Change of Fate (The Briar Creek Vampires, #4) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (17 page)

“What does that mean?” Austin asked, running
a hand through his strawberry blonde hair.

“I think it means that two Hunters have
already time traveled,” Ben said. “It’s the only reason I can think
of that would explain why it wouldn’t work.”

Gabe felt his own jaw drop. How could that
be?

Chapter 24

****

Once they reached town, Lexi and Dan found
what looked like a little flea market. There were vendors selling
their goods, which mostly consisted of fresh farm-grown fruits and
vegetables, jams and butters, breads, and cheeses. Lexi thought
about how weird it was to be at a flea market that didn’t sell
graphic print t-shirts, those little toy dogs that walked and
barked when you clapped at them, and funnel cakes or hot dogs.

“This is kind of cool,” Dan told her.

Lexi raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know
if I would call it cool,” she said quietly. “I guess it’s something
to do for now, though.”

As they walked down the rows of vendors, Lexi
got the strange feeling that someone was watching them. It gave her
goose bumps and made her hair stand on end, but Lexi knew that she
was probably just being paranoid. Who could be watching her,
anyway? It’s not like she knew anybody during this time period, and
she now had not just one, but two, bat pendants that would mask her
scent from any vampires who would try to cross her path.

“Boy, what are you doing just staring at my
produce?” a man shouted. It took Lexi a minute, but she quickly
realized that he was talking to Dan, who just stood there, like he
was frozen in place. “Don’t think you’ll be stealing any of my
crops!”

“I – we’re moving along,” Dan stuttered.

Lexi grabbed his hand and led him to the next
row of vendors before they both burst into laughter.

“Oh, my God, that was hilarious,” Dan said,
keeled over, bracing himself on his knees. Lexi knew that he was
thinking the same thing as she was; this guy was yelling at him for
stealing fruits and vegetables when he didn’t even
eat
fruits and vegetables. Once they had finished laughing, Lexi
realized just how peaceful things were here. She hadn’t laughed at
something that dull in a long time, and it felt good for once –
maybe Dan was bringing out the best in her.

When Lexi looked up, that was when she saw
him. She would have spotted his mess of blonde hair from a mile
away; it was the same shade of golden blonde as her own hair. He
stood next to a strawberry stand, having a conversation with one of
the vendors. When he laughed, his sky blue eyes twinkled the same
way they had when she’d last seen him.

He glanced over in her direction, and Lexi
was positive that the look in his eyes was one of recognition.
Forgetting about Dan, Lexi ran to her father, wrapping her arms
around him in a bear hug. She didn’t care that she hadn’t seen him
since she was a child. None of that mattered right now. The only
thing that she knew was that she didn’t want to let him go
again.

“Dad!” Lexi trilled. “I’m so excited to see
you.”

Her father pulled away from her, staring into
her face the same way you would stare at a stranger. “I must
apologize, but . . . I do not know you. I am not a father, to the
best of my knowledge.”

“But, Dad . . . It’s me! Alexandria!” Lexi
insisted. She hoped that using her full name would make him more
likely to remember that he did, in fact, have a daughter. She knew
that it had been years since he’d last seen her, but how could he
have forgotten her?

“Alexandria? Such a pretty name. It reminds
me of a name that would be given to a princess,” her dad murmured.
He quickly shook his head, his longish blonde hair moving with it.
“However, I still cannot say that you are familiar to me.”

Lexi’s eyes filled up with tears. Was her dad
trying to tease her, or did he remember how they used to pretend
she was a princess when she was little? “How – how could you forget
about me?” she asked shakily. “I don’t understand.”

“Lexi,” Dan said, placing his hand on her
shoulder. “I need to speak to you. Over here.” His eyes told her
that he just wanted to talk to her away from Ben.

Lexi took a step towards him. “My dad doesn’t
even remember me,” she said through her tears. She put her head on
Dan’s shoulder. She didn’t know if she had feelings for him right
now or not, but he was the only person who could offer her comfort
right now.

“But that’s not it, Lexi,” Dan said softly,
running his fingers through her hair. “It’s not that he doesn’t
remember you. He can’t remember you because he doesn’t
know
you yet. He hasn’t even met your mother yet – and he won’t for
centuries to come. It’s the past. He’s not your father yet.”

Lexi looked into Dan’s blue eyes, which
shimmered in the sunlight, realizing that he was right. Her father
didn’t know her. But she knew him . . . and there was something
that she had to do. She wasn’t sure how she knew that she had to do
it, but somehow, she just knew – and her mom had told her that she
should trust her gut instincts.

Pulling the bat pendant out of her pocket,
she chased after her father, who was now heading in the opposite
direction. “Benjamin! Wait!” Lexi called.

Her dad turned around, staring at her. He
opened his mouth to say something – probably that she was acting
like a raging lunatic and that he really didn’t know her – but Lexi
held her hand up to halt what he was about to say. “This is going
to sound crazy, and you might not even believe it, but you
must
listen to me,” Lexi began. “I
am
your daughter,
but I was born in the 21st century. I traveled back through time,
and it’s . . . it’s a really long story, but you have to believe
me. I know you’re a vampire.”

Her father nodded, as though he believed
everything that she was telling him so far. Taking a deep breath,
Lexi continued. “There’s a witch who’s going to place a curse on
all vampires because her lover has been turned into one. Her lover,
Albert Hunter, is going to turn crazy. . . . And, anyway, you have
to keep this safe for me.” Lexi handed him the pendant. “It’s
designed to mask the Hunter bloodline from vampires, and it’s going
to be very important for me to have one day, once I am your
daughter. So, please, keep it safe until then.”

Her father, if she could even call him that
right now since he technically wasn’t her father yet, nodded his
head. “I don’t know if what you are telling me is true, but I will
assume that it is. Do not worry about this pendant. I shall keep it
until and if we ever meet again.”

He grabbed her hand and gave it a tiny kiss
before turning on his heel and walking away from her.

Chapter 25

****

Rhonda walked down the hallway of Huntington
High, trying to find her friends. If she could call them that,
since she didn’t even know them that well yet. Even so, they had
accepted her, taking her under their wing and allowing her to come
to this school with them. For that, she was grateful. It was more
kindness than most people she’d ever encountered in her past life
had ever shown her.

She glanced into a large room, where there
were places to sit and coffee machines. Rhonda spotted his dark
hair; Gabe was sitting on one of the couches. As she approached,
she listened in on the conversation that he was having with the guy
who Austin had said was named Ben.

“So, what are we supposed to do?” Gabe asked.
His voice had taken on a tone of frustration or possibly even
anger. “How are we supposed to save Lexi?”

“We just wait, Gabe,” Ben said. “That’s the
most we can do.” He closed eyes before he said, “I think she’s
going to make it back. She’s a smart girl, she’ll figure out how on
her own. It’s just going to take her some time.”

“Time? Time?” Gabe roared. “Every minute
she’s there, she’s at risk. We don’t know where she is or what
she’s doing. She might be in great danger.”

“I saw her,” Ben said, looking up at him.
“When she time traveled . . . I saw her. It was at the local
market, and she gave me her bat pendant. She told me that I had to
keep it safe for her. And I did. I kept it until she was born –
until she was a child. I gave it to her then, knowing that it was
going to be of great significance for her. When I saw her, she was
fine, Gabe. She seemed safe.”

Rhonda watched as Gabe’s face softened a
little before sitting down on the floor in front of him, leaning
against his knees. “What’s going on, guys?”

Gabe let out a deep sigh. “My girlfriend time
traveled. It’s a long story, but it was an accident, and we don’t
actually know how to get her back.”

You don’t want to get her back
, Rhonda
thought, closing her eyes to concentrate.
You don’t want Lexi.
You want me.

Rhonda felt Gabe’s knees stiffen from behind
her. At the same time, Ben stood up. “There’s not much we can
really do right now but wait,” Ben told Gabe. “Let’s just see what
happens, okay?”

Gabe shrugged. “Yeah. See ya later.”

Rhonda felt a gust of wind blow past her bare
legs as Ben walked past them and out of the room. She turned to
look at Gabe. “Where’s Austin and Anna?”

“I think they went back to Anna’s room,” Gabe
replied. When he looked into Rhonda’s face, he smiled and his voice
softened. “How do you like it here so far?”

Rhonda shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess. I met
Veronica. She seemed . . . interesting.”

Gabe laughed. “You can say that again. Just a
word of advice. Stay out of her way as much as you can. She
probably won’t like you too much.”

“Yeah, I already got that impression,” Rhonda
agreed. “Hey, Gabe? Why didn’t you tell me that you had a
girlfriend before now?”

Gabe sighed. “I don’t know. We were sort of
fighting right before she time traveled. She caught me and Veronica
in a situation that made it look like we were . . . involved with
each other,” he said, obviously choosing his words carefully. “It’s
more than that, though. I do feel bad . . . for what I did to
you.”

Then want me the way you want Lexi
,
Rhonda thought.
Want to be with me.

Gabe reached over and ran a hand through
Rhonda’s strawberry blonde hair, and Rhonda smiled. Was her mind
control working on him? It definitely seemed like it was. “Let’s
not worry about Lexi right now,” Gabe said. “Let’s just get to know
each other a little better.”

Rhonda smiled. “I think that’s a good idea.
Why don’t we go back to my dorm room?” She didn’t even have to
focus on trying to make him want to go to her room before he was
already getting up and pulling her up off the floor with him.
Rhonda led him down the hall and into her room, which she had to
admit was really nice. The walls were painted a dark pink, and the
bed was covered in a soft pink satin comforter. It already was
beginning to feel like home.

“So,” Gabe said, sitting down on the bed.
“Tell me about your family.”

Rhonda hadn’t expected him to ask that
question. She didn’t like talking about her family, but she already
felt like she could talk to Gabe about anything. “My mom and her
partner are nice enough,” Rhonda said, shrugging. “I doubt we’ll be
keeping in touch now, though.”

Gabe nodded, as though he understood. Rhonda
wondered how he could understand, when she knew that he kept in
touch with his own mom, even though she was M.I.A. right now. “And
your dad?” Gabe pressed.

“My dad is a loser,” Rhonda said, looking
down at the ground. “He was an alcoholic . . . and a womanizer. My
mom’s much better off without him – and so I am.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Gabe said
quietly.

Rhonda could feel his eyes on her. It felt
like he was studying her, but she didn’t know what for. When he
didn’t look away, she asked, “Why are you staring at me?”

“You’re just so beautiful,” Gabe said,
looking down at the floor. “It feels wrong for me to say that
because of Lexi, but . . . you are.”

Forget about Lexi
, Rhonda thought,
commanding him in her mind.
Just kiss me
.

Her mind control worked like magic. Gabe
leaned into her. His strong body was masculine next to hers. He
placed his hand on her bare thigh, his fingers caressing her skin,
making the place he touched tingle. Rhonda tilted her chin as his
soft lips came down on hers.

Rhonda felt a feeling of warmth wash over her
body, and her stomach felt like it was doing cartwheels. It didn’t
seem like she would have to worry about Gabe and this Lexi girl
even half as much as she thought she did.

Chapter 26

****

“Here is the decision I have come to. I am
going to prohibit you to become a vampire,” Belinda told Lexi. As
Lexi began to protest, the woman continued. “The reason is because
I do not believe that being a vampire is what you really
desire.”

Lexi thought about what Belinda was saying.
Was there any truth to it? Did she really want to become a vampire?
Not really. What she wanted was for this awful mess that she had
found herself intertwined in to just cease to exist, but Belinda
had made it crystal clear that wasn’t possible. Living – and being
able to live without fear – was the next best thing. Becoming a
vampire was the only option Lexi had found that would allow this to
happen.

That didn’t mean that she looked forward to
everything that would come with being a vampire, though. She didn’t
want to have to worry about being able to find the blood that she
would need to survive, especially if it meant that she would be
putting other people’s lives in danger. That wouldn’t make her any
better than the people of Briar Creek who wanted to kill her.

“So, what are you going to do instead?” Dan
asked from his place across the table from Lexi. “You are going to
do something . . . aren’t you?”