Sweet Oblivion (Shady Arcade Book 2)

by Sharon Stevenson

  The threat stayed with Zack as Kenny left his office. It was the first thing during the whole encounter that seemed authentic. The guy didn’t like him, could barely stand him. He felt the same way back. Why was he even contemplating this?

  He knew why the second he asked himself the question. Doing this would mean he didn’t have to drag Chloe back into his mess. He wouldn’t need to find a way to get the hell out of Shady Pines. Kenny said he had a clue on where to find them. The one thing Zack was desperate to find out. It fit in to his existing plan like the missing piece of a puzzle.

  It was too good to be true. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t ignore that warning that kept flashing through his mind. His brain chewed it over for the rest of the morning. He was still thinking about it as he ate his lunch. As suspicious as he was about why Kenny would want to help him, it wasn’t enough to stop him. He had to find his family. He needed answers.

  Chapter Nine

  Walking away had always been the hardest thing for him to do in any given situation. In his head, Kenny was smashing his fists into Zack’s face, making him bleed. He needed the satisfaction that would come from inflicting pain. Hurts that he really wanted to visit on Chloe. Convincing himself to be patient had been excruciating, but the payoff would be worth the wait. What would hurt her more than killing the man she loved? The freak never should have survived that night.

  “Should have sweetened the deal,” Kenny muttered to himself, trying to dampen the rage that had filled him since he’d spoken to Zack without being physically violent. Now that he was starting to cool down, he could evaluate their conversation, and that was only irritating him more. He wasn’t sure he’d done enough to convince him to meet. The script he’d been given had been difficult to stick to as his anger began to build. If he’d fucked things up he’d have to hit Plan B: kill the body guard and take Zack by force. He almost preferred that plan.

  The plans had been spoon-fed to him when he’d informed Bridget’s clan that Zack was still alive. Their prize was still there for the taking. Bridget’s contact, Rick, had asked what he wanted, told him to name his reward, and if he brought them Zack it was his. It had been his lucky break catching the call at Bridget’s old place. He never would have been there if she hadn’t died. It had only taken him a fraction of a second to make his decision. He could have ended the call and alerted the Council, but considering he’d been suspended he didn’t feel like he owed those arseholes any favours. Even finding out that had been his father’s doing, a twisted punishment for finding out on the grapevine that his son was screwing a vampire, didn’t enamour him any better to his employers.

  Anyone on the outside looking in would think he didn’t need anything. His father ran Shady Pine’s chapter of the necromancer’s Council, so he could get away with murder, literally. His attack on Chloe had gotten him a warning, nothing more. If he’d killed her, a story would have been fabricated. She’d have been villainized alongside Bridget. There was nothing they could do for him that he couldn’t already get by other means. There was only one thing he wanted now.

  He couldn’t think about Bridget without feeling a swell of fury over how she’d been taken from him. Chloe would pay for that. Later, he promised himself. First, he had to get Zack to Midnight clan.

  Chapter Ten

  The burning sensation on her hand made Audrey groan and flinch awake. Pulling away met resistance. Randall’s fingers tightened on her wrist. She snatched her arm out of his grasp and squinted her eyes against the bright sliver of sunlight penetrating the room through a crack in the curtain.

  “Do you have something to tell me?” Randall moved away from her side, careful to stick to the shadows, and walked around her room, a half-full glass in one hand.

  Audrey was still half-asleep. She had no idea why her boss was asking her that question, but she was on alert the second her brain defogged from sleep. He wasn’t in the habit of awakening her during the day, never mind doing it in the way he just had.

  “Would you be talking about a specific something here, Randall?” She got up and threw on the robe she kept next to the bed. A glance at her hand told her the burn was nothing, it would heal quickly.

  “There’s something strange going on inside your head.”

  She frowned at him, before she snapped, “I’m a woman. It’s in my nature.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “I compelled you to awaken, and you ignored me.”

  She snorted. “You’re being ridiculous.”

  The flash of fear that prickled her skin was pushed aside quickly. She didn’t have room to show weakness. He’d pounce if he smelled anything remotely resembling terror.

  “Am I, Audrey?” He turned and smiled at her nastily. “Compulsion doesn’t work on you, my dear, and you kept that from me all this time. What were you thinking? That I wouldn’t ever find out? That can’t be it. You’re a smart woman. You should know what I would do to you when I found out. You should have known better than to keep this from me.”

  She held her breath, knowing it was a human thing to keep breathing and not bearing to break the habit. The monster she’d become could be contained. She didn’t ever need to end up like Randall.

  “There’s more to this,” he told her, coming closer. “And I’m going to find out what it is.”

  He gazed into her eyes and she stiffened. “I compel you to let me into your mind.”

  She trembled as he attempted to breach her psychic defences. She couldn’t let him in, he’d find out about Zack. But if she didn’t, he’d know he couldn’t compel her to do anything. That he had no hold over her. And that might be worse in the long run.

  Swallowing, she made her decision. “No.”

  He snarled at her. “I own you. You will do as I say.”

  She stared at him and took a breath before she made the insane decision that might result in her head being ripped from her shoulders. “Let me see into yours, Randall.”

  The glass shattered at their feet, cold liquid splashing her ankles. His expression slackened as she used her will to force him to allow her access his thoughts. They rushed into her head, a dark mass of twisted words and images. He had conflicting feelings for her, which she already knew. The word love whispering through her head made her grimace. Randall wouldn’t know what love was if it bit him on the ass. She gasped as she realised he suspected Zack was alive, something Midnight clan had confirmed to him, and he had plans to extract him from Shady Pines. As quickly as it began, she realised he was pulling back from her. She had two choices now and she seriously doubted that compelling him to forget would solve her problem.

  “I’m sorry.” She picked up the jagged broken base of his glass and slashed it across his throat. He fell to the floor and she broke the leg off one of her night stands while he was gurgling furiously on the ground. His hand grasped her ankle and she didn’t bother to kick it away. She positioned the stake over his heart and looked into his eyes. “Stay still, Randall. This won’t hurt a bit.”

  He exploded into black ash under her, making her regret her crouched position in the robe. It was definitely time for a shower.

  He couldn’t have picked a better time to question her. She reached out with her telepathic senses and could tell his guards were all asleep in their basement lair. Vampires were not much use during daylight hours. She shook Randall’s remains off and blew out a heavy sigh.

  “Probably time to get a plan.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Chloe wandered in the drizzling rain. She couldn’t quite believe what had just happened, but she had to find a way to accept it. One thing bothered her more than anything and it was starting to eat away at her. She wasn’t being punished for killing Bridget. That alone didn’t make any sense but worse than that, she knew something was being hidden from her about Zack. She hadn’t done anything to remind him of the past. She hadn’t done a thing to hurt him. That hadn’t mattered. So, there was more at stake than she’d been led to believe. Whatever the necroman
cer’s Council knew, it was more than they’d let on.

  She wanted to scream. Being forced to do anything made her angry. This was worse. Not knowing what they were keeping from her was going to drive her crazy. Though she hadn’t been allowed to contact Zack before, she’d been close enough to see how he was and she’d thought staying away would help him. She’d thought it was what he needed, to keep his crumbling psyche intact. Now she didn’t know anything at all.

  She walked to her house, anger beginning to replace the daze she’d sunk into since her punishment was given out. Stalking through the house, she grabbed a suitcase and started throwing clothes into it. Her breathing was ragged by the time she was done. She sank onto the floor as her frenzied rage burned away, turning into useless frustration.

  Zack was going to be on his own now. She wouldn’t be around if anything happened to him. She was going to have to accept that. It wasn’t going to happen. She couldn’t. She curled into a ball and stared across the room, eventually drifting to sleep from sheer exhaustion.

  It was dark in the room when she awoke, her neck stiff and her body aching from the hard ground. She sat up, sighing. The long nap had stolen more than a few hours from her. She stretched and groaned and wished she had more time. Nothing made sense anymore. She didn’t have time to force it to.

  “Shit!” She straightened suddenly as she realised there was one major thing she’d completely forgotten about. Guilt drowned her over the completely self-absorbed grief spiral she’d disappeared down the second she left the court building. Her life wasn’t the only one being upended right now.

  She got moving, zipping up her suitcase, taking it down the stairs. Grabbing the notepad and pen she’d left on the coffee table, she made a quick list of things she’d need to do before she left town. Going to Larry’s to tell him he had to come with her was right up there at number one.

  She picked up her handbag and left the house. The butchers would still be open. She’d bring him blood, he could use the consolation.

  Chapter Twelve

  Zack caught sight of Chloe as he followed Turner to the chip shop. It had seemed pointless to protest about the guy’s poor choice of food when he was too preoccupied with his escape plan to enjoy a meal anyway. Cassandra’s sandwich had been gone before he realised he’d eaten it at lunch time. He dashed ahead of Turner and stopped in front of Chloe before he could think twice about what he was doing. He felt awkward, but the least he could do was apologise.

  “Chloe, hey!”

  She glanced up from her phone, her expression tense. “Zack. Um, what are you doing here?”

  He glanced at her bag and could tell it was blood from the butchers. “I just—” Is she going to that vampire’s place? He shook his head. That would be none of your business. Get to the damned point already. “I wanted to say sorry for the other night.”

  “Oh.” She seemed surprised. “Um—”

  He didn’t want to walk away, but thinking of something else to talk about wasn’t working. He had nothing to else to tell her, no more that he could say to stay in her presence. Sighing, he gave up.

  “I should let you get back to whatever you were doing.”

  She opened her mouth and closed it again. He moved on quickly, feeling more awkward than ever. He had to forget it. He’d only end up dragging her into things if he tried to have a conversation with her, and that was the last thing he wanted.

  He watched her walk on, not heading towards her house. She was definitely going to the vampire. He followed his minder into the chip shop and tried not to look back.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Larry yawned as he put a blood-filled mug in the microwave. “So why are we moving again?”

  He’d taken the news better than she’d expected him to. Though Chloe half thought he just wasn’t awake yet. As soon as it kicked in that he was being dragged away from Amira, she was sure his pouting expression would return. She wasn’t going to risk connecting the dots for him. It would hit home soon enough.

  She sat down at the kitchen table, and went back over the basics. “I have to leave town. You’re under my guardianship so you need to leave too.”

  He frowned as he hit the button on the microwave and turned back to her. “I don’t get this stuff with Zack. Why is it so important that you leave him alone? Wouldn’t he be better off knowing you guys were together? I mean, wouldn’t that help him get better or whatever?”

  She sighed. He had a point, but there was no use debating something that had already been decided. She was still going to have to leave town. There was no getting around that. Defying the necromancer’s Council would be like breaking the law. She’d be punished worse than she already had been.

  “None of this is up to me,” she said, wondering how much she would have changed if it was. As soon as she’d found out about Zack’s amnesia she’d started to grieve. Trying to force him to remember his old life wasn’t going to help anyone.

  “So, I don’t get a choice either?” He didn’t sound overly bothered, just inquisitive.

  She shook her head. “You’re stuck with me now.”

  “So where are we going?”

  “I don’t know.” She wished she had it in her to care. It didn’t matter where they went, they still had to leave the town she’d called home her whole life. “I told them you were interested in the FBU. That should be taken into consideration.”

  His eyes lit up as he sat down with the mug. “Really? So, I might get to join? That would be cool...”

  She had to smile. At least someone was happy about this.

  Her head was still somewhere with Zack as Larry started to imagine out loud the things he might learn at the Federal Bureau of the Undead. She’d never see Zack again once they left town and that was starting to sink in. Bumping into him on her way to Larry’s place had been nothing less than surreal. She’d panicked, not sure what she was allowed to say or do. At the same time, she’d wanted to at least tell him she was leaving, but she wasn’t sure why. He barely knew her, as far as he remembered. She was no-one to him, just a girl who worked in the shopping arcade. Why would he care if she was leaving? He wouldn’t. And that thought was depressing in the extreme. Maybe it was better that she was leaving. What kind of life was it to have her head stuck in the past with an ex who’d never remember what she’d meant to him?

  “Hey, are you okay?” Larry’s question came through the haze of her dissipating thoughts as she came to her decision that the move was for the best.

  She nodded, trying to smile. It wouldn’t come yet, but she was sure it would later. “I will be.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Audrey showered and dressed before she started to think about what to do. Eight hours until nightfall. Six, maybe seven until she had other vampires to worry about. The mansion was as big as a castle and she knew there were at least a hundred vampires inside its walls. Leaving would be difficult, though not entirely impossible. It was bright outside, no clouds in the sky. She could run to the garage. Randall’s cars all had tinted windows. She’d be able to drive somewhere. Home.

  The thought made her smile, though it was fleeting. She couldn’t go home. Not if she left a single vampire inside her clan’s house alive. They would hunt her down. She’d be endangering Zack. It couldn’t happen.

  Her stomach churned at the truth of what she was going to have to do. Kill every last vampire in the house. All of them. The assholes who’d laughed when Randall burned all her clothes, the girl who’d helped her with sewing supplies to make her own. They were monsters on some level, all of them. The clans didn’t breed law abiding vampires. But she couldn’t stop seeing them as individuals too. Killing Randall to protect Zack had been instinctual. This was going to be different and she knew it. She wasn’t so sure she could do this.

  Staring down at the mess on the floor that Randall had left behind, she shivered.

  Her thoughts were swirling as she began to move toward the door. A loud noise from downstairs stopped he
r in her tracks. The bang seemed to vibrate through the house. She pulled the bedroom door open and peered into the hallway. She couldn’t see down to the main entrance from here, but all the bedrooms were in a horseshoe ring over the main hall, an ornate railing winding around the edge. She stepped out of the room, her bare feet making little noise as she crept to look down over the edge.

  “Anyone home?” Her brother’s voice echoed through the space. Mitch had a raspier tone than Mark, something that had always made it easy to tell them apart. They hadn’t been typical identical twins. She couldn’t remember a single prank they’d ever played to fool people. Mitch had never been interested in being mistaken for his brother. And Mark liked to spend as little time as possible with his self-absorbed twin.

  She gripped the railing tightly. This couldn’t be good. Was Midnight clan striking out against them? Stepping back, she retreated back into her room. The window might have been an option if the sun wasn’t burning the sky. The risk was too great. She couldn’t get to the garage from where she was without having to go through the main hall anyway. There was only one choice. If Mitch was alone, she might be able to reason with him or at the very least compel him. She doubted they’d send a single vampire to start a war, but as she looked at her boss’s remains on the ground she knew it was a possibility.

  Walking out of the room, she started down the stairs, keeping to the wall to hide herself from view until the very last moment. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, Mitch was standing just inside the doors, dressed in a cream coloured suit and black T-shirt. He smiled broadly at her.

  “Big sister, I thought I heard you up there.”

  She folded her arms. “Why are you here?”

  “What, no welcome hug? Or are those exclusively for Mark?” He seemed far more comfortable in his undead form than his brother.