He never would.
Those sad brown eyes stared at her like he was deciding whether or not to confront her on her probable lie. She did have a science quiz tomorrow, but she wasn't worried about it, knew she'd get an A. But did he know that?
“I'm sure we will be home in time for you to study.” Nate raised an eyebrow at her.
Could an eyebrow express 'gotcha'? Apparently.
“Perhaps next time you can study appropriately, during the allotted time, and then you won't find yourself with a time conflict. Life is about juggling obligations, Valerie. You need to study smarter, not harder.” Great. What did that even mean? If I could study smarter, wouldn't I be doing it already?
“You're right! That's why I make sure to do my homework before cheerleading, and stay at school to do it. That's why I get to school early on Wednesday so that I can go to swim team.” Her voice was rising and she felt some air quotes coming on, “If I have warning I can put it in my schedule, and study “appropriately”. Surprisingly, random vampire stake-outs don't fit into my schedule easily.” Crossing her arms under her chest defiantly, she waited for the verdict.
He gave a small frown and turned to Jack who was being ‘one’ with the wall. Yeah, you’re still here, you jerk.
“What about you Jack? You seem to make it all fit and you're in college. That's a lot harder than high school, Valerie. How do you plan on being successful if you can't schedule your days?”
“My back up plan is to drop out and get pregnant,” she said.
Jack's shoulders straightened a little, pulling at the corners of his long sleeved black t-shirt. His lips thinned in disapproval, perhaps a hint of a smile, but she doubted it.
“Yes, because the one thing that will give you more time to get school work done is to have a child out of wedlock.” He shook his head, “Just go get in the car.”
Nate turned away from her and she heard him mutter something about pitchers, or catchers, something sports related, and Jack gave a stilted laugh.
She went to the car and sat in the backseat, waiting for them to come out. Morbidly, she began imagining all the terrible things that might happen to her tonight. She imagined her father dying, a vampire drinking Jack's blood, then discarding him and coming for her. She slapped her hands on her thighs, trying to distract herself.
Impending death requires chocolate.
Val reached into her back pack and found a pack of M and M's. By the time the guys got to the car she'd eaten all the red, orange and brown ones separating them out into little piles that rolled around the seats and occasionally vanished. She looked at her watch. Well, that took care of five minutes.
Her father opened the back door and threw a huge, orange duffel bag of weapons down next to her, the wood making a hollow thunking sound as the stakes bounced against each other.
The station wagon backed out of the driveway and Valerie looked longingly at her room as they drove away. She turned back to the front and saw Jack watching her in the rear-view mirror, his slate-gray eyes intense. She stuck her tongue out at him and slouched back into her seat, hoping he wouldn't see her blush.
Jack was so impossible lately. He was high on power now that her father had started taking him places. It seemed like he was always watching her in a disappointed way, looking for faults and quick to 'helpfully' criticize. Jack said it was 'helpful' because it was in her best interest.
They were both so worried about her staying alive and yet tonight they were taking her to fight a vampire. How could they not see the logical flaw? If she was the Einstein of this group then they were in deep crap.
Jack had studied martial arts since coming to America with them at the age of thirteen. Now he was nineteen and he’d been going with her father to hunt for three years. He wanted to be here, whereas she was being dragged to her doom. What would she do if a vampire tried to attack her again? Val almost moaned in fear. Where was Child Protective Services when she needed them?
She chastised herself, rubbed her hands together and thought about her 'game face'. Was that the same as a poker face? Val needed to be irritated and sarcastic, that was her fall back persona when her father was trying to get her killed. “Wax on, wax off,” she mumbled.
They drove down the Garden Highway, a two lane stretch of road that was sparsely populated and next to the river. It started in San Loaran but went for miles. It was dark, the city lights far away. If she were a vampire she'd live downtown. How the hell did this guy get food when he was so far away from everything?
“So, what's the deal with this clown?” Val asked.
Her father kept looking at his map of the area, ignoring her. He'd already been out here during the day, so she didn't know why he was looking at the map anyway. They pulled off the road and onto a dirt track, bumping along for a mile or two before turning down another path, this one graveled. The car stopped in front of an old cemetery that was in the middle of nowhere. Her stomach flip flopped.
“A cemetery?” she said plaintively, “Why is he living in a cemetery? Couldn't we have come for him during the day?”
Nate turned around and gave her an irritated look. “No, we couldn't come for him during the day. We tracked him here yesterday but he disappeared. I'm not sure where he's staying. He could be underground, in a family crypt, I just couldn't tell. And before you ask, we can't wait because he's already killed someone. I won't risk him doing it again just to make our lives a little easier. If we catch him when he's just starting to rise, he'll be confused and it should be relatively easy.”
She didn't like the way he said we. “Yes, you will. I'm sure the both of you will have a very easy time staking him.”
Her father’s voice was quiet. “You listen to me, Valerie. I think you have been sheltered quite long enough. Being lenient with you hasn't sweetened your personality either. Tonight, you are going to help. I'm not asking you to fight. You can stay near the car, but if we need weapons you will be expected to bring them, do you understand?” He had a mean stare and wasn’t shy about using it.
Valerie's mouth flopped open and closed like a fish. She looked to Jack, but he was staring at the road and staying out of it. Wuss. She felt the anger rising up like a fist inside of her, choking her.
Nate undid his seatbelt and got out of the car, started walking towards the side where the weapons were. Jack undid his seat belt slowly and she knew he was about to say something supportive.
“Don't bother. If you knew how much I wanted to hit something right now, you’d keep your mouth shut.”
Jack put up his hands, like he was surrendering to the police, and then got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind him. She heard him say something to Nate but didn't know what it was.
Val threw her door open and stuck a leg out but she'd been too aggressive and the door rebounded back on her, slamming into her shinbone. She managed to hold back a yelp of pain, but felt stupid and even angrier.
Her father took the weapons from the backseat and set them on the hood of the car. Jack was right behind him and she was relieved they hadn't noticed her clutziness. A helpful lecture about how anger 'hurts us more than anyone else' would have sent her screaming off into the woods, vampires be damned.
She limped to the front of the car, thinking she should 'shake it off', and about how the pain was 'getting better'. It was, honestly! Any moment now she wouldn't notice it and tomorrow how she'd laugh.
Her leg began to throb.
The sun was almost down and vampy would be stumbling out of his crypt pretty soon. Jack and her father were ready: a knife strapped to one forearm, a stake on the other, spare gun in a shoulder holster and some holy water sitting on the hood.
Her leg tickled and she looked down at her calf, blood staining the leg of her pants. Shit, she'd cut herself on the stupid door! Her father was striding off towards the crypt but Jack was looking at her leg and he looked worried. He took a step closer to her, and she could smell his woodsy cologne. Jack was taller than her father,
but lean, his teenage metabolism devouring the fat from his body.
His dark, coffee colored hair was a bit tousled from running his hands through it, a five o' clock shadow visible on his jaw.
“You should get in the car. You can't be out here with a bleeding leg, it will draw them to you like...well, like vampires to blood.” His tone was worried, urgent as he tracked the darkening skyline.
She wasn't sure what to do. Her dad had told her to stay out and help but man she wanted to be in the car with the doors locked. Val heard the sound of grating stone— harsh and loud. Jack swore, then ran towards Nate.
“Get into the car!” he shouted over his shoulder.
She stood indecisive for a moment and then decided Jack was right. Lord knew there would be other vampires she could help with. She watched for a moment longer, Nate and Jack with their guns drawn, ready to shoot the monster that came out.
As she reached for the door, a pale, hairy hand appeared in front of her, holding the door closed.
Her eyes jerked up, taking in the vampire who looked at her like she was a deed fried Twinkie at the state fair. He was close to her height, his eyes a glowing honey-brown.
He shoved her, knocking the wind out of her so she couldn’t scream, her chin hitting the hard metal roof of the car before his cold hand clamped around her mouth, dirty nails digging into her cheeks.
She felt the drag of gravity as he lept, forcing them upwards and away. It was different than flying, as though he'd bounded into the air, using all the power his body contained to propel them into the sky.
The ground shrank as he took them thirty feet into the air. As soon as they landed, he'd kill her, she thought frantically. Jack and her father were in the crypt and she knew they hadn't seen the vampire take her.
Val’s whole body shook with fear, and the way the vampire's arms clamped tighter around her, his body pressed flush to hers as though he knew she was terrified, and liked it, made her skin crawl. He was like a python, squeezing a little tighter with each frantic exhalation. She reached for the stake in her pocket, her wrist turned at a painful angle so she could reach it.
Don't make it too easy.
The wood was warm in her hand from her tight grip. Adjusting the stake, she turned her wrist so that it was angled towards his body. His feet hit the ground and as he bent his legs to absorb the shock, the stake sunk into his stomach. She heard a startled grunt and he pushed her away, the stake sticking out of his stomach. She fell forward hard, her knees jarring painfully upon impact, even though he'd borne most of their weight.
Scrambling frantically, she tried to get to her feet and run but he recovered, grabbing her ankle and pulling her back to him.
Her fingers clawed into the ground, trying to stop her backwards slide. Her nails caught and broke; small pine needles and bits of leaves forcing their way deep into each nail bed.
I’m going to die in the damned woods. I knew it! Although it would have been nice to be wrong this time.
Then everything got worse. Another vampire appeared, landing in front of her. His movements were too quick, his landing too graceful to be anything but vampire. Her eyes swam with tears, making him a blurry image of black clothing and golden hair.
It was fully dark, and the only light came from the moon, giving his paleness an odd cast. She saw long hair, golden and straight, that fell halfway down his back, but his face was shadowed. He was a giant, towering over her and the vampire who knelt behind her. The golden vampire crouched to his knees before her, forearms resting loosely on his thighs.
His face was close to hers, the desire to scream choked in her chest by his proximity. His cold hardness slapped at her, feeling like an almost physical barrier between them. He was hard and terrifying. The most terrifying vampire she had ever seen because he was beautiful. He was death and she wanted to touch him. Then he spoke to her and it was like all the blood in her body wanted to well to the surface and spill out towards him.
“Be still Valerie. You will be well.”
She heard a huff behind her and the vampire who was gripping her leg, suddenly let go. He swatted her on the butt before moving away a little. “Don't you go anywhere,” her captor said, like she was a disobedient animal. He had a rough accent. Irish, maybe?
Then he ignored her, turning to the golden one who was still next to her.
“Well, that's a bit rich. She'll only be well in my stomach. What brings you out on a nice night like tonight, my Lord?”
“You do,” the golden vampire said, his voice gravelly and dark.
“I don't share well, but it would be an honor to make an exception for you, my Lord. In fact, we can celebrate! What's it been now, ten years? Five? Who knows, am I right or am I not wrong?” He laughed, as if keeping track of time was a crazy concept.
Val needed to move but couldn't. Frozen like a rabbit, she trembled and tried to think about what she should do. She wasn’t five anymore. She wouldn’t lay here and let them kill her when they got around to it. She wouldn’t be her mother. Then run you damned fool! Run!
“This one is forbidden. You will release her.”
The man chuckled, “She's a bit young for you and scrawny to boot. I'm surprised. Not your usual style, Lucas.”
Her arms jerked under her, ready to push herself up and run away. Then Lucas put his hand on her jaw, searing her like dry ice, forcing her to look into his blue eyes. And she didn’t want to run away anymore.
Lucas.
King of them all. It would be worse— much worse, to die by his hand. Because I wouldn’t fight him. His strength and emptiness, the lack of pity and kindness made promises deep inside of her. Those cerulean eyes still held her tight, and she heard herself sob, hoping it was someone else.
He compelled her with his voice. “Stay there Valerie Dearborn. Stay there and be calm.”
Val blinked and tried to move, but couldn't, his words locking her limbs into place. She felt an artificial calmness come over her, her back shifting so that she could settle against the tree more comfortably and wait.
Trees surrounded them from all sides, casting long inky shadows that would, at another time, have been scary. But there was no point in being scared of what might be lurking in the shadows when the biggest bad, of all big bads, was gazing at her intently.
The calmness he told her to feel weighed on her oppressively, snaked into her thoughts, like sleep trying to claim her. She knew that if she relaxed at all it would overcome her, and she wouldn't fight but give in to it utterly. Tears coursed down her cheeks as the vampires both watched her impassively, waiting for her to succumb to Lucas' commands.
The shorter vampire crossed his arms, head tilting to the side lightly, “That's interesting, isn’t it? Quite resistant to your compulsion. Think you're losing your touch?”
Lucas seemed to ignored him, his eyes fixed on Valerie. She could see him looking at her face: her mouth, hair, chin, forehead, back to her lips and settling on her eyes.
Val looked away. She took a deep breath and watched her hand, tried to make a fist, wanting her own body to obey her will. She tried to stay afraid and belong to herself despite his compulsion.
But it’s so hard.
His golden hair was shining, even in the dark, and Valerie watched it with deep fascination. She lifted a hand and hit the ground hard, the pain breaking up his insidious words. His power receded and she thought she was almost free of him, but then her gaze met his, and his power coursed over her again, like a big wave knocking over a toddler wading in the shallows.
“Calm and Still Valerie.” His gaze hit her and she was under the waves, the fight over.
Love is Darkness (A Valerie Dearborn Novel) Page 2
