CHAPTER ONE
I felt stupid.
There was no other way around it; no way could I justify my emotions. I just felt stupid.
Emily had hounded me for the last two months. She wanted me to talk to Mr. Moser. Finally, after she'd held my cell phone hostage, I'd had to succumb. So this is how I found myself back in the infamous building where I used to volunteer with the hotline.
I suppressed a shudder. I really hated working at the hotline and it wasn't because of the last time I'd been in this building. Although that moment had changed my life, the real reason was because I hated talking on the phone. Only a select few got on my 'I'll talk to you on the phone' list.
"Davy Harwood," Mr. Moser boomed as he entered his own office. If he was trying for intimidation, it would've worked three weeks ago.
Mr. Moser did not qualify for my phone list.
I waited until he rounded his desk and sat. His leather chair squeaked underneath his weight, but his two beady green eyes weren't amused and didn't care. His orange tie had flapped over his shoulder and it stayed there, caught between the wrinkles of his green buttoned dress shirt. His khaki pants hadn't fared better. I wasn't a wrinkle-noticing person, but I wouldn't have been surprised to find out they'd been rolled up and stuffed in the back of a drawer for the last two years.
He lifted an eyebrow. "Do you have anything to say to explain your actions three weeks ago?"
I was more concerned about how his tie still hadn't moved off his shoulder. He looked like an idiot. Was I supposed to tell him?
"My actions, sir?"
"You broke protocol."
Oh, that. The night that had changed my life. If only Mr. Moser actually knew I was supposed to go up to that roof.
"Oh," was all I said. I tried to sound apologetic. I folded my hands and when I looked down, I even fiddled my thumbs.
"I'm not buying it, Davy." Mr. Moser was very smart.
"Buying what, sir?"
"You answered the phones after we'd already closed. You broke protocol. You identified the caller's location; chose to intervene without any communication with your supervisors, and then you had the balls to resign by sneaking a letter under my door. I am not buying your act right now, young lady."
He said 'balls'. I loved that.
"Yes, but…" I really had no defense. I'd claimed what had happened was too traumatic for me to continue working with the hotline. Things had been traumatic, but he was right. I'd chosen the coward's way out so that I wouldn't get in trouble.
I eyed Mr. Moser up and down. The beady eyes had a glaze of anger in them. "I had hoped better of you, Davy."
Wow. Guilt.
He sounded disappointed as he took a deep breath. "Emily is an outstanding Listener. She spoke highly of you, but perhaps she was biased since you're roommates. Still, even Adam seemed to have taken a liking to you. He respected you, Davy."
I had so many corrections to Mr. Moser's rose-colored perspective. One, Emily was an awful listener. She might be a wonderful Listener at the hotline where she was fulfilling a requirement for a social work class, but she didn't listen to anyone in real life. And two, Adam had taken more than a liking to me. Adam had asked me out on one date. The date had failed miserably and I didn't think being kidnapped had been the problem.
"What are you thinking?"
"Well, under the circumstances I do not support your actions. You broke protocol and you should have the correct discipline. Then there's the item of your resignation. I know that you didn't really mean to resign and because of Miss Whistworth's death, the hotline is in need of any willing volunteers so I've decided to look past your actions."
What? Did he mean…? There was no way.
Mr. Moser beamed. "You can start tonight. Adam needed a replacement since he's taken two weeks of vacation. You can take his desk."
I had no words. I couldn't even feel my toes and I felt everything, literally.
Mr. Moser was already up and out of his office before any thoughts could form in my brain. And when I realized I'd been duped, I groaned and dropped my forehead on the desk. Not only did I feel stupid, but I felt like a complete moron.
When my phone vibrated, I snapped it open. "Yeah?"
"What's wrong, slick?" Kates drawled. I heard music in the background and that meant one thing.
"Are you at the Shoilster?"
I'd been there twice and hated both times. Plus, it was a vampire bar. I wasn't the biggest fan of vampires.
"Hell no." Kates barked out a laugh. "Listen, I'm going to be out of town for awhile. I need to figure some stuff out."
My childhood friend had been camped out in my dorm room for two weeks. The news was met with varying shades of relief and concern. I knew if Emily was the type to shout for joy, my roommate would've been screaming at the top of her lungs. I was growing tired of the tension between the two. Of course, Emily had reason for her dislike. Kates had been the one to kidnap us, but Emily wasn't privy to the fact that Kates had tried to save me from her psychotic vampire boyfriend later that evening.
"Where are you going?" She might be a vampire slayer, but she'd find trouble. She always did.
"I'm not going to find Lucan."
I relaxed, just a little.
Kates added, "There's something I gotta do on my own. Trust me, slick. You can talk to Blue if you want. She agrees that I should go and do this thing."
"I don't know, Kates." I wasn't too concerned about what my Empath Sponsor had to say since I'd been avoiding her ever since I found out she was connected to my immortal enemy.
"What don't you know? You don't even know what I'm doing."
I opened my mouth.
Kates beat me to it. "I'm not telling you because you'll just worry. I've talked about it with Blue. She agrees that I should go and do this. And she thinks I shouldn't tell you so I'm not. Besides, you have enough to worry about. You're the freaking Immortal, Davy. I have no idea why you're still in college, much less going to see that idiot supervisor."
I was going because Emily made me, but I couldn't say that to Kates. "I'm living a normal life because I'm going to be living for a long time. Are you sure that you're not looking for him?"
Kates' boyfriend had been a psychotic vampire, but he was human now. So that made him a psychotic human with all this knowledge about vampires and how to become a vampire again.
Kates was silent for a couple beats. "I don't really have to, remember?"
I flushed and shut my mouth. The reminder was duly noted. If anyone was going to find Lucan, it'd be Lucas Roane, his twin.
"Have you heard from him?" Kates asked, gently.
I rolled my eyes. I didn't need kid gloves."I haven't seen Roane since he took off."
That had been ten days ago. And since he was hunting Lucan, I had no idea how long it would take. Lucan was human, but he thought as a vampire. Roane was not only a vampire, but a hunter. I was surprised he was still gone actually. Hunters had the skill and jurisdiction to hunt and kill any vampire that broke the decree that stated no humans were to be bitten or harmed by vampires. They were the elite of their race and Roane was one of the best.
Lucan didn't stand a chance.
"Your roommate has been buzzing around the room like she's on meth. You sure she's a sober saint? She ain't acting like it."
"Did you say something?" I was so thankful to Kates' attention deficit. No more questions about Roane.
"What? I've been perfect."
"Kates, no," I groaned.
"The chit needs to toughen up, seriously. I've gotta go, Davy. I'll be in touch. Don't worry about me. I love you. I'll be fine." And my childhood friend hung up.
I sighed and dropped my forehead on th
e desk. What else could I do?
"Okay, Miss Harwood, we've got you back in the program!" Mr. Moser broadcasted as he strode back into his office.
Yes, my life could get weirder. I lifted my forehead from the desk. "Mr. Moser, I hate phones. I'm not good on the phone. I'm not good at this work."
"Nonsense! You're perfect."
Meaning, he was desperate. Adam's two weeks to mourn his girlfriend of one day must've put the hotline in a dire spot.
"When is Adam coming back? Maybe I could fill in until he gets back?"
Mr. Moser squashed that idea as he slapped a file on his desk. "We'll figure that out when the time comes."
I winced from the slap and resigned myself to my fate. I had an entire six hour shift answering a phone in my future. You'd think I would've seen this coming since I was the Immortal and empathic, but I was lame.
CHAPTER TWO
"No, Anne, you shouldn't let your roommate eat your peanut butter. If it bothers you, you could ask her not to eat your food. And don't feel foolish calling the hotline about this issue. Sometimes the smallest arguments stand for the bigger problems."
I was bored. Five hours and fifty eight minutes had passed and my eyes gleamed in excited anticipation. Two more minutes and I could hang up the phone. No after hour calls would lure me back. I'd gone that route and see where I was—in the exact same spot! Never again. And I fought back a yawn.
"Davy."
I glanced over and saw Holly Brightner waving. She leaned across our desks and tapped my Dialogue Reassurances sheet.
I rolled my eyes and shooed her away. Still, I recited like a sympathetic moron, "Anne, the peanut butter probably stands for something more. What does the peanut butter really stand for?"
Shoot me more minute.
Holly gave me a smile in approval and I resisted the urge to kick her underneath our desks. Her pasty white skin and round brown eyes were enlarged underneath her glasses. When she blinked, I swear that her lips formed a small oval and the image of an owl flashed in my mind. And her brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun. If Holly had a spirit animal, it would've been an owl.
Thirty seconds and I no longer cared what Anne had to say. I'd used my empathic stuff on her and felt the normal jealousy and insecurities that so many girls suffered. The girl wasn't homicidal or suicidal. That was all I cared about.
Five seconds, four, three, two, one…I hung up and grabbed my bag.
Holly stopped me. "Davy, you didn't cite the proper farewell greeting. It's very important to the callers. You never know what they're going to do after they end their call with us."
"It was peanut butter, Holly. Peanut Butter."
"We have the guidelines for reasons. I know you've been away for a few weeks, but—"
My phone cut her off, which was a mixed blessing. I was ready to eviscerate Holly.
The phone rang again and I looked at shift was over.
Rang a third time.
Holly's mouth fell open.
The fourth ring seemed demanding. I knew what I should do, but my shift was over and Mr. Moser had said no calls after hours. When Holly saw that I had no intention of answering the phone, she reached over and did it for me. She listened for a moment and then held the phone away from her ear. "They hung up."
I wouldn't have wanted to talk to Holly either.
My bladder was screaming for attention so I made a trip to the bathroom before heading home. When I popped back in for my bag, I saw that Holly had left. I'd never been so happy in my life…and then my phone rang again.
Doom and gloom settled on my chest. I knew who was on the other side. Consider it my empathic curse.
It rang again…and again…and again…and I knew it wasn't going to stop.
I dropped my bag, plopped down in my chair, and picked up the phone.
"You're right. That other girl has the attitude of an owl. I don't blame you for being irritated."
Welcome to my world of craziness and the supernatural.
"So you're not in my head anymore, you're on the phone now?" For being my next Immortal guide, I wasn't sure I liked this new route of communication.
"I'm on the roof. Be there in five."
When I heard the dial tone, I stared in disbelief. Not only was I going to meet my next guide in person, she hung up on me. I hoped that she meant five minutes, not five seconds. Who could get up there in five seconds….that's right, me. I squared my shoulders, nervously smoothed out my jeans and pressed my yellow tee shirt tighter around me. I shouldn't be nervous. Whatever I looked like didn't matter. The Immortal was already inside of me, it's not like the guide was going to take one look at me and yank it out because I wasn't pretty.
Still. I wished that I had used my anti-frizzy curl gel when Emily had chucked it across the room at Kates. Kates had laughed. I had laughed. Emily had stormed off and my gel had been left underneath my bed.
I trekked out of the office and headed towards the roof door. As I started up the sparse stairs, I heard my footsteps echo all the way down to the basement. Each echo made my heart pound. By the time I got to the top, I felt like I was going to explode, like a bomb was ticking underneath my skin.
Then the door was open and I stepped onto the roof.
For a second, just a briefest of moments, I saw Talia on the edge again with her golden hair waving in the air and her white dress billowing from the wind. The same sad acceptance railed against me.
But I blinked and the image was gone. Instead, a different girl was there and this one was a doozy. Red eyes, black and blue sleek hair that fell past her waist, and ivory skin that any vampire would've marveled at. She stood at my height, a little slim with her hipbones sticking out, and a mark covered the entire left side of her face.
I gulped and froze. There was no way I was getting closer.
She snorted, rolled her eyes, and I felt her disgust blast me.
I was safer where I was.
And then in a flash, she was in front of me.
Oh man, those red eyes looked like they were on fire. That mark was an intricate symbol of weaving lines. I wondered if it meant something and then cursed my foolishness. Of course, it meant something. Everything meant something in my insane world.
"You're right. It does mean something, but it's nothing for you to know. Not yet." She was smug as she leaned closer.
I gulped again. The red in her eyes that looked like fire was fire. An actual flame was in her eyes. It moved in perfect rhythm with the wind that swirled around us on the roof.
"What are you?"
She laughed. "I'm not a vampire."
"Are you a werewolf?"
"I'm not a werewolf either. And no, I'm not anything that your precious vampire is going to know either. I'm beyond his knowledge. I'm beyond a lot of people's knowledge."
"Are you a witch?"
The flame glowed brighter for a moment and then settled back down. "Very good, Davy, but as I said I'm not anything that your lover knows. He knows witches."
There was a riddle there, but I retorted, "He's not my lover."
"He was. He will be again. And he's much more than that." As she spoke, her head tilted to the side and smoke swirled in her eyes to cover up the flame.
"You're a fortune teller witch. You see the future, don't you?" I hated fortune tellers. And, even though I've never met a witch, I was pretty sure I didn't like them either.
She laughed again and the smoke vanished with a swift pop. Her fire was back. "I come from a witch, but I'm no longer a witch, Davy. I'm much much more and I'm here to help you."
"Help me with what? The last one who told me that needed me to accept the Immortal inside of me. What's your agenda with me?" They always had agendas.
"The other one annoyed you, yes?"