I was so preoccupied with the shock that I hadn’t noticed the shouting and banging coming from my bedroom.
“W-where’s Josh?”
“I locked him in your closet.”
There was a loud crash from somewhere in my bedroom. Josh stumbled out of the hallway, his jaw dropping. I could only imagine what he was seeing. Two dead bodies sprawled across the floor and Tony standing buck-naked no more than two feet away from me. Tony must have read my mind because he dove for the sofa, snatching up a throw pillow and holding it in front of his hips. As if it were possible, he blushed further, scratching at the back of his head nervously.
I waited for Josh to say something, but he didn’t. He looked sick and I didn’t blame him. It took practice getting used to seeing the things I saw on a daily basis, a lot of practice.
“You two need to get out of here, like, yesterday,” Tony said. “I’ll take care of this.”
My fingers tightened around the dagger’s blood-splattered hilt as Tony took another step toward me. I opened my mouth to speak but stopped short. It was neither the time nor the place to try figuring out what had just happened. When the agents didn’t return, they’d send backup. Tony was right. We needed to go.
I grabbed an empty plastic bag from the kitchen table and headed for my bedroom. Sorting through the piles on my floor, I shoved various articles of clothing into the bag, tying it shut and tossing it onto my unmade bed.
“You’re bleeding,” Josh said, standing in the doorframe.
“Don’t worry,” I mumbled, getting down on my hands and knees and dragging a box out from under my nightstand. “It’s already healing.”
I opened the box and cuffed up my pant leg, strapping the small daggers around my ankle. When I stood up, Josh was staring blankly at me, who knew for how long. He was still in shock. He should have been grateful he didn’t break out of the closet sooner. Snatching the bag from my bed, I headed out of my room for the last time.
When we reached the living room, Tony and the bodies were gone.
“Josh, I need to use your phone.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, handing it to me.
“Let’s go,” I ordered.
I dialed absentmindedly as we ran down the stairs and toward Josh’s car. “They found me,” I said when William picked up.
“How?”
“I don’t know. They had my phone while I was in the hospital. Maybe they put a tracker on it.”
“Go to the usual place. I will be in touch.”
I tossed the phone back to Josh, snatching the keys out of his hand. “I’m driving.”
–
We walked side-by-side to the water’s edge. It was a clear night, the rain finally stopping. Light from the stars danced across the surface of the water. A gentle ocean breeze brushed through my hair and I closed my eyes, listening to the soothing hum of waves, crashing one after another for all of eternity. The salty air tickled my nose and I sighed. That giant blue abyss knew just how to move me.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Josh staring at me, tilting his head as if to get a better view. I bit the corner of my lip, walking faster. We stopped at the point where dry sand met wet, plopping down. I kicked off my shoes and buried my toes in the cool grains.
“I didn’t want you to see that,” I said after a while. “I never wanted you to see that.”
For a while, he didn’t say anything. Each time I thought he might, I’d hold my breath, waiting. But, nothing. Maybe we were past words.
“Are you in some type of trouble with the law or something?” he finally asked. Are you some type of psychopathic murderer? At least, that’s what I heard.
“Yes and no. It’s a lot more complicated than that. I’m not supposed to talk about it.”
I wondered if those words had really come out of my mouth, if I was really spewing out lie after lie to the man who’d grown up with me, the man who’d taken care of me during the lowest point of my human life. He deserved better, and that wasn’t something I could be. Not any more.
Josh laid back in the sand, folding his arms under his head. “I know you’re lying to me, Zo,” he said flatly.
“I’m not–”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll play along, pretending that nothing’s wrong. Hell, if you want, I can even pretend like I didn’t see what happened in that apartment twenty minutes ago. But, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Really, after all the years we’ve known each other, haven’t I earned your trust?”
“It’s not that, Josh. I told you, I can’t talk about it. The less you know, the safer you’ll be.” That was a little closer to the truth.
“Oh, so we’re going with the whole ‘ignorance is bliss’ bullshit?” he said spitefully. “You just killed two men!”
“Technically, I only killed one of them,” I mumbled.
“Zoë.”
I could feel the non-existent tears building up at the corners of my eyes. God, I missed crying. “I’m not myself anymore,” I breathed, as if that should explain everything.
“What’s that suppose to mean?”
“I’m not human anymore!” I shouted, standing faster than he could follow. One second he was looking at the sand and the next, me towering over him. Whoops. The shock was written all over his face. I usually tried to keep my movements as “normal” as possible as to not draw attention to myself, but I was beyond that point. If he wanted to see the real me, then I’d show him.
Josh rose slowly, fear in his eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was fear of me or for me. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. He reached out a cautious hand and I withdrew.
“I’m not human, Josh. I haven’t been for years.” I took a few deep breaths, feeling what I thought was the start of hyperventilation. I pulled Tony’s oversized jacket off and tossed it to the ground, standing before him in my silk camisole. I poked and prodded at my eyes, removing the colored contacts and flicking them away in the breeze. No more hiding.
I couldn’t read the expression on his face as he took it all in. “Your eyes,” he finally said, so soft, even I had trouble hearing it. Josh took a step closer to me, his face mere inches from mine. I breathed him in. God, he smelt good. He brushed the hair out of my face with gentle fingers and I lost myself in his eyes. He ran his hand over my neck, tracing the black markings down my shoulders and over my collarbone. My breath hitched in my chest.
Closing my eyes, I pulled away from him, suddenly feeling so small. “I kill people. It’s what I was created for.”
“Are you,” he hesitated, “are you like a vampire? Are you going to suck my blood?”
I gave him a crooked smile. It took all of my effort not to burst into laughter. I didn’t know what was funnier, his horrible Dracula impression or that he thought I was one of the bloodsuckers. “No, Josh, I’m not a vampire. Besides, they’re nothing like that. But that’s a story for another day. Our kind has been mistaken for vampires for over a thousand years. It’s easy to confuse us with them. Similar skills, but we’re stronger, faster, better.”
He took a moment to digest that, probably mulling over the existence of vampires. Definitely contemplating if I’d lost my mind. “Then,” he paused, swallowing, “what are you?” He didn’t sound like he really wanted to know. Life would’ve been easier if he never did. Then again, life would’ve been easier if none of it had happened to begin with.
I sat back down, trying to make my movements as slow as possible so Josh wouldn’t have a heart attack. “We’ve been called a number of things over the years. Some people even claimed we were survivors from the lost city of Atlantis. Maybe we are, who knows. William isn’t even sure exactly what we are or where we came from. He said that many, many years ago, people would refer to us as the archangels, or God’s warriors. All we know is that we’re the Chosen.”
“So, you’re an angel?” Josh didn’t sound so sure of himself. He sat down beside me, his thigh leaning against mine. Come to think of it, he was always
touching me in some way or another. I didn’t mind. It was comforting.
“It’d be better if you didn’t try to figure that out. Trust me, it’s a lot easier that way. I’ve had six years to figure it out myself and the closest I’ve come to explaining it is that I’m some type of God-sent assassin. Sometimes I see things, things that haven’t actually happened yet. That’s not all of us though, that’s just my thing. We’re like hybrids of humans. We have better eyesight and hearing; our skin is tougher and our bones are stronger; we can feel vibrations in the air and react ten times faster. If I wanted to, I could walk right by you and you’d never even know. Not until you were on the ground with your throat slit.” I felt sick. “I’m a monster. There are times I feel like I can’t control it.”
“That’s how you knew about the earthquake?” he breathed.
I nodded.
Once again, silence consumed us. An ache I hadn’t felt in years tugged at my heartstrings. Things would never be the same again, all because I was one of the “Chosen.” Well, I didn’t choose anything.
Josh stood up, dusting the sand from his pants. He extended a hand to me. “Let’s go for a swim.”
“What?”
“Come on,” he said, reaching down and grabbing my hand.
It was just like high school. Josh pulled me with him, dashing for the ice-cold water, which was still considerably warmer than the water we’d grown up with in Washington. As the first wave crashed against my legs, I cringed, pushing out past the breaking point. I held out my arms, allowing my body to sway back and forth with the current. I tried to let my mind go blank, if only for a few seconds, but my hyper senses wouldn’t allow it. I could feel Josh’s movements as he treaded up behind me.
“I don’t care what you are,” he murmured into my hair. He slipped his hands around my waist, flesh against flesh as my camisole gathered under my chest. I shivered, pulling away, keeping my back to him.
“You will care,” I replied solemnly, prying stray hairs from my neck. A few drops of water trickled off of the center of my parted lips, the salt stinging my tongue. I savored the pain. It reminded me that I was still alive. “One day, you’ll care about what you see, what you hear. You’ll care about the monster that I’ve become. And then, you’ll learn to stay away from me.”
“That would never happen,” he said. “I’ll never leave you. Not now, not ever. I promise you that, Zoë.”
He could deny it all he wanted, but it would happen. Whether it was in five minutes when my words really sunk in, or in a month when he witnessed me killing again. It was just a matter of time.
“You’re my best friend, you always will be. I know you, Zo. You’re a good person.”
“The girl you used to know is long gone. She died in a parking garage six years ago and she’s never coming back.”
He pulled me back into his arms. His warmth sent shockwaves down my spine. Josh caught me in his stare like a fly in a web. I froze. Never before had I seen such a look in his eyes. Was it desire? No. It couldn’t have been. My heart beat a mile a minute as his hand found its way to my cheek, caressing my jaw with his thumb. “She’s right here,” he whispered, leaning toward me. I forgot to breathe. Josh’s lips grazed the surface of mine, so light in fact, it could hardly be classified as touch.
“Hey guys!”
I gasped, pushing myself away from his strong body.
Tony was on the shoreline waving a long arm our way. Josh let out a lengthy breath and we headed in.
It was nothing, I was sure of it. It’d always been nothing. And that’s exactly how it was meant to be. We knew that.
“Always perfect timing,” Josh muttered. “Nice to see you with your clothes on.”
Tony ignored him. “Dude, you need to check your cell. You’ve had, like, five missed calls since I got here.”
Speak of the Devil. The phone rattled inside of Josh’s shoe. He picked it up and scanned the caller ID. “I’ll be right back,” he said, walking away, the phone already glued to his ear.
I locked eyes with Tony. He knew exactly what I was thinking. He put up his hands. “Calm down, Fido. I’m on your side.”
“Now would be a good time to start explaining.” My mind raced, going over each possible way I could kill him. I couldn’t be too careful. Friend or not, everyone had the ability to be a traitor. “How did you find us?”
“William told me where you’d be.”
“Keep going,” I said, suspicious.
“I’m a shifter.”
I gaped at him, lowering my guard just enough that I wasn’t constantly thinking of ripping off his head. “A what?”
“A shape shifter.” His lips curled up, flashing a cocky smile. Someone was proud of himself. Maybe “cocky” wasn’t the right word. I shuddered at the thought of his, um, manhood, hanging out in my living room. That image was definitely burned into my brain for the rest of my long life.
“Like a werewolf?” I couldn’t help but laugh. I guess anything was possible. Hell, vampires existed, maybe not the same ones that movies portrayed, but they existed nonetheless. And we existed, whatever “we” were. Who knew what else lurked in the shadows, just waiting to come out.
Tony’s mouth tightened. “Werewolves don’t exist,” he said in all seriousness.
“Oh, sorry.” I tried my hardest to keep a straight face.
“We’ve been around for centuries. It’s our job to protect the Chosen. Not that you need protecting, Fido,” he added quickly. “Sometimes I think we’re here more for companionship than anything else. We’re kind of like your guardians. Not too long after you disappeared from the hospital, William found me and all but killed me for what happened to you in that parking garage. At the time, I had no idea what you were. William told me it was time to fulfill my duties as a shift. He thought it’d be best to have someone you knew keep an eye on you. It’s a huge deal for a shift to be called to protect one of the Chosen, like one of the greatest honors for our kind. I couldn’t refuse.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “All this time, you knew about me? Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
Tony shrugged. “You had enough to deal with. Besides, William didn’t think you needed to know. You were the reason I moved to California. William wanted me to be closer to you. You know, to watch after you? I couldn’t get myself to do it, not at first. I didn’t think I could handle it.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I’d always had a little bit of a thing for you, back when you were human,” he added with a subtle smirk. He dug his toes into the sand, avoiding my eyes.
“So, what made you come to your senses?” I asked.
Tony’s face fell. “William.”
I searched his eyes, waiting for more. “I don’t understand.”
“When he told me what you were, I knew it could never happen. See, shifts, we don’t live forever. We age slower and tend to live six or seven times longer than most humans, but we aren’t immortal. Don’t get me wrong. There have been a number of shift-Chosen relationships throughout history. You guys don’t exactly have that many options when it comes to a life partner and we’re as close to immortal as it gets. That is, unless you wanted to be with one of the vamps. Don’t look at me like that,” he said when I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “It’s happened.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-four last I checked. It’s hard to keep track. As far as shifts go, I’m still extremely young. But, don’t worry – I’m strong for my age. William wouldn’t have picked me to guard you if he didn’t think I was a bad ass.” Tony grinned. “Besides, you’re still young for your kind also. We’re the perfect match.”
“But, I’ve known you since you were a kid,” I said, more than a little confused.
“The older we get, the slower we age. My aging process didn’t really slow down until I was in my late teens, when I began shifting more frequently. We don’t age when we’re in our shifted form. I probably won’t get a gray hair unti
l I’m four or five hundred years old.” That explained a lot. Tony had always had a boyish look about him.
I thought over his words. “So,” I started, “technically you could live forever in shifted form, or pretty darn close to it.”
“Yeah, but who wants to live forever?” He cringed, realizing what he’d just said. I could practically see him trying to eat his words. “That didn’t come out right.”
“No,” I shook my head. “You couldn’t have said it better. Who would ever want to willingly live forever?” It was strange hearing my worst fears come from someone else’s mouth.
After what felt like hours, I said, “So, it was William that made you move to Monterey?”
“Not exactly,” Tony hesitated, scratching the back of his head.
“What do you mean, ‘not exactly’?”
“Um, well I’ve been living a little closer than that.”
“Where?”
“In your, uh, apartment,” he mumbled.
“In my–” I stopped short, letting it sink in. I saw red. “Mr. Whiskers?!” I raged.
“While we’re on that, who the hell names their cat Mr. Whisk–”
I slapped Tony so hard it knocked him clear off his feet. I hovered over him as he spit out grains of sand, rubbing his jaw. If he were fully human, that probably would’ve snapped his neck. Not saying he deserved that. Not saying he didn’t.
“Whoa!” Josh shouted. He ran up behind me, linking his arms around mine. He dug his heels into the sand, trying to hold me back. I shook him off with little effort.
“You slept in my bed!” I exclaimed. “You saw me naked!”
Josh made a choking noise.
Tony cowered on the ground, holding his hand out in a pathetic attempt to stop me. “It’s not what you think, Zoë! William made me do it!”
God, I was sick of hearing that.
Josh stepped between us. “What’s going on here?”
I was pretty sure he was directing the question at Tony, but I answered anyway. “Nothing.”
Josh dropped his cell back into his shoe and grabbed Tony by the arm, yanking him to his feet. “I’ve got a feeling I’m saving your life right now, but I need to talk to you.”
Until Dawn: Last Light Page 7