by Wendi Wilson
Her eyes skittered to Levi for a split second, and suddenly everything made perfect sense. My eyes widened, and I barely managed to keep my mouth from falling open.
Micah was jealous. Of me.
She wanted Levi, and he wanted me. Had she somehow sensed his attraction to me from the beginning? I almost felt bad for her, but her stern countenance warded off any sympathy or understanding I might have offered.
“I’m tired of being bossed around by Sarah, and this time, she took it too far. She got busted for feeding on human children, and she can’t just kidnap, compel, or kill anyone who might’ve witnessed it.” Her face softened as she said those words, and she looked… pretty. Nice, even. “I had a mom once. I haven’t forgotten the importance of a mother’s love. I can tell you where she is.”
“What? Tell me,” I demanded, trying to bulldoze my way toward her as Levi grabbed me from behind and held me back once again. “Let me go,” I shouted over my shoulder at him.
“Piper, stop. I’ve got you, and I’m not letting you go. I’ve. Got. You.”
His words had an immediate effect on me, and the fight drained out of my body. I slumped against him, his embrace comforting me, making me feel relaxed… and… safe.
“Are you compelling me right now?” I demanded as shock filled me at how easily I’d given up my fight. My gaze collided with his, and my anger returned.
Micah’s laughter shocked me out of my pique, and I broke eye contact with Levi to look at her. She shook her head as her laughter died off, but a smirk remained on her lips.
“First of all, Levi would never compel anyone without their knowledge or against their wishes, least of all you.”
The way she said it made it sound like I was somehow special to him. I knew he’d said as much to me, but hearing it from someone else, someone who knew him before, made it all the more real.
“Secondly,” she continued, “you have to have eye contact to compel someone, dummy.”
Levi had been whispering in my ear, not looking into my eyes. It was his words, his voice, and his strength that had calmed me, not some mystical power vampires possess. I looked back at him and shot him an apologetic smile. He shook his head.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re freaking out, or else you’d have realized… Now, I need you to go back to your cabin,” he said.
“What? No.”
“Piper, please. Time is running out. Go back to your cabin and stay with True and your campers. Micah will tell me where to find Sarah and your mom. I will get her back. I promise. I just need you to trust me. Can you do that?”
I nodded, my head moving in short, jerky motions as his grip tightened on me. His lips pressed against my forehead before he pushed me away, nudging me toward the door.
“Go. I’ll be back with your mom before you know it.”
I walked back to Saka’am alone and terrified, wondering why I’d just gone along with Levi’s plan. I felt weak, useless, letting the vampires do all the work while the frail human went to hide in her cabin.
Maybe I should’ve asked Levi to compel me to forget for a while. Things would’ve been so much easier.
“Where the hell is he?”
I grumbled the words under my breath, and True’s grip on my hand tightened. She whispered something about everything being okay, trying to keep me calm so I wouldn’t freak out and wake the girls. We were sitting on my bunk, where I filled her in on what was happening, and my eyes had been trained on the closed door for the last hour.
I shouldn’t have agreed to stay here. I should’ve been out there, helping Levi rescue my mother. I tried to stand, but True squeezed my hand and pulled me back down.
“You can’t go out there, Piper,” she hissed.
“I have to do something,” I whispered back.
Her eyes darted around the dim cabin before landing back on me. She leaned in close, bringing her mouth to my ear.
“They’re vampires,” she stressed, “and you’re human. Having you there would only put more pressure on Levi because he’d have to protect you and your mom. Please, give him some more time before you charge in like a bat out of hell.”
I opened my mouth to argue, to tell her Badass Piper could take care of herself, but two swift knocks on the window cut me off.
“Levi,” I gasped, jumping up to rip open the shade.
Micah’s frowning face greeted me instead. She motioned for me to come outside, and I started for the door. True’s strong fingers wrapped around my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.
“It might be a trap,” she mouthed, knowing Micah would hear her if she actually said it.
I shook my head and whispered, “I trust her.”
I didn’t know when that became true, but as the words passed my lips, I realized they were. Levi trusted her, and I trusted him. And luckily, True trusted me, because she released her grip on my wrist and motioned for me to lead the way.
I opened the door, we snuck out, and I closed it quietly behind us. As I turned, Micah popped up in front of me, and I barely smothered my scream. She was so freaking quiet, not a single board on the porch popped or squeaked.
“Don’t do that,” I hissed.
“Sorry,” she said, smirking for a moment before letting it drop. “I had to come. Levi’s in trouble.”
“What do you mean?’ I asked, panic filling my voice as she pulled me off the porch and away from the sleeping girls in the cabin.
“Sarah got the drop on him,” Micah hissed. “She has him and your mom in some cabin about three-quarters of a mile from here.”
“Why are you telling us?” True asked, suspicion evident in her voice. “Why not Dean Purty or the other vampires?”
Micah rolled her eyes. “I did go to the dean first,” she said. “He told me to stay put and went to The Society to get help. The other counselors prefer to stay out of it. Too much is at stake.”
Her eyes landed on me, and even in the dark I could see the meaning in them. If Dean Purty went to The Society, it could be an hour or more before he got back with help. Meanwhile… Sarah had two of the most important people in my life.
“What about Sasha? Or Nurse Barbara?”
“They’re not here,” Micah said, shaking her head. “They made a run into town for supplies.”
“Take me,” I said.
“What? Piper, no,” True cut in. “It’s too dangerous.”
“True,” I said, gripping her hands in mine and locking gazes with her, “it’s my mom. I already lost my dad. I can’t lose her, too. I just can’t. You understand.”
Something in my voice must’ve convinced her because she closed her eyes and let out a sigh. When she reopened them, she met my stare and nodded.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
“You don’t have to come,” I said, my voice soft with gratitude that she’d even consider joining me on what could amount to a suicide mission.
“Yes, I do,” she said. “We may not have known each other long, Piper Williams, but you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. And best friends don’t let best friends face bitchy, kidnapping, possibly murderous vampires on their own.”
A laugh exploded through my lips unbidden, and True smiled in return. A grunt from Micah burst our little bestie-love bubble, and we turned to look at her.
“I hate to break up this… whatever it is, but time’s running out. If we’re going to do this, we need to do it now.”
We nodded, and she led the way, taking us through the camp and into the woods on the west side where Levi had taken me before. As we walked, I imagined him in all sorts of dire circumstances, which brought up some questions.
“How’s Sarah even restraining him?” I asked. “Aren’t vampires, like, super-strong and able to break out of anything?”
“She compelled him,” Micah replied.
“Wait. What? Vampires can compel other vampires?”
“The older ones can,” she said. “Levi has only been one of us for a little over two decades. Sarah is mo
re than three-hundred years old.”
Panic seared through my chest, and I grabbed Micah’s arm to pull her to a stop.
“Why did he go? If she’s so much older and stronger, why did he go in alone? Why did you let him?”
“It’s not like I had a choice,” she shot back defensively. “Sarah calls all the shots and Lars does whatever the hell she tells him to, no questions asked.”
I nodded, knowing that was true. “And Levi?”
“I couldn’t stop him,” she said quietly. “Where you’re concerned, little human, nothing can stop Levi Kass.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Garlic? Are you kidding me?” Micah arched an eyebrow at True as if the myth was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.
True pulled a face before sticking the strong-smelling bulb back into her bag with a disappointed huff. “Well, what will work, then, genius?”
Micah hissed at True, her canines elongating into sharp fangs. “Just because I’m helping you doesn’t mean I won’t eat you if you piss me off.”
True glared back, seemingly unafraid of the two-inch, knifelike teeth. “Try it, fang face. See what happens.” She dug in her shirt collar and pulled out an ancient-looking cross necklace, which only made Micah laugh.
“Crosses don’t work, either, meat sack. You think we’ve survived this long being that weak?”
True shrugged, stuffing it back in her shirt. “There has to be some way to kill you.”
Micah whirled, her fingers splaying into claws. “What did you say?!”
“We can’t fight,” I said, stepping between them. “We have bigger fish to fry. Please. For my mother. For Levi.”
Both girls went quiet, but neither seemed to be happy with the arrangement. Just because they were willing to work with me didn’t mean they were willing to work with each other. But infighting would be our demise, and there was plenty to worry about without adding those two trying to kill each to the mix.
Our vampire education came in fits and starts as we hiked through the dark woods to the cabin. I’d already talked with Levi about some of the myths when I learned he was a vampire, but True hadn’t been part of that conversation. She’d already gone through most of them with Micah, making the vamp angrier with every ridiculous suggestion she made.
“Let’s get this straight once and for all,” Micah said, stopping and turning toward us. Ticking off the options on her fingers, she said, “Fire, stake through the heart, sever the head from the body, destroy the body so much it cannot regenerate.”
“Silver bullet?” True asked.
“Like you have one of those?” Micah shot back, a hand on her slender hip.
True straightened her shoulders, the thin moonlight filtering between the branches above us highlighting her confident expression. “Well, does it work?”
Micah seemed annoyed to even have to answer but finally gave in. “Yeah, I guess if you shot one of us in the heart or brain. Are we done? Sarah isn’t a patient person, and it’s already been a few hours.” Micah glanced at the moon, then at us expectantly.
She was right. Mom was taken at ten, and it had to be past two a.m. My anguish and fear felt like a rope around my neck, tightening with each minute that ticked by. What if we were too late? What if Mom was…?
I stopped myself as my pulse began to race and my breathing picked up. There was no time to freak out now.
“Are you going to be okay?” Micah asked.
I’d forgotten for a moment that, as a vampire, she could sense my anxiety. Even though she wasn’t as nice or as calming as Levi, she seemed to care. Maybe she was worried I’d lose it and ruin everything. Maybe she just didn’t want to carry my fainting ass back to the nurse.
“I’m fine,” I said as True slipped her hand into mine. “Tell me the plan again.”
“When we get to the cabin, I’ll go in and tell Sarah I have something important I need to talk to her about. She’s in there alone with your mom and Levi, waiting for me to come back. I’ll lead her away. You free Levi. Un-compel him or something.”
“Can she do that?” True asked.
Micah shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”
“Un-compel him?” I asked. “Like wake him up?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
Micah’s eyes darted away, and I wondered, briefly, if she wished she were the one to wake Levi from his slumber. The princess to bestow a true love’s kiss. But that was a fairytale, and this was real life, even if it didn’t feel like it. I had no delusions that this would be that easy.
And how did she not know if it would work? Shouldn’t she be the expert on this stuff? I wanted to ask the questions aloud, but I had a feeling Micah was nearing the end of her rope, dealing with us simple humans.
True and I fell quiet as we continued marching after Micah. The woods were creepy enough, but the thought of roaming vampires thirsty for my blood made it even worse, and we were equipped with… What? One vampire ally and a thinly constructed rescue mission? It wasn’t a great plan, not even a sane one, but we had to do something. I couldn’t bear to lose my mother, too. Losing Dad had broken me.
Micah shuffled to a stop, holding out a hand signal for us to do the same. Ahead, a dim light shone through the branches. It took my eyes a moment to find the lines of the small log cabin nestled in between the trees. Something tickled my brain, like there was an air of familiarity surrounding the place.
“I’ll go ahead. You wait here,” Micah whispered, breaking off my musings. “When you hear the door slam, that means we’re leaving. Count to a hundred, then come, but be quiet. Sarah can’t know you’re here, or the plan is finished before it’s started. Got it?”
We nodded before watching Micah turn and run at a supernatural speed in the direction of the cabin.
True squeezed close to me as we hunkered down in the leaves. “Is this the stupidest idea we’ve ever had?”
“Yep. But there’s still time for you to back out,” I said, though I didn’t let go of my death grip on her hand.
“What? Me? Pshaw. I wouldn’t miss this for the world. What would I do instead? Get a good night’s sleep? Live to die another day? Boring.”
I snorted quietly. “You gotta hand it to me, I bring the excitement.”
“And the death,” she added jokingly. “Don’t forget the death.”
“Ah, yes. It’s a package deal.”
Our morbid jokes died as faint voices sounded from the direction of the cabin. I squinted toward it, trying to see what was happening, but my dumb human eyes couldn’t make out more than shadow and light. I held True’s hand, waiting for the sound of a door slam.
We waited. And waited.
“What’s happening?” True finally whispered.
“I don’t know.” I leaned forward, squinting in the dark, but I still couldn’t see. “I need to get closer.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“Okay, but no noise.”
She held a finger up to her lips to let me know she understood.
Hand-in-hand, we crept ahead as quietly as we could.
The trees were tight together, and branches and brambles reached out to snag our clothes and trip our feet. My heart was pounding so loudly as we approached, I worried the vampires might be able to hear it over the sound of our near-silent footsteps. But it had been far too long since Micah had gone into the cabin. And the door hadn’t slammed.
Something was wrong.
The cabin came into view in pieces. The glowing windows occupied most of my attention as we inched closer. The curtains were drawn, and shadows moved behind them. Three shadows. Was Levi up? My mother? Was there someone else in there?
I had to get closer.
I signaled to True that we should move in. She bit her lip and shook her head. Micah had made it clear if we were heard, the plan would end before it started. But then, wasn’t the plan already spoiled if Micah was taking so long? I waved at True, trying to let her know it was okay if she want
ed to go back. She shook her head and began creeping forward, pointing to the one window that wasn’t obscured by a window covering— a narrow pane in the cabin’s back door.
Barely breathing, we slunk toward the steps of the little back porch. I went first on my hands and knees to avoid the sound of shoes on the wood. Finally on the tiny landing, I raised my body slowly and eased my head up until I could see inside.
What I saw sent my whole world spinning.
My heart began to pound as my vision blurred and tunneled. My hearing went next, becoming a muffled buzzing as dizziness assailed me.
No. No, it can’t be.
My legs turned to water, and I felt the world tilt, but there was nothing I could do to stop my fall.
Arms wrapped around me, stopping me from slamming my head on the porch boards. I blinked into True’s concerned face as she cradled my head in her lap.
What happened? she mouthed.
I shook my head as tears rolled down my cheeks and dampened my hair. How could I tell her? No words existed to paint my horror in colors she would understand.
Because this was not a cabin.
It was the cabin.
Somehow, through the warping of time and space, the porch we were kneeling on belonged to the same cabin where my father had been murdered over a year ago. I knew it the moment I saw the inside, yet I hadn’t recognized it in the dark until now.
How could I forget? I’d played that night out in my head a few thousand times. The wooden floors, the awful yellow couch, the cuckoo clock that never chimed on the wall by the door—I had seen it in my nightmares over and over again.
How? How was this possible?
Dad had told me the cabin was in a town nearly a hundred miles away from home. But then, how much had I really paid attention? He’d driven the whole way while I’d stared at my phone between naps.
But how was the cabin here, so close to the camp? Unless…
He’d come investigating the vampires. He’d said it was for relaxation and wilderness therapy, but then he’d left me here on my own for hours. He’d told me he was going to the store for s’mores supplies and milk, a run that took him five times longer than it should have. When he’d returned, he was flustered and muttered something about getting lost.