Family Is Forever

  When the three of us stepped into the kitchen, Halina gave Hunter and me a sly smile. “Nice of you to join us. Feel better after your…long rest?” By the look on her face, it was clear to her what we’d been doing. By the stern look on Dad’s face, it was clear to him too.

  Clearing his throat, Dad spoke before I could say much more than, Umm… “Yes, well, now that you’re here, let’s go over the plan.” He pointed down to a crude drawing of the market on the table. There were little plastic army men, who I was guessing were supposed to represent us, next to the map. While Julian walked over to his girlfriend, who was standing next to my mom, beaming at him, Dad arranged the pieces on the map.

  After he finished, Trey leaned over to me and stated, “I made that. Pretty smart, huh?”

  Dad lifted his eyes to Trey. “Yes, it was. Good job, Trey.”

  He seemed to glow under Dad’s praise. I had the opposite reaction when Dad’s eyes swung my way. An icy shiver washed through me at the disappointment I saw in his expression. I clenched Hunter’s hand harder. Dad needed to stop seeing me as a child. I wasn’t one anymore and honestly, I hadn’t been one in a very long time.

  Looking back down at the map, Dad started pointing out pieces. “Ben and I will stake out the back here with Rory and Cleo. Julian, Hunter and Nika will keep an eye on the parking lot, while Jake, Gabriel and Great Gran will keep an eye on the front.” Looking up, Dad scanned the room. “The odds are good that Simon knows we’re coming, since we busted up his party last night and took out a bunch of his guards. Odds are even better that he’ll bring everything he has at us tonight, including Henry. No matter what happens, Henry cannot be hurt, or allowed to escape. We need him if we’re ever going to find Starla and Jacen. Any questions?”

  Olivia, standing by Tracey, who still looked furious, raised her hand. “Yeah, I’ve got one. You didn’t say my name. Where am I supposed to be?”

  Tracey immediately wrapped her arms around her daughter. “With me. I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”

  Olivia scoffed as she looked back at her mother. Shaking her head, she sought out my dad again. “No seriously, where should I be?”

  Ben cleared his throat, his gaze alternating between Olivia and Tracey. “You should stay with your mother. She’s right.”

  Olivia gave him a hard stare. “No, she isn’t. She’s scared. But I’m not, and I should go. I’m a vampire now, and you’re going to need my strength.”

  Trey crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re going to need mine too.”

  “And mine,” Arianna said, lifting her chin.

  While I was extremely proud of my friends, I felt bad for my dad. He looked like he was about to go off the deep end. “I know you all want to help, but I can’t risk all of you coming.” Olivia started to object again and Dad raised a finger to her. “You can be with Ben and me.” Olivia smiled and Trey reached over to bump fists with her. Dad immediately shifted his gaze to him. “You get to stay here. You too, Arianna.”

  “What!” Trey exclaimed, instantly agitated. “No way, I’m totally going!” Dad dropped his teeth and growled at him, and he lifted his palms into the air. “Okay…I’ll stay. Relax, dude.”

  Dad ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I want to get there long before Simon and his crew. We leave in thirty minutes.” As people started dispersing, I turned away from Dad. His finger pointing directly at me, stopped me. “Wait right there. We need to talk, young lady.”

  Tracey stepped between Dad and me. “No, we need to talk, Teren. What the hell are you thinking, sending my daughter off to battle?”

  Dad sighed again. “It’s not a… She’ll be fine, Tracey. Ben and I won’t let anything happen to her.”

  Tracey crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ve heard that before…and now look at her.”

  I took the opportunity to quietly sneak away while Dad was preoccupied. I didn’t disappear quickly enough though. When we were back in the living room, I clearly heard my father’s voice ringing through the din of everyone talking. “We’re sitting down and having a conversation about last night once this is all over with, Nika. You know that right?”

  Hunter and I looked at each other at the same time. Even though Dad couldn’t see me, I nodded. “Yeah…I know.”

  I WAS FILLED with pride and relief. Dad had seemingly forgiven my previous blunder, and was trusting me with a huge responsibility. I wasn’t going to let him down this time. I wanted to be worthy of the trust he was showing me, and knowing how much I’d screwed up last time made the desire to be better even stronger. This time, I wasn’t letting anybody down.

  It was a warm August night, but Arianna still rubbed her arms like she was freezing as she watched everyone who was going to the market pile into three separate vehicles. Nika and I were taking the wagon, while Ben and Dad drove their cars. Halina felt like running; she would probably beat us all there.

  Nika and Hunter were getting into the front of the wagon when I stepped up to Arianna. Wrapping my arms around her, I tried to warm her up and calm her down all at the same time. “It will be fine,” I told her. “Once Simon sees that Jake is okay, he’ll stop all this craziness and everything will go back to normal.”

  “And what about this Henry person?” she asked, looking up at me with bright, luminous eyes.

  Right. That guy.

  Smiling, I repeated the only encouragement I had to offer. “Everything will be fine.”

  Arianna gave me a half-hearted smile as she rested her hands on my chest. “Just hurry back. I can’t stand the thought of you being in danger.” My heart starting thudding in my chest. Hearing stuff like that made me feel so good, so…loved.

  “Time to go, Julian,” my father suddenly stated. He still looked upset about Nika and Hunter. I sympathized. I’d give anything to have the image of my sister and her boyfriend barely covered by a sheet scrubbed from my mind.

  After giving Dad a quick nod, I turned my attention back to Arianna. “Sorry, duty calls.”

  Her smile turned brilliant, then she reached up and placed her lips to mine. At just that brief touch, I felt like someone had run a sparkler up and down my skin. Everything burned, in the best possible way. “Bring Simon back safe and sound,” she murmured when she pulled away. “I know he’s made some bad choices lately, but he’s a decent guy once you get to know him.”

  I wanted to lean back in for her mouth, but I knew there wasn’t time. I also didn’t want our last words to be about Simon, but that couldn’t be helped either. “I’ll do my best,” I told her.

  When I let Arianna go and finally settled into the back seat, a figure moved at supersonic speed to sit beside me. I blinked in surprise at the image of Olivia seemingly appearing out of thin air. She had a monstrously huge smile on her face as she stared at me like I held the answer to all of life’s little mysteries. “Shouldn’t you ride with your dad?” I asked her.

  “Nope. He said I could ride with you. So, tell me about you and this Arianna chick. You guys serious? Or are you breaking up soon? Because I think you should. You should save yourself for me. Dad says I can date when I’m sixteen. And I’m like you now, you know, so we’re sort of the perfect couple.”

  Nika snorted, and Hunter did his best to hide his smile, but he failed miserably. While Nika started the car, I let out a long sigh. Maybe I should run there like Halina? Staring out the window at my girlfriend, I told the newly turned vampire, “Sorry, Olivia, but Arianna is the one for me. And we’re never breaking up again.” God willing.

  Olivia immediately started in on a speech about why she thought that wasn’t true. The ride to Howard’s had never taken so long in all my life.

  As predicted, Halina was waiting in the nearby parking lot that Dad had picked as a meeting spot. It was a little-used lot directly behind the market, and surrounded on three sides by a park populated by tall, bushy trees. It wasn’t entirely out of sight, but it was as secluded as we could get in the city. Her long black hair billowi
ng in the night breeze, Halina surveyed the area while Nika pulled into a parking space beside her. Surprisingly, Nika had beat both Dad and Ben here. Or maybe that wasn’t too surprising. As Olivia’s babbling had picked up pace, so had Nika’s driving. I could feel Dad though, and he wasn’t too far behind us. Fifteen minutes tops.

  Nika and Hunter stepped out of the car at the same time, with Olivia and I a heartbeat behind them. Halina looked our way and said, “It’s completely quiet. No one is around except for locals buying overpriced coffee and pork rinds.” She grimaced. “Pork rinds. And humans think what I eat is disgusting.”

  Hunter smiled, then nodded. “Good, we beat them here. That will give us time to set up a perimeter and—”

  Before Hunter could finish his statement, an arrow lodged into his shoulder. We were all so dumbstruck, we stared at it for a good five seconds before anyone moved. Olivia broke the spell by screaming. Then Hunter ripped the shaft from his body, grabbed Nika and pushed her back inside the car. As more arrows whizzed through the air striking the station wagon, I shoved Olivia into the open car door. Ben and Tracey would never forgive me if I let anything happen to her. Once we were both inside, I slammed the car door shut and hunkered down as close to the floorboards as I could get. Olivia, Nika, and Hunter all did the same, while Halina blurred away into the night. Before she vanished, I saw at least two arrows slam into her.

  Muffled gunshots started ringing through the night, adding to the chaos around us. I still couldn’t see anyone, and couldn’t tell what direction the attack was coming from. It seemed to be one gigantic circle, with our station wagon as the bull’s eye. I could hear the metal being punctured, could feel the car vibrate with each hit. What the hell was going on?

  “Nika!” I yelled. “Get us out of here!”

  She immediately moved to turn the ignition, and Hunter’s hand shot out to stop her. “No, don’t. I smell gas, I think they hit the tank.”

  Olivia had been holding it together pretty well, but she completely lost it at hearing Hunter’s news. “What? No, no, no, I don’t want to burn alive! I don’t to be burned alive, Julian!”

  I grabbed her shoulders as well as I could in my awkward, huddled position. “No one is going to be burned alive, okay? We’re going to be fine, just fine.”

  Olivia calmed down some, just as Hunter hissed, “I have to go out there.”

  Now my sister started panicking. “What? No, that’s crazy!”

  “I have to help Halina clear a path so the rest of you can escape.”

  Just then, I started seeing people emerging from the shadows, closing in on their target—my car, my family. Our attackers—at least a dozen burly men and fresh-faced teenagers—fired continuously, like they knew if they stopped for a second, we would escape our temporary solace and rip them to shreds. As I watched my impending doom coming ever closer, I was instantly grateful Arianna was safe at the ranch. She didn’t need to see me die, and I couldn’t even contemplate the reverse.

  Hunter was getting antsy as the shooters got closer. “I’m sorry, Nika. I can’t let this happen. I love you.” He gave her a quick kiss, then blurred from the car. Nika screamed his name as he left. I watched him get hit a half-dozen times in the arms, legs and gut, then I stopped watching. I heard fighting though—growls, men yelling, people shouting. He was making a difference. I had to help him.

  “Nika, tell Arianna…” Tell her what? That I was sorry? That I loved her? Yes, all that and so much more. Not able to say it, I shook my head and prepared myself to leave the small safety the car afforded us.

  “Julian,” my sister snapped. “Whatever you think you’re about to do, don’t. You’re still alive, and I intend to keep you that way. Both of you!” she said, indicating Olivia.

  I was just about to begin my pointless argument, when a body landed on the hood of the car. All of us looked up to see Halina snarling and streaked with blood; she looked like a wild animal. She pointed at us and hissed, “All of you, stay there!”

  I immediately nodded. Halina was not someone to argue with, especially now. Nika struggled to obey, though, since the love of her life was out there, fighting alongside our grandmother. Just when it seemed she was about to disregard Halina’s direct order, someone ripped off the door beside her. Nika started scrambling away, until she recognized who it was. “Simon?”

  His fangs were down, and he sure looked a lot different than the last time I’d seen him. Olivia sat up when she realized who it was. “Simon! Your men are trying to kill me. Help us!”

  Simon glanced her way. He seemed confused and surprised to see her. “Olivia? I thought they killed you. Like the others.”

  Nika moved, minutely, and Simon snapped his eyes to her. “We wouldn’t kill her,” my sister said. “We wouldn’t kill anyone if we had a choice. And we haven’t hurt your father. Jake is fine. He’s coming to get you.”

  Simon leaned in close, invading Nika’s personal space. I noticed that ever since Simon had approached the car, the vehicle had taken a lot less hits. Actually, there was a lot less gunfire everywhere now, as Hunter and Halina took out hostiles. I could slip out, run around the car, and catch Simon off guard. If I was quick enough. “Where is he?” Simon growled. “Where’s my father?”

  Nika opened her mouth at the same time I opened my door. I had almost blurred away, but Olivia, terrified and overwhelmed, threw her arms around me. “Don’t leave me!” she screeched.

  Simon looked my way and hissed. Then he raised his gun to my face, in one sickeningly blurred motion. Just as his finger compressed to squeeze the trigger, Nika slammed into him. He stepped back a few feet, and thudded onto the hood of a car that was screeching to a stop—my dad’s car and immediately behind it, Ben’s car. A relieved breath escaped me as our backup finally arrived.

  Jake immediately opened the rear door of Dad’s car and stepped out. “Simon!” He ran to his son, engulfing him in a hug.

  Simon was so stunned, he looked like he’d been hit over the head with a two-by-four. “Dad? You’re…okay? You’re really okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine,” Jake murmured, holding him tight. Relaxing his hold, he looked at the chaos around us. Aside from me and Olivia, everyone was out of their cars, fighting now. Nika had run off to help Hunter, and Dad and the rest were out securing the area. Stray bullets and arrows were still whizzing through the air while bodies tumbled, collided and fell, never to get up again. It was madness.

  Jake held his son’s shoulders. “Simon, call this off. It’s all a big misunderstanding. I’m fine. I was always fine. You didn’t need to…” His voice trailed off as he examined his son’s elongated teeth. “I can’t believe you let Henry…”

  While they hugged it out again, I noticed someone behind them. A man with long, scraggly gray hair and beard, wearing an unkempt Hawaiian shirt, with an unhinged look in his steely gray eyes. I instantly recognized him from a photo at the junkyard. Henry, the reason this “misunderstanding” had downgraded into insanity. Spotting my eyes on him, Henry’s expression darkened, then he turned and started running. No. He couldn’t get away.

  Looking down at Olivia still clinging to every part of me that she could touch, I gently said, “Liv, your dad is here now, and you’re going to be just fine, okay?” As I began peeling her from my body, she started nodding. Once I was free of her grasp, I blurred away and left her there.

  I didn’t have my family’s super sense of smell and extremely accurate vision, but I was slightly more advanced than a regular human, and I had little trouble chasing after Henry through the park. Now, what I was going to do with him once I caught up to him was another story. One I would worry about when I got there.

  Trees breezed past me as I zipped along at supersonic speed, and an odd feeling began penetrating my concentration. I felt like my brain was trying to poke me, or wave a bunch of red flags in my face. My heart started thudding as I tried to understand what my body was trying to tell me. Something was wrong, but what? I didn’t figure it out
until I burst through the park and reached the sidewalk on the other side. I was alone, completely alone; there wasn’t a sign of Henry anywhere.

  My eyes widened as I understood. “He did the procedure, too. He’s a vampire…” That was what my body was screaming at me. I hadn’t been able to catch him, and I hadn’t shot past him. He’d eluded and escaped me, because he was just as fast as I was. Probably faster. “Shit,” I murmured, before I turned around and dashed back to the parking lot. Even if I could find Henry, taking on a crazed, mixed vampire by myself was not something I wanted to do.

  When I got back to where everyone else was, I felt completely dejected. I’d almost had him…and he’d gotten away. There was a strange sense of stillness in the air when I got back to my car. Looking around, I could see the fight was over. A few bodies were strewn over the cement, but none of the victims were my family, thank God.

  People began cleaning up as I slowly walked to my father. Nika was asking Hunter if any bullets were still inside him. With a cringe, he told her no, most of them were nicks; the one in his gut was a through and through. Dad sighed and looked my way when he felt me approaching. “Henry got away,” I told him. “I tried to catch him…but I couldn’t. He was too fast.” Dad raised his eyebrows in surprise and I nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t see him do it, but he must be able to run like we can. He must be a vampire. Or, a partial one, at least.”

  Dad swung his head around to where Jake and Simon were standing close together. Simon looked very uneasy being around the monsters he’d been trying to eradicate all his life. “Is that true, Simon? Did Henry go through the procedure?”

  Simon firmed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. Even though he wasn’t being restrained in any way, it was clear that he saw himself as a prisoner. Jake gently put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, you can trust these guys. They’re not who we thought they were.”

  Simon flung a hand at the body Halina and Gabriel were putting into Ben’s car. “You sure about that, Dad? They killed a quarter of my men.”