by Blake, Kasi
Dani’s arms went limp, and her cell fell.
“What did... how did... where did that come from?”
He grabbed her wrist and dragged her down to his level.
“Follow me,” he repeated.
Knowing how these weird things worked, he went in head first. The tunnel should have taken him down. Instead, he found himself going straight ahead. The angle had changed. It reminded him of a strange television program he’d seen once where some guy put his foot on a wall before adding a second foot. He danced on the wall as if dancing on the floor. Then he did it on the ceiling.
Something shifted the moment they entered the other realm. Gravity or reality. Trick didn’t question it. As long as it saved their lives, he didn’t care how it worked.
He pulled himself along with his arms. For a moment, it felt incredibly awkward, uncomfortable even. His legs were outside the magic hole, and they were flat against the floor above him. But his upper body was also flat against the tunnel wall as if it was the floor. Hating the sensation, he kicked with his legs and moved quickly.
Once he was all the way inside, he yelled over his shoulder. “Come on! Hurry!”
Dani laughed semi-hysterically as she crawled in behind him. “This is not happening. It is not happening. I am at home in bed having a really odd dream, and any second now my alarm will go off. Don’t want to be late for school.” A pause was followed by, “When I dream about you, we’re usually kissing.”
He choked on his own saliva. “W-what?”
Everything went black, and Dani shrieked.
“It’s okay,” he said. “The doorway just closed so that thing can’t come after us.”
The tunnel widened a few feet in front of him, and Trick raised up on hands and knees. He crawled as fast as he could, desperate to see where this particular tunnel would lead them. For all he knew they might wind up in England. That would be hard to explain to Sean and Laura, not to mention Baxter.
He crawled through a small cut-out that reminded him of a doggie door. The next room appeared to be a messy closet with mile high stacks of folded cloth on all four walls. He looked up. A small square of light several feet overhead seemed to be the only exit. Trick put a foot on each side and climbed the cluttered shelves. He hoped Dani could do it. The shaft seemed to go on forever.
Squinting, he climbed until he reached the opening. He stuck his hands out, grabbed the concrete edge, and hoisted himself up. Once he was on solid ground, he helped Dani escape the strange closet.
Flashing lights, crowded sidewalks, and a long line of casinos told Trick everything he needed to know. They were on the strip in Vegas. He was tempted to teleport them home, but he’d already used his power to open the escape hatch. Every time he used magic he got a step closer to death.
Dizzy, he leaned against the nearest building.
Dani folded her arms and plunked down on the curb. “I am not moving. I am sitting right here until I wake up from this ridiculous dream.”
Trick opened his mouth to tell her it was real, but pain sliced through him. A startled cry burst past his lips instead of words. Pain ripped through his skull. Grabbing onto his head with both hands, he fell on his knees.
People stared at him but kept walking.
Dani ran to him. “What’s wrong? Why is your nose bleeding?”
He dabbed at the wet space beneath his nostrils with two fingers. “Are you okay?” he asked, more worried about her than himself.
Her eyes flooded with tears, and she shook her head while biting her bottom lip. Unable to contain herself a second longer she shouted, “Liars! All of you, you lied to me my entire life.”
He grimaced. “They tried to tell you.”
“Why now? Why would they tell me after all these years?”
“I found out they were hunters, and they were afraid I would tell you.”
“Would you have told me?”
“I think so.”
“I have questions, lots of them.”
The look in her eyes—a mixture of fear, doubt, and anger—warned him that now was not the time to hold anything back.
He nodded. “I’ll tell you everything I know.”
The questions began. She rattled them off one after another while he waited for her to stop so he could call Scarlet for a ride. Then Dani called Baxter and lied through her teeth, saying she’d had Trick drop her at a friend’s house. She claimed she and the girl were having an all-night study session for a test coming up on Monday. Baxter didn’t seem worried. In fact, she might have been relieved to have an entire night to herself.
After she got off the phone, he said, “Since we have plenty of time, I’ll give you the long version. I am a vampire hunter.”
chapter thirteen
Summer
Summer thumbed through a fashion magazine with her feet propped up on the coffee table. She was waiting for the red polish on her toes to dry. She should have known that peaceful feeling wouldn’t last. Cowboy had a way of wrecking her good moods with a single look.
The front door slammed, announcing he had returned.
A second later, he stormed into the grand living area. His pale face, wild eyes, and shaken expression told the story. They were in trouble—again.
She dropped the magazine without saving her place. “What’s going on?”
He threw his arms into the air and shook his head. “Bad. It’s really, really bad. Worse than I thought when I decided to track her down.”
“Isobel?” Summer rolled her eyes. If this was just about girlfriend problems, she was going to punch him in the face. “What, did you find her with another guy?”
Cowboy’s head snapped around. “Worse. Much, much worse.”
Summer’s stomach fell, and nausea made her think about puking for the first time since the Shadow Faerie had found her in the warehouse. A sick feeling sent her into a panic. She shot to her feet, no longer caring if she ruined her perfect pedicure. “What is it? Spit it out.”
“Isobel is with Jersey Clifford.”
The sick feeling in her gut intensified.
Jersey Clifford, the first werewolf to exist had died right in front of them. How was he sucking air again? Of course, he’d died at the Great Werewolf Battle as well and still managed to return. The guy had more lives than a cat.
“What is it with him?” she asked under her breath. “How does he keep coming back?”
“Who cares?” Cowboy glared at her. “Isobel is with him. That means he’s the one controlling the Shadow Faerie.”
“No way. On his best day he didn’t have that kind of power.” She tapped a finger to her chin and pursed her lips. “They’re both working for Oberon. You heard her. Or did you hit your head and forget?”
“She was lying.”
“I think she was telling the truth. Jersey Clifford doesn’t have enough power to control a Shadow Faerie, remake werewolves, and raise the dead?”
She threw the terrace doors open and gulped in fresh air. Immortality was one thing, but repeatedly coming back from the dead... that was way too much to handle. Her mind worked hard to process the information: Jersey Clifford was alive, Isobel was helping him, and the two of them were working for Oberon.
“You okay?” Cowboy asked over her shoulder.
Dumb question. No, she wasn’t okay. Neither of them were okay. If they didn’t put an insane amount of distance between them and their enemies, they were going to die. Unlike Jersey, they would stay dead.
“We have to get out of here,” she said. Turning to face her friend of many decades, she tried to put on a brave face. She failed. “Let’s grab our stuff and make a run for it. If Oberon is fixated on Trick, he won’t even notice we’re gone.”
Cowboy blinked several times. “We aren’t leaving.”
“Yes, we are.”
“Not without our fourth.”
Stubborn idiot! She stomped across the room and kicked the cream-colored ottoman. The rash move left a smear of red polish on pale fa
bric. The sight fueled her anger. “Now look what you made me do!”
He folded his arms. “We are not leaving without Trick.”
“The king of the Fae wants him, you big dummy, and we cannot win in a fight against that guy. Not to mention the two werewolves and the Shadow Faerie he’s got under his control. We’re either out of here or we’re dead. Take your pick.”
“This is on you. You found Trick. You insisted he’d be a great fourth. Can’t back down now.”
“I didn’t find him.” The sick feeling returned in full force as she connected the dots. Why hadn’t she seen it before? They had fallen into Oberon’s trap. “Isobel told me about Trick and said I could take the credit, something about not wanting you to be jealous that she liked the boy. I should have known she was setting me up.”
The truth dawned in Cowboy’s eyes, and he grew paler still. “Isobel found him?”
“Well, she’s the one that told me about him, but I doubt she found anything. She probably never even saw him until we came here. Oberon must have tracked him down, the last Carver son with power.”
Cowboy nodded. “Or Jersey Clifford found him. If it is Oberon, he wants Trick’s power. He probably wants to finish what his son started. He wants to possess Trick, stay in this realm, and rule our world.”
As if in mutual agreement, they plunked down on the couch at the same time, arms crossed. Summer wanted to race up the stairs and pack her stuff, but she didn’t have the energy to move. She had the terrible feeling her life was about to end.
“Why are you so pigheaded about this guy?” she asked. “You’ve only met him once. So what if he’s Jackpot’s brother? They are nothing alike. Is he really worth dying for?”
“You don’t get it.”
“That’s why I’m asking. Tell me. Make me understand why you’re risking our lives for this dumb kid.”
Cowboy sighed. “My family didn’t give a crap about me. I was the black sheep, the screw-up, the one that always embarrassed them. Hell, they probably didn’t even notice when you turned me and I went missing. I’m sure they never bothered to look for me.”
She gaped at him in disbelief. Why was it okay for him to talk about his past when every time she mentioned hers, he had a fit?
“Cry me a river. My father sold me to a vampire. We all have our sad little stories. What does yours have to do with Trick?”
“You are my family now. Isobel and Jackpot walked out on us, but we still have each other.”
Summer rested her head on his shoulder. “I know.”
“Our family needs to grow if we’re to survive. We’re safer when we have numbers. We need to replace... you-know-who, and Trick fits the bill. If we are dealing with Oberon, he won’t let us live. Trick is the only one standing between us and death. We need to help him so he can help us.”
“You’re saying we have to help Trick defeat the Shadow Faerie if we want to live?”
Cowboy nodded as he put an arm around her shoulders. “We’ll have to defeat Oberon too cause he won’t stop.”
“How?” She moved to the edge of the couch, almost falling off, and stared at him through wide eyes. “Oberon is more powerful than anything or anyone this planet has ever seen. How can we possibly stop him?”
“I don’t think he wants Trick just because he wants the power. The guy is afraid of Trick. His own son passed down that faerie power to the kid.”
“But Trick doesn’t know how to use it. What good is he?”
“We’ll teach him.” Cowboy grinned. “I helped... Jackpot figure out how to burn with a touch of his hand. I can teach Trick. He’ll be our third. Then we’ll have to find a fourth.”
Did they have enough time to teach the boy how to use faerie power?
Summer settled back against Cowboy’s side and took a few deep breaths. While her best friend worked on a way to help Trick with his powers, she worked on Plan B, just in case Trick failed them. The plan needed to be devious, smart, and had to be a one person job. She didn’t want Cowboy to know. If everything went down the way she feared, he would thank her later. He’d be grateful for the plan after Trick died and they had to scramble to escape Oberon.
Now, she just needed to come up with something brilliant.
chapter fourteen
What I Like About You
He told Dani about his biological father, about the first time he used his power to create a magical door, and about his obsession with hunting. He gave her the twisted story of his life while they waited for Scarlet to drive down from Reno. It felt good, to be honest. Details didn’t matter. He told her the bare minimum, just enough facts to satisfy her curiosity.
They ate a late dinner in a casino restaurant. If you weren’t into gambling, towns like Vegas and Reno were great places to live, especially when it came to food. They had numerous all-you-can-eat buffets, sometimes for a dollar. The best thing about their dinner was the fact he was sharing it with Dani. He silently vowed to remember this as their first date.
It would take Scarlet a while to reach Vegas; he stretched out the story of his life.
After dinner, they walked down the strip between casinos. Afraid to see her expression, he kept his eyes on passing pedestrians and his voice low. She stopped in front of a casino with a gift shop window, and they both looked at the glittering diamond rings for a few minutes. Since a ridiculous amount of people got married in Vegas, you couldn’t go far without finding deals on wedding bands.
“So, my bracelet protected me from monsters.” Dani spoke low; He barely heard her. Before he could answer she added, “I want it back.”
He nodded and slid his hands into his empty denim pockets. “I threw it under the bleachers. You can get it tomorrow.”
“But... you need the bracelet too, right? My dad told me you would die if you didn’t have it. Is that true?”
Downplaying it because he didn’t want to freak her out again, he shrugged. “I’m sure I can find something else.”
“Were you using it to keep monsters away?”
“No.” He chuckled at the thought. “Hunters don’t want monsters to stay away. How would we kill them if they did?”
She exhaled, a long steady flow of air. “My dad knew about this the whole time, and he never told me.”
“He wanted you to have a normal life.”
“Normal? My father hunts monsters for a living.”
“Well, your dad tried to get you ready for it in a way.” When Dani scoffed, he said, “They made you take gymnastics and ballet and self-defense classes, right?”
Surprise widened her eyes. “Yeah.”
“He wanted you to be ready in case something attacked you.”
“Maybe he was secretly preparing me, but it wasn’t enough. If you hadn’t been with me tonight, I would have been a crying mess on the floor.”
“Not true.”
“It is.” She rested her hand in the groove of his arm. “Even with you there I panicked and couldn’t think and didn’t know what to do. I was useless.”
Trick shook his head. “Matt nearly wet his pants the first time he saw a monster. He just stood there, frozen, and would have let the thing kill me if I hadn’t taken care of it myself.”
Dani folded her arms and glared at him. “You told Matt?”
Knowing they were in for another chunk of back story, Trick put an arm around her shoulders and began walking again. “When my father dumped me on strangers, he promised to return. It was just supposed to be long enough for me to see how the other half lives. He wanted me to get a taste of normal. Going to school, family dinners, stuff like that.
“Before he left he made me promise to never tell anyone about monsters or hunting. So I didn’t... at first. Then I saw the adoption papers on the kitchen table. Matt got an earful that night. I told him everything, and he just stared at me as if I’d lost my mind. He didn’t believe me... until I introduced him to a werewolf.”
Dani walked in silence for a moment, digesting the new information. �
�Wait a second.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the way of pedestrians. “There are werewolves too?”
“Not anymore.”
She stepped in front of him, blocking his way in case he wanted to continue on. Eyes narrowed as if daring him to give her the wrong answer, she asked, “Does Scarlet know?”
“Uh...”
Dani bit off a curse word and started fast-walking down the street without him. She weaved around other people. In seconds, she disappeared from view.
Trick had to run to catch her. He slid his fingers over her arm and drew her to the side. There, in a recessed part of a casino building, he explained things to her.
“When I told Matt about monsters, I thought he would help me kill them.” Trick rolled his eyes. “He freaked out; so I was forced to hunt alone. It sucked. Having someone with me on a hunt makes things easier. Scarlet is my best friend, and I trust her. She was the obvious choice. I took her out with me one night.”
Dani’s mouth curved on one end. “Did she cry or scream or faint when she saw her first monster?”
Scarlet had jumped in with a stake and killed the vampire like a pro. But he knew what Dani wanted to hear, that Scarlet had panicked in the face of danger. The truth was, Scarlet hadn’t grown up in a nice house with reasonable parents. She’d seen some bad stuff at a young age. Knowing Scarlet would skin him alive if he told Dani or anyone else about her less than happy childhood, he kept that part to himself.
“She was in that invincible stage where you don’t think anything can kill you. She believed me that monsters were real before she even saw one.”
Dani’s eyes darkened. “That really doesn’t surprise me. She’s always been weird. Maybe she knew about them before you even told her. Wouldn’t surprise me to find out she went clubbing with vampires.”
Her words struck a sour note in Trick’s gut. He’d always thought of Dani as a sweet, tolerant person. Of course, up until now his personal knowledge of Dani had come from secondhand information. Maybe he’d fantasized about her too long.