by E. J. King
“I’m fine,” I protested, stumbling over my own feet. “Okay, I’m drunk. But we don’t have to leave. You haven’t even gotten to flirt with any of the slutty girls yet.”
“Eh, that’s alright. I get to go home with the prettiest girl.”
It was a sweet thing to say and because it came from Ethan, I knew that he meant it. A couple of weeks ago, I would’ve been swooning with excitement. But that was before I developed these conflicted feelings for Rafe.
Ethan was a perfect gentleman as he walked me home. Holding me by the elbow to help me keep my balance. Unlocking my door for me when I couldn’t fit the key into the lock. And when I drunkenly leered and invited him inside, he politely declined.
“Good night, Kale.” He dropped a kiss on top of my head. “Sweet dreams.”
When I finally managed to stumble into my bedroom, I collapsed on top of my bed, still fully clothed. I slept for a few hours without dreaming, something I rarely did. But then I woke up to a churning stomach and I rushed to the bathroom just in time to hug the toilet. Once my stomach was empty, I felt surprisingly better.
My second round of sleep was less peaceful. Unlike the other nightmares I had about my family’s murder, this one was less bloody. I was running through a dark tunnel. At first, I thought I was being chased. But when the outline of a figure emerged in front of me, I realized I was the one doing the chasing.
The figure ahead of me stopped at the end of the tunnel, waiting for me. I slowed a few yards away and slowly walked the rest of the distance. The closer I got, the more clearly I could see until everything came into focus.
“Lincoln? Is that you?”
“It’s me, Kaylie. I’m alive.”
I sat up straight in my bed, my heart pounding in my chest. The dream had felt so real, Lincoln has seemed so alive. It took me several seconds to realize what had pulled me out of my dream. My phone lit up with unread messages.
When I read them, my heart started racing all over again.
Kaylie, it’s Lincoln.
I’m alive.
CHAPTER TWO
First, Rafe told me that he saw Lincoln a few weeks ago. Then, Hope overheard a conversation about Lincoln being in a nearby town. But now, Lincoln himself was reaching out to me. I couldn’t ignore it any longer.
A few hours later, my front door opened and Rafe found me in the kitchen hunched over my laptop. After getting the text, supposedly from Lincoln, I had given up on the notion of sleep. I brewed the largest pot of coffee possible and set about planning my next course of action.
“Wow.” Rafe froze in the doorway, taking in my borderline manic appearance.
I was still wearing my costume, minus the boots- it hadn’t even occurred to me to change. My hair was a wild, tangled mess that I’d pulled up into an even crazier knot on top of my head.
“No comments,” I warned him without looking up. “I know that I look like a mental patient, I don’t need you to make snarky remarks on my appearance.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything.” He slowly sat in a seat across from me. “What’s going on? What happened?”
I punched a button on my phone and slid it across the table.
Rafe read the text without reaction.
“Go ahead,” I said. “Say it.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Rafe slid the phone back to me.
“Just get it over with. I’m not in the mood to play games.” I fixed him with a level stare, preparing myself to be annoyed.
Rafe leaned across the table, gold eyes locked on mine. “I told you so.”
“This could be a trap,” I said diplomatically. “We don’t know for sure that it’s Lincoln sending me these texts.”
“What you mean to say is: Rafe, in addition to being strong, sexy, and irresistible, you are also incredibly smart.”
“I hate you.”
I turned back to the map in front of me, feeling my cheeks warm under his intense stare. He loved being proven right.
“I heard you come home last night,” I said, not mentioning that I was already awake because I was puking my guts out. “Slutty nurse?”
He leaned back in his chair with a smug smile. “Very slutty.”
“Congratulations.” My stomach started to churn again. “What are you doing in my kitchen so early in the morning?”
“Couldn’t sleep.” He used his super-speed to snag my coffee, taking a big gulp before I could even react. “I also missed seeing your beautiful face.”
It was complete sarcasm- not only in his tone, but in the way he wrinkled his nose after staring at me pointedly. I picked up a dry piece of toast and chucked it at his head.
Rafe dodged the bread easily. “So what’s the plan?”
“Plan?” I snatched my coffee back, frowning when I saw that it was almost empty.
“You didn’t get up at the crack of dawn to play games on your computer. You’re working on a plan, and I want to know what it is.”
“I’m so sorry that you are going to leave here disappointed.”
While I did have a plan percolating, I wasn’t ready to share it with anyone. If I told Rafe or Ethan what I was planning to do, they would insist on coming with me.
Rafe moved again, this time to grab my laptop. He was already scanning the screen before I could react. “Damn it, Rafe.”
“Hush.” He held up a hand to cut me off while he finished reading. “Canton?”
So much for not telling him anything. Now that he had my laptop, he could pretty much figure out the gist of my plan. I might as well clue him in.
“Hope overheard the Souls that kidnapped her talking about a guy named Lincoln that they were planning to hunt down in Canton.” That was the most concise explanation I could give.
“You think your brother is in Canton?” Rafe said, nodding slowly as he considered it. “That’s not completely crazy.”
“I’m glad you approve.” It was mostly a sarcastic reply, but I did feel better knowing that someone else didn’t think my plan was foolish.
“When do we leave?”
My jaw dropped. “What?”
“You’ve got the whole road trip mapped out. Obviously you are planning to go to Canton, so when do we leave?”
“We don’t leave.” I reached over to take my laptop back, but Rafe held onto it. “I mean it, Rafe. This is none of your business.”
“That’s never stopped me before.” He tugged the laptop away from me. “I’m not letting you search for your brother alone. It isn’t safe.”
I laughed. “Because spending all of my time with a Lost Soul that needs to drain my blood to cure him is amazingly safe?”
Hurt flashed through Rafe’s eyes. “I would never hurt you, Kaylie.”
“I know.” I sighed, feeling guilty for being such a jerk. “Look, I know you just want to help, but this is something I need to do myself.”
“Even if I promise to do all of the driving and let you be in charge of the radio?” He looked at me with a hopeful smile.
I threw up my hands. “Fine. Fine, you can come with me.”
His smile turned into a triumphant grin and he pumped his fists into the air. “Road trip!”
Accepting my defeat, I excused myself to take a shower and get out of my hooker outfit once and for all.
When Ethan found out about our plan, he insisted on tagging along as well. Something about strength in numbers. He thought we should leave right away, but it was a Friday and I still had classes to attend. I also needed to find someone to cover my shift at the Lucky Lady. Fortunately, one of our new bartenders was in my calculus class.
“Ryan. I need a favor.” I didn’t even bother exchanging pleasantries. He would’ve known something was up. “I need you to cover my shift tonight.”
“Tonight? I don’t know, Kaylie. I’m supposed to have a hot date with one of the Kappa girls.”
I pouted, looking up at Ryan through my lashes. During our last couple of shifts together, I’d gotten the impres
sion that Ryan might have a bit of a crush on me. I was hoping that would pay off.
“I could probably move the date to tomorrow night,” he said, smiling shyly.
I felt a little guilty for using my feminine wiles to convince him, but this was a special circumstance.
My classes seemed to go on forever, one long lecture blending into another. By the time the last one ended, I was anxious to get home. I was surprised to find Hope waiting for me outside the classroom, an annoyed look on her face.
“Were you planning to sneak off without telling me?” she snapped without saying hello.
“Hope, what are you doing here?”
She narrowed her eyes threateningly. “Don’t try to change the subject, missy. Rafe told me about the road trip you’ve been planning.”
“Of course he did.” I silently cursed my neighbor. “It’s not a big deal, Hope. We’re just going to pop over to Canton to see if Lincoln is there.”
“Not a big deal? You’re going on an expedition to find your allegedly dead brother who isn’t actually dead? This is a huge deal.” Hope smacked my arm in excitement. “When are we leaving?”
“We?”
“There is no way I’m staying back at the house alone. You’re taking the two hot bodyguards with you, remember? I’ll be vulnerable.” She pouted like she was a scared little girl.
“We’re only going to be gone for the weekend. We’ll be back before you even miss us.” I didn’t say the words with much conviction because I already knew what was coming.
“Rafe already said I could tag along.”
There it was. Rafe had not only invited himself on my journey, he’d also invited my best friend. I made a mental note to seek revenge as soon as possible.
“Okay, fine. You can tag along.” I flinched as she threw her arms around me in a fierce embrace. Hope was a hugger.
Rafe and Ethan were waiting on the porch when we got home. I could tell from one look at their faces that something was wrong.
“Now what?” I sank into a chair across from them, bracing for the worst.
“We need to make a pit stop on the way to Canton,” Ethan said. He held up the front page of the local paper. “Three corpses have turned up with missing organs in Plymouth.”
My nose wrinkled distastefully. “Why do monsters have to be so gross?”
“I don’t have time for this,” Hope announced dramatically, bounding to the door. “I need to pack.”
“We’re passing through Plymouth anyway, so we should probably stop and see if we can find this thing before it kills again.” Ethan was always thinking practically.
“I’ll grab the Monsterary,” I said, standing abruptly.
The Hart family had been hunting supernatural creatures for centuries. Along the way, members of my family had taken to documenting key facts about the monsters in a large book that Lincoln and I had lovingly coined the Monsterary- monster dictionary. It was the ultimate authority on all things supernatural.
“Grab some snacks while you’re in there,” Rafe called after me.
My overnight bag was already packed with some clothes and a toothbrush. Keeping the Monsterary in hand, I tossed a few other journals into the bag. At the last minute, I dug out a picture of Lincoln and tucked it into the pocket of my leather jacket. On my way out the door, I grabbed a candy bar for Rafe.
“You are an amazing woman,” he said when I handed it to him.
I threw my bag in the trunk, keeping the Monsterary tucked under my arm. Rafe and Ethan’s bags were already in the trunk, but so far Hope hadn’t made an appearance.
“Don’t say I never do anything for you.” I pointed to the house. “One of you might want to check on her. She probably needs help bringing her entire wardrobe outside.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Rafe looked at me uncertainly.
I shrugged. “I hope so.”
It turned out that I wasn’t far from the truth. Hope came outside pulling two suitcases behind her.
“I feel like I’m forgetting something,” Hope said, glancing nervously back at the house.
“I feel like that is impossible.” I pointed to the luggage. “You do understand that we will only be gone for a couple of days. You didn’t need to bring all of your worldly possessions.”
“I find that it’s always better to over pack in order to be prepared for any situation.” Hope looked at the guys and pointed to her bags. “They are kind of heavy. Can I borrow your manly muscles?”
Rafe raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to say something snarky. Ethan beat him to it. “I’ve got it.”
He rushed forward and flashed a big smile at Hope, dimples flashing. Hope giggled and blushed.
“Shotgun,” I said, letting myself into the passenger seat while the two of them batted their eyelashes at each other.
“That was weird,” Rafe said, sliding into the driver’s seat.
I nodded. “I’ve never seen Ethan so…”
“Whipped?” Rafe glanced at me and we both laughed.
The trunk slammed shut and Ethan and Hope climbed into the backseat.
“Here goes nothing.” Rafe shifted into drive and our road trip officially began.
We made it to the end of the block before Hope yelled, “Stop!”
Our heads all snapped as Rafe slammed on the brakes.
“What’s wrong?” I looked around, expecting to see some frightening creature in the road. There was nothing in front of us.
Hope sighed. “I forgot to pack my hair dryer.”
“You aren’t allowed to talk for the rest of the trip,” Rafe said, whirling to glare at her.
“But-”
“No!” He waved a finger at her. “No talking.”
An awkward silence descended over the car. I waited until we were moving again before I said, “You sounded just like my dad. Yikes.”
“She could’ve caused an accident,” Rafe protested.
“Sure, Dad.” I flipped on the radio. “Let’s see… pop music?”
Rafe groaned. “Please, no.”
“Apologize to Hope.” I gave him a look that said I wasn’t kidding.
He groaned again. “Hope, I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
“I forgive you, stud.” She patted his shoulder. “I can be moody sometimes, too.”
Rafe’s hands tapped hard on the steering wheel and I knew that he was close to snapping again. I hurried to change the station on the radio.
“This is going to be a long trip,” he muttered.
In reality, it was a quick trip. Plymouth was only thirty minutes outside of town and we didn’t run into any traffic on our way there. While we drove, I did some reading and narrowed down the scope of our monster hunt.
“It’s either a Volkodlak, a shifter variant, or an Aswang.” I closed the book, feeling better about the situation. “My money is on the Aswang, which isn’t too hard to kill. The trickier part is finding it since they take on human form during the day.”
“Good thing it’s almost night,” Rafe said.
“I’ve never hunted an Aswang. This is pretty exciting.” Ethan kicked the back of my seat. “Are you up for this, Kale?”
Rafe parked the car next to a suspicious looking building with an old sign that said “Police.” It was surprising that a town this small even had a police station. With the dead bodies that had been popping up, there was quite a bit of activity happening in front of the building.
“You guys should wait in the car,” I said after a quick survey of the scene. “I’ve got this.”
With so many people going in and out of the building, no one stopped me from entering. I took a few deep breaths to get myself into the right head space and then marched up to the officer seated at the desk, bypassing other officers that were milling around.
“I need help!”
He looked up at me in alarm. “What’s wrong, miss?”
The officer was barely in his twenties, fresh faced and gangly in an ill-fitting uniform. He wo
re his badge proudly and I knew that I had picked the right target.
“My sister…” I choked back a sob. “I heard that you found her…”
My dramatic pauses made the officer stand. He gestured for me to take a seat in one of the worn chairs next to his desk.
“I’m Officer Meeks. You can call me Mike.” He smiled sympathetically. “What’s your name?”
“Caroline.” I sighed dramatically. “I’m Caroline McHenry.”
“Oh.” His brow wrinkled in confusion. “You’re Katie McHenry’s sister?”
I nodded somberly.
He reached for a file on his desk and opened it, quickly scanning the first page. “I don’t see anything in here about a sister.”
“My parents wrote me out of their lives when I got knocked up in high school.” I lowered my eyes and tried to look ashamed. “They are very religious.”
“I see.” Mike gave me another smile, this one sad. “You heard about your sister?”
“Is it true?” When I looked up, my eyes were filled with tears.
Years of practice had allowed me the special skill of being able to cry on demand. It was especially useful when dealing with members of the opposite sex.
“I’m afraid it is.” Mike put down the file and leaned his elbows on his desk. “Your sister was murdered two nights ago. We found her body in Plymouth Park.”
I took the tissue he handed me and dabbed at my eyes. “It’s just so horrible.”
“I’m very sorry about your sister.”
“How did she… was she…” I sobbed harder.
Mike reached across his desk and took my hand. “It’s better if you don’t know the details.”
“Please. I need to know.” I looked at him with pleading eyes.
“Trust me. You don’t want to remember her this way.”
A flurry of activity surrounded us and we both looked around in surprise. Several men were gathered in a group, talking in hushed voices. One of them called out.
“Meeks! Get over here.”
“Sure thing, Chief.” Mike jumped to his feet. “I’m sorry. Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as he was gone, I looked around to make sure no one was watching. I grabbed the file from his desk and shoved it into my bag. While they were all still distracted, I slipped outside.