Nightside

by Holly Hook

  * * * * *

  After we finish with the deer, Lily texts me. I step away from Ned and let her know what happened, and that I'm not going to die on the way home.

  We had to drop your mom back off at home, she says. Beaumonts are hanging around our place now.

  Yikes.

  “What's wrong?” Ned asks.

  After he helped make catching dinner easier than ever, I feel like I can trust him. What's he going to do? Hand me to the Beaumonts? So I tell him about our situation at home.

  Ned adjusts his face mask, very serious. “That's not right. They should not be terrorizing you or your mother like this. If you take me to your house, I can show you both a safe place I've been staying.”

  I want to ask why Ned cares so much—he is still a vampire, after all, capable of preying on people—but that would be rude, so I wave him out of the woods and back onto a paved trail. This is the best chance we have.

  Ned doesn't speak much as I walk him back through town and down the street, taking him off the road and around to the back of the house. After letting my senses come back, I listen and hear a few sets of quiet footsteps out on the road. Though the Beaumonts are harassing the Riveras now, they're still keeping watch around my house, waiting for me to make a wrong move.

  I open the back door, breaking the lock, to find a single light on in the living room and Mom sitting on the couch. I step through and as Ned walks in behind me, removing his mask, Mom rises from the chair with a gasp.

  “It's okay,” I say. “This is Ned, another Nightside who's fighting against the Beaumonts. He's going to help us.”

  Mom stares at Ned with her mouth gaping open. “You brought home a stranger.” It's something both my parents would have murdered me for, especially back in the city.

  But Ned takes a breath like he expects this. “Your daughter Olivia wouldn't have brought me here if she didn't trust me. And I can tell she's a smart girl. I have a safe house far in the woods that I've been using to stay in. If the two of you get there, you might have a chance of survival.”

  “Mom, listen to him. He taught me how to use some of my magic,” I say. “If he wanted to hurt us, he wouldn't have showed me how to fight first.”

  Mom eyes the lamp like it holds answers.

  And then someone knocks on the front door, teasingly, and the sound is enough to tell me the Beaumonts are close to done toying with us.

  “Now,” I hiss.

  Ned holds open the back door. I sense no one circling the house yet, but if we don't move, it will soon be too late. Mom races over to us, silent, and the three of us step into the night, crossing the back deck as quietly as we can.

  And then we enter the woods, not daring to say a word.

  Far behind us, the sound of the front door getting kicked in echoes through the trees.

  Yes. The Beaumonts are done messing with us. They're getting impatient and now it's time to attack.

  Every muscle tenses as Ned leads us farther and farther into the trees, away from the coast, until after what feels like an hour, we reach a small shack in the middle of the woods. It looks as if this old wooden building was once used by regular hunters, as it's complete with a few old bunk beds and an old-fashioned iron stove. Exhausted, Mom plops down on the bottom bunk of a bed while Ned, in silence, turns on an old oil lantern.

  “Are you sure we'll be okay here?” I ask.

  “Yes,” Ned says. “The Beaumonts don't bother with hunting animals. They have no reason to come out here.”

  He has a good point, and watches Mom as she stares at the opposite wall. He works his face underneath his mask like he's thinking.

  “Now's not the time to shut down,” I say to her. Such a close brush with death would screw with anybody. “Mom, we're going to stop all this and I'm going to get Riley back.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Ned and I leave Mom at the shack once she's fallen onto the bunk bed and let exhaustion carry her to sleep. It's unspoken. Ned seems to know what I need the most, and he doesn't argue anymore as we leave the small building and close the door behind us.

  "She will be safe," he says.

  "I hope so. We're both tired," I say. Hunting has helped with my energy levels, I notice. While I'm tired, it's the kind I can push aside for now.

  My heart races. We're heading to the Beaumont mansion. I know it.

  "Now that the sun has fallen, this is the opportunity to rescue your boy," Ned says.

  "My boy?"

  The ski mask shifts like Ned's smiling. It should be creepy, but it's not.

  And he's right. Most of the Beaumonts leave during the night to hunt and terrorize me and my mother. If any time's a good time to go, it's now.

  So Ned and I walk back through the woods, and he circles around the Derp House, seeming to know right where he's going. It's as if Ned has lived here in Moon's Peak all his life. If I weren't so nervous, I'd ask him what his history is here, but the words won't form. Now's not the time for conversation. And since the Beaumonts used him as a slave once, he'd know their manor and their habits.

  "Shall we run?" Ned asks once we reach the edge of the woods.

  "Um, yes?"

  So the two of us run along the tree line, staying in the shadows. I've jogged before, but not like this. Now I can leap over fallen trees and boulders without an issue. We're crossing Moon's Peak and the forest around it in a time that could run laps around any Olympic sprinter. I let a hint of my hunter senses come into play, and the night pops to life enough so I don't bang into any trees.

  And when we reach the road that leads up to the mansion, I find someone pacing along the edge. A girl in a long leather jacket.

  I stop, tugging on Ned's green sleeve. He does the same.

  "Who's that?" he asks.

  "I think that's Lily. A friend from school. She's staking out the place." I'm both relieved and terrified to see her. At school, Lily is the nerd girl. The cute eccentric. But out here, she's a hunter, on the front lines and willing to die like any soldier.

  "Is she a hunter? I've seen them around," Ned says.

  "Yes." Compared to us, Lily's gait is clumsy. Slow. She'll never survive in the mansion if we have to fight. She's about a hundred feet ahead of us, unaware of our presence.

  "Yes," I whisper. Then I raise my voice. "Lily."

  She snaps her gaze up and I wave. Then Lily forces a smile and waves us over. She recognizes my voice. "Who's this?" She looks up at Ned.

  "A Nightside friend, and no, he's not the murderer," I say. "He's teaching me how to use magic, and I think between him and Riley training me, I might have a chance at getting Riley out of the dungeons."

  "I've been staking out the place. And yes, that's a pun," Lily says. But tension stretches under every word.

  "You should go home," I blurt. "This is the Beaumont mansion." The roof rises over the trees just a few hundred feet away. Lily's too close.

  "This is my job. I've been training for this all my life." Lily opens her coat to reveal several daggers, a small crossbow, and rows of bolts. I wonder if they're silver-coated. Just the sight sends a shiver down my spine. These weapons are meant to end me, too, and not just Truebloods. "My parents don't know I'm out here, since they're in town looking for the murderer and trying to protect the people. The fair's in full swing tonight, and they spotted some Truebloods hanging around the edges like they're waiting for a sick person to wander to the side."

  Ned and I look at each other. "That's not good," Ned says. "Normally the Truebloods don't hunt in town."

  "With the truce gone, they've stopped caring," Lily says. Her face is pale in the moonlight. "They'll take some of them for sure if my parents and my relatives aren't on guard. It's been a long week."

  "Look, if you're not going to go home, then we need your help getting in," I say. "We just need to get down to the dungeons and get Riley out. I'm betting the quieter we are, the better."

  Ned nods, almost proud. So he agrees. "Quiet would be best."

&
nbsp; "The best way to get in would be to leave no bodies," Lily says. I can't believe how tough and professional she sounds now that we're in danger. All the time, she's put up a convincing face. "Around the back, there are two guards, but the front of the mansion seems unguarded. Like they don't expect anyone to go in through the front door."

  "I've seen that," I say. "But I don't think you can climb the vines to the second floor. And they'll expect us to go through the front, then."

  "Um, no. And you can't turn to mist and go under the door, either," Lily says.

  Ned makes a belly laugh that actually makes me feel a bit better. It almost reminds me of home. Safety. Sanity.

  "I can make the guards see things that aren't there, or maybe I can lead them off." Suddenly I'm not sure.

  "Well, we're near the back of the house right now," Lily says. "The guards are bored. They haven't seen me all night because they're not in hunting mode. But once they are, all bets are off. I don't know how many Beaumonts are in the house still."

  I'd figured that. Without another word, the three of us approach the back of the house. I let my senses sharpen, and I see two Beaumont men, both looking young and perfect, leaning against the back doors of the mansion. One flicks a cigarette and takes a drag. Yeah. They're bored and maybe they expect all the action to be taking place in town.

  I stop behind a tree. Lily and Ned crowd up behind me. I feel their body heat. And I focus.

  Letting my awareness float to the men, I sense the outline of the first man's body and merge with it. He flinches as if stung, and then drops his cigarette as if in a daze. I see through his eyes. Make him rub them. Now he needs to hear a noise, a snap of a twig. Yes. Snap. And then again and again. Away from us, a human figure in a long black coat, an intruder, is circling to the front of the house.

  "Someone's out there," the guy says to his companion. He's both in my head and too far away for me to hear.

  "I don't see anything," his companion says.

  "No. About five hundred feet away. In the black coat."

  I flick my awareness to the second guy.

  Now he sees the same figure.

  "Shit. You're right."

  And without a word, they leave the back door, stalking after the fake prey, the mirage. I compel the figure in black to walk faster, as if in fear. The Truebloods are cats stalking a laser pointer. When they pounce, they'll find nothing there.

  Someone taps on my shoulder.

  "They're gone," Ned says.

  I snap back into my body. He's right. The back door, lit just by a single yellow bulb, is free. And the Truebloods have vanished far into the trees, chasing an image.

  "Good job," Ned says. "You controlled both of them. I've only ever done one at a time."

  The back door is locked, but I'm able to pull it open without issues. The lock snaps quietly, and neither Trueblood returns. We enter the mansion to find we're in a back hall, probably one meant for the human staff as there are cleaning supplies and a mop lying against the wall. The whole area smells of chemicals. I close the door behind us as Lily gets out her crossbow. I hope she's as good with it as she implies. The hallway's dark, with just a few doors lining it and a couple of narrow windows looking on the outside.

  "I don't know where the downstairs is," I say.

  "We'll find it," Ned assures.

  I shuffle along the wall, tense, sensing if the guards are returning. But they won't know the difference. I sense a few Truebloods out in the living room, sitting on the couch, and leather squeaks as they shift. Tonight, some have stayed in the house. It's a change in plans I don't like.

  How many Beaumonts are there?

  A stairwell at the end of the hall leads downward.

  And then I hear the worst possible thing.

  "I'm going downstairs to check on things," a woman says.

  "They're coming," I say, holding my arms out. Can I get through her without killing anyone? I don't want to be like whoever's been killing people. I don't want to be a monster.

  "I'll help you," Ned says.

  Lily raises her crossbow. I stand in the front as a door in front of us opens, and a woman with black hair and in black leather steps through.

  She stops, our gazes meeting, and her pupils widen as her own hunter senses kick in. "Intruders!"

  So much for stealth. People shout in the living room. There are at least half a dozen of them. Then an alarm blares from within the mansion. Feet thud in the next room.

  My chest hollows in panic. My heart races and I lose focus for a precious second, letting my senses dull. Ned pushes in front of me as if sensing my distress, focusing on the woman.

  Curling her hands into claws, she bares her fangs as I reach out for her mind. I can feel the outline of this woman's body, like with the guards, but her mind resists my influence and she closes the twenty feet between us, tensing like a serpent in front of a mouse.

  She's a strong vampire. Maybe old.

  I can't control her mind. Taking a breath, I force my focus from her mind and to her body, as I did with the deer, and the grin drops off her face as I seize control. I order her legs back, and they come out from under her as the door opens again and a male vampire comes through. She falls back into him, unable to control her movements, like a rag doll, which sends them both to the floor.

  Lily stands over them, aiming. And she unloads into the female vampire with click after click. Bolts thud into her chest and she gags, dark blood forming around her chest, and goes limp. I look away. The scene is gruesome.

  The male vampire pushes off the body, snarling and baring his fangs. He eyes Lily with hunger, but Ned steps in front of her as she goes to fire. Under Ned's influence, he begins to jerk. A third vampire opens the door, and I stand back as Ned forces the second to swat at the newcomer. His nails rake the other vampire's cheek, drawing droplets of dark blood.

  Meanwhile, feet thud around the mansion.

  "They're coming from behind," I shout.

  The two vampires vanish back into the living room and Ned slams the door. "Go!"

  We're detected. There's no point in being quiet anymore.

  The three of us jump over the body and thud down the stairs, to a concrete floor at the bottom. There's a short hallway and some double doors at the end.

  And two more vampires, also men, stand ready at the bottom.

  They run at us, knives out and baring their teeth. I reach for the first, instinctively now, and try to move his arm so he shoves his partner. His arm flinches, but he resists. These are strong vampires, too. The first snarls at me, lifting the blade and coming in for the kill.

  But Ned tackles him, plowing his fist into the man's face, and Lily opens fire into the second. Her bolts rip into his chest, hitting something hard he's wearing underneath his black suit, and he turns his hunger and aggression on Lily, reaching for her, bending his legs like he's about to pounce.

  "No!" I shout, swiping at the man. I hit, sending him into the wall, and I sense his guard coming down. I can control him now. Seizing control of his mind, I turn his actions against his fellow guard, making him tackle the other. Ned rises stomps his foot down on the first guard's neck. Snap. The second's eyes widen as Lily fires a bolt between his eyes.

  "Behind us!" Lily shouts, whirling.

  More Truebloods have come in through the back.

  Two more bolt down the steps, and I take control of the first, a woman, and send her clawing at her companion, another woman I've never seen. They turn into a ball of fighting, blocking the way for the other four trying to come down the stairs. Lily opens fire, and two more bodies fall. Another Trueblood, a man with silver hair, trips over the newest body and almost falls to his face, barely catching himself. My focus intensifies, but Ned takes control of the silver-haired vampire and forces him to join the ball of fighting. He wraps his hands around the throat of another Beaumont, whose eyes bulge in confusion. Though this battle is mostly bloodless, it's turning my stomach. I've never seen such violence. Bones cru
sh.

  "Come on." Ned grabs my shoulder and pulls me away, almost like he's trying to protect me. I snap out of my trance and pull all my awareness back into my body.

  "Oh."

  "Riley," Lily reminds me, firing a bolt into the fighting mass. It thunks as it finds its target.

  The dungeons.

  This is our chance, before more Beaumonts arrive. The alarm still blares, a shrill ringing that guarantees some will hear from town.

  I run to the double doors, which are now unguarded, as the vampires behind us slowly still. I'm partly to blame for this. Riley knows these people. An eerie silence falls. I pull on the doors, which are unlocked, and find a long room lined with cells. Metal bars, much thicker than regular jail cell bars, form small boxes with cots and sinks inside. Most of the sinks are rusted, like the six cells are rarely used, and only one contains a prisoner.

  Riley lies in the middle cell, on the cot, staring at the ceiling. He blinks and looks at me, like he's not sure I'm here, but then he shoots off the cot and grabs the bars.

  And the helpless look on his face kills me.

  "Where's the key?" I ask.

  "One of the guards has it. Olivia, why did you risk your life for me?" Riley's words stretch in agony.

  "Because I love you?" I run back out into the hall, trying not to look at the carnage on the stairs, leaving Lily and Ned in the cell room. I find a key ring in the pocket of a dead guard and return to Riley. "I'm getting you out of here. You're not arguing. This is Ned. He took us to a safe house you can use until this blows over."

  "You're kidding me." Riley stands at the door. He's sure not protesting now. The copper in his eyes is deep, like he's hungry. Have the Beaumonts been starving him?

  I get the door open and Riley crashes into my arms. I don't want to let him go. Digging my fingers into the leather of his coat, I breathe in his perfect scent. Ned and Lily stay silent as the alarm continues to blare. "Okay. We make a getaway."

  "No, you don't. You fell right into our trap."