by Nicky Graves
“Why would he need to persuade them?” I asked. “Isn’t this a no-brainer?”
He didn’t say anything at first, and I worried at his silence.
“They will help stop him, right?” I asked.
“Yes, they will help stop him.”
It sounded like he was more trying to convince himself of that fact than me.
He held out his hand, and I took it. When he deposited me into my bedroom, he said, “I’ll be in touch.”
Before I could say a single word, he was gone.
15
When I walked downstairs the next morning, exhausted from not being able to sleep, I found Ranger sitting at the kitchen table with my mother. It was a very disconcerting sight to see them drinking coffee and talking in hushed tones.
“What’s going on?” I asked, happy to interrupt whatever was happening.
They both looked at me as if caught doing something they shouldn’t be. My mother blushed. Blushed!
Ranger winked at me as my mother bustled to my side. “How are you feeling?”
“Confused.”
She looked concerned. “I’ll make another appointment with the doctor. You should stay home from school.”
“I meant, why is he sitting in our kitchen?”
What was Ranger up to? I knew he was supposed to keep an eye on my family, but I didn’t think that meant becoming cozy with my mother.
I walked to the cupboard to grab the biggest cup with a lid and poured coffee into it.
“Don’t be rude,” she lightly scolded. “Mr. Ranger came to make sure you’re okay. It’s not every day that staff looks out for their students by making house calls.”
Mr. Ranger? I raised a brow at him. He grinned behind his coffee cup.
“Then I suppose Mr. Ranger wouldn’t mind giving me a ride to school,” I said.
“I’d be happy to,” he said, standing. On his way over, he touched my mom’s hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Diane. I hope I can stop by again.”
“Of course,” she said on a sigh.
“Tonight?”
“I—I guess that would be fine.”
“See you then,” he said with a practiced smile that I bet quite a few women fell for. It seemed to have an effect on my mom. She blushed again.
I couldn’t watch anymore. I grabbed my backpack from the hall and walked outside. Ranger fell in step with me.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Finding an easy way into your house,” he said. “You do want me to watch out for your family, right?”
“Yes, but do you need to flirt with my mom?”
He grinned. “She’s pretty. Just think, you could be calling me Dad if I play my cards right.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Can’t I? Your mom is hot.”
“But you’re you. And mom is human.”
“I’m half that.”
“And how would you explain the other half?”
“Humans don’t ask, and I never tell.”
Ranger and my mother? It made me queasy. And it wasn’t just because Ranger was half demon. It was my mother, for cripes’ sake.
As soon as we were out of view of the house, he shifted and took me with him, depositing me just outside of school property.
“Don’t you want to go inside, Mr. Ranger?” I jabbed my finger at the school.
“Not today, little reaper. See you tonight.” He gave a wink and then disappeared.
I walked inside and waited for Larue at her locker. She arrived with Finn. His arm was wrapped around her shoulder as they made their way down the hall. They looked disgustingly cute together. I didn’t want to interrupt them and was about to back away when Larue waved at me.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Better. Thank you,” I said, already feeling like a third wheel. “I’ll see you later.”
“Wait,” she said. “Do you think you’ll be up for a party on Friday night?”
“Whose party?”
“Dane’s,” Finn said. “Nothing big.”
“Great.” I was not enthused. Sure, if I didn’t have the reaper thing to worry about I might have been excited about the invitation. Now I just felt trapped between two worlds. But Friday felt like an eternity away. I’d deal with it when the time came. “I’ll see you at lunch.”
“Oh, okay,” Larue said.
A slight tension was growing between Larue and me. I hated it. She was moving on with her life and I was . . . well, whatever. The point was that things were changing way too quickly, and I was afraid I might blink and my friend would be gone.
I wasn’t ready for any of this.
And nothing had changed with the crystal. I’d had high hopes when I woke up this morning, but it was still dormant.
After school, I walked home to find my mom there. Normally, she didn’t return from work for an hour after I got home from school. The house smelled of lemon and was clean. Not that it was ever messy before, but she must have stayed home to spring clean in fall. But she didn’t look like she had been sweating for hours while battling dust bunnies. When I found her in the living room, she was . . . pretty. She wore a slimming dark-blue dress and her blonde hair was curled with bouncy waves.
She was waiting for Ranger.
“Hey, Mom,” I said, dumping my backpack in the hall closet.
“Oh good. You’re home,” she said. “Do you know when Mr. Ranger might come over?”
“No idea.”
“I wish I would have asked this morning before he left. Do you think he expects dinner?”
“No idea.”
She frowned.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” I said. Given our short conversation, Ranger was not interested in food.
“Yes, I guess I shouldn’t worry. I don’t know why I’m overthinking this.”
I knew why, but it wasn’t a subject I wanted to talk about with my mom.
“Oh, before I forget, what do you want to do for your birthday this weekend?” Mom asked.
I had nearly forgotten. I had been waiting for my eighteenth birthday for what seemed like forever. Eager for the day I would be considered an adult. But now it seemed insignificant.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said.
She paused. “Are you feeling okay? This past summer you talked about it nonstop.”
“I feel fine. I just have a lot of homework. But maybe we can grab a pizza or something.”
She gave a nod. “Okay. Pizza it is.”
“Thanks,” I said, walking to the stairs. “I’ll be upstairs for a bit. And I might go over to Larue’s later.” It was a lie, but I couldn’t very well say I was going to go train with a reaper while she hung out with a half-demon.
“You’re leaving?” she said, sounding concerned.
“Just to Larue’s.”
“But what about Mr. Ranger?”
“He’s not coming over here for me.”
She blushed. “I . . . well . . . okay . . . It’s not like anything can . . . David’s here too.” She smoothed out her dress, which was already wrinkle-free. “We’ll be okay.”
I raised a brow.
Walking upstairs, I found Ranger kicked back at my desk.
“She dressed up for me,” he said, grinning.
“Try not to be an ass or I’ll figure out how this crystal works.”
“Haven’t gotten it to work yet?”
“No. I don’t feel different at all. I haven’t sensed anyone dying. I can’t shift. I took a giant risk by bonding with the stone, and it’s all been for nothing.”
“It’s not for nothing,” he said. “Believe me, you don’t want to be living in a world where Azrael possesses the crystal. Your family would be far worse off than just dead.”
“Perhaps. But it’s really hard to focus on the bigger picture.”
“That’s why I’m here,” he said. “So you can focus, and I can watch over your family.”
“How would you even pr
otect them?”
His eyes glowed amber. “I can hold my own, little reaper.”
“I’m not that little,” I muttered. How was I supposed to wield a dangerous crystal while simultaneously being labeled as insignificant?
“To me, you are.”
“To you, everyone is.”
He laughed.
“Just promise me that you’ll keep my mom safe.”
He was silent for a moment. “You know I can’t make a promise like that. Not when we’re up against Azrael. You focus on training with Lawson and Boomer. I’ll focus on keeping your mother occupied.”
“Not too occupied.”
He grinned. “Occupied enough.”
It was later that night when Lawson dropped me back off in my bedroom. I felt like an utter failure. Again, I had tried to shift. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t. Lawson said it was mind over matter. That I had to concentrate more. But even when I gave one hundred percent, I still ended up failing.
“Get some rest,” he said.
“Why are we doing this?” I asked. “The stone is inside of me. Azrael wants it. What does it matter if I can shift? Even if I can shift, I’m no match for him.”
“If you can shift, you can escape.”
“And just keep running? How long before he tires of it and kills my family?”
“This is about more than just your family. Remember that. We’ll try again tomorrow. Until then, I’m still working with the council to come up with a solution for our problem with Azrael.”
When Lawson left, I was thankful for being alone. While he didn’t judge me out loud, I could feel his disappointment every time I failed.
Dwelling on it, I walked out of my room and headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed. But before I could reach the bathroom, I heard a laugh. It came from downstairs, and it was definitely my mom.
David shuffled out of his room and rolled his eyes. “Mr. Ranger is still here. Where have you been?”
“In my room.”
“I already checked your room. You weren’t there.”
“Maybe I was in the bathroom.”
He shook his head. “Checked there too. Does Mom know where you went?” His eyes were bright and greedy.
“What do you want?”
“Twenty bucks.”
“I don’t have money.”
“You have twenty-four hours to get it.” He grinned and walked back into his room, snapping the door closed.
Great. Another deadline.
I tiptoed downstairs and tried to peek into the living room without giving myself away. I even hopped over the stair that always creaked.
Mom and Ranger sat on the couch together. She was giggling over something he’d said. Giggling!
Ranger whispered something, and Mom looked back at me.
“Oh, I didn’t hear you,” she said to me, blushing. “Come in.”
“I heard laughing, so I thought I’d come to see what was so funny,” I said.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said, her blush growing into a deeper crimson.
Ranger smiled innocently at me.
Mom was obviously infatuated with him. I had no idea how to feel about Ranger other than I didn’t want him as a stepdad. But the fact was, I needed as many people on my side as I could get. That included Ranger.
“I’m going to bed,” I said.
“Night, sweetheart,” she said.
After crawling into bed, I had hoped sleep would hit me right away. But it wasn’t until I finally heard Mom’s bedroom door close that I fell asleep.
I’m not exactly sure what woke me hours later. It could have been the cold wind that blew through my window that should have been closed. But I’m pretty sure it was the feeling of something licking my neck.
I bolted from the bed, knocking into a sturdy figure that didn’t budge. Losing my balance, I fell back to the bed.
Someone laughed. A dark laugh filled with mischief.
I bounded over to my lamp and flicked it on.
I winced at the sudden brightness. So did the vampire.
Vance.
16
Warily, I studied the vampire who stood in my bedroom, filling it with his presence. His dark hair tickled the collar of his leather jacket. He grinned. His eyes were brown and not glittery red, so I assumed that was a good thing. But when was a vampire in a bedroom a good thing?
“What are you doing here?” I demanded as I rubbed my neck. “And did you seriously just lick me?”
When he didn’t answer either question, I asked, “How did you even find me?”
“Your scent.”
“My scent?” I questioned, backing toward the door.
“Blood like honey. But now it’s somehow more potent. I could detect you all the way from the city.” He inhaled deeply and then sighed. “Intoxicating.”
I was nearing the door when he laughed again. “Trying to escape?”
“Yes,” I admitted.
He lunged forward, blocking my escape. “Why not stay and play a bit?”
“Your playing and my playing are two different things,” I said, eyeing the open window. Yes, I was on the second floor and I was afraid of heights, but I liked my blood where it was.
“Do they have to be different?” he asked, stalking me. His eyes were still brown. Was he just toying with me?
“Beyond the need to keep my blood,” I said, “Lawson will not be happy you’re here.”
“What’s with you and Lawson?” he asked. He tracked my path to the window.
“He’s training me to become a reaper.”
“Nice try. Tell me the truth,” he said.
“It is the truth. He hasn’t been successful so far. But it’s the truth.”
“But you’re alive. So temptingly alive.” His word felt like a dangerous caress.
“I’m sure there are other living girls out there to torment,” I said. Not that I wanted him to suck anyone else dry, but he had this thing about him. I wasn’t sure what it was. It was like a magnetic pull that made me want to tip my head to the side and give him access to my blood supply carte blanche.
And it wasn’t just because I had never seen someone as beautiful as Vance in real life. I mean, Lawson was gorgeous, but I wasn’t ready to spill my blood for him. So, was this lure a vampire thing?
“What are you doing?” I asked. “Is it some sort of enchantment?”
“You feel it?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I was beginning to wonder if the reaper thing was true and you were immune.”
“Reapers are immune to you?”
He gave a small shrug. “It’s a mutual aversion. We don’t like their smell and they don’t easily fall for our form of persuasion. But maybe there is a bit of reaper in you. Otherwise you would be begging me to drink from you by now.”
“I’m definitely not there yet.”
“We have all night,” he said, his sensuous lips lifting into a smile.
“Listen, you really don’t want my blood. Lawson gave me something, and it dissolved into my bloodstream. So, I’m tainted. Probably not tasty.”
It was a paltry excuse, but I was running out of ideas. Even if I did jump out the window, he could follow me.
“Really?” he asked as his eyes turned shimmery red.
Before I had a chance to react, he closed the distance between us, pressing me against the wall. My feet dangled inches from the floor. His fangs protruded and were within striking distance.
“Please don’t,” I said, grappling with his arms that I was positive were made of steel.
“I love it when they beg,” he said, lowering his lips to the slope of my neck.
The pain of his fangs sinking in barely registered because something else happened at the same time. Something very unexpected. Not that getting bit by a vampire was expected. No, this was completely different.
A blue shockwave pulsed from me, propelling Vance back. Without his hold on me, I dropped to the floor.
/>
Feeling a trickle of blood drip from my neck, I touched it. My fingers were tainted blue.
“What are you?” he asked, backing away. What had been a look of confusion turned into fear. He was afraid of me.
I glanced into the mirror above my dresser. My normally brown eyes were a brilliant blue. The same hue bathed me in a glow.
Something shifted in me. I could feel it growing. A monster brewed inside of me.
“Get Lawson,” I said. “Please.”
“Hell no.”
“Get Lawson!” I yelled, my voice sounding foreign to my ears. It was deeper. Demonic almost.
Vance escaped through my window. I had no idea whether he went to find Lawson. For now, I was on my own, and it felt like the crystal was rebelling against me, wanting to tear itself from my body.
I crumpled to the floor as pain ripped through me. And then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. I was left damp in my own sweat, trembling.
I attempted to stand, but my legs were weak and shaky. I was at least strong enough to hobble to bed. I sat on the edge, unable to do much more.
Lawson appeared in front of me.
“Vance found you,” I said, my voice trembling just like the rest of me. While I didn’t want to appear weak or scared, I couldn’t control my body.
“Vance? He was here?”
I nodded. “He bit me. I told him to go find you.”
“He didn’t. Ranger texted me. He felt a stir in the house.”
“The crystal.”
“The crystal reacted to you?”
“Blue light, blue eyes, blue blood, demonic voice. The whole freaky package.” I looked at him. “I don’t want the crystal. I know we can’t give it to Azrael, but it’s not safe inside of me. I had no control. It’s dangerous for anyone around me, including my family, who we’re trying to protect.”
“It bonded with you. It’s a part of you. There’s no taking it back.”
“Unless I die, right?”
“What are you saying?”
“Maybe it’s time.”
I didn’t want to die. Believe me, I’d rather go to trigonometry for the rest of my life than die. But this scared the hell out of me. If I knocked a vampire flat on his ass just with an initial shockwave, what else was I capable of doing to those who didn’t have his strength and immortality?