Fire and Beauty (The Vampires of Shadow Hills Book 3)

by Willow Rose

  The old lady smiled and handed me the flowers.

  "For you, my dear."

  I was speechless. Not because of the flowers—that was a wonderful gesture—but what ultimately knocked all the air out of me were the rows and rows of books. From the floor to the ceiling, the entire place was plastered with books in all sizes and colors.

  "It's a…" I looked at Duncan and our eyes locked.

  "A bookstore, yes," he said. "The Montague Book Mill is one of the most beautiful ones in the country. It also has a café, restaurant, a music and film shop, and a gallery."

  I gasped in excitement. This was truly heaven to me. "I could spend hours in here. How? How did you know I absolutely love old bookstores?"

  He winked. "I’ve got my sources."

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  We ate in the restaurant surrounded by books and candlelight by the big window overlooking the rushing river and waterfall outside, which were lit up by bright moonlight. The food was good and it wasn't even close to being fancy. Nothing about this place was.

  Mrs. Olson was the one who served us everything we needed, and I was told her son did the cooking in the kitchen. I had a steak and mashed potatoes with bacon and enjoyed, for once, being able to dive into a good piece of meat. I hadn't had any meat since my mom started homeschooling me and I could no longer cheat and eat at the cafeteria. The steak tasted like heaven. So did the bacon.

  "You sure can eat," Duncan said, chuckling.

  "Yeah, well, I never get real food at home, as you have experienced. I plan on eating so much I am about to burst before we leave."

  Duncan laughed and drank his water. "I like that. Most girls I take out order a salad and even that they cannot finish."

  I cut out a big piece of steak and ate it. "You won't get that from me. As soon as I’m out of my parents' house, I’m planning on eating steak every day. For all meals. Even breakfast. And chicken. Oh, how I miss having chicken. And sugar. I will eat so much candy…I don't care if it makes me fat. Life's too short to worry about that, you know?"

  Duncan bit his lip, and I realized that he didn't. He used to, but not anymore. He couldn't tell me that, though, so instead, he nodded and ate some of his fish and vegetables.

  I looked at him, wondering what it was like. I kind of wanted to ask him about it. I was curious. What he was, was what my parents wanted me to become too. Was it worth it? I wanted to ask him. Was it worth it giving up being human? But I couldn't. I couldn't reveal that I knew. I didn't know what would happen if I did, but I wasn't going to take the chance.

  Besides, I was never going to become a vampire. It wasn't happening. No matter what he told me, no matter if he told me it was the most amazing thing in the world. I could never accept that fate because it meant I couldn't be with Jayden.

  "Yeah, well, you know what I mean," I said, cutting out another bite. "My mom has been worried about my health all my life, and she’s so strict about what I can and cannot eat, I can't wait till I get to be the one who decides what I put in my mouth."

  "Well, maybe you'll change your mind. Maybe you'll one day realize that she only did it with your best interest at heart," he said.

  I waited for him to add, It's called growing up, but he didn't. I hated how he liked my family and especially my mother. It made me angry with him as well. But I had to remember that he didn't know what she had done to me; he had no way of knowing the real her, only the friendly one who had greeted him for dinner.

  I gulped down the last bite of steak and remembered my mother telling me to act ladylike on the date and realized I hadn't. Ordering the steak wasn't very ladylike and eating all of it certainly wasn't. Then I decided I didn't care. If I repulsed Duncan, then so be it. If I never saw him again, that would be fine with me. My mother would be on my case, but I would survive.

  But Duncan didn't find it repulsive and he wasn't appalled by me being less ladylike at all. I realized that when Mrs. Olson had taken our plates and he handed me the menu again.

  "Dessert?"

  I smiled and grabbed it. "I thought you'd never ask."

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I ended up having a great night. A lot better than I had ever dared to expect. Duncan turned out to be a lot more fun to hang with than I had anticipated. He was a lot cooler than I thought and the trick with the book-mill kind of had me blown away. I think I must have gone through all the books in the store and had a bag of books to take home with me that I couldn't wait to dig into. We almost missed curfew since I took so long, and I could have stayed all night, it was that awesome. But, of course, I didn't want Duncan to know that I had a great time. He would only get cocky.

  As the limo drove up in our cul-de-sac before midnight, I felt bad for enjoying his company so much. I felt guilty because of Jayden. I didn't want to like Duncan. I really didn't.

  He walked me to the front door and let out a small sigh. I turned and looked at him.

  "So, do you still not like me?" he asked.

  I blushed. "You might be growing on me…a little."

  He nodded. "Then my job tonight is done."

  "But that doesn't mean that…"

  I stopped. I felt like I had to tell him about Jayden. I wanted to tell him about Jayden; I wanted to let him know that I had a boyfriend, that I was taken and that taking me out on a second date wouldn't change that. I had already found the love of my life. I was going to be with Jayden no matter what happened, no matter if our parents tried to keep us apart. There was nothing he could say or do to change that.

  But I couldn't.

  Duncan was one of them. His family was close to mine, and I risked my mom finding out somehow. If I told him and he told his mom, then she might tell mine. It was a great risk. I didn't dare to take it.

  "I know," he said, a sweet smile spreading across his rosy red lips. "I know. It’ll take more than that. But does it mean that you might consider going out with me again?"

  I stared at him in surprise. Did he really want to take me out again? After the way I had treated him? After I had devoured an entire steak, not to mention the mashed potatoes, bacon, and the chocolate cake?

  "Are you sure you want that?" I asked.

  He chuckled, then nodded. "More than anything in the world."

  "Oh, my."

  He smiled. "Is that a yes?"

  I glanced at Jayden's window once again. How could I say yes without feeling like I was betraying him? I had told him I would never see Duncan again and here I was considering going on another date with him? On the other hand, I had enjoyed being out of the house and getting real food, plus Duncan wasn't too bad to be with.

  Would Jayden understand?

  I nodded, biting my lip. Duncan's face lit up.

  "All right, then," he said and walked backward to the limo. "I might take you up on that."

  I watched him leave, not knowing if I hoped he would or not, then glanced toward Jayden's house across the street. In the window, I spotted Jayden. He was staring directly at me. I swore I could feel his piercing glare. It felt like fire on my skin.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Jayden couldn't believe his own eyes. Was he really watching Robyn with that guy again? Getting out of a limo, her all dressed up and looking astonishing? Had he watched them chat in the doorway and then the guy drive away? Had he seen that?

  Had they been on a date?

  That was more than Jayden had ever been allowed to do. So many times, he had wanted to ask Robyn out on a date, but never dared to because he knew the answer.

  "It's too dangerous."

  Hadn't Robyn told him this afternoon that she wasn't interested in this guy at all? Hadn't she just told him that she was never going to see this guy again? And then she went on a date with him?

  A freakin' date!

  Jayden couldn't contain his anger as he watched Robyn look at him, then turn around and disappear inside. He held onto the curtain and didn't realize till much later that he had actually pulled it off the hanger a
nd he was now standing with it in his hand.

  Jayden sighed and turned away. He looked at his empty bed, then kicked his chair. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep after seeing that. He had been watching TV all night and was about to turn in when he had seen the black limo drive up the street and immediately the blood in his veins began to boil.

  Jayden decided he needed to blow off some steam and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where his parents were.

  "Honey? You're awake?" his mom said.

  "Are you…?"

  Jayden looked at his brother who was standing by the door, looking like he was about to burst.

  "Are you on your way out?"

  Jayden's mom gave him a smile. Her hair looked bushier than usual and so did her eyebrows. Her teeth were slowly growing.

  "We'll be back in a few hours," she said. "Are you okay?"

  Jayden sighed, thinking about Robyn. "I'm fine."

  "You don't look fine," his dad said with a low growl in his throat. "You look pale. Tired, son."

  "Try and get some sleep, Jay," his mom said.

  "Looks like girl trouble to me," Logan said.

  Jayden gave him a look.

  "Is that true?" his dad said.

  His mom rose to her feet, or what were beginning to look like paws. "Who is she?"

  Jayden shook his head. "No. No, you've got it all…you wouldn't understand anyway."

  His mom crossed her arms in front of her chest. "It's not Robyn, is it?"

  He shook his head. "N-no."

  "Of course, it's Robyn," Logan said. "It's been her all this time."

  His mother sighed, disappointed. "You know how I feel about her and her family."

  He felt his father's hand on his shoulder. It was big, heavy, and clawed. "You need to focus on your family now, Jayden. Forget Robyn and look ahead. You have a great future in front of you. A beautiful future as the leader of our pack one day."

  "As the what?" Jayden asked.

  His mother beamed. "We didn't want to tell you this till you got older, but since you already know about what we are, what you are, we wanted you to know now. To prepare you."

  "Prepare me for what exactly?" Jayden asked.

  "You were born to become our leader. The Alpha of our pack."

  His mother clapped her hands in excitement, while Logan rolled his eyes.

  "And you're engaged. You're to marry the daughter of our current leader, our current Alpha male."

  Jayden stared at his mother, his jaw literally dropped. "I am what?"

  "Isn't it wonderful?" his mother said.

  Jayden shook his head. "No! There is nothing wonderful about this. Nothing. I hate it. I hate all of you."

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Jazmine woke up in the middle of the night. She opened her eyes as she realized what had woken her up. Outside was an owl hooting while looking in through her window, but that wasn't it. It was something else. It was footsteps. Steps above her.

  They were coming from the attic.

  Jazmine sat up and looked at the ceiling. It was moving, and some of the paint was flaking off. There were more steps and bumps and then…what was that? Chanting?

  Jazmine tried to go back to sleep as the sounds died out, and she closed her eyes and put her head back on the pillow, but seconds later, she was awoken once again by the noise coming from the attic. Jazmine sat up, then swung her feet over the edge of the bed.

  "You've got to be kidding me," she said and glanced at the ceiling above her. She had heard strange noises coming from up there before but never as loud as this time. She worried it might be another animal. But the chanting kind of made her doubt that it was.

  She had a feeling it might be something else.

  Jazmine rose from her bed and walked out into the hallway, where she saw the ladder to the attic had been pulled down. She could hear the chanting grow stronger as she approached it and began to climb it, careful not to make a sound. As she got to the top of it, she spotted her parents. Her mother and father were dressed in purple robes of some sort. They had lit some candles that seemed to be placed in a specific pattern, and they were chanting strange words, her mother reading them from a thick book.

  What the heck? That is a pentagram. What are they doing? Are they Satan worshippers or something?

  The thought made everything freeze inside of Jazmine. She had never pictured her parents as satanic devil worshipers or whatever they were called.

  The chanting continued, and something appeared between them, it looked kind of like fire, when Jazmine accidentally made a creaking sound on the stairs, and they both turned to look. Jazmine ducked down, then spotted BamBam, grabbed him, and threw him into the attic, hoping they would think it was him.

  They must have because soon the chanting continued, and Jazmine could have sworn she heard some sort of small explosion. Terrified of what her parents were doing, she rushed down the stairs and into her room, closing the door behind her. She sat for a very long time with an ear against the door and listened to them continue their strange ritual and then when they were done, she heard them come back down, close the hatch, and walk to their bedroom.

  As the sounds died down and there were no more noises for a very long time, Jazmine opened the door and walked to the hatch. She grabbed the string under the ceiling and pulled it open, careful to not make a sound. She then crawled back up and into the attic. She found the big leather book. It was still opened to a page. Jazmine used her cellphone to light it up, then tried to read some of it.

  "Incendia," she said, then repeated it. "Incendia."

  Jazmine shook her head. What was that supposed to mean? She didn't understand any of the words that were written in the book. Was it Latin or something? She slammed it closed, disappointed. Then she hurried back to the hatch and walked down the stairs. She closed the hatch once again, then walked to her room.

  "Incendia," she repeated for the third time just before she fell asleep, then added: "Whatever."

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Melanie was crying. She woke up inside the shelter after a night of rage and destroying things. She felt bad for having caused havoc, but she was so frustrated she couldn't contain it. Amy's parents had found her, and now they had told Amy that she couldn't stay. Melanie knew that they were going to try and find someplace else for her, but where on earth would that be?

  Amy had asked her about family, but all Melanie had was her mother, and she had made it perfectly clear she didn't want her daughter around anymore. There was no way she could go back there. She had an uncle out West but didn't know where. All she knew was that he was a drunk, even worse than her mom, and there was no way he would take her in, even if she managed to find him.

  There were also the mountains, Amy had said when they had debated it the evening before. Amy's parents were gone again so Amy had cooked for Melanie and they had eaten together in the dining room before the change came and she had to be locked away. Melanie had a feeling that Amy enjoyed her company since she was alone a lot.

  Melanie had liked the idea of the mountains. To be able to roam and run was very attractive, but it was also where the vampires expected her to be, where they had been searching for her. Melanie had gotten better at controlling her wolf, but she still had many blackouts, and she would be in great danger out there alone at night. Also, during the days when she was just a human without protection.

  She heard the lock opening, and soon Amy's face appeared. Usually, she made her breakfast before she left for school and they enjoyed half an hour together. Melanie had grown to love the moments with Amy since she was the only one she ever saw.

  "How was your night?" Amy asked as she let her out.

  Melanie grunted. "Terrible. I have the worst headache."

  Amy looked at the door and the dents. "Seems like you might have tried to get out again."

  Melanie nodded, vaguely remembering trying to break the door, craving going outside to hunt. Even inside the shelter
, she could still smell the animals outside the house.

  "I made pancakes," Amy said with a worried smile. "Do you need something for that head of yours?"

  "I'll be fine," Melanie said. She wasn't one to whimper.

  They walked to the kitchen and sat down. Melanie grabbed a glass of orange juice, then threw herself at Amy's pancakes.

  "It's not your fault, you know?" she said with her mouth full.

  Amy nodded and sipped her coffee. "I know. It's just…I like having you here. I just got used to it and now…" she paused and smiled. "It's not your problem. We need to focus on finding somewhere for you to go."

  Melanie sighed between bites. She was going to miss Amy's cooking. It was the highlight of the day to share a meal with her new friend.

  "Maybe if we hide you somewhere else in the house?" Amy asked.

  "I don't want you to get in any trouble," Melanie said, shaking her head. "I'll find somewhere to stay. Don't worry about me."

  "No. We are going to help you. I promised I would help you, Melanie. It's the least I can do."

  Melanie took another bite and grabbed her fifth pancake and poured syrup on it. She looked at Amy with a sigh, realizing this wasn't something a few teenagers could solve.

  She had to take care of it on her own.

  Chapter Thirty

  I was worried sick all day. I watched Jayden take off for school and wanted so badly to open the window and yell after him, tell him how much I loved him, but I knew I had to wait. I was going to meet up with him and the others this afternoon. Then I could explain everything—hopefully.

  The day dragged itself away. The food I ate was suddenly tasteless. The words and numbers on my screen jumped around and made no sense. I felt crushed. I kept thinking about the night before and seeing Jayden in the window staring at me. He had to be so angry with me and so hurt.