“You’re in love with her, James! Aren’t you?”
“Of course not, Jason. Not at all. I am simply doing what I was told.”
They all knew who she was now. This was not my intention. God, if only I could have stayed away.
“I need you to come with me. You need to talk to Abraham.”
“About what?”
“About your betrayal,” he jeered.
“Betrayal?”
I felt his hand crush my cheek, and I almost fell to the ground. He hit almost as hard as Abraham.
“Do not hide behind the fact that you are his son. He will kill you if he chooses. Though I do think he would be proud of me if I took care of it myself.”
He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out his knife. I punched him as hard as I could in the face, and he fell backward. I leapt toward him until he was on the ground and sat on top of him, wrenching the knife from his hand. I plunged it straight into his chest. He let out a weak, soggy groan and fell still. I wasn’t sure if he was dead yet, but it didn’t matter to me. I dragged the body to the clearing, placing it in front of the alter. There was nobody there, which gave me a chance to deny my involvement. It didn’t seem to matter; Abraham would know it was me.
I continued walking, now on my way back home to get some cleaner clothes. My shirt was covered in blood, but I was hoping my jacket could conceal most of it until I could change. My mind was now haunting me with the murder I had just committed. It was justified this time, wasn’t it? He was someone I considered a friend up until the very minute my knife punctured his heart, and that was hard to deal with. He was better than David, of course; he never threatened me with a gun. It shouldn’t have been Jason.
I continued walking, and as I was strolling past Jane’s house, I did everything I could to resist the urge to knock on her door. I kept my eyes locked on it and saw two people slowly opening her front door. I knew Jane lived with her father, and neither one of the guys who entered was him. I tried telling myself it wasn’t my concern, but I couldn’t let them hurt her, could I? Hopefully they would just take what they wanted and leave. Maybe they wouldn’t hurt her at all. I knew that if she ended up hurt, there would be no way I could forgive myself, and because of the way people looked at me, I would be the first suspect. I was supposed to kill her though. Maybe I wouldn’t have to. It would be much easier this way if it were to just happen. That thought ate through me like acid. Was Jason right? Was I…in love?
I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and slowly crept up to her front door, gently pushing it open. I was about to call her name when I was attacked. A boy swung a rake at me, slicing my shirt. I backed away, and he came at me again.
“Eric!” another shouted. “I got him!”
He pulled me inside by the neck of my shirt and shoved me against the wall. He seemed not to notice the blood. The smell began to make me sick. It brought me back to the days when I was James West and proud to be. I felt dirty and vile.
“Rudy!” Eric shouted. “Be careful!”
Rudy? Damn it! He was Walter’s grandson. I couldn’t hurt him. Rumor also had it he was friends with Jane too. Perfect! He hit me a few times in the face, and I didn’t even move an inch to fight back. I could have killed the guy in less than five minutes, and maybe I’d just kill Eric for pissing me off with that damn rake he swung at me, but Walter would never forgive me.
“You won’t leave here alive,” Rudy growled, shoving me against the wall and hitting me again. “I won’t let you hurt her.”
I felt myself sinking into dizziness—not from his punches but more from the madness of everything that was happening. I needed rest; my thoughts were overwhelming me.
“Rudy?”
He turned around to see Jane in the doorway.
“Oh my God!” she cried. “Rudy, stop! Are you crazy?”
“No, Jane! He’s crazy. I saw him sneaking into your house. I was trying to protect you.”
He grabbed me again by the neck of my shirt and shoved me even harder against the wall.
“Rudy, what the hell is wrong with you?” she screamed.
“Jane, I tried to tell you before. He isn’t human.”
“What?”
“He’s a hunter. You have to keep him away from you.”
The words flooded into me, and it made me sick to realize he was right. Walter had told him about The Sevren for a reason. He taught him well.
“Rudy, you’re my friend,” she said, “and I would hate to call the cops on you.”
“Jane—”
“Get the hell out of my house, Rudy. NOW!”
“Jane, please!”
“Three numbers, Rudy. That’s all it takes.”
“Fine,” he growled.
He let go of me, harshly pushing me back into the wall.
“But do me one favor,” he said. “Keep yourself safe. Avoid him.”
He stormed off, completely livid.
She rushed to me, but I put my hand up.
“I’m fine.”
“Oh my God, Aidan. What’s your definition of fine?”
I managed to smile. I wasn’t hurt very badly. Most of the blood wasn’t my own.
“Lie down,” she said.
“Really, I’m fine.”
“Okay, then humor me and lie down.”
I went to lie on the couch. I sighed and got up, walking to the kitchen.
“Jane.”
“Oh, for the love of God, Aidan. Would you please lie down?” She brushed her lustrous dark hair from her face, and I could see the beautiful shape of her cheekbones. I suddenly found myself captivated by her again.
“Jane—look.”
I took one of the towels from her and wiped my face. I took off my jacket and wiped the smeared blood off my arms. The blood came off, and there were no marks just like I knew there wouldn’t be.
“I could have torn him apart with my bare hands, but all I could think about was you and how you would never forgive me.” I left out Walter for obvious reasons.
She shook her head and stared at me through slanted eyes. She just kept her gaze locked on me without saying a word.
“What?” I asked. “What are you thinking?”
“At this point, I’m trying to figure out what you are.”
I didn’t know how to respond. I was amused by the possibilities of what she could be thinking. It appeared a lot stranger than it really was. I smiled at her and bowed my head. Her direct gaze was making me nervous. I never knew how to respond to her.
“Oh!” she said with a sigh. “Aidan.” She touched the bottom of my shirt, seeing it was sliced into strips.
I held back my laughter. It would only be amusing if she knew the whole story, which I clearly couldn’t tell her. She wasn’t fooled.
“Aidan, how on Earth do you find this funny?”
“Really, Jane, I’m fine.”
“What happened?”
I chuckled. “Uh, business end of a garden rake.”
“What?” she bellowed. “What is wrong with him?”
“Actually, that was…Eric,” I said, struggling to remember his name. “I’m guessing Rudy’s older brother?”
She nodded.
“It’s because of Rudy, Eric is alive. One more swing and I would have killed the guy.”
She just stared at me again in that same baffled way. It was best I stayed a mystery.
“Thanks,” I whispered, “for rescuing me.”
“Aidan, why—?”
I put my hand up. “I was trying to protect you.”
“From? And…why me? Why were you here? You live by Andrew, don’t you?”
“I don’t have many friends here, Jane. There isn’t much to do, so I walk…sometimes for hours, sometimes even all day.”
“So what do you mean protect me?”
“I noticed that your dad had forgotten to lock the door when he left.”
“What? No—Ethan would never forget to lock the door.”
�
��Well, he did,” I answered. “I thought I saw a burglar entering your house, but when I opened the door, that’s when Eric came at me with the rake. Rudy stopped him but pulled me inside and started hitting me—among other things.”
She stared at me again, this time with her mouth hanging open in shock.
“Why would Rudy have been in my house?”
“He was yelling at me, telling me I wasn’t going to leave here alive,” I said. “Saying that I better not hurt you. He thinks we’re friends, and when he saw me walking down the street, I guess he thought I was coming to visit you, so when he noticed the door was unlocked, he hid inside until I walked by.”
“Thinks we’re Friends?”
I nodded. I hated the sound of that. Friends. It was such a deceiving word. I shouldn’t be friends with Jane; I would only end up hurting her in the end.
“Are we not friends?”
“That’s one thing Rudy was right about. The other is that you should avoid me,” I said.
I knew I couldn’t do it myself. Maybe if she avoided me, I could more easily stay away.
“Why? You were the one who was so persistent about wanting to know my name. You could have just left me alone like I asked you to the first time we met.”
“I know, but I couldn’t help myself. I was so intrigued by you. I didn’t mean to captivate your interest if I have.”
“You interest everyone,” she whispered, “even maybe Rudy in some way, though negatively.”
“I’d love to be your friend, Jane, but I don’t think Aaron Raines would like that too much.”
“Why does that matter?” she groaned sarcastically, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
“Because you don’t want to lose him,” I told her. “Friends are hard to come by. Be careful, Jane…who you rescue.”
I halted at the doorway and walked back toward the kitchen. If I was to have her avoid me, I figured I should say goodbye, mostly to cure myself of the burning feelings she was inflicting upon me.
“Jane?”
She spun around, gasping and thrusting her hand to her chest. “Oh,” she breathed.
I laughed. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re still here.”
“I couldn’t leave without thanking you properly.”
I pulled her against me and could feel her body quaking. She was more nervous than I was.
“Thank you,” I whispered in her ear. I planted a soft, brief kiss on her cheek, which sent electric shocks through my limbs.
“If you were to wish it, Jane…you would never see me again.”
“I do not wish that,” she whispered.
I bowed slowly and left, wishing more than anything it wasn’t Jane who I was sent to kill. Why couldn’t it have been some insignificant cookie-cutter Barbie who bored me to tears? I wouldn’t wish for Becky, of course, for no other reason than her being Jane’s best friend. I still didn’t quite understand that bond. I hated thinking about Jane—she made me feel so guilty.
I walked home, reciting in my head the words I would say to Luna about Jason. I repeated it so many times that it began to fall into a rhythmical, meaningless chant. I had to tell Walter about Rudy too, didn’t I? Rudy—superstitious, imprudent child. Unfortunately, I disliked him mostly because he was right about me. Well, except for the part about me not being human; that was just plain ridiculous. I couldn’t imagine all the crazy stories he was telling Jane. She probably thought I was some mythical monster with inhuman powers. How cliché. It was definitely something Rudy would say. I had heard gossip from random conversations I picked up with my insanely keen hearing. He had half the school thinking he was nuts.
I got home in the evening, and Walter raced to the door. He pulled me into his chest.
“Walter,” I said with a laugh, pulling away from him. “What’s with you?”
“You’ve been gone all day. I worried, waiting here all day like an anxious parent.”
“I’m fine. Have news for you by the way.”
“What sort of news?”
I dropped the keys in the basket and sighed, taking a seat beside him on the blue upholstered loveseat.
“Your grandson decided to try and beat the crap out of me today.”
“What?” he bellowed. “Rudy?”
I nodded.
“Why?”
“He thinks I’m a hunter,” I said, giving him a weak smile. “I thank you for that.”
He laughed. “That’s Rudy. Looks like he’s a good judge of character.”
I glared at him.
“I embellished those stories for him. I never knew he believed them.”
“He looked up to you. I’m sure he still does.”
“I’ll bring him back to me when the time is right.”
“I know.”
“Let’s take a look. You don’t look too banged up,” he said.
“Like I said…tried to beat me up.”
He frowned. “You didn’t hurt him, did you?”
I didn’t answer.
“Clem?” He sounded almost frantic.
I shook my head. “I didn’t even move to fend him off.”
His breath exploded.
“You can thank Eric for my shirt.”
Walter smiled flaccidly. “Ah, him too?”
I raised my eyebrows and nodded. “Didn’t expect it?”
“Never was very close to Eric,” he answered. “It’s too bad. He’s a good kid.”
“You can still change that, Walter.”
He shook his head. “Maybe someday.”
Chapter Thirteen
“He’s dead?” Luna whispered.
I nodded, and she turned away from me.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured.
She spun around, causing her red locks to become tousled over her shoulders. “Good God, James!”
“Luna, I had to.”
“Had to? Had to kill Jason? He was our friend.”
“Yes, and he was going to turn us over to Abraham.”
“Killing him wasn’t the only solution.”
“Luna, you know it was,” I argued. “Since when were you not on my side?”
“Don’t be that way,” she demanded. “I am on your side, but you are not being careful.”
I shunned her. She was right, but hearing her lecturing me about it wasn’t going to help. I walked away, shutting myself in my room. That’s when my thoughts ran wild and locked into order like a jigsaw puzzle, and one thing became clear—the one thing I realized I had known since that first day at the bookstore. I was falling in love with Jane Callahan.
I had to be close to her now; it was like a burning need to have her with me. But at the same time I knew I loved her, it was for that very reason I was also contemplating killing her. It may spare her a lot of pain and possibly even heartache. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do that.
Being close to her was the greatest feeling I had ever known, even stronger than my adoration for Vivian. Ah, poor Vivian. Jane would end up like her, wouldn’t she? That was a good enough reason I shouldn’t be friends with her. People were already beginning to take notice of how beautiful she was. She wasn’t so invisible anymore. Mike was loyal to me and hopefully wouldn’t find out what I was up to. Maybe me wanting to protect her was a good enough reason to be friends with her. I wasn’t sure yet what I was going to do.
At school the next day, I felt unnaturally happy. Just knowing she was near made me smile like some brainless, lovesick teenager. I walked to her class before she left and leaned against the wall, waiting for her. As soon as Becky saw me, she smiled at Jane and skipped away, almost bouncing like her usual, energetic self.
“Hello,” I said, cheerfully.
“Hi,” Jane stuttered.
“I have decided to do what I want,” I said. “I want to be friends even if Aaron and Rudy don’t want it. It isn’t up to them.”
“Good,” she sang. “Does this mean you are finally going to tell me how you do those crazy things you
do?”
I chuckled. “What do you mean?”
“Like can you fly with that vampire cape you wore?”
I laughed even though I was unsure how serious she was. “Is that what you’ve been thinking?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t know what to think.”
I just smiled at her.
“At the party, were you even standing behind me? When I fell?”
“Of course I was.”
“I’m sure I was alone, Aidan. How did you know I was in danger?”
“I didn’t,” I said, keeping my voice even and emotionless.
“I really want to know how you do those crazy things.”
“You need to stop listening to Rudy.” I chuckled, raising my eyebrows.
She sighed. “Probably.”
After every class, I was there waiting for her. We didn’t say much. I couldn’t think of anything relevant to say, and she realized it was hopeless to try and get answers from me. People stared, of course, but it stopped mattering to me. I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her—except maybe me if I eventually decided I had no other choice.
I walked with her to the cafeteria and gestured to the seat opposite of me. She sat down and glanced over at Becky and Aaron, who were snickering and stealing looks at the both of us.
Jane looked down at her hands, chipping away blue nail polish on her short fingernails. She finally looked up at me and immediately launched into a question.
“So why—?”
“Hold on.” I chuckled, raising my hand. “Don’t you think it may be my turn to ask the questions, Jane?”
“If you can think of one.”
I hesitated, trying to think of something I didn’t already know about her. Maybe being interested in her life outside of school was acceptable, though I didn’t want to pry.
“How do you know Rudy?” I asked. That was a logical question.
She laughed. “That’s the best you can come up with?”
I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.
“He lives a few houses down,” she said. “He was really good friends with my brother when we were kids.”
Oh God. I had to ask. I couldn’t resist. I had no idea how much I had affected her life; I was sickeningly fascinated by the thought of finding out. “How old was your brother when…when it happened?”
Summers' Shadow (Hunters Trilogy Book 2) Page 9
