Change of Fate (The Briar Creek Vampires, #4) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (24 page)

As Lexi started to say something, she noticed
that Mary-Kate had reached in her pocket and pulled something out.
Something that shone in the moonlight. It was a knife. Her crazy,
deranged sister who wanted to kill her had a knife. Great.

“Give me the bottle of potion,” Mary-Kate
demanded. “Now.”

Lexi shook her head. “No. I’m not giving you
it. Belinda wanted me to have it. It’s mine.”

“Fine,” Mary-Kate said. She chuckled to
herself and took a step closer. She pulled something else out of
her pocket. When Lexi saw the little flame on it, she knew that it
was a match. “Give me the potion or your little boyfriend goes up
in flames.”

Lexi didn’t even bother to correct her sister
about Dan not being her boyfriend. It didn’t really matter right
now. All she knew was that she didn’t want Dan to die. He had saved
her twice; there was no way she could just let him die so that she
could drink the potion. Lexi didn’t care what her mom had said. She
would find another way to live – one that didn’t involve putting
Dan in danger.

Lexi pulled the bottle of potion out from
under her tank top and was just about to hand it over to her sister
when Dan yelled at her. “Don’t give it to her, Lexi! You need it.
I’d rather die than see you give it to her.”

“Aww, how sweet. You’re like Romeo and
Juliet,” Mary-Kate cooed sarcastically. Her expression turned cold
and her voice turned icy. “You’re an idiot, Dan. I always knew you
were an idiot. You’re willing to die for that selfish bitch?”

“Yes, I am,” Dan replied, without turning to
look at Mary-Kate when he said it. He met Lexi’s eyes. “I’d rather
die than watch you give the potion to her.”

“I’m not going to let you die,” Lexi said
softly. “I don’t have any other choices. I need to give the potion
to her. It’s the only way both of us are going to get home alive.”
She sighed. “Maybe this is the way it’s meant to be.”

“Yes! That’s exactly it! It’s meant to be
this way,” Mary-Kate said, the excitement obvious in her voice.
“Just give it to me, Lexi. I promise you won’t regret it. You’ll
feel so noble for saving my mom.”

Lexi was about to hand the potion over to her
sister when she heard it: the whinnying from Belinda’s backyard.
And that’s when she knew what she had to do.

Chapter 35

****

“Here’s what I’m going to do,” she told her
sister, “because, honestly, I don’t trust you right now. I’m going
to set the potion down on that tree stump over there.” Lexi
motioned to a tree stump that was out in the opening. “You don’t
come near me, and it’s all yours . . . okay?” There was a 50/50
chance that Lexi would be able to get to the potion before
Mary-Kate could take it, but she was going to have to risk it.

Mary-Kate nodded excitedly. She didn’t
suspect a thing.

“God damn it, Lexi, I can’t believe you’re
doing this,” Dan said from behind her as she walked towards the
stump. Lexi didn’t turn back to look at him as she rested the
potion on the stump.

Once she had walked back over to Dan, she
told Mary-Kate, “It’s all yours.” As Mary-Kate began inching
towards the stump, Lexi whispered in Dan’s ear. “Get on the horse
in Belinda’s backyard. Ride it until you’re out of her reach. Go.
Now!”

A look of understanding crossed Dan’s face as
he climbed off the rocks, the dress falling around his feet, as he
raced towards the backyard. Lexi turned to Mary-Kate, who was in a
trance. She was so focused on the potion that she hadn’t even
noticed that Dan had left the rock.

Luckily, her sister was moving slowly,
inching foot by foot to the rock. It gave Lexi more than enough
time to dart over to the stump and grab the potion. As she reached
down for the potion, Mary-Kate’s gaze on it broke and she stared up
at Lexi. She realized what had happened.

“You lied to me, you bitch!” Mary-Kate
screamed, raising her knife in the air, as she began chasing Lexi
through the backyard. Lexi kept a steady pace, staying about twenty
feet ahead of Mary-Kate. “You’re not going to get away,” her sister
screamed from behind her. “You’re going to pay for this!”

Lexi nearly ran into the black horse as it
darted across the yard in front of her. At the same time, the front
door of Belinda’s house swung open, and the woman stood outside, a
look of confusion on her face.

It took Belinda only a moment to see what was
going on. She grabbed a broom from one of the chairs on the porch
and began chasing after Mary-Kate, hitting her in the back. It must
have hurt because, at one point, Lexi swore she heard her sister
scream, “Ouch!”

As she glanced back, she noticed that
Mary-Kate had fallen to the ground. Belinda must have tripped her.
“Thank you,” Lexi called over her shoulder. The fall was enough
time to allow her to climb on the horse behind Dan, who helped pull
her on.

“I don’t know if the horse will be able to
run fast enough with both of us on him,” Lexi said as she tried to
catch her breath. “I don’t know if he can handle the weight.”

“Well, I have a simple enough solution for
that,” Dan said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “You need to get
away from her more than me. She won’t hurt me unless you’re there
to see it. Just hold the potion tight. Don’t drop it.” He slid off
the horse and slapped it on the butt, provoking it to take off
quickly into the night.

“And Lexi! Think about me, and I’ll think
about you.”

Chapter 36

****

Rhonda sat on the bed next to Gabe. “Do you
really want Lexi to come back?”

“Yes,” Gabe said quietly, looking down at the
floor. He noticed a feeling change inside of him and shook his
head. “No, I don’t actually. I – I don’t know if I do or not, I
guess.”

Rhonda smiled, her glossy lips twisting into
a smile. “I’m glad to hear that, Gabe. I have a feeling that if
Lexi comes back, it will rain on our parade. I’m so enjoying
getting to know you.”

“I’m enjoying getting to know you, too,” Gabe
responded to her almost instantly. He wasn’t sure where the words
had come from, but they just felt right to say. At least, he
thought they did.

Rhonda reached over and grabbed his hand. “I
was thinking that maybe we could see if they’ll allow us to share a
dorm room permanently here.”

“They don’t allow that,” Gabe started to say,
but instantly, he changed his tune. “But we can see if we can
convince them to change their minds.” Where had that come from? He
knew better than that. The people who ran Huntington High were
pretty conservative. Co-ed dorming was against the school’s
policies and could even lead to expulsion, even though people did
it all the time anyway.

“I was also thinking that maybe I should
ditch my friends,” Gabe said. Yet again, he had no idea where the
words had come from. Why would he want to ditch Austin? Austin had
been like a brother to him lately. And he was still getting to know
Anna, but she seemed pretty cool, too.

“Whatever you want, Gabe,” Rhonda said,
smiling back at him. “I’ll support anything you choose to do in
life.” She inched closer to him, pushing her cleavage into
eyesight. He had a hard time not staring at her breasts, which he
wanted to see naked. Actually, come to think of it, he wanted to
see all of her naked. Or did he? Ugh, everything was so confusing
right now.

Gabe leaned into her and brushed his lips
against hers. He pulled away quickly, knowing that it was wrong,
what he was doing. He loved Lexi. Even though he tried to tell
himself that he was in love with Lexi, he couldn’t seem to stop
staring at Rhonda. She was so gorgeous.

“I think I need to go talk to Austin,” Gabe
muttered, realizing how much this confusion was giving him a
headache. As he was about to bolt from the dorm room, something
made him turn back and plant another kiss on Rhonda’s lips before
he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

“Gabe!” a voice chirped from behind him.
Glancing over his shoulder, he realized that Veronica was standing
there, batting her eyes flirtatiously. “Look, Veronica, I know why
you’re hanging outside Rhonda’s dorm room. I’ve already reported
your threat to administration. If you kill her, you’ll be fired
from this school permanently,” he lied. “And you will be dead to me
as well.”

Veronica didn’t say anything, but from the
look on her face, Gabe could tell that she wasn’t going to be
messing with Rhonda any time soon. Thank God. He didn’t want to
have to worry about both Lexi and Rhonda’s safety.

Austin was in Anna’s dorm room, just as Gabe
had expected. “Dude, I need to talk to you,” he said, as he sat
down on the bed. Glancing over at Anna, he added, “I guess I could
use your input, too.”

Anna gave him a small smile.

“What’s going on?” Austin asked. “Is
everything okay, man?”

Gabe shrugged. “I don’t really know. Can you
tell me I’m not crazy? I feel like . . . I’m falling for Rhonda.
But I’m supposed to be in love with Lexi. I don’t get what’s
happening.”

Austin raised an eyebrow. “Rhonda?” He burst
out in laughter. “Dude, she’s pretty and everything, but . . . you
can’t be serious. You really think you’re into her?”

Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just
happening all so fast. I feel like I’m doing things and saying
things that I normally wouldn’t say or do. And after I say them, I
wonder if they’re really true – if they’re really what I meant to
say.”

“Mind control,” Anna said in an almost
excited voice. When both Austin and Gabe turned to look at her, she
added, “I had a feeling Rhonda might be using mind control on
you.”

“What’s ‘mind control’?” Austin asked.

“It’s when a vampire is able to control
minds,” Gabe explained. “It’s extremely rare, though. Only the most
powerful vampires have the ability to use it. I highly doubt that’s
what Rhonda’s doing.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Gabe,” Anna said,
pulling a textbook from her bookshelf. She flipped to a page and,
scanning it with her eyes, read aloud. “Mind control, which is most
common among female vampires, is one of the most powerful talents a
vampire can have. It is common for vampires who possess this
ability to notice a huge improvement in their appearance shortly
after becoming vampires.” She looked up at Gabe. “Rhonda is getting
prettier by the day, Gabe. When I first met her, she wasn’t ugly,
but . . . she is more gorgeous every time I see her.” Anna focused
her attention back to the book. “Vampires who use mind control are
most likely to use the ability on the vampire who changed them,
especially if this vampire is a male.” She looked up at him, giving
him a look that said, “Need I say more?”

“Even if those things are true, there’s no
way for us to prove it, is there?” Gabe asked.

Anna scanned the page. “I’m pretty sure there
is. It’s not in this book, though. I’ll see if I can find anything
in any of the other books. I’ll go to the library later if I have
to.”

“Thanks, Anna,” Gabe said. He looked down at
the floor. If Rhonda did possess this ability, it would make a
whole lot of sense. It would explain why he was beginning to feel
like a pre-programmed robot any time he was in the same room for
her – and sometimes, even when he wasn’t. There were times when he
found himself getting up in the middle of the night just to go to
her room, and once he was there, he didn’t know why. It was all so
strange.

“Gabe, are you thinking about Lexi enough?”
Austin asked.

“I don’t know,” Gabe replied honestly,
shrugging his shoulders.

Austin frowned at him. “Now isn’t the time
for you to stop caring about her, you know. She needs all of us to
be concentrating on her so we can hopefully bring her back.”

Gabe sighed. “I know you’re right.” And the
truth was, he really did wish that Lexi would come back so that he
at least would know if he was crazy for thinking that he had
feelings for Rhonda or not.

Chapter 37

****

I wish I were home, safe and sound. Well,
safer and sounder that it is
, Lexi thought to herself as the
horse galloped through the dark night. Riding bareback, she clung
to its mane and prayed that she wouldn’t fall off. And then it
happened.

A bright light shone in front of her, casting
down from the sky. It made Lexi feel like she was in the
Twilight Zone
or something. As she looked for a source of
light, she felt herself being lifted into the air – the same way
she had been when the book had sucked her in.

Once she was up in the air, looking down over
the horse who had come to an abrupt stop and seemed to be staring
after her, Lexi felt the scream escape her throat. She couldn’t
hear herself screaming, though. In fact, everything was such a big
blur as she whirled around in the air that she couldn’t hear
anything until Dan yelled, “It’s okay, Lexi! Don’t be afraid.
You’re going home!”

“But I’m not ready to go back yet! You’re not
coming with me!” Lexi cried.

“Don’t worry about me! Just think about how
you want me to come home as soon as you get there, and I’ll be able
to follow you!” Dan shouted back at her.

Lexi glanced over her shoulder at Dan as her
body was swirled around in the air. Mary-Kate was getting closer to
him, sneaking up on him from behind. She was carrying something
long and pointy. A stake? “Dan, watch out!” Lexi screamed, pointing
behind him.

She watched as Mary-Kate whipped the stake
over her shoulder as she prepared to launch it into Dan’s heart.
Just as he turned around, realizing what was happening, Lexi’s
vision went black.

*

When Lexi woke up, the first words that she mumbled
were, “Dan?”

“He’s not here, Lexi,” a voice said softly.

Lexi cracked open one eye. She found herself laying
on Anna’s bed in her dorm room. “How did I – ” she stammered. “I’m
back?”