Darkness & Discovery (The Bespelled Trilogy #2) (9 page)

“So you know who we are
then,” Allie said.

“Yeah I know who you
are. You’re a couple damn vampires. And what’s she supposed to be? A snack for
later? You need to get the hell off my property. And I mean now.”

“Or what?” Joey asked,
taking a step forward.

“My brother isn’t the
only one with skills. I may not have as much power as he does, but I got enough
to take care of punks like you.” Both the Asian kid and Joey were doing that
stupid thing guys do, puffing up their chests and getting right in each other’s
faces.

“Jeez,” I muttered, and
yanked Joey back a few feet, then got between him and Jin’s brother. “Could we
dial the testosterone down to nonlethal levels here?”

“Move, Lu,” Joey
growled.

I glanced at Alastair
and said, “How about if you take Joey for a walk around the block? This isn’t
helpful.”

Alastair looked
concerned but did as I asked, taking a muttering Joey by the arm and leading
him down the stairs.

“I ain’t talking to you
either,” the guy said, crossing his arms over his chest. The fact that he
didn’t close the door, though, said differently.

“Look, do you want
vampires showing up at your house all night, every night? If you just take two
minutes now and talk to me, the visits stop. You’ll never see us again.”

“This house is warded.
They can’t get in here,” he said. 

“I could make some
comment about how you have to come out some time, but I didn’t actually come
here to threaten you. I came to talk.”

“So talk. You have one
minute.”

“Is Jin here?”

“Nope.”

“Do you expect him back
tonight?”

 “He doesn’t live at
home anymore.”

“Do you know where he
is?” I asked.

“Yup.”

“Would you tell me?”

“Hell no.”

“Ok, look, let’s start
over. Hi. My name’s Luna. And that tall, dark haired guy that was with me? That
was my boyfriend Alastair. Your brother cast a spell that wiped away all his
memories. He stole his entire past, every memory he had, of his family, of his
life, of who he is – your brother took
everything
from him.”  

He frowned a little,
arms still crossed over his chest. “He’s just a damn bloodsucker. Who cares
what happens to him?” He was trying to act tough, but the fact that he still hadn’t
slammed the door in my face was a good sign.

“
I
care. And you
know why? Because he’s a really good person. He even fights other vampires, he keeps
people safe.”

“He does?”

 “Yeah. Not that he’s
been able to do that since his memories got wiped,” I said. “Do you know how disruptive
your brother’s spell was? Alastair had to be told
his own name.
That’s
how much was taken from him. What was done to him isn’t right, and I think you
know that.”

The guy uncrossed his arms
now and fidgeted as he said, “It wasn’t my idea. I just want you to know that.”

“Were you there when
the memory spell happened?”

“Yeah. Me and Mikey, we
worked with Jimmy. That’s Jin’s real name, by the way. Thinks he’s all gettin’
in touch with his roots, takin’ a Chinese name and whatever.” He rolled his
eyes.

“The three of you went
to work for a vampire named Augustine.”

 “That’s right.”

“Remember that house
you bombarded a few days ago? I was inside it while that was going on. It belongs
to a really good friend of mine, nicest guy you’d ever want to meet,” I said.

“Damn. I didn’t know
there were any humans inside that house.” He looked upset. “We were told we
were fighting vampires. And yeah, ok, the dude we were working for was a
vampire, but we thought he was one of the good guys. That’s what he made it
sound like.”

“Yeah, it’s really
tough to know when Augustine’s telling the truth. I’ve fallen for his lies on
more than one occasion.”

“See? That’s what I
mean.”

“How’d you get mixed up
with Augustine, anyway?”

“He came up to Jimmy in
our old neighborhood, said he recognized his potential or whatever. Said he
could teach him how to use his magic, show him how to control this power that
my brother has. And then this Augustine guy, he said me and my brother Mikey
had a little of that power too. Not like Jimmy. But he said if we worked
together, we’d be totally powerful. Like superheroes, you know?”

“I get it,” I said.
“Hey, what’s your name?”

“My name’s Tyler. And I
wasn’t looking to hurt people, I swear. I never wanted that. We just wanted some
easy money,” he said. And he added quietly, “We wanted to be superheroes.”

“You can still fix this,
Tyler, you haven’t done anything irreparable. No one died when you attacked
that house. And Alastair still has a chance of getting his memories back. But
he needs Jimmy to remove the spell, no one else can do it.”

“Jimmy’s not gonna
cooperate,” he said. “He doesn’t care about anything but himself these days.”

“Will you please tell
me where he is?”

“Vegas. But he won’t help
you. In fact, soon as he sees your vamp friends, he’s liable to burn ‘em up.
That’s why I guess I don’t really mind telling you where he is. You can’t hurt
him. You even try, and he’ll take you down. That’s how powerful Jimmy is.”

“He’s out of control,
isn’t he?” I guessed.

“Not yet, but he’s
getting there. He’s been on this power trip. Cut himself off from the family,
except for Mikey, cuz Mikey does what you tell him. He’s there in Vegas with
Jimmy.” Tyler looked me in the eye and said, “Jimmy’s only fifteen years old.
He doesn’t know how to control the magic. And it’s just a matter of time –
either it’s going to kill him, or someone else is going to kill him because they
see him as too big a threat.”

“Does your mom know
what’s going on?”

“No. She thinks she hit
the lottery and doesn’t really find it suspicious that she hadn’t actually
bought a ticket, that’s how clueless she is. And she thinks Jimmy’s on some
year abroad program with his class. Like, way to not even check with his school
and find out if that’s legit.”

“Do you think Jimmy
would listen to you? Maybe you can come to Vegas with us and talk to him. It
sounds like he needs help, and so does my boyfriend. Maybe you can convince him
to lift the spell, and then we can find a way to help Jimmy.”

“You can’t help someone
that doesn’t wanna be helped. And as for your boyfriend, I’m really sorry for
what we did to him. I wish I hadn’t been involved in that, cuz it was wrong.
But I’m not going with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s
pointless.”

I sighed dramatically
and said, “Alright. Well, wish us luck. I just hope your brother doesn’t
barbeque those two guys I was with, because they actually mean more to me than
anyone in the world. But we’ll go to Vegas on our own and try to undo the harm
that was done. Take care Tyler, see ya around. Well, you know, unless I’m caught
in the crossfire and get killed too while trying to help my boyfriend.”

I turned and started
down the stairs, my heavy-handed guilt trip hanging in the air. Tyler sighed and
called out, “You suck at that. That was one of the most obvious guilt trips
ever.”

“Did it work? Will you
come to Vegas with us?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at him.

Tyler knit his brows
and said, “I
might
meet you there this weekend. And Jimmy’s in one of the
high roller suites at the Bellagio, by the way. The reason I’m telling you that
is because I want to right some of the wrong me and my brothers caused. And maybe
there
is
some way to get through to Jimmy, who knows. He used to be a
good kid, so maybe he’ll actually listen to what you have to say.”

“Thanks, Tyler. Give me
your phone number, ok?” He rattled off the number, and I pulled out my cell
phone and sent him a quick message. “You have my number too now. So if and when
you come to Las Vegas, text me and we can all try to talk to your brother together.”

“I’m still just
thinking
about going.”

“Yeah, but I’m hoping you’ll
do the right thing.” I gave him a little wave and took off after Alastair and
Joey.

Chapter
Six

When we returned to our home away from home, I went
to check on Bryn and found Augustine reading a Kindle while sitting outside the
closed guestroom door. “Hey,” I said. “Whatcha reading?’

“The Art of War.”

“Um, ok. Is Bryn in
there?” I asked, indicating the closed door as I sat on the floor across the
hall from Augustine.

“He went in about an
hour ago, and I’m pretty sure he hasn’t popped himself out. His magic’s been
kind of iffy since he’s been so upset, so I’m not sure he
could
transport himself right now even if he wanted to. But if he does, all we have
to do is go and get him out of the wine cellar, since that’s about the only
place he’d go.”

“What was he looking at
earlier – that scene out the window with the big house in the snow?”

Augustine sighed and
said, “That’s where Philippe is. Bryn was watching his family’s house in France
in real time. Stalking, warlock style. It’s so unhealthy.”

“Did he eat any of his
dinner?”

“He did eat a little.
Thank you for bring him the Chinese food. I think that’s what I need to do from
now on, get him restaurant food to tempt his appetite. It’s hard enough to get
him to eat without repulsing him with my cooking.”

“It’s nice that you’re
taking care of him.”

Augustine grinned at
me. “You can’t even say that without frowning.”

“Sorry. I just don’t
really know what to make of kind and helpful Augustine.”

“No one does.”

“So listen,” I said. “I
want to get your opinion on something. Alastair, Joey and I are planning to go
to Las Vegas to track down Jin. You’re more aware than anyone how Bryn’s doing.
So I want to ask if you think it’s a good idea or a terrible idea to take him
to Vegas with us.”

The door to the guestroom
flung open abruptly, and Bryn declared, “It’s brilliant! Can we leave now?”

“Well, not quite. We’re
planning to leave tomorrow evening. I have something to do first, but we should
be able to get on the road by seven,” I said.

“Oh, we’re not
driving,” Bryn declared. “I’ll charter us a plane. It’s so much more
civilized.” He grinned and clapped his hands. “This is such a good idea. It’s just
what I need. Why didn’t I think of it myself?” He ducked into his room, then
stuck his head back out a moment later. “By the way, Augie is reading People Magazine,
not The Art of War.” He rolled his eyes and ducked back into the bedroom.

“Eavesdropping is such
an unappealing habit,” Augustine called.

“Joey will probably
kill me for asking this, but do you want to come along, Augustine?”

He grinned a little and
turned the Kindle end over end in his hands as he considered the question.
Finally he said, “I think that’s probably a bad idea.”

“It’s not. We’re going
there to try to get a surly, powerful warlock to cooperate – who, by the way,
you’ve gotten to cooperate in the past.”

“He could be bought
before,” he said, “but surely he’s figured out plenty of ways to make money by now,
so my approach of dangling a check in front of him is bound to be
unsuccessful.”

 “We could use your
help though. If we tick Jin off, he’s probably going to try to obliterate us,
and having someone lethal on our side might come in handy.”

“Luna, you’re already
travelling with Team Lethal. Every one of the men you’re going with, including Alastair
and Joey and even sweet Brynnie when he’s sober, is absolutely deadly. I’d just
be redundant.”

“I’m plenty lethal
drunk!” Bryn yelled from the other room. “I’m like a cobra. Riding a shark.
Stuffed in a tank!” He was quiet for a beat, and then he amended, “The Army
kind of tank! Not a fish tank. With a fish tank, the cobra would just drown.”

I was chuckling as I got
up from the floor and said, “You could keep an eye on Bryn, too. So think about
it, Augustine.”

“Don’t need a damn
babysitter!” Bryn yelled as I went down the hall.

I started to head to
the kitchen, but when I got to the second floor, Alastair intercepted me and
grabbed me around the waist, lifting me playfully off the ground and hurrying
into the nearest room. He closed the door behind us and said with a grin as he put
me down, “Alone at last.”

I grinned too. “Why
yes, we are. And why is that?”

“Because we haven’t had
a moment alone all day, and I’ve missed doing this.” He kissed me gently, then wrapped
his arms around me. I hugged him tightly and buried my face in his shoulder,
breathing him in. He smelled like soap and clean cotton and Alastair.

After a while he took
my hand and led me over to a window seat. We were in a large moonlit library
brimming with books, some of which appeared to be quite ancient. I would have
to come back to this room, it looked fascinating.