Pendulum (Kingdom of Night Book 1)

by L. C. Davis

  No sign of any texts and of course it was the first flight in my life in which the flight attendant appeared at the front to tell us that we were about to depart.

  “Please turn off all electronics until the red light at the front of each row turns green and fasten your lap belt securely,” she said, demonstrating on the demo safety belt. “Once again, thank you for flying Air Coastal.”

  I fastened my seatbelt and cast one last forlorn glance at the empty screen before I switched the phone into airplane mode and tucked it into my pocket.

  “Nowhere in particular,” said the stranger.

  “Hm?”

  “Before we were interrupted, you asked me where I was from,” he explained patiently.

  “Oh. I'm sorry, I'm just a bit frazzled today,” I admitted, yawning.

  “Let me guess. The person you're waiting to hear from is the cause, hm?”

  “Oh, no,” I laughed nervously. “I am. I mean, we had a misunderstanding, but it's my fault.”

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  I shook my head wearily. “No, it is. He's not even speaking to his brother because of me.” I reeled for a moment, surprised by my loose tongue. Even in Washington, it was never completely safe to let a stranger know you were gay, no matter how kind he seemed. “I'm sorry. You didn't need to know that.”

  “Sometimes it is easier to confide in a stranger who lacks investment in your troubles,” he said gently.

  That rang true enough. Still, I hesitated. “It all happened so quickly. I met both of them around the same time. They turned out to be brothers. Twins, in fact.”

  “Ah,” he murmured knowingly. “And now you are torn between them.”

  “No, I- I love Sebastian. I love his brother, too, just in a different way.”

  “Love is a funny thing. Sometimes the heart has trouble choosing because it isn't meant to choose at all.”

  I laughed uncomfortably. “That's not an option in this case.”

  “Why not?” He made it sound so simple.

  “I-I don't know, they're both so possessive. Sebastian hates Victor because of a horrible misunderstanding that's entirely my fault, and Victor talks a good game, but in the end he just gives his brother the things he wants without a fight.”

  “In my experience, a man who is not willing to fight for the woman he loves is no man at all.”

  I glanced over at him and it seemed to take too much effort just to move my head. It was like a lead balloon I was struggling to hold up. “Woman?”

  He chuckled. “My apologies, I meant no slight. You have a very feminine spirit.”

  “Spirit?” I asked, intrigued. My tongue struggled to shape the words. “Are you a fortune teller or something?” I winced immediately. I hated when people asked me that. Hopefully he would know it was a reaction to his strange comment, not his heritage.

  He laughed again, banishing the concern that I had angered him. “Not at all. I simply possess a unique gift to see people as they truly are.”

  “That's nice,” I yawned. “What else can you see?”

  He peered at me with a twinkle in his dark eyes. “I see division, or unity, depending on what you make of it. Half-and-half. Male and female. Beast and prey.”

  “Beast?” I asked warily.

  “A figure of speech, lad.”

  “Oh,” I murmured, nestling into the seat. It was so much more comfortable than it had been when we boarded. I turned my head to look out the window as the engines came on. Moments later, we were hurtling down the runway until the gears lifted into place and the plane lurched to into the waiting arms of the wind generated by its force.

  “I'm sorry, I didn't realize I'd be so tired. I think I'm going to take a nap.”

  “By all means. Thank you for the lovely conversation, Remus.”

  “Hm.” My eyes fluttered shut and I couldn't open them. I couldn't remember telling him my name, but I must have in my exhausted state. As the plane climbed higher in the air, I was sinking deeper and deeper into the sea of consciousness.

  26

  I jolted awake in time to hear the flight attendant thanking the passengers for choosing Air Coastal for the hundredth time. It seemed impossible that my eyes had been shut for more than a few minutes, but my limbs were still heavy with the feeling of deep sleep.

  When I turned to look, the stranger was nowhere to be found. I sighed and stood up to stretch since I appeared to be one of the last ones off the plane. Unfortunately, as deeply as I had slept, I didn't feel rested. At least getting my duffel bag down from the overhead compartment wasn't the monumental effort it had been to get it up there.

  I found myself a bit disappointed that I hadn't been awake to say goodbye to the kind stranger and at least get his name. Then again, given the strange direction our conversation had taken, maybe it was a good thing that he wasn't around to see me humiliate myself.

  I made my way into the airport terminal and located the gate for my connecting flight. It was still early when I checked in, so I took a seat and immediately turned on the phone.

  There were no missed calls, unlike I'd expected. I opened the first text without even looking at the number, only to realize that there was no number. The contact simply read “Frosty.” I felt horrible for opening Arthur's personal message and was about to close out when something in the text caught my eye.

  I'm sorry about what happened at family dinner. I know you don't understand right now, but it's for his own good. Your intel has been invaluable to us. See you Monday. -P.

  It would have been a struggle to make sense of the cryptic text even under normal circumstances. I hadn't had a dose of the serum in the last twelve hours, which would at least explain my impromptu nap on the plane. Now I just felt like I was recovering from a bad hangover. The lights were stretching and distorting painfully. I swiped off the text screen and checked for one that was meant for me, deciding that I could barely deal with my problems.

  I tried to put my friend's strange message and opened Sebastian's message thread. Nothing. I knew he was hurt, but it wasn't like him to just drop off like that. Maybe he had broken the phone in a rage.

  Whatever had happened, I told myself it was for the best and headed to one of the endless selection of airport restaurants to buy some greasy food I would surely regret eating later.

  At least this airport seemed normal enough. No rose peddlers, no cryptic strangers. I returned to the gate to eat my sticky cinnamon bun in quiet shame. The sugar was helping a little, but what I really needed was one of the vials of blood that had been carefully poured into one of the prescription bottles I had grabbed out of Clara's office. It was technically a prescription, and I knew it was the only way I'd be able to keep it with me. It still didn't sit well with me, though.

  I was going to be a terrible vampire if I did survive.

  Boarding and takeoff wasn't quite as short of an affair as it had been on the first plane, but it was uneventful. I had a middle seat this time, and the people on either side of me didn't seem up for chatting. That suited me fine.

  I checked the phone again only to find not a single message. Maybe he really had given up. I thought of texting him again but decided against it. If he did reply, he would only try to talk me out of it and I would only be teasing him with the idea that he could have done something more.

  The flight seemed to stretch out forever. The closer we got to Austin, the more anxious I became. It wasn't fear on my own behalf, but rather that I wouldn't make it on time.

  Victor was strong physically, and from the way Clara described his powers, he would be hard to match psychically as well. Yet, even he had expressed dismay at Jeff's psychic handiwork. Then there was his father.

  I shuddered at the thought of him. He wasn't the most physically imposing man, but what he lacked in stature he made up for in pure maliciousness. If I could only remember what he was capable of as a human, what was he like as a vampire?

  The thought of what I would do if Victor was d
ead when I got there occurred to me once, but my mind threatened to break under the strain of it. Each time my mind wandered there after that, something rose up to block it.

  When the plane landed, it was all I could do not to push past the crowd. I was still one of the first ones off the plane and I raced through the airport towards the first rental station I saw. I told the teenage attendant to give me the fastest car they had and, after a dubious look-over, he handed me the keys to my new temporary Mustang.

  Once I was in the car, I took a deep breath and entered Jeff's address in the GPS. I reached into my pocket for Arthur's phone and my heart beat faster as I saw that there was a new text.

  It was from Frosty.

  Disregard that last text, meant to send it to someone else. Sry.

  I frowned and put the phone in the cup holder. Whoever Frosty was, I had a feeling it was far more likely that he'd found out someone else had Arthur's phone than that the message had been meant for someone else. Who else but Arthur would have told him?

  It was getting a little more difficult to push the matter out of my mind, but I stayed focused on the road as I sped towards Jeff's house. Now I understood why Brendan and Clarence liked this car so much.

  I'm coming, Victor, I told him in my mind, hoping that maybe somehow he could hear me like Sebastian had. Just hang on.

  27

  Jeff's home was just like I remembered it. The tall glass building towered at the top of a small mountain amidst one of many larger ranges in the distance. Everything in the surrounding area was dry and hot, making me feel particularly overdressed in a turtleneck. Discomfort was the last thing on my mind, but I downed a couple of the vials in the car and stowed another in my pocket before slipping out of the car. If I was going to deal with Jeff, I needed to have my wits about me.

  There were no other cars out front, but Jeff always parked his favorite toys in the garage. Just because they weren't out here didn't men he wasn't out there.

  I had always thought walking back into my home of two years would feel like walking up to the gallows, but it didn't. In fact, I ran up to the stairs that spiraled up the mountain itself and led to the home on top, taking them two at a time.

  When I got to the door, it was cracked slightly in an ominous welcome. I pushed it open and searched the empty living room for any signs of Victor. There was Jeff's latest plasma screen TV, his richly upholstered leather couches, his Persian rugs and his massive entertainment system, but neither he nor Victor were anywhere to be found.

  I took a step inside and looked around warily. I wasn't afraid when I walked in, but the suspense was starting to get to me. The kitchen was empty and so was the guest room on the first floor. No one was in the bathroom either, but all the sinks were off and the closer I got to the living room, the more I could hear a steady drip.

  A strange scent filled the air, one I didn't recognize. It wasn't any of Jeff's drugs or liquor or incense, but it stunk like he'd found a way to combine all of them.

  I backed up and something dripped on my head. I nearly screamed as I looked around for the source, only to realize where it had to be coming from.

  I looked up towards the ceiling only to find a growing pool of blood at least a foot in circumference dripping down. “Victor!” I screamed, wiping the blood out of my eye as I raced up the stairs.

  I didn't care if Jeff heard me coming. I didn't care if he killed me then and there. I had to know.

  The door to Jeff's room – the room directly above the living room – was unlocked so I threw it open. Lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood was Jeff. His face had been slashed with five straight lines to the point where he was barely recognizable, but I knew it was him. Blood streamed down either side of his mouth and there was a massive, gaping hole in his chest where his heart had been.

  He was dead. Jeff was dead. It took a moment to process what that meant.

  It didn't feel the way I had imagined it. Maybe it was just shock, but I didn't feel relieved like I thought I would, or triumphant or even free. I was relieved that it wasn't Victor's blood spilling soaking through the floor, but that was the best it got.

  Something else drew my attention once my initial shock had worn off into mere dazedness. There was a box on the floor wrapped perfectly in silvery blue wrapping paper. As I got closer, I realized the paper had wolves on it, each one in a different pose. Some were howling at a big crescent moon overhead. A big yellow bow, tied with all the intricacy of a craftsman, tying the whole thing together.

  The perfectly wrapped package seemed grotesquely out of place in a room full of carnage. My hands shook as I unwrapped the bow, but I couldn't bring myself to lift the lid. The box contained something horrible, I knew it as surely as anything. If whatever was in this box somehow showed me that Victor had been...

  Impulse to flee the thought drove me and I ripped off the lid. The sight of what was inside made me wretch with horror. Inside the box, tucked delicately in colorful tissue paper, was Jeff's heart. A wooden stake had been shoved straight through it, pinning it to a note at the bottom of the box.

  The contents of the package chased away any question I may have had that it was Victor who had slain Jeff. He would never do this. That meant there was someone else. Someone far worse. Someone who probably had Victor at this very moment.

  I covered my mouth and tried to shield my nose from the stench that seemed to grow every second as I picked the heart up by the stake. The note stuck to the end of it and I had to pull it off without tearing it any more than it already had been.

  My heart sank when I saw that the first line perfectly mimicked Jeff's handwriting while the rest flowed into a completely distinct, almost feminine script.

  Hello, Darling! Sorry for the nasty little trick with the card. Had to make sure you went to the right place.

  Do you like your present? Now you can't say I never gave you anything. I took his fangs, too. You can have them, but you have to come get them. Or I could keep them AND your pretty puppy. (Maybe I'll make a necklace...)

  Anywho, I thought it was about the time I met the in-laws (and, you know, you). Hope they weren't too attached to their son. Your dad's boring so he's not invited.

  Come to the Alderdick Hotel ballroom at 9 p.m.for rager. Bet your pretty boy is a great dancer.

  P.S. I'd hurry. I might get bored and kill him and all the other guests. Accidentally, of course. Call to RSVP.

  xoxo Sarah (mum sounds old)

  I struggled to make sense of what I'd just read. When I tried, it sent a wave of pain through my head that forced me to my knees.

  Why? Hadn't Victor said that killing Jeff would mean the end of his mind control? I felt the blocks in place now more than ever.

  My hand trembled as I pulled out my phone. How could I call? The psycho claiming to be my mother hadn't given me any number.

  The stranger flashed in my mind for an instant. The strange, heavy feeling I had the entire time we were talking. The prick of the strange peddler's rose. The exhaustion.

  I had been drugged. He must have taken the phone. When I scrolled through the contacts, my heart sank when I saw Sarah listed among them. Arthur only had a few contacts in that phone and all the others, with the notable exception of Frosty, had first and last names.

  With a deep breath, I called the number. Someone picked up right away, but it wasn't a woman who answered. It was the stranger from the airplane.

  “Hello again, Remus. Your mother has instructed that you are to have exactly one minute to speak with Victor.”

  “I don't have a mother! Who are y-”

  “Starting now.”

  “Remus?” Victor coughed. He sounded weak, but it was definitely him.

  “Victor,” I sobbed, holding the phone in a vice grip lest my trembling hands drop it. His voice sent a warm sensation I didn't understand into parts of my heart and mind I didn't even know existed. “Did she hurt you? Are you okay?”

  “I was on the right track, kiddo, but I was wrong.
Very wrong. Please tell me you're with Sebastian.”

  “No,” I cried. “I can't reach him, I ran.” I froze as I realized that his sudden lack of communication must have been due to the stranger as well. He'd blocked the number and deleted the evidence. That had to be it. I couldn't accept the alternative. If he wasn't with Victor, that was a good sign that they hadn't gotten to him. “I'm coming to get you myself.”

  “The hell you are,” he snarled. I had never heard him so angry, not even when I'd messed up doing our session. I had always thought Sebastian was more protective, but I began to wonder if Victor just kept it under wraps. “You're going to call Ulric and tell him where you are before your crazy mother can-”

  “Okay, sweetie, that's enough time on the phone with your boyfriend,” interrupted a woman's voice. I knew immediately from her almost satirical sweetness that it was Sarah.

  Sarah. That was what Ulric had called me when we met. It was a name that kept surfacing, no matter how hard I tried to ignore it.

  “What do you want from me?” I pleaded. “I'll do it, just don't hurt him.”

  An exasperated sigh caused static on the line. “God, it's so obvious I didn't raise you. Grow a spine, at least accuse me of bluffing or something.”

  “This isn't a game.” My voice shook, but it was from anger, not fear. “I don't care who you are, if you hurt him, I'll kill you.”

  “There, much better,” she said proudly. “Still, big words from the little boy who was terrified of his own mate for killing one of my goons.”

  The words reverberated in my mind but they wouldn't settle in. “You... sent him?”

  “Of course. It was his entrance test to get into my little troupe, and he failed. My men would have killed him as soon as he deviated from the path back to me, but I figured I'd either have you or an excuse to wipe out his entire clan.”

  “You used me?” I hissed. “You knew Sebastian would track them down.”

  “Of course. That boy is nothing if not predictable. Can't say he's any smarter than he was when he was little, but I'll be damned if he isn't pretty.” She paused and switched to a loud whisper. “I see why you went with him. The other one is so emo.”