. As it was closing, he took a bottle of water and spilled it all over his body. Soon enough, he heard the garage stop — then go up — along with the footsteps of the Goths. By the time he turned around, the cyclist was face-to-face with the same, towering Spern who nearly bit his hand off earlier that day.
Dhampir Page 8