Wanted

by Annika James

  Back Cover

  Young Adult Paranormal Romance by Annika James

  Attacked as a young witch and left for dead, Ashlinn is deathly afraid of being bitten again. Having survived until she’s almost eighteen without donating blood to any of her vamp friends, Ashlinn figures she’ll continue to live bite-free. After her crush reveals how powerful she is, however, the Vampire Council declares she be claimed as a familiar, which requires biting. Ashlinn doesn’t want to be owned, even by hot vamp, Conor. Luckily, her best friend, Matt, volunteers for the job. She is given one week to choose her protector, and the list of willing biters keeps growing. Will she go with best friend Matt, hot vamp Conor, or someone else to protect her? Will she be able to get her power under control by then? Will she overcome her phobia of being bitten? And who says she needs to be protected, anyhow?

  Wanted

  Annika James

  MuseItUp Publishing

  www.museituppublishing.com

  Chapter One

  I fled Mrs. McCormac’s room and walked swiftly to my locker to deposit my books, the last ten minutes a blur in my mind. I let out a slow breath and tried to will myself to calm, but my hands trembled as I eased shut the locker door. Leaning my forehead against the cool metal, my thoughts drifted back to the scene in the classroom.

  Magick was forbidden in school, a rule I had never broken, but McCormac ticked me off, and suddenly books started falling off shelves. Not an avalanche, just one or two plopping to the floor, but enough to rattle me. What happened to my rock solid control? Why was it so tenuous lately? I whispered a quick calming spell and felt my anxiety ease slightly, only to be replaced with my earlier irritation. Nothing angered me more than prejudiced humans, which is what McCormac apparently was. I held onto my anger because it was more comfortable than the underlying fear of my loss of control. One last breath and I continued to the cafeteria.

  The din of the lunchroom only fueled my ire as I filled my tray and stalked to my usual table. All the happy students discussing the coming weekend or last night’s game annoyed me. Ugh. They didn’t care about my fight with McCormac over vampire rights, or my poltergeistesque episode with the books. Briefly, I entertained the idea of shocking them all by making their trays dance, but it would probably just get me expelled. I approached our table, where everyone was already eating, and set my tray down with a clatter.

  “Crap, Ash, what’s your problem?” Cora, my vampire best friend, put her hand to her chest. I sat with a huff, heedless of what my rising anger could do. Like vampires could have heart attacks. Hadn’t she heard me coming? From across the table, Matt—my other vampire best friend—frowned, brows drawn together.

  “Mrs. McCormac is a huge beyotch.” I stabbed my mashed potatoes.

  “And you have to take it out on us?” Megan narrowed her chocolate-colored eyes at me from across the table. I glared at her. She’d been flirting with Matt the last few days and had obviously decided to take it to the next level and join him for lunch. Yay.

  “Yeah. You sit here, you deal with my moods.” I turned back to my potatoes. I swore I could feel her roll her eyes at me. I chose to ignore her. Matt should just bite her and be done with her. Full-blooded humans tended to give me the willies.

  “What did McCormac do today?” Matt asked me, his blue eyes narrowed in concern. He knew her anti-vampire stance, even in a school populated with them she remained an ignorant human. Matt had been there for me since, well, since the beginning. Since the night I was introduced to vampires. I gave him a grateful half-smile, feeling some of my irritation fade.

  “I wrote my Civics paper on vampire rights. And she told me it was all wrong. We were supposed to write about an issue from the Constitution. And I told her there were bills in Congress now to add to the Constitution and doesn’t that count, and she said no and gave me a zero. Zero. There’s no way I can get my grade up now. I’ll be lucky to pass Civics at all.”

  As I finished my tirade, my tray rattled; my control was slipping. Matt’s eyes widened, taking in the scene before me.

  “Um, Ash?” Cora’s voice was quiet, her attention also on the tray now spattering little bits of mashed potatoes and meatloaf on the table. Anger melded into fear. I gripped the shaking brown plastic and blew out a breath, forcing my power back under control. Not again. Lately, anytime I got emotional, things started flying, like the books in McCormac’s room. Not good.

  Next to Matt, and seemingly unaware, Megan scoffed as she speared a cherry tomato with her fork. She brandished the mutilated fruit at me.

  “Why would you want to write about vampire rights anyway?” She stuffed the tomato in her mouth and chewed, raising her eyebrows at me in question. The table fell silent.

  I just stared at her, hands still holding my tray down, just in case. “Are you serious?” Okay, she was not earning any points from me.

  Matt cleared his throat, giving a small shake of his head. She didn’t know? She didn’t know she was eating lunch with at least three vampires? She didn’t know the boy she’d been flirting with was a full-blown vampire? I wasn’t a vamp, I was a witch. I did, however, support vampires and their rights. I couldn’t believe Megan was too dumb to figure out Matt was a vamp. It wasn’t like vamps kept their identities secret. Well, not all of them anyway.

  She picked at more of her salad, oblivious to the sudden tension at the table, and turned to her friend.

  Matt took a bite of his rare burger, his pale skin practically glowing in the fluorescent light of the cafeteria. The signs were all there. Dumbfounded, I gave him a wide-eyed look of disbelief. He shrugged and concentrated on his lunch. With confusion, I turned my attention back to my tray, now still, and tried to wipe up some of the mess I’d made.

  What was Matt doing? I was sure he’d never kept his vampness a secret before. I mean, the school was full of vamps and witches, like me, along with humans like Megan. It was reality. Everyone got along, for the most part.

  Cora was a vamp, too, although her family was not as important as Matt’s was; his parents were bigwigs on the Vampire Council, the ruling body of American vampires. Cora, my best friend since the first day of freshman year, laid a hand on my arm to calm me. Damn vamp mind tricks. At least my tray hadn’t pulled a poltergeist and gone flying on its own. That was a plus.

  Instead of fighting Cora, I let her calming presence work on me. I tucked my light brown hair behind my ears with my free hand, blew out a slow breath, and resumed eating.

  Near the end of lunch period, as I tipped my milk back for the last swallow, Conor glided over. As I could not gasp and swallow at the same time, I sputtered, coughing. Cora pounded me on the back. Like a dream, he moved to Matt’s side with a smile that melted butter and eyes that pierced my soul. The color of emeralds, they shone with an inner light. They stood out on his pale, angular face beneath a shock of shaggy black hair. It was artfully messy, as though he’d just gotten out of bed—sexy. My fingers itched to touch the thick waves. I resisted. No need for him to think I was psychotic.

  He crouched and spoke in low tones to Matt, a tendril of that amazing hair falling in his eyes. Matt kept his gaze on his food and nodded, speaking just as softly. I was a little jealous: Matt was his friend, spent time with him, got whispers in his ear from him.

  I’d frozen the moment he’d arrived; however, I hadn’t realized I was staring until Cora nudged me. “Could you be more obvious?” she whispered.

  I blushed and looked at her. Her amber eyes danced with mirth as she twisted a lock of mahogany hair around her finger and winked at me, face alight with humor. She knew my obsession, had known about it since the first day I’d seen Conor in the cafeteria and my jaw fell open in response to his beauty.

  Even though I’d never spoken to him, I was oddly compelled by him. Wh
en he looked at me, or at least in my direction, I felt like we knew each other, recognized each other’s souls. Cheesy, and maybe I read too many romance novels, but that was how it felt.

  As he stood, he swept the table with his eyes, giving us all a smile. When his gaze stopped on me, I tried to hold it. Did his smile widen? He winked before turning and gliding out of the cafeteria.

  I swallowed hard and turned to Cora. “Did he wink at me?”

  She thought a moment, tapping a finger on her pointed chin. “I wasn’t sure if it was at you or just at the table in general, but we can say he winked at you.” She gave me an encouraging smile.

  “Give it up, Ash,” Matt chided, fingers playing with his fork. “Conor doesn’t even know you’re alive.”

  I gave him a one-finger salute and scowled. “Well, he would if a certain friend would help me out.”

  He chuckled while avoiding my accusing glare. “He’s having a party Saturday, you could come with me. Although, Victoria will be there.”

  I grimaced at the sound of Victoria’s name. Conor’s girlfriend—vamp, gorgeous, shiny black hair, big, dark doe eyes, like a model. Yeah, the competition was fierce. I knew I didn’t stand a chance. I wasn’t even a vampire. I was only a witch, an average height witch, with average looks. I would never compare to Victoria. So, yeah, that left me pretty much with no chance in hell.

  Yet, I couldn’t stop. The boy showed up in my dreams, my daydreams, my thoughts, everywhere. He was simply embedded in my soul and I could not let go, no matter what I tried. Spell after spell, I tried to force him out of my mind, but nothing worked, which was part of the reason I felt we had some small connection, though seemingly all on my side.

  “Will it be a v…” My eyes shifted to Megan, still talking to her friend, not paying attention to what I was saying. Still, if Matt didn’t want her to know, I’d play along.

  “Will it just be all your friends?” By friends, I meant vamps only. Wasn’t sure how I’d handle being in a room full of vamps I didn’t really know, or trust.

  He shook his head. “No, it’s a general populace party.”

  Oh good, I wouldn’t be out of place. “Can I really come?”

  Matt shrugged and nodded. He glanced at Megan. She completely ignored our side of the table, unaware of the details of our discussion.

  Still, he lowered his voice a little, leaning across the table toward me. “Sure, we can all go. Maybe you’ll actually talk to him for once,” he teased, eyes bright.

  I stuck my tongue out at him as the bell rang, eliciting a laugh.

  At my locker, Cora questioned me without taking a breath. “Are you sure you want to go to this? Wait, what am I saying? Of course you want to go.”

  I grinned, not even trying to slip in a word, and pulled out books for my afternoon classes.

  She leaned on the locker next to mine, idly tracing some scratches in the metal. “It’s just… Aren’t you setting yourself up for major disappointment?”

  I stood and looked at her sharply. I thought she was with me on this.

  She tried a quick cover-up. “I mean, he is very much with Victoria, and you haven’t ever talked to him, and I just don’t want you getting your hopes up and then end up hurt. There’s lots of fish out there. And non-vamp fish, too…you know, since you’re kinda not…vamp.”

  The slam of the locker door echoed in the hallway as I shut it with a little more force than I intended.

  “Cora, I appreciate your worry. But I don’t think me being a witch and not a vamp has anything to do with it. There are a lot of mixed couples.” Cora gave me a reproachful look and I corrected myself, “Okay, a few. They seem to get along just fine. As long as one retains some self-control, you told me yourself, I would be perfectly safe dating a vamp.”

  She shifted uncomfortably. “Well, yeah, for the most part…but Conor is…I mean, his family is…well, it’s like crushing on one of the princes of England.”

  I sighed. I knew Conor’s parents held even more important positions on the Vampire Council than Matt’s did and probably wouldn’t want their son dating a lowly witch. I just couldn’t help the way I felt inexplicably drawn to him.

  “I know, Cora. I just…I can’t explain the way I feel. I mean, honestly, if I could make myself stop I would. I see how ridiculous it is. There’s just something about him.”

  “Something about who?” I jumped. Matt was suddenly at my side.

  “Hello!” I held a hand to my chest and felt my heart beating wildly. “Non-vamp senses here. Could you please not sneak up on me?” Cora was unmoved; she’d probably heard him coming.

  “Whom,” she corrected automatically.

  “Sorry,” he said without meaning it, whether for scaring me or the grammar error, he didn’t clarify. With his signature half-grin, he continued. “Were you talking about Conor again?”

  Cora grinned. “I was just telling our lovesick friend to be careful and not expect anything.”

  I looked at Matt, exasperated. “I don’t expect anything, believe me. I am perfectly aware of how invisible I am and how out of my league he is. Like I said, I’m just drawn to him—”

  I walked into something solid and bounced off. Pain blossomed in my nose and I found myself flailing backward, books flying, trying not to end up on my rear. A pair of hands caught my arms and steadied me. My books crashed to the floor.

  “Easy there. Sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” The voice was deep and full of mirth, and strangely familiar.

  As my vision cleared of stars, I looked up and found myself staring into emerald eyes. My own eyes widened in response, breath coming out in a gasp.

  As Conor gazed at me, his expression warmed.

  “Ashlinn, right? Are you okay?” His voice flowed over my skin.

  He knew my name. He knew my name. And he looked genuinely concerned.

  I swallowed, trying to find my voice. “Um. Yeah, just my nose, it’ll stop stinging in a bit. I’m really sorry, are you okay?” Inwardly, I cursed how stupid I sounded.

  He chuckled and bent to gather my books. As he handed them to me, he winked. Two winks in one day, my heart nearly burst out of my chest.

  “I think I’ll make it. You’d have to use more than a cute nose to hurt me.” His smile was blinding. My hand flew to my nose instinctively. He thought my nose was cute, not huge? Conor seemed to finally notice Matt. “Matt, these ladies with you?”

  Matt shrugged from my side, and grinned. “With me with me, not so much. Don’t think I haven’t offered.”

  I swatted at Matt. “We are his friends.”

  Cora stood off to the left, watching the entire exchange. Excitement radiated from her.

  Conor nodded and turned to me. “Well, you guys should come with Matt to the party.” He looked at Cora. “You’ll fit right in. You should hang out with us more.”

  She smiled, snapping out of her trance. “I’ve been telling Matt the same thing. Thanks.”

  The vamps all chuckled. Great. Disappointment seeped into my moment, and I was aware more than ever how much I didn’t fit with Conor.

  “Ashlinn, you are always welcome. Any friend of Matt’s…”

  He leaned toward me, those green eyes getting bigger and bigger, so I could see flecks of gold in them. I struggled to keep my world from turning on end. He whispered as I inhaled his woodsy cologne. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.”

  His breath warmed my ear and his low chuckle raised goosebumps on my entire body. My eyes closed, blocking out the sight of his gorgeous hair. I wanted this moment to last forever. And then I felt cold. With impossible vamp speed he was halfway down the hallway, throwing a “See you Saturday,” over his shoulder.

  Matt’s mouth hung open. When he noticed me looking, he snapped it shut.

  “Doesn’t even know I’m alive, huh?” I nudged him. “He knew my name. My freaking name. How? Why?”

  Matt shook his head slowly, still staring in the direction Conor had gone.

  Cora gi
ggled and grabbed my arm. “I totally thought he was going to bite you right here. Or kiss you. I take back everything I said earlier. He knows you’re alive. Matt, do you talk about us?”

  We started toward class again. Matt’s brows were drawn together, lips pursed. He blinked. “Um, what? No, not really.”

  Cora nodded excitedly. “So he just knew. He totally flirted with you.” She practically bounced down the hallway.

  My mind struggled to process the entire scene. “Maybe he can read my mind. Maybe he knows I like him and he was just screwing with me. You know, some guys are mean like that.”

  Matt shook his head again. “Conor can’t read minds. It’s not one of his strengths. He can’t even get much of a read on feelings.”

  Okay, so that blew my theory. The only other option was too mind-blowing to believe, but I voiced it anyway. “So that means he somehow found out my name and invited me to the party.” I was babbling, the excitement overtaking my better judgment. Conor flirted with me. With me.

  The rest of the day passed in a blur. All I could think about was the look in Conor’s eyes as he’d leaned toward me to whisper in my ear. The fresh, woodsy smell of him, his smile—I was even more infatuated than I’d been before, if that were possible.

  Chapter Two

  All I could think about leading up to Saturday was Conor’s party and our altercation in the hall. Finally I was sitting in Matt’s backseat, behind a tall, thin vamp named Steven. Next to me, Cora kept sneaking glances at his close-cropped blond hair and big brown eyes. She was totally into him, but would never admit it.

  The guys sat in the front seat, scanning through Matt’s iPod. They’d pick a song, listen to it for a while, and then skip to another one. It was getting annoying.

  “Will you guys just let us listen to a whole song?” I demanded when they’d skipped out of one of my favorites. I rubbed my hands on my favorite jeans and picked at my shirt, pulse speeding up in anticipation as we got closer to the party.