by E. J. King
I had circled the bottom, gazing up in wonder. Then he reached for another branch and lost his footing, tumbling to the ground. He hit with a sickening crack and I screamed. I stood over him for what felt like forever, crying when he didn’t respond as I called his name over and over.
Eventually, he groaned and rolled over. His bone was sticking out of his arm, but he had escaped death.
The next time I found him prone and lifeless, he wasn’t so lucky. He was dead.
I had seen his corpse with my own eyes, and that was why I couldn’t believe Rafe, no matter how certain he seemed. After I continued to deny it, he eventually let it go. In fact, he switched easily back into his normal annoying and arrogant self.
“Are you really watching this?” Rafe asked later when he found me watching television. My brain was starting to hurt from all of the Hunter research and I needed something mindless to focus on.
“We all have our guilty pleasures,” I said pointedly. “Watching Bloodsuckers is less egregious than most of your guilty pleasures, I’m sure.”
“I have no guilt about my pleasures,” he said with a sly smile, sliding down next to me on the couch. He bent his long legs, brushing against me in the process. “Ethan likes this stupid show, too.”
“Ethan has good taste.” I tried to ignore the tingling under my skin where his leg was still touching mine.
Rafe shot me an unreadable glance. “He does.”
“Are you planning on making this a regular thing?” I asked. “Eating my food, drinking my beer, and complaining about what I watch on television?”
“Doesn’t that sound fun?” he said, not entirely sarcastically. “I don’t have a lot of time left, Red. I might as well spend it getting under your skin.”
“I’m not easily ruffled,” I said, blatantly lying. “Do you really like being that guy?”
“What guy?” His head tilted and his gold eyes focused on me like laser beams.
I forced myself not to look away. “The womanizing, hard-living, doesn’t-care-about-anyone guy. The guy that you keep pretending to be whenever I’m around.”
He stared hard at me and didn’t say anything. Eventually, he looked away and said quietly, “I guess I didn’t realize you see me that way.”
“How else should I see you?” I asked. “You never let me see anything real about you.”
I saw his head nod slowly. “Okay. Something real about me. Let’s see… I don’t like heights.”
“You’re scared of heights?” I said with a laugh.
“I’m not scared of them. It’s not like I have an emotional breakdown when I go upstairs. I just don’t prefer them.”
“Okay, that’s a fun fact about you. But it’s not exactly deep and meaningful,” I said. “Try something personal. Something Ethan doesn’t know about you.”
Rafe thought for a minute. “A couple of years ago, there was this girl.”
“This isn’t going to be a dirty story is it?” I asked with a grimace.
“No! Now hush.” When he looked at me this time, it was like he was looking deep inside my soul. “This girl was amazing. She was sweet and funny. Tough. And incredibly beautiful. Of course, she had no idea she was all of those things. And she didn’t even know I existed.”
“You had a crush on her?” I guessed.
“Worse than that,” he said with a frown. “I was in love with her.”
“You? In love?” I forced myself to hold in a laugh when I saw the serious look on his face. “What happened to the girl?”
He shrugged. “She grew up, became an even more amazing woman and I realized that she was way out of my league.”
“Why do you feel that way?” It was strange to see Rafe as anything less than supremely confident.
“You said it yourself. I drink too much, swear too much, and use women for sex. Why would a remarkable woman like her want to be with an unremarkable guy like me?” The look he gave me was pleading, like he was hoping I could answer him.
“If she’s as amazing as you say, I’m sure she can see past your tough façade and realize that you’re actually a pretty great guy,” I said, trying hard not to blush. I added, “When you aren’t being an annoying jerk, that is.”
Rafe let out a loud laugh and my heart jumped happily. “You’re pretty great yourself, Kaylie. When you aren’t being a snarky pain-in-the-ass, that is.”
“Did we just have a moment?” I asked with a smile.
He leaned close, his perfect and inviting lips just a few inches from mine. “The first of many, I hope.”
Instantly, I knew that I hoped so, too. I liked having James Rafferty in my life.
* * *
A week after Ethan and Rafe moved in upstairs, I woke in the middle of the night to loud, steady thumping above my head. With a groan, I loudly cursed Rafe and proceeded to spend the rest of the night glaring at the ceiling.
Eventually, I gave up trying to get any further sleep and pulled on my running shoes. The town of Jackson had been hit by a mysterious heat wave in the past couple of days and after running just a few blocks, I was covered in sweat. After five miles, I quit. I walked the last few yards back to my house, lifting the hem of my shirt to wipe sweat from my eyes.
“What a nice way to start my day.”
I tensed at Rafe’s words, then dropped my shirt. Seeing the smirk on his face, I couldn’t be sure whether he was commenting on me semi-flashing him, or how disgusting I likely looked. I stepped onto the porch, standing a few feet from where he was seated.
“You’re up early,” I said, choosing to ignore his possible innuendo. “Though I’m pretty sure you started your day a few hours ago.”
Rafe’s brow furrowed slightly as he tried to figure out what I meant.
“Your bed is right above mine,” I said, helping him out.
“Oh.” He gave me a sheepish smile. “Sorry about that.”
I shrugged. “No need to apologize. I have to say I’m surprised to see you down here alone right now.”
“We’re out of coffee.” He looked at me hopefully.
“Fine.” I sighed. “Just give me five minutes to shower.”
“I’ll put the coffee on.” He jumped to his feet and followed me inside.
The cold shower was perfection and finding Rafe in my kitchen, filling a mug with hot coffee, was a close second.
“This is five days in a row,” I said, blowing on it gently. “Eventually you guys might want to buy some coffee of your very own.”
“You mean the best part of waking up isn’t having me in your home?” Another of his adorable smiles that we both knew I couldn’t resist.
“Feel free to give back my spare key at any time.” I smiled so he would know I was just kidding.
Rafe followed me outside and we sat on the porch, drinking our coffee like an old married couple. I was surprised to see Ethan walk up the path a few minutes later.
“What are you doing up and about so early?” I asked.
Neither of the brothers was what you would call a morning person. I usually had my morning coffee with them around lunch time.
“Couldn’t sleep.” He glared at Rafe. “Someone was being loud last night.”
“I know.” Rafe threw up his hands. “I’ve already talked to her about it, but you know how Kaylie is, partying all night and interrupting our beauty sleep.”
“Hey.” I glared at him.
Ethan tossed a newspaper onto my lap. “Take a look at the headline.”
“Murdered girl found in woods,” I read aloud. Next to the article was a picture of a young girl that looked vaguely familiar. “Is this-”
“Breanna Butler. Your friend that went missing the night of the party,” Ethan confirmed.
“She wasn’t my friend, Ethan,” I corrected him.
When Breanna had gone missing, I just assumed she had gone home with some guy. But after a week, she still hadn’t turned up. Until now.
“How did she die?” I asked while I skimmed the text.<
br />
“Murder. That’s about all the article says.”
“Severe blood loss?” I looked up. “Sounds like a vampire to me.”
Ethan shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe it was a Chupacabra. Or a Dhampir. Or a Volkodlak. Or a-”
“Okay, okay. I get it.” I held up a hand to stop him. “Morgue trip?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” He pretended to swoon as he dropped into the chair across from me. “Rafe, you in? This could be our first family hunt.”
Rafe shook his head. “No can do, little brother. I’ve got big plans today.”
“Sleeping all day isn’t really a plan,” I said.
“If you must know, I’m heading out of town to meet up with an old friend.” Rafe made a big deal about finishing his coffee. I couldn’t help but notice that he was avoiding eye contact with both of us.
“You don’t have any friends,” Ethan said, suspicious.
Rafe stood and stretched lazily. “You’re confused, Ethan. Everyone loves me. Just ask Mindy.”
“Who’s Mindy?” I said.
“She’s the young lady that kept us all from getting sleep last night.” He winked seductively at me and I made a gagging noise.
“Have fun today, kids. Stay out of trouble.” With a wave, he disappeared inside.
I turned to Ethan. “I guess it’s just you and me today.”
“Perfect.” He grinned. “You ready to check out some corpses?”
As unappealing as that sounded, I actually did enjoy spending the day with Ethan. Even with such a dire agenda for the day, we managed to have some fun.
“Doctor Biggenhard?” I shook my head at Ethan’s hospital badge. “No one is going to believe that.”
“I’ve got the goods to back it up,” he said with a grin.
We walked through the front door of the hospital, trying to look natural. It helped that we were dressed in scrubs and had created semi-respectable badges. Ethan engaged me in a conversation about gardening as we made our way to the staff elevators.
No one paid any attention to us when we exited into the basement, home of the dead bodies. Ethan waited in the hall while I ducked inside to see if we were alone. We weren’t.
“Doctor.” I greeted the man behind the desk with a smile. He was busy filling out paperwork, which was way better than finding him elbows deep in a rotting body.
“Can I help you?”
I nodded. “You’re needed up in the admin offices. Something about a financial report?” I pretended to be confused.
“Of course.” He sighed dramatically. “You ask for a new cooling unit and everyone around here freaks out.”
“I’ll walk you up,” I offered.
The doctor pulled the door firmly shut behind us. As we were about to round the corner, Ethan called out.
“Nurse! Could you help me out?” He was holding a clipboard and looking overly concerned.
The doctor waved me away. “Go. I can find my way up.”
“Nice work,” Ethan muttered after the elevator doors shut. He pushed open the door, removing the strip of tape he had placed over the lock.
“Smart,” I said. Normally, I just picked the lock, but this was faster.
“I love what they’ve done with the place,” he joked, taking in the sterile, stainless steel décor. He pointed to the wall of oversized cabinets. “After you.”
I’d been around long enough to know that the cabinets didn’t hold files or office supplies. Rather than randomly open them, I read each label until I found one that said “Butler.”
“Here goes nothing,” I said, pulling it open.
Ethan waited until the entire white-covered body was visible and then he peeled back the sheet. My heart thudded when I saw her ghostly face and I remembered how just a week earlier she had skipped into Hope’s dorm room and complimented my outfit. She wouldn’t be skipping anywhere now.
“That’s her,” I confirmed, though neither of us was surprised.
I checked her neck, but didn’t see any fresh wounds. Ethan was busy reading through her chart which had been on the top of the doctor’s stack.
“It says here that in addition to some needle marks in her arms- possible druggie?- she had one small hole in the middle of her back.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Should we turn her?”
I shrugged. We didn’t really have a choice. If we wanted to see it for ourselves, we needed to rotate the body.
She was cold and stiff as we turned her, keeping the sheet over her as much as possible out of respect. I found the puncture easily, but it didn’t help shed any light on how she had died.
“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” I asked.
“No.” Ethan took out his phone and snapped a picture. “Maybe there’s something about this in your family diaries?”
“It’s possible.”
After rolling her gently on her back, we closed the drawer and returned her chart. Just as we were about to step out into the hall, the elevator doors opened and voices drifted toward us.
We were trapped. The room had no place for us to hide, even if that had been a good option- which it wasn’t.
Ethan startled me when he grabbed both of my arms, pulling me close. His lips closed over mine and I gasped, but I didn’t pull away.
The thought flashed through my head that he was only doing this as a cover story for why we were in the morgue, but my body didn’t seem to care. I kissed him back and didn’t resist as his hands squeezed my ass. Just as he pushed his tongue into my mouth, a throat cleared loudly in the doorway.
I pushed Ethan away, flushed and out of breath.
“Sorry to interrupt,” a young orderly said. He and his companion were wheeling in a fresh corpse.
“No problem,” Ethan replied. He pushed me in front of him and out into the hall. “You didn’t see anything, right?”
“Right,” they both replied with conspiratorial smiles.
I kept walking with my eyes straight ahead, still blushing from embarrassment, though not because we were caught. I was horrified by how eagerly I had responded to Ethan’s fake kiss. He seemed to feel uncomfortable with it, too, because neither of us spoke as the elevator took us above ground.
It wasn’t until I stepped outside, grateful for the delicious warmth after being in the freezing morgue, that Ethan spoke.
“Hey, Kaylie. Stop for a second.”
I did, and I turned to face him. “What?”
“I’m sorry if I was out of line back there. It was just the first thing that popped into my head.” He smiled shyly. “It seemed like a slightly better idea than hiding in one of those drawers.”
“Only slightly?” I pretended to be offended.
He grinned. “Way better. At least for you.”
“I hate you.” I punched him hard in the arm. “And next time, watch those hands.”
“So there’s going to be a next time?” he asked hopefully.
“I think the fact that vampires are real is proof enough that anything is possible.” I turned and started walking again before adding, “But it’s not probable.”
He moved next to me, his hand brushing against mine, “I love it when you get all philosophical. Such a turn on.”
“Do you ever get tired of being so smug and douchey?”
“It hasn’t happened yet.” He smiled and said, “But anything is possible.”
CHAPTER NINE
Ethan hit the books back at home, but I had homework of my own, literally. My Russian history report was due in less than two days and I still hadn’t started it. My favorite table in the library was unoccupied and I was able to settle in and get quite a bit accomplished for the first couple of hours. Then I got a text from Hope asking if I had heard about Breanna.
Deciding that it was more important to be a good friend, I packed up my books and headed over to Hope’s dorm. A gaggle of crying girls filled the room.
“Kaylie!” Hope rushed forward and threw her arms around me, nearly knocking me over
with the ferociousness of her hug. “Isn’t it just terrible?”
“It is.” I patted her on the back and then gently extricated myself from her grip. “How are you holding up?”
She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Okay. I just feel so guilty, you know? If I had kept a better eye on her at the party this never would’ve happened.”
“This isn’t your fault,” I said sharply.
The truth was, if anyone should feel guilty it should be me. Rafe and I had gone looking for Breanna that night, but I’d found out the truth about Rafe being a Lost Soul and took off. If I’d stayed, we might have been able to save her.
Hope wasn’t usually an emotional girl, but Breanna’s death had shaken her. She couldn’t seem to stop crying.
“It’s really hard to be in the dorm,” she said, wiping at bloodshot eyes.
“Why don’t you come stay with me?” I offered easily.
Her eyes widened. “Really? You’ve never invited me to your place.”
“It could be good. Help you take your mind off everything.” I tried to sound confident, but I was already starting to reconsider my offer. The more I let someone into my life, the greater the chance they might find out about my past.
“Okay, I’m in.” She seemed to relax just a bit. “I need to meet up with Breanna’s parents in a while, but I’ll come by this evening.”
I stayed another hour before heading back to the library. By the time I hit the main path through the heart of campus, it was just starting to get dark. If I was going to get my report done before Hope was due to arrive at my place, I needed to hustle. Keeping my head down, I hurried past games of Frisbee and students on their way home from class.
Rather than enter through the front door of the library, I hurried around the side, headed for the back entrance. Only the extra nerdy kids used that door since it was the quickest route to the silent floor. The library staff also parked in the back, but most of them had gone home of for the night. It wasn’t surprising that I was the only person behind the library. But I also sensed that I wasn’t alone.