Sweet Oblivion (Shady Arcade Book 2)

by Sharon Stevenson

  “Should have brought rope,” he muttered under his breath. Tying her up would have made it harder for her to make such a damned racket.

  “Can we turn this down?” Zack shouted.

  Kenny turned to him and shrugged. “Can’t hear what you’re saying!”

  Zack pointed at the stereo. The freak didn’t have the balls to touch the dial. Kenny would have laughed if he wasn’t pissed off that the Indian girl was bashing the inside of his boot to hell.

  He shook his head. “No can do. Need it to stay awake!”

  Zack sank back in his seat. He wasn’t going to be any kind of problem. He was not the kind of guy who tried to stand up for himself. Kenny didn’t have to worry about him growing a pair. He was way too soft for that.

  He drove on into the countryside, following the narrow unlit roads and allowing his grin to deepen. There was no way Chloe would pass up on the invite he’d sent her. The moment she found her vampire, she’d be on the warpath. Without anyone to take it out on she’d go crazy. If she did find out which clan he’d brought Zack to, there was no way it would be in time to stop them from turning the loser. The damage would already be done. And it was her own damned fault for thinking she could cross him.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The news that Amira had gone missing pushed Chloe over the edge. She rushed from Zack’s flat, hearing his body guard rush to keep up. She ran the whole way to Larry’s flat, starting to wish she’d found her gym trainers to wear instead of her trusty boots. Comfort didn’t matter right now but she was sure it would when the adrenaline rush died. Her feet hurt and she felt like she was scraping her heels up running in the damned things without socks.

  One good thing about Larry being a vampire would mean he was up right now. Dragging him along on her hunt for Zack would have felt selfish, but with Amira’s life at risk now too, she couldn’t take any chances. The girl was an innocent human. She had nothing to do with any of this.

  By the time Chloe got to his door, she was breathing too heavily to speak. The handle turned easily so she walked into the flat and sought her friend out, waiting to catch enough breath to call out.

  Zack’s body guard’s heavy footfalls were close behind. She pushed open the living room door and blinked at her friend.

  He was sitting on the edge of the couch, his back straight and a blank expression on his face.

  “Larry,” she gasped out, moving over to him.

  He didn’t even blink as she sat next to him and touched his arm. His body was rigid. She bit at her lip as the other necromancer walked into the room.

  “He’s been given orders to sit still.” He deduced the problem just as Chloe started to freak out about what that meant.

  “You have permission to move again, son.”

  Larry’s body relaxed. He touched his face. “Oh, thank God.”

  He jumped to his feet a second later and Chloe grabbed his arm. “Larry, wait. We need to know what happened here.”

  His wide eyes were wild as he looked and her and back to the door. “He took Amira.”

  Not that it was news to her, but if there was anything he could tell them that would help them find a trail…

  Larry ran.

  “Wait right there, son.”

  Chloe’s mouth had barely opened when the older necromancer took charge of the situation.

  Larry’s getaway was halted. He growled in frustration.

  “Let me go!”

  “We want to help,” Chloe started as they walked to face Larry.

  “No,” the older man said. “We need to find Zack. The girl may have been taken by the same person. Tell us what happened here.”

  Larry groaned before he spoke. “Amira came here because she heard we were leaving town. We were saying goodbye when Kenny showed up. He took her, Chloe. He forced me to give her commands before they left.”

  “What commands?” Chloe folded her arms. She should have known Kenny would be involved in this whole thing.

  “She was walking to the woods. This was hours ago. We need to find her, she could already be hurt!”

  “Did he mention Zack Harrison?”

  “He has them both and he said they’re going to be dead by morning,” Larry said, his eyes pleading with the older necromancer. “I have to go after her. Let me go. Please!”

  He got on his phone and Larry turned to Chloe.

  “Come on, Chloe. We have to go after them.”

  Chloe sighed. “Even if… I don’t have a car, Larry. We need a plan.”

  She wondered if it was already too late. Whatever trail they’d left would be cold now. Hours had passed. They could be out of the country by now. She listened in on the older necromancer’s call. His name was Turner, but that’s all she could tell as he walked further away and lowered his voice.

  A few seconds later he ended the call and she looked at him, wondering how much more he knew than she did.

  “Kenny was sleeping with Bridget,” she told him. “Do we know which clan she was working for?”

  He frowned at her. “That was never discovered.”

  She realised he meant they hadn’t been able to check her for clan marking tattoos since she’d been reduced to ashes when Chloe had killed her. Kenny was taking Zack to a clan, that much was for sure. They just had to work out which one.

  “Right, let’s go.” The older guy said.

  “Where?” Chloe asked, as Larry followed the guy out of his flat.

  He jangled keys at her. “To Bridget’s old flat to look for clues.”

  She took a deep breath. As useless as it felt, the old guy was right. They needed a clue. They needed a starting point. Without it, they had nothing.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Audrey stood up in her cage and gazed down at the room below. It had remained empty since she’d awoken. She hadn’t managed to reach out to Mark with her thoughts. In desperation, she’d even reached out to Mitch, just to see inside his head, but she’d had zero luck in reaching either of them.

  Sighing, she walked in a slow circle around the floor of her cage. Her brothers’ clan was going after Zack. She couldn’t let that happen. There was only one thing left to try, and she only felt safe in doing so after confirming she couldn’t get in to her brothers’ heads. No-one knew she had a direct line to Zack. She wouldn’t put him at risk reaching out to warn him.

  Sitting back down, she closed her eyes and concentrated.

  The connection was made instantly. She could see through his eyes that he was inside a car, moving at speed along unlit roads. Panic swelled in her. He wasn’t in Shady Pines anymore.

  “Zack, what did I tell you about leaving town?” She snapped at him, her thoughts sharp and irritable.

  She felt his surprise before he answered. “Audrey? I thought you were gone.”

  “What do you think you’re doing right now?” No sooner had she asked than she heard his reason flash through his thoughts. He wanted to find his family. He wanted answers.

  “Go away,” he told her. He thought she was just another voice inside his head. He didn’t want to be crazy so he was going to ignore her.

  She sighed as her thoughts worked to find a way to protect him. She couldn’t tell who he was with, his gaze was on the road in front of him. She couldn’t hear anything other than his thoughts. He was nervous about what he was doing. He didn’t trust the person who was driving the car. All she could tell was that person was male. His thoughts swung back to getting rid of the annoying voice inside his head before she could pick up a name.

  “Do me one favour and I’ll leave.”

  His vow to ignore her was pushed to the side for the sake of his curiosity. “What favour?”

  She smiled to herself. There was only one way to truly protect him right now. “Text Chloe and tell her you’re being taken to Midnight clan.”

  He seemed confused by the request, even as he slipped his phone out from his pocket. “It’s almost two in the morning.”

  “And I’m
not going to leave you alone until you do it.”

  He sighed and she watched him do it, hesitating to press send.

  “Why am I telling her this?”

  “Because you can trust her.” She knew now that wasn’t who Zack was with, not that she’d ever have thought Chloe would know where to take him let alone that anyone could make her do such an awful thing.

  “How do you know that?”

  He was still hesitating. He hadn’t wanted to drag Chloe into this.

  Too bad, Audrey thought. “I just do. You can’t trust him.”

  He pressed send and put his phone back into his pocket.

  She let out a sigh of relief as she broke the connection and left Zack alone. The feeling didn’t linger for long as she opened her eyes and let her gaze drift over her cage. She’d done all she could do. There was nothing else. Telling Zack what he was being brought to would only trigger his anxiety and bring on one of the odd episodes they’d never quite been able to rid him of. So, there was nothing else to do now but wait for a chance to get out of this damned cage. Her skin itched at the thought of that. She was going to have to trust that Chloe would come running.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chloe followed Turner into Bridget’s old flat. The lights took forever to come on properly, which she really didn’t like. It felt strange enough to be poking around in there. The vampire had been a selfish bitch for as long as she’d known her, but seeing the flat reminded her she’d been a person too. It wasn’t a guilt trip Chloe really wanted to go on, but she didn’t feel like she had any choice in the matter. They needed a clue to work on, something that would lead them to Zack, and they needed it now.

  She jerked her hand back from the kitchen counter as a hissing sounded, right before a paw with sharp claws swiped at her arm. The cat leapt at her and she jumped back, grabbing for something, anything, to use to keep it at arm’s length. It advanced on her, hissing louder.

  “Aw hey, little guy,” Larry said, as if the possessed thing was cute.

  She frowned at him.

  He picked the fat grey ball of fur and claws up and it seemed to undergo a complete personality transplant, purring as he petted it. He shrugged at her. “Probably just hungry. Let’s find you something to eat…”

  He moved to the fridge as Chloe moved into the other room. There didn’t seem to be much that stood out as a clue. At least, there was nothing specifically branded to a clan. Not that she really expected there to be. Bridget hadn’t been entirely stupid, even if she had been sleeping with that creepy asshole Kenny.

  Turner was scouring her bedroom so she headed to the living room while Larry clattered around the kitchen feeding Bridget’s demonic cat.

  She came across another couple of cats, skinnier ones that fled from the room when she walked in.

  “Weird,” she muttered, glancing around and seeing something dark on the carpet. She moved closer and instantly regretted it. The dead cat was covered in blood. She put a hand over her mouth and moved away from it, wishing she’d never seen it. It was going to haunt her dreams.

  She almost left the room, only stopping when she noticed the land line phone. She picked it up and dialled to find out who the last call was from. It didn’t reveal anything; the last call was from a network that doesn’t transmit numbers.

  “Probably just a call centre anyway,” she murmured, walking out of the room.

  She looked in on Turner in the bedroom. “Anything?”

  He shook his head. He’d turned her room upside down. Clothes were scattered on the floor from the upturned drawers he’d yanked out of the dresser and bedside tables.

  “How did you know she was sleeping with Kenny?”

  It was an innocent enough question, but Chloe felt her skin burn. She didn’t really want to admit how closely she’d been examining Bridget the entire time she’d been in town. The truth was she’d found out by accident. She’d assumed the woman had gone home with Zack to watch him overnight, but she’d followed her all the way the second time, starting to wonder if the worst had happened and Zack had fallen for her charmless beauty, and saw her go into Kenny’s apartment, not Zack’s. A little intent listening on the other side of a closed door let her know their meeting was entirely personal. It had reassured her in one way, and revolted her in another.

  “I saw them kiss once.” She didn’t want to say any more than that and she didn’t need to.

  Larry came into the room, still petting the chubby cat, and Turner’s attention was split.

  “Where did you get that?”

  Larry raised an eyebrow at him. “He was in the kitchen.”

  “Give him here.”

  “There were more,” Chloe put in as Larry reluctantly gave his new friend to Turner.

  He took the cat and looked him over before he handed him back to Larry. “Only two clans still use cats as familiars.”

  “Seriously?” Chloe didn’t get it, but it sounded a lot like the clue they’d been looking for.

  “Winter and Midnight,” he said, wiping his hands on his trousers. “And considering how friendly that cat is getting with your friend there I’m guessing he was made by one of the two.”

  “Bridget killed the vampire who made Larry.”

  He nodded. “So, it’s not likely they were the same clan.”

  Chloe was about to make the deduction when a buzzing from her pocket made her jump. She took her phone out and her heart sped up as she recognised the number as Zack’s. The message made her gasp, its timing was uncanny. “Kenny’s taking Zack to Midnight clan.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The car slowed to a stop on a road surrounded by woods. Zack frowned at Kenny as he turned the radio off. The guy shrugged. “That noise isn’t bugging the shit out of you yet?”

  It took a few seconds to kick in, but when Zack heard the banging and screaming from the back of the car, he paled.

  Kenny grinned at him. “Don’t worry. I’ll shut her up.”

  The gun he took from inside his jacket froze Zack to the spot. Kenny got out of the car and he immediately tried to open his door. It wouldn’t budge. He swallowed hard and fought the urge to melt under the panic that started to bite at him. He closed his eyes. “No. No. It’s not going to happen.”

  He reached for Kenny’s door and it wouldn’t open either. He was trapped. He watched as the boot was opened at the back of the car. The girl’s irate voice gave him chills. He waited for the gunshot, wising there was something he could do to stop it. His stomach clenched as the boot slammed shut.

  “Go on, bitch, run. See how long you last in those woods with vampires chasing you down.”

  Zack caught sight of the girl running into the woods. It made him wince. If there really were vampires out there, she was not going to be okay.

  Kenny came back into the car, putting the gun back into his pocket. “Women.”

  He started the car again and Zack tried to calm his hammering heart.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The car sped off into the night, after a short call to the Council of Necromancers. Turner didn’t mention it if they’d made any complaint about her tagging along on this. This guy seemed very by-the-book so it was a little weird.

  “They didn’t tell you to force me to go home, or anything?”

  He shook his head. “This is urgent. They need all hands on deck as quick as they can get them. We’re already mobilised.”

  “Urgent.” She pressed her lips together, mulling things over while he drove.

  “Hey,” Larry leaned between the seats, his hand touching her shoulder. “Can I bring that cat to the new place when we move?”

  She was glad he’d found something to pre-occupy himself with, but she wished he hadn’t formed such an attachment to the hissing furball.

  “I might be allergic,” she said, taking in his sad eyes and sighing. “Maybe. We’ll need to see what the Council have to say about it.”

  “I think I’m gonna call him Muffin.”
>
  Turner snorted.

  “What?” Larry sounded insulted. “You don’t think he looked like a Muffin?”

  “I get that you’re stressed, but Larry, can we please stop talking about the damned cat.” Chloe’s patience was close to breaking. She needed answers and she couldn’t help wondering if Turner was holding onto some. “What is it that made the vampires take Zack?”

  Larry opened his mouth and Chloe shushed him. “I was talking to Turner.”

  “That would be classified information.”

  “And we’re about to breach the property of one of the vampire clans. If this is need-to-know stuff, I kind of need to know, right now.”

  He sighed and nodded. “Right. Well. You already know that psychics make valuable vampires. Though it would seem that their talents have become more of a party trick in recent years, they’ve always been a status symbol of how well a clan is doing. We never did figure out what happened that allowed Zack’s family be captured by two separate clans, but the bigger mystery was always why they’d left him behind for dead. He was the most valuable one of all.”

  “Of all what?” Larry sounded lost.

  “Both of his parents had psychic abilities. It’s a rare thing these days. Kids like that can turn out pretty messed up. Too much going on upstairs. Someone found out. Word spread like wildfire. He became like a holy grail kind of object for all of the clans.”

  “I still don’t totally get why,” Chloe admitted, her thoughts spinning. Zack’s parents were long dead, an accident had killed them before he moved with his brothers and sister to the woods next to Shady Pines. He’d never really spoken about them. The fact that he was special stuck in her head. He had to have at least one different parent to his brothers and sister for that to be true.

  “Well, see, he’s not just a status symbol. His power can be shared. If he was to be turned, the clan who got him would become lethal super-vampires, sharing his abilities and super-charging their own. Chances are they’ll imprison him and use blood magic to turn every one of their number into super-vampires.”