“Mom… Dad… Please don’t…” I choked. The last trace of my parents’ smiles disappeared into thin air. “Don’t leave me again. Please. I love you.”
I couldn’t stop crying. My throat felt tight, like thick fog constricted my windpipes. I didn’t know if I just had the mother of all hallucinations or if it was real. I wanted it to be real—desperately.
CHAPTER TWO
An hour and a half later I got to my feet, plugging in my iPod ear buds. As I exited the cemetery, I heard the revving sound of a motorbike over my favorite song. I couldn’t tell from which direction the roaring boomed.
Before I knew it, I was more confused than a fish in a dry pond. I screamed when my body connected with the rear fender of the bike and I hit the asphalt butt first. I jerked my head up in time to see the rider tailspin to a stop in front of me.
I bit the inside of my cheek as sharp tingles spread up my left arm. Warm blood dripped down my forearms and knees. Using my good hand and the strength of my legs, I pushed up, only to lose my balance and fall back. I blew my hair out of my face, frustrated, as I lay on the asphalt, cursing the damned lunatic rider.
I never really liked bikers anyway. They were a snotty bunch of gangster wannabes. Well, that and they scared the shit out of me.
A pair of heavy black boots appeared along with an extended hand.
“No thanks.” I waved it away.
The stranger retracted his hand, placing it into his front pants pocket. I tried to get up again, this time using both hands. I winced as the sharp pain intensified and spread across my ribs. I huffed and puffed like an angry dragon. My eyes traveled upward to the newly offered aid.
I placed my hand into the open palm. “Fine.”
I never believed any of those sappy romantic movies when the hero’s first touch ignites a lightning revelation in the heroine. Well, that hadn’t changed.
Much.
Ah, hell, who was I kidding?
Wow.
When the skin of our hands touched, I gasped at the electricity that flew between us. I imagined my hair flying away from my face, flowers showering over us, and lightning striking somewhere close by.
Dramatic much? Get a grip, Ren!
I awkwardly stumbled backward to keep distance between us, finally looking at his face.
It was him. From the café.
Ah, holy hell!
“May I?” he asked, and like a good zombie I absently extended my arm toward him.
His height was intimidating so close to my body. His black attire blended into the obsidian night. A glimmer of his striking baby blues caught my eyes. He studied over my features like he was searching for something. My heart jumped and my knees trembled under my weight. It was getting harder to breathe. I’d never been so mesmerized or captivated or drawn to any guy in my life. Heck, I’d been avoiding guys like the plague.
He. Was. Different.
He seemed to be as taken by me as I was by him. I saw the range of emotions swirl in his irises. Hope. Happiness. Admiration. Desire. Fear. Sadness. Finally, composure. He stared into my eyes and my cheeks flared with heat and uneasiness crept inside me.
I was sure I looked like a moron gawking at him, like he was the first guy I’d ever seen. What the hell was wrong with me?
When he turned his attention to my wounds, my gaze dropped to his fully kissable lips. My eyes slowly traveled up to his gorgeous waves of brown hair, which slightly fell over his forehead.
When I met his scrutinizing stare, I was paralyzed. Again.
Damn it.
“It doesn’t look bad. I can patch it up,” he said in a low voice, offering a crooked smile.
My stomach fluttered as my veins flared with heat. With much effort, I willed myself to snap out of my daydream and yanked back my arm.
As long as I don’t look into his eyes I should be safe and under control. To distract myself, I did what I did best—I picked a fight.
“I’m bleeding. Bikers. You think you’re above it all. You know pedestrians have the right of way.” I blew out a deep breath. “What were you doing going that fast in a thirty-five mile per hour zone?”
He smiled, amused. “Are you going to report me?”
Was he flirting with me?
He was flirting. With me.
“No.” I looked away, annoyed, and muttered some incoherent words.
“I’m Alexander Knight,” he said, holding out his hand. “My friends call me Axel.” His voice was like warm honey on a cold winter night, wrapping me in its warmth.
I gaped at him like an idiot.
Again.
Hey, Ren, why don’t you plug that drool pool you call a mouth? I mentally smacked my forehead.
“Are you following me?” I blurted out, ignoring his friendly hand.
“Why would you think that?” he said with an enticing smile.
Aisle three, clean up. Puddle of teenage awkwardness on aisle three.
“A question isn’t an answer to a question,” I said, irritated. “Jerk,” I muttered under my breath.
“Do you have a name?”
I scowled. “Why would I have a name? It’s not like I’m human.” Geez.
His face darkened and his smile disappeared. His brows creased together like he was sure he would do something regrettable.
Well, that wasn’t the reaction I expected.
He placed his hand over my shoulder and pushed me behind him so quickly I lost focus of my surroundings.
“You’ve got some—”
“Hold that thought, Meus Amor Aeternus.”
He crouched slightly with one hand on his hip, the other in front of him, almost as if in warning. It was a protective stance, but against what? My question was answered within a nanosecond when a SUV came screeching around the corner at a deadly speed.
The sky filled with a thunderous sound like the boom from cannon.
My heart stopped as the scene unwound before me. Images of my parents’ funeral filled my head.
No, no, no. Not another death.
A volley of shots echoed in the air as bullets headed right at us. I was a dead woman. I was sure of it. I tumbled backward, a stubborn scream building inside my chest, my heartbeat elevating out of control. The bullets froze in midair a few inches from my shoulder. What the hell?
Axel stood with his hand extended, his lips curved up in ire.
“Bad move.”
I redirected my eyes to where he glared. Two guys dressed in trench coats aimed guns at us.
This is bad. This is very bad.
Then several things happened at once. The frozen bullets in front of us zoomed backward, hitting one of the coat-clad men between the eyes, the other in the gut. Two other attackers jumped out of the SUV, marching forward, one with a sword, the other with spiky balls attached to each end of a chain.
They eyed each other, silently conspiring, then came straight at Axel. Their eyes glowed red and shark-like teeth protruded from their mouths, as if Jaws himself was the attacker.
My eyes widened and my muscles coiled in fear. The attackers advanced in a blur, throwing punches and kicks and using their teeth against Axel.
But he was faster and stronger than the two combined. I watched, mesmerized, forgetting about the possibility of getting ripped to shreds if either attacker got past him. Axel easily dodged, kicked, and punched his opponents, sending them flying a good twenty to thirty feet. He drew a double-edged sword and a dagger from inside his jacket, pushing off the ground and flying like a beautiful avenging angel, closing the distance between him and the assailants.
His long fingers wrapped loosely around the hilt as he wielded the sword with ease, blocking attacks and moving with caution before he found an opening to plunge the dagger once, then twice into the men, leaving only red glimmering dust.
I clamped my mouth with both my hands, stifling a sob. My body trembled, unable to process what I just witnessed.
“Oh God.”
I dragged myself backward
as Axel approached me with his hands in the air, as if to tell me he meant no harm. I wanted to believe him, but at this point, things were unclear.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said in a soothing voice.
He threw his dagger and sword onto the asphalt, then took one step at a time, slowly moving toward me, afraid one wrong move would send me running.
Maybe he is a serial killer.
Super. Nova. Serial. Killer.
Like those really super-hot guys who lured innocents and then raped and killed them after torturing them for days. Panic made it hard to breathe. This couldn’t be happening. My mind ran a hundred miles an hour, but my body refused to move.
Again, I had to wonder, What the hell is wrong with me? And why the hell was I still staring at him like an idiot? There was something terribly wrong with me. No doubt. If not, I would’ve gotten to my feet and run the opposite way, screaming at the top of my lungs. Not staring at him, feeling attracted to a guy that had just… murdered four people. My heart clenched and my blood rushed in frenzy.
“I’m extremely sorry… You shouldn’t have seen that… I’m normally more careful.”
Normally? Careful? He’d done this before? And often?
I was consumed by panic. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but be hypnotized by his presence, as if I had no choice in the matter. What was it about him that had me so ensnarled like petty prey?
His lips curved into a delicious grin. My heart beat erratically and my head felt light. This time it was for a completely different reason.
Yup, I definitely needed to be institutionalized.
“You know, it’s customary to say your name when someone introduces himself.”
What? He was joking, right?
“I was told not to talk to strangers,” I said, half-dazed, half-scared shitless. I looked behind him at the SUV, still running. “Who the hell are you? What are you?”
Axel dodged my scrutiny just for a second before composing himself. “They would’ve killed us.”
“Those people… they turned into red glitter…” More confusion dawned. I didn’t even understand why I wanted answers. Maybe a part of me wanted to know I wasn’t crazy.
“Do hallucinations run in your family?” he mocked.
“Go to hell! Have a nice life,” I said, sounding way more confident than I felt.
I jumped up without his help, ignoring the pain shooting down my body.
“Nice life in hell?” he asked, amused.
I turned and walked away.
“Wait.” He paced behind me.
“What? Calling me crazy wasn’t enough?” I stopped abruptly and turned to scowl at him.
We were close. Too close. My face was inches from his. My mouth parted and my eyes darted to his yummilicious full lips.
His eyes softened. “I wouldn’t ask you out for coffee if I thought you were crazy.”
“You didn’t.”
He grinned. “Will you go out for a cup of coffee?”
I laughed. “You’re full of shit.”
He looked at me like he didn’t understand my reaction. I took a moment to consider, my eyes piercing his, making him shift his weight between his feet.
Good.
“Tell me the truth.”
He considered my demand for a few minutes. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Okay what?”
“Okay, I’ll tell you the truth.”
“Spill. I’m waiting,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and tapping my foot.
Axel’s features darkened, taking on a dangerous glint.
Whoa! What did I say now, moody Frankenstein?
A metallic crunching noise resonated, drawing my attention to the culprit. At the end of Axel’s palm, a red knife peeked out. The blood trickled from his hand, making my head spin like I was swept into a whirlpool.
Axel turned around and jabbed the attacker in the chest, sending him flying. He ran toward the assailant, grabbing his dagger on the way. The guy blocked Axel’s initial kick to his chest, then threw a roundhouse kick to Axel’s head. He dodged the kick by sliding on his knees under the attacker.
He came running toward Axel, who braced himself on one knee. Using the attacker’s momentum, he threw him on the asphalt and plunged the dagger into his heart, leaving behind a pile of glistening red dust.
I ran toward Axel, panicked. When I saw droplets of his blood hit the asphalt, I felt like a part of me bled too.
“Shit.” He looked at his bleeding hand. “This is going to be a problem.” He chuckled in amusement and turned around. “You’re a distraction,” he said pointedly.
“Oh my God. You’re bleeding. That thing…” I started to say, pointing at the now barely visible dust.
“Goarder.”
“What?”
“Those things are called Goarders.”
Really? He wanted to educate me. Now? I reached for his hand, but he pulled away lightning fast, like I shocked him. I settled my hands onto my hips. “You need to get that looked at, before—”
“Don’t worry about it.” He wiped the blood on the side of his shirt. “It’s a small scratch.”
“No freaking way! I know what I saw. You were bleeding like you hit an artery.”
He laughed. “Now you’re seeing things too?”
I scowled.
“How about I buy you coffee and answer your questions?”
Un-freaking-believable. I considered his offer to answer my questions, which my curious mind desperately wanted. Truthfully, what I witnessed today should have had me peeing in my pants. And at one point, I almost did. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I was more scared to spend time with him.
“So… how about that coffee?” he prompted, again.
Persistent—cute.
Arrogant—not so much.
“You don’t give up, do you?”
He grinned cheek-to-cheek in response. “I’ve been told I have a tendency to stick like crazy glue.”
I stopped myself before a smirk crossed my lips. Two can play that game. “Fine. But only if… If we meet again, then…”
He chuckled with his warm-honey voice. “You really are going to make me earn my date, aren’t you?”
“Date? Who said anything about a date?” I turned around and walked toward my car across the street. This mysterious boy had snared me with his wit in less than thirty minutes.
“I’ll see you soon, Meus Amor Aeternus. I promise,” he called after me.
A huge idiotic grin spread across my face. I hadn’t smiled like this in a long time. And he put it there.
CHAPTER THREE
I still couldn’t shake off the edge from the previous night events. Like a constant thorn in my foot, the visual of Axel and what I witnessed kept flooding my mind.
What was Axel? Was he even human? And those things that attacked us… him… I shuddered at the image that was permanently tattooed into the nightmare section of my brain.
I shook my head to rid those images and focus on my first day of senior year, which surprisingly sucked ass. Four classes down and I already had a reading assignment, five-page paper, and a quiz by the end of the week. If this were any indication of how my life would be for the rest of the year, I would rather be a deer during hunting season.
“I hate my senior year,” Stella Dalton, class valedictorian and present day ‘Dean fling,’ said. “We’re placing the future of our world in the hands of idiots.”
“The rest of us are struggling to understand what the hell is going on,” Christian said.
“Not all of us are geniuses, Ella,” I said, irritated by her attitude.
Dean placed his arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap. “Y’all are just jealous,” he said, burying his face in her red locks.
“Stop.” She playfully nudged him, giggling. “If you keep this up, my daddy’s going to bring out his shotgun.”
“Nothing I can’t handle, sexy
,” he replied dipping in for another smooch-a-thon.
“Nice,” Landon said, joining us.
He grabbed Pey and gave her a rather long kiss.
“Mmm. Minty fresh,” Pey purred.
“Oh my God, this is turning into a lunchroom orgy. P-G guys,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I need to find a new set of friends who don’t suck face every few seconds.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my stomach coiled tightly. I froze. I looked over my shoulder toward the cafeteria doors. My jaw hung open.
“Pernell, do you need a rag to wipe off some of that drool?” Dean was getting hysterical.
“Shut up, douche.” I turned to Pey and lowered my mouth to her ear. “What do you see over there?” I pointed toward the doors and was really hoping I imagined him.
Really. Really hoping.
A wicked grin formed on Pey’s lips. “Damn hot sexy hunk-a-meat, that’s what.”
“Crap.”
I cleared my throat and counted to five before I felt Axel’s presence right behind me, like an imprint on my soul. It was absolutely amazing and terrifying just how in tune I was to him. Especially since I’d known him for all of thirty minutes. I took a deep breath and turned around.
“Hi.” His mouth turned up on one side.
Holy lips, Batman!
My heart skipped a beat.
He accessorized his black Helix cargo shorts and gray, skull T-shirt with Tony Hawk sneakers and a leather cuff watch around his left wrist. As I continued my assessment, I let out a pathetic sigh. His toned biceps worked against his shirt, which hugged his body, showing just enough to tease and taunt me into wishing to see more.
Clean up on aisle three. Customer slipped in her own drool.
I cleared my throat, feeling the heat pool in my cheeks as I stood up on weak knees. “H-hi.”
“Did you sleep well… last night?”
My head snapped up, finding his blue eyes staring back at me. I nodded with a faint smile. My heart hammered against my chest. Did he know I dreamt about him last night? About us? Not possible, right? Maybe his Alien mojo could? God, I hope not.
“Where are my manners? I’m Pey, Ren’s best friend. And who’s the man that stole my best friend’s heart?” Pey asked, putting her arm around my waist and her chin on my shoulder.
Dracian Legacy Page 2
