Of Darkness & Light: Blood Descent Book 2

by T. L. McDonald

  Laying a can of unopened Mountain Dew onto the bed, I balance the plate of warm pizza in my hand, and lower myself down beside him. A lock of raven curls covers his eye, and I brush it away.

  He stirs and turns his head so he’s facing me. His lashes flutter open, revealing one bright blue eye.

  “I brought you some food.” Shifting the plate in my hand, I wave the aroma under his nose.

  His eyes close as he inhales. “Mmm, is that Michelangelo’s pizza?”

  “It is.”

  He sits up and leans against the bed, stretching his legs out in front of him with a deep yawn. Pillow lines cross over half of his face in the most adorable way, his hair mussed and curled around the edges. The sudden urge to straddle his lap and run my fingers through his hair nearly has me dropping the plate to do just that. His gaze settles on mine, the corner of his mouth curling up as though he knows exactly what I’m thinking. He holds out a hand. “Thanks for the pizza. I’m starving.”

  “Right. Pizza.” I hand him the plate and bite my lip, hoping my cheeks aren’t as red as I imagine they are. “So, how is this going to work, anyway, you staying here?” I ask before he can question my latest blush-capade. “You’ll need to eat, and shower, and change your clothes. How are you going to do all that when you’re hiding in my room?”

  “Easy,” he says around a mouthful. “You can sneak me food.” He waves a hand over the pizza I just brought him. “I’ve got a bag of clothes in my trunk, and I can shower at school in the mornings, so long as we get there early enough.”

  “What about bathroom breaks?”

  “I’ll be extra sneaky so no one catches me.”

  “Where will you sleep?”

  His gaze rakes over me, a grin tugging at his mouth. He pats at the floor. “Right where you found me. Unless…” He trails off, his head tipping back the tiniest bit toward the bed.

  “The floor will be good,” I squeak, and clear my throat. The soft pitch of his chuckle sends flames straight back into my cheeks. Damn Aunt Claudia for bringing up the talk, and Liv for the kissing song. I’ll probably blush forever now. “Sounds like you’ve got everything planned out.”

  “Because I do.”

  “I shouldn’t have any issues sneaking you food. And you’ll be glad to know showers at school won’t be a problem now that Aunt Claudia and Uncle Caleb have released my cousins and me for time served. But I am a little worried about one of them walking in here and catching you in my room. Even with you on the floor, if they come in too far they’ll see you. You may have to spend your time hiding out in my closet.”

  He stalls mid-bite. “Wait. Did you say you’re ungrounded already? That was fast.”

  “They’re not big on prolonged punishment. Well, Uncle Caleb isn’t, anyway. Aunt Claudia, on the other hand would have no problem keeping us grounded forever. But thanks to Uncle Caleb’s bleeding heart, we’re hardly ever grounded for more than a few days at a time. I have to admit though, I thought it would stick this time considering what we were grounded for.”

  “Your uncle seems like a good guy. You’re lucky to have someone like him in your life. Someone who cares enough to want you to be happy and not miserably grounded.” He smiles, but his gaze takes on a distant look, and I know it’s because he’s thinking of his own family—a sister taken too soon, a mother who didn’t care enough to stay, and a father who only knows how to punish. The scars over Sebastian’s back are proof enough of that.

  Scooting beside him, I lace my fingers through his and give his hand a squeeze. Blinking away the past, he sets his plate of pizza off to the side, then leans over and squeezes my upper arm, followed by my calf.

  “What are you doing?”

  “It’s been several days since you ran or practiced hand-to-hand combat. I fear we may need to start from the beginning.” He winks, flashes a teasing grin, and then resumes eating his pizza. “You didn’t happen to bring a drink of some kind, did you?”

  I grab the can of soda from the bed and hand it to him. “I’m not that bad.”

  He pops the tab and takes a large swig. “Guess we’ll find out tomorrow morning when training resumes.”

  I straighten my posture and jut out my chin. He’s at least ninety percent right on his assessment. I’m not a total lost cause. I have picked up some skills despite my aversion to anything exercise related. But it doesn’t mean I can’t bolster myself. “I could run circles around you, or take you down right now if I wanted to. But I can’t because it would cause a commotion and my aunt and uncle don’t know you’re here.”

  “Excuses, excuses.”

  32

  Hands on my knees, I heave breaths in and out while resisting the urge to drop to the floor. Mostly because if I did, there is a good chance I’d lay there for the rest of the day. Sweat drips off my nose, and onto the shiny wood in a gross little splash. Looking up, Sebastian grins at me, having hardly broken a sweat at all. At least not to the extent I have. My tank top is so drenched I look like I took a dip in the pool. I can’t even imagine what the rest of me looks like, but I’m betting it’s pretty gross. I know I sure feel gross.

  He holds out a bottle of water. “Not too bad. You didn’t run circles around me, but I didn’t have to peel you off the floor this time either, so I’ll count it as progress.”

  “Ha. Ha.” I take the water and chug half of it.

  Grabbing two small towels from the top of his bag, he drapes one over my shoulder then dabs his face with the other. “Now for some hand-to-hand combat.”

  I choke on my water, spitting some of it out. “What? Here in the school gymnasium? While my limbs have all the function of limp noodles, and we have no mats unless we drag them out from the storage closet? I’m telling you now, I can’t drag anything. I can barely hold this water bottle.”

  He bounces on his feet and begins dancing circles around me. “We don’t need mats. There won’t be any in the field.”

  Setting my water bottle down, I wipe the dribble from my chin with the back of my arm before remembering the towel hanging over my shoulder. I rub it over my face and down my neck. “True, but we’re not in the field, and these floors are hard.” I pop out my bottom lip and bat my eyes, hoping it’ll get the hand-to-hand portion of our training moved to the afternoon like it usually is.

  He grins and shakes his head. “Fluttery lashes and pouty lips won’t work in the field either.”

  Or will they? Providing my aching body goes along with the maybe I can catch him off guard this time plan formulating in my head.

  I drop the towel just as he reaches out to snag my bottom lip beneath his thumb. Grabbing his wrist, I twist and move back a step, using his momentum to flip him over my hip and onto his back. His eyes widen, a huff of breath expelling from his lungs.

  Holy crap. I can’t believe it actually worked.

  Unable to stop myself from smiling like a fool, I place a foot down over his sternum. “You were saying?” I jut my chin out as he lies there. “Also, are you okay?” I ask after a beat. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  He studies my face, then bursts into laughter. “I take it back. Maybe fluttery lashes and pouty lips will work in the field. Just don’t ask the monster who attacks you if they’re okay afterward.”

  “Well, duh.” I roll my eyes, then take my foot off his chest. Letting go of his wrist, I slip my hand into his to help him up.

  A slight twitch of his lips, and a playful gleam to his bright blue eyes is the only warning I get before his hand shoots out like lightning and takes hold of my upper arm.

  Oh, so it’s like that?

  With a smile of my own, I lock my fingers around his wrist once again, then use my opposite arm to smash down over his inner elbow. The moment it bends, I twist his arm around, force his face to the ground, and finish off the move by pressing my knee against his shoulder. He taps out, and I let him go.

  He rolls over, his gaze sliding over me from head to toe. His expression caught somewhere between amusement
, disbelief, and pride. “Someone’s been putting in extra practicing time. I’m impressed.”

  I smirk and offer him a hand. “I may or may not have forced Liv into letting me practice some moves on her. I meant it when I said I’d put in the time to train and harness my magic. Granted, I’m still terribly out of shape, and the magic part has been a little more difficult to get a handle on, but hey, at least I’m getting better at not conjuring pop-up storms—if you don’t count the one from the other night. Or the one at the park before that.” I throw up my hands. “Ah, who am I kidding? The town will be a flooded mess before I ever learn control.”

  And there goes my good mood.

  His hand goes to his chest, and I know it’s because he’s picking up on my emotions. Stupid connection. Why can’t I keep my feelings in check like he does? It’s not fair. If he’s going to feel every single thing I feel, I should feel every single thing he’s feeling too, not just when he wants me to.

  My mind flashes back to the day before when he dropped his walls and let me in. Now there is nothing, his walls back in place and impenetrable as ever. How is it so easy for him to feel me, and so hard for me to feel him? Do I walk around with my emotions on my sleeve? Is there some unspoken trust through the connection where emotions are concerned? And if there is, does it mean I trust him, but he doesn’t trust me? Or is he just that good at burying everything below the surface?

  “Your magic is only difficult because you fear it,” he says, pulling me from my thoughts. “All you need to do is let the fear go and embrace your magic as a part of you.”

  “That simple, huh? In that case, I’m sure I’ll have everything under wraps by the end of the day.” I roll my eyes, and he laughs at my sarcasm.

  “I talked to Ava about you. She said she’d be happy to work with you on controlling your magic if you’re interested. I know you’re working with your cousins, but Ava has experience dealing with out-of-control magic you might find helpful.” Pulling me to his chest, he tucks several strands of sweaty hair behind my ear. Yuck! I so need a shower. “You’re capable of great things, Indi, if only you’d let yourself believe it.”

  I throw my head back in a deep sigh. “Ugh. Not the pep-talk thing again. What did I tell you about the pep talks?”

  “And what did I tell you to do if you want me to stop?”

  “Not fall into a depressive funk. Which is easier said than done, by the way. Depressive funks and I have gotten really close lately with everything that can go wrong going wrong. But if working with Ava will help me gain control, then I’m up for working with her. I didn’t freak her out too badly when I went all crazy witch, did I?”

  “Eh.” He holds his thumb and finger an inch apart. “For the most part she thought you were hot. She might try to steal you from me.”

  I shove him back a step and smile. “I doubt that. She doesn’t even know me.” I’ve only ever seen the girl twice. Once at the park when she was part of the group escorting Seth to the center, and the second time when she was working with the twins to help heal my cousin before I…

  “Oh my God, Seth.”

  The floor disappears from beneath my feet, and I fist my hands around Sebastian’s shirt lest I fall away with it. I stare up into his startled eyes. “We’re supposed to be looking for Seth. We were supposed to go last night.” Releasing his shirt, I take a few steps back and shake my head. “No. That’s not right. We were going to go yesterday when we skipped school. But then we watched a movie?” I look up at him. “Why would we watch a movie?”

  “Don’t you remember?” He cocks his head at my silence, his brows inching closer together the longer I don’t answer. “I got a text from a friend at the center before we left school. The whole thing with Seth was all a misunderstanding. Turns out Gavin never had him. He’s actually been in one of the recovery rooms this whole time. Apparently he had some kind of adverse reaction to magical healing and slipped into a coma.”

  “He slipped into a coma?”

  “Doctor Han’s been keeping an eye on him.”

  “Doctor Han?”

  “Yeah. I told you about him. Full-time ER doctor, part-time vampire hunter.” He closes the distance between us and takes my face into his hands. Concern burns in his eyes as he stares into the depths of mine. “Are you feeling okay? Do you really not remember any of this?”

  “What about the bloody shirt you found in Gavin’s lair?” I ask, ignoring his questions. “You said it was Seth’s. If Gavin never had him, what was it doing there? Or what about the guy who told you Gavin took Seth to a special holding cell for questioning? Was all that a misunderstanding too?”

  “No. Gavin did want to question Seth. He just never got to. By the time he had him moved to a private interrogation room, which must have been in his lair, Seth had taken a turn for the worse and had to be moved to the infirmary. As for the shirt, it probably got left behind while he was being treated. Things at the center can be chaotic with chasers coming in and out. It’s not a stretch for the lines of communication to get crossed now and then.”

  “Communication lines getting crossed? Guess you have an explanation for everything.” Except for why none of this makes any sense to me. “Can I see the text messages?”

  “Sure.” His fingers slip from my face, his gaze weighing heavily on the she’s lost her mind side. Maybe I have. I don’t know. Whatever the case, I can’t ignore the gnawing feeling in my gut telling me something isn’t right.

  I hold out my hand.

  He digs his phone out of his bag a few feet away and pulls up the text thread with a few strokes of his thumbs. He hands it to me to read over. It’s all there. Everything he said in black and white.

  So why doesn’t it feel true? Why don’t I remember it?

  I read it a second time, and then a third. Each read through brings fragments of fuzzy memory to the surface until my mind plays it out like a movie being watched from the sidelines. Sebastian and I pulling into the school parking lot and me suggesting we should skip. He wanted to do something fun. I wanted to use the day to find Seth. Then his phone chimed with a message from a friend saying they’d located Seth in a recovery room.

  “I guess… maybe… I kind of remember this now,” I say, drawing the words out until it sounds more like a confused question than a statement. I massage the side of my neck, the kink from yesterday still bothering me. “I just don’t know why I would forget.”

  He takes the phone from my hands and sits it down on the floor. “A lot of stressful, scary crap has happened in the last few days, and you’ve barely had time to deal with any of it.” Tilting my chin up, he brushes my bangs to the side to uncover my eyes. “It’s not surprising you’d be a little scattered.”

  “Yeah, but forget we’d found Seth? Not even I’m scatter-brained enough to forget that. Especially when he’s the epitome of a large chunk of my fears.” The start of a headache pokes at my brain, each jab antagonizing the nagging voice shouting doubts I can’t ignore. Copious amounts of stress or not, there’s no way I’d forget about Seth. Or ditch seeing him in person to watch a movie.

  A terrifying thought forms in my mind.

  “Do you think it’s possible for false memories to be planted in someone’s mind?” If memories can be taken, who’s to say false ones can’t be given? If someone asked me this question a few months ago, I’d think they were certifiable, but knowing what I know now about the supernatural world, it makes the most sense.

  “Sure, it’s possible, but it would require crossing the line into darker magic to accomplish it. Why?” he asks, but the narrowing of his eyes tells me he already has a pretty good idea what I’m getting at.

  I suck in a shaky breath. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but bear with me. I think someone messed with our memories and went to a whole lot of trouble to make us believe it.” My gaze flicks down to his phone and the string of fake texts hiding behind the lock screen. “I wouldn’t forget anything regarding Seth. Not when he’s the living, breath
ing, has-a-heartbeat-again proof of there being a cure for vampirism. Not when I’ve been living every single day terrified of who he might tell, and what said people will do with the knowledge.” Needles. White rooms. A plethora of tests conducted in horrendous fashion. Nightmare after nightmare runs through my head until I shove them back into the box they escaped from, tucked in a deep, dark corner of my mind.

  Sebastian stares at me in silence, but I can see the gears of consideration spinning. He rubs at the back of his neck. “I don’t know, Indi. Planting false memories? I think I would know if someone messed with my mind like that.”

  “No, Sebastian, you wouldn’t.”

  “But you do?”

  “Maybe. All I know is I’ve had my mind messed with so many times over the years by my aunt and uncle erasing—or at the very least suppressing—my memories when they suppressed my abilities, to whatever mind games whoever carved the symbol on my chest played on me that I just… I know something isn’t right. I feel it.” I place my hand over the center of his chest. “If you feel me like you say you do, then you should feel it too.”

  Laying his hand over mine, he stares at it while leaving me hanging in limbo. I get his hesitance. If what I’m speculating is true, then it stands to reason a chaser—maybe even Gavin himself—is potentially responsible for the fake memories. The texts are too specific to have come from an outside source. The only question is why? Why give us fake memories? Why not take me to study like I feared they would?

  His lashes lift, and I expect to see strong inclinations of Indi’s crazy stirring in the deep blue depths of his eyes, but what I find is the opposite. “If you believe something isn’t right, then I believe it too. I trust you.”

  “Even when I sound certifiably nuts?”

  “Even when you sound certifiably nuts.”

  The uneasiness tying my stomach into a series of knots at not knowing what he’d say settles, while a new fear takes its place. An enemy I hoped wouldn’t be an enemy has just joined the roster. With a lineup consisting of assassin vampires, soul ripping evil witches, bounty hunter angels, and now chasers—things just got a whole lot more complicated. How long will it be before it pulls Sebastian and I in opposite directions? He found an unlikely family among the chasers. I can’t ask him to defect for me.