I giggled at the image.
“I guess we’d better go,” I said reluctantly. I could get used to hanging out at Lucas’ house.
Chapter 24
Henry was already there when I arrived. I was surprised by the guy sitting next to him. When I’d heard that Emmett was a professor, I’d pictured some old scholarly man with horn rimmed glasses and a sweater vest.
But Emmett was a lot younger than I’d imagined – he was probably a few years younger than my father! He had brown hair that fell just past his chin and was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. The only thing I had been right about was the glasses.
He extended his hand. “You must be Aurora.”
“And you must be Emmett,” I replied. “Nice to meet you.”
“Where’s Lucas?” Henry asked.
“He’s still recovering,” I answered.
Emmett raised his eyebrows but didn’t comment. “You guys had quite an evening last night, I hear,” he said.
“No kidding! We really owe you for saving our lives. How did you know?”
“As I was telling Henry, it’s just a feeling I get about some things. I can’t explain why or how.”
“You knew some pretty specific stuff, though,” I pressed.
Emmett smiled. “Well, it starts as a feeling, at least. I knew something was wrong a day ago. You kept popping into my head. Not that I haven’t thought about your case, but this was different. I felt this impending sense of dread. I cancelled one of my classes yesterday because it was making me feel so sick.”
“So I went home and just kind of sat on my couch, concentrating on clearing my mind of all other thoughts,” Emmett continued. “First I got a picture of the twins. Then I saw Lucas and you tied up. I didn’t think I was going to be able to get the address, but suddenly it popped into my head!”
“How did you know Henry wouldn’t get hurt?” I whispered.
“I didn’t know for sure. That’s why I was adamant about him taking everything he had to kill them. But he didn’t want to go home first, and it sounds like it would have been too late if he had gone back.”
“I just wish I’d had two stakes,” Henry interjected. “I would have taken out both of those bastards.”
I reached across the table and patted Henry’s hand. “Don’t beat yourself up. You were amazing.”
“So why did you want to meet?” Henry asked Emmett, changing the subject.
Emmett sat back and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “I was actually hoping that meeting both Aurora and Lucas would help.”
“With?” I asked.
Emmett sighed. “It’s like I’ve hit a wall. Something is blocking my mind.”
“Has that happened before?” Henry wanted to know.
“Yes, when someone wants to keep your mind out, they can. It’s kind of like a lock on a door. You need a key to get in, or the door has to be opened from the inside. I was hoping you’d be the key.”
I was still confused. “You’re saying that you can’t get any more information on my case because someone doesn’t want you to have it?”
“Not me, specifically,” Emmett explained. “I’m not an anomaly; there are plenty of other mediums out there. Whoever is at the root of all of this doesn’t want anyone knowing anything. It’s probably a miracle I could see what was going to happen with the twins.”
“I was hoping meeting you in person would trigger something else,” he continued.
“And has it?” I questioned.
“It’s not instantaneous. I won’t know until I know, if that makes sense.”
“I guess.” It didn’t make sense.
“I need time,” Emmett elaborated.
Henry sighed. “What if those guys – Bartholomew and Thomas – come back for us? Any premonitions about that?”
“I don’t feel like you’re in any imminent danger, if that helps,” Emmett said. He clasped and unclasped his hands nervously.
“Besides,” he added, “a lot of the stuff they had to collect for that spell wasn’t easy to come by.”
“Like?” I asked. I was curious to know what the odd pile of stuff on the table had been.
“Hair of a hell hound, for starters,” Emmett replied.
“Come again,” I said.
“You know, a hound of hell,” Emmett said. “The ones that come for you when you’ve sold your soul to the devil and your time is up.”
“Oh. I didn’t know selling your soul to the devil was a real thing.” I had thought selling your soul at the cross roads was just a silly made up story.
“Yes.” Emmett nodded vigorously. “As you can imagine, it probably took them awhile to get that one.”
Just then Henry’s phone rang. “I have to take this. It’s my mom.” Henry stood up and walked outside.
“So why aren’t you telling Henry about what really happens when he thinks you’re sleeping?” Emmett asked as soon as Henry was out of earshot.
“Huh?” I jumped in surprise.
“I know you pass out – blackout – several nights a week,” Emmett said. “I also know you aren’t sharing this information with Henry; you pretend you’re sleeping,” he added.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table and burying my head in my hands. “I don’t know,” I said desperately. “I don’t want to keep secrets from Henry…” My voice trailed off.
“But?” Emmett prompted.
“But what if the only person I really trust decides I’m destined to go on a killing spree during one of my weird blackouts and doesn’t want anything to do with me?” I blurted out in one long question.
“You’re scared,” Emmett replied.
“Of course I’m scared!” I said in frustration. “Even I don’t know what I’m capable of doing! You think it hasn’t crossed my mind, like a million times a day, that I could suddenly go ballistic?”
“Aurora.” Emmett leaned forward. “If it’s any help, I don’t get the feeling that you’re about to go on a killing spree. You’re lost right now. You haven’t made the decision yet, which side you want to join.”
“Side?” I asked. “Why are there sides? I feel like I’m in grade school!”
Emmett leaned back in his chair and exhaled sharply. “Like it or not, you will have to make a choice, Aurora. I don’t know when, but it’s coming.”
“What’s coming?” Henry slid down into his seat.
“The time I need to go back to school, to tell people I’m alive,” I said quickly.
Emmett looked perplexed, but he didn’t say anything.
“Good,” Henry said. “I’ve been telling Aurora she needs to go home, let her parents know she’s back,” Henry told Emmett.
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” I snapped. Instantly, I felt bad. “I’m sorry, Henry,” I said. “I’m just stressed.”
“I’d be more concerned if you weren’t worried,” Henry said. “But seriously, if you want to start back for the senior year, you’re going to have to let people know soon.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. But Emmett’s words were still ringing in my ears: “Like it or not, Aurora, you will have to make a choice…”
Chapter 25
I didn’t believe that Lucas was going to disappear like he had after our cemetery trip, but I didn’t expect to hear from him that same day, either.
He called me that evening and asked to meet Henry and me. I guess he was getting paranoid about talking over the phone, after everything that had happened.
Henry had plans to play basketball. He offered to cancel but I had protested. “No, you’ve got to practice as much as possible if you want to make the team next year,” I had said.
The truth was being around both of them together was extremely uncomfortable. It’s not that they disliked each other, but they certainly weren’t BFF.
And I was already so confused about my emotions, what I wanted. While Lucas was exciting, sexy, and dark, Henry was stable, handsome, and I could trust him unconditionally. I was attracted to bo
th of them.
But it wasn’t like I had a decision to make. Lucas cared about me – that much was clear, but he wasn’t exactly falling at my feet, asking me to be with him.
And Henry was acting virtually normal since the one time we had kissed, although I could tell he tensed up around Lucas – another reason I was glad he couldn’t come tonight.
Lucas picked me up a few blocks from Henry’s house. We’d been trying to change up the meeting place so neighbors didn’t get suspicious. I had really been lucky so far, not running into any of my classmates or my family.
“I’m just going to drive around,” Lucas said when I got in the car.
“Why didn’t you want to talk on the phone? Do you think you’re being monitored?”
“It’s possible,” Lucas answered.
“So I wanted to talk to you tonight about what I found out,” Lucas continued. “I told you earlier I was going to make some phone calls. I hadn’t spoken with Nicholas in a long time – like I said, I’d heard he was a hunter overseas, but that was about it. One of my contacts knew how to get a message to him, and Nicholas called me almost immediately.”
“And?” I asked excitedly.
“Thankfully Bartholomew and Thomas hadn’t tried to bother Nicholas. I was really worried he was in danger, but they didn’t do anything to him – they just used his name to get me to agree to meet them.”
“He was surprised that the twins turned up here,” Lucas continued. “He actually said that his agency has been hunting them. Apparently they stirred up some trouble a few years ago in his district. Were linked to some killings, which is in violation of the rules for being allowed to live in society, amongst the humans.”
“They’ve been on the run? Hiding from the authorities?” I questioned.
“Yeah, and Nicholas thinks they’ll keep running. There’s no way they can stay here for any length of time. So I think we’re all safe – for now at least.”
“Until they collect all the stuff to put me back in my grave,” I said morosely.
Lucas turned to look at me. “I promise I won’t let that happen.”
“Emmett told us today that some of those items they had for the spell are a bitch to gather – like a hair of a hell hound.”
Lucas chuckled. “I bet they had a fun time with that one.”
“It serves them right!”
“Anyway, I haven’t told you what else I found out from Nicholas,” Lucas said.
“There’s more?”
“Yep, and you’re not going to believe this one. He knew all about you.”
“Me?” I asked incredulously.
“I knew your case was a big deal, but I figured it was just with the agencies around here. I didn’t know there was interest in you from across the globe.” Lucas ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.
“Does that mean the company Nicholas works for is also trying to re-kill me?” I demanded.
“No, he assured me that he just knew about you. He doesn’t think anyone he works with has been involved with your case – not yet, at least.”
“So what next?” I asked. “I’m completely at a loss.”
“Me too,” Lucas admitted. “I hate to say it, Aurora, but maybe you should tell your parents you’re back. I mean, the more people who know you still exist, the harder it is for someone to get to you, to send you back to your grave.”
“Now you sound like Henry!” I groaned.
“He does have a point,” Lucas said. “You know, after all we’ve been through, I still don’t know how you died.”
“Join the club! Henry is cagey as hell about the subject.”
“That’s another reason to go back to your family. Surely they know,” Lucas suggested.
“I guess,” I said despondently. “But how I died – isn’t that the least of our worries?”
“Maybe not,” Lucas said. “Don’t you think your death and your rebirth could be connected?”
Lucas was probably right – so why in the world was Henry completely avoiding the subject? I knew he had nothing to do with my coming back – was it possible he had played a role in my death?
Of course I didn’t think that Henry had killed me, but he wasn’t telling me what happened for a reason. And I was determined to find out what that was.
Chapter 26
After Lucas dropped me off, I decided I had two things I needed to talk to Henry about. One was his father, and the other was my death. I doubted he would react well to either subject, but it was time – for both of us – to trust each other with the truth.
He was leaning his head against the backrest of the couch, eyes closed, when I walked into the house.
“Are you asleep?” I asked tentatively.
Henry opened one eye and peered at me, without moving his neck. “Nah, but my shoulders are absolutely killing me. All this basketball practice is intense work. I really hope I can make the team. Otherwise, this pain will have been for nothing.”
“I’m sure you’ll make it,” I said. Henry closed his eye again.
I can’t tell him about his dad right now! There’s no way. But when is there ever going to be a good time?
“Hey, Henry,” I said nervously. “I was going to talk to you about something.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. What’s up? Is this about what Lucas told you tonight? Why he wanted to meet with us?” Henry sat up on the couch and looked at me expectantly.
Just say it! Don’t beat around the bush. But I have to at least try to break it to him gently.
I waved my hand dismissively. “I’ll get to the stuff Lucas told me in a second.” That wasn’t the important part. I paused. “I need to talk to you about some other things, things I’ve been too scared to mention before.“
“So, I pretty much just stay here all day by myself,” I continued. Why did I say that? Idiot!
Henry looked at me oddly. “You don’t say?” he said sarcastically.
I stared down at my hands, wringing them together nervously.
“Hey,” Henry said, before I could start speaking again. “Would you mind massaging my shoulders? I’m in deep pain here.”
“Um, I guess not.” Henry turned with his back to me, and I scooted closer to him on the couch. I started kneading my knuckles along his shoulder blades.
“You’re right,” I muttered. “You are tense.” I tried to pretend that I was a masseuse and not think about Henry’s muscular shoulders.
“Ahh, that’s really helping. Thanks, Rory. Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”
My emotions were all over the place. I willed myself to think. It had been bad enough trying to figure out how to tell Henry when I was just sitting on the couch looking at him, but running my hands along his buff back was making me even more nervous.
In my mind, I gave myself a pep talk. He’s your best friend. This is not romantic. He’s already told you once he doesn’t like you that way and the kiss was just a drunken mistake. Stop being an idiot! Spit it out already!
“So one day I was here, watching TV downstairs, when your dad came home unexpectedly in the middle of the day,” I said.
“Yikes!” Henry responded. “He didn’t see you, though, right?”
“No.”
Henry breathed a sigh of relief. “Cool, well I’m glad you didn’t get caught. Wonder what Dad was doing home during the day? He’s always such a workaholic. He barely has any time away from the office. Funny, he didn’t mention that he was working from home or anything.”
Before I could start speaking again, Henry continued. “That reminds me! I can’t believe that I totally forgot to tell you this. So when Dad surprised Mom with the cruise tickets, he had another surprise for her as well.”
He likes to fondle men? That would sure be a surprise!
“Oh, really?” I asked with interest.
“They’re renewing their vows! You know how my parents have been together practically forever? It’s coming up on their 20th anniversary, and Dad is plann
ing this huge elaborate party in three weeks!”
Wait. A party? Was it possible that was what Mr. Matthews was doing this entire time? But why would he need to meet in a hotel room? It still doesn’t add up.
I gulped. “Nice,” I said lamely.
“He’s rented out the Manor House for the event.” The Manor House was a beautiful, huge Victorian style home that had been recently renovated. Now, its primary use for was parties and events. To rent the whole thing out must have cost a small fortune.
“Wow, that’s incredible,” I said.
Have I got it all wrong? What game is he playing?
“I was thinking,” Henry continued, “and don’t get mad at me for saying this, but maybe you could come to the party…you know, as yourself.”
Henry turned to look at me. My hands were still resting on his shoulders. “What if I’m not ready?” I whispered.
“When will you ever be ready?” Henry responded. He softened his voice. “I’m not trying to pressure you, Rory, but you know as well as I do that things can’t go on like this indefinitely.”
“I know,” I whispered. “I just thought there would be some point in time where it felt…right.”
“I’ve had those same thoughts,” Henry admitted. “I think you’re going to have to bite the bullet and do it. Besides, I was serious about tutoring you so that you could start back in the senior class next year.”
“That’s sweet of you,” I said. “But what about basketball?”
“You’re my best friend!” Henry exclaimed. “I would never choose basketball over you. But don’t worry; I fully intend to make time for both things. All this sneaking around and secrecy is wearing me the hell out, though. You’ve got to reveal your existence.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said. And I meant it. I would think about it. I used to love parties and social events. I longed for my old life back. Maybe I could start reclaiming it, little by little. This party might just be the perfect time for the new me to get back in the saddle, so to speak.
I had spent so long agonizing over what everyone’s reactions would be, about what pain my death had caused and how my return might re-open some of those wounds. I think I had built it up in my head to such an astronomical event that the real thing would pale in comparison to my fears.
Stalking Dead (Vampire Hunter Book 2) Page 7
