Slade (Venom Series) Book Two

by Kristen Middleton

  “We hope not,” said Liam, still staring at Slade. “You cool with this?”

  Slade frowned. “Guess I’ll have to be.”

  “Who is Talia Mayerich?” I asked him, curious.

  “Nobody special,” he answered.

  “Don’t let her hear you say that. She’ll box out your ears,” said Liam, smirking.

  I began to wonder if she was his ex-girlfriend. “Did you two date or something?”

  “No,” replied Slade sharply.

  “Okay then,” said Melody, looking at him with an amused expression. “Obviously, you two have some kind of history together.”

  Slade didn’t say anything.

  I cleared my throat. “Is she one of you?”

  “She’s a vampire,” said Slade. He turned to the pilot. “Steve, is there any way we can avoid picking her up?”

  He smiled weakly. “Sorry, man. I have my orders.”

  Slade swore under his breath.

  “Should we just call my brother?” asked Liam. “I’m sure if we explain…”

  “Screw it,” muttered Slade, walking quickly toward the plane with our bags. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  Liam turned to Steve. “Why exactly are we picking her up? Did my brother say?”

  “They’re working together on some project,” said Steve. “That’s all I know. Sorry, man.”

  “It’s not your fault,” said Liam. “Hell, maybe we’ll be lucky and she’ll change her mind once she sees Slade on the plane. I don’t think she cares for him, either.”

  Steve chuckled. “You never know. Well, I’m going to do the pre-flight checkups. I have a co-pilot coming in any minute, so we should be taking off shortly.”

  “Sounds good,” said Liam.

  “Slade must really hate Talia,” I said as we began walking to the jet.

  “With good reason,” said Liam.

  “What is the reason?” I asked.

  “I don’t know if I should talk about it,” he replied. “It’s really not my place.”

  “Liam, it’s not a big deal,” said Jimmy. “I doubt Slade will care if we tell them who she is. Talia was Vanessa’s twin sister.”

  My eyes widened. “Who was Vanessa?”

  “Slade’s girlfriend, or fiancée,” said Liam.

  “He’s engaged?” asked Melody.

  “No. This was many years ago,” said Liam. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think they were engaged. But, he probably would have married her.”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “That, I can’t get into,” replied Liam. “You’ll have to ask Slade if you really want to know.”

  “Did they break up because of Talia?” I asked, intrigued.

  “To be honest, I don’t know exactly what happened,” said Liam. He smiled. “Man, you’re persistent. You’d make a good reporter.”

  “That’s what I keep telling her,” said Melody.

  “So, whatever happened to Vanessa?” I asked, unable to let it go.

  Liam didn’t answer.

  “Does Slade ever talk about her?” I prodded.

  “He doesn’t like to,” said Liam, his eyes softening. “It’s not an easy subject.”

  “Because of Talia?” I asked.

  Liam sighed. “Because of Vanessa. She’s dead.”

  THIRTY MINUTES LATER, we were in the air and heading to New York to pick up Talia. A woman I despised almost as passionately as I’d loved her sister.

  “So, what are you going to do about Talia?” asked Liam, who was sitting next to me on the jet. We were near the front, away from the others.

  “Nothing. Ignore her.”

  “I was going to suggest the same thing. Hell, maybe she won’t even show up at the airport.”

  “And maybe the world’s going to end before we reach it.” I grunted. “I could only be so lucky.”

  “Are you afraid she’s going to try something on the plane? I mean, seriously. I think you’re over-thinking this too much.”

  “Maybe I am.” I lowered my voice. “But, she went a little crazy the last time we met.”

  “That was right after Vanessa’s death, right? And she blamed you for it.”

  I nodded. “Which was bullshit. As far as I’m concerned, she’s the one who killed her sister.”

  “Do you really think the outcome would have been any different if Vanessa would have heard the news from you and not Talia? The fact about you being a vampire.”

  “I could have at least prevented her from taking her own life,” I said quietly.

  “You don’t know that for sure. You couldn’t follow her around every second of the day.”

  “No, but I could have broken things to her gently. Explained why I hadn’t told her that I was a vampire. I can’t begin to imagine what Talia said to her,” I mumbled, thinking back to the days leading to Vanessa’s death, when I hadn’t known that she’d even had a twin. Not until after Talia had seduced and coerced me into making her into a vampire. “The woman provokes trouble. Revels in it. I wouldn’t doubt if she starts something on the plane.”

  Liam sighed. “Should I call my brother and explain the situation? See if he’ll tell Talia to find another flight?”

  I rubbed my forehead. “She probably expects it. I don’t want her to think that she has any kind of effect on me. Let’s just leave it alone.”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “I’ll just keep my distance when she boards. Do you have any idea how she met your brother and why she’s even getting on the plane?”

  “Steve mentioned that Talia is working for him. That’s all I know.”

  “I hope he understands what kind of woman he’s getting involved with.” I frowned, remembering how she’d attacked me the last time we’d met face-to-face. Because she looked so much like Vanessa, and I’d always made it a rule to never harm a woman if I could help it, I’d barely walked away in one piece. “She’s conniving and shameless. I still can’t believe she and Vanessa were related, let alone twins.”

  “Do you think Talia was jealous of her?”

  “Probably. Vanessa was as sweet as they come. She genuinely loved life and teaching all of those kids,” I said, remembering the various stories she’d tell me. She’d been a teacher in Romania, which is how we’d met. I’d taken shelter in the schoolhouse late one evening. I’d been hurt after getting attacked by another vampire, and needed a place to crash. When she arrived early the next morning, I’d quickly charmed her into forgetting about me. But, I hadn’t forgotten about her. Two weeks later, we had a “chance” encounter at a bookstore. After that, it was outside of a pub, when a drunkard tried to pick her up. I’d come to her rescue, and from that day forward, we went from being friends to something much more. I fell in love with her and she seemed to have fallen equally hard for me. Unfortunately, we’d never consummated our love, although I’d been mistaken to believe that we had. When Talia pretended to be Vanessa and lured me into bed. How Talia had found out that I was a vampire, was still a mystery. Especially since I’d kept it a secret from Vanessa.

  “This has always confused me – why didn’t Vanessa ever bring up Talia?” asked Liam.

  “I don’t know. My guess is that she didn’t trust her. With good reason.”

  What I did know was that Vanessa hadn’t ever liked talking about her past. In fact, it had been Talia who had confided to me, that their parents had died when they were ten years old. After the funeral, the girls were placed in an orphanage and that’s where they stayed until they turned sixteen. During their time there, instead of comforting each other, they grew apart. Eventually, they both went their separate ways.

  “Are you even certain that Vanessa killed herself?” asked Liam, softly.

  That question had entered my mind, in the beginning. Especially knowing the lengths that Talia had taken to become a vampire. She never truly cared about me or Vanessa. She only wanted the gifts that came with being an immortal. But then, I’d seen the note. Recogn
ized Vanessa’s handwriting. Felt the sadness and desperation in the letter. “She wrote me a note,” I murmured, picturing it in my mind. There were tear stains near her signature and the faint smell of her perfume, which had lingered on the paper for months afterwards. In it, she’d stated that she couldn’t live with the knowledge that she was in love with a vampire. Someone who took human life, when she valued it so much. She claimed that she couldn’t live with or without me… and the choice for her had been simple. By killing herself, she wouldn’t have to live with the guilt of loving someone like me. That confession had broken me up inside.

  “I know. But, are you certain the note was written by Vanessa?”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Talia. Maybe she wrote the note?”

  “As calculating as she was, her tears were real when she found out about her sister. And she blamed me for causing her death. It’s why she attacked and almost killed me.”

  He smirked. “Slade, come on. She tricked you into believing that she was Vanessa. She’s obviously a great actress. How can you be so sure that she didn’t orchestrate that, too? Killed Vanessa. Wrote the note. Faked the tears?”

  I sighed. “I can’t.”

  THE PLANE WAS incredible.

  “Can you believe this is a plane?” asked Melody, who was in awe.

  “It’s pretty wild,” I agreed, looking around. The leather passenger seats had their own leg-rests, there was a small sectional with a table in the back, a queen-sized berth, two widescreen televisions, and a small galley with a stove. Even with all of the comfort it offered, however, I couldn’t relax. I felt like things were moving much too fast.

  “It’s going to be okay,” said Melody, smiling at me as we buckled our seatbelts. “Don’t worry.”

  I forced a smile. “Okay.”

  As we lifted off and began our ascent, I tapped my foot nervously, still feeling as if we were making a huge mistake.

  “You doing okay?” asked Melody after a few minutes of fiddling with her hair, which looked chic, considering everything we’d been through. We were sitting away from the others in two of the cream-colored plush seats near the back of the plane.

  I stopped biting the side of my nail and smirked. “Yeah. Peachy.”

  She smiled. “Have you ever been on a plane before?”

  “No. Mom never liked flying. What about you?”

  “I have, but nothing like this,” she said, running her hands along the leather armrests. “I’m sure this jet cost Liam’s brother a fortune.”

  “I bet.”

  “So, what do you think?”

  “About what?”

  “Flying, silly.”

  I shrugged. “I guess it isn’t as bad as my mother made it out to be. Although,” I frowned. “I think my ears are plugged.”

  “Swallow. You’ll feel better.”

  I did and I could suddenly hear again.

  “Better?”

  “Yes.”

  I stared out the window as we entered the grayish white clouds. It was then that the plane suddenly hit turbulence. My breath caught in my throat and I dug my nails into the armrest. “What’s happening?” I squealed, although, I had a pretty good idea. I just needed to hear her tell me that we were okay.

  “Just a little wind. There is nothing to be concerned about,” she said, putting her feet up. “It’s kind of fun, actually.”

  I stared at her in horror. “Fun? You actually enjoy this?”

  “Sure,” said Melody.

  I didn’t say anything. I was a bundle of nerves. Fortunately, as we flew above the clouds, the plane levelled off and there wasn’t any more turbulence.

  She motioned toward the window. “Isn’t it beautiful up here?”

  “Sure,” I replied, wiping small beads of sweat from my forehead with a napkin. “If you like being thousands of miles above ground and at the mercy of a machine. They did check the oil on this thing before we left, right?”

  “Are you kidding me? This plane looks like it’s brand new. It’s probably worth millions of dollars. We have nothing to worry about. And yes, I’m pretty sure we both heard them say something about pre-check.”

  “What if they forgot something?” I said, feeling a touch of hysteria. “I hope they checked the brakes and the tires. What if they don’t come down? I saw a video on YouTube where that happened just recently. It was scary.”

  “Seriously, you need to relax. Maybe we should see if Slade can hypnotize you, or whatever it’s called?”

  I unbuckled my seatbelt. “No way. That’s just masking the danger and I’d prefer to be aware of it.”

  “Chelsey, more people die in automobile accidents than plane rides. It just feels more dangerous, because you’re up in the sky.”

  “Yeah, well there are a lot of stupid automobile drivers out there. There shouldn’t be any comparison. We’re flying. Things can go wrong. Things that the pilots can’t control.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Things can go wrong anywhere. Walking out your front door, driving under a bridge, visiting a night club.”

  “Getting onto a plane.”

  She groaned loudly. “Oh, for God’s sake… would you just chill the hell out? Everything is going to be fine.”

  I looked outside and started thinking about how high up we really were. I turned away quickly. “Can we change seats?”

  “Yeah, of course,” she said, unbuckling her seatbelt. As we switched, my eyes met with Slade’s. He was in the front section, with Liam.

  “Everything okay?” he called, looking concerned.

  I forced a smile. “Just switching spots. So Melody can see better.” I laughed nervously. “Don’t want to hog up the beautiful view up here.”

  He gave me a knowing smile. Obviously, I wasn’t fooling him. “Okay.”

  “Hey, do either of you girls want a massage? It might help you relax,” said Liam with a wicked grin.

  “I’d love to have his hands on me,” murmured Melody.

  “No thanks,” I called back. “We’re fine.”

  Melody scowled at me. “Speak for yourself.”

  “I need you with me,” I said.

  “Let me know if you change your mind.” He rubbed his shoulder. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind one, myself. Slade, would you do the honors?”

  Slade told him where he could go for that massage.

  Liam threw his head back and laughed.

  “So, is this better?” asked Melody when we were both buckled back in.

  I felt trapped. Ironically, like a caged bird that couldn’t fly. But, I could tell that she was getting really annoyed with me, so I decided to keep my anxiety under wraps. “Yes. Thanks.” I took a deep breath. “So, how long does it take until we land in New York?”

  “Not too long.” She stared at me in amusement. “Look at you. I’ve never seen you so freaked out before. You must really hate flying.”

  “I don’t hate flying. I just hate… dying.”

  She laughed. “Would you stop already? Nobody is going to die. Besides, I’m sure Slade would catch you before you reached the ground. He can fly, you know.”

  “It won’t help if I’m burning from jet fuel. I’d probably rather just die at that point.”

  She laughed. “Panic much?”

  “Sorry, I just can’t help it,” I replied, closing my eyes. “Maybe I’ll just take a nap. Wake me when we get to New York.”

  “Okay. Man, it’s too bad you and the others don’t appreciate how beautiful it is up here,” she said, looking around. “Everyone else has their window covers down.”

  “They’re probably sensitive to the brightness,” I replied, opening my eyes again.

  “Vampires.” She sighed. “At least Liam can handle the sun. He looks hot with a tan. I wonder if they have a pool?” She grinned. “If he sees me in a bikini, I must just get him to notice me.”

  I grunted. “Melody, have you ever thought of playing hard to get?”

  Her eyes widened. “No. Not with
guys like Liam. Celebrities, especially rock stars, are the ones that are hard to get, Chelsey.”

  From what I understood, they weren’t that hard to get. Not when you were young, blond, and curvy. And flaunted your assets around like candy. Or… in the case of Venom, blood.

  “Well, good luck with that,” I said, yawning.

  “Why don’t you take a nap? I’ll let you know if we’re going to crash.”

  “Thanks,” I said dryly.

  “Seriously, go to sleep. It will make it easier for both of us.”

  “Okay,” I said. I closed my eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep. It wasn’t until we were descending that I woke up and began having another panic attack.

  “We’re going to die,” I gasped.

  Melody sighed. “Not this again.”

  “Are we going down too quickly? It feels like we are,” I said, trying to look around her and out the window.

  “This is normal, Chelsey.”

  “Is she okay?” asked Slade, who was now standing next to us.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “No,” answered Melody at the same time.

  He handed me a small paper bag. “I heard if you breathe in and out of one of these, it will help.”

  I looked at it and frowned. “Why? Will I forget that I’m flying?”

  He laughed. “No.”

  “Actually, I heard that using one of those can make it worse,” I said, remembering that I’d learned about that in one of my classes. “It can actually reduce the oxygen levels in your bloodstream.”

  His eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Well, we don’t want that, do we? Would you like me to help? I can do that, you know.”

  “You mean hypnotize me? No thanks,” I said, rubbing my sweaty palms against my blue jeans.

  “Don’t waste your breath. I already tried talking her into it,” said Melody. “She’s even more afraid of not being afraid, I’m afraid.”

  He laughed. “Okay, well… we’re landing soon, so I’m going to sit back down. Why don’t you try some breathing exercises? I also once heard that if you take a deep breath and hold it in for five seconds before releasing it, you’ll start to feel calmer. Do a few of those.”