by E. M. Moore
I tried to intervene, but Connor laughed. “Relax? You guys are sitting here like bumps on a log. How can that be anything other than relaxing? Come on. Let’s have some fun!”
A spray of water hit my neck and I cringed. Nic’s lip curled and he took off after his brother in a full-out spring. “Oh, shit,” Connor said. I turned to see Nic lunging for his brother, but Connor had gotten away at the last second. Now Dark, Sexy & Badass chased him back down the trail leading to the parking lot and then eventually the road. No doubt Nic would come back soaked next. He would pursue Connor right over the bridge if he had to.
The conversations that had died down during the outburst picked back up. Stephan moved closer to me on the log we both sat on, his leg brushing mine. He leaned over and whispered, “One of these days, I’m going to be able to kiss you in public, and if that happens, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop.”
Surprise echoed through me. I turned toward him. Though the flames licked at his face the same way they had Nicolai’s, he didn’t look dangerous or mysterious or scary. He just looked like a shadowy version of my sweet Stephan, like a cloud was just passing over and he would be back to his normal self within moments. I knocked his leg with mine. “When that day happens, I won’t let you stop kissing me.”
His lips fell apart into a small ‘o’. In my mind, I traced the curve of his mouth because I couldn’t reach out and do it with my finger, or better yet, my own lips while we were sitting here in front of all these people. Though I suspected at least one vamp-guard couple had snuck into the woods to makeout, the male vamp wasn’t a Ravana, and they weren’t doing it in plain sight with witnesses. Stephan’s head tilted to the side and before I could react, he was up and off the log and sprinting toward the parking lot.
“Stephan!” I called after him.
I caught a glimpse of him just entering the small path when a wave of fear replaced the affection flowing through me. Jumping up, I followed after him as fast as I could, but speed was one thing I would never be able to compete with when it came to humans versus vampires. When I got closer to the parking lot, raised voices met my ears. My heart pounded inside my chest. Up ahead, there was a grouping of vampires and trainees alike, most of them drenched from head-to-toe. I caught sight of Nic, Connor, and Stephan, and then to my right, a blur sped by and I knew it was Christian even though I couldn’t pick out any of his details.
I stopped at the edge of the group and pushed my way through. Connor’s voice urged me ahead. “Come on, we’re just a bunch of kids having a party.”
“Kids,” a voice sneered. He was mocking and the accent screamed hick. “You expect me to believe that? Someone killed my brother and I’m here to find out who.”
I pulled up between Connor and Nicolai. Their hands went out in front of me, to guard me perhaps, but they were too preoccupied by the three men standing in front of them to turn their eyes on me. The three men were older, late forty’s with scraggly sideburns and flannel. The guy to the left had a rifle thrown over his shoulder and the one in the middle, stepped just a few inches closer than the others, held a lime green water gun in his hand. Though it was at hip level, it was pointed straight at Connor. My eyes dropped to it immediately, and at first, my brain wouldn’t compute, but the more the man talked, the more the puzzle pieces came together.
In a world without vampires, some old dudes showing up at a party asking who killed their brother would be ludicrous. At a vamp-guard party, however, this was serious business. Especially as of late.
“We’re not stupid. We know who you are,” the ring leader said again. “There are myths all the way from New York to here. There’s a fortress up the road a few miles. Most of the locals think it’s a private school, but I’ll be willing to bet we know what it is. There are a few here and there that know the truth. My brother knew it, and we followed that truth all the way here and now we want payback for his death.” The guy’s hand twitched around the water gun and I stepped in front of the two princes closest to me. My instincts told me if they really did know who some of us were, then that water gun wasn’t just filled with plain old tap water.
To my right, Liv stepped in front of Christian and surprisingly, Zeke stepped in front of Stephan. My heart clenched, and a moment of sheer panic swept over me. I wanted to move toward Stephan, to throw myself in front of him, too. I didn’t trust Zeke. He’d never done right by me before. What if he didn’t do the right thing now?
Shannon spoke up. She maneuvered in front of Nicolai and I let her take my place. “Like he said, we’re just out having some fun.” Her right hand moved behind her. “I’m gonna call the cops if you don’t leave.”
She reached for the cell phone in her back pocket, but froze when the ring leader’s hard voice filled the air again. “Don’t test me, girl. We know what you are. One of you killed my brother in his gas station for knowing the truth and I’m not about to let you go free any longer, any of you.”
I stifled a gasp, clenching my teeth instead. Gas station? Then we were talking about the incident near the Ravana Estate. Of course, we were. Lex and her guards who’d escorted us had ‘taken care’ of this man’s brother after I tackled him for trying to drown Connor in holy water. My eyes flicked toward the neon green toy gun and then back up. He wasn’t just a crackpot. He knew.
At the fringes of our group, feet shuffled forward, fists clenched together and I noticed a few of the vamps getting antsy. They closed in ranks around the men in front of us. We tripled, maybe quadrupled them in number, but that wasn’t the point. If he shot any of the vamps with the holy water, suspicions confirmed, and that wasn’t even mentioning that one of the vampires would be hurt. We did not need that right now. I pushed back on Connor hoping he’d take the hint and step back.
Sweat beaded along my brow. A cold shudder ran down my back as I stepped forward. I made myself smile and then laugh. “Listen. Old man. None of us understand what you’re talking about. Did you, like, forget to take medication this morning or something? We’re having a party in the woods, so unless you’re going to call the cops on us, I’m not sure what a little water gun can do. Maybe ruin my shirt, but that’s about it.” I peeked down, making a show of this whole thing. “It’s not even white so if you were hoping for a show…”
His beady eyes narrowed. He had on a black trucker’s hat and for one second, I recognized his brother in him. I didn’t dare look around, but I hoped to God the vamps were being smart about this and staying back. He scratched his scruff and then spit in the space between us. “Was it you?”
I took a step back, looking at the spit with disgust. “Listen, you’re a kook. Get out of here before my friend calls the cops on you. I’m sure they’ll love to hear how you’re carrying around guns threatening teenagers.”
His two friends looked at one another. My heart soared for a moment before the guy in front took another step forward. His hand moved up, the lime green water gun aimed at my face. “You’re all vampires, and you need to pay.”
I forced out a laugh. “Vamp—” A squirt of water to my eye stopped me mid-word. The whole group paused. I set my jaw, and reached up to wipe the water from my eye while some of it dripped from the edge of my nose. “Seriously? You’re ridiculous. What was that supposed to do other than make me mad?”
His jaw dropped. “You’re not…?” He twisted, aimed at Liv, and pulled the plastic trigger. My heart leapt again, but Christian was unscathed.
She screamed out in frustration and then looked down at her shirt, the look of a purely pissed off female teenager transforming her face. “That was my favorite. Ew. Get out of here! You guys are so gross!”
The two flanking the ring leader stepped back. “Maybe we got the wrong ones,” the guy with the rifle said.
“No, it’s them. I know it.” The guy twisted from one edge of the group to the other, the water gun roaming with him. Every time it neared one of the vamps, my throat thickened and my stomach hollowed out.
“Come on,” a
male voice said. I closed my eyes, recognizing Zeke’s tenor. The same voice that had scoffed when I tried to climb the rope, the same one that threatened me while he tried to choke the life out of me. “I’m not sure what you guys are on…”
The water gun lifted in his direction. My whole body tensed. Stephan was still right behind him. If Zeke moved, or ducked, or did anything to put him in danger, so help me God…
The ring leader pulled the trigger. A stream of water fountained through the air heading right in their direction. My chest tightened and there was a visceral reaction from those next to me too. I will kill him, I thought. I will kill Zeke if he puts my prince in danger.
He moved just to he left, catching the entire blow of the holy water like nothing.
I drew in a sharp breath, relief sweeping through me in a heady rush. That was too close. I strode forward and tore the water gun from the man’s hands while he was still stunned looking at Zeke as if he couldn’t believe he didn’t fall to the ground in pain. I pulled the trigger again and again into my palm. “Nothing’s happening,” I said, my heart still trying to recover. “What’s supposed to happen? Is this supposed to burn? Am I supposed to shrivel up and die right now? Like we said, we’re just teenagers.” I motioned toward the old truck behind them. “Now get out of here before we call the cops. You’ve just harassed a bunch of young girls, something I’m sure the police would love to find out about. They probably haven’t met their quota for scum of the Earth freaks for the month.”
“Yeah, sorry guys,” Connor said from behind me. He threw his hands around my shoulders and squeezed while I dropped the water gun at my feet. “This one’s mine.” He gave my cheek a big smack as the three men took a collective step backward.
The two that were in the back started mumbling to one another and they soon turned and headed right for their truck. When they got in, they honked the horn, laying on it for a good three seconds. “Get your ass in the truck, Waylon. We don’t need any trouble here.”
The brother’s hands clenched at his sides. He turned toward us, his eyes growing hard. “I know,” he said. “I know and nothing is going to convince me otherwise.”
He turned and stalked back toward the idling truck. We didn’t relax until he pushed down on the gas and kicked up the dirt in the makeshift parking lot. We fanned it away from our faces as the tires hit the pavement with a squeal.
“Jesus,” Connor breathed in my ear. He kissed my cheek again for real and hugged me toward him. I went to reach up to pat his arm, but stopped midway. I needed to get this holy water off me before I did just what I was trying to avoid. Connor turned away anyway. “Everyone okay?”
A chorus of ‘yeahs’ and affirmatives made their way through the crowd. I walked past Christian to head toward the river to wash my hands off. He was already on the phone, speaking in a low voice to someone. He would take care of it from here, probably sending out a vampire or two to wipe their memories, then telling them there was no such thing as vampires, that they should never believe in vampires, and that they should never make it back to this part of the country again. That way, we wouldn’t have to deal with anything like this in the future. I wasn’t sure exactly how mind persuasion worked, but I was sure they could pull something like that off.
I swished my hand around in the freezing cold water before pulling it out. Then, I plunged them both into the water and rubbed them together, making sure to get the area between my fingers too. On my way back to the group, I looked up to find a tall figure making his way toward me. Dread washed over me when I realized who it was. Stepping out of Zeke’s way, I’d planned on ignoring him, but something told me to stop. I closed my eyes and tried to talk myself out of it, but I just couldn’t get around it. “Hey, uh, Zeke?” I asked. His back tensed as he kneeled by the water’s edge. Why did I have to open my mouth? I didn’t owe him anything. “Thanks for covering Stephan,” I said quickly.
His shoulders relaxed and he went back to washing off. I watched as he stripped his shirt and dunked it in the river water. I waited for him to react, to say something back, but he didn’t. Expecting nothing less, I shrugged and started to make my way back to my princes. I didn’t owe him anything, but when it came down to the Ravanas’ safety, I would do what I could, even if it meant swallowing my pride and taking the higher road—no matter what it cost me. Zeke cleared his throat and then his cold voice filled the evening air, effectively stopping me mid-stride. “Wait.”
I turned, my stomach sinking immediately. It was at that moment I realized I hadn’t actually expected him to say anything. I wasn’t prepared to have a conversation with Zeke, let alone in private.
I steadied myself as he crept up the embankment and pulled his shirt back over his head. He ran his hands through his wet hair and tugged his the material down. “You know I don’t like you.” I rolled my eyes at his bluntness, prepared myself to say something back, but he continued, his lips thinning and voice dropping an octave or two. “I’m trying to say thank you. You saved my life the other day with that rogue vamp even knowing I don’t like you. Even knowing I threatened you. Even knowing my mother tried to kill you.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “Anyway, the least I could do was stand in front of that prince for you. He’s actually not a bad guy. He stitched me up after the attack.”
Of course Stephan would win over Zeke. He was just that kind of guy. That didn’t surprise me, but the shock registering now was the fact that Zeke could be a little human. How much human was still up for debate, but I didn’t know, maybe he was just a little scared kid who felt threatened by me and acted out in a terrible way. That didn’t make it right, not by a long shot, but perhaps I’d proven myself in his eyes now.
Not that it mattered.
Whatever was going down, I still wasn’t about to forgive the past. I nodded, letting him know I’d heard him, then continued up the embankment to meet back up with who really did matter, my princes.
Chapter Seven
The parking lot was clearing out when I made my way back. Christian stood in the middle of everything, waving cars on and simultaneously talking to people. I stopped near Nicolai and inclined my head toward him. “What’s going on?”
“Samuel wants all the guards back at The Fort. After Christian called the incident in, the Rajyvik’s decided to lock it down for tonight and put out extra security. If anyone doesn’t leave right now, they won’t make it back in time before they shut the place up nice and tight. Lex is sending a team out to deal with those guys.”
Oh… I looked around for the Jeep and wondered if we were also getting ready to go. I didn’t want to get stuck outside. Not that I thought anything was going to happen tonight since Lex’s team was on top of things and the three men didn’t seem to be all that organized, but I guessed it was always safer to be prepared.
Nic squeezed my hand. “Ri, what are you doing?”
“Are we leaving? I don’t want to be—”
His tone hushed, he leaned over. “We thought maybe you’d like to spend the night with us at our place.”
My throat ran dry. “Y-your place?”
He lowered his chin to meet my gaze and a shudder rolled through me. “My parents are staying at the Rajyvik’s. Everyone decided they’d be safer there. That leaves the whole place to ourselves if we want it. We have enough security measures in place that we’ll be fine. Plus, they didn’t say anything about knowing where anyone lived, only The Fort.”
I gulped, his dark eyes almost measuring me up before I answered. I nodded quickly, perhaps a little too quickly because a small grin curled his lips. Nicolai always did that to me though—scrambled my brain and made me lose all sense.
He motioned toward the Jeep and I stumbled along beside him. He opened the back door for me and hands were already there, greeting me. Connor pulled me onto his still-damp lap. His arms encased me in and a shiver racked his body. “Keep me warm, Princess.”
I smiled before snuggling down into him. “Serve
s you right for jumping off the bridge…multiple times. How many times did you jump anyway?”
His shoulders lifted. “A dozen or so.”
I shook my head. Jumping once had been enough for me.
“Mmm,” he moaned. “You’re so warm and cuddly. You also saved us again. Has anyone mentioned lately that you’re pretty much perfect?”
Nicolai caught the tail end of the conversation as he got in the passenger seat. “I believe I told her that in the dressing room at Gwen’s.” He turned and winked, and it felt like my face caught fire.
Connor stifled a laugh. “I see. Sounds like you two had fun in your solitary outing. I miss fun.”
His thumbs traced the curve of my boobs on the outside of my shirt and I stilled. I refrained from making any embarrassing noises and instead stared straight ahead at Nic. His face darkened even more. “I think she liked that, brother.”
Connor’s breath hitched in my ear. His thumbs made the same movement and then poised over my nipples, right in full view of Nic. “Did she? Maybe she’ll like this, too?” He lowered his thumbs, his touch searing right through my shirt and bra and pebbling my nipple. Through it all, I never lost eye contact with Nicolai who stared down at my breasts, now heaving, filling Connor’s palms. I wiggled on his lap, the spot between my thighs heating like a rapid-fore furnace. “Damn, girl,” Connor breathed out. Already I could feel his massive erection hardening against my backside, right through the layers of wet clothing.
Nicolai’s husky voice filled the Jeep. “She definitely liked that.” He looked around, trying to see out the fogged windows. “Where the hell are Stephan and Christian? I want to get her home now.” He abandoned his search and peeked at me again. “She deserves a treat for being such a good guardian.”