I searched frantically for the button to roll down the windows. Once I found it, I buzzed the passenger side window all the way down, and leaned over, putting my elbow on the other seat. While pinning a man to the ground, Callum looked up and met my eyes. His were blackened completely, all that beautiful green washed away by his instinct to fight. In a second, he was standing in front of the window, moving to open the door. A small sound of amazement escaped my mouth.
Once he had slid onto the seat and closed the door, I leaned over him to yell, "Liam!"
Liam waved a hand, as if to say 'just wait', while he grabbed a werewolf by the throat and threw him into two other werewolves. He then stalked towards them, lifting them up, one by one, and tossed them onto the concrete steps. The other standing werewolves moved towards the car, growling and spitting at us.
"What the hell is he doing?" I muttered.
A growl came from deep within Callum's chest. I think it was directed at the approaching wolves.
"Liam!" I shouted again.
He ignored me this time. I huffed, opened my door, stepped out, and put my hands on the top of the car. "Get in the car!"
The werewolves were halfway across the street now. One of them held silver chains in his clawed hands and another held a container of gasoline. I saw Lucian with his arms crossed, leaning against the tree, the one where Liam had been cornered, just watching us. He sensed me looking at him, and blinked up at me.
"Call off your wolves," I said to him, gesturing to the ones that were drawing nearer to the Mercedes.
"Call off your vampire," he said, so calm it was unnerving.
I glanced at Liam. "I'm trying."
After a moment of staring impassively at me, Lucian told his wolves in that deep, accented voice, "Leave them be."
They paused in the middle of the street, taken aback. They turned to Lucian, confusion etched into their half-animal faces. Lucian ran his thumb along his bottom lip, still looking at me. Then he jerked his head towards Liam, who was so absorbed in fighting that he hadn't even noticed what had happened. "Your turn," he said.
I swallowed hard, ducked down into the car to grab the Firestar, walked back around the car, and crossed the street. I heard Callum get out of the car, ready to fight again if he had to. The werewolves followed my every movement with their strange eyes as I walked by, not understanding why Lucian was calling off the hit. But they obeyed him and left me alone.
I went by Lucian as well. His amber eyes flicked to the gun in my hand, and gave me the first sign of emotion I'd seen on him; a smile. "Perhaps 'naïve' wasn't the right word," he said.
"Perhaps not," I answered.
Standing behind Liam, I said, "Get in the damn car, Liam. They're letting us go."
Liam whirled and snarled in my face. Eyes completely washed in black, with his teeth bared, he didn't look as if he knew who I was. He was holding a bleeding werewolf by the neck, who was snatching at him with claws the size of small blades, face torn between human and wolf.
I cautiously took a step back. "Liam." I stretched out the word in warning.
He snapped his teeth at me and dropped the werewolf onto the cement. It rolled onto its feet, and headed for Lucian. Glancing in his direction, I met Lucian's amber eyes. He was watching my every move.
Liam advanced towards me, his brain still hooked on violence and blood.
"Liam." Callum's voice called coolly from beside the car.
Jerking his eyes in the direction of his master, Liam froze. He shook his head, and blinked down at me.
I nodded at the Mercedes, and said, "Let's go."
Throwing one last look at the werewolves scattered around the area, Liam took a step towards the car. I followed behind him, looking up at Lucian when I passed him.
Expression set in stone, Lucian bowed his head. "Tell Mr. Knightley that I apologize for this disruption. Had I known he was involved, we would not have done such a thing."
"Sure," I replied, and made a move to continue walking.
"Be on your guard," he rumbled suddenly. "This Lilynn woman has much planned for you."
I hesitated with on my next step, then turned and met his gaze. "What do you know?"
Pushing off the tree trunk, Lucian folded his big, overbearing arms in front of me. "Nothing. Just watch your back."
His vagueness was unhelpful, but I appreciated the warning. "I will."
"And watch out for a large white van," he said.
Startled, I asked, "What?"
Lucian merely smiled and walked towards my apartment building to collect his fallen wolves. I watched his bare back as he strolled away from me, then jogged to the running car where both Callum and Liam were waiting for me. While I headed for the driver's seat, the two of them slithered into the car, Callum up front and Liam in the back.
When I shut my door and the car fell to darkness, with only the lights of the dashboard to see by, I let my head fall back on the headrest.
"I hate werewolves," Liam growled, shifting around in his seat restlessly.
"I can tell," I said.
He grunted. He then leaned forward between the front seats and inhaled. "God, sunshine, you smell so good."
I swatted at his head.
"I damn near bit you just then, when I was fighting that werewolf," he said.
What was I supposed to say to that? I might trust a few vampires with my life, but I couldn't let myself forget that they were not human. And that they would never be human.
Callum turned around in his seat to fiercely look Liam in the eyes. Something passed between the two of them that I didn't understand. Liam bowed his head, and muttered, "Master."
I pushed the loose hair back from my ponytail and sighed. "Lucian says he apologizes for this little incident," I said. "Who is he, anyways? And who the hell doesn't wear a shirt out to an assassination?"
Callum gave me a small smile as he settled back down in his seat and looked at me. "Lucian is the leader of the California werewolf pack. I suppose you could say he is the equivalent of a master vampire."
"He doesn't wear a shirt because he doesn't want to," Liam added.
Alright, then.
"Well, he told me to watch out for a big white van," I said.
"A big white van?" Liam repeated. "How ominous."
"And one of the werewolves hinted that Lilynn put out a hit that night I got stabbed on the boardwalk," I said.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Callum's long slender fingers clench into a fist.
"Which I don't understand," I continued. "I didn't even know Lilynn before she walked into my office a few days ago."
The car fell into a thoughtful silence. I leaned forward and peered out of the windshield at my shadowed apartment building. The werewolves were gone. I was amazed that no one in my apartment building had woken up with all the commotion. I voiced this thought out loud.
"They put gas in the heating system," Liam explained, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"Oh," I said.
I glanced at Callum. He was deep in thought, staring at the glove compartment with blank eyes.
There was a tap on my window. I gasped, my heart leaping into my throat. My hand found the gun that was lying in my lap. Callum and Liam tensed. Squinting through the window, I managed to discern the face of Lucian. Exhaling noisily, I buzzed the window down.
"Might want to get a move on," Lucian said, eyes shining with that bright amber colour.
I raised an eyebrow.
"That white van I mentioned…it is on its way," he explained. He stooped down, and looked at Callum. He nodded his head in greeting. "Mr. Knightley."
"Lucian," Callum acknowledged.
I clicked in my seatbelt and yanked the car into drive, and said, "Thanks, Lucian," before stepping on the gas.
* * *
I had never driven so fast. Other cars blurred as I passed them. My heart was pounding frantically with fear. I didn't know who or what was in this white van, but I had a
feeling that I didn't want to find out.
Liam was backseat-driving like a maniac. He was only concerned for his new car, though, so I tuned him out. All his "watch the paint job!" comments and "go easy on the brakes" remarks were quite unheard by me.
Callum directed me to his house, which was only about twenty minutes away from my own. We were about a minute away from reaching it, when a white van darted from a side street on the right. I slammed on the brakes to avoid crashing into it, my seatbelt cutting into my chest.
I turned my head to check on Callum and Liam. They had both remained in their seats without a problem. Callum looked at me sharply. "You all right?" he asked, and I nodded. He turned his head to look out the window.
We were on a small, empty street. It was just the white van and us. How convenient.
A woman stepped out of the van. It wasn't Lilynn. This lady was small, muscular, and scary as hell. She raised one finger and gave me the "come here" gesture. Breathing heavily, I stomped on the gas, swerving around the car and the woman, and whipped down the street. Callum's house lay at the end, surrounded by a stone wall, the only entrance a massive metal gate. I headed for it, gripping the steering wheel with white-knuckled hands.
The gate to the house came into view in a matter of moments. But there was a problem; another white van was parked next to the gate, waiting for us. I slowed the car, and muttered, "What now?"
By the security lights, I could see three people standing in front of the gate. Each held a wooden crucifix the size of their torsos. I leaned forward in my seat and saw that one of the cross-bearing people was Lilynn Blaise. I leaned back. I was really getting sick of this.
Lilynn glowered at me, red hair blowing in the breeze. She looked exactly the same as she had in my office. Fair complexion, shoulder-length hair, vibrant eyes, stick-thin figure. Her frail fingers gripped her crucifix harder as I scanned her, and then raised it high in the air. Liam snarled from the backseat.
I turned to Callum, and noticed that his eyes had blackened as he looked at the cross. I hadn't believed that such a powerful creature could be repelled by a piece of wood, but looking at Callum and his unnaturally black eyes, I believed it now.
One of the men standing next to Lilynn raised his crucifix as well, giving me a self-satisfied smile. On Lilynn's other side stood another man, cross shaking and face stark white.
"Callum," I said without looking at him. "How do you open the gates?"
Sounding a little distracted by the crucifixes, he said, "There's a code."
I put the car in park. "What's the code?"
"7245."
Grabbing my gun, I opened the door of the car and stepped out, the gravel of the road crunching under my feet. Before Callum or Liam could say anything, I slammed the door shut.
Lilynn and the two men had startled looks on their faces. I stalked towards them, gun lowered and nonthreatening. They raised their crosses higher, using them like a shield, expecting them to repel me as they repelled vampires, eyes frantic with excitement and fear.
Stopping within two feet of them, I said, "Hi, guys. Would you mind moving out of the way?"
Lilynn defiantly said, "No."
I felt my face go from vaguely blank to extremely unpleasant. I exhaled. "Lilynn, I'd suggest you move."
"You killed Damien."
Well, she wasted no time getting into it.
"You tried to kill me," I said. "More than once."
Her thin, white lips pressed together. "You killed Damien!" she screamed suddenly, throwing the crucifix to the ground and clenching her fists. She advanced on me, face turning a nasty shade of red. "You killed him!"
I stood my ground. She took a swing at me, but I dodged it easily. As she brought her fist back for another strike, I stepped around her and punched '7245' into the small lighted keypad on the side of the gate. The gates creaked open slowly. I turned back around, just in time to avoid another one of Lilynn's punches. Her fist hit the hard metal gate and she let out a yelp of pain. The two men with her shifted around uselessly.
"You bitch! You fucking bitch!" Lilynn shouted, voice shaking and echoing in the stillness of the night. She clutched her bleeding hand to her chest.
Edging around the shaking man in the direction of the car, I looked at the three of them. "Leave," I said. "Because if you don't, I'm either going to shoot you or run you over."
Callum and Liam had gotten out of the car at some point, and were standing in front of it. I gestured for them to get in and climbed in the driver's seat. Once both Callum and Liam had shut their doors, I put the car in drive. Lilynn and her two cronies barely made it out of the way before we shot through the gate, abandoned crucifixes crunching under the wheels of the car. I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the gates swinging closed after us and three figures standing frozen. They didn't dare come onto Callum's property.
Callum's mansion was set far back from the main gates. The car was in a state of silence as we bumped down the gravel road. I pulled into the large circular driveway, parking the car directly in front of the house. I turned off the car and pulled out the keys.
"Something is honestly wrong with that woman," I muttered.
The car stayed quiet, tension saturating the air. I turned to Callum, who blinked at me, and then to Liam, who smoothed his hair down.
"What?" I asked.
Callum's face hardened. "What you did back there was…reckless and stupid," he said harshly.
My mouth opened and closed, words failing to come out.
"Yes, sunshine, he's right," Liam said. He coughed. "I'm also upset at how you treated my car. The way you just ran right over those crucifixes…God, I nearly died again." I gave him a look. He shrugged and added suspiciously, "You're sure you have a driver's license? A legally obtained one?"
Narrowing my eyes at him, I replied, "The car? Really? That's your biggest concern right now?"
Callum opened his door and was opening my own before I could even register he had moved from the seat beside me. He held out a hand and said, "Come."
I got out, leaving both the keys and the gun. He still looked angry and cold, so I didn't take his hand. He frowned a bit, a faint crease between his eyebrows, and then began walking up the steps to his house. I followed, and Liam caught up with me. Leaning into my arm, he whispered, "When he's in a bad mood, it's usually best to give him his space."
When we reached the front door, it opened the moment Callum stepped in front of it. It swung open to reveal the majestic entrance hall. My eyes swept over the long purple drapes, the chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling, the grand staircase on the left, and the delicate marble floors. It still took my breath away.
Callum waited for Liam and me to join him in the center of the room. His eyes flicked to Liam and he gave a slight nod.
Liam bowed his head and went through a door on the right. Callum and I stood alone, avoiding each other's eyes. I stared down at the complex marble patterns underneath my feet, hands playing with the edge of my shirt.
"I will show you to your room," Callum grumbled, and started up the winding staircase.
I trailed behind him, even though I had never agreed to stay at his house for the night. Considering it seemed I couldn't go an hour without being assaulted in some way, and with Lilynn and her crew outside the gates, I didn't argue. Callum's house was the safest place I could be right now.
At the top of the steps, there was a long hallway that went both right and left. The carpet was a plush red, and the wallpaper tastefully matched it. Paintings hung from the walls, with small, dim lamps spreading yellow light over them. Callum turned right, and moved so quickly that I had to jog to keep up. I grimaced. He was purposely not making this easy.
He slowed in front of a door and opened it. He flicked on the light and motioned me to enter. I did, slowly, taking in my surroundings. The room was large and filled with beautiful shades of blue. There were heavy navy-coloured drapes hanging in front of the windows, to prevent any light
from peeking through, no doubt. The bed was the biggest that I'd ever seen, covered with blue and white pillows, and a magnificent wooden headboard that looked decades old.
"I hope this is agreeable," Callum said quietly from the doorway.
I twisted around to look at him. His face was smooth and void of any emotion. I nodded, and replied, "It's wonderful."
He inclined his head. "I will leave you now. Goodnight, Dahlia."
"Wait," I said, taking a step towards him. I didn't want to leave things the way they were.
He froze where he was, brilliant eyes focused on my face.
"What's…" I fought with what words to use. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," he said, a little too bluntly.
"Callum," I said softly. "Don't be—"
"Don't be what?" he growled, walking up to me, so close I could see the scar above his eyebrow clearly. "Don't be what, Dahlia? Don't be angry? Don't be worried?" He gripped my arms.
"I—"
"What you did out there was stupid," he said in a deathly cold voice, staring a hole in me with flashing green eyes. "You could have been killed. What were you thinking?" His jaw clenched and his eyes squeezed shut. "Were you even thinking?"
He had never been mad at me like this before. It cut deep. That tight feeling in my chest warned me I might cry, so I shoved it down and glared up at him.
"I can take care of myself," I snapped.
"No, you can't," he said.
I pulled myself out of his grip, now angry myself. He let me go, but continued to tower over me. "I've been taking care of myself way before you came along," I retorted.
His jaw clenched again. "You—"
"Don't get me wrong," I said. "I owe you my life for saving me all those times, but I'm not a weak little human girl, Callum."
Death of Night Page 34