by Patti Larsen
“Do you know where Sebastian is?” If we could reach him, fix him somehow, he would be here to stand against his brother.
Sunny shook her head. “We can’t feel him anymore. And I don’t have time to wait for him.”
Mom took a step forward, reaching for her. “What are you going to do?” Her fear was rising again. “Please, Sunny, don’t do anything to put Meira in danger.”
Sunny froze, a perfect vampire statue, her face calm and emotionless.
“You must forgive me,” she said. “No matter what happens, what I do is for this family and the love I have for all of you.”
Before Mom or I could say a word, she fluttered into shadow and was gone.
***
Chapter Nineteen
Why did I bother going to school that Monday morning? Call it habit, sucker for punishment, whatever you want, but up I was, showered even, and off I went.
Yeah, probably one of the dumbest moves I’ve ever made. Ever.
No one waited for me in the nook by the front door. Big surprise. And not a soul stood by my locker to say they were sorry, either. Still not a shocker. What was the worst? How they hovered in their new favorite spot, my former friends, Benjamin lording over them with that sickening smile of his.
I had to walk past them to go to Chemistry. Someone snickered. My memories of bullying at pretty much every school I’d ever attended came rushing back and, like the coward I hadn’t been in a long time, I ran.
Slumped in my seat, I struggled with tears. I’d only imagined that snicker. I was sure of it. They knew how much it hurt, would never, ever bully me. They just wouldn’t.
Right. Like I knew them at all anymore.
My test was a total fail. I think Mr. Prusse actually handled it back with only two fingers, letting it drop to my desk with a sullen smack. One look at the bright red ‘F’ at the top was all I needed.
Yup. Great day ahead. Guaranteed. After all, it couldn’t get much worse, right?
Sometimes I thought I would never learn.
I ran into Brad outside class. Finally, a friendly face. But when his green eyes met mine they were so full of hurt I was speechless. He must have been too because he didn’t say a word to me, just walked away.
Not even my magically attached ex-boyfriend was into me today.
I was almost to English when a hand snaked out and grabbed my arm, pulling me through the crowd. I let out a squeak of surprise, coming face to face with Blood.
He looked bad and smelled worse. Like, no shower for days, I guessed. His thick black hair hung in greasy strands around his face, and for the first time ever I noticed he had roots. Who would have guessed the Goth King of Tranquility High was a dirty blonde?
Blood hadn’t even bothered to refresh his makeup. It caked in patches around his eyes and mouth, large chunks flaking away as his whole face scrunching in sadness.
“Syd, dude,” he said, deep voice shaking, “you have to help me bring her back.”
My heart shattered for him in that moment. He suffered, clearly suffered. I wished there was something I could do to ease his misery, but I was the last person he needed to turn to for help.
“They’re not talking to me,” I said, surprised by the level of bitterness in my voice. “Pain least of all. Sorry, Mia.” I rolled my eyes. It felt good to vent to someone who understood.
But Blood was too wrapped up in his own stuff to be of much emotional use to me.
“I can’t stand it,” he whispered. “I want to kill that guy, you know? End him.” Blood’s right fist met his left palm with a meaty smack and ground around like it was Benjamin’s face.
This was very bad. The last thing Blood needed right now was a suspension for fighting. But I had nothing to offer to hold him back. I barely had the focus to talk myself down when I saw the smiling weasel.
Layered on top of Meira and Sebastian being missing and the blood clan leader’s nasty brother in the mix and I had too much of my own stuff to handle to help him even a little.
The bell rang. Blood groaned like the sound sealed his doom and lurched away. It took me a minute to pull it together after he left, my emotions stirred to the surface so I had to turn toward the wall and do my best to dab at my tears with the sleeve of my sweater.
Which meant I was late. And Ms. Fiat quite happily, in her horrid way, lavished me with detention because of it.
I so hated that woman.
Naturally, she insisted I stay after school that very day to serve my sentence. Which meant I spent an hour and a half after everyone else left cleaning what seemed like every single chalkboard eraser in the entire school.
By the time I dragged myself home I was covered in white powder and full of whininess.
Did I find any comfort in my own home? That would be too good to be true. Instead I was met with a hastily written letter on a sheet of paper obviously torn out of something that smelled like, well, paper.
Have a meeting. Took your grandmother.
Mom
As abrupt as the rest of my life.
Something warm rubbed against my legs. I couldn’t help it. I dropped my book bag and scooped Sassy up into my arms, pressing my face into his warm fur, welcoming the deep and vibrating sound of his purr.
“Hungry?” I looked up and met his amber eyes.
“I could eat.” He seemed better. Less angsty and more himself.
We shared a quiet dinner of tuna salad. I even let him pick off my plate when he was done with his.
For some reason, I just didn’t have much of an appetite.
Sassy sighed at last and started cleaning his whiskers. I rested my elbows on the table and my chin on my hands and just watched him. There was a hypnotic rhythm to it, the slow swipe of his pink tongue over his paw, then the scrubbing circle he made against his cheek. I was so lost in the peacefulness of the motion, I actually jumped when he spoke.
“I hate not being able to do anything.” Sassy dropped his paw and sighed. “This is the first time I’ve ever felt so useless.”
I stroked his head, scratching his ear. He leaned into it with a rumble of contentment.
“I’m sure that’s not true,” I said.
He shook himself, tail twitching. “You’re right,” he said. “There was one other time. A long time ago.” His eyes narrowed as he thought about it.
“What happened?” Anything to distract me from what was going on. And I realized Sassy rarely spoke of the past. This was a prime opportunity.
“I’d only been with your family a short time,” he said. “About twenty years or so.”
That was a short time?
“One of your ancestors,” he said, and hesitated. His tail twitched then thumped once, twice, three times against the table. “You remind me of her.”
I wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
“What was her name?” I wracked my brain for family history.
“Auburdeen,” he said. Stopped again. “It doesn’t matter.”
I was about to prod him for more information when my demon spoke up.
Who cares about the past, she said. I want to know what we’re doing to save Meira.
Sassy nodded. Had he heard her? Or did I speak aloud? It had better been the former or she was breaking the rules already.
You’re right, Sassy said right to her in my head, so I knew she kept her end of the bargain. So far. But she felt very angry and aggressive so I knew our little truce wouldn’t last much longer. But there is nothing we can do.
Have you tried? Okay, very weird to have a conversation going on in my mind I didn’t seem to be a part of. Time to change that.
“Mom said she did, through Dad.” I couldn’t bear to add my inner voice to the mess.
True. My demon flexed and stretched against me. But we haven’t.
“Yes we did,” I said, feeling very offended. “The night she went missing.”
But not since. Not really. It came out like an accusation. If she hadn’t been inside me I would have
smacked her.
Maybe you’d like to stop fighting about it and try? Good old Sassy and his sense of snark.
I grumbled while my demon snarled and we finally connected enough to reach out for Meira. In my heart I knew it was useless, but for a moment a spark of hope grew inside me. Who knew what we would find? Sure, Dad failed, but maybe my sister’s circumstances changed since then. And we were sisters, after all. I always thought there was a connection between us, beyond our shared parents.
With a shallow, held breath I reached out to look for Meira.
And encountered the touch of a vampire. I almost flinched away. Not because it was a vampire, per se. But because the feeling of him was so familiar, and yet all kinds of wrong.
The worst part? He waited for me in my back yard.
***
Chapter Twenty
Sassy immediately flipped out.
“You are not going out there,” he said, leaping to his feet, fur standing on end, ears laid back so flat they were practically lost from sight. “Absolutely not, under no circumstances.”
I scowled at him as I shoved my chair out of the way. I didn’t really want to go, but his overbearing bossiness made it easier to push past my fear.
“You’re right,” I said as I turned to go to the door. “I’m not going outside. But I am going to find out who he is and what he wants.”
I was pretty sure I already knew who he was. But I had to see for myself. It was safe enough to at least go to the door. Mom re-enforced all of the wards, severing Meira’s welcome, so I knew the vampire wouldn’t be able to enter. Not to mention he’d be fried by Mom’s power the moment he tried. It also helped vampire magic was keyed to places and their occupants, only allowing them to pass if they had permission.
Sucked to be them.
I heard a heavy thump behind me and felt Sassy press against my leg as I went to the back door. He didn’t say another word to me, and even my demon was quiet. And vicious. She couldn’t wait for a shot at Nicholas.
If it was Nicholas. He felt enough like Sebastian with a layer of nastiness over him I had to be right.
The back hall was dark, the innocent and flimsy-seeming screen door allowing in a breeze. I could see a dark shape just on the other side. And despite the fact I was totally comfortable with vampires, there was no way I would face this one without some lights on.
My hand trembled when I flicked the switch, turning on the lamps flanking the door. The yard flooded with soft light from the low level bulbs. Just enough to see Sebastian standing there, watching me.
Yeah, right. I knew better. But it was so hard to tell the difference. Wow, were they ever twins. Same wavy dark hair, same powerful features, same bottomless eyes. But I started to notice subtle differences the more I looked at him. Where Sebastian’s face was alive with passion and always open, Nicholas was tighter. Still beautiful, but tainted somehow, the corners of his eyes drawn out, his mouth narrowed from centuries of spite. My demon reached out before I could stop her and felt him. A door way flickered open in my mind, scenes of horror and hatred, filled with familiar faces, like Sunny and Sebastian himself.
Nicholas actually gasped, a sound of outrage, slamming the door shut. It hurt, like stubbing my toe on something hard, but it made me realize something. I was unexpected. He underestimated me and my demon.
Hopefully there was a way I could use that to my advantage. Feeling much more confident, I pulled open the screen door and stood right at the threshold, Sassy hissing spitefully at Nicholas from between my feet.
“You’d better have my sister with you,” I said, doing my best Mom impression. “Or you’ve just made a gigantic mistake.”
Yeah. Bluffing. Sue me.
He took it seriously enough that he didn’t hand me any evil cliché moves like a sinister laugh or cheap shot back. Nope, none of that tired old bad guy routine for Nicholas DeWinter. Instead, he just stared at me. “Sydlynn.”
For some reason, him saying my name like that, all soft and aware, was way worse. I couldn’t underestimate him, either.
“Where is she?” Not like he was going to tell me or anything, but it was worth a shot.
His head tipped to the right, the light catching his fangs as he finally smiled. “I had no idea,” he said. “How powerful you are. And your demon.” I felt his power slide over me and lashed out, furious.
“Don’t even think about it.” I shook, feeling so dirty I needed an immediate shower.
“Just returning the favor,” he said. He laughed this time, but there was nothing crazy about it. It sounded like Sebastian’s laugh, with an edge. “It doesn’t matter, not yet. You’ll be mine soon enough.”
“Be gone, foul spirit,” Sassy snarled at him. “Your very presence is vile and unwelcome.”
How formal. I wondered if he had a reason. And found out a moment later. A fine mist of amber light rose from the ground, surrounding Nicholas in a haze of power. He flinched from it before summoning the pure white of his own and burning it off.
Good vampire banishing tidbit to know. Probably would have worked, too, if Nicholas hadn’t been so powerful.
“Demon cat,” Nicholas said. “Poorly played.”
Sassy puffed up even further, a low, aching whine coming from him. I bent and scooped him into my arms, afraid he might forget himself and go after Nicholas. The vampire left him alive the last time, but I wasn’t sure even Sassy would survive if the ancient creature wanted him dead.
“You’re not welcome here,” I said. “Unless you have a reason for showing up beyond pissing off my cat.”
Nicholas stilled. “Of course. I forget after all this time how the point is more important than the conversation. Such impatience in you, Sydlynn.”
He didn’t know impatience. I wanted to let my demon out to load a heaping pile of impatience all over him. Lucky for him, and probably for me, we were interrupted.
I was so focused on Nicholas I didn’t notice she was there until Mom stood beside me, her power drawn up around her like a cloak. It extended outward to surround me and Sassy as she spoke.
“Let’s hear it,” she said. I was amazed at how calm she sounded, but could feel the thrum of her rage from inside the wrap of magic.
“Ah,” he whispered. “Miriam. Delightful. I have been so eager to meet you.”
She nodded to him like she was a queen and he just some lackey. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen her do. It drew a snarl from him. I guess Nicholas didn’t like being one-upped.
“You know the little one was never my target,” he said. He took a step closer, closer still, until he was right on the edge of the threshold, face to face with Mom. “I am after much stronger prey.”
“You have no idea how strong.” The threat hung between them, heavy and full of magic. He swayed back from her as if dazed by it then smiled so wide it twisted his face into a mask of pure evil.
“Your coven site is the perfect meeting ground,” he said. “One hour. Come alone or I will turn your daughter and own her forever.”
“You touch her and I’ll kill you myself.” That came from both me and my demon. He flinched from us too, but it only seemed to make him happier. “Besides,” I wanted another dig at him, “you aren’t as strong as you think you are, are you? Sunny escaped you.”
He threw back his head and laughed so loud I worried the neighbors might come out to see what was going on. When he met my eyes again, his twinkled with some hidden secret.
“One hour,” he said.
“I refuse to come alone.” Mom’s voice was flat. “I won’t leave Meira exposed if you are true to your word.”
He took a step back, another, smiling only a little now. “Very well. Six witches may attend.” He pointed one finger at me. “But this one is to stay home like a good little girl.”
No. Way.
Mom offered him another regal nod. “One hour.”
Nicholas flickered into shadow and was gone.
Mom turned to me before I could say a
word. “Stay home,” she said, desperation on her face, her fear finally showing now that Nicholas had left. “Syd, please. I’m not ordering you. I’m begging. I can’t do this if I’m worried about your safety.”
What was I supposed to say to that?
“Mom…”
“And you’re not to say a word to Anastasia or your Uncle Frank. Sydlynn, I’m serious.”
She was totally tying my hands. “You can’t ask me to do that.”
“I can ask.” She gripped my face between her hands and kissed my forehead. “Please.”
She didn’t wait for an answer, just hurried away from me, her mind reaching out. I felt Erica’s familiar touch before Mom cleared the corner and was gone out of sight.
“Syd,” Sassy said. “What are you going to do?”
For the first time he wasn’t being Mr. Bossy. He was actually asking.
Crap. How could I just sit idly by while Nicholas took my mother? My demon was spitting mad at the very thought and I couldn’t blame her. This was one fight Mom needed me for, I was sure of it.
But how could I betray her if it meant putting Meira in danger? I struggled with it for a long, agony filled moment, frozen by indecision.
A face flashed into my mind along with the memory of warmth and comfort. He may not have been talking to me right now, but I needed advice and the only person I could think of to give it to me straight was Quaid.
“I’ll be back.” I set Sassy on the floor, watching his tail thrash back and forth. If I was frustrated and anxious I could only imagine how useless he felt. “Don’t worry,” I said. “I think I know what to do.”
At least, I tried to convince myself. I drew a shaky breath at the fact I even considered what I was about to do and took a step across the threshold, letting the screen door swing shut behind me. I paused, shaking, hand raised to jerk it open again if somehow the nasty vampire appeared but, as luck would have it, no undead. Or lightning bolts. In fact, the back yard felt as quiet as usual.
Trying not to think about the danger I was in, I headed out at a run for the Vega’s.