They knew Zack was alive, and they had a plan to get to him. All hell would break loose if that happened. If they killed him, turned him, it would create something they’d been waiting for forever. A creature more terrifying than Satan himself. He’d be used to strengthen the clan, to create super-powerful Vampires that could flood the streets, night and day. The world would change overnight. Humans would become nothing more than cattle.
As much as she wanted to, she didn’t care about any of that. Zack was all that mattered to her and he was all that ever would.
“Come on, Mark,” she whispered. “Where are you?”
Chapter Eighteen
“What do you look so pleased about?” Mark never did like it when his brother was in possession of a smirk. It always meant something awful was on the horizon. “Never mind. I don’t think I want to know.”
Mitch shrugged and flung himself down on the oversized sofa in the middle of the room. “We’re due a family reunion, is all.”
Mark turned slowly, putting the book he’d been reading face down on the night stand. There had to be a reason his twin had come into his room, and his words seemed to suggest something worse than awful.
“Oh? Is Audrey being transferred to Midnight?” Mark tried to keep his tone neutral, but he was sure Mitch was seeing right through it.
“Not quite,” Mitch said, stretching and picking up the TV remote from the coffee table.
Mark wanted to scream at him. His brother could be infuriating at the best of times, but this… This was something else. “Then what?”
“Maybe you should wait and see.”
Mark bit the bullet and pushed his nose into Mitch’s thoughts. He didn’t like swimming around in there, it was a nasty place to sink into, but he had no alternative tonight. He hit the jackpot immediately.
“You brought Audrey here,” he said. “Where is she?”
The visual he stirred when he delved deeper was no help. He didn’t recognise the vampire Mitch had handed their unconscious sister off to, so there was no clue there. The mansion was huge. He could walk around for days without locating her.
“Who knows?” He shrugged again as the TV went on.
Mark pushed back through his head, trying to sort through the tangled mess of thoughts. His brother was already immersing himself in a TV show with attractive women in skimpy clothes. His current thoughts about what he’d like to do to those women drowned out some of the older ones. Mark gave up with a sigh.
“You don’t care what Midnight want with her?”
Mitch snorted. “They want what everyone wants.”
Zack. His name came through clear as day. They wanted Zack. Of course they did. There was more to it than the obvious though, and that was what made Mark nervous. They knew Zack was alive, and they had a plan. Mitch didn’t know what that plan was, but whatever it was he seemed to think it would be great news for his own lofty ambitions. When Zack was turned, he planned to oust their clan’s leader and take over. Mark wasn’t too surprised. His brother was an opportunist after all.
Mark picked up the remote and prodded Mitch in the side with it. “Get out.”
Mitch just snorted at him, until he turned the TV off. Then he frowned at him, sitting up and trying to snatch the controller out of his hand.
“I said, get out,” Mark insisted, not bothering to raise his voice. Mitch would only stick around longer if he thought he was getting to him. He kept his thoughts neutral when he felt Mitch psychically pushing to get into his head. He’d always been able to feel it, as a dull throbbing, like the start of a headache.
“Why do you always have to be such a buzzkill?” His attention moved to the remote. “I could make you hand that over, you know.”
Mark shook his head. “Why do you have to be such a psycho?”
His eyes lit up at Mark’s word choice. Mark sighed inwardly. Only Mitch would take that word as a compliment.
“This is our sister we’re talking about here, and…”
“And, what?” Mitch snapped as he stood up. “That spoiled little brat deserves everything that’s coming to him.”
He walked out, but not before Mark caught the annoyed thoughts about Zack floating through his brother’s head. Zack was special. They’d all known it. Both the kid’s parents had psychic abilities. It was rare, and it made for a particularly deadly type of vampire. One that would be dangerous enough on his own, even if he couldn’t level up other vampires.
Mark paced his room while he considered what to do. He wasn’t sure if the lack of details on the plan was encouraging, meaning they hadn’t figured it out yet, or discouraging, meaning they had, only they hadn’t told Mitch. He highly suspected the second option. His brother wasn’t the kind of person who could be trusted with too much detail. He always seemed to find a way to twist things to his own advantage. He was sure their clan leader had already figured that out. The man could be oblivious at times, but he wasn’t an idiot.
He left his room, opening his mind to hearing thoughts as he walked slowly along the north wing corridor, taking special care to pause at every door and check for his sister’s thoughts. It was a mind-burning experience. His head was abuzz with activity as he listened out for Audrey. She had to be somewhere. He walked on, ignoring the ache between his ears as he worked to find her.
Chapter Nineteen
Zack had to give up the umbrella to get into the passenger seat. It was too big to not be awkward as hell to sit with. He cursed under his breath. Kenny had filled the backseat with boxes and bags so he was going to have to sit next to him without protection. He supposed at least the guy couldn’t attack him while he was driving.
He put the umbrella in the back seat, on top of the boxes, and got in. There was no turning back now.
Kenny started the engine and didn’t waste any time pulling away from the kerb. Zack noticed there wasn’t a seat-belt on his side. He wondered if that was on purpose. Kenny’s driving skills seemed to be on the reckless side. He glanced over.
“So where is this Midnight clan?”
Kenny didn’t take his eyes from the road. “It’s a couple of hours drive.”
Zack opened his mouth and closed it again. What did it matter if the guy was avoiding the question? It wasn’t as if he knew the names of any towns outside of Shady Pines and Riverton anyway. Two hours. It would still be dark when they got there. His nerves started to kick up a level.
“Is it a house, or what?”
Kenny glanced his way, narrowing his eyes. “Are you going to ask questions the whole way there?”
Zack shrugged and looked out the window. He flinched as Kenny’s arm moved. The radio blasted on, loud enough to drown out the engine. The angry rock music was his official cue to shut up. He swallowed and stared out into the darkness. A couple of hours. He hoped it was long enough to come up with a plan, because he had no real idea what to do once he found his family. His need for answers had overruled everything else. He didn’t know how he was going to free them. If they even wanted that. What if they didn’t? What if they’d changed? They’d been turned. He’d seen it in his vision. They were vampires now. He didn’t know what that meant, not really. Would they be like the girl who’d attacked him? Or would it be different, because they knew him? He had no answers. He was going to have to wait and see.
Chapter Twenty
The sound of her phone in the darkness made Chloe groan. She’d left it downstairs and she couldn’t be bothered getting up to go down there. When the sound stopped, she glanced at the time on the alarm clock. It was almost one a.m. This was not the kind of time people just called to chat. She knew something had to be wrong and her thoughts immediately went to Zack.
Jumping out of bed, she rushed down the stairs, stumbling near the bottom and grabbing the handrail to stop herself from falling down the last few steps. She took a slow breath. Calming down would be a good start. She didn’t know who’d called. She didn’t need to rush to conclusions.
“Hello?”
/>
“Chloe Duncan?” The gruff voice was vaguely familiar.
Her heart plummeted as she answered, “Yes.”
He cleared his throat. “Can you confirm the whereabouts of Zack Harrison?”
Her panic spiked as she realised who was calling her. She didn’t know the name of Zack’s new body guard but she could picture his sullen face now. “You lost him?”
“He was missing when I went to check on him. There’s been no signs of a… disturbance.”
She grabbed her boots from the side of the staircase. “Have you called the Council yet?”
He coughed. “Not yet.”
She took a breath. “Give me twenty minutes.” Hanging up, she put the boots on as quickly as she could, not caring that she looked insane in the bright blue pyjama bottom leggings with her lace-up Doc Martins. The long vest she’d slept in was pretty frayed too, but she didn’t have time to worry about appearances. She grabbed her jacket and keys and rushed out. The weather had dried out at least.
As she walked quickly to the woods, she hoped and prayed that Zack would be in his old house, that she’d find him and that everything would turn out okay. She rushed to the house, sliding in a few muddy patches of ground and cursing each time her eagerness cost her a few seconds.
The front door to the house was open which made her breathe a sigh of relief.
“Zack!” she called out, dashing into the hall. “Zack, it’s Chloe.”
She pushed the bathroom door open and glanced inside; empty. Moving on, she walked through the living room to the kitchen. He wasn’t there, and she could hear no sounds from within the house when she stopped and listened.
“Shit,” she cursed, rushing to the staircase and checking upstairs before she gave up. Her shoulders sagged as she came back down the stairs.
She walked back to Zack’s flat as quickly as she could and knocked the door.
His minder answered, hope in his gaze that disappeared when he saw she was alone.
“He wasn’t where I thought he’d be.”
“I guess it’s time to call it in.”
She nodded, biting down on her lip. Where else would he have gone?
His new body guard called the Council as she stood in Zack’s hallway, wondering when it had been cleaned up. There were no blood stains on the floor or wall now. She glanced at his coat rack. Her umbrella was gone, along with his coat. He went out for a reason. Sneaked out, she thought.
Guilt bled in as she realised he might have asked her to go with him, if she hadn’t freaked out the last time. Was that why he’d been so awkward when she’d bumped into him before? Her guts churned at the thought. He could be in real danger, and it was going to feel like her fault.
His body guard’s voice was a low mutter. She listened carefully, trying to work out her next move. She had to work out where Zack had gone. It looked as if he’d left on his own volition, but he’d be in danger the moment he left the safety of Shady Pines. Too many vampires knew about him. At least one clan, possibly two, and who knew how many others beyond that.
She waited for his body guard to get off the phone.
He cleared his throat and walked back down the hallway towards her. “He left town. We don’t know where he went, but…”
“But what?” Her nerves were already rattled. She couldn’t stand the ominous look on his face.
“Security cameras picked him up going towards the woods. Thing is, a little earlier on they picked up someone else going the same direction. Someone who’s also been confirmed missing.”
Her jaw dropped. Zack left with someone else? “Who?”
“Amira Desai.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Larry willed his fingers to flex, for some small chink in the instruction he’d been given. Come on, come on, move, Goddamn it! He growled at them, at his own inability to break the order he’d been given to sit still. He kept flashing back to the scene in Kill Bill where The Bride is determined to make her toes wiggle. If it worked there, it had to work here, right? He had to hope it would work. It had to work. Amira’s life was depending on him. He couldn’t let that asshole hurt her. He wouldn’t.
He’d only just managed to convince her to come and see him a little while after Chloe left earlier that night. It turned out she already knew he was leaving and it was just enough of a shock to allow her to consider forgiveness.
“Are you really going to leave town tomorrow?” Those were the first words she uttered to him the moment she came inside the flat. No hello, no sarcastic questions about what he was. He heard the pain in her voice. She couldn’t believe what she was asking.
He wished now that he’d locked the door behind her, but hindsight would torture him endlessly and it wouldn’t change a thing. He’d just been so glad to see her. There was no way he’d have been able to think of anything but her the instant she walked in the room.
Her big dark eyes were regarding him sadly as he nodded, suddenly wishing he wasn’t leaving. If there was one reason he’d want to stay, she was it.
“I kind of have to. Because of what happened.” It sounded lame.
She sighed and folded her arms. “That sucks.”
He couldn’t help but feel hopeful. If she didn’t want him to leave, did that mean she wanted to give him a second chance? Or was she only here because he was going? If he wasn’t leaving maybe she’d never have spoken to him ever again. He supposed he’d never know now.
“I didn’t… I wanted…” He blew out a breath. “I’m just sorry.”
“Chloe said you were turned against your will.” Amira pressed her lips together.
He nodded. “I don’t remember what happened that night. I woke up like this.”
He caught her gaze drifting and he couldn’t quite hide his smile.
“So where are you going?” She leaned against the wall.
He shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I get to join the vampire police though.”
“Oh. Cool.” She smiled a little. “Guess it wouldn’t have worked out anyway.”
“It wouldn’t?”
“You know, with you being dead and me being alive.” She pushed away from the wall and walked towards him. “It doesn’t mean we can’t have one last kiss goodbye though, right?”
He didn’t wait for her close the gap, he stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. She tasted as good as she had the first time, and he started to wonder if she might want more than a kiss when her hands moved under his T-shirt, but he didn’t get the chance to find out.
The sound of the door creaking was the first sign that something was off, but it wasn’t until Kenny’s laughter hit his ears that he realised it hadn’t just bumped open on its own. He broke away, his reaction instant as he realised a necromancer had just walked into his house. He was quick to position himself between Amira and the guy who had strangled Chloe.
“What do you want?” He regretted the question almost as soon as it was out of his mouth.
Kenny grinned at him. “How nice of you to ask. Tell that girlfriend of yours to go to sleep.”
The order made his skin crawl but he couldn’t defy the necromancer’s command. Amira gasped as he turned and stared into her eyes. She closed them instantly, shaking her head. He told her to sleep and she did, falling into his arms.
“We’re going to have a little chat, now, Larry,” Kenny told him.
Larry glanced around as he held Amira. His thoughts were racing. Chloe had already shown him how impossible it was to defy a necromancer’s orders. The best chance was to incapacitate him before he could get to what he really wanted. Whatever that was. He didn’t want to find out.
“Don’t even think about it,” Kenny said, amusement in his tone. “You can’t escape me, kid. Just relax. This won’t hurt a bit.”
He’d lied. It had killed Larry inside to be compelled to give the woman he had feelings for orders that he was were surely going to aid in her death.
“I don’t understand what you want.” Larry swallow
ed the lump that had formed in his throat. He was powerless right now. As much as he wanted to save Amira, he couldn’t. This was why he should have let her go. He wasn’t human anymore. He couldn’t protect her from himself.
“You’re not supposed to,” Kenny told him. “Just compel her to do what I’m telling you.”
He did what he was told, trying not to wonder too hard about what it was all for. He knew where she was going to walk to. It would give him a starting point to go after her. He’d save her from Kenny’s plans if it was the last thing he ever did.
“Okay now,” Kenny said. “Go over there. Sit on the couch and don’t move a muscle until I say so.”
Those were the last words he spoke. Larry had to watch Amira walk out of his flat, her eyes blank like she wasn’t home. Kenny sat there silently for a few minutes before he left, waving as he slammed the door on Larry.
He didn’t even know how long ago that had been. He was sure Amira wouldn’t still be at the trail to the woods, but it was the first place he was running to as soon as he could move. He kept on working away at it, telling himself he could do it, he would move. It had to work sometime. He just had to keep trying.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kenny smiled as he drove. The roads had gotten narrower, the landscape more rural. The further they got away from Shady Pines, the more nervous Zack seemed to get. He was surprised the guy hadn’t heard the bitch in the boot, but he seemed more concerned with how loud the bass was on the radio. His fragile psychic brain didn’t seem to appreciate the screeching vocals, speed metal guitar riffs and pounding drums. The music was covering the thumping from the back of the car. If he’d thought about it properly, he might have had her vampire boyfriend tell her to sleep once she got to the trail. Too late now. The knock she’d taken to the back of the head hadn’t been a little bump, but he’d underestimated her feistiness.
Sweet Oblivion (Shady Arcade Book 2) Page 6
