Leticia

by Lindsay Anne Kendal

  “Of course. I understand.”

  We walked back to the house in silence. As soon as we were inside he went up to his room. I went into the smaller living room and stood by the window. I felt so mean, so guilty, but I couldn’t lie to him. When I looked at him now, I felt no kind of love for him at all. I cared about him like I would a brother... but nothing more. The only person I cared about in a romantic way now was Jackson and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon, if ever.

  Chapter 39

  The rest of the day and the days that followed were horrible. Luke wouldn’t speak to me or even sit in the same room as me. I didn’t know what to do, I wasn’t about to start lying to him and giving him hope where there was none. Surely he would have preferred me to be truthful with him. Jackson knew something had happened between us, and he wasn’t very happy when I wouldn’t tell him what. I had a feeling that if I did tell him, he would be funny with Luke. He didn’t need more shit to deal with; he had more than enough already.

  In the end though it drove Jackson mad. Today, he had spent most of his time in the study with only his own thoughts for company. I’d just finished having lunch with Nancy when she decided to get involved.

  “Tish, sweetie, I’m worried about you and Jackson. When you consider how much tension there was between you and how you finally got together... you don’t seem very close. Am I making sense?” She started.

  “Kinda.”

  “I just mean, I expected you two to be a lot closer than what you are. I thought you’d be inseparable, unable to keep away from each other. Yet, you both seem distant.”

  “I know, I’ve noticed,” I sighed.

  “What is it Tish? You can talk to me.”

  “There isn’t really much to say. He’s been busy getting things back on track with his work; I’ve not really been myself lately.”

  “I hate to say this, but I’m going to anyway... you two were as close as they come... before Luke came along.”

  “We’d only been together, what? A day or two? That isn’t really enough time to...”

  “You were laughing together, kissing all the time and you seemed happy; both of you. An outsider would have though you had been together for years. But now, I don’t know, like I said you’re distant.”

  “I take it he’s still in the study?” I asked.

  “I guess so, I haven’t heard him leave.”

  “I’m gonna go talk to him.”

  “Good.”

  “Thanks for lunch it was lovely, see you later.”

  I knocked on the door to the study and waited for him to tell me to come in.

  “Hey,” I smiled, entering and closing the door behind me. “Are you OK?”

  “I’m fine, you?”

  “I’m good.”

  “Great.”

  “Jackson, please don’t be all cold with me again. I thought you said the old you was back.”

  “He is he just wants to know what’s going on with the woman he adores and Luke.”

  “If I tell you,” I said, finally giving in. “You have to promise not to say anything to him.”

  “I promise.”

  “I mean it Jackson.

  “I said, I promise.”

  I took a deep breath. “Luke told me he loved me still, that he wanted me back. He wanted me to leave you and try and make a go of things with him again.”

  “What?” he said between gritted teeth.

  “I told him I couldn’t do that. He asked me why and told me to be honest, so I was. I told him I didn’t love him. That I couldn’t be with him again. He didn’t like what I was...”

  “What did he say?”

  “That he no longer cared, he just wanted to be with me.”

  “Little shit, I swear...”

  “You promised!” I shouted. “Besides, I told him my heart didn’t belong to him anymore and that the most I could offer him was friendship. Whether he will want that or not, I do not know. But he knows not to try and persuade me or make a move or anything. He knows the only person I want to be with is you.”

  “What did he say to that?”

  “Honestly... he hasn’t spoken to me since.”

  “Good.”

  “He won’t try anything Jackson, I made it perfectly clear...”

  “I hope for his sake he doesn’t.”

  “Oh stop it. For Christ’s sake, just leave him alone.”

  “I will unless he tries anything. If he does, I think I have every right to say something to him.”

  “He won’t. Now can we go back to how we were the first few days we were together, please?”

  “Yeah sure.” He shrugged.

  “Forget it. I’ll leave you to it.”

  “No... no don’t. I’m sorry, it’s him I’m pissed with not you my love. Forgive me, I’m sorry.”

  “OK, what are you up to?”

  “Just been thinking.”

  “About?”

  “I’m thinking we’ll get attacked sometime soon. I think it’s best to get all the guns and other weapons out and maybe set a few traps around the house, the outside I mean.”

  “Honestly, I don’t think they’ll come here.”

  “What makes you say that?” he asked.

  “Even though that guy was wearing a wire, nobody came. I know David told them to wait, but Jesus, they were here over a week. It’s been so quiet.”

  “Maybe they’re gathering their forces; maybe they will attack full force.”

  “Do you think so?”

  “I don’t know, maybe.”

  “Well then we should be prepared for anything anyway.”

  “Oh I intend on being. But, right now, and for the next few minutes,” he said wrapping his arms around my waste. “I intend forgetting about everything that’s going on, and I’m just going to enjoy kissing you.”

  I smiled at him slightly before his lips were on mine. He backed me up against the wall and I wrapped my arms tightly around him. We hadn’t been like this for ages it seemed, so I decided to enjoy it while it lasted.

  “I want you,” he breathed.

  “You’re not having me in here,” I giggled.

  “Well then I suggest we take this upstairs.”

  “Jackson I don’t think...”

  “Shhh, stop thinking.” He picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist. “Thinking is dangerous,” he smirked.

  He moved us away from the wall, kissing me again.

  “Jackson, behave,” I laughed, freeing my legs and standing an arm’s length away from him.

  “Stop playing so hard to get, I know you want this as much as I do.”

  “Of course I do, I just...”

  “I want you, I want you now, and nothing is going to...”

  He didn’t get to finish his sentence. All the windows burst, and a stream of bullets came flying at us. Jackson threw himself at me and we went crashing to the floor. We heard what sounded like an explosion; the entire house shook violently and pieces of plaster from the ceiling fell down on top of us.

  “Come on,” Jackson said. “We need to get out of here.”

  We crawled out of the room as quickly as we could and into the hallway. There were dozens of men running into the house. I heard Nancy scream, followed by the sounds of men shrieking and choking. Jackson pulled two guns out that were tucked into the back of his jeans and started firing at the men. But for everyone he shot, two more would come through the door.

  “Screw this!” he shouted.

  The next minute he had morphed into the form of a tiger. The men shot him several times but it didn’t stop him, or even slow him down; he charged at them, shredding some of them with his claws. The house was filled with screams of agony. Tristan was ripping their throats open, moving around at vamp speed. Nancy had also transformed, only she had turned into a panther. Now it was my turn. I ran over, changing more and more with every step and pounced on a couple of the men who were firing their weapons at Jackson. They tried to push me off but th
ey didn’t stand a chance, they looked frightened to death. It’s not every day you have a 6ft tall, when on all fours, wolf pinning you to the floor. I sank my teeth into his neck, then ripped his head clean off, before tearing the throat out of the other guy.

  We fought as hard as we could, taking heads off, ripping throats out and tearing some of them limb from limb. Some of them ran, scared they would meet the same fate, but the others, the ones that were left, were strong. It became apparent that they had been injected with either mine or Tristan’s blood. Still we fought them. There was no way we were going to make this easy for them. If they wanted to kill us, it would take every bit of strength they had.

  Nancy had changed form again, this time to a black bear. I watched for a few seconds as she grabbed some of the men and crushed then. Blood poured from their mouths and I heard all their bones breaking, shattering as she squeezed them to death. Tristan was covered in blood, it ran from his mouth, all down his chin and onto his shirt. Jackson was attacking hard and fast, anyone who got within a foot of him died instantly.

  I had just torn the head off another man when I had a sickening thought. Where was Luke? Had they gotten to him? With all the commotion going on would I have heard him shout or scream? I was about to run to try and find him, when something hit me in my back. I screamed out in pain. It hit me again and again, until Jackson jumped on my attacker. I fell to the floor. Everything started to go hazy, the room was spinning; although I fought against it, I started to change back to my human form. I could taste blood and was now choking on it. My hearing was muffled, everything seemed to be echoing. I could hear Tristan shouting my name, gunshots, men’s screams; all of them becoming quieter and more distorted by the second. I couldn’t move, I tried and tried but to no avail. My vision was reduced to almost zero, everything was a jumbled mass of color...

  Chapter 40

  I could hear Nancy’s voice but couldn’t quite make out what she was saying. It was as though she was speaking to me while I was under water. I tried to open my eyes, but they felt so heavy, like I had ten ton weights hanging from each eyelid.

  “Leticia come on sweet, open your eyes.” I heard her say, more clearly this time. “Come on, I’ve been waiting long enough, open them, you can do it.”

  After a few minutes I managed to open them just enough to catch a glimpse of her.

  “Keep trying, come on.” She took hold of my hand. “Please, please keep trying.”

  Finally I managed to open them and keep them open.

  “Welcome back,” she smiled.

  “What... what happened?” I croaked.

  “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  “Erm I don’t know,” I said, attempting to sit up a little.

  “Here, let me help you.”

  She held on to me while I pushed myself further up the bed. It was when I looked around I realized I wasn’t in my room, in fact, I didn't recognize the room at all.

  “Where are we?” I asked, once comfortable.

  She passed me a glass of water and sat beside me. “I’ll explain that later. Now, can you remember anything?”

  “I remember talking with you in the kitchen, having lunch... and that's it.”

  “You don’t remember the attack?”

  “What attack? When?”

  I turned silent, trying to remember, but nothing came to me.

  “Not long after we’d had lunch we were attacked, well actually, more like ambushed. I was in the kitchen with Tristan, quite happy, deciding what to make for tea. You were with Jackson in the study, probably being all loved up... we heard gunshots...windows smashing. The front door was pretty much blown off its hinges and this... this... small army charged into the house. We fought, killed, transformed. Tristan ripped their heads off, literally, but no matter how many we seemed to take out, more would follow in their place.” She described the fight. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How could I not remember all this? “The next thing I knew,” she continued. “You were on the floor, back in human form and lay in pool of your own blood. Jackson went berserk; I’ve never seen him fight like he did before. He killed more than any of us, but anyway, when they saw we could stand our ground... they fled”

  Her voice changed as she said the last sentence, and she looked away from me quickly. One thing was for sure - she was lying to me.

  “We grabbed you and took you upstairs. You were unconscious, and blood covered more or less every inch of you...” she informed me.

  “What happened to me?”

  “You’d been stabbed repeatedly with a silver blade, and... injected with liquid silver.”

  I couldn’t speak, I was in too much shock.

  “Tristan... bit you, sucked as much of the silver out of you as he could. Then all we could do... was wait.”

  “How long have I been out of it?”

  She took a deep breath and held my hand. “You’ve been like this... for almost three weeks.”

  “Wh... what?”

  “Tristan thought you’d stay like that forever, but I knew you wouldn’t give up, you wouldn’t leave us so easily,” she smiled, a tear rolling down her cheek.

  “Nancy, I don’t understand any of this, it’s not sinking in properly.”

  “That’s understandable.”

  “Where are we?”

  “Maybe you should get some strength back before I tell you anymore.”

  “I don’t...”

  “Let me make you something to eat then we can get you showered and talk some more.” She said without taking a breath and quickly exiting the room. I started to worry even more now; she was uncomfortable and clearly upset. What else had happened?

  After slowly getting off the bed, I made my way over to the window. We were still in the hills, I could see them stretching for miles, but everything else was different. Why were we here? I was still looking outside when Nancy returned.

  “Here get these down you.” she said putting a plate of sandwiches on the bed. “Shout me when...”

  “Oh no, don’t you go anywhere. You need to tell me what’s going on.”

  “I just think you should wait until...”

  “No, now Nancy, not knowing is making me feel worse.”

  “You best sit down,” she waited for me to get comfortable again, and took a deep breath before speaking. “Leticia, Jackson had just picked you up and was about to carry you upstairs, when one of the men returned and threw something in the hall. There was an explosion... when I came too, half the house was missing. We were all hurt, but you and...” she lost her voice.

  “Nancy?”

  “The explosive thing, whatever it was, it was packed with fragments of silver... and iron.”

  “Iron?”

  “Iron is as deadly to shifters as silver is to a wolf.”

  My heart and stomach sank, my mouth watered and I feared I might vomit right there and then. “Where’s Jackson?” I panicked.

  “Leticia,” she cried, tears running down her face.

  “No, no he can’t be, he can’t...”

  “He’s not dead.”

  “Oh thank god,” I cried, putting my hand over my heart.

  “But he’s... he’s not with us...”

  “They took him?”

  “No I mean, well, why don’t I take you to him. You’ll see what I mean.”

  I didn’t speak, I just sat there nodding.

  Chapter 41

  Even though it was only a short distance to Jackson’s room, I was tired by the time we got there. It also became apparent that there was still silver running through my bloodstream. My bones ached, and my blood was burning. By the time I reached his room, I felt like I could have slept for another week.

  Jackson was lying on the bed, under the duvet. He just looked like he was sleeping. It wasn’t until I got closer to him that I saw how pale he was. I sat on the bed beside him.

  “He’s been like this for three weeks now. We tried to wake him, but... there’s never any change
.”

  “Did you get all the iron out of him?”

  “Yes, but it was inside him for a while, there were pieces we didn't find for over a week. They were under his skin.”

  “Jackson,” I said, stroking the side of his face. “Jackson, it’s Leticia, you’re gonna be OK I promise.”

  “Tristan said if he isn’t awake by the end of today, he’s going to inject him with his blood. It might help.”

  “Why hasn’t he tried that already?”

  “Watch.”

  She pulled a small knife out of the bedside cabinet, then proceeded to cut his arm. After only a few seconds, the cut had healed.

  “You see, his body is still working, so giving him vampire blood was going to be the last resort.”

  “Why?”

  “Have you ever drunk it?”

  “No, why would I?”

  “I have and it’s addictive. Extremely. One drop of it and you’re hooked; then it’s like trying to get yourself off heroin. It can take months for you to recover.”

  “Why did you have it?”

  “I was hurt, a few decades ago. A vamp who wanted Tristan for herself attacked me; she shot me several times with iron bullets. I was out cold for a week and it was Tristan’s blood that brought me back. But God, Leticia, I was in a mess; I craved it, turned violent when he refused to give it to me. In the end Jackson locked me in the basement of the house we were living in. The only time I saw anyone was when they were bringing me food or drinks.”

  “But you got through it.”

  “It took about four weeks for me to return to normal.”

  “So then it’s worth it.”

  “I’d rather have gone through that than die, but, Jackson is a lot stronger than me. There’s no saying we would be able to lock him down the way I was. If he gets free, God only knows what will happen to him. If other supernatural’s find out he’s addicted, they’ll kill him.”

  “Both Tristan and I are here now though.”

  “Jackson is incredibly strong as it is, but with vampire blood inside him that strength will increase, and at the moment you’re not at your full strength. So we would struggle with him.”

  “Then give it a few more days until I’ve recovered fully. I mean I’ve been out of it for the same amount of time as him, and I’m back. OK, so I’m weak at the moment but that won’t last forever. Maybe he will snap out of it today too.” I said, hopeful.