Crimson Groves

by Ashley Robertson

  The details Stone had uncovered about me could make this whole situation more dangerous. The changes I’d made so I wouldn’t be recognized weren’t foolproof. Stone had just proved that—though he claimed he didn’t know who was after me. But that was no guarantee he didn’t know who Bronx was. Surely if he did know Bronx, he would have already heard from him. He would’ve been told about the young vampire on the run and to keep an eye out for her. Would Bronx offer some kind of reward for my safe return? Based on Lily’s e-mail, he would do anything to get me back. I knew that much was true.

  The lies Bronx told me kept piling up. Why didn’t Bronx mention the Head Council? Why was his explanation of the Enforcers so different from Stone’s? My mind was reeling with confusion, still so far away from the answers I sought. My stomach twisted. My throat tightened. My feet felt heavy, as if tiny weights were lined along the soles of my boots. My eyes still felt extra wet, but at least I wasn’t crying. I stopped pacing, stared over at Stone. It was time to get moving.

  He leaned forward, setting the empty glass on the table. “Are you finished marching allover my floor?”

  I nodded, swallowed hard. Then I looked away, down at the floor. “Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I really do need to get going now.”

  He didn’t say anything. I looked back at him. His face was expressionless, eyes were blank. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking or what he was going to do. My fear was morphing into anger, and it was charging at me. My defenses were pulling into high alert. If he was going to try to prevent me from leaving, it was time to find that out.

  He stood up, took a few steps toward me. I didn’t move. “Abby, the pleasure of having you here has been all mine.” A smile stretched across his face. His arms reached out in front of him.

  Panic seized me. I gave in to it, stepped back.

  He lowered his arms. “I don’t mean to frighten you.”

  “I’m not scared.” I lied. I was scared out of my mind but I wasn’t going to tell him that. “I hope I can trust this information to stay with you and you alone.”

  “I give you my word. I will tell no one of our visit.”

  “Thank you.” I turned around, grabbed the door handle.

  “Wait!” Stone shouted. “I know you’ll need a safe place to eat. Please know you are welcome to come here anytime you need. The donors usually arrive around midnight.” He took slow human steps, removing the small distance between us. Then he grabbed my hand gently, caressingly. He pulled it to his lips, kissing the back of my palm again, then released it. His touch lingered on my skin like a soft perfume.

  I smiled shyly, feeling a chill flush my cheeks. “I appreciate that. Thank you again.” I turned back around, opened the door, and walked out.

  In a flash, I was in the public bar area. Tyler was the only customer. Thank God no one else had come in yet. Quinn was whistling to himself as he washed some beverage glasses in the tiny sink stationed at the bar. “Anna,” he exclaimed, “I hope er’tang went good back der wit Stone.”

  “It sure did. Thanks again for your help.”

  The only way to get Tyler out of here fast, without any delays, was to use my persuasion on him. I gave a long sigh, looked over at Tyler, caught him staring right at me. This was my chance. I locked eyes with him, focusing, concentrating as hard as I could. It happened instantly—almost effortless. I was inside his eyes, inside his mind. I encouraged him to throw the cash he owed for his drinks on the countertop and leave immediately. He obeyed. I watched his back as he headed out of the pub. It should only take another minute or two for him to make it to his car. It felt like an eternity waiting for them to pass. I hoped my effect wouldn’t wear off before then. Persuasion can only work a short while once eye contact is lost.

  I began my descent from Rayver’s Pub. I successfully made it to the doorway. Quinn was still whistling away in the background. Without looking back, I flashed away.

  My speed wasn’t even close to my fastest pace. My feet were moving slow, sluggish. My mind was drowning in all the new information I’d learned from Stone. Bronx was an absolute liar and manipulator, but I already knew that. Why was I so shocked to keep finding out more lies he’d told me? It seemed like Bronx should be in a heap of trouble with the Head Council. He’d secretly turned me into a vampire without telling them. And he most likely never told them about his special power either.

  Did Bronx even know about the Head Council? His description of the Enforcers was exactly that of what Stone had called the Head Council. I couldn’t be naïve to this. Bronx was too old not to know about this. So why would he mix up the story he’d told me? Was he trying to keep the Head Council a secret from me? And since the Enforcers were the gifted vampires, controlled by the Head Council, that had to mean that Stone was one of them. And that Bronx should be one of them too. But could I trust what Stone told me? I didn’t really have a choice.

  You don’t really think you can hide from him forever, do you? What did Stone mean by that? Why would he imply that Bronx would find me? Did he know when Bronx would find me? Did he know it was Bronx who was looking for me? Stone was definitely holding out on me. I had to go back to Rayver’s Pub and get more answers.

  The laptop made a jingling sound, announcing the arrival of a new e-mail. I was standing in the living room. I didn’t remember coming in the house. I let out a deep, long sigh and then walked over to the sofa and sat down. The laptop was sitting open on the coffee table. I grabbed it, gently set it in my lap. There was a montage of beach scenes displayed on the monitor. A car pulled into the driveway. The garage door hummed open. Tyler was home.

  The access door slammed shut, footsteps were hurriedly stomping the wood floors, coming closer and closer toward me. “What the hell was that? What do you think you’re doing?” Tyler rushed at me, arms waving above his head.

  “What are you talking about?” I had no idea.

  “You know darn well what I’m talking about! You used that vampire hokey pokey on me—hypnosis, persuasion, whatever you call it!” He crossed his arms in front of his chest, standing over me. He glared at me so intensely I thought I saw flames in his eyes. He was really pissed off.

  Swallowing hard, I leaned to the side and put the laptop back on the coffee table. Then I slowly stood up and grabbed both of his hands. “Look Ty, I needed to get us out of there. Would you have preferred I talk to you right there in front of the bartender? That definitely would’ve gotten us the wrong attention, which I’m afraid I already did.”

  Tyler’s mouth gaped open. “What do you mean? How?”

  “The vampire owner in the back of the pub, Stone, well he’s kind of psychic.” I stared deep into Tyler’s beautiful, fiery green eyes.

  His face softened, then tilted slightly. His right eyebrow arched upward. “Psychic as in he knows things? Things that are going to happen?” He squeezed my hands.

  “Um, yes and no.” I bit my bottom lip and took a small step closer to Tyler. I could feel his warm, steady breath on my forehead. He released my hands and stretched his arms around me, crushing me against his chest. I stood there for a short while and listened to the melodic drumming of his heartbeat. It was relaxing, soothing. But reality loomed around it. My shoulders stiffened and clenched. “He found out everything about me by drinking my blood.” I swallowed slowly. “I don’t know if he can see anything in the future. Everything he told me had already happened. But he also cleared up some of the lies Bronx told me. And I’m convinced he knows more.”

  Tyler yanked his arms away and stepped back. “He drank your blood! Why…how would he drink your blood?”

  The jealousy I sensed from him was at an insane level. “Ty, listen to me. There is no reason to be upset. You need to trust me. Stone wanted to drink my blood. I allowed him to do it to gain access to a blood donor. That’s it! I had no idea that he could read things about me by drinking my blood. I swear.”

  He raked his fingers through his hair. It looked like he was going
to pull it out of his head. “Why would you let him do that to you? We could’ve found a blood donor somewhere else!” He rolled his eyes and looked away.

  I leaned into him, reached for his hand. But he pulled it away. “Stop this!” I exclaimed. “Please stop this! What is wrong with you? I needed blood! I couldn’t wait to find another donor! I couldn’t put you in danger like that!” I didn’t know where they came from, but tears jumped over the ledge of my eyelids, streaming down my cheeks. I guess I was long overdue to cry.

  “I just don’t understand why you would let him touch you like that. Him biting you sounds pretty intimate to me!” He frowned, folded his arms together in front of his chest.

  “There is no reason for you to be jealous. Vampire behavior…”

  “I AM NOT JEALOUS!”

  I rammed straight into him and grabbed his shoulders. I shook him gently and then demanded, “You’re going to listen to me, Ty! You’re going to listen to every word I have to say or I am out of here. Out of here for good!”

  His eyes widened in shock. But it must’ve worked. He shook his head, voice soft, saying, “Okay. Fine.”

  I waited a minute to confirm his silence was genuine. It was. “We’re not together, we’re not a couple. But even if we were, there was nothing I did that was wrong. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t feel anything for you, but it’s too dangerous for us to allow anything to happen. Do you understand?”

  He nodded, face starting to crumble.

  “We can not be together. Not now, maybe not ever. I’m a vampire. You’re human. We’re on the run. An evil monster that, if he catches us, will probably kill us both. This can’t be anything. We have to ignore it at all costs. Cut the jealous crap. Why would it be so surprising that a vampire bit me? I bite people every night. It’s gross and very animalistic but it’s a part of who I am, what I am. All Bronx did was fill me with lies. I have to find out the truth my own way now.”

  He didn’t say anything. He stared, wide eyes shrinking back to their normal size. His face soft and perfect again. I wanted to touch it, but I knew that would be a bad idea.

  “You’re right,” he said. “It’s just so hard. I care so much. I didn’t mean to get jealous. This vampire stuff is new to me but I accept it, all of it. I promise I’ll handle things better from now on.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into him. His breath on my ear was warm, heavy. I waited for him to say something else. But he didn’t.

  He started nibbling on my earlobe—gentle, soft, wet. His tongue slowly stroked back and forth, teasing me. Hot and cold flashes surged over my body. Goosebumps scattered over my arms. A fire came to life inside my chest, burning hot, flames shooting up my throat. “Abby, I’m so sorry,” he breathed. “Please forgive me.”

  He lowered his mouth, kissing a trail between my ear and neck. He pressed his hands harder in my back, fingers digging into the tense muscles, hard bone. I pulled him closer into me. His warm body felt incredible. I tugged him again, mashing my body into his. “Ty, we can’t—”

  He bit down hard into my neck, almost hard enough to pierce my skin, and sucked at it feverishly. I thought I was going to explode. My body felt like a weightless inferno. I crunched down on my bottom lip and squeezed him even tighter into me. He stopped biting me. His mouth started traveling up my neck, across my chin, up a little higher. “I’ve wanted this for so long,” he panted. His breathing grew deeper and louder, his lips barely an inch away from kissing me.

  Shutting my eyes and squeezing them as hard as I could, I said, “No! We can’t do this!” I tried to step back. He didn’t ease his grip on me, trapping me against him. If I were just human, I wouldn’t be able to move. But I wasn’t. I used a little bit of my vampire strength to pull out of his embrace, leaving him gasping as I flashed over by the fireplace. He stumbled but quickly regained his balance.

  Swinging an astonished look at me, he said, “I don’t know where that came from! I’m so sorry! Please don’t be mad! I’m sorry!” He took a few steps toward me.

  My body was on fire and still wanted him so bad. I needed to cool down. “No! Don’t come any closer. Please. I need a minute.”

  He held up his hands and took a deep breath. “Okay. I’m gonna go in the kitchen and get a drink.”

  I couldn’t get any more words out, so I just nodded. He turned around and walked out of the living room.

  I’m not sure how long it was before he called out and asked me if I wanted a drink, but thankfully I’d cooled back down and felt like myself again. He brought out a couple glasses of water and sat down on the sofa. As he set the glasses next to the laptop, he asked me to fill him in on everything else that had happened at the pub. I sat down next to him—but not too close—and then told him everything he wanted to know. His eyes grew wide when I got to the part about biting an innocent. They grew even wider when I told him how delicious she was.

  There was one piece of information that I purposely withheld from telling Tyler, since there was no way I could risk arguing with him again. The fact that I’d be returning to Rayver’s Pub alone would not go over so well. My decision to go without him was final. The right time to tell him was still undecided. Is there ever really a right time?

  The laptop jingled again. The email still waited to be opened. In the heat of our discussion, I’d forgotten all about it. Tyler leaned forward and wiggled his finger across the mouse board. The Hawaiian beach scene morphed into a solid gray background with tiny icons along the bottom of the screen, one of them a mailbox. Tyler double-clicked it. The e-mail sender address was the one Lily used to send me the blood donor information.

  Abby,

  I was thinking of you. I’m so worried. Bronx

  has gone crazy. He’s looking for you everywhere.

  He doesn’t believe you’re in Florida anymore. He

  has other vampires helping him search for you. I

  overheard him say something about Texas. Are

  you in Texas? Be careful. Don’t trust anyone.

  They could be working with him.

  Please write back and just let me know you’re okay.

  Lily

  Tyler and I simultaneously looked away from the laptop and stared at each other. What the hell was I going to do now? Bronx was starting to look for me outside of Florida. Why would Texas be the next place he’d look? Did that mean Savannah was safe for now? Not that I believed any place was really safe—not until Bronx was no longer after me.

  But would his death be the only way to stop him? Could I kill him if it came down to it? I’d never killed anyone or anything before in my entire life, or afterlife. If divine intervention allowed an opportunity for me to kill Bronx, what if I couldn’t? What if I froze and let him get the best of me in that moment?

  All I could go on right now was a gut feeling that I would be safest right where I was, at least for a little while longer.

  15

  Ability

  TYLER SLEPT FOR NEARLY SIX hours before awakening abruptly due to another vision. His shrieking cry interrupted a love song by George Acosta that I’d downloaded from Beatport.com. Alarmed, I rushed to his side and found him sitting against the bed’s headboard, sweating profusely and breathing frantically.

  The vision—or premonition as he would call it—showed Bronx finding me on a night I went to one of the donor clubs alone. The location and time frame as to when that happened remained a mystery. Going back to Rayver’s Pub without Tyler tonight, then, just got more challenging. Putting those thoughts aside, I sat down on the edge of the bed and firmly wrapped my arms around him. My face pressed into his cool, moist tee shirt as I nestled into his chest. Beads of sweat dripped from his chin to the top of my head.

  I held him tight, reassuring him the best I could as he tried to regain control over his breathing. Unable to pull himself together, he pushed me away and stormed out of the bedroom. Like a shadow, I trailed after him. “I just wish I knew where it was. What club you were at. And when it happens.”
His bare feet slapped the wooden floors all the way to the kitchen.

  Lingering in the hallway, I tried to encourage him. “Maybe you’ll get another vision. One that will fill in those blanks.”

  He looked at me, eyebrows raised, mouth crimped, and replied, “Maybe? I have this stupid gift of seeing the future and the best I can offer right now is ‘MAYBE’? Maybe I can help you, or maybe not. Depends if my stupid gift works again!” He grabbed a coffee cup out of the cabinet next to the fridge and chucked it across the room. It hit the wall with a clatter, and shattered into a million pieces. Tyler hunched over the sink, staring into it.

  I edged closer to him. I reached for his back and nervously rubbed tiny circles on it. Regardless of the unsettled mood, I felt a small fire spark to life inside me. “Ty, just calm down.” I pushed harder into his back. “Try to relax. Anger never helps anything.”

  Without looking away from the sink, he replied through gritted teeth, “We only have a couple of hours before you’re going to need blood! How will we know what club to go to? I can’t risk him finding you!”

  My stomach churned. The need to be close to him intensified. I quickly pulled away and stepped to the side. Shaking my head, I retrieved another mug and set it on the counter beside him. Keeping my hands to myself this time, I said, “I appreciate your concern for me, I really do.” I started fidgeting with my hair. “That’s why I know you’ll understand that I have to go back to Rayver’s Pub tonight. Not just for blood, but for information. I need to go alone. I can’t risk putting you in danger.”

  He looked at me, eyes widening, “You’re what?” he demanded.

  “I need to know what Stone’s not telling me. He’s holding out on me. I need to know why.”