4-Ever Hunted: Vampires Rule

by Blake, Kasi

  She seemed to give his argument some thought.

  Then she raised her face and looked at him with sad eyes. Her lower lip trembled. “I don’t want to fall in love with you.”

  The thought of Dani Foster in love with him made his heart skip a beat. His pits started sweating, and his tongue felt tied in a big knot. There were several things he wanted to say to her, but he couldn’t get the words out. Didn’t matter. Boys weren’t supposed to talk about their feelings. That’s what his father had told him. Guys were supposed to bury their emotions deep. They needed to be strong for their women.

  Dani whirled around and hurried inside.

  He let her go.

  Maybe she was right. Falling in love could ruin both their lives. Why take the risk?

  Trick whistled a wistful tune on his walk home, determined to put his crush on Dani away like his childhood toys. Part of him wished he hadn’t bothered talking to her tonight, but it had cleared his head. Knowing she wouldn’t give him a chance helped him to make an important decision.

  If the hunters offered him a job, he would take it. He would leave Reno with them and start his hunting life early. With professionals mentoring him, he could become the name vampires feared. He could do it ahead of schedule... and maybe find out more about his father in the process.

  chapter twenty-four

  Bad Day

  Scarlet’s borrowed car rolled to a stop on a hill overlooking Reno. It was the site of a cemetery, the most scenic and peaceful boneyard in the Biggest Little City. The grass was lush and green, well-maintained by dutiful workers. There was a stone mortuary off to one side and a few box-like cement crypts in a line going down the center with regular tombstones in neat rows throughout.

  Trick had visited the cemetery once before with his brother. Matt had been taking a photography class at the time. He’d snapped pictures of the statues: a cross, angels including one that stood high over everything, and a cute cherub sitting near a tree; while Trick had explored the grounds. He remembered how peaceful he’d felt. The quiet had filled his soul with renewed strength and purpose.

  Scarlet took in the view with a growing smile. “Creepy. I like it. Perfect place for a showdown with that faerie thing. What’s the plan?”

  “Duh.” He pulled a dagger from the sheath beneath his pant leg. Sharp, it could slice a brick. “Kill it.”

  “How?”

  “Alone.”

  “No way!” Scarlet shot him a glare. “I am not your driver, jerk. I am your partner, your back-up, and your best friend. We do this together or not at all.”

  His jaw tightened. “I need you to stay in the car and give me five minutes. Then call this number.”

  He handed her his cell phone with the number locked and loaded.

  When she stared down at it with a frown, he added, “Don’t press the button for five minutes. Got it?”

  She sighed, obviously annoyed. “Who am I calling?”

  “Summer and Cowboy.”

  “Vampires?” Her frown turned into a grimace. “You won’t let me join in on the fun, but you want them here? Why?”

  How much should he tell her about the plan? He didn’t have all day to argue with her over the recklessness of what he was about to do. The Shadow Faerie might be able to sense them. He had the Sugar Bomb in his jacket pocket, but he only wanted to use it as a last resort.

  “If things go wrong, I may need their help to distract the faerie while I escape.”

  Scarlet’s pink lips curved. “You want to set up the vampires and let the Shadow Faerie kill them? I like that. You are wicked cool sometimes.”

  “I know.” He shoved the passenger side door open. “Wish me luck.”

  “After I call them I’m coming to help.”

  “Just keep the engine running.” He gave her his patented arrogant grin. “Trust me. I can handle this thing on my own.”

  Not giving her a chance to respond, he jumped from the car with the dagger clutched tight in his hand. The blade wouldn’t help him, of course. It couldn’t defeat a Shadow Faerie. He was using it as a prop to convince the faerie that he was stupid enough to think a blade would work. Then he needed to provoke the monster into using his power-sucking energy to free Trick from whatever power he possessed.

  It was possible he was on a suicide mission.

  Trick strolled down the narrow gravel path to keep from stepping on graves. It wasn’t a superstition with him, more of a matter of respect. He could step on the graves. He chose not to... unless he was fighting a monster.

  He stopped near the tall angel statue. “I’m here,” he called in a loud voice. “Come and get me, you stupid freak.”

  The Shadow Faerie stepped into the open without the slightest hesitation. A crypt had been hiding the thing from view. Black robes swung with the faerie’s every movement, and the hood only partially covered his ugly face.

  With a croaky old man voice the faerie said, “Accept power?”

  “No.”

  “Take power.”

  “Let’s agree to disagree.” Trick flashed his dagger. “I came to kill you, not to play Let’s Make a Deal.”

  “Fool.”

  The Shadow Faerie pulled off the hood, and his old man’s mouth formed a wide O. He inhaled deeply. It sounded like a vacuum, and Trick felt the immediate pull on his insides.

  His plan was actually working.

  He tried to remain on his feet under the strain of the faerie’s power. Dizzy, he wobbled. It felt like his internal organs were being sucked out through his nose and mouth. The life was being drained from his body, and it hurt worse than being sliced open with a blade. He didn’t know how much more he could take.

  He fell to his knees.

  His mind began to float, abandoning his dying body, and he realized he’d made a huge mistake. He shouldn’t have tried to take on the thing alone. Maybe he shouldn’t have tried to take it on at all.

  Cowboy came out of nowhere and took a running leap at the faerie. He kicked the thing from behind. The faerie fell, and Cowboy jumped on him. He rode the monster like it was a bull at the rodeo.

  Cowboy laughed. “Gotcha, sucker.”

  Summer appeared next to Trick. She wore a disturbing look of concern. Without a word she hunched down and touched his arm with one hand. Then they were gone.

  The last thing Trick saw before the setting shifted into something else was the Shadow Faerie on his feet. The thing waved a hand at Cowboy, and Cowboy flew through the air. A split second before Cowboy would have hit the ground, he vanished.

  The three of them went from the cemetery to the vampire’s borrowed mansion in a blink. Another wave of dizziness hit Trick. He tumbled into the foyer wall while trying to find something to grab onto. Nothing. He slid down the wall as the vampires disappeared once again.

  Darkness overtook him before he got the chance to wonder where they had gone.

  chapter twenty-five

  Sorry

  Trick slowly regained consciousness. The first thing he became aware of was the pounding in his head; the second was the cool marble floor beneath him. The coppery taste of blood in his mouth made him gag. His chest seized up, and he began to cough. For a moment, he couldn’t remember where he was or why he was in pain. Was he dying?

  Light seeped in through several windows, peeking past the lacy curtains. Yesterday’s memories returned in a flash, and he realized he’d been out all night again. Sean would ground him for the rest of his natural life.

  His vision blurred, but he could see enough to know he wasn’t alone. Matt hovered over him while Summer stood off to the side, and Cowboy paced in the background.

  “Now you’ve done it,” Matt said. “What were you thinking going after the Shadow Faerie without back-up?”

  Trick’s mind cleared a bit. “I had... Scarlet.” Near panic, he realized he’d left her at the cemetery. “I have to go find her.”

  Summer waved away his concern and added a head tilt. “She’s fine. I went back for h
er. She didn’t want to leave her dad’s car, so she drove away as soon as I convinced her you were already gone. Last time I saw her, she was driving down the hill on her way to town.”

  Relief slowed his thundering heart.

  Cowboy approached them with a huge grin on his dopey face. “Taking on a Shadow Faerie without help was phenomenal. Stupid, but crazy good. You and I are going to be best friends.”

  “Are you okay?” Matt asked, overriding Cowboy’s voice.

  “I can walk it off,” Trick said.

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Let’s go home.”

  “No.” Matt shook his head and jabbed the air with a pointed finger. “I have had it with you! Thanks to your dumb idea I had to lie to our parents...again. But it was the last time. Do you hear me?”

  The whole ritzy neighborhood probably heard him.

  Matt continued to shout without pause. “Either you tell Mom and Dad the truth, or stop hunting! I mean it, Patrick. This is it. You tell them everything or I will.”

  “Matt—”

  “Shut up! I’m not done yet.” Hands on hips, Matt shook his head several times. He was angrier than Trick had ever seen him and seemed to be on the verge of tears. “You are going to listen to me for a change.”

  Trick nodded weakly. “Okay.”

  “I understand your father dumped you, and it messed you up. I’m sorry about that. I can’t imagine how it feels to have a parent dump you and walk away. But you’ve got a family now. Mom, Dad, me, and even Scarlet, we are your family. We’ve been there for you even when you were being a total jerk. You need pushing us away. If you don’t, you’re going to wind up alone. Is that what you want?”

  Emotional pain, worse than the physical, assaulted his senses. “No,” he said, and he was stunned to realize he meant it.

  For years he’d told himself he wanted to be alone. He’d convinced himself he didn’t need anyone. It wasn’t true. The thought of losing his family—and they were his family—tied his stomach muscles in sickening knots.

  “Then stop shutting us out,” Matt said. “In all the years I’ve known you I’ve never once heard you ask for help. We all need somebody to give us a hand, even a great hunter. Loving your family is not a bad thing. You need to get that through your head.”

  Trick reached up with one hand and waited for Matt to take it.

  Matt grabbed onto him without hesitation. He yanked Trick to his feet and gave him a fierce hug. Knowing vampires were watching made the scene more embarrassing than it would have otherwise been, but Trick found it difficult to care. At the moment, a hug was exactly what he needed.

  He clapped his brother on the back twice. Then he pushed him away before it got too weird. Matt was right. He needed to learn to ask for help, and he had to start showing the people in his life that he cared. Baby steps. He couldn’t change overnight.

  “What did you tell Sean and...” Trick swallowed and started the sentence over. “What did you tell Mom and Dad about me missing all night?”

  Matt’s eyes widened a fraction, and a slow smile raised the corners of his mouth. “They think you stayed with a friend. I even called Joey to let him know in case they ask him. You’re in the clear for now, but I still want you to tell them the truth.”

  “Guess I should get to school.”

  Matt rolled his eyes. “School has been over for,” he checked his watch, “almost half an hour.”

  Trick turned to Cowboy. “A certain werewolf convinced me that letting the Shadow Faerie suck out my powers would be a good idea. Jersey didn’t come right out and say I should do it, of course, but I’m sure it was his plan before it was mine. He and I need to have a serious talk. Can you teleport me to the school?”

  Cowboy grinned. “What are friends for?”

  “See?” Trick made a face at Matt. “That was me asking for help. Were you paying attention?”

  “Yes, Patrick. I heard. I’m standing right here.”

  “Don’t call me Patrick.”

  Trick crossed the foyer to stand next to the vampire.

  Cowboy placed a hand on Trick’s back. “This should be interesting.”

  The foyer disappeared and was replaced by the storage closet at the school. Without giving himself more than a second to find his land legs, Trick raced down the hallway, leaving the vampire behind. He didn’t want Cowboy in the same room with the werewolf. They already had enough trouble.

  Trick burst through the classroom door and shouted at the werewolf-teacher. “You set me up!”

  Jersey glanced up from the papers he was grading. His expression remained neutral. Twirling his red pen in one hand, he said, “I have no idea what you mean.”

  “Are you surprised to see me? Alive, I mean.” Trick entered the classroom and shut the door behind him to keep any civilians left in the building from overhearing. “Bet you thought the Shadow Faerie would kill me when he took my power.”

  “Don’t blame me if you twisted my words and made a reckless decision.”

  The werewolf didn’t fool him for a second. Jersey had wanted him to attack the Shadow Faerie. He was on Oberon’s payroll, and the king of the Fae wanted Trick dead.

  Trick approached the teacher’s desk with caution. “I will kill that faerie thing without any help from you, from vampires, or from anyone else. Then I am going to finish you just for the hell of it.”

  “You have no idea how to destroy the Shadow Faerie.” Jersey set the pen down and leaned back in his chair. A smug smile curved his mouth. “I, and I alone, know how it can be done.”

  Trick slid his hand into his jacket pocket and cupped the small box nestled there. He considered using the Sugar Bomb on the werewolf. Jersey Clifford thought he knew everything. His smirking face begged to be pounded on. Trick’s fists itched to do it. He could open the box and toss the Bomb at the werewolf before Jersey had time to think. It would be over in a flash. Simple.

  But then what would he do about the Shadow Faerie?

  “You keep saying you know stuff,” Trick said. “But I don’t think you know anything. This is all a game to you. See how far you can push the hunter before he pushes back. I am done playing.”

  “How badly do you want to kill the Shadow Faerie?” Jersey raised a sardonic eyebrow. “I don’t think the commitment is there yet. Although, I do indeed know how to destroy it, I do not believe you are ready to hear me out. You need to be a touch more desperate.”

  Growling deep in his throat, Trick headed for the door. As far as he was concerned, their conversation was over. If he stayed in the room any longer, he would lose his patience and attack the werewolf. Without the proper weapons that would be suicide.

  He reached for the doorknob.

  Jersey spoke in a matter-of-fact monotone. “Your friend, the one you sit with in detention each week, she was taken to the hospital earlier.”

  Trick whipped around. “Liar!”

  The werewolf would say anything to mess with Trick’s head. There was no reason for him to believe Jersey. Still, a queasy feeling invaded his stomach. What if it was true and something terrible had happened to Scarlet?

  Jersey pointed at the line of windows. “I saw the paramedics come for her from right over there.”

  Trick swallowed. “What happened?”

  “I didn’t witness the actual event, but I believe the Shadow Faerie caught up with her. You didn’t get her involved in this mess, did you?”

  Chilled to the bone, Trick tried to speak, but his lips were numb.

  Jersey smiled. “Ah, yes. The desperation I have been longing to see. Maybe you are ready, after all. Do you want to demolish the Shadow Faerie?”

  “Yes!”

  Trick’s hands balled into fists as he blinked back invading tears. If Jersey was telling the truth, Trick vowed to tear the faerie into pieces with his bare hands. No one hurt his family and got away with it.

  Satisfied, Jersey leaned forward in his seat with malicious glee. He smiled, and his teeth reminded Trick of a
shark. The teacher said, “You need to be immortal.”

  Trick blinked. “Are you saying I should become a vampire?”

  Jersey scoffed. “You don’t want to be a vampire, son. Trapped inside during the day, unable to enter a home without invitation, and dependent on the blood of others, that is no way to live.”

  “I’d rather be a vamp than a stinking werewolf.”

  Jersey pursed his lips together. “What do you have against us?”

  A flash of a bloody wall and his mother’s lifeless body filled his mind without warning. “A lot,” he said, still numb. “I have a lot against you.”

  “If you want to defeat the Shadow Faerie, my way is the only viable solution.” Jersey stood and touched his hands to his chest. “Let me give you the gift that is me. Become a werewolf, and you will be unstoppable.”

  So that was Jersey’s end-game. He wanted to create new werewolves, and he’d chosen to start with Trick. The offer was flattering in a twisted sort of way, but it wasn’t going to happen

  “What is it with the monsters in this town? Why do you all think I want to become like you when the truth is, I want to wipe you off the face of this planet?”

  Jersey’s lips compressed into a thin line. “I was wrong. You aren’t ready yet, but you will be soon enough. When that happens, when you become desperate enough to do the unthinkable, come find me.”

  A lot of cliches entered Trick’s mind: it will be a cold day in hell; when pigs fly; don’t hold your breath. He didn’t have the mental energy to deal with the werewolf-teacher anymore. Scarlet needed him.

  Feeling deflated, he stumbled into the hallway where Cowboy was pacing.

  “I need to go to the hospital,” Trick said. “Take me there.”

  “What did the dirty dog say?”

  A muscle throbbed in Trick’s cheek. “Scarlet was hurt, and she’s at the hospital. I thought he was lying, but I have a feeling it’s true. I need to go. Will you take me, or do I have to risk using my own power?”

  Cowboy rolled his eyes. “Don’t get all worked up. I’ll take you. Just hope you’re worth all this trouble.”