3 Hit the Road Jack (4 page)

I studied my ring, not wanting to believe that the one who gave it to me would leave me a widow. I couldn't accept it; couldn't wrap my mind around it. He couldn't leave me too. It had to be wrong.

"It has to be wrong," I stated breaking the silence. He turned towards me, a tortured expression on his face. My heart broke as I scrambled for a way to sooth his anguish, but really, how do you comfort someone who's just read about their death?

In a second of victory, all shall be lost, for a lone stray shall have his way. A shot shall echo through the forest floor, an impact so strong he
sh
ant
steal a chance. The question is not can he survive, for he surely does not; the question is who shall carry on hold
ing
her up in her despair, for her anger shall cause her enemies to
weep
; her own grief shall slowly consume her shall a new prince not resuscitate her. It ought to be know
n
that no one shall love her the way he did; no one will fight with the heart he possessed. But alas, he shall pass her on to the finest suitor with nothing left but his final breath.

I read the paragraph again. What hit me was that everyone knew. Everyone who knew the story, ha
d
hear
d
it, read it, was familiar with it
,
even our parents
, knew our fate
. So many
yet not even one had bothered
to warn us. How could they not warn us?

I promptly closed the binders deciding we'd read enough.
I pulled him next to me on the bed and curled up into him. I ran my hand over his chest, breathing him in. It had to be wrong I decided. I couldn't imagine not doing this forever with him.

I woke a few hours later to find myself alone. I rolled over nearly jumping at the sight of Kai hovering in the doorway.

"He went for a walk."

"Alone?"

"With Rafi." I nodded my head.

"Why did
n’t
you tell me?"

"Would you have believed me?"

I sighed. "Probably not." Just then my phone went off. Looking at the time I figured it was Kellan. "Hello?"

"Meet me in an hour," Auggy ordered.
He was one of the three High Authority leaders, the head haunchos of the vamp army.

"The usual?"

"Back door."

"See you then," I said quickly disconnecting. I grabbed my shoes and bypassed Kai heading downstairs.

"I'm going with you. You shouldn't be alone until we get whoever's out there."

I looked at him, offering a knowing smirk and an eye roll. "That's fine."

"I'm not letting you go a-" he cut off when he realized the argument was
unnecessary
. "Well, let's go then."

We walked in silence out to the cars. We still had feelings for each other though his were strong
er
than mine, and I was completely committed to Kellan. It was hard at time
s given the pull I felt with Kai
. Had I never met Kellan, I could picture myself with Kai, at least for a little while.

"We'll take mine," he said pressing the keyless remote
for his Maserati
.

I slid into the cool, leather passenger seat. He activated the security features and shields before pulling out. The second we reached the main road he pressed play on his iPod.
 
I
W
ant
T
o
S
ex
Y
ou
U
p
 
pumped
through
the speakers. I narrowed my eyes at him. He wagged his brows and winked. I shook my head not necessarily in disbelief because Kai was very forward, but in slight awe of his persistence give
n
the fact that he knew my status and my future husband.

"Listen Kai, I've messed up before with you and probably hurt Kellan too
due to my own
stupidity though he never said anything. While you're a fun fling, Kellan is my forever and I need you to respect that."

He burst into laughter. "You sound just like him with that crap."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't sweat it Leka. Your vamp's already laid down
 
the law
."

"Oh," I stumbled. "When?"

"A while back;
h
e's only a sissy with you. Gotta give him credit, he's got a mean streak even I
didn’t know he had
."

I scrunched my forehead, trying to figure out when this could have taken place. I knew Kellan wasn't a wimp, but he was passive with me
most of the time
.

"Didn't know you were engaged to a
thug
, did you?" Kai smirked.

"You, hush!" My mind was spinning. I was caught off guard. The man I was going to marry has just shocked the heck ou
t
of me.
I wondered who else he'd talked to.

"He's talked to any guy you have regular contact with, even the High Authorities."

"What?! When the -"

"You know, you do have to sleep... and he doesn't."

"Oh. My. God." I studied him as if he were under a microscope. I took in his profile, the slight upward curve of his lips proclaiming his cockiness. His
brown
eyes were staring at the road ahead, but I could tell they were dancing with amusement nonetheless. "You're lying," I bluntly declared, praying he was.

"Talk to him," he shrugged.

"Ugh," I groaned, my stomach was doing flips.

We parked in a garage near King Street in downtown Charleston and then headed towards the back entrance of the vamp army headquarters.
Kai insisted I walk
;
well
,
really we were running, ahead of him. He claimed he could look out for me better that way. That was only after he slipped and said he could look at me better that way. I ignored him and focused on business as much as possible. Oddly, it should have worried me to have the assassins still out and searching for me, yet I wasn’t scared. I knew I couldn’t change fate.

The moment I thought it, Kellan immediately popped up in my mind. Ok, revision, I could change fate, but I couldn’t control it.

I sighed
and
gripped the ‘Emergency Exit Only’ door handle outside the headquarters
. I waited
for the light to flash and the lock to click. We
walked through and headed down. After passing the security check point we headed straight to the back office conference room.

“Finally!” Auggy exclaimed.

“It hasn’t even been an hour,” I chuckled. Auggy was always intense, the epitome of a muscle-head in that sense.

“Kai,” he greeted.

“Aug
ustine
,” he nodded in return.

“So what have you got for me?”

“Oh, it’s damn good. We’ve finally located Jack.”
His eyes lit up with
devious delight.

“So who is this
Jack character?”

“Only the oldest vampire on earth today. He’s survived all these years by more than sheer wisdom
though
. He’s tied up in a lot of under the table deals
and controls nearly all of Europe.
No one’s seen him in nearly a decade
;
we only know he’s still out there because of his signature attack method.” Kai moved towards the table displaying the globe with strategic red dots on the projected image through Europe.

“Which is?”

“Black ninjas.”

“But they could belong to any society. Aren’t they big in Asia?”

“We know it’s him because of the symbol on their uniforms,” Auggy said.

“Which is?”

“This.” He pulled up the image on the screen.

“A black spade?” I wrinkled my brow studying the clearly defined yet intricately designed piece.

“
Yes.
T
hat’s the image stitched in black thread on the upper left part of their tops.
It’s a b
lack spade to sign
ify a black Jack of spades card; it’s his signature Leka.”

“Oh. So he’s a powerful vamp with a black ninja army?”

“He’s more than that. He’s the Hitler of the vampires. These black ninjas have sold their souls to him in order to save their families.”

“What do you mean Auggy?”

“He’s cruel and ruthless is what I mean.” I watched his features stiffen as the anger spread over his face in disgust.

“He takes a family hostage, kids and all. He gives the male the opportunity to save their lives if he will join his army. If he refuses the first time, Jack will kill a family member, usually a child first. Then he will ask again. If he still refuse
s
, he continues to kill the family one by one until the male either agrees or is killed himself. If he agrees a tiny bomb is injected into the wrist of each of his family members. If he doesn’t give one-hundred percent of himself to Jack’s cause, they are detonated.”

“How the heck do you inject a bomb into someone’s wrist?” I was flabbergasted, wringing my hands anxiously trying not to picture what they were explaining.

“He’s lived for nearly three thousand years Leka. He has interest
upon interest in his accounts; m
ore than anyone in the world.
That kind of money gets you access to nearly anything you could ever want,” Kai stated.

“These males, does he turn them?”

“Of course.” Auggy flipped the image to a picture of one of the ninjas. “What he doesn’t tell them though is that if he gets angry or simply because he feels like it, he will detonate the bombs, randomly killing the family members regardless of performance.”

“How can he get away with that?!”

“He owns most of Europe. Anyone in power has come in contact with a member of his camp at a certain point for sure. Prime ministers, Presidents, Kings; they’ve all been blackmailed by him.”

“So
,
what would a guy like this want with me?”

“Think about it Leka. You are bringing the larger empires of our kind together; creating alliances. Gain enough of them and he could be overthrown. We’ve already got enough manpower to take him on, but not enough smart technology to surpass what he has invented and invested in.”

“Oh.” It hit me all at once. I hadn’t thought about it like that. I swallowed the serum slowly climbing the walls of my throat. I couldn’t run from this; I knew that. I probably couldn’t hide either. Unfortunately I’d called attention to myself without meaning to. “So what’s the plan Auggy?”

“I’ve already briefed Kellan and Rafi. You’re going to Europe.” I felt Kai stiffen beside me. I could feel the tension radiating off of him.

I grabbed his hand, balled into a fist, and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. “When?”

“Tomorrow night. We’ve already notified your school this afternoon and your Eislom is aware as well.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “So you knew the full story too,” I accused.

“
It’s just a story Alexa. Don’t let that fluffy shit get to you.”

I sighed. “You have a point. Did Kellan really talk to you about me?” Auggy looked to Kai. They passed a look between them. “No way. Don’t look to him for answers. Just tell me straight.”

“I don’t get in the middle of relationships. You got a problem with your fiancé, take it up with him. Don’t put me in the middle of that shit.”

I cut my eyes at Kai. “Fair enough. What can you tell me about William? As of right now he seems like a stiff Giles knockoff.”

“Who the hell is Giles?”

“Buffy; it’s a TV show. Forget it. Just tell me what you know about him.”

“He was born in London in the late 1600s. He worked for the prophet directly until he was assassinated. Then he moved to Basque Country and has worked for our Embassy ever since then. He was the
Executive D
irector of Hi
storical Records & Archaeology. When he got wind of your little match up, he knew it was you and Kellan. He put in his notice and hopped on the first flight to South Carolina.”

“So he’s legit and safe?”

“As far as I know. Never turned on us or accepted a bribe throughout his entire employment.”

“Awesome.” I looked around searching for a clock. “What time is it?”

“4:36am,” Kai offered.

“Ok. I guess just print a copy of the stuff I need to know about this guy before we head out. Do we have a plan of attack in place yet?”

He smiled deviously. “That, my dear, is all up to you. I’m relying on you to work your magic and get close to the bastard.”