by Lucinda Dark
“Is that any way to thank someone for saving your life?” Torin called back.
I ignored him. “Maverick, come on, we have to go,” I snapped.
“Barbie, wait, hold on.” I didn’t wait. I didn’t hold on. I strode to the front door of the guest house, but as I reached for the handle, I was snatched up from behind and catapulted across the room. My back landed against the couch and I rolled as Torin came down on top of me, narrowly missing me as I slid to the floor and popped back up on my feet.
I swung. He blocked. Fingers circling my wrists as he yanked me to him and bound me against him with a forearm against my back. “Let. Go!” I struggled in his hold.
“Not until you calm down,” Torin barked. “You’re being unreasonable.”
“I’m being unreasonable?” I pulled my head back and slammed it against his nose.
Torin clamped his arms harder against me until moving made me wheeze. “I just healed that,” he said with a huff.
“Serves you fucking right.” The more I fought, the less my struggles seemed to make any difference. Finally, I slumped against him, panting, sweating, and worn out.
“Are you done?” he asked.
“Fuck you!”
He sighed. “You really need someone to help you adjust that attitude problem of yours.”
“I don’t have an attitude problem,” I replied. “If you have an issue with my attitude then that’s your problem, not mine.”
Maverick chose that moment to come around the couch, arms folded as he glared at the two of us. “He’s right, Barbie,” he said. “You’re being unreasonable.”
“Not you, too. I thought you hated him?”
Maverick and Torin exchanged a look. Whatever had happened last night had obviously changed some things and while Maverick watched Torin with caution, he wasn’t outwardly antagonistic.
Well, fuck.
Torin snorted. “Stay out of my head,” I snapped.
“Stop projecting,” he retaliated.
“Okay, enough.” Maverick reached down. Surprisingly, Torin released his hold on me as Maverick took my arms and pulled me away from him. “Torin and I talked last night, and he told me everything.”
I eyed him and then Torin. “Everything?” I repeated, nonplussed.
Maverick nodded. “But we’ve got more important things to worry about right now.”
“We do?”
Torin stood up behind me and I stiffened when he moved past, disappearing into another room. Maverick smoothed a hand down my back and urged me to sit on the couch. “You’ve been out all weekend,” Maverick said.
“All weekend?” I frowned. “What day is it?”
“It’s Sunday afternoon,” he answered.
I groaned. “What about Jon and Beth?” I hated to ask, but with how the house must have been left…
“They think we had a break in. I told them you were really shook up and weren’t comfortable staying there until everything was put back together. Mom came over to see you.”
“So, they know we’re staying here?” I sucked in a breath.
Maverick nodded. “Yeah, I told them you were shaken up so you took some sleeping meds. Mom’s worried about you, she’s been calling me nonstop.”
Unusual warmth flooded my chest. “Okay,” I said, swallowing roughly. “Then that takes care of your parents, what else was there?”
Torin came back into the room. He pitched a water bottle first at Maverick and then a second at me. I fumbled as I caught it and set the ice-cold bottle in my lap, over the fabric of my borrowed shirt. “The morning paper,” Torin said, pulling a thick wad of grayish papers from under his other arm and tossing that at me too. “Look at the front cover.”
I frowned, pushing the water bottle to the side as I lifted the paper to my face and read the headline. “St. Marion Murderer strikes again,” I read aloud. “What the hell?”
“Another student’s been killed,” Torin said.
“Same situation as Derick,” Maverick replied.
“Heart removed?” I asked. They both nodded. Shit.
After a beat, Torin stepped forward. “It’s not a vampire,” he said. “At least if it is, it’s not one involved with my family. You killed Delia, Eloise left days ago, and my sister…” He paused and took a breath. “It’s not her.”
“You don’t have any other vampire’s in your coven?” I asked, narrowing my eyes on him.
“No.”
I searched my mind for the memories from my parents’ teachings. Despite the fact that I’d thought they were crazy, they had made my brother and I study extensively. We’d covered all of the weak spots of vampire physiology. The throat. The heart. The head. We’d learned the history of vampires, about their powers, where they’d supposedly come from—a malformed deity that had crawled from the mouth of hell and mated with humans had somehow been responsible for the creatures that now slunk through the night and drank human blood.
I darted a glance to Torin. Well, almost all of them anyway.
“It could be a human,” Maverick offered. “That’s not under Barbie’s purview.”
“Technically, nothing is under Barbie’s purview except herself,” Torin said.
“Excuse me?” I pushed the paper to the couch and stood up, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You could’ve died the other night,” Torin snapped. “I told you to leave and you didn’t. You have no business hunting vampires. You’re young. You can start over a new life somewhere. You don’t have to end up like your family.”
“You said you’d help me,” I snapped. Even past the embarrassment over how I’d reacted to our kiss, I knew that the dream had been real. And in the dream, he’d sworn he would help me in avenging my family. Now he was telling me to quit? I didn’t get it.
“What?” Torin looked at me like I’d lost my ever-loving mind. “What the fuck are you talking about? I never said I’d help you. I certainly won’t help you kill yourself and that’s what this is, suicide.”
“You—” I stopped. No, it hadn’t been him. It’d been his vampire. Did Torin really not recall the dream?
“I what?”
I shook my head. I didn’t know what to say, if I should have told him about what his other half promised me. I thought Torin and Vampire-Torin were one and the same, but he didn’t seem to remember … so maybe they weren’t.
“Regardless of whose responsibility it is,” Maverick said, drawing the attention back to him. “Something has to be done, right?”
“There’ve only been two murders, right?” I asked.
Maverick grimaced. “Finish reading the article,” he said nodding to the paper. “There were two more. Three all together. This is a serial killer.”
“I lost my daggers here, Torin,” I said. “I need them back.”
He shook his head. “They won’t do you much good,” he replied. I growled, my back tightening as I prepared to lay into him, but he held up a hand and stopped me. “But I know you won’t back down,” he conceded. I eyed him suspiciously. “I’ve already sent something over that’ll help you protect yourself.” He sighed. “It’ll be far more useful than those little pricks you called daggers.”
“I’ll show you a little prick,” I grumbled.
He lifted a brow but didn’t respond. Instead, he turned to Maverick. “I expect you to keep practicing at the gun range. I’ve ordered a few more boxes of ammo. Practice with normal bullets, only take the silver and holy water bullets with you if you’re going with her.”
I looked between the two of them. “I’m sorry, what?”
Maverick smirked. “You didn’t think after Friday night, you were going to do this on your own did you?” he asked. Confusion and a sick, uneasy feeling bloomed in my chest. He couldn’t mean what I thought he did. Maverick reached behind himself and pulled a Glock from a holster at the small of his back. “That’s right, Princess, you’ve got yourself a partner.”
Fuck. A fucking. Duck.
Thirty
Barbie
“I’m so sorry we weren’t here, Barbie.” Beth’s bosom squished against my cheek as she clutched me to her, fretting in a way that was more uncomfortable than the hug. I allowed it, even though it made my back itch and my hands sweat. Beth was a good person, and she cared. Pulling away would hurt her feelings.
“I told you, it’s fine,” I said when she finally released me. “You couldn’t have known.”
“It was so messy. There was so much blood.” She sniffled. “I thought someone had died.”
Someone had died, but she didn’t need to know that.
I shrugged and knocked my skull with my knuckles. “Head wounds bleed a lot,” I said. A lie by misdirection. Torin’s blood had healed all of my major cuts and wounds. I felt better, stronger, and faster—all of which he told me would fade back to normal levels within a day or two.
“I’m so surprised no one got seriously hurt from all of the glass,” she said, shaking her head. “We were so lucky it was just a few cuts and bruises.” She squeezed me against her again and this time, I couldn’t help but sidle away, evading her touching grasp.
Huh, I hadn’t felt like this with Torin or his vampire, I thought.
“Mom,” Maverick interrupted, “come on, she’s fine. I’m fine. We’re all fine. We’re going to be late for school.”
“You got back so late last night,” Beth said. “Why don’t you stay in today? I don’t know if I’m comfortable with you two going to school right now.”
“We already missed yesterday,” I reminded her. Despite my insistence that we leave, Maverick and I had remained with Torin Sunday night and Monday only returning after midnight the night before.
“Mom, just because they called him the St. Marion Murderer doesn’t mean he’s actually targeting St. Marion students. We’re going.” Strong fingers wrapped around my upper arm and tugged me away from Beth. “We’ll see you later!” Maverick called over his shoulder.
“Text me when you leave school,” Beth ordered from the kitchen.
I shook my head as Maverick led me outside and towards his truck. He released me and we both got in. “Here.” Maverick reached into the backseat and pulled out a long box wrapped in pink ribbon. “I grabbed it before my parents could get a look inside. It’s from Torin.”
I pulled against a string and unwrapped the ribbon from the long box as he cranked the engine and backed out of the driveway. My jaw dropped as I removed the lid from the box. Two short swords glimmered in the early morning sunlight. The handles were made of soft leather and thick silver. I lifted first one and then the other. Strong. The blade was slender, but not so small that it would break easily. Perfectly balanced. These were the most beautiful weapons I’d ever held. I loved them, and a part of me hated myself for it.
“Damn, never thought I’d see that look in your eye.” I shoved the lid back over the box and returned it to the backseat.
“What look?” I asked.
“The kind girls usually reserve for diamonds and Louis Vuitton purses.”
“I’m not that kind of girl,” I said with a harrumph.
He arched a brow, burnt autumn eyes watching me curiously. “Oh? Then what kind of girl are you?”
I shrugged. “I’m like a flower. I look beautiful and sweet, but I’ve got a fuck ton of thorns and if you fuck with me, I will stab you.”
He laughed, shaking his head as he focused forward once more. The scenery flew by outside the window, a small distraction to my thoughts. Halfway to the school, I spoke. “So, I didn’t say this before,” I started quietly, “but I know this weekend was probably a shock to you and you … um … I wanted to thank you.” I leaned to the side and cracked my neck, avoiding his gaze as I saw his head turn my way.
“For what?” he asked.
I sighed. “You saved my life, Maverick,” I said.
He slowed to a stop at a red light and when the light turned green and he still hadn’t moved, I looked over. Maverick’s eyes were on me, serious and fierce. “You should have told me,” he said.
A car honking behind us interrupted my reply and Maverick cursed, pressing down on the gas and whipping the truck into the nearest empty parking lot before he shut off the engine and flipped back to me.
“You wouldn’t have believed me,” I said before he could speak. “Vampires, Maverick. Think about it.” I jerked my hands away automatically when he reached for me and he froze. Sucking in a calming breath, I shook my head. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes were twin pools of molten whiskey, burning in the sun as he stared down at where I’d drawn my hands back. “Why do you do that?” he asked, looking up at my face. “Why do you pull away?”
My throat dried up. My tongue swelled. Hands on my shoulders. Holding me back as my family’s blood flowed across the scarred wood floor and old carpet. “It’s not you,” I said, hearing my voice as if it was coming from down a long dark tunnel. “When my family—I was held back,” I answered. “When they were killed. It doesn’t happen all the time, just when I feel…” I trailed off not sure how to explain that when my emotions overflowed, my senses drew away and so, too, did I.
“Barbie.” Maverick’s face bobbed in front of me, his fingers gently reaching up to touch my face. “You’re not alone. You don’t have to thank me for saving your life. You did the same thing for me.”
“What?” I frowned, confused. When had I—?
“The vampire?” he prompted with a raised brow. “If you hadn’t been there, she definitely would have killed me.”
“If I hadn’t been there, you wouldn’t have been in danger at all,” I pointed out.
He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter now.” His fingertips trailed down my jaw and I tightened all over. Not pulling away, not drawing back, not moving at all. But my whole body clenched with awareness as my gaze went immediately to his lips. His lips were full, masculine jaw hard. I swallowed. “Will you tell me if you need my help again?” he asked.
My lips parted, but no sound emerged. I closed them, thinking. Finally, I came to a decision. “Practice with the gun Torin gave you,” I said. “Spar with me. Train and I … maybe I’ll tell you if I need help.”
Maverick chuckled. “Of course,” he said, his hand falling away from my face as he sat back with a thump against the leather seat. He laughed and shook his head, reaching for the key in the ignition. As the engine revved back to life he shot me a look. “You’ve got yourself a partner, now, Barbie,” he warned as he put the truck in drive. “I’ll practice. I’ll spar with you. I’ll train. There’s no getting away now.”
For some reason, that announcement felt like a mixture of an assurance and a threat. I shook my head and said nothing more, though I turned the conversation over in my mind while he drove the rest of the way to school. More than that, I tried to work through why I had focused so intently on his mouth and why his fingers against my skin had made me want to pull him closer.
With how everything was going though, it came as no surprise that when we arrived, the student parking lot was more scarce than usual. While Maverick and I weren’t afraid to come, that bravery didn’t extend to the rest of the population. I spotted Olivia’s white Porsche, though, so at least I knew I could have her fill me in on anything I might have missed.
“Barbie!” And there she was, standing by the doors, her arms up and waving.
“See ya later,” I said, starting across the asphalt. Not two seconds later, Torin’s motorcycle revved into the parking lot. I stopped at the sidewalk and looked over my shoulder as he parked alongside Maverick’s truck.
“Oh my God.” A red flurry of hair slammed into my chest. I winced as Olivia’s nails dug into my arms, her eyes glued to the two guys beyond my shoulder. “Are Maverick McKnight and Torin Priest actually talking to each other again?”
“Olivia.” I removed her claws from my skin. “They’re just people.” Well, one of them was an odd half-vampire with a penchant for forgetting promises made by his other half,
but still…
Olivia looked up at me as if she hadn’t realized she’d nearly bulldozed me in her shock. She narrowed her gaze on me. “You did this, didn’t you?”
I rolled my eyes and headed for the doors. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Bullshit,” she snapped, her nails latching onto my arm once again as we reached the main hall, drawing me to a halt. “You have something to do with those two, I just know it.”
“Do you really want to talk about Torin and Maverick, or do you want to tell me what the hell happened this weekend?” I asked, diverting her attention away from whatever connection I might have had with the rekindling of Maverick’s old friendship.
“You heard about Mack and Charlie, didn’t you?” she asked.
“It’s all over the papers,” I replied.
With a sigh, she hooked her arm in mine and led us down the hall towards her locker—her purse dangling between us, smacking my side every step of the way. “They went to a party on the outskirts of town. One of the guys from the wrestling team was throwing it. They got a little wild. Everyone was drinking and doing drugs, I heard.”
“You heard?” I asked. “You weren’t there?”
She winced and released my arm as we got to her locker. “Still grounded,” she grumbled, reaching up to put in her lock combination. “Though I never thought I’d be grateful to be grounded. Otherwise, I would’ve been there.”
I rested my spine against the cool metal of the lockers and frowned. “Who else was there?”
“Pretty much everyone,” she said. “From the football players and cheerleaders to the debate team. It was a huge party. Though I heard Maverick and Torin never showed.” She shot me a meaningful look as she retrieved her books and put her purse up. “Wonder where they could’ve been?”
I shrugged and looked away. “No clue,” I lied.
“Well, wherever they were, they must have been really tied up.” Olivia snapped her locker shut and turned to me. “Heard they didn’t answer anyone’s texts or calls. Rachel’s furious. Maverick’s been ignoring her lately.”
