But even more upsetting was Senara’s threat to kill Lucas. He was going to have to go into hiding, whether he liked it or not. At least until we came up with a plan to kill the bitch.
I was still seething over Senara when Henry walked into the library.
“Ready?” he asked, but his face fell when he saw my expression.
“Senara was here,” I explained before he could ask.
I told Henry what she had said, leaving out the embarrassing parts, the ones about sex.
“She told me to stay away from Lucas,” I admitted.
“Did she say why?” Henry asked.
“No,” I lied. “Guess she’s afraid we might team up and come after her?” I suggested.
“Ugh.” Henry shook his head. “This is getting way too complicated.”
“You got that right,” I muttered. “But I don’t think I need to warn Lucas this very minute. Let’s go see that jackass; let me get some of his hair.”
“Okay,” Henry replied. We left the library and headed towards the gym.
“I’ll be right outside,” Henry said. “I don’t want Benji to see me, but if anything, and I repeat anything happens, you scream as loud as possible.”
“I will,” I agreed. Normally I would have been nervous, doing something like this, but all I could think about was Senara. I wanted to wrap my hands around her perfect neck and squeeze until there was no life left inside her. If that would even kill her.
Is this really what I’ve become? A cold-blooded killer. I tried to convince myself that Senara deserved it. After all, she really did. But I knew my motives. And they weren’t pure – they were personal.
Henry and I peered through the see-through door of the gym. Sure enough, there was Benji, lying down on a weight bench doing press ups.
“Here goes nothing…” I gave Henry a half smile and pushed the door open, entering the gym.
Benji didn’t look up. I strode purposefully towards him. “Hey, douchebag,” I snapped.
Benji put the weight back on the rack and glanced towards me. “You,” he spat out.
As I got closer, I could see his face looked even more swollen than the last time I had seen him. What did you expect? It’s barely been a week.
“Yes, me,” I said, feeling the anger bubbling up inside my chest. It wasn’t just Benji I was furious at – no, it was everything. Senara for threatening me and trying to turn me against Lucas, Magnus for demanding I kill Leon, Leon for killing me in the first place…
I walked over to Benji, who was now eyeing me warily.
“What do you want? Haven’t you done enough already?” he asked. His voice was menacing but I could hear the hint of fear in it.
Good. Serves him right.
I sat down at the end of the weight bench and smiled. “You think you’re so hot,” I said calmly. “But you know what? I’m glad I beat the shit out of you. What I did to you will never make up for what you tried to do to me. And the abuse you’ve inflicted on countless other girls.”
I clenched my hands into fists; I could feel my anger building. I willed myself to keep it together. But Senara’s visit, combined with the knowledge of what Benji had intended to do to me, had me seeing red. I knew I was out of control, but I didn’t know how to stop it. And the worst part was, I didn’t care. I had never wanted to hurt another living creature before in my life. But right now, at this very moment, all I wanted to do was kill Benji Bloomer.
God help me…
With a primal scream, I lurched forward towards Benji. He scrambled off the weight bench and backed up against the wall, his hands out in front of him. “No! Please!” I heard as I lunged at him.
I scraped my nails down Benji’s face, watching with satisfaction as the blood oozed out of the deep gashes. Then, I punched his already bandaged nose. “I hope you’re disfigured after I’m through with you,” I screamed as my fist connected with bone.
Benji flailed, trying desperately to get me off of him. But I was a woman unhinged. He deserves this and more, I thought furiously. Just for good measure, I punched him in the abdomen as hard as possible and watched him double over in agony, clutching his stomach.
“You’re crazy!” he screamed. “What are you doing to me?”
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” I seethed, meaning every word of it. I grabbed his head, vaguely remembering the plan was for me to get some of his hair. Maybe if I tug hard enough I can pull his scalp off.
I bunched Benji’s hair into my hand. He was struggling, trying to break free, but I easily held him against the wall, the familiar heat of absolute power coursing through me. You can’t kill him! a voice in my head screamed.
But why not? I had been so concerned about what Henry would do after Benji’s attack, but now I could see crystal clear that Henry had been right. Benji deserved to die. And I was the one who was going to kill him.
You’ll go to jail! the voice screamed. I hesitated. My DNA would be all over Benji. Is this what you really want?
It was, but the practicality of the situation was starting to get to me. I wouldn’t get away with this. I stopped pulling on Benji’s scalp, noticing that I had a huge clump of his hair wadded in my fist. Henry will be happy, I thought.
I dug my knee into Benji’s groin as hard as possible, watching in satisfaction as he crumbled to the ground. “If you ever touch another woman I’ll fucking kill you,” I raged. “I’ll cut off your balls and massacre your face!” I screamed, barely understanding what I was saying. Even though Benji was already in the fetal position, I kicked him again.
“Aurora!” I spun around, not sure if I’d really heard my name. It was Henry!
“What the fuck are you doing? Come on! Come on! We’ve got to go!”
His panic spurred me into action and I followed him out of the gym in a daze. Benji was still lying in a heap by the wall.
“I hope he dies,” I said harshly as I got into Henry’s car.
“No you don’t,” was his immediate response.
“Oh yeah, I do,” I replied vehemently. I uncurled my fist and let the hair fall to the floor of Henry’s car. “Henry, you take this and do whatever spell you want,” I said calmly. “But I’m done. Benji is a worthless excuse for a human. Mark my words: if you don’t kill him, I will.”
Chapter 9
I had to tell Lucas about Senara. But I hadn’t quite figured out what I was going to say. It was too embarrassing to admit the truth, and even worse, I’d let her get inside my head. I was having doubts about Lucas’ character. She’d known him a lot longer than me. And by his own admission he’d done some terrible things in the past. Did that involve using women for sex and tossing them to the curb?
But I couldn’t put off warning him. Senara was obviously making the rounds. First Jet, then me. She’d be visiting Lucas soon; I was sure of it.
He picked up on the first ring when I finally forced myself to call him that evening.
“Rory,” he said, sounding genuinely glad to hear from me.
“Hey,” I replied, hoping my voice was normal. “I was at the library after school today, and Senara showed up,” I said, getting right to the point.
“What? Are you okay?” Lucas demanded.
“I’m fine,” I assured him. “She was just trying to intimidate me. Said she was checking out the competition. Sounds like she’s heard the same prophecy as Leon.” I paused. “But I’m afraid you could be in danger, Lucas. She said if I didn’t stay away from you that she’d kill you.”
Lucas sighed. “So she knows that I was supposed to hunt you and didn’t go through with it.”
“She mentioned that,” I said vaguely. “Lucas, I think you should leave your apartment, go into hiding.”
“No,” he said.
“Why?” I asked. “You’re always telling me to be careful, not take risks. If you stay in your apartment you’re a sitting duck!”
“If Senara wanted to kill me, she’d have done it already,” Lucas argued. “I’m not going t
o be threatened by her. Besides, you think she doesn’t know where you live, too? Let’s face it, she can find any one of us if she really wants to.”
“What are you going to do if she shows up?” I asked.
“I won’t antagonize her,” Lucas assured me. “We just need to get through this weekend. Once we have Leon, Magnus and Tobias locked in Hell we can formulate a plan to get rid of her, too.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
“Did Senara say anything else?” Lucas asked.
“No,” I said hastily. “I’ve got a lot of homework to do. I’d better get back to it.” I hung up the phone before Lucas could answer.
My head was screwed. I didn’t know who to trust, who to believe. I felt like I was losing my mind. How had I come so close, again, to killing Benji? And why hadn’t I been able to unleash that power on Senara?
I flopped back down onto my bed and closed my eyes. I stayed there, lost in thought, until I heard the doorbell ring, and then I sat up abruptly.
Surely Senara hadn’t come to my house to threaten me again. I couldn’t take another surprise.
“Aurora?” Mom called up the stairs a minute later. “Lucas is here to see you.”
Lucas! “Um, okay,” I said nervously. “Tell him to come on up.”
I took a quick glance in my mirror, trying to smooth my hair, wishing I’d had warning that he was coming over. And then there was Lucas, standing awkwardly in the doorframe of my bedroom.
“What are you doing here?” I asked in a low voice, motioning for him to come inside.
“Door open or closed?” he asked.
“Uh, I guess closed,” I said. I didn’t know the rules about boys in my bedroom with the door closed, mostly because it had never happened before.
Lucas sat down next to me on the edge of the bed. “I just had to see you. You didn’t sound like yourself on the phone.”
I wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I’m fine. It’s just been a long day.”
“I don’t believe you. What else did she say to you? I know how Senara works. I’m sure, if she had any clue how close we’d become, that she’d try to poison you against me.” Lucas gently touched my face, tilting it towards him. “Come on, look at me,” he said.
I leaned forward and buried my face in his chest, wrapping my arms around his neck. “It’s embarrassing,” I said in a muffled voice.
Lucas caressed my back. “After everything we’ve been through, you shouldn’t ever have to feel embarrassed to talk to me about anything.”
I pulled back and looked away again. “She just made a jab at me about being…inexperienced,” I finally said.
“I like that you’re inexperienced, as you put it,” Lucas said in a flirty voice. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“That’s part of the problem,” I blurted out. “She said if I got close to you, you’d use me for one thing and leave me afterwards.”
“What?” Lucas sounded genuinely surprised. “She’s just trying to get in your head. Even in my wildest days, I didn’t do that kind of stuff,” Lucas said, shaking his head.
“I guess I know that deep down,” I said haltingly. “It’s just that – I don’t know, the fact that she’s been with you and I haven’t been with anyone…” My voice trailed off.
Lucas hugged me to him. “I wish I could erase that part of my past,” he admitted, “but I can’t. But I promise you, you don’t need to waste your time worrying about any of the garbage she said to you. I don’t ever think about her. Ever.”
I smiled, feeling a little bit better.
“Now we’re even. I’ve had my freak out over Jet and you’ve had yours over Senara,” he said jokingly.
“Oh, Lucas, what are we going to do?” I asked.
“You have to believe in yourself. When the opportunity comes, I know you’ll be able to get rid of Senara. It’s too bad we can’t push her into Hell, too,” he mused.
I laughed. “I don’t think we should complicate that plan any more than we already have. But I’m worried, Lucas.”
“So am I. But all the worry in the world won’t change a thing.” Lucas cupped my chin in his hands and kissed me softly.
“Knock! Knock!” came my mom’s voice from the other side of the door. Without waiting for an answer, she barged in. Lucas and I jumped apart guiltily.
“Lucas, I brought you some iced tea,” Mom said, pretending she hadn’t seen us kissing. “And I wasn’t sure if you like it sweet or not, so here are some sugar packets.”
“Thanks, Audrey,” Lucas replied, taking the glass from her.
Mom turned to leave, not closing the door behind her.
“I wish we could have our own space,” I said wistfully.
“Maybe we can,” Lucas replied with a smile. He stood up. “I’d better get going. I know you have homework to do,” he teased.
I slapped his arm playfully. “Am I that transparent?”
“I knew something was wrong, and that’s why I rushed over,” Lucas replied. “I don’t want you keeping things from me, no matter how trivial – or embarrassing – they may seem. And I promise I won’t keep anything from you. Deal?”
“Deal,” I agreed, walking with Lucas downstairs. I took the glass of iced tea and poured it down the sink so my mom wouldn’t ask why he didn’t drink it.
“Thanks again for the tea, Audrey,” Lucas said to my mom when we got into the main room.
“Oh, you’re going so soon?” Mom smiled. “As long as Aurora’s caught up on schoolwork I don’t mind if you hang out here. You’re welcome to stay for dinner as well.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I do need to get home,” Lucas said. I stepped outside with Lucas, closing the door behind me.
Lucas took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “See you soon,” he whispered, and then he was gone.
Chapter 10
The rest of the week crawled by at a snail’s pace. Henry told me he had done the spell to make sure Benji – at least temporarily – wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else. And thank God, my total ape-shit freak out hadn’t caused any real damage. Benji was back at school the next day, looking like his usual ugly self except for the long scratches I’d left down his face.
And then, as each day painfully ticked by, suddenly it was Saturday. After her visits to Jet and me, Senara had remained eerily quiet. Don’t get me wrong, I was glad she hadn’t contacted Lucas, but I was sure she was plotting and just waiting for the right moment. And that scared the hell out of me.
Lucas called me Saturday morning. “You ready for tonight?” he asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied.
“And what about Henry?” Lucas said.
“He says he’s ready. I don’t know. Henry’s been…distant this week,” I said. I had barely seen him at school apart from our classes, and he hadn’t joined me for lunch in the library even once.
“I’m sure he’s just got a lot on his mind, like all of us.” Lucas paused. “Nicholas and I will pick you up at 7:30 tonight. We can pick up Henry, too, on the way. We need time for Nic and me to hide and figure out where Henry is going to set up shop. It will be tricky making sure we’re all out of view from Magnus and Tobias. I’m sure Magnus expects me to accompany you, but he’ll know we’re up to something if he sees Henry or Nic.”
“Okay,” I said nervously.
After I got off the phone with Lucas, I called Henry.
“Lucas will pick you up after he gets me,” I said. “So we can all ride there together.”
“No, I’m planning to go myself,” Henry replied.
“Why?” I asked in surprise.
“I need to get there early and set everything up,” Henry explained.
“But there’s safety in numbers,” I said worriedly.
“I’ll be fine,” Henry assured me. “I’ll text Lucas and get the coordinates. I’ll already be there when you guys arrive, ready for go time,” he said grimly.
I gulped. “Okay. And Henry?”
&nb
sp; “Yeah?”
“If I don’t get to talk to you, you know, before, well…good luck.”
“Same to you,” he replied. “And no matter what happens tonight, Aurora, promise me we’ll still be okay.”
“That’s an odd thing to say,” I replied. “Do you think I’d be mad at you if the spell didn’t work or something?” I asked in confusion.
“No, nothing like that,” Henry assured me. “It’s just I have a feeling that after tonight life as we know it is never going to be the same. And I just need reassurance from my best friend that you’ll still be there.”
“Of course I will!” I said. “And I have every confidence that you are going to close the Gates, with Tobias, Magnus and Leon trapped inside. For eternity.”
“That’s the plan,” Henry said lightly.
###
Lucas and Nicholas arrived at 7:30 to pick me up. My parents had gone out to dinner, so at least I didn’t have to deal with my mom tonight. I guess after seeing me kiss Lucas – despite my claim that there was nothing going on between us – she figured we were going out on a date. I didn’t actually even try to deny it. Just told her we were seeing a movie and would be back later.
Yeah, front row seats to the new action-packed thriller, The Gates of Hell, I thought sarcastically.
“How are you doing?” Nic asked, turning around in the front seat.
“I’m hanging in there,” I said nervously.
“We’ll be right nearby,” Lucas assured me. “And as soon as Magnus pushes Tobias through the Gates, I’ll throw him in after.”
“Okay,” I said, hoping it would be as easy as they made it sound.
“The Gates are right around here,” Lucas said, pointing at an open field. “I’m going to park farther away so my car isn’t in plain sight.” He continued another quarter of a mile before pulling his car to the side of the road.
Wordlessly, we got out and headed back towards the field. “Where are you going to hide?” I asked. “If it’s just an open field.”
End Game (Vampire Hunter Book 6) Page 6