He gulped, wavering inside. Sam moaned softly behind him. Luke’s eyes flicked to Dad’s office door, betraying the secret location. Then the lights dimmed. We all looked up.
“They’ve already killed the cell network,” Austin said sarcastically. “It’s just a matter of time before they cut the power, too. If I survive the night, I’m leaving in the morning. Good luck.”
I swallowed and left the room to pilfer through Dad’s desk. The keys were hidden in the back of a drawer.
I came back just in time to feel Austin’s hatred flaring.
“Are you going to leave
it
here?” he asked Luke, not knowing I was behind him.
“Not with you,” I said and knocked into his shoulder as I walked past, snatching his laser pen out of his front pocket. “She was infected against her will.”
“Aren’t they all?”
I made a face and withheld punching him in the nose, appalled at myself for flirting with him earlier.
“We need to put her in my car,” I said to Luke. “Can you carry her?”
“No,” she whispered. “Just put me out of my misery.”
Austin snickered. “I’ll do it.”
“Shut-up!” I screamed.
I turned to her and touched her skin—cold, icy cold. My soul crumbled at her request. “Please, let me try to help you. I owe you this.”
“I’m going with you,” Luke said. “You need help.”
I inhaled deeply. “No,” I said adamantly. I’d put him in enough danger for one night.
Scarlett would have to show up and help me fulfill my Seer duties. If not, I planned to beg Sam’s life from the doctor and pledge my allegiance if it saved her and my father’s life. And somehow in there, find Phil and Nicholas. At this point, remaining human didn’t seem feasible and together as a united vampire front, we could do more good anyway.
“No. I’m going and that’s final.” Luke stood as his courage abounded. “Give me a pen, too.”
My mind spun, heavy with snippets of the night’s events as I drove down the winding road. Eucalyptus trees created a barrier from the fog billowing in from the ocean, softening the surroundings into an ethereal light. Something about maneuvering the car through the clouds didn’t feel real, like I’d been dreaming. I beamed out my radar like a beacon searching for Dad. Could I be so lucky as to find him out here? I figured I’d keep driving until I felt him or the vamps since Austin, the douche, wouldn’t tell me where exactly they’d found the phone.
Luke’s concern and Sam’s pain rubbed raw against my nerve endings. I channeled some comfort their way and hoped for a quick rescue somehow or just that this trip wouldn’t be in vain. Though getting in and out without a fight would be a miracle, I had to hope. Because as soon as we were done, we’d need to get out of town, far away from Cain, the doctor and all-powerful Alora.
I turned down a gravel road out in the middle of nowhere and stopped. A barren field surrounded us, covered with bushes and weeds poking out of the fine mist. The naked eye would assume the land to be uninhabited, but I knew differently. They were here. Hundreds of them.
My head swayed with the overwhelming lust as the hornets’ nest thrummed all around me. The insanity of showing up here unannounced was by far the worst decision ever. I was about to stick my foot right in the nest. But I’d do anything to save Dad and Sam.
“Is this it?” Luke whispered from the backseat.
I gripped the steering wheel for support. “Yeah,”
most definitely.
The moonlight broke through the clouds, tinting the surroundings a peculiar cerulean hue. I killed the engine and shut off the lights.
“How can you be sure?”
I ignored the question and tossed Luke the keys, grabbing my jacket. “Don’t open the door. I don’t care what you see or what they say. Close your eyes and hum if you have to. You’re safe inside here.”
“You’re not going out there, are you?” Fear and disbelief emanated from him, punching me in the gut.
“I have to.”
“No, Julia.” His angst rushed over me, a cold errant wave. “Not without me.”
“I’m just going to check it out and will be right back.” I faked a smile like everything was okay, knowing full well I could be ambushed. “Stay with Sam. Just flash the laser if you see anything or need anything.”
I stepped outside before he could argue further and shut the door. The salt hit my nose and cold chilled my bones as I pulled on my coat. Nothing could be heard but the ocean waves in the distance. My legs trembled as I moved forward through the brush, the bloodlust vibrating all around me. They had to be underground, the reason I couldn’t see them.
An entrance must be close by. The probability I could find it, let alone enter, not having immortal powers, would be zero to none. But I’d still try.
I closed my eyes and focused hard. As Grandma had instructed me, I began to weed through all the bloodlust, encapsulating their feelings far away from me. Then I felt him. A lone person: frightened, hungry and tired.
Dad.
I ran to the spot where the feelings emanated the strongest and put my hands on the ground. He couldn’t be that far below if I could sense him. I began to dig into the soft sand, focused on reaching him.
“Dad,” I whispered. “I’m coming.”
Arms came from nowhere and enveloped me. I squealed and went into hysterics, trying to wiggle free from my assailant. The laser fell from my pocket. “Let me go!”
“Shhh,” he said. “Or they’ll hear you.”
He wrapped his hand around my chin and made me look up at him.
“Phil?”
His lips curved into that charming smile I loved and he loosened his grip. I collapsed into his chest, fat tears pouring down my cheeks. “Where have you been?”
He crinkled up his lip. “Here. Trying to get in.”
I blinked in disbelief. “You can’t find the entrance?”
“We can’t get in. Nicholas went around to the other side by the cliffs to see what he could do. I already told him that without an invite, we’re screwed. He still wanted to try.”
“You let him go alone?” My mouth fell open.
“Yeah, I’m sure he’s fine. I’ve been watching the entrance and staying downwind so they don’t smell me.” He pointed to a cave opening hidden on the ridge. “Hey? Who’s minding the doc? Sam?”
“He got away.” I slumped into the side of the log we hid behind. “Sam had a reaction to the venom transfusion, then Alora showed up and—”
“What do you mean
reaction
?”
“She’s dying, Phil.”
Panic spread across his beautiful face. “Where is she?”
“She’s with Luke.” I motioned behind me toward the car.
“I need to get to her.”
“No!” I grabbed his hand as he attempted to leave. My body yanked up and hung beneath him as he flew toward the car. “Stop! Only the doctor can save her. He’s got an antidote.”
Phil’s agitation flared as he landed on the trail. “Then we have to get inside. I can’t let her die.”
“Duck down, will ya? My brother has a laser.” I pointed over to the car.
Hiding together behind a rock, I quickly explained everything that happened. There was more than just Sam to consider: that Alora had threatened Luke so I had to give her the talisman. We had to get Dad and clear out fast before Cain showed up.
Phil cussed. “Without an invite, I don’t see how I can.”
“Can I walk in?”
“Hell no!” His endearing protectiveness skyrocketed as he closed his eyes momentarily and pulled me into his side. “You smell way too delectable first off and it’s too dangerous. I don’t see how they aren’t all out here right now trying to steal a sip as it is.”
I scrunched up my face. “I don’t get that. How come I’m so much tastier than anyone else?”
“I don’t know, but you need to get somewhere safe downwind so I can con a vamp to get me inside the place.”
I was about to begin another round of begging when the love for power assaulted me. I swirled around as Alora morphed into a human, too late to warn Phil. Her cold hands grasped our shoulders at the same time.
“By all means, let me escort you.”
“Alora?” Phil choked out, covering his surprise with a smile. “You’re here?”
“What happened to
my queen
?”
“Of course, My Queen.” He bowed his head. “I thought you were in L.A.”
“I was.” Her gaze flickered to me. “But certain events brought me back to this God forsaken city.”
Whatever, witch.
She pierced me with an insufferable glare. The stone glowed from within her cleavage, burning my eyes with its light. An urge to grab it and run for the car coursed through me.
“You wish,”
she hissed.
I glared back.
“If you can get me inside, that would be cool.” Phil inclined his head toward the cave opening.
I glanced over Alora’s shoulder at the car, now shrouded in fog. If Luke went ballistic with the laser now, he could kill Phil accidentally and most likely Alora wouldn’t be scathed.
“And what about her?” Alora pinned me with a scowl.
Phil pulled a face as if I were of no importance to him. “Leave her out here. She’s—” he curled his lip to show his teeth, “distracting.”
“Yes. I know what you mean.”
“Don’t talk as if I’m not here.” I shrugged off her grip.
Alora studied Phil, her hand still on his shoulder. “Will you have her?”
“She’s—difficult. I’ve chosen another.”
“Oh?” Alora cocked an brow. “Your new fledgling, perhaps? Where is she? You haven’t left her alone, have you?”
“No.” His eyes fell to the ground. “I didn’t have time to ask. Her maker was under attack by a group of slayers. To save her life, I mixed her venom.”
Alora gasped and gave me a sideways glance. “That’s forbidden and dangerous.”
“That would have been nice to know ahead of time,” he snapped. A grim expression crossed his face. “The doctor has a cure. I need to get inside to get it, to save her.”
“Oh, does he?” She mussed with the front of his hair. “Where’s Nicholas?”
Phil shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“I’ll find him,” I said and moved backward.
Alora snatched my wrist. “You should come inside. I told Myhail I’d take care of you and we don’t want to disappoint him.”
“Nicholas will hate you if you hurt me.”
“He’ll never know, my sweet Julia,”
Alora said.
“He’ll know. He came for me after all.”
She looked beyond me, contemplating something. I hated that the talisman shielded her feelings from me as an expression I couldn’t read briefly crossed her face. Could I be the weak link in their faltering relationship?
“I have an idea. She could be an offering.” Alora smiled a little too large. “To Cain when he comes.”
I pulled against her grip. “I don’t think so.”
“Good idea,” Phil chimed in, his eyes electric. “She’s kind of a delicacy.”
What? Good idea? A delicacy?
Phil’s act was a little too convincing.
“If you cooperate, I’ll see that you live. Otherwise, you’ll follow the footsteps of your father.”
My throat constricted. “What?”
“Come.”
She pulled me to the opening of the cave and mumbled an invite.
“What’s happened to my father? Tell me now!”
“Shhh.”
She pushed me inside. Her smile over my suffering pitched my stomach into a fit.
“I swear to you, if something’s happened to him—”
“You’ll what? Sic your cat on me? Get Nicholas to kill his own mother, thus himself? I think not. You’re mine, Julia.”
Never.
As they moved inhumanly fast, dragging me down what felt like a hundred slippery steps, the fire inside me snuffed out. She was right. There wasn’t anything I could do without the talisman. And yet for some sick reason, instead of killing me, she spared me—like she enjoyed having me around to torture.
But if she did make me into a vampire, would I revere her as Queen? Was loyalty to your maker part of the vampire transformation? That would explain Phil’s weird behavior around her.
I stumbled again in an effort to keep up. Tepid hands gripped my hips to steady me. Phil’s. His compassion spoke volumes, but his dread had me worried.
The dank air coated my lungs as the darkness closed in on me, making my skin crawl. If a vampiric makeover wasn’t what Alora planned, locking me away for any length of time would push me over the edge. After a few more steps, my nerves snapped and fear took over.
“NO!” I yelled and clawed my way through whatever I could to get out of the tunnel—their limbs, skin, clothing. “I’m not going.”
“Hush,” Alora said and ran her fingers through my hair. “Just relax.”
Something numbed my legs as the claustrophobia evaporated and things grew fuzzy. My eyelids flopped closed as happiness spread across my skin. I stopped fighting and collapsed downward.
“Catch her,” Alora said through echoing tunnels.
And someone did.
The chill of the salty air made me snuggle tighter into Nicholas’ arms, but his body wasn’t radiating the smoldering warmth like usual. I turned to focus on what he said as the waves crashed in the distance.
“Only the giver of the talisman can take it back. It’ll burn anyone else who tries to touch it.” He watched the angry surf just beyond us with glassy eyes. “But I’d never take it from you, no matter what my mother wants.”
I reached up in thankfulness to caress his face, when my heart dropped. I no longer had the necklace. My hand groped my neck just to be sure. “Alora has it now.” The words slipped from my lips, an accidental confession.
Nicholas shuddered behind me. “What? You have to take it back from her. She can’t have it.”
“But how?”
He groaned before he slumped over. “Hurry,” he whispered and grew completely still.
“No!” I screamed and grabbed his hand. He melted through my fingers; his flesh nothing but sand. The infection continued to spread down his extremities, sucking with it all the color until his body solidified into a statue. Wind eroded the fine granules that made up his face and hair. I tried to shield him with my body, afraid to touch him for fear he’d fall apart and I’d never get him back.