by K. C. Blake
Jack bolted upright in bed. He swung his legs off the mattress and leaned over, holding his throbbing head. Dizzy and weak, the experience had taken a lot out of him. He swallowed several times and willed himself not to puke. Silver’s gentle hands rubbed his back and shoulders as she got on her knees behind him.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Give me a minute.”
“Can I do anything?”
He shook his head fiercely and another wave of dizziness hit him hard. He almost blacked out. This was bad, worse than before, partly because of the shock of seeing Cowboy with Silver’s best friend. He had known sooner or later his ex-buddy would resurface. They had unfinished business to deal with. Now he was going to have to face Cowboy, face his past. It wouldn’t be easy.
“I’m not sure I heard you right while we were in Trina’s memory,” Silver said. “The words were all jumbled. It was like listening to a radio with bad reception. Did you call that guy Cowboy?”
Jack reluctantly nodded.
“Isn’t he the one who burned my house down?” she asked.
Again he nodded.
“And he’s with my best friend?” Her voice rose, near hysteria. Silver jumped to her feet and began to pace like a prisoner on death row during her final hours. “Trina is dating a vampire and doesn’t know it? This is worse than anything I could have imagined. We have to do something. We have to tell her.”
“Maybe she already knows.”
“No way.” Silver shot a glare at him. “Trina has always been extremely frightened of anything that can’t be classified as human. There’s no way she would willingly date a vampire. I’m going to her house. I have to warn her before he tries to bite her or something.”
Jack held a hand out, motioning for her to stop. He pushed himself to his feet and wobbled on legs that felt like rubber. “Give me a second. I want to go with you.”
“Are you sure?” Her expression was both relieved and doubtful. “If you’re sick, you should stay here and rest.”
“I don’t need rest,” he assured her.
She waited patiently for him to make it across the room. Her hands went to his waist to steady him. He felt like an idiot. He hated it when Silver saw him in those rare, weak moments. How could she feel comfortable in trusting him with her life after seeing him in such a state? He was supposed to protect her.
The corny story Trina told him about the guy proposing on a white horse before riding off into the sunset with his true love sprang to mind. As stupid as it sounded, he wanted to be that guy for Silver. He wanted to be able to rescue her from anything and everything.
Jack looped an arm around her shoulders and forced a grin. “Don’t worry. Everything is going to work out.”
A dazzling smile parted her lips, flashing a set of pearly white teeth. “When you say it, I believe it.”
“I won’t let Cowboy hurt Trina.”
“I know.” She nodded. “We make a great team.”
“Yeah, and don’t you forget it.”
On their way out, Jack touched his chest where the ring rested at the end of a gold chain beneath his shirt. When the time was right, he would give it to Silver. He wanted to do it now, but it was too soon after her father’s death, and she was worried about Trina.
Maybe he could ask her to accept the ring after they took care of the Trina and Cowboy mess.
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*****
Chapter Seven:
DISAPPEARING ACT
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“Trina’s cleaning her room,” her mom said. She hesitated, glancing back over her shoulder as if she was going to ask them to leave without seeing Trina. Her eyes welled up with tears. Arms opened wide, inviting Silver in for a big hug. She patted the girl on the back a few times. “I am so sorry about your daddy, honey. He was way too young to have a heart attack.”
It was the story circulating through town. Fortunately, the higher-ups in Lincoln knew about werewolves. The medical examiner put ‘heart attack’ as cause of death on the official certificate without blinking an eye. Jack wondered how many other deaths from ‘natural causes’ were actually people torn to pieces by werewolves.
An image of his father’s body blinded him for a moment. He cringed. When he glanced at Trina’s mother again, she was standing off to the side. A silent invitation had been issued. He’d missed it. With a sheepish smile he crossed the threshold.
Trina’s mom closed the door before adding, “She’s supposed to have her room clean by nightfall, but you stay as long as you want. I won’t ground her if it doesn’t get done. It’s been a while since we’ve seen you here.”
They went upstairs after declining a snack, Silver in the lead.
Trina’s door was closed. Loud music permeated from the room. She was listening to Fergie. Jack shared a wry smile with Silver before she knocked on the door. She rapped her knuckles against the wood several times, finally banging furiously to be heard over the music.
Trina yelled, “Come in!”
Silver pushed the door open.
Trina tugged the corners of a pink sheet and tucked it under the mattress. When she looked up and saw who her guests were, she turned off the music and fell back on the half-made bed. “Oh, it’s just you two.”
“Thanks,” Silver said. “That’s the greeting I was hoping for.”
“Sorry. Mom’s been on my case all week to clean my room. She’s threatening to take my phone and computer away. Can you imagine life without the true necessities? Anyway, I thought you were her coming to check on me.”
Silver sat next to Trina, but Jack remained standing. Being in Trina’s ultra-feminine room put him ill at ease. He clasped his hands behind his back and waited for Silver to give her friend the news. Maybe he should have stayed at Silver’s house. The girls didn’t need his awkward presence.
Silver blurted out, “I know who you’re dating.”
“What? How?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Trina’s eyes widened. They bounced between Silver to Jack and back again. “You used your power to see into my mind? I thought we were friends.”
The girl wasn’t as dumb as she looked.
“We are,” Silver insisted. “That’s why I asked Jack to do it, and I’m glad I did. Otherwise, we wouldn’t know what a total mistake you’re making.”
Trina shoved Silver off the bed, and Silver almost fell on her butt. She barely caught herself before hitting the floor. Trina stood on the mattress and pointed a finger at the door. “Get out! I want you both to leave and don’t ever come back. I never want to see you again!”
Silver shook her head. “You don’t mean that.”
“Yes I do. You don’t know anything. I can’t believe I ever thought you were my friend.”
“I am your friend.”
“Right.” Trina rolled her damp eyes, hands on hips. “Sure you are. You have a guy you’re crazy in love with. You get to decide when I see you and how much time we spend together. The second I fall in love, you want to destroy it. Well, too bad. Derek and I were made for each other, and we’re going to run away together and have the most intense love affair anyone has ever seen.”
Silver’s face paled. “You can’t run away with him.”
“Stop telling me what I can do. Get the hell out of my room before I start screaming.”
Too late.
Jack’s gaze swung to the door, wondering if Trina’s mother would come up to investigate. Then what? Was Silver mad enough to blurt the truth out in front of a civilian?
Jack could see Silver was in a losing battle. She’d lost sight of why they were there in favor of worrying about destroying one of her most important relationships. He decided to take charge. The girls might end up resenting him for it, but someone had to tell Trina who she was dating.
“Derek is my old friend Cowboy.” Jack looked up at the girl on the bed and burst her bubble with a piercing stare. “He is a vampire. You are dating a vampire, and he’s
got his eyes on your neck.”
Trina returned his hard glare, trying to look as if the news didn’t affect her, but he saw her swallow. Her pointing arm slowly lowered. “Liar. I can’t believe the two of you would sink so low just to keep me from being happy.”
Silver took over then. “Do you really believe I don’t want you to be happy? My father just died, but I came all the way over here to warn you about a vampire. Do you honestly think I would be playing games with you right now? Do you really think I’m that jealous or spiteful?”
“No.” Trina climbed down off the bed. She apologized to Silver for doubting her. They were finally getting somewhere. She turned to Jack. “Are you sure Derek is this Cowboy guy?”
“Positive.”
“But he’s always been so sweet to me.”
“Vampires can be charming,” Jack said with a grin. “How do you think they get so many girls to willingly give up their blood, sometimes even their lives?”
Trina crossed to the window, chewing on her lower lip. She turned to face them after a long time and shrugged. “I don’t care.”
Silver’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean you don’t care? You have to care. This is your life we’re talking about.”
“I don’t care if he’s a vampire. I love him.”
“You can’t possibly love him.”
Trina shouted, “There you go again telling me how I feel! Stop acting like my mother.”
“I’m not.”
“You hooked up with a guy who used to be a vampire and you’re happy.” She gestured to Jack. “He’s got wacky powers still, and you have no idea what he’s going to do next. For all you know he could morph back into a vampire at any second. Then what? Would you walk away from him? I don’t think so. Tell me why I should give up the only guy who has ever cared about me?”
Silver shook her head, clearly distressed. She turned to Jack for answers, but he was also confused by the turn of events. He asked Trina questions in the hope of showing her a different angle.
“Are you willing to become a blood-sucking creature of the night? Give up sunlight forever? Run from hunters? Move from town to town for the rest of your life? Are you willing to walk away from your family and friends? Do you love him that much?”
Trina’s eyes narrowed. “It wouldn’t be all bad, would it? I mean, I’ll live forever, stay pretty forever. I wouldn’t get old or sick.”
“You’ll have to drink blood every day at first, until your body stabilizes. Then it will become a weekly thing. Are you ready for it?”
She visibly shuddered but recovered quickly. Putting on a brave face and lifting her chin high, she said, “I’ll do whatever I have to do to be with Derek.”
“Cowboy,” he corrected her.
“Whatever.”
Silver’s eyes filled with tears. She latched onto Trina’s hands and pleaded with her. “I lost my father. I can’t lose you, too.”
“You won’t.”
“I will if you become a vampire. We won’t even be able to talk on the phone. Another hunter could find out and track you down. Don’t do this! You won’t live forever because someone will drive a stake through your heart. You might even turn on your own family and kill them. I’m begging you. Don’t see him anymore.”
Trina wiped her eyes on her sleeve before nodding. Her lips wobbled. “Okay. You’re right. I promise. I won’t see him again.”
Silver wrapped her arms around the other girl’s neck. “Thank you.”
“I need to tell him though. I can’t just dump him. I have to explain why I can’t see him again.”
Silver opened her mouth to argue. Jack beat her to it. “Don’t you worry about Cowboy. I’ll make sure he knows why you can’t hang with him. He’ll understand.”
Trina smiled. It was laced with regret and sadness. Left up to her, she would probably keep seeing Cowboy despite her promise to Silver. Jack intended on making sure it didn’t happen. He was going to have a long talk with his former vampire buddy. If he had to, he would use blackmail or threats to get rid of Cowboy.
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*****
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Later that evening, Silver decided she wanted time to herself, so Jack went downstairs to Jersey’s old study. It had occurred to him in the early morning hours that Jersey might have hidden the rock somewhere inside the room. The study was, after all, the last place Jack saw it. He remembered how Jersey rotated it in one hand, enjoying the feel of it. The head werewolf probably had a secret drawer or safe somewhere.
Jack sat behind the werewolf’s desk. He ran a hand beneath the middle drawer, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Smooth wood, nothing more. He opened the top drawer on the right. It was filled with miscellaneous papers. He removed them in three handfuls and dumped them on the desk. Once the drawer was empty, he knocked on the bottom to see if maybe there was a secret place to stash things.
There wasn’t.
He moved onto the next drawer. There wasn’t much inside: an old checkbook, plastic case of paperclips, and some assorted junk. He dug in and tossed things on the floor this time before tapping on the bottom. Still nothing. Before he moved on to the last drawer, he scanned the room. Where else could it be?
Maybe there was a secret compartment in the bookcase. Or there could be a loose stone in the fireplace. Jersey loved his angel statues. Could one of them have the rock inside it? If so, he would have to go to the local garbage dump because Silver’s parents threw out almost every single thing belonging to the werewolf.
Jack returned his attention to the last drawer. It was empty. He knocked on the bottom before feeling underneath it.
“Are you looking for something?”
Jack’s body stiffened at the sound of the masculine voice. He sat up, hand still on the drawer. Jersey stood in the doorway. Of course, that wasn’t possible. They’d werewolf-proofed the house and mansion. Jack figured he was receiving another message from Jersey through his power. It was probably the desk that had given birth to the scene.
It wouldn’t do any good to talk to Jersey. The werewolf wasn’t actually there, but Jack couldn’t help himself. He leaned back in the chair and said, “I hope you don’t think I’m going to forget the horrible things you’ve done just because you gave Silver’s necklace back.”
Jersey’s face seemed to lose color. Or perhaps it was a trick of the light. He didn’t look directly at Jack, but there was something not quite right about his timely appearance. His expression remained neutral. Still, Jack had a bad feeling. It was almost like Jersey heard him speak.
Impossible. Jersey would have recorded this message before moving away. He couldn’t have known what Jack would say. Usually at times like this, Jersey made a speech. When one didn’t automatically spill from his lips, Jack slowly got out of Jersey’s old chair. He circled the desk to face his enemy.
Jersey kept staring straight ahead, mute.
Jack reached a hand out, prepared to pass it through Jersey’s likeness. His fingers touched the heavy fabric of Jersey’s black coat instead. Jersey turned with a villainous smile in place. “You were expecting Santa Clause?”
Before Jack could do anything, Jersey struck Jack in the face with a neatly folded fist. Jack didn’t have time to think, let alone evade it. Vanessa and Silver were upstairs, defenseless. Whatever happened, Jack couldn’t allow Jersey to go up to the house. This fight was going to begin and end in the mansion.
Jack stumbled backwards from the force of the sucker punch. A trickle of blood exited through his left nostril. His hand itched to wipe it away, but he refused to give Jersey the satisfaction. “First you give me back Silver’s necklace, and now you attack me under her roof? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Necklace?” Jersey’s mouth tightened. “Aw, yes, the necklace. I don’t know what I was thinking. I am far too generous sometimes.”
“If you had a change of heart and want it back, forget it. You can’t have it. And if you came for the diary, you can forget it. You’ll
have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.”
Jersey grinned, but there was something off about it. The usual amusement was gone. “Sounds good to me.”
This time Jack was ready for the assault. He ducked. Jersey’s fist sailed over his head. Jack bounced on his feet, moving fast like the boxers he’d seen on television. He weaved this way and that. Maybe he could wear Jersey out. The guy was old. He wondered briefly if werewolves got tired.
Jersey seemed irritated beyond reason. His jaw tightened. He stood statute still; his pale blue eyes followed Jack as the former vampire danced circles around him. Jersey refused to cooperate in the ‘wearing him out’ scheme. He simply stared at Jack with a cold, dead gaze.
Finally he spoke. “Are you through acting like an idiot?”
“Sure.”
Jack stopped dancing and punched Jersey in the face as hard as he could. He expected to hear cursing, maybe even some words that were new to him, but what he didn’t expect was for Jersey to burst into tears.
Tears rolled down the werewolf’s face as both hands covered the injured area. He whined, “I think you broke my nose.”
Jack didn’t know what to say or do. His hands almost went out to help the guy, but then he thought better of it. It had to be a trick. Jersey was not the type of guy to cry. Jack had hurt him far worse than this before, and Jersey’s eyes hadn’t even glistened. Something definitely was not right with this picture.
Jersey cried, “I am going to make you pay for breaking my nose!”
“I’m… sorry?” Jack shrugged. This was ridiculous. Whoever heard of a werewolf crying over a punch in the face? “You started it. I wouldn’t have hit you if you hadn’t thrown the first punch.”
Jersey glared at him over the hand on his bleeding nose. “I won’t forget this. You are so dead.”
Before Jack could add another apology to the list, Ian burst in with his rifle. It was like déjà vu, only Ian didn’t speak this time. He pulled the trigger without even a friendly warning for Jack to move out of the way. The end of the rifle exploded. Using his superhuman speed, Jack hit the floor. He actually felt the air from the bullet as it passed over his head.
