Hunter glanced at Simon, then leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “What are you going to tell her?”
I shrugged. “Everything I can. Then I’m going to send her home, and she won’t remember any of it.” The sadness of Arianna forgetting about tonight was almost too much to bear. Julian was going to lose the connection they’d made, but what else could I do? I couldn’t leave the good segments of the evening without leaving large chunks of the rest—like the fact that she was here because of a massive party. At least Julian would get a few more minutes with her this way. At least he would get to say goodbye.
Hunter nodded. “I’ll give you a few minutes alone…but don’t take too long. I don’t like being apart from you.”
He kissed my cheek again and I sighed. “I know. I don’t like it either.” I knew that what Hunter really meant was that he didn’t like being apart from me right now when we were watching somebody, even though the person we were watching was a harmless teenager, but my mind leapt forward and a flash of pain went through me. Not too far from now, Hunter was going to sever the bond and we’d be apart for an indefinite amount of time while he worked on Jake at the ranch, and I stayed here with Julian. Maybe it was for a good reason, but the idea of being separated still sucked. I had a newfound appreciation of my brother’s misery.
I WATCHED NIKA leave with hollowness in my heart. I might put on a brave face, but I really hated the idea of no longer being bonded with her. It gave new meaning to the word torture. I halfheartedly kept an eye on Simon while I listened to Nika in the kitchen. She was telling Arianna everything that she shouldn’t be telling her. Everything about vampires, everything about their parents—their real parents, everything about Arianna and Julian being a happy couple until fate had torn them apart and Halina had erased Arianna’s mind. Nika was explaining it all.
Simon was examining the garage while I listened. Sitting on a cooler, he was flipping through the camping gear. I kind of felt bad for the guy. He hadn’t done anything wrong, he just couldn’t be forced to forget. Somebody else who we couldn’t fix like we wanted to. Frustrating didn’t even begin to describe it.
Simon cleared his throat and I looked back at him. He was holding a coiled bracelet that I believed was supposed to keep mosquitoes at bay. I had a feeling it didn’t work very well. “So, I couldn’t help but overhear that you’re holding another captive. Hostage taking a new pastime of yours?”
I frowned at his assessment. “You’re not a hostage…and no, it’s not a hobby.” Although it was starting to become a problem.
Simon tossed the bracelet aside and picked up a square lantern. “But you do have somebody else, right?” He turned the lamp on and stared into the fake flames glowing through the frosted plastic panels.
“Yes,” I simply stated. Anything else would either be a lie, or too much information.
Simon nodded as he turned the light off. “Jake?” he said, as he put the lamp away. He rummaged through the box at his feet, stopping when he found metal pie plates. “And how old is that kid?”
“He’s an adult.” Oops, I probably shouldn’t have told him that. Clamping my mouth shut, I twisted toward the door leading back to the house, so I could focus on that conversation and not give Simon any more information.
While I listened to Arianna asking Julian why she couldn’t remember him, even though Nika had already explained that already, I heard Simon dink around for something else in the myriad amount of camping gear. “Interesting,” he mumbled. A little louder, he added, “And where do the adult hostages get to stay? Some place more luxurious than the Land of Forgotten Camp Supplies, I’m assuming?”
When I looked back at him, he raised a cast-iron pot into the air. I frowned as I answered him. “As I said before, neither one of you are hostages.” I twisted my lips as I thought about what we were doing, and how wrong it was. What other choice did we have though? “You’re more like temporary prisoners.”
Simon gave me an angled smile. “Awesome. That’s so much better.”
I crossed my arms over my chest as I turned to face him. “Sometimes life doesn’t give you what you want. Sometimes you just have to accept what is, and move on.”
Simon’s face darkened as he continued digging around the box of odds and ends. “Trust me, I know all about things not being fair.” Before I could comment on that, Simon asked me, “So, who is that Gabriel guy, and what’s he gonna do with my blood?”
I really wasn’t sure how to answer that. Being vague seemed best. “He’s a friend. He’s just running a couple tests.”
Simon stopped rummaging and looked up at me. “To find out why you can’t boss me around? Because you’re all...vampires?” His expression was dubious, like he didn’t believe a word of it. It was best for everyone if he didn’t.
“Vampires aren’t real. Julian was joking earlier. What we suffer from…could be called vampirism in some cultures, but we’re not the mythic variety.” I shrugged. That sounded good, right?
Simon still looked like he was surrounded by halfwits. “Yeah…okay. Anytime you loonies want to let me go, I’m more than ready to leave.” His expression turned thoughtful. “Or is that why you’re really holding me and this Jake guy? So you have something to eat. Or drink, or whatever it is your kind does? Is Jake already dead, and that’s why he’s not here?” While his tone was still full of disbelief, there was bitterness in it now too.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Of course he’s still alive. We’re not as bad as you seem to think.”
“So…where is he then?” he asked, forced casualness in his voice.
I narrowed my eyes as I studied him. “Why do you want to know?”
Simon gave an unimpressed shrug. “You said you found someone else in the world that you can’t control. I find that interesting, and I’d like to meet the guy.”
I was about to tell him that that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon when I heard an odd sound outside. A continuous grinding sound, like wheels rolling over concrete. A skateboard. I held my breath, waiting to see if the sound was going to stop or keep going. To my dismay, the sound started moving up to the walkway. Then I could hear someone stepping off the board, and walking up the front steps. Simon asked me, “What?” but I ignored him as I honed in on the slow, calm heartbeat right outside the front door.
“Now what?” I murmured. It wasn’t Ben, he would have driven here. It wasn’t Jacen, he would have walked. I supposed it could be someone here for the party? They were just arriving really late.
As a light knock filtered through to me, I crooked my finger at Simon. “Come with me.” His eyes narrowed, but surprisingly he didn’t object.
Once we were back inside the house, I could see Arianna staring in disbelief at both Nika and Julian. Everything they’d been telling her was frazzling her mind. The bond was filling me with a light, but pulling sense of joy. Ignoring the need to be with Nika, I locked eyes with her. She smiled at me as Julian glanced my way. Another knock rang through the hard wood and Julian blinked. Guess he’d missed it the first time. He stood up, but I raised my hand. “I got it,” I said, walking to the front door.
Putting my hand on the knob, I looked over at Simon, still following me. “You make a break for it, and I’m just going to run you down and tackle you. And I won’t be gentle. Something will probably break.”
Simon clenched his jaw, so I figured he believed me. I opened up the door a crack to see who was here. When I saw who it was, I swung the door wide in surprise. Holding his skateboard in one hand, Julian’s friend Trey was standing there with a bored expression. “Trey? What are you doing here?”
He sniffed when he saw me. “Oh, hey…Nika’s BF. Julian here?” He looked over my shoulder, spotted his friend, and walked into the house without even waiting for permission. “Hey Julian, Little A. I’m glad you guys are here. I thought for sure you’d be out at the ranch.” He nodded at a still-stunned Arianna. “Hey, Arianna. You finally going to give Julian a chance?” He held hi
s thumb up to Julian and mouthed, “Awesome.”
Julian’s face filled with color. If the night had been going better, I might have found it funny. Looking around me, Simon asked Trey, “I’m sorry, did you say ranch?”
Trey glanced over at him. “Yeah. The Adams family ranch, a magical, mystical place that makes me question my friend’s sanity, since he chooses to live here instead of there.” I wanted to slap my hand over Trey’s mouth, but he was on to something else before I could. “Wait, who are you?” Before Simon could answer, Trey seemed to notice the devastated condition the house was in. His eyes snapped back to Julian. “Dude…the party…I was totally going to come, but then I changed my mind…and went to a movie.” He scrunched his brows, like he didn’t understand how’d he come to that decision. “Wow…I’m so lame. Sorry. How was it?” he asked, looking like he was angry at himself.
Julian moved forward to greet his friend. “Trey? How are you here?” Julian seemed baffled by Trey’s presence. I was too. Nika had told him to go home. He shouldn’t be here.
Trey shrugged as he took in the carnage. “How am I here? Uh, I rode a skateboard?” He pointed outside for emphasis. “I had this weird urge to chill with my family tonight, but, uh, my family is lame, and you guys are more like family to me, so I thought I’d hang with you.”
Julian opened and closed his mouth while I realized the problem in Nika’s compulsion. She’d told everyone to hang out with their family. Trey’s family was apparently the Adams. He must have gone home, then turned around and come right back. As I took in the group assembled before me, a sense of foreboding filled my stomach. The last time I’d hung out with Julian, Nika and Arianna, it hadn’t ended well. And now with Simon and Trey in the mix…
I stepped forward to stand in front of Trey and Simon. Seeking Nika’s eyes, I said, “Nika, I think it’s time that the guests go home.” I frowned as I looked over at Trey. “And stay home.”
Trey blinked at me, then shrugged. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Rolling my eyes, I ran my hand back through my hair. “No reas—”
I didn’t get to finish my sentence. Pain exploded all over my body, starting from a point just under my shoulder blade. I gasped as I fell to my knees, and my vision swam as I felt the wetness of blood running down my back. I instinctually reached behind me, but I couldn’t get whatever was hurting me. Shouting and screaming filled the air, then someone kicked whatever was in my back even further into my body. I cried out in pain as I crashed to the floor. Maybe I was imagining it, but I could have sworn I felt the object touch my heart. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe. I was positive that anything I did would shift the weapon and puncture the only thing that was keeping my dead corpse somewhere near the realm of the living.
Nika was beside me a heartbeat later. “Hunter!”
She tentatively touched the object and I hissed out, “No!” She could inadvertently kill me by trying to move it. “Simon,” I whispered. He was the only one who could have done this. The only one with a desire to hurt me.
Nika stroked my forehead. “He’s gone. He took off after you hit the floor. Jesus, Hunter. He shoved a knife in your back.”
A knife? A sharp, serrated knife. That explained a lot. “Go…get him,” I muttered, blackness encroaching on my vision. The pain was so great, it was about to knock me out.
“I’m not leaving you,” she bit back. “And Julian won’t leave Arianna. Trey ran after him…but he’ll never catch him. Simon stole his board…”
I strained my ears, listening for the sound of Trey’s skateboard, Simon’s heartbeat, but I was in too much agony. I couldn’t focus. All I could hear was Arianna asking Julian over and over, “Is he okay? Is he okay? Jesus, will he be okay?”
Nika’s hand flittered around the object protruding near my spine. It felt like I was on fire around the area of impact. “What do I do?” she asked, her voice high and nervous.
I didn’t know how to tell her that it was resting against my heart, that if she pulled it straight out, she’d slice my heart open, essentially staking me. And with as badly as it hurt to make the small movement needed for speech, I didn’t want to think about how excruciating its extraction was going to be.
“Don’t pull it straight out. Push it away first. Along my ribs.” I patted my side with my fingertips, so she would know which direction to go.
I heard the panic in her voice when she answered me. “You want me to cut you even more? I can’t…I can’t do that.”
I inhaled a quick breath so I could speak. It burned. “Have to. You’ll cut my heart if you don’t.”
“Oh God,” she muttered. “I’m gonna be sick.”
“You’ll be fine,” I whispered. I was the one who was going to be sick.
I heard Julian approach her, a sniffling Arianna beside him. “I can do it, Nick.”
With a determined voice, Nika told him, “No, he’s my sire, my boyfriend. I’ll do this for him.”
My eyes were closed, but I could clearly see the defiant set of Nika’s jaw, the blaze of determination in her eyes. Her never-give-up spirit radiated around her, giving her dead body life and vitality. She was an amazing gift, and I was grateful every day for her. Even when she was about to cause me tremendous pain.
I felt her fingers wrap around the object inside me. It sent tremors of agony through me. Knowing what was coming was horrific. I wanted to cringe away, I wanted to run, but all I could do was wait. Wait for her to hurt me, to help me. She pulled down on the blade until it hit a rib bone, then she shifted her position and slid along the bone until she was well clear of my heart.
I’d never felt anything more painful in all my life. Ten times worse than the initial cut. Twenty times worse than Simon shoving the blade in deeper with his boot. I’d rather be knifed a hundred times over than ever be carved again. I screamed out with the pain until I lost all coherency. I thought I heard someone crying, but it could have been me for all I knew.
Once the knife was out, the pain subsided but not by much. I curled into a ball, then felt Nika position me onto her lap. Hands pressed against my back, holding my torn skin together so it could heal. And even as I recovered, I could feel my body knitting back together. I knew I should get up and go look for Simon, I just didn’t have the energy or will power to do it. I needed to rest, I needed to heal, and I needed the last remnants of pain to fade. Right now, I was completely worthless.
The front door banged against the wall, and I looked over to see Trey standing in the doorframe, panting and shaking his head. Holding his side, he told us, “He was too fast. I couldn’t catch him.” Hands on his knees, he started inhaling deep breaths. When he noticed me, and the amount of blood on and around me, he barked out, “Jesus! You all right? I was sure you were a gonner.”
Wanting to do anything but move, I shifted to my hands and knees. My head swam as an electric zing of pain rippled across my torso. “I’m fine. He missed.” I glanced down at the knife on the floor. It was a long serrated knife that looked to be about twenty years old, and had seen much better days. It was sharp enough to cut through me though, and that was all that mattered.
Fingers shaking, Arianna shook her head. “No, he didn’t miss. He got you. The blade was up to the hilt.”
I looked up at her pale, but stoic face. “Yeah, he got me, but he missed what was important.”
Arianna swallowed and looked over to Julian. “It’s all true? Everything you just told me?”
Julian nodded as he took her hand. “Yes. Every word.”
Arianna’s eyes drifted to Nika’s, then mine. “You’re all vampires,” she whispered.
From the door, Trey muttered, “Vampires? Holy shit…that explains so much.”
Sighing, I tried to stand. Nika immediately ducked under my shoulder to help me. Surprisingly, Arianna hurried under my other shoulder. She was trembling like a leaf and too weak with her human strength to really support me, but I appreciated the gesture nonetheless. “Tha
nk you,” I told them both. “I just need time. Then I’ll be fine.”
Trey clapped his hands then walked over to Julian. “Seriously? You’re a vampire and you never told me? Why the hell would you keep that from me?”
Julian gave him a tired, wry expression. “I’ve actually told you a few times, you just don’t remember.”
Trey’s mouth dropped open. “You made me forget?” He smacked Julian’s arm like Nika sometimes did. “What the hell? Whatever happened to the Bro Code? You don’t erase your best friend’s memory.” With a pointed finger, he indicated Nika and me, then he tapped his knit cap. “None of you get to touch this masterpiece.”
Nika pursed her lips, and looked about to speak when I stopped her with a look. “He’s not the problem right now. Simon is. We need to find him.”
Nika turned her gaze to me. “He’s a kid. Yes he knows, but what damage could he really do?”
A slice of pain went through me and I swallowed. “Taking me from the back, he nearly punctured my heart with a rusty hunting knife that he found in the garage. That’s not as easy a task as you’d think. He knew what we were and how to get rid of us, before we did or said anything. He played dumb so we’d drop our guard. He’s a hunter’s son, just like me. I’m sure of it.”
Nika’s eyes searched mine, then she looked over to her brother. “If that’s true…then his being immune and Jake’s being immune isn’t a coincidence. They’re related. Jake is his missing father.”
Trey let out a low whistle. “Wow…that’s…well, actually, I have no idea what any of that means.”
Julian elbowed Trey while I pieced together my conversation with Simon in the garage. “Simon will try and get Jake away from us.” My eyes drifted to Trey as I recalled him telling Simon about the ranch. “And I’m pretty sure he knows exactly where Jake is. We need to get to the ranch as soon as possible.”