The Coveted (The Unearthly #2)

  For a moment, I almost agreed with him. And then a feeling of déjà vu came over me.

  This has happened before . . .

  Dream. Incubus. Crap.

  My eyes snapped open and sure enough, the man was still in my bed. Ugh, I was going to have to wash my sheets again.

  “Get out of my bed!” I used my feet to push the incubus off of my mattress.

  “Hey!” he shouted as he rolled off.

  I heard skin smack skin. “Aaaiiieeeee!” Oliver yelped. Whoops, I forgot he was there.

  “No,” Leanne groaned. “This is the third day in a row my sleep has been interrupted. Now I’m going to have to maim this dude.”

  I got out of bed, picked up the man from where he lay next to Oliver, and threw him across the room. His body hit the wall, shaking the building and cracking the drywall.

  Leanne watched this unfold. “Never mind.”

  It was a good thing we lived on the third floor and our housemother lived on the first. Amazing what acoustics the extra floor muffled.

  I heard the demon mutter to itself, “These wenches are crazy.”

  “Excuse me?” Oliver said, getting up out of bed.

  The two eyed each other.

  When we didn’t immediately attack him, the demon straightened up and threw his shoulders back. I noticed now that he was a different man than the one who showed up the night before.

  The incubus had now focused his attention on Oliver. He cocked his head. “You are remarkably handsome,” he said to Oliver, his voice husky.

  Oliver put a hand to his chest. “Oh my!” Oliver said. One little compliment and he’d forgiven the incubus for calling us wenches. Fairies. “You’re not too hard on the eyes eith—”

  “Listen Casanova,” I said to the incubus, not amused, “you have three seconds to get your ass out of here before I help you.”

  His eyes became hooded. “I’d very much like you to help me out.” I wanted to puke at the sexual undertones of his statement.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Oliver interrupted. “I can do the escorting.”

  I gave Oliver a look. “You’re not really trustworthy when it comes to these things.”

  Oliver cocked a hip. “I’m extremely trustworthy.”

  “That’s a demon!” I pointed to the naked man.

  “I promise I don’t bite—much,” the incubus said. Considering Oliver’s hungry look and my penchant for blood, if anyone was getting a nibble tonight, it wasn’t going to be Birthday-Suit Boy.

  “Why are you here?” I asked the incubus.

  He smiled slyly. “I wanted to meet the devil’s consort.”

  Goosebumps broke out along my skin. That name again.

  “That’s what you call meeting someone?” I asked. If that was how people in hell introduced themselves, I was really going to have to worry about this whole “being damned” thing.

  “It usually works.” He glanced at Oliver. “I’ll see you again soon.”

  And then, just like the previous incubus, he disappeared.

  ***

  “Cock blocker,” Oliver said to me the next morning as we got ready for school. He flipped through the sprays and balms resting on top of Leanne’s dresser.

  “He was a demon.”

  “Says the vampire,” Oliver huffed.

  “Did he not give off rapey vibes?” I asked while I slipped on my boots. “You should be worried about your dreams. He’s coming for you next.”

  “Yeah right, we probably scared him off for good.” Oliver said that like it was a bad thing. “I’ll be right back.” He sashayed out of our room, muttering something about our inferior hair products.

  The door clicked shut. “The bed and Oliver need to go,” Leanne said. “I can’t take either of them in large doses.”

  “Agreed,” I said. “What do we do with this thing?” I motioned to the mattress and Leanne shuddered.

  “No idea. I think Paul conjured it, so he should be held responsible for un-conjuring it.”

  As I tied a scarf around my neck, Leanne placed a hand on my arm. “We haven’t talked about all that’s been going on with you,” she said, “the media attention, the Politia, your nighttime visitors, Andre. Is it happening all over again?” She meant the attempts on my life.

  “No, there have just been a lot of different events that have all happened at once. They have nothing to do with me.” All these events that were occurring at the same time made it appear as though I was the eye of a storm. But I wasn’t.

  She studied me. “Can I give you a reading?” Leanne had recently acquired a deck of tarot cards to help channel her seer abilities. Without such an instrument it was hard for her to make sense of the chaotic images she received. But she’d never used it on me—she hadn’t offered to give me any readings since the fire.

  “Sure,” I said, “but I doubt you’ll find much of interest.”

  “You’re probably right,” she said, grabbing the stack of cards from off of her desk.

  Because there was no other place, we sat on our floor. Leanne spread the cards out in front of me. “Choose three at random.”

  I pulled the first card. “The high priestess,” Leanne said. She took the card with the image of a regal woman and laid it between us. “This represents your spirit—wise, introspective, otherworldly.” She smiled at this last word, since that could describe any Peel student.

  I moved my hand to another section of the deck spread in front of me and drew a second card. On it, people fell from a burning building. That couldn’t be good.

  Leanne made a small noise when I handed it over to her.

  I furrowed my brows. “What?”

  “The tower. Violence. Chaos. Murder without remorse. I can’t tell how you fit into that, but this is either your present situation or one that is quickly approaching.”

  Leanne must be seeing the murders I was investigating with Andre and the Politia. I hadn’t told her that I was on the case, so she only knew that the Politia had called me in early in the morning during the last few days.

  I moved my hand again.

  “Your third card represents the challenge you face.” Funny, based on the card I already pulled, I thought my situation was challenging enough.

  I grabbed a card and pulled it out.

  I took one look at it. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  I handed Leanne the card. She dropped it like it had burned her. “It’s metaphorical Gabrielle.”

  “I seriously doubt that.”

  We stared at the horned beast depicted on the card. The devil.

  This one I could interpret on my own.

  Chapter 7

  Later that day I entered my anthropology class. Just like everywhere else on campus, pumpkins of all sizes, shapes, and colors had been brought in. A skeleton wearing a black, pointed hat grinned at the class. Next to him an enchanted spider crawled along a glittery web.

  Just like the day before, I could smell the fear in the room. Head down and fangs firmly hidden behind my sealed lips, I made my way to my seat.

  Shortly after I took my seat, Professor Blackmore entered the room. “Morning class,” he said. “In honor of the upcoming holiday, I’d like to focus today’s lecture on the customs and celebrations of Samhain, known locally as Hop-tu-Naa, which means ‘this is the night.’

  “In other cultures, this day is known as All Hallow’s Eve, Halloween, and Dia de los Muertos—the Day of the Dead. It’s a celebration of the dead, but more broadly speaking, the night of October thirty-first is when the barrier between worlds is at its thinnest. And, in certain areas, it is nonexistent.

  “The Otherworld is the general name we use for all those worlds outside our own. The Underworld and the Celestial Plane
are examples of other worlds that are included in this umbrella term. And on the night of Samhain, the barrier between all of these worlds thins out.

  “Once these barriers thin out enough, beings can cross from their world into ours, and vice versa.”

  I tried to wrap my mind around that idea, but I had a hard time doing so. I raised my hand.

  “Yes, Miss Fiori?”

  “When you say that at certain points the barrier nonexistent what do you mean by that?” I asked. “It sounds like there are places on earth that act like portals.”

  He gave me a small smile. “I’m glad you asked. Portal is a good term for it. There are certain physical locations where, at the right time and place, someone could literally walk from one world into the next.”

  ***

  After Anthropology, I went to the library to get a head start on my history homework. I opened my abandoned calendar to write in some of my homework assignments when a previous note I’d left myself caught my eye. TOM’s weeklong fling. TOM was code for that Time Of the Month.

  It was written down for the beginning of the October. Three weeks ago. I’d been so busy scaring off naked men and investigating the murders that I hadn’t thought about something as unimportant as my period. Until I missed it. I hadn’t had my period in over a month.

  For one earth-shatteringly scary second, I panicked.

  I’m pregnant. It was sad how much scarier that thought was than realizing I’d died at the Awakening, or facing death in the weeks that followed.

  The panic subsided. Considering I’d never done the deed, pregnancy just wasn’t possible—at least I didn’t think it was. When it came to the supernatural world, I could never be positive.

  A more logical answer crept up on me. I was becoming a vampire, which meant that I was dying. So naturally, one of the first things to go would be my ability to support life. That meant no more periods.

  My phone interrupted my thoughts. I pulled the vibrating smartphone out of my bag. Caleb had sent me a text.

  Hey, want to meet up tonight? Investigation, dinner, and a movie?

  Crap. I’d forgotten that I was supposed to work on the case with Caleb. Instead I was leaving him hanging to investigate with Andre. I felt a twinge of guilt before I reminded myself that the truce was at stake.

  I typed a quick response. Can’t. Sorry.

  Why not?

  Nosey much? My fingers moved over the digital keypad. Group orgy.

  A couple students gave me dirty looks as my phone vibrated for a third time. Then they saw who exactly was disrupting their quiet and their expressions went from annoyed to meek real quick.

  Really? Can I come?

  I packed up my belongings and left the room. Nope. Vampires only.

  My phone buzzed. That’s kinky.

  Just stop, I wrote back.

  You started it.

  Talk to you later. I should’ve told him right then and there that I was serious about the vampire part of my message. Andre and I would be investigating the crimes tonight.

  I knew when Caleb found out he’d be hurt and pissed, both because I was working on the investigation without him and because I was working on it with Andre, the man who left him for dead. He didn’t yet know that the Politia had asked me to reconnect with Andre, and more importantly, he didn’t know Andre and I were soulmates. But once he did, things were bound to get stickier between us.

  I was postponing the inevitable by not telling him, but hell, I needed a momentary break from drama. My life already had too much of it.

  ***

  An hour after the sun had set, I felt the first thrum of energy. I glanced out my window. A black sports car entered Peel campus.

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” Leanne said, not bothering to look away from her homework.

  I should’ve known that my roommate foresaw my evening. “Is there something I should be worried about?”

  The hand that held her pen shook. “Not if you’re careful.”

  Unease coiled at the pit of my stomach. I opened my mouth to ask her what she’d seen when she cut me off. “Gabrielle, I’ve foreseen a lot of strange things concerning you, most of which have not come to pass. You’ve outwitted fate over and over again.”

  I’ve been outwitting fate? Considering that fate was actually three women, I wondered just which one of them I was outsmarting. I really hoped I wasn’t pissing her off. Having a fate angry with you was probably a dangerous thing.

  “Just be your normal, pragmatic self, and everything will be alright,” Leanne said. “That I have foreseen.” I could tell by the clip of her voice that was all she was going to tell me.

  I cocked my head, my eyes lingering on her as she continued to work on homework. I thought my roommate was an open book, but Leanne’s cryptic warning made me think that she hid a lot of herself from everyone around her, including me.

  If I could’ve guessed, I’d say that Leanne knew more about my future than she was letting on, and it was probably for my benefit.

  But the only reason I wouldn’t tell a friend about their future was if it was bad.

  I swallowed. She had told me about foreseeing my death. If she was willing to tell me that, then what premonitions were too horrible to speak of?

  ***

  I exited my building. Outside, Andre leaned against his sports car, clad in a black T-shirt that clung to his muscular torso and sculpted arms, and pants that fit him in all the right areas. The outfit was more casual than Andre’s usual—and lighter than what the weather called for—but I wasn’t complaining.

  Behind him, a cluster of students took pictures of him as they passed on their way to the castle.

  I was sure he was aware of the attention, but he acted as though he wasn’t.

  “Miss me?” he asked.

  “You’re delusional.” I smiled as I said it.

  He pushed off the wall and sauntered to me. When he reached me, he ran a hand across my cheek and behind my head. He leaned in and brushed his lips against mine. I wanted to resist him—I’d spent a whole two months doing just that—but I was so tired of trying to deny this.

  Instinctively I closed my eyes, and behind them I saw a flash of red as someone took a photo.

  So much for holding off telling Caleb about Andre and I. Tonight those photos would hit the Internet and he’d find out. At the back of my mind I wondered what kind of awful person didn’t care about another’s feelings. Because right now, with Andre’s lips warm on mine, I felt no guilt for the choices I’d made.

  Andre pulled away. “Ready?”

  I nodded.

  We’d drawn the attention of a small crowd. They hung off to the sides, far enough away to indicate that they thought we were dangerous. The girl becoming a vampire, and the king of them.

  I got in the car. “Where to?”

  Andre revved the engine and peeled out, probably just to give our onlookers a show.

  His gaze flicked to me. “The scene of the first crime, Glen Maye.”

  ***

  The ride to Glen Maye was a short one. Now I understood why a Peel student would come here; it was so close. We got out of the car and began trekking through the glen.

  A little ways in we saw the taped off area. Andre and I stepped over it. “The body was found over there.” Andre pointed to an area near a large boulder. “When they found her, her legs pointed to our left and her arms were spread out at her sides.”

  I moved over to where her body had been found and looked around. One particular patch of the glen was greener than the others. According to Andre it was what her legs pointed away from.

  “Why is that area greener?” I asked Andre.

  He followed my line of sight. “That’s near the entrance to the Otherworld. Aro
und this particular entrance you can find rare and powerful plants. That’s why witches and others come here. Here they can find ingredients for heightening their abilities or performing spells.”

  “Huh.” I mulled over why a serial killer would position his or her victim away from this entrance.

  “Gabrielle?”

  “Yeah?” I said, distracted.

  “We need to go.” Andre’s voice had an edge to it.

  I glanced at him. “Now,” he emphasized.

  I paused, only for a second of a second. But long enough to realize what had startled him. Nothing moved, no creature made a sound—not even the ethereal music I’d heard last time I was here. Animals hid from vampires, but they didn’t disappear. Here, right now in Glen Maye, the animals were gone.

  And we hadn’t scared them off.

  Knowing Andre would follow, I bolted. Andre fell in step behind me. The trees and plants blurred as we ran. Next to me, I thought I heard the snap of a branch and the hint of a whisper. Just my imagination.

  Around us the trees rustled violently, though the night wasn’t windy.

  Getting to the car took less than thirty seconds. I snapped on my seatbelt and Andre cranked the ignition. The car roared to life and Andre floored the gas pedal.

  The car shot off like a rocket, and then Glen Maye was just a strange and disturbing memory.

  ***

  “What was that?” I asked Andre, looking through the car’s side mirrors even though we were far away from the crime scene.

  “Nothing holy.”

  I remembered Leanne’s warning from earlier in the day. “What would’ve happened if we’d lingered?”

  He shook his head. “I have no idea.” Then he fell silent. Just like Leanne, he wasn’t going to say more.

  I exhaled. I couldn’t tell if he was also withholding information from me, but I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to figure this one out on my own.