by Unknown
I ignored the question and tossed Luke the keys, grabbing my jacket. “Don’t open the door. I don’t care what you see or what they say. Close your eyes and hum if you have to. You’re safe inside here.”
“You’re not going out there, are you?” Fear and disbelief emanated from him, punching me in the gut.
“I have to.”
“No, Julia.” His angst rushed over me, a cold errant wave. “Not without me.”
“I’m just going to check it out and will be right back.” I faked a smile like everything was okay, knowing full well I could be ambushed. “Stay with Sam. Just flash the laser if you see anything or need anything.”
I stepped outside before he could argue further and shut the door. The salt hit my nose and cold chilled my bones as I pulled on my coat. Nothing could be heard but the ocean waves in the distance. My legs trembled as I moved forward through the brush, the bloodlust vibrating all around me. They had to be underground, the reason I couldn’t see them.
An entrance must be close by. The probability I could find it, let alone enter, not having immortal powers, would be zero to none. But I’d still try.
I closed my eyes and focused hard. As Grandma had instructed me, I began to weed through all the bloodlust, encapsulating their feelings far away from me. Then I felt him. A lone person: frightened, hungry and tired.
Dad.
I ran to the spot where the feelings emanated the strongest and put my hands on the ground. He couldn’t be that far below if I could sense him. I began to dig into the soft sand, focused on reaching him.
“Dad,” I whispered. “I’m coming.”
Arms came from nowhere and enveloped me. I squealed and went into hysterics, trying to wiggle free from my assailant. The laser fell from my pocket. “Let me go!”
“Shhh,” he said. “Or they’ll hear you.”
He wrapped his hand around my chin and made me look up at him.
“Phil?”
His lips curved into that charming smile I loved and he loosened his grip. I collapsed into his chest, fat tears pouring down my cheeks. “Where have you been?”
He crinkled up his lip. “Here. Trying to get in.”
I blinked in disbelief. “You can’t find the entrance?”
“We can’t get in. Nicholas went around to the other side by the cliffs to see what he could do. I already told him that without an invite, we’re screwed. He still wanted to try.”
“You let him go alone?” My mouth fell open.
“Yeah, I’m sure he’s fine. I’ve been watching the entrance and staying downwind so they don’t smell me.” He pointed to a cave opening hidden on the ridge. “Hey? Who’s minding the doc? Sam?”
“He got away.” I slumped into the side of the log we hid behind. “Sam had a reaction to the venom transfusion, then Alora showed up and—”
“What do you mean reaction?”
“She’s dying, Phil.”
Panic spread across his beautiful face. “Where is she?”
“She’s with Luke.” I motioned behind me toward the car.
“I need to get to her.”
“No!” I grabbed his hand as he attempted to leave. My body yanked up and hung beneath him as he flew toward the car. “Stop! Only the doctor can save her. He’s got an antidote.”
Phil’s agitation flared as he landed on the trail. “Then we have to get inside. I can’t let her die.”
“Duck down, will ya? My brother has a laser.” I pointed over to the car.
Hiding together behind a rock, I quickly explained everything that happened. There was more than just Sam to consider: that Alora had threatened Luke so I had to give her the talisman. We had to get Dad and clear out fast before Cain showed up.
Phil cussed. “Without an invite, I don’t see how I can.”
“Can I walk in?”
“Hell no!” His endearing protectiveness skyrocketed as he closed his eyes momentarily and pulled me into his side. “You smell way too delectable first off and it’s too dangerous. I don’t see how they aren’t all out here right now trying to steal a sip as it is.”
I scrunched up my face. “I don’t get that. How come I’m so much tastier than anyone else?”
“I don’t know, but you need to get somewhere safe downwind so I can con a vamp to get me inside the place.”
I was about to begin another round of begging when the love for power assaulted me. I swirled around as Alora morphed into a human, too late to warn Phil. Her cold hands grasped our shoulders at the same time.
“By all means, let me escort you.”
“Alora?” Phil choked out, covering his surprise with a smile. “You’re here?”
“What happened to my queen?”
“Of course, My Queen.” He bowed his head. “I thought you were in L.A.”
“I was.” Her gaze flickered to me. “But certain events brought me back to this God forsaken city.”
Whatever, witch.
She pierced me with an insufferable glare. The stone glowed from within her cleavage, burning my eyes with its light. An urge to grab it and run for the car coursed through me.
“You wish,” she hissed.
I glared back.
“If you can get me inside, that would be cool.” Phil inclined his head toward the cave opening.
I glanced over Alora’s shoulder at the car, now shrouded in fog. If Luke went ballistic with the laser now, he could kill Phil accidentally and most likely Alora wouldn’t be scathed.
“And what about her?” Alora pinned me with a scowl.
Phil pulled a face as if I were of no importance to him. “Leave her out here. She’s—” he curled his lip to show his teeth, “distracting.”
“Yes. I know what you mean.”
“Don’t talk as if I’m not here.” I shrugged off her grip.
Alora studied Phil, her hand still on his shoulder. “Will you have her?”
“She’s—difficult. I’ve chosen another.”
“Oh?” Alora cocked an brow. “Your new fledgling, perhaps? Where is she? You haven’t left her alone, have you?”
“No.” His eyes fell to the ground. “I didn’t have time to ask. Her maker was under attack by a group of slayers. To save her life, I mixed her venom.”
Alora gasped and gave me a sideways glance. “That’s forbidden and dangerous.”
“That would have been nice to know ahead of time,” he snapped. A grim expression crossed his face. “The doctor has a cure. I need to get inside to get it, to save her.”
“Oh, does he?” She mussed with the front of his hair. “Where’s Nicholas?”
Phil shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“I’ll find him,” I said and moved backward.
Alora snatched my wrist. “You should come inside. I told Myhail I’d take care of you and we don’t want to disappoint him.”
“Nicholas will hate you if you hurt me.”
“He’ll never know, my sweet Julia,” Alora said.
“He’ll know. He came for me after all.”
She looked beyond me, contemplating something. I hated that the talisman shielded her feelings from me as an expression I couldn’t read briefly crossed her face. Could I be the weak link in their faltering relationship?
“I have an idea. She could be an offering.” Alora smiled a little too large. “To Cain when he comes.”
I pulled against her grip. “I don’t think so.”
“Good idea,” Phil chimed in, his eyes electric. “She’s kind of a delicacy.”
What? Good idea? A delicacy? Phil’s act was a little too convincing.
“If you cooperate, I’ll see that you live. Otherwise, you’ll follow the footsteps of your father.”
My throat constricted. “What?”
“Come.”
She pulled me to the opening of the cave and mumbled an invite.
“What’s happened to my father? Tell me now!”
“Shhh.” She pushed me inside. Her smile over my sufferi
ng pitched my stomach into a fit.
“I swear to you, if something’s happened to him—”
“You’ll what? Sic your cat on me? Get Nicholas to kill his own mother, thus himself? I think not. You’re mine, Julia.”
Never.
As they moved inhumanly fast, dragging me down what felt like a hundred slippery steps, the fire inside me snuffed out. She was right. There wasn’t anything I could do without the talisman. And yet for some sick reason, instead of killing me, she spared me—like she enjoyed having me around to torture.
But if she did make me into a vampire, would I revere her as Queen? Was loyalty to your maker part of the vampire transformation? That would explain Phil’s weird behavior around her.
I stumbled again in an effort to keep up. Tepid hands gripped my hips to steady me. Phil’s. His compassion spoke volumes, but his dread had me worried.
The dank air coated my lungs as the darkness closed in on me, making my skin crawl. If a vampiric makeover wasn’t what Alora planned, locking me away for any length of time would push me over the edge. After a few more steps, my nerves snapped and fear took over.
“NO!” I yelled and clawed my way through whatever I could to get out of the tunnel—their limbs, skin, clothing. “I’m not going.”
“Hush,” Alora said and ran her fingers through my hair. “Just relax.”
Something numbed my legs as the claustrophobia evaporated and things grew fuzzy. My eyelids flopped closed as happiness spread across my skin. I stopped fighting and collapsed downward.
“Catch her,” Alora said through echoing tunnels.
And someone did.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The chill of the salty air made me snuggle tighter into Nicholas’ arms, but his body wasn’t radiating the smoldering warmth like usual. I turned to focus on what he said as the waves crashed in the distance.
“Only the giver of the talisman can take it back. It’ll burn anyone else who tries to touch it.” He watched the angry surf just beyond us with glassy eyes. “But I’d never take it from you, no matter what my mother wants.”
I reached up in thankfulness to caress his face, when my heart dropped. I no longer had the necklace. My hand groped my neck just to be sure. “Alora has it now.” The words slipped from my lips, an accidental confession.
Nicholas shuddered behind me. “What? You have to take it back from her. She can’t have it.”
“But how?”
He groaned before he slumped over. “Hurry,” he whispered and grew completely still.
“No!” I screamed and grabbed his hand. He melted through my fingers; his flesh nothing but sand. The infection continued to spread down his extremities, sucking with it all the color until his body solidified into a statue. Wind eroded the fine granules that made up his face and hair. I tried to shield him with my body, afraid to touch him for fear he’d fall apart and I’d never get him back.
“No!” My eyes jolted opened with a start.
Sledgehammers pounded into my temples as I pulled my face up off the cold floor, trying to get my bearings. I blinked, realizing I’d been dreaming and shifted to sit upright. My gaze trailed the bars that stood from floor to ceiling in front of me. I stretched and my foot bumped into something soft. Someone moaned in the corner and pulled whatever I kicked away from me. A leg?
A swath of yellow light from a torch illuminated a grey head of hair. Dad.
“Oh, dear God.” I crawled to him and put my hands on his shoulders. Warmth greeted my fingertips. “Dad?”
Two hazel eyes opened under the grime and dirt covering his face. “Julia,” he breathed with a scratchy voice. “How’d you get in here?”
“I’ve come to save you.” I gave a weak smile.
“You did?” Hope entered his frightened eyes.
A tear splashed down onto his cheek, leaving a trail of white as it ran down his stubbly skin. I brushed the rest off my face with my sleeve and helped him up by the elbow into a sitting position. He winced and pulled his wrist from me. Multiple bloody crescents lined his skin.
I gasped in horror. “What are they doing to you?”
“Breaking me,” he said in despair and quickly covered them up.
“Oh, Dad.” I hugged his neck gingerly. His arms wove around me along with his anguish.
“They keep feeding off of me,” he said. “I don’t know how much more I can take.”
“I have help. We’re getting out.” I hope.
He clung to me, disbelieving, and his body trembled. Helplessness reverberated out of his fragile aura. “I’m so sorry, Julia.”
“No, Dad. Please don’t talk.”
“I’ve put us all in tremendous danger and asked you to do something I knew you couldn’t. Now we’re both trapped and they’ll win. They always win.”
Misery made a fast and furious whirlwind around us, sucking the hope out of me. “Don’t talk like that. We are getting out.”
I tried to channel all that was left of my optimism and push it his way, but his condition emptied my well. Would Phil be able to rescue us? What happened after they knocked me out? How long had I been unconscious?
“All I’ve ever wanted was to avenge your mother’s death and prevent this from happening to anyone else and it backfired. They knew we were coming … somehow they knew.”
Guilt tugged at my gut to confess and get the truth out in the open. Would he understand this wasn’t my intention when I asked Nicholas to save the doctor? That the mission was ruined and more people were hurt or killed because I wanted to save Sam?
“Dad, I have something to tell you.”
“It’s not Luke, is it?”
“No. He’s safe.” I hope. Fear gripped me. How long had I been out? Was it morning already? Did he know to get Sam inside in time? I pushed my worry away and refocused on Dad. “It’s my fault. I had Nicholas warn the doctor.”
Horror crossed his weathered eyes. “Why, Julia?”
“Because,” I said with a sniffle, the dam behind all my emotions bursting at the seams. “Sam would have died if I let you kill him.”
Compassion slowly wafted from Dad as his shoulders slumped.
“I see.”
“It’s like I told you. I have—that necklace. Sam tried to attack me like you said, but the necklace stopped her.”
Dad’s eyes opened wide then returned to normal, his heart flooded somewhat with relief. “And then what?”
“I took her to see Phil.” I cringed, waiting for him to explode in an angry lecture, sleeper wave eyebrows and all.
He remained quiet for a long, torturous minute. Then curiosity leaked out. “How is that possible? He died. They found his teeth. There was a funeral. Was there a cover-up?”
“No. He did die, but he was resurrected.”
Dad leaned his head against the wall and stared off into space. “This changes everything.”
I touched his hand, pushing a little encouragement his way, reminding him this was good news. “But, because he’d experienced,” I struggled to say the word and pointed downward instead, “he’s reformed. Righteous even. And he’ll be here shortly to get us out.”
Dad blinked hard then laughed. “That’ll be the day.”
“I promise you,” I whispered.
“You promise what?” Alora suddenly appeared at the bars, the doctor standing right next to her.
I stared back and clenched my jaw. Unlike Scarlett, Alora needed physical touch in order to read minds. A smile formed on my lips. Wouldn’t you like to know.
She gave a curt smile.
“I saved her for you, Myhail. She has certain gifts that might be useful, if channeled correctly.”
“Hmmm.” He squinted, scrutinizing me. “Let’s see if she passes the test. Or,” he tapped his lip with his finger, “an offering is a good idea. She is so appetizing.”
Alora hummed in agreement, her face filled with giddiness. The talisman, though, continued to radiate out from within her cleavage like a strobe
light. Could no one see it but me?
“My father is dying,” I begged. “I’ll do anything you want. Just please let him go.”
Dad grunted next to me. “Take me and let her go.”
“No, Dad.” I took his hand.
Alora laughed and gave me a wink before they both vanished, leaving Dad and me alone.
“I don’t want you to become a vamp,” Dad said, touching my arm. “Swear to me you’ll do everything in your power not to become a vamp.”
“Okay.” I looked away, ashamed at the lie I’d told.
Though most of my decisions stunk, this one I knew would rescue those I loved and be worth the sacrifice. I no longer believed Alora intended for me to die. And as a vampire, I’d become a powerful asset to her coven. But I could also eradicate the bad vamps in a snap. We could induce comas on those we couldn’t kill, including Alora—once we trapped her somehow. Then, Phil, Sam, Nicholas, and I could live in peace and fight crime instead. We’d eliminate the need for the ET unit altogether. Dad could get a nice, safe desk job.
He lulled into my shoulder, overcome with exhaustion.
“Good,” he mumbled, reassured.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“You didn’t tell me it was Julia,” a female voice said, high pitched and whiney.
A thunderbolt of bloodlust blasted into my psyche. I yanked my eyes open. Beyond the bars stood Phil with Rochelle at his side. In one hand, she held a syringe and the other, the keys.
I moved over and shimmied up against the wall, tapping Dad so he’d wake up. I wasn’t sure if the cavalry had arrived, or my worst nightmare—Todd’s ex-girlfriend here for revenge.
Phil gave me a knowing smile. “We’re here to collect your sample.”
“Sample?” I asked.
“Yeah, so don’t be difficult,” Rochelle snipped as she unlocked the padlock.
I darted my gaze to Phil and tried to read him as I chewed the inside corner of my lip. Other than complete and utter boredom, he didn’t exactly exude heroic chivalry. What was his plan? Just in case, I held the stake I’d found in my jacket earlier tight against my palm. If she got close to me, she’d be dust—literally.
She watched me with her greedy black eyes like a tweaking drug addict.
“Just one taste. Please?” she moaned.