Into The Void
Book 4 in The Vampire Hunter Series
By S.C. Reynolds
Text copyright © 2013 S.C. Reynolds
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All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 1
We must have been driving for almost half an hour before I got up the nerve to speak to Lucas and Nicholas. They had been whispering, obviously in their own world, for most of the journey.
At first I had tried to talk to Emmett, but he was being even weirder than usual. He looked like he was in a trance of his own, staring straight ahead at the back of Lucas’ seat. “Earth to Emmett,” I’d hissed, thinking I could get through to him. But he’d just turned to look at me with a totally blank expression, then continued staring at the back of the car seat.
It sounded like Lucas and Nicholas had stopped talking – for now – so I took my opportunity. I leaned forward. “Lucas?” I said nervously. Hopefully he wouldn’t ignore me, too.
He glanced back at me briefly. I must have looked upset, because Lucas winked at me and smiled, although I could tell it was forced. “Don’t worry,” he told me, returning his attention back to the road.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
This time Nicholas turned around to answer. It was the first time I’d gotten a good look at him and it hit me that he and Lucas could almost pass for brothers! Nicholas had the same high cheekbones and chiseled face. His hair, which was a dark brown color with hints of red, was wavy and fell slightly past his ears. While Lucas’ eyes were dark, almost black, Nicholas’ were a bright blue. I had assumed those dark, piercing eyes were a vampire thing, but I guess Lucas was just born that way. I forced myself to look away from Nicholas. I didn’t want to freak him out by studying his face too long.
Nicholas was speaking now. His voice was deep, commanding. “We’re going to a cabin; a friend found it for me. And he had it checked out.”
“Checked out for…?” my voice trailed off.
“To make sure it wasn’t some type of set up. No traps. And no one knows we’re heading there. We’ll be there in about ten more minutes, the way this guy’s driving.” He cocked his head towards Lucas and flashed a crooked grin.
I smiled. Nicholas seemed genuine. I had vowed if I ever met him I would make up my own mind about his character – I still had a hard time believing that the vampire who had turned Lucas without his permission could be trusted. But I found myself instantly comfortable around Nicholas, like he really wanted to help us, no hidden agenda of his own.
And it was nice to get some straightforward answers. Lucas loved winding me up and took any opportunity to answer my questions cryptically, that is if he decided to address them at all. Nicholas seemed to be an open book.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked Nicholas.
“We have to prepare for tonight.” Nicholas glanced at the clock on the car dash. The illuminated letters read 8:28. “The meeting will convene at midnight. That should be enough time.”
I could feel my mouth drop open in surprise. I quickly clamped it shut. “We need that long?” I asked in a shrill voice.
Lucas shot a glance back in my direction. He looked bemused. “You and your questions,” he said.
Nicholas just laughed. “If I were pulled away from a party to go to some clandestine meeting, I might have some questions, too.”
Ha! Finally, I had someone who understood me. I was liking Nicholas more and more by the minute.
But his words rang in my ears. If I were pulled away from a party…
Henry! I was so stunned when I first got into the car that I had momentarily forgotten about him. I fumbled to pull my phone out of my purse. I probably had missed calls and texts; Henry must be furious with me, wondering why I ran out of there with Lucas.
No notifications were flashing on my phone. This can’t be right. I unlocked my phone and checked for missed calls and texts. Nothing. I had fucked up with Henry yet again. Still, I had to tell him something.
Nicholas was talking again but I couldn’t focus on his words. Finally I looked up at him and he paused. “I, I’m sorry,” I stuttered. “I just need a sec.”
“Is this about Henry?” Lucas interjected. “You haven’t told him anything yet, right? You can’t say where you’re really going.”
“I know that,” I said, more irritably than I meant it to come out. I softened my voice. “Any suggestions for what I can tell him?”
Before Lucas or Nicholas could say anything, Emmett turned his head sharply to look at me. I jumped, startled. I thought he was totally zoned out, not listening to a word we’d been saying.
“Tell him you were in danger,” Emmett said. “That Lucas got a call from me to go find you, that the twins were looking for you again and you weren’t safe at that party.”
“But that doesn’t make sense,” I argued. “Why wouldn’t you have called Henry to get me out of there? As far as Henry knows, you haven’t even got a way to get in touch directly with anyone but him!”
Emmett pushed his glasses up on his nose and sighed. “If it comes to that, tell him the number appeared to me. That I looked up at the night sky and saw it emblazoned across the moon.”
Nicholas snickered but didn’t comment. Was this Emmett’s idea of a joke, or was he genuinely losing it?
“Why aren’t you taking this seriously?” I asked him angrily.
“Oh, I’m taking it seriously, all right.” Emmett’s expression was different than I had ever seen before. I couldn’t pinpoint why, I could just see it in his eyes. The first time we had met they were a twinkling brown. Now they looked hard, jaded. But Emmett didn’t look resigned. He looked determined.
“Well, you could have come up with something better,” I muttered. “Something Henry would believe.”
“He’ll believe it because he wants to,” Emmett replied.
“It’s not that simple,” I said. I was getting really frustrated now. Emmett was no help at all.
“Do I have to spell it out for you?” Emmett snapped. “Henry will buy whatever you tell him because he wants to think that you’re as transparent with him as he is with you. Henry can’t fathom you could be lying to him, not on this grand of a scale. And besides, he’s in love with you. Love blinds people to reason.”
I saw Lucas’ shoulders tense up. Nicholas, who had remained facing us, fascinated by the conversation, slowly turned forward in his seat.
Why did he have to say that? How embarrassing! I knew Henry liked me, but I never thought he was in love with me. But I guess if anyone could possibly know that, it would be Emmett.
Emmett’s words killed the conversation. No one spoke. Not having anything better to say than Emmett’s lame reason, I typed a message to Henry.
Sorry I ran out like that. E told L that the twins were close by and I was in danger. I’m fine now. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow. Before I could second-guess myself, I hit send.
Tomorrow. The last day of summer vacation. I just hoped I was around
to see it. Nicholas was acting nonchalant, but Lucas was barely talking. And he’d been frantic when he dragged me away from Bunny’s party. Normally, it was Henry and me freaking out and Lucas trying to calm us down.
I didn’t know how to process Lucas being so uptight. It made me think that this was really serious, more so than anything else thus far.
I was jolted from my thoughts – literally – as the car slammed to a halt.
“We’re here,” Lucas said.
“Here” looked like the middle of the woods. It reminded me of Lucas’ house, secluded from all other civilization.
Lucas and Nicholas hopped out of the car. Emmett and I hesitantly followed suit. Now that he was standing, I could see that Nicholas was about the same height as Lucas. He wasn’t as shredded, but I had a feeling that he was still extremely powerful. It was easy to imagine how he and Lucas were a force to be reckoned with, back when they travelled around together, hunting and doing all the things Lucas refused to talk about.
We trudged forward silently. I briefly wondered how Nicholas knew where he was going – there was no dirt path worn in the ground, no indication that a cabin was nearby. Everything looked untouched, covered with leaves and debris. We were in the middle of nowhere.
I tried to push the doubt out of my mind that Nicholas really had double-crossed us, that someone had paid him off to get rid of the dead girl, the vampire and the psychic in one fell swoop.
But there was no turning back now. The further we got into the woods, the more unlikely that I’d be able to trace my steps back, if this was in fact some horrible trick. I guess we would find out soon enough.
Chapter 2
Just when I had decided for sure that we were being led to our deaths by the charming but deadly Nicholas, we finally arrived at the cabin. I felt a small glimmer of hope, but it was immediately replaced by the thought that he had lured us to this tiny cabin to lock us inside and kill us one by one.
But when he opened the door, I was relieved to see the inside looked completely normal. No chair with shackles, no IVs, no smoldering caldron. I shuddered, remembering the torture chamber the twins had set up.
“You’re dead. You shouldn’t be cold.” Emmett was staring at me. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him, which would have been extremely juvenile. Instead, I ignored him, pretending I hadn’t heard his stupid comment.
The cabin was furnished and decorated, which was surprising, considering I didn’t think anyone lived here. There were intricate paintings of the woods hanging on opposite walls; one depicted the scenery at sunrise, and the other was a dark rendition of the woods at night, with a huge moon shining between the trees.
The main room had a fireplace that spanned the length of one wall, a coffee table in the middle of the room, and two brown leather couches adjacent to each other. It was homey and comforting.
I sank down onto one of the couches as Nicholas retreated to another room in the cabin. Emmett remained standing, but Lucas sat down next to me. He pushed his dark hair off his forehead and again flashed a forced smile.
“Are you okay?” I asked in a low voice. “You seem really worried. You’re usually the laid back one.”
I expected Lucas to laugh, to reassure me somehow, but he didn’t immediately say anything. Finally, he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t want to put you in danger tonight, without me there to protect you.”
“I won’t be in danger though, right?” I asked nervously. “Nicholas will be there. Don’t you trust him with your life?”
“Yes,” Lucas said solemnly. “But this isn’t my life. It’s yours. And as much as I trust him, I’d rather be the one watching over you.”
I knew Emmett was right there, probably listening to each and every word, but I didn’t care. Hell, if he didn’t hear it with his own two ears he’d probably figure it out later, anyway, through some crazy psychic vision.
I reached out and grabbed Lucas’ hand. “Can’t you come with me?” I asked desperately. “I won’t know how to act, what to do….I need you there to protect me, to guide me.”
Lucas shook his head helplessly. “I can’t. Tobias obviously vetted every creature and hand-selected who he wanted for the meetings. He might recognize me and know I wasn’t invited. Nicholas should be safe though; I don’t think Tobias took his search overseas.”
Lucas reached up and caressed my face with the back of his hand, running his fingers along my cheek, over my lips. “You’ll be fine,” he tried again to reassure me, but he didn’t sound convinced himself.
“You guys need a room? The bed’s that-away,” Nicholas cracked. We both jumped apart guiltily.
“Shut up,” Lucas mumbled.
Nicholas sat down on the other couch, placing a large black leather satchel next to him. “Okay, Aurora, let me tell you what we know so far,” he said.
I nodded for him to go on. “At the first meeting, the one where you actually were in a trance, Tobias branded everyone there…you know, kind of like cattle.”
I wrinkled my nose. “If they tried to use a hot metal iron to burn a scar into my skin, it would have just healed right away. When I get injured, it heals instantly. Besides, I haven’t noticed anything different.”
“No, not like that,” Lucas interjected. “The mark is on your neck, right below your hairline.”
My hand flew to the back of my neck. “Feels normal,” I said.
“You wouldn’t notice a difference.” Lucas stood up and walked over to the satchel next to Nicholas. He pulled out an object that resembled a flashlight. Nicholas leaned over and flipped the light switch, turning off what little light we had in the already dim room.
When Lucas clicked the ‘flashlight’ on, the room was illuminated by an emerald green glow.
“Woah,” Emmett said, shielding his eyes. “I didn’t know that thing was so powerful.”
“Yeah, what is that?” I asked.
Instead of answering, Nicholas stood up from the couch and turned his back to us, pulling his longish hair to one side so that his neck was exposed. Lucas aimed the light at him.
“Wow,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
“It’s so intricate,” Emmett chimed in. He sounded impressed.
“This is the mark, more like a barcode, if you think about it. They’re going to scan it before they let you in. Each creature that was summoned to the meeting has his or her own unique marking. It’s a way for Tobias and Matthews to keep track of everyone,” Lucas explained.
It didn’t look like any barcode I had ever seen. The marking was a complex pattern of lines and dashes with what appeared to be ancient characters between the lines. And it wasn’t a small drawing either; the entire ‘barcode’ must have stretched at least two inches across the back of Nicholas’ neck.
I gulped. “Can you read that? Does it actually mean something?”
“To someone, yes,” Nicholas answered. “We’re not sure on the exact details, but I’m assuming they’ve got a machine to scan us, to make sure we’re supposed to be there. A unique marking will also stop any imposters, like shape shifters for example.”
“Wait,” I said nervously. “Nicholas, you weren’t invited. How do you know that’s a legitimate barcode, tattoo, whatever you want to call it? I mean, what if they scan it, say you’re a fraud, and kill you on the spot?”
“Emmett, I know you’ve been wonderful about getting us so much information so far,” I continued, “but how do you know you got the details of the marking right? That seems like a lot to remember. I thought your visions weren’t that clear?”
“They’re not,” Emmett replied. “I had nothing to do with figuring this out. Those guys did.”
“Huh?” Now I was more confused than ever.
Lucas and Nicholas exchanged a look and Lucas nodded slightly. He sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you acting strangely around Henry’s father, but I tapped his phone line and hacked his email accounts.”
> “When?” I demanded.
“After I found out you went somewhere during that blackout. I was fucking terrified; I had to get a handle on the situation. All of the pressure has been on Emmett. I have skills and resources, too. It was time to use them.”
“You could have told me,” I said, feeling a little hurt. “I would have helped. And I barely see Mr. Matthews, anyway.”
“Rory, you had enough on your plate,” Lucas said earnestly. He was looking at me in a way that made me want to reach out for him again, but I was acutely aware that we weren’t alone. And besides, we had business to attend to. “You were studying for that exam,” Lucas continued, “and I also knew you were grounded because of me. Those are the reasons I couldn’t involve you.”
“Grounded?” Nicholas asked. “I can’t remember the last time you were responsible for getting a girl grounded. Probably when we were still humans.” He snickered.
“I know!” Lucas said, laughing. “I keep having to remind myself that Aurora can’t just come and go as she pleases.”
“I’m right here; you don’t have to talk about me in third person,” I said waspishly.
“Sorry.” Lucas brushed my hand. Relax. He mouthed the words.
I forced my shoulders down. I didn’t realize I had been holding them so tightly. I really was tense. At least Lucas looked like he was calming down some now. And even Emmett had stopped pacing and sat down to study the flashlight thing.
“Actually, I’m glad you said that about me being grounded. I can’t believe I was about to forget that my curfew is at midnight. We’ll just be getting to the meeting then,” I said nervously.
I pulled out my phone and texted my mom. Can I stay at Jessica’s house tonight? Henry will drop us both off.
Almost immediately my mom wrote back. Sure! I’m so glad to see you reconnecting with your old friends. Have fun!
If only she knew the truth.
Henry had also texted me back. I was almost afraid to read it, but I had to know he didn’t hate my guts. I’m so glad you’re safe, Rory. Where are you now? I could leave the party and we could hang out.
Into The Void (Vampire Hunter Book 4) Page 1