I shrugged, smiling in pleasure, “It’s something that Dad and I have always done together. I like starting with a piece of wood, and seeing where it takes me.”
“It’s perfect,” my grandfather said, taking it from my grandmother and holding it up for everyone to see. “This is the symbol of our heritage. It’s proof that the Jacksons will rise and fight again.”
“Yes, Papa,” I agreed, “we will fight.”
“Yes,” the others chorused loudly as one.
Smiling, I walked over to the tree and grabbed the last present under it. I’d put it there early this morning, before anyone else was awake. Turning, I crossed the room to stand in front of Alyiah, where she sat in the far corner by herself. Handing her the dark green gift bag, I waited patiently until she accepted it. Her lips trembled as she slowly pulled out the tissue paper. “I’m sorry, Alyiah,” I said softly, as she held up the small frame, the picture of Bellame inside. “I had no right to take that from you.” When Alyiah dropped the bag and clutched the frame tightly to her chest, I knelt in front of her chair. “I’ve thought a lot about this, and I know you did what you did because you loved us. You sacrificed so much for me and my sister. I just want you to know that I understand.”
Tears filled Alyiah’s eyes as she reached out to cup my cheek. “You do?”
I nodded. “I do. You left my father years ago. You told him it was over. I remember. You sent Bellame away when she was a baby. You sent me away. But you did everything you did for one reason, and one reason only. Because you loved us. All of us.”
Alyiah began to cry, her fingers falling from my face as she clasped the picture to her again. “It broke my heart to send Bellame away. Alex came to see you off and on, but I never saw her after the day she was born. I held her in my arms briefly, and then Alex took her away. I don’t even know where she is, Blayke. I wouldn’t let him tell me where he took her. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to stay away. Alex still went to check on her, though. He stole some pictures of her to give to me, so I would know she was alive and well. I hid them in the clearing, where I could see them when I got a chance to slip away.” A sob left her throat as she whispered, “I just wanted her to be safe. She was my baby. They would have hunted her. Killed her.”
“That’s another reason you refuse to hunt,” I said. “It’s not just because of my father.”
“What if I had to kill her?” Alyiah cried. “I couldn’t kill my own baby. My flesh and blood. I won’t hunt, Blayke. I won’t.”
“I understand,” I said softly, covering her hand with mine. “You don’t have to.”
Her eyes rested on our hands and she nodded. “Thank you.”
No, she couldn’t hunt. She would be a liability in a fight, always worried if Bellame or my father were going to suddenly be on the other end of one of her daggers. The question was, what would I do if I found myself in that position? The answer came to me easily. I would do whatever it took to protect my friends.
I stood at the top of the big hill beside The Manor, holding the rope to my sled and laughing as I watched Chandler, Brielle, and Dahlia racing down it on a toboggan. I was surprised at how fast it went, and was excited to see if I could get my sled to go any faster. Sledding was another family tradition. It was something we did together every year, right after opening presents. Even though the old memories were bittersweet without my mother here, I was making new ones with my friends, and somehow, I could feel her watching over us as we played.
Glancing at Eben, I grinned. “Your turn!”
“Ladies first,” he said, gesturing toward the bottom of the hill, his eyes sparkling with laughter.
Looking back at Asher where he stood just behind me, I raised an eyebrow. “What about you?”
He just smiled, keeping silent. Shaking my head, I grabbed my bright red plastic sled, positioning it in front of me. Laying down on it, I made sure the rope was tucked inside, and then got ready to push off with my hands. Suddenly, I heard a loud whoop behind me and I squealed when Asher leaped forward, covering me and grabbing the sides of my sled tightly as he pushed off with his feet. Then we were flying down the hill, the cold, brisk wind hitting my face as I giggled uncontrollably. I heard another shout, and soon Eben was passing us on his sled, swerving over and covering us with snow before pulling further ahead. Closing my eyes tightly to avoid the snow that was hitting us from Eben’s sled, I buried my head in my arms, enjoying the feel of the wind rushing by.
“Hold on!” Asher yelled, and I felt the sled tipping to one side, and then we were upright again and going down another, smaller hill that the others had avoided.
“Asher!” I screamed, when I looked up in time to see that we were heading straight into the forest.
Asher tightened his hold on the sled as he quickly guided it out of the way of first one tree, and then another. The last one he swerved to miss, we weren’t so lucky, and we ended up in a pile of snow, laughing when I landed on my back, Asher in the snow beside me.
Rolling to his side, he leaned over me and grinned. “Now, that was fun!”
“Yes, it was,” I agreed, unable to contain more laughter that broke free. I was lying on the ground, in freezing cold snow, and I should have been miserable. But my heart was filled with so much emotion right now; joy, peace, hope, love, and also sadness because even though I had gained so much over the past couple of months, I had lost just as much.
“You are so beautiful,” Asher whispered, and my heart stuttered as he began to lower his head toward mine. He hadn’t kissed me since that night by the fireplace. Had not even tried to hold my hand. I had begun to think that kiss that meant so much to me, didn’t mean as much to him. That maybe it was a kiss given in friendship, when I wanted so much more.
“Asher.” His name was a breath on my lips, spoken so softly I wasn’t sure he even heard.
“So beautiful,” he repeated, right before his mouth touched mine. My eyes fluttered, closing as he deepened the kiss. It was so sweet and gentle, just like the first one had been. I could hear the noise in the background, Dahlia’s squeal of delight, Eben’s shout of laughter, but all I could think about was Asher’s lips on mine. Was it always like this, I wondered? So breathtakingly perfect? I felt Asher cup my cheek, and I shivered when some of the snow from his glove slipped down my neck. “We better get back,” he said, but I could tell he didn’t really want to.
Opening my eyes, I smiled up at him mischievously. “You’re right, we better,” I agreed, right before bringing a glove full of snow up and rubbing it in his face. Laughing, I shoved him away and sprang to my feet, grabbing the rope to my sled and running back toward the hill, Asher right behind me.
Later that night I sat on the couch near the fireplace after everyone else went to bed, my legs curled up beneath me, and my hands wrapped around a large cup of hot chocolate. The day had turned out to be much better than I thought it was going to be when I woke up that morning. Even though I missed my mother terribly, my family and friends were here for me, showing me that I would never have to be alone.
“Would you like some company?” I knew Asher was behind me before he spoke. I felt him the minute he walked into the room. It was as if we were somehow connected. I always seemed to know when he was near.
Patting the cushion next to me, I smiled, “Yes, please.”
He sat down and slipped an arm around my waist, pulling me close. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, feeling content for the first time in a long time.
Asher stared silently into the flames before finally asking, “How did Eben know what was going on last night? With the picture?”
I stiffened at his slightly accusing tone, but I heard the underlying hurt in his voice, and I couldn’t get mad. He thought I was sharing secrets with Eben that I hadn’t shared with him. Knowing I would have been just as upset in his shoes, I snuggled closer and murmured, “He followed me out to the clearing the other night. I had no idea he was there at first. I was too caught up in what I was doing, an
d I was trying to remember how to get there.”
“You’d been there before?”
“Yes, a long time ago, when I was just a child.” I told him the story of that night, how my birth father saved me and took me to the clearing where Alyiah found us later. And how angry Alex got when she refused to see him anymore. “It didn’t make sense to me that he never came back,” I said, taking a small sip of my hot chocolate. “I knew there was more to the story, so I snuck out the other night and went to the clearing. I honestly didn’t think that I would find anything there. It just felt like something was pushing me in that direction.” When Asher was quiet, I went on, “I was already there when I figured out Eben had followed me. While we were talking, I noticed some footprints by the small lake, and followed them to a tree. Eben is the one who found the hiding spot. He found the pictures.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Asher finally asked quietly.
Raising my eyes to his, I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, Asher. I’m sorry. I guess I am just used to keeping things bottled up inside.”
His gaze darkening, Asher nodded, “I can understand that.”
“Asher,” I whispered, turning to set my cup on the coffee table before sliding my arms around his waist and resting my head on his chest, “I really am sorry. I didn’t keep it from you on purpose. I just wasn’t sure how to deal with it at the time.”
Holding me close, Asher settled his chin on the top of my head. “I haven’t exactly been the most open with you, either,” he finally said.
“What do you mean?”
Asher sighed, his arms tightening around me. “It means, I haven’t told you my story yet.”
“You don’t have to, Asher.”
“I do.”
“Not until you are ready.”
“I’m ready.”
“Okay,” I whispered, my heart beginning to pound as I waited for him to begin. I had no idea what he was about to tell me, but I knew it wasn’t going to be good. “If you are sure.”
“I grew up in this life, Blayke,” he said, laying his cheek on my head and inhaling deeply. “I have been training to fight rogue vampires since I was four years old. I come from a long line of hunters. I am a Hendrix, and we have been around almost as long as the Jacksons. The lion is considered our guardian, like the dragon is yours.”
Hendrix, I thought, trying to remember where I had heard that name before. “I thought your last name was Abbot?”
“I made it up.”
“Why?” I asked in confusion. “Why would you change your name?”
“Because, for now, I’m in hiding.”
“From who?”
“My family.”
Leaning back, I looked at him, “I don’t understand, Asher.”
“I know,” he said, sighing as he pulled me back down into his arms. “I trained hard under my father and two uncles for over eleven years, Blayke. Eleven long, lonely, miserable years. It wasn’t the fighting that I hated. I don’t mind that. I’m even good at it. It was more about my social life, or lack of it. While most kids were out at football games, parties, or movies, I was studying up on the best ways to kill a vampire. I had no friends. No one to talk to except for my mother, and my brother and sister. I was lonely.”
“What happened?” I asked quietly, knowing that whatever Asher was about to tell me, it was something that had hurt him deeply. I could feel his pain, almost as if it were my own.
“We went hunting one night, just me and my Uncle Victor. I was in the middle of watching a movie with my sister and didn’t want to go, but he made me. Said I had messed up in training on a drill that day, and I needed something more up close and personal.” Asher paused, before whispering, “That was the night I saw my first real vampire. We were jumped by five of them. I managed to take out one, and my uncle got two more, but the others got the jump on us. They grabbed my uncle, and before I knew it, they hit me with something, knocking me out. I came to later in the woods by myself. It took me a while to find my way home and tell my father what happened, and when they went looking for my uncle, they couldn’t find him.”
“That wasn’t your fault, Asher,” I interrupted. “You were just a kid.”
“I was fifteen,” he muttered.
“Still, just a kid,” I insisted. I waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t I asked, “Did they find him?”
“He found us,” Asher growled. “Less than a week later he showed up at the house, but he wasn’t alone.” I cringed, knowing what was coming next. “They had changed him. Made him one of them, and he loved it. Said it made him stronger…happier. He wanted to change all of us. Wanted us to be one big blood-sucking family.”
“Asher.” I didn’t know what to say. My father was born a vampire, as was my sister, but his uncle was taken and turned against his will. Not only that, but by the sounds of it, he was a rogue vampire.
“Victor gave us all a choice. He said that we either accepted the life of a vampire, or we died. There were no other options.” A shudder ran through him as he said, “He called it a gift, and when we all refused his gift, he went into a rage. He and his new friends killed my mother and father. I tried to help them, but there was nothing I could do.” I heard the tears in his voice when he rasped, “They killed my brother next and then went after my sister, Marion. She wasn’t a fighter, Blayke. She had such a kind, gentle soul. I managed to kill one of the vampires that grabbed her, but the other sank his fangs into her neck before I could get to her. It all happened so fast. One minute they were alive, the next they were all gone.”
Tightening my arms around his waist, I held him close, my heart breaking for him. “I am so sorry, Asher.”
“My other uncle, Cale, was the one who saved me. He took the dagger like the one you gave me today, and shoved it into Victor’s chest, but unfortunately, he missed his heart. He was screaming at me to run. I didn’t want to leave him, but I knew I didn’t have a choice when Victor pulled the knife from his chest and sliced Cale’s neck open with it. I ran from the house, grabbing my dad’s keys from where they hung by the door on my way out. I have no idea how I made it to the car before Victor and the other vampires got to me, but I did.”
“Where did you go?”
“At first I just drove. I was lucky that I had a full tank of gas, and I made it a ways before I finally stopped. I was so tired, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. It was morning, so I knew I was safe for the day at least. I slept in the car for a couple of hours, and then I headed toward North Dakota to a cabin my dad told me about one time. He said if anything ever happened, I was to go there. That no one knew about the place except him and my mom. I had my wallet, so was able to pay for gas and something to eat with some cash I had in it.” Rubbing his chin on my head, he whispered, “It seemed like it took forever to get there. I was so scared when it got dark. I was alone, with no weapons, no way to protect myself. I had never been so happy to see a place as I was that cabin when I finally pulled up in front of it. I was surprised to find that it had running water and electricity, but that was just like my dad. He was always planning for anything and everything that could possibly happen. It took me a while, but I went through the entire place and found the weapons and money Dad had hidden throughout it.”
“What happened next?”
“I stayed there for a few days. I felt safe, well as safe as I could with vampires after me. I made a trip to the small town nearby for some groceries, and then hid and began to plan my next move.”
“You weren’t safe, were you?” Somehow, I knew he wasn’t.
“No,” Asher sighed, running a hand lightly over my hair. “I guess my dad was wrong. He and mom weren’t the only ones who knew about the cabin.”
Squeezing him tighter, I asked, “Victor?”
I felt Asher nod as he confirmed, “Yeah. He showed up a week or so later, and he wasn’t alone.”
I thought for a moment, something he had said at the beginning of the conversation nagging at me.
“You said you were running from your family?”
“Yes.” His response was so quiet I almost didn’t hear it.
“With what you have told me, the only family you had left was Victor, right?” When he didn’t answer, I whispered, “Which one did he turn?” Still no answer. The answer sank in, tearing a sharp “No!” from me. I shook my head in denial, raising my eyes to look at him. “It was Marion, wasn’t it?” Marion, the sister who was so innocent. The one I could tell Asher was closest to just from our brief conversation.
Asher’s eyes filled with anger. “Yes,” he ground out through gritted teeth. “I guess she wasn’t dead like I thought. The bastard was changing her, not killing her.”
“Maybe she isn’t evil, Asher,” I said, reaching up to cradle his face in my hand. “If she was kind and sweet before she was changed, then she could be the same now.”
“She tried to kill me while the others watched,” Asher whispered. “I barely escaped with my life.” I didn’t know what to say. What if I did run into Bellame someday, and she did the same thing? I had never even met my twin before, but somehow, I knew I would be devastated if she tried to sink her fangs into me and end my life. “I ran, and I continued to run for over a year before I ended up here. I never saw them again, but I was tired of running. I decided it was time to fight, and if I had to go up against my own family to survive, then I would. I won’t ever run again, Blayke.”
“We stand and fight together, Asher.” I saw moisture fill his eyes right before I slowly closed the distance between us, kissing him softly.
A couple of weeks later, I decided it was time to face my fears. I refused to allow innocent people to die because I was afraid of the very thing I was born to hunt. Running lightly down the stairs to the basement, I stopped at the bottom and looked around. Eben and Brielle were sparring, Asher was pounding the punching bag, and Chandler was in the corner talking to my dad and grandfather about something. Taking a deep breath, I yelled, “Listen up!” When all eyes turned my way, I took a step toward them and settled my hands on my hips. “Gear up. We leave in twenty minutes.”
Blayke Page 15
