I look at Peter and know he’s remembering that first moment of sunlight. There is not much that can top that, but some things get pretty close.
Ava
“You gonna eat her?” I’m sitting with Tex when I put my hand up to shush her. That’s not a voice I know. My head snaps around as Tex’s human eyes try to figure out what’s going on.
Then I see him. He looks about fourteen or so, dirty, hair shaved on one side of his head and long on the other. No shoes. And if I had any doubt, eyes in two different colors.
I get to my feet and stand in front of Tex, sending Peter an SOS as I do so. Strange noctalis in our territory. I feel a bit like we’re having one of those old west showdowns or something.
“Who are you?” This seems like the best first question to ask.
He takes a step toward me, and I realize I don’t need to be scared of this guy. He can’t hurt Tex and he can’t hurt me. So really, he’s just a trespasser.
“Rob.” He takes a step closer. Yeah, that’s enough buddy.
“Trespassing is against the law, you know,” I say, crossing my arms. This is my property, after all.
“Only if you’re human. Which I’m not, sooo . . .” he grins at me and he looks a hell of a lot older with that smile.
“Yeah, neither am I.” I can tell Tex really, really wants to say something but is keeping her mouth shut.
“So, what do you want, Rob? If you’re looking for a meal, go find it somewhere else.” I sound way more confident than I feel.
“Hold up, hold up.” He puts his hands up as if I’m attacking him. Where the hell is Peter? I reach out and find him further away than I would like. He’s moving away from me, not toward me. What’s going on? I can’t ask Tex, but I can feel and hear that she’s freaking out, which must mean Viktor’s not coming either.
“I just smelled you and was curious. No need to get your panties in a twist.” Ugh, that sounds so inappropriate coming from him.
“Who the hell are you?” Tex has had enough.
“Damn, you need to relax. I was just running along, minding my own business and I smelled a bunch of you, so I figured I would stop and see what was what. I’m a nomad and I find it interesting when I see a bunch of us living together. Chill out.” The more he talks, the more he sounds like a movie from the eighties or something.
“How old are you?” This is perhaps the next most important question.
“Fourteen and forty-one. If you wanted to know both ages. Older than you, babe.” He winks and I want to make a disgusted sound, but I don’t know how to anymore. Tex does it for me.
Peter is still rapidly moving away from me, and I need to know why. Rob doesn’t seem too much of a threat, just a creeper.
“Okay, well, we have to take care of something, so you can just be on your merry way,” I say, giving Tex a look that I hope she understands.
“Or I could come with you. I haven’t traveled much in Maine, and it’s been a while since I hung with anyone.”
I look at Tex and she rolls her eyes.
“It’s not like we can stop you, but I will warn you, I have laser hands.” She holds up her hands like claws and does her most-menacing glare.
“Fair enough,” Rob says, for the first time laughing and sounding like a kid.
“We have another guy with us, and if you try to eat him, we will all rip you apart and feed you to yourself. Got it?” I say, moving so I’m right in his face. Why is everyone taller than me?
I have to say it because I can hear Jamie’s heartbeat getting closer and I know Rob can hear it too.
“Sure thing,” Rob says, and tweaks my nose. I smack his hand away and he grins at me again.
“Brooke, we’ve got a visitor,” I say, even though she is too far away to see.
“Who is it?” She and Jamie stop and I can hear her positioning herself in a protective pose.
“I’m Rob. I was just curious about your living situation. Everyone seems a little on edge.” Another understatement.
“You just caught us at a bad time,” Tex says, inching backwards as if he’s not going to notice.
“Seems so.” Rob looks at both of us, but no one gives him an explanation. Then my phone screams in my pocket.
Peter
We decide to take Coby a little ways from the house because Brooke and Jamie could appear at any moment and neither Viktor nor I think that he can be stopped from killing Jamie. Viktor was smart to Claim Texas when he did.
I wonder why Brooke has not Claimed Jamie, but I am sure she has her reasons. Perhaps she is afraid of killing him, since she still needs so much blood.
We are walking at a slower than noctalis pace when Coby suddenly darts away and Viktor and I race after him, but he’s faster than both of us, and by the time we catch him . . .
It’s too late.
Twenty-Seven
Tex
“What’s going on?” I say for what feels like the millionth time. Ava’s got the phone pressed to her ear and everyone but Jamie and me can hear what’s going on, and even we can tell that it’s not looking good
“Coby got loose and is wreaking havoc,” Ava says and takes off. “Come on, New Guy.” Rob follows her like an excited puppy.
“Follow in the truck,” Brooke says, before going after Ava.
And then Jamie takes off and then I realize I should probably move my ass.
“Fuck,” I say, as I run after him and vault into his truck. It’s just one crisis after another with these people. I haven’t had a moment of calm since I don’t remember when, except it probably was Viktor-induced.
“Pretty much,” he says as he guns the thing to life and kicks up gravel.
“Somehow I don’t think grounding is going to work on this kid,” I say as Jamie drives as if we’re in a spy move and escaping the bad guys. Normally, I would think this was fun, but that’s not the F word that is running through my mind right now.
“Not unless you have a lot of really strong chains and something equally as strong to attach them to.” His phone rings and it’s Brooke, giving him directions. I can hear her, but I’m so freaked out I can’t make sense of the words.
I start feeling dizzy, so I put my head between my knees.
“What are you doing?” He hangs up the phone and tosses it on the seat.
“Trying not to freak out and pass out at the same time.” Jamie takes a sharp corner and my head bangs against the dash.
“Ouch!”
“Sorry,” he says, not sounding all that sorry. The pain does help clear my head in a weird way and I sit back up.
“So what exactly did Brooke say?”
Jamie sighs and runs a stop sign, but there are no other cars around, and I highly doubt a cop is going to get us all the way up here in Bumhole, Maine.
“She said that they were taking him to go get some sun away from the house, but he took off suddenly and is apparently very fast and by the time they got to him, he’d already found an inn full of people and was feeding on the patrons in the dining room. He snapped most of their necks, so nobody got away. By now he’s done all the damage he can do, so they’re going to let him finish and then trigger an explosion to cover it up.” Sounds like they’ve got it all worked out. Wham, bam, thank you humans.
“Awesome. Just great. They really couldn’t stop him? I mean, he’s thirteen. I know he’s immortal, but they’re old and have to be stronger.”
Jamie’s holding onto the steering wheel as if his life depends on it. “I don’t know, Tex. I don’t know how this works.”
“There should be a manual,” I mutter as he takes another sharp corner and I’m thrown up against the door, banging my head again. This is the most violent automobile ride I’ve ever taken, and I’m wearing a seatbelt.
“There they are,” Jamie says a few minutes later as we see a building that is already engulfed by flames. There is an eerie lack of screaming, but then a siren sounds a few seconds later. I swallow hard as I stare at the smoke that stre
ams from the windows. It looks like it used to be a lovely inn. You know, before all the death and the flames.
“We should probably not be right next to the burning building when the fire trucks show up,” I say as we both continue to stare at smoke pouring from the windows and flames licking the sides of the building. It’s not a huge inn, but it probably has at least a dozen or more rooms.
Jamie and I both scream as Ava jumps in front of the truck. Jamie opens the door because the window takes too long to roll down.
“You should get out of here. Meet us about a mile down the road. There’s a place to park the truck that’s under some shade.” The sirens start getting louder.
“Go!” Jamie doesn’t need any more encouragement and we’re off again. They never show this part in the movies. Whenever people are in car chases, or driving fast, they’re always in really nice cars with power steering and on nice paved roads.
I’m going to have a serious case of whiplash, and I’m pretty sure I also have a concussion by the time we get to where Ava was talking about. I don’t see the rest of the gang, but the sirens are going nuts in the distance, so I figure we made it out just in time. Jamie cuts the engine and we jump out. If anyone sees it, hopefully, they’ll think it’s abandoned or something.
We both run into the woods, and I search for Viktor. I can feel him, so I use our weird mental connection thing to take us deeper into the woods until we finally see them. What a sight they are.
Most of their clothes are singed, and they’ve all got what looks like smoke stains on their skin. And Coby is covered in so much blood, he looks like he’s been dunked in it. It’s very . . . Carrie.
No one says anything as Jamie and I join up with the rest of the group. It’s like they’re all waiting for my reaction. Only Rob seems kind of amused. I want to zap the amused look right off his face.
“I’m not going to yell and scream and throw a hissy fit because that is going to do nothing. What I am going to do is stand here while you explain to me how this happened, how you could have prevented it, and why it’s not going to happen again.” I cross my arms, because that makes me feel like I’ve got more authority or something.
They all kind of start talking at once, but I hold my hand up.
“One at a time.”
They all look at Coby, and he starts.
“I’m so sorry. I just kind of lost it. Everything was fine, and then I smelled them and . . . I couldn’t help it.” He looks sheepishly down, which is almost funny, given his appearance.
“Why don’t you, um, go get cleaned up? I’m sure there’s a pond or something around here you can dunk yourself in.” He nods and Brooke gives me a look, then follows him.
“I’m, uh, going to go with them,” Rob says, as if he’s part of the situation. Whatever. Good riddance.
As soon as Coby is gone, I turn my attention to Viktor.
“You wanna explain to me how this happened?” I’m pissed, not at him, but at the situation, and I’m not sure if he can tell the difference.
“It won’t happen again.”
“That wasn’t what I asked you.” I step closer to him, and it’s like everyone else fades into the background.
“He is young and he is fast, and he got away from us. I should not have let my eyes off him, and I should have been more aware that there were that many humans so close to us. I am sorry.”
He sounds genuine, but it doesn’t mean that situation sucks any less.
“I still don’t get how this happened, but it did and it won’t again. He may be a bloodsucker, but we cannot let him turn into a town massacrerer. Is that even a word? Oh, who cares, I made it a word. Got it?” I step right up to him and reach up to grab his chin.
“Yes, Texas.” He stares down at me from his height and damn him, I still want to make out with him even when I’m mad. His face should be illegal, that’s all there is to it.
“As for the rest of you,” I say, looking at Ava and Peter, who are holding hands, but stop as soon as I turn to them, “I expect everyone to be on Coby duty. I don’t want him without at least two of you from now on. So no more sneaking off to the woods to have dirty sex. Okie doke?”
Ava mumbles something I can’t hear and Peter blinks.
I say it again.
“Yes,” they both say at the same time.
We all sort of stand around as I try to think what to do next. My little brother just killed a whole lot of people. Ava and Peter are talking quietly as I try to wrap my head around yet another insane situation.
“Okay then. I think we should get Coby back to the house and get him some new clothes and . . .” I’m rendered silent by Viktor and Brooke and Rob and Coby coming back. Coby’s transformation is finally complete and it’s . . . quite something.
Viktor
Rob introduced himself when he arrived with Brooke and Ava, but didn’t offer much more information than that and I didn’t ask for any.
We find a small stagnant pond, which isn’t much larger than a puddle and Coby dives in, trying to scrub as much of the blood from his body as possible. After he’s done as much as he can, he gets out and we all sit for a while. I’m not sure I want to go back until Tex is finished. Her anger and ire are still burning me, even though I am far away.
He’s asking me if Tex is still upset when it happens. I’ve been watching, and knew it was taking too long for his noctalis form to make itself known, but finally, it has come and I’m staring into a wolf-like face that is almost identical to mine.
“What’s happening?” Coby says as fur erupts from his pores and his hands grow into claws. The fur pokes through his shirt and Brooke watches in fascination.
“Look and see,” I say, and he looks at his reflection in the pond.
“I’m a werewolf?” How did I know that would be his reaction? “That is so awesome!” He turns and grins at me before letting out a whoop and jumping into the air. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him emote so strongly.
It is a surprise that he is also a wolf. I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard of that before, but I suppose it’s bound to happen. Ava and Peter are both birds, so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
“Can we go show Tex?” He seems so excited that I can’t say no, so he takes off back toward where the others are still waiting. Rob smiles and follows him.
“He seems happy. I remember how I felt. It was pretty awesome.” He smiles and I can’t help but smile back. I also had the same reaction, so I’m not one to judge.
Ava
When I saw the half-wolf come dashing through the woods, at first I thought it was Viktor, but the build was wrong. Then I see Coby’s grinning face and dark hair streaming behind him. I share a look with Peter and he blinks.
“I’m a wolf!” He skids to a stop in front of us, and it’s like he’s five again, and has found the perfect Halloween costume. Only this one is permanent.
“I see that,” Tex says, holding onto her chest as if her heart had tried to jump out of it and only her hand was keeping it from doing so.
“That’s . . . great. You’ll match Viktor.”
I give her a look and she gives me one back.
“Cool, man,” Jamie says, holding his hand up for a high five. Brooke snatches his hand down.
“Remember when you broke your arm.” Correction, when I broke his arm.
“Right,” he says, twisting his fingers with hers.
“Can we go running right now?” Coby’s enthusiasm won’t be dampened, apparently.
“Sure,” Viktor says, looking at Tex for permission. They won’t be able to go far, with the Claiming. I almost shudder when I think about what happened when Peter left me.
“Do you want to come with me, Ava?” I don’t know why he’s asking me, but what the hell?
“Sure.”
“Good. We’ll go back to the house and meet you there in an hour. ONE HOUR. No longer, or else I’m going to be very upset,” Tex says, and I feel like I’m getting scolded by
a teacher. “And don’t go far.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say and she gives me a look. “Sorry, yes Tex.” I kiss Peter good-bye, and I hear a groan.
“Let’s go!” Coby is practically tugging on my sleeve to get going. This is one bizarre experience, in a long string of bizarre experiences, but Ava-Claire Sullivan, this is your life.
“May I tag along?” Rob seems to think he can just tag along wherever we’re going to go, but none of us can stop him, and no one seems to care to try.
I wave bye to Tex and the rest and we take off, Viktor deciding to change as well, probably to make Coby feel better. I don’t really feel like running in just my bra with these two, so I stay human-shaped, as does Rob. I want to ask him what his other form is, but it seems kind of rude for some reason.
We dive into the trees and it’s a good thing that we’re in Northern Maine, because there are lots of places for us to run for miles without seeing any humans. Coby yells and dives around trees as if he’s playing tag. I shake my head at him and look at Viktor who gives me a blink and we decide to just go with it. Rob races ahead and tags Coby and it’s like the two are instant best friends. Hey, if he’s happy, then that’s probably a good thing. An emo noctalis seems like a recipe for disaster.
Coby also does a few karate moves and it reminds me of earlier when Jamie was throwing the rocks at me.
“I’m not breathing. I could never run without it being hard to breathe before,” Coby says, doing a flying kick into a tree and knocking it down. It’s dead already, or else I would chide him on his wilderness destruction.
“Cool, isn’t it?” Rob says, before knocking a tree down as well. I’ve known the guy for less than a few hours, but he seems like the strangest mix of teenage boy, forty-year-old and John Hughes movie character.
We end up running for about twenty minutes when Viktor reaches out and grabs Coby by the back of the neck.
“We should be heading back. Tex gave us an hour, but she is a nervous wreck and begging me to bring you back. Let’s not make her mad twice in one day.” Coby looks toward the untouched woods with longing.
The Noctalis Chronicles Complete Set Page 96