Sweet Oblivion (Shady Arcade Book 2)

by Sharon Stevenson

  “Holy hell,” Larry whispered.

  Chloe felt a chill settle over her. “How do they even know any of this? Is it possible they’re wrong?”

  He shook his head. “This has happened before. The vampire town had to be torched. Got most of them. A few escaped, but they lost their abilities. Back to being normal, run of the mill vamps.”

  “How did they lose their abilities?”

  He smiled grimly at her. “Had to kill the psychic. He was the hardest one to kill, he almost got out of town while it was burning down. We lost a couple of good men taking him out. Turns out killing him was more important than getting the vampires, though I suppose it would have been hard to get to him with a hundred super-vamps surrounding him in the first place.”

  Chloe told herself to breathe. Zack was alive. He’d sent her a message. He just hadn’t answered the one she’d sent him in return. Yet. She swallowed as she glanced at the clock on the dashboard.

  “Is there no faster way to get there?” There had to be something. Even driving at 70 mph it was going to take forever.

  He put his foot on the gas. “Hold on tight, and no talking.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  At least Kenny hadn’t insisted on turning his godawful music back on. It was the only mercy Zack could be thankful for right now. He doubted there would be anything to be grateful for once they reached their destination. He concentrated on his breathing. He had to keep calm.

  “Your family are gone, you realise that, right?”

  Kenny’s sudden chattiness almost made him wish for the music to come back on. As hard as he tried, his words were impossible to ignore.

  “Once you become a vampire, there’s no going back.”

  Zack remained silent. He’d known this was a trap the moment he agreed to meet the guy. He’d thought it would be worth it to find his family. Now? He wasn’t so sure.

  He wanted to ask Kenny why he was doing this. He wanted to know what was going on, but he was afraid he might black out when he got answers. So, he held his tongue and kept his breathing steady.

  “You’re going to have to lose the gloves,” Kenny told him, glancing at him as he turned into to a road that seemed to be leading to a property. “You do realise what they’re going to do to you, right?”

  Zack ignored the question. It wasn’t one he wanted to think about the answer to. He took another deep breath as the car pulled up at a small stone staircase leading up to a three-storey mansion. He stared out the window at the huge house and his panic started to push to the surface.

  “Take off the gloves.” Kenny’s order snatched his attention, more because of the metal poking into his arm as he spoke.

  The gun was slightly more terrifying right in that instant than whatever fate might be waiting for him inside the huge house. He took them off, putting them into his pocket. For later, he thought, laughing at the joke. There wasn’t going to be a later for him. Not now.

  At least someone would know what had happened. Whenever Chloe woke up in the morning, she’d see his message and she’d know. He was sure she’d tell her Council and they’d write it up somewhere. One less problem for them to worry about.

  Kenny got out the car. He turned and grabbed for the umbrella, it was awkward but he managed to pull it from the backseat over the headrests and sit it on his lap, jutting over into Kenny’s seat. Unfortunately, his naked hand was on it for too long and he could feel the vision coming right before it was thrust on him.

  “Shit—”

  When the vision came into focus he found himself holding the umbrella over his own head. It was bucketing down, the sky clouded over a miserable grey. He was standing outside a jeweller’s in town, his gaze on the diamond rings in the front of the display. Turning, he collapsed the umbrella and started to walk inside.

  And that’s when Zack was hauled back into the present by Kenny’s hand yanking him forward by the collar. He grabbed the umbrella and made his attack, thrusting it forward as hard as he could, before he let it go and made his escape.

  Kenny fell groaning to his knees as Zack stepped out of the car, slamming the open door against the back of the guy’s head for good measure. He took off without looking back.

  The woods were the last place Zack wanted to be running through but he knew it would be too easy to be seen if he just followed the road. Kenny and god only knew how many vampires would find him too easily that way. So, he ran through the tree-filled woods, back the way they’d come, hoping a better plan would find its way to him as he put as much distance between himself and the undead bastards who wanted to turn him into one of them as he damn well could.

  He knew where his family was now, he could find a way to come back for them later. That lie was what stopped him dead, breathing heavily and leaning against a tree to keep himself upright.

  He wouldn’t ever come back if he ran from this now. If he made it back to Shady Pines, he’d never get another chance at this. Catching his breath, his thoughts started to twist.

  He’d been bitten by at least three vampires now and he was still alive. Fear had him running, fear that no longer made any sense. What was he really scared of losing? The nothing of a life he had back in Shady Pines? The trepidation that had brought him this far into the woods disappeared.

  He had to go back. He’d come here for a reason. Answers. He still wanted them, more than anything. He wanted his memories back. He wanted to know who the hell he was.

  Risking his life to get that suddenly didn’t seem quite so terrifying. He started back the way he’d come, taking his time. Actually coming face to face with the vampires inside the house was going to be another story, and one he was sure he wasn’t going to like, but right now he knew what he had to do.

  The sound of Kenny’s cursing as he crashed through the woods brought him to a stop. He considered trying to evade the man. It seemed like the more sensible choice would be to find a way in to the house that would let him sneak around, rather than to allow Kenny to offer him up to them like dinner. Then he remembered the gun and he froze in place. The hesitation made his choice for him.

  Kenny’s glower landed on him before the gun did, but it was there, pointed lethally and with an angry man behind the trigger. “Try to run from me again, freak, and I’ll put a bullet in your head.”

  Zack didn’t bother saying anything. Kenny grabbed his arm and hauled him back through the woods to the house.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Mark opened the door and let out a relieved sigh. It had taken what felt like hours of wandering around to find her, but he finally had. The room was similar to most of the bedrooms in the house, except there was a cage suspended from the ceiling, big enough for a human or two, or one angry psychic vampire.

  Audrey was sitting in it, her irritable expression fading as she got to her feet and smiled down at him.

  “Mark. You don’t know how glad I am to see you.”

  He walked over and tried to get an idea of how the cage was locked, because he assumed Audrey would have escaped already if she wasn’t actually trapped in the thing.

  “How does that thing lock?” He stood on the bed to get closer. The keyhole was empty. His gaze drifted around the room.

  “I woke up in here. Mitch put me to sleep.”

  “Really?” Mark jumped down from the bed to examine the night stands and dresser. He doubted someone would just leave the key lying around, but he had to check. “Was he talking about that godawful medical soap opera?”

  She snorted. “No. He can use compulsion better than any vampire I’ve ever seen.”

  Mark raised an eyebrow at her. He shut the drawer he was searching in. The dresser seemed to be empty. “So that’s his special skill, is it?”

  “It would seem so.” She shrugged her shoulders, tilting the cage slightly as she watched him hunt for the key. “Try the vase on the nightstand maybe.”

  Mark hadn’t been able to figure out his own best skill. He supposed it was because he barely lik
ed to use his psychic powers at all. The same had been true before he’d been turned. He’d managed a normal life more easily than Mitch or Audrey. He’d just pretended the weird premonitory part of him didn’t exist.

  “Nothing,” he said, trying under and inside the vase. He opened the drawers next, shook his head at the discovery of a bible and flipped the pages just in case the key had been tucked inside. Nothing.

  “Shit,” Audrey muttered. “Listen, Mark, if I can’t get out of here you’re going to have to save Zack for me.”

  “He’s being brought here,” Mark said, nodding. “Mitch told me.”

  “We can’t let him be turned,” she said, her pained gaze going right through him.

  He knew that. The whole world would be fucked if Zack was turned. But that wasn’t why Audrey was crying blood red tears right now. They’d tried to protect her son from the truth, but in the end any vampire who looked at Zack knew what he was. Lying to him about who his parents were did nothing to protect anyone.

  “It’s happening tonight.” He knew, he didn’t need to ask.

  “You need to go.” She wiped at her cheek. “Stop it from happening. I don’t care what it takes.”

  He nodded, knowing as well as she did that nothing else would matter if the head of his clan got what he wanted tonight. “Whatever it takes, I’ll stop it.”

  It was the hardest promise he’d ever had to make.

  Chapter Thirty

  The closer they got to the house, the more Zack felt the fear of his situation overpowering his decision to do this, to get answers no matter what. He swallowed as Kenny hurried him up the steps to the front doors. He wanted to put his sunglasses on, remembered he didn’t have them and told himself it wouldn’t stop them anyway. If they wanted to take his eyes, they would. He flashed back to Audrey, blood running down her cheeks from the empty sockets she’d been left with. Shivers coursed over him.

  Kenny’s grip tightened on his arm. “Don’t try anything,” he muttered.

  The door opened and the sly smile of the Vampire who opened it froze Zack in place. His crimson eyes fixed on Zack’s. “Hello, little brother. Welcome home.”

  He let them in and Kenny looked him over. “I brought him.”

  “I can see that. Do you mind letting go of his arm now, please?”

  Kenny’s hand fell from his arm, creating a throbbing pain where his grip had pinched the skin under his clothes. He was going to have a bruise… Wincing, he looked into the red eyes of his older brother and knew bruises were going to be at the very bottom of his list of problems.

  Is he my brother? It seemed likely, but he didn’t remember.

  His name is Mitch, Audrey’s voice came through clearly.

  “Mitch,” he said, seeing the surprised twitch of his brother’s eyebrows before he supressed it.

  “You remember,” Mitch said, his smile tightening.

  He’s wondering what else you can remember. Audrey’s voice was a welcome help, even if it wasn’t real. Zack decided he didn’t care to question it. You can’t trust him. He wants you turned.

  “What are you still doing here?” Mitch glared at Kenny.

  “I want to watch,” Kenny told him, his tone hard.

  They had some sort of staring contest that made Zack uncomfortable, before Mitch nodded. “Okay.”

  Will being turned help me remember? It was something Zack hadn’t considered before, but now that it was on his mind, he had to ask.

  No, Zack. You won’t ever remember. That can’t be undone. I hope you’ll forgive me, but it was the only way to keep you safe.

  She sounded upset. It was what she’d done that night that had given him amnesia? He wanted to ask, but he realised it didn’t matter. It had answered one question for him: Was he ever going to get his memories back?

  Mitch motioned to him to follow as he started to walk. Kenny poked him with the gun when he didn’t instantly move. He walked after his brother, following him down a long corridor.

  It felt like he was being led to his execution. He tugged at his hair as he walked, fighting off the feeling of panic that was beginning to swamp his nerves.

  Everything is going to be okay, Audrey told him.

  How do you know? Talking to her had to be better than blacking out. That was where he was headed, to chat with his imaginary therapist, if he didn’t start to calm down.

  I just know, okay? Mitch has a brother. He’s going to help you.

  Mitch has a brother? It sounded weird and he didn’t totally know why. His panic was swelling again as Mitch opened a door that led down a dark and narrow staircase.

  A twin, she explained. You’ll know the difference, trust me.

  “Where are we going?”

  He hesitated to move onwards as Mitch started down the stairs. Then Kenny poked him in the back with the gun.

  “Move,” he hissed, close to his ear.

  Zack jerked back from the gun and rushed after Mitch.

  He took careful steps after slipping on one, concentrating on finding his footing on the twisting staircase. Kenny cursed behind him, more than once. He just hoped his finger didn’t slip on the damned trigger.

  How am I going to get out of this? He hoped to hell Audrey had an answer, because he sure as hell didn’t. Mitch has a brother, he told himself, wondering why that sounded so damned wrong.

  “Okay,” Mitch said, as he opened another door. He turned to Zack, his red eyes gazing past him to Kenny. “I’m going to need you to turn that gun on yourself, and pull the trigger now.”

  Zack gasped as Kenny obeyed the Vampire and shot himself in the stomach. He fell to the ground, groaning and raising the gun at them both. “Fuckers! You’re going to…”

  “Drop it,” Mitch ordered.

  The gun fell to the ground with a clatter. Mitch picked it up and ushered Zack through the other door. Zack looked back at Kenny who glowered at him, blood running through his fingers as he held the wound Mitch had forced him to give himself.

  He was so out of his depth, he could barely manage to breathe.

  Zack, stay with me, Audrey begged.

  He looked at Mitch and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Excuse me, I have to take this call.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chloe gasped as she saw the call from Zack coming through. She shook as she answered, the gravelly ground under the car making for a bumpy ride. “Zack?”

  He was quiet for a moment and she strained to listen, tense that he might be in trouble. They still seemed to be at least a ten-minute drive from where they needed to get to, maybe more. Turner was driving like a demon possessed.

  “Steve, I just saw a guy get shot.”

  Chloe’s panic spiked. “Zack, who got shot? Are you okay?”

  She wasn’t sure he could hear her, that he hadn’t just hit her number by accident when he was having one of his dissociative episodes. She bit her lip. Should she even be talking to him? Shit. She didn’t know.

  “I can’t calm down, I can’t.”

  She held her breath, wincing as the car zoomed over a bump in the road. Her teeth were rattling.

  “Calm down, Little Z,” Mitch’s low voice came through in the background, giving Chloe chills.

  He was with his brother? Worse, his arsehole brother. Mitch had been a shitty human. Chances were, he wasn’t making a better Vampire.

  “Give me the phone,” Mitch demanded.

  Chloe covered her mouth.

  “It doesn’t look like your therapist’s number, Z. This is your girlfriend you’ve called.” He cleared his throat. “Hello, Chloe.”

  She took her hand away from her mouth. Denying she was on the line wouldn’t do Zack any good.

  “Mitch. What’s going on? Zack just called me sounding like he was freaking out.”

  “I think I’ll be asking the questions here.” He sighed. “How is it exactly that Z has your number, when his memory was scrubbed?”

  She took a breath. “Where are you? Where are you takin
g…”

  He hung up. She cursed, leaving the phone in her hand. Re-dialling was pointless. He likely wouldn’t answer, and even if he did, he wasn’t going to tell her anything useful. She wouldn’t find out where he was taking Zack or what was going on. Tears of frustration burned her eyes.

  The trees either side of the road spun past in a blur. They were rocketing towards their destination, but it wasn’t fast enough for her. If Zack got turned, she knew that would be it. The end of everything. She’d never be able to take him out to save the world. What would be left worth saving?

  Larry squeezed her shoulder. She managed to hold back her tears. She’d save them for later, if she survived until dawn.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The first hand hit of compulsion from his red-eyed brother made Zack uneasy. He felt his shoulders relax before the second order came. He handed over the phone, wishing he’d had a better plan than worrying Chloe. It would take her too long to get out to where he was. There was no chance in hell she’d make it, even if she’d left when he’d sent her that text. And what did he expect her to do if she got here? One necromancer couldn’t take on the horde of vampires he imagined living in this massive house. He would never want her to risk her life for him.

  He listened to Mitch talking to Chloe, the gun in his other hand roughly pointed at Zack’s chest.

  Audrey had been right. He couldn’t trust this guy. Brother or not.

  Brother. Why was that word rolling around in his head like a bomb just waiting to ignite? He blinked as Mitch tossed his phone to the ground and stomped on it.

  Mitch has a brother. And it’s not you.

  He frowned at the guy as he produced a smile that was one hundred percent nasty.

  “Get walking,” he said, compelling Zack to move.