I stood up and walked over to Monica. I knelt down to where she sat on the couch and hugged her tight. After a kiss on her cheek, I hugged her again. An aching need to cry came over me, but Monica did enough for the two of us.
“This isn’t good-bye,” I said. “I’ll return with Jake, and everything will go back to normal.”
She gave a humorless laugh. “Normal left a long time ago, Libby.”
I straightened and headed out then ran as fast as I could down the darkened street. The one positive thing to being a ghost, other than willing myself wherever I wanted to go, was that there was no physical exhaustion. My muscles wouldn’t become fatigued from movement. However, I could run low on energy to stay solid. That’s why I hurried since I had to remain in that form to keep hold of my weapons.
Monica had placed an old broken chair leg in the backpack, which she had found in her garage. The club of wood would serve as a stake, although I felt sure it would be among the first things Tevin took. If I could get the silver chain on him, I could get the stake back and pierce his chest with it.
Hopefully.
I had never killed anyone before, human or nonhuman. I had never wanted anyone dead, including Mason. Could I follow through? Who knew, but I would face my enemy.
At last, I arrived at the house and stood outside gathering my courage. All the windows were boarded, even the attic window where once Luis had placed a high-powered lens on a camera to spy on Summit’s Edge citizens. The door creaked open, and I braced myself to head inside. The slam once I had crossed the threshold put me on edge, but I held my form.
I scanned the area around me for holes where I might be able to expose Tevin to daylight. Small cracks let through narrow beams of light, but they were hardly enough to do real damage. A bark of laughter distracted me, and I spun this way and that to spot him. He stood in a far corner with just the dullest of lamps illuminating his face. If the effect was set up to scare me, it worked. I lost the ability to move.
Tevin chuckled again and waved a hand in my direction. “What is that?”
I raised my chin and tugged on the straps of the backpack. “My defense.”
“You seem to think you have the upper hand here, Libby, or that I’m joking. Don’t fool yourself into believing I won’t kill your loved ones.”
“Where are they?” I shouted. “Where’s Jake?”
“Take it off,” he grumbled in response. “Throw the bag over there. The amulet too.” He gestured, and I hesitated. He took one step toward me, and I felt his power radiating off of him. He wasn’t joking, but I never believed he was.
I removed the backpack and the amulet and tossed them a couple of feet from me. Tevin sneered. His movements were a blur, and he disappeared, and then returned just as quickly as he had gone. Long fingers encircled Jake’s little neck, and my heart leaped into my throat. I extended hands toward him, palms down. “Please. I’m here, okay? Don’t hurt him.”
Tevin’s slow grin surfaced, and he let Jake go. My sweet little boy sank to the floor, lashes brushing his cheeks. All sound left the world. Tevin brought it back with his next words.
“Don’t worry. He’s not dead…yet.”
“What do you want?” I demanded.
He narrowed his eyes. “I want to know what my brother sees in you?”
I shrugged. “We’re friends.”
“More than that.” He looked me up and down. “I don’t understand. You’re a ghost. Vampires don’t like ghosts. Or perhaps he fell for you before you lost your body. Is that it?”
I considered it and wondered if Ian had. He’d hinted that he’d used me for blood, but maybe we got to know each other, and he made sure I forgot about the exchanges, back when he could erase my memory. Then again, you could be romanticizing it, Libby. Either way, I knew Ian loved me. “Does it matter?”
“Oh, it matters. I want my brother to suffer. Did he? When you lost your body?”
“No.” I lied. Ian hadn’t shown much emotion in the beginning, but now that I knew him better, I was pretty sure my state shocked and upset him. “Tevin, why are you doing this? You’re a powerful being. You can do whatever you want and go wherever you choose.”
“From a weakling’s standpoint, you would think so.” He waved a hand toward the boarded windows. “Every day my home becomes a prison. Every night, my thirst drives me to kill.”
I frowned. “Ian doesn’t drink every night, and he’s never killed.”
He laughed. “My brother has made an art in denying himself, apparently.” His gaze raked me. “Imagine a girlfriend he can’t touch.”
I said nothing to this because it frustrated me also.
“Before my brother killed me, I had constant fun with my vampire friend. It amused him to entertain me, to let me do things a normal human wouldn’t get away with. He would cover it up, and not even Ian knew.”
I shivered, imagining the worst. Tevin seemed more depraved than Ian realized.
“After Ian killed me, I became a prisoner to my maker’s whims. He never let me do what I wanted. Oh, we had fun, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t go where I wanted, kill whomever I chose. He ruled me, and I had to submit. Eventually, I made him pay, and now it’s Ian’s turn.”
“Ian has suffered enough. He’s lived alone, away from everyone.”
“Not enough! It can never be enough!”
Tevin approached me, and I stumbled backward. I cast about in my mind for how to get to Jake without him noticing. Tevin pierced me with red eyes, filled with madness and revenge. I swallowed, almost unable to move. My thought processes slowed down, and it took every ounce of energy I had to keep my form. The fact that I hadn’t run out was a testament to Mason being alive somewhere in the house, because I felt his life force coming into me, holding me together. I wasn’t in the position to cut it off if I was to save both him and Jake.
As Tevin approached, I kept retreating. He neared the backpack and snatched it away from the amulet. Moving closer to me and farther from the protection, he rifled through the bag. His chuckles at discovering the stake and bottled water had me grinding my teeth. Tevin jiggled the water bottle. “Is this holy water? I don’t feel any power. You really are pathetic, aren’t you?”
“We didn’t have a lot of time,” I shouted.
My outburst must have set him off. He tossed the water bottle away and zipped across the room to me. In seconds, he held me by the throat and jerked me to him. My mouth went dry when he held the stake to his chest.
“Go ahead, Libby. Kill me. Right here. Drive it through my heart.”
I blinked. Fear gripped me in its spell. I could only stare at the stake, the jagged tip pressing to his shirtfront. Images of the point piercing his flesh sickened me. He snatched one of my hands up and forced my fingers around the stick. Moving back and forth, his hand over mine, he performed the motions for pushing the stake into his chest. I shook all over.
“What are you waiting for, Libby? I thought you came here to kill me.”
I thought of Ian, having done it the first time, facing the knowledge daily that he could at any time take a life just to sustain his own. I recalled how in the face of what he had done in the past, he found it difficult to do it all over again and murder his brother. For the first time, I understood. I had a choice to make, and I didn’t think I could do it.
“Please,” I begged.
“Please what?”
“Let them go. You can have me. Kill me if it will make you feel better. Let Jake and Mason go. Take me in place of Ian. You’re right. It will hurt him, but if it’s enough, he can live.”
Tevin howled and shoved me away from him. The stake fell to the floor, and I landed on my butt. Tevin dragged me up. I stared into his angry face, ugly from hate and malice, so unlike Ian’s now I wondered that I had ever mistaken one for the other.
“Bioyino,” Tevin whispered in my ear. I screamed because I recognized the beginning of the chant to banish me.
“Tevin, please!” I cried.
He ignored me. The words tumbled from his lips. An explosion of sound split my head apart, but this wasn’t the darkness coming for me. Ian had awakened, and I knew he was coming. The sun still hung too high in the sky. The road to this house had almost no protection from the sunlight. He might not make it. “No, don’t come,” I pleaded in my head, unsure he heard. “I’m sorry.”
An instant later, the darkness gathered around me, its form crawling up from the corners of the room. Something thick and pungent like sulfur filled my throat. Up until now, I hadn’t been able to taste or smell, but I did with this. I gagged and coughed, struggling for a breath I hadn’t needed in this form. Yet, it seemed like whatever life was in my spirit was being sucked away.
I let go of my solid form. The clothes I wore to cover the belly chain dropped to the floor with the jewelry beneath them. Tevin never paused. He continued to enunciate each strange word as if they were individual weapons to wound me. They might as well have been with their effect.
Get up, Libby. Get the chain. Do it! Get the stake.
I didn’t move. I hardly dared to look away from Tevin or into the shadows that were surely coming for me. Sounds mingled with the smell now, screams and growls as I had never heard before, nor did I ever want to again.
Triumph radiated in Tevin’s expression. He knew he had won and was about to realize his dream—revenge on his brother. For some insane reason, I watched his lips move as he formed what I imagined were the last words I would ever hear in this world.
Light flashed on Tevin’s cheek, and he screamed in pain. He zipped away to one of the dark corners and then hissed. I followed his line of sight. There was Jake, holding a shard from a mirror. My intelligent boy had used the mirror to reflect light onto Tevin’s face and burn him.
At last, I could move. My strength had been gained from my brave sweetheart, and I wouldn’t let it go to waste. Jake needed me. He might be smart, but he was still a child, and it was my job to protect him.
I solidified and scooped up my clothes along with the chain. “Come here, Jake, fast!”
Just before Jake reached me, Tevin flashed stepped from the corner and captured him around the wrist. “Get off of me!” Jake kicked at Tevin, but Tevin didn’t flinch. I ran to join them, but the vampire sent me to the floor. The clothes and chain dropped as I lost concentration. My energy was spent, and if I didn’t do something soon, I wouldn’t be a threat to Tevin at all.
“You’re going to pay for that little stunt, boy,” Tevin ground out.
“Get your hands off my son.” Mason appeared and charged at the two. I realized Tevin must have relied on mind control to keep Mason and Jake rather than tying them up. Mason punched Tevin in the jaw and drew back to stagger against the wall, holding his hand. “What have you got a metal plate? I think I broke my fingers.”
“Mason, don’t provoke him.” While Jake had realized what Tevin was, Mason hadn’t. One couldn’t just punch a vampire and do damage.
Mason surged forward, but Tevin laughed at him, still holding a struggling Jake. I blinked in and out, glad so far Mason’s attention was all on our son and the man holding him.
“I’m going to protect our son and you, Libby.” Mason came after Tevin again, but this time, Tevin caught him midswing, raised him off his feet, and threw him against the wall.
“Dad!” Tears wet my baby’s face, and I had had enough.
I scoured through the pile of clothes and found the chain. When I tried to pick it up, it dropped through my fingers. The length of silver might as well have weighed a ton for all the fight I had to put into grasping it. I drove the last of my reserves into my hands alone and raised the chain. The moment the metal touched his flesh, Tevin howled and crashed to the floor. I layered it twice over his throat, and he raised his hands to claw at the chain.
“Take it off, take it off,” he gasped. I grabbed Jake and dragged him away.
“The stake.” I left my son where he was and scrambled about the dimly lit room for the stake. After searching for a good minute, I realized even had I found the stake, I couldn’t hold it. I was at my end, and Mason couldn’t sustain me. Jake was too small, and I couldn’t draw energy from the dead.
“Mom,” Jake called out.
I rushed to him and hovered.
“Mom, are you there?”
I hesitated and then answered. “I’m here, Jake. I need you to find the stake. Can you do that for me? We have to hurry.”
“I can do it.”
As he searched, I scoured my mind for ideas. I wouldn’t allow my son to kill Tevin no matter what, and Mason lay unconscious. Even if he were awake, I might not be able to convince him to kill Tevin with the story that he was one of the undead. Mason might suggest we tie Tevin up and call the police, which would be pointless. The authorities couldn’t help us, and most likely no one who could would arrive in time. I had to think of something.
“I got it.”
I floated to Jake and tried solidifying. No go.
“I’ll do it,” he suggested.
“No!” I said.
“No!” Tevin whispered.
I tried to draw Jake closer to me, but my arms passed through him. I stayed near, still trying to figure out a solution.
“Listen, Jake,” Tevin rasped. “I’m not a monster. You can see your mother isn’t human. She wants you to do something bad. Take this chain off, and I’ll help you both. I promise.”
“Don’t listen to him.” I tried to hug my son again and failed.
“I know what you are,” Jake said. He scooted back toward the wall a little more. “You’re a vampire.”
“They don’t exist.” Tevin tried to laugh it off, but he sounded weaker and in pain.
“Then why did the sun burn your face?” Jake was nothing if not logical.
Tevin scrambled for an answer, and Jake raised his arms, the stake between his fingers. Again, Tevin and I cried out a protest. I tried focusing to absorb more of Mason’s energy, but injured, he appeared to be low himself. If I opened myself just a tiny bit, could I use Jake? Fear that I might take from his life overcame me, and I couldn’t do it.
Jake inched toward Tevin until he stood over him. I can’t let him do this. He’s just a child.
The door blew open and banged the wall. I expected to see a burned vampire in the entryway, but instead Isabelle stood there. She paused, trying to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. I can’t say how I did it or if I’d be able to ever again, but in an instant, I sucked so much energy from Isabelle she collapsed on the floor. With newfound strength, I solidified and zipped over to Jake. In one fluid motion, I snatched the stake from his hands, shoved him behind me, and drove the weapon into Tevin’s chest. Flames burned bright from Tevin’s body, illuminating the room even more than the front door being open. They died down with the consumption of his form, and nothing remained except a pile of ashes.
I scooted back, and Jake tumbled into my arms, sobbing. My heart broke at his trembling shoulders, and I hugged him to me, whispering comforting words. A shadow filled the doorway again, and both Jake and I looked up. Ian moved inside, sluggish, weak. He managed to drag himself into the shadows and leaned against the wall. From a dark, heavy overcoat, smoke rose, and I couldn’t make out his face beneath the hood, but I knew it was him.
Jake stirred in my arms. “Please, don’t kill my mother.” The sob on the last word tore me apart, and Ian raised a burned hand to brush the hood from his head. His face came into view, same piercing eyes, handsome face, a little burned but healing fast. I guess we both expected Jake to calm down when he recognized him, but Jake clutched me tighter. The flash of pain in Ian’s expression almost made me lose my form.
“It’s okay, Jake. Ian would never hurt you.”
Ian started for the door.
“Don’t,” I called out.
He stilled.
“Ian, he’s gone.”
“I know.”
“He threatened Jake and Mason. He started the chant. I know he
was your brother, and—”
“It is fine, Liberty. I came here to finish it, to protect both of you. There was no saving Tevin. I understand that now.”
“Jake, let me check on Isabelle, okay?” Somehow I untangled myself from my son’s arms and moved to Isabelle. While I examined her and found her to be breathing easily, Ian bent over Mason. I hesitated to ask, but I felt a weak stream of energy from him, so I knew Mason wasn’t dead.
“Is he okay?”
“He will need treatment,” Ian said. “And…”
Sirens blared in the distance.
I clutched my hands together. “Ian, I—”
He nodded. First he approached Jake, who hid behind me. Ian dropped to one knee but didn’t try to force Jake to come out. “I will never hurt you, Jake. We are friends, are we not? We both love books?”
Jake peeked out and nodded. “Yes, but you’re a vampire.”
“I am. Does that make me ineligible to be your friend?”
My son hesitated and shook his head. “No.”
“Then I propose we continue. You are intelligent enough to figure out that I am not like my brother.”
Jake pressed his lips together, considering it. “But you could be. You’re strong enough to kill us.”
“Yes.”
“Ian!” I started to reprimand him, but then fell silent. Ian wouldn’t lie to Jake, and somehow treating my son with respect in that way dispelled a lot of Jake’s fear. He moved out from behind me and faced Ian man-to-man.
Ian touched Jake’s cheek and sighed. I realized in that instant, Ian wished everyone who learned the truth about him could accept him the way he was and not have to forget. I was special, partially because I knew. He didn’t have to be alone with his secret.
“Listen to my words,” Ian instructed Jake with tenderness in his tone. Within a few moments, Jake’s memories were rewritten, and Ian had lessened the emotional impact of being kidnapped. He moved on to Mason and forced him awake long enough to instruct him as well. Then he stood to turn to me. “We will tell the police Tevin was behind the kidnapping and that he got away. Later, I will arrange for them to find evidence of his death, and the case will be closed.”
How to Kill a Ghost Page 14