It’s them, isn’t it? he thought, knowing I’d hear him. It’s the vamps who killed Wes ... and now they’re back to finish the job. I met his gaze and responded silently in his mind, telling him not to panic. We’d figure out what to do. We can’t take O’Shea home now. We’ll just lead them right to his house. He had a legitimate point. The light turned green, and Trey pulled through it, continuing down the road, the black SUV on our tail.
“What’s going on?” O’Shea asked. He must have noticed Trey’s incessant glancing in the rearview mirror. “Are the photogs trailing us or something?” O’Shea said, moving to turn in his seat to get a better look behind us.
“O’Shea,” I said, getting his attention before he could look. He paused for the space of a heartbeat but that was all I needed to reach into his mind and project an image of him shopping at the mall. His eyes went unfocussed as he processed the image. It felt wrong to manipulate O’Shea like that, but I pushed harder with my power, wanting to be sure the image stuck. It had to for his sake.
When O’Shea’s eyes snapped back into focus, he leaned forward and tapped Trey on the shoulder. “Hey, why don’t you drop me off at the mall instead?” he asked, sounding a little surprised by his comment.
“Good idea,” Trey said a little too quickly, taking a turn to put us on course for Clearwater Mall. Trey’s blue eyes were focused on the road as he tried to hide his anxiety about being followed by murderous vampires. The situation would have been bad enough if O’Shea hadn’t been with us. Leaving him at a crowded public place was the best thing I could think of to keep him safe. Even being ambushed by crazed teenage fans at the mall was a better alternative than anything these vamps had in mind for us.
“Do you guys wanna come with me to the mall?” O’Shea asked.
“I think we’ll pass, buddy,” Trey said to him, making his voice light. “Aurora and I have something we need to take care of. Maybe next time.”
“Why don’t you have Kacie meet you there?” I suggested. “She could give you a ride home when you’re done.”
“Yeah, okay.” O’Shea said, and I heard him texting again.
Nice call, Trey thought, glancing at me. I tried to relax in my seat for the rest of the ten-minute drive to the mall, but the black SUV leering in view behind us made it difficult. First things first, we needed to get O’Shea out of here. Then I’d have to figure out how to deal with the vamps.
Trey finally turned into the mall. He pulled up to the main entrance, and I kept an eye on the SUV, which stayed toward the back of the parking lot, watching. O’Shea climbed out of the car, and Trey pulled the ball cap off his head and tossed it to O’Shea.
“Put this on,” he told him. “It might help if there are a ton of fans around.” O’Shea obeyed, putting the hat on.
“You should probably wait for Kacie inside,” I suggested.
“I’ll call you later,” Trey added. “Have fun shopping, don’t talk to strangers, and buy Kacie dinner or something.”
O’Shea furrowed his brow at Trey and snorted. “I’m not twelve, Dad.” He gave us a cocky grin and turned to walk inside. Trey sighed, but his heart rate leveled out slightly as he put the car in gear and headed for the nearest exit from the parking lot.
“At least O’Shea is safe,” he said as the black SUV fell in line behind us again. “Now what? I don’t suppose we can lose them?”
“Doubtful,” I said. “I’ve got my mind fortified, but they can read you like a book.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
I bit my lip, desperately hoping for a stroke of genius. “Take a left, two blocks up,” I said to him.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“It’s better if I don’t tell you yet,” I said. “That way they won’t figure it out until I want them to.”
Trey gave a slight nod and kept his eyes on the road ahead. I’d direct him to Antonio’s place. It wasn’t much of a plan, but heading in the direction of a full-grown vampire I knew I could trust was the best idea I had. Trey took a left, and the SUV followed us easily, turning right behind us. I realized as we kept driving that whenever the traffic was scarce, the vampires in the SUV became more daring. They drove closer behind us, tailgating Trey’s Mazda. There was no way to win with these guys. If I directed Trey down busier streets, we were putting more humans at risk with our chase. If I took the back roads, we might not make it to our destination at all.
Before I could work out which of the two options was best, Trey got my attention by slamming his fist down onto the steering wheel in anger.
“What is it?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at the tailgaters.
“It’s me,” he said in frustration. I just figured out where we’re going. I was thinking about it before I could stop myself. Now they’ll figure us out for sure.”
“That was going to happen anyway,” I told him. “It doesn’t change anything. Keep driving.”
“Then what happens?”
“I don’t know exactly, but these guys will be getting more than they bargained for if we can reach him. We’re almost there.”
“That’s good enough for me,” Trey said, making a quick lane change.
We were on a secluded street now without much traffic. The black SUV trailed behind us not more than two car lengths back. It was constant and menacing like a shadow. I wondered if they’d read our destination in Trey’s thoughts and back off. That would have been too easy. The closer we got to Antonio’s, the more desperate they seemed to stay on top of us. The SUV veered into the lane next to us and sped up, pulling up beside us. Trey glanced at them and then back at the road. I knew he was worried about oncoming traffic. The road ahead was clear for now. I leaned toward Trey and got my first look at one of them. I didn’t recognize him as he met my gaze and then gave a nod to the driver.
I called out Trey’s name in warning, but the black SUV was already swerving toward us. Trey reacted by quickly veering away from them, which sent us off the road and straight for a street light. Trey yanked the steering wheel to the side, trying to miss the giant wooden pole. It might have worked but his human reflexes were sluggish. I braced myself for impact, my whole body jerking forward as the hood of the Mazda on Trey’s side crumpled against the pole. The sound of the metal crunching and the windshield cracking was almost enough to drown out the sound of another set of tires squealing to a stop. As I sat back, sparks were pouring out of the street light and onto the hood of the car, sizzling. I turned to find that Trey was slumped over the steering wheel, his body leaning against the door. A steady stream of dark blood flowed from his nose.
Chapter 7
Aurora
“TREY?” I CALLED OUT, reaching for him. “Trey, wake up!” His heart was beating, but he was unconscious. I wasn’t sure how bad he was hurt, but I knew better than to shake him. I quickly glanced around for my phone, knowing I’d had it just a minute ago. I rummaged around and found it on the floor, quickly speed-dialing Antonio.
“Aurora,” he said when he answered. “I had the strangest feeling about you just now. Are you okay?”
“I need your help,” I said quickly. “I’m five blocks from your house and there’s a group of vampires after Trey and I. We crashed Trey’s car. He’s unconscious.”
“I’m not home, but I’ll be there-”
But I didn’t get to hear the rest of his sentence. The door on my side was thrown up and open, and a vampire had me by the throat before I could defend myself. My phone crashed to the ground, and I struggled to find my feet as I was pulled from the car. It was the vampire I’d locked eyes with that had a hold of me. He held me at eye-level, seething.
“What’s the matter?” He grinned maniacally. “Vampires not good enough for you now? Had to resort to this piece of trash?” He jerked his chin in Trey’s direction. “I think you’ve been looking in all the wrong places.”
I swung my right leg out and pulled it hard against the back of his knee. His leg buckled and he loosened his
grip on my throat as he tried to catch himself from falling. I took advantage of his downward momentum and took a swing at his head, knocking him backward. The SUV had slid to a stop twenty yards away and two more vampires climbed out of it. I turned to face them both, prepared to fight. They weren’t smiling but seemed just as determined to teach me a lesson as the first one. I sidestepped a ways, not wanting to have the car at my back. When one of them lunged at me, I dodged out of his way, finding that he was noticeably slower than me. I threw my elbow in his face as he passed. The other one was faster, though, and he tried to use one of his legs to sweep mine. I jumped over it and reached for his left arm as he turned, barely missing him.
I looked around and realized I’d lost sight of the first vampire. He wasn’t on the ground by the car anymore. In a panic, I spun around, trying to find him. Taking my focus from the fight, even for a second, was too long, and I paid for it with a blow to the side of my face. I let the momentum from the kick take me down, and I spun around with my knees bent and grabbed the vampire’s leg, twisting until he went down on his face. That was when I noticed the first vampire who had disappeared. He was at Trey’s door now, pulling it open. Fear coursed through me at the thought of what he might do, and I raced around the back of the car to meet him. The door was open now, vertical on its hinges, and Trey was going to fall out. The vampire reached for him and grabbed his head. For the briefest instant, he dropped the wall around his mind, and I knew without a doubt that he was about to break Trey’s neck. I reacted instinctively, wrapping my hands around the vampire’s head and twisting hard and fast. I only hoped the nauseating crack I heard wasn’t covering up the sound of a second crack as the vampire dropped limply to the pavement, his neck broken.
I reached for Trey, catching him just before he slumped out of the vehicle. I crouched down and found that, to my desperate relief, his heart was beating. He was still alive. I wanted to pull him from the car, but I wasn’t sure if I should move him, and frankly, he might be safer inside of it for now. I propped him up against the seat again and turned around, expecting to have to face down the other two vampires. What I saw instead surprised me beyond belief. They were climbing back in their SUV and slamming the doors shut. In one last desperate attempt, I reached out with my mind, throwing all my mental prowess into the action. I don’t know whether it was the adrenaline or what, but I managed to break through to one of them long enough to gleam one sharp thought.
She won’t be happy the human survived.
Before I had time to work out who she might be, their tires squealed and they pulled back onto the road and sped away. Apparently, they weren’t willing to sacrifice themselves for their cause.
Then I heard Trey groan, and I spun back around to see him open his eyes.
“Trey?” I said, kneeling down next to him. “I’m here.”
“My arm,” he groaned. “Something’s wrong.”
I took a second to survey the damage from this angle. His nose was still bleeding, and his left arm hung at an angle that was all wrong. I took my scarf off and folded it, holding it to Trey’s nose with enough pressure to slow the bleeding. His shirt was soaked with his blood and I hoped his nose was the only source of it.
“Do you hurt anywhere else?” I asked, more than a little afraid of the answer.
“I can’t think past ... the pain in my arm,” he said through gritted teeth.
I dove into his thoughts and was immediately overwhelmed by the pain he spoke of. It was almost unbearable, even for me. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt pain in that way, clear and sharp like a carving knife. I pushed past it and searched for any other aches and pains that he might not be fully aware of, but if there was something else, the pain in his arm was masking it.
“Hold on,” I told him, trying to decide what my next move was. “Try not to move.”
Aurora?
I heard Antonio’s voice in my head and looked up to see him speeding toward us on foot. He didn’t stop until he was standing at my side. He looked down at the dead vampire on the ground near my feet.
“The others left,” I said.
“Are you okay?” he asked me.
I nodded. “Trey isn’t.”
“He needs an ambulance,” Antonio said, peering in to look at Trey. “Trey’s still human. You have to let the humans take care of him for now.” He was right, and it didn’t matter that I didn’t like it. “I’ll take the vampire’s body back to my place. The Emissary can come to me to collect it. It’s our only choice, if we want to keep the humans out of it.”
“Body?” Trey asked, breathing hard, but he didn’t seem to really expect an answer.
“Where’s your phone?” I asked him. Mine was lying on the pavement somewhere on the other side of the car.
“Pocket,” he groaned.
It took both my hands to pull Trey’s phone from his front pocket so I could dial 911. Antonio lifted the body of the dead vampire into his arms and Trey got his first glimpse of it, his eyes narrowing.
“The humans can’t know I was here,” said Antonio. “Take care of Trey.” Then he was gone.
The 911 operator answered immediately. I explained that I’d been in a crash, and my boyfriend needed an ambulance. Then Trey and I waited to hear the sirens while I held my scarf over his bleeding nose.
“You killed that vampire,” Trey said, his voice muffled by my scarf.
It was more of a statement than a question, but I nodded in response. “He was about to break your neck, so I broke his.” I explained, pulling the scarf away to look at his nose again. The bleeding had stopped now.
Trey’s face was twisted up in pain but he looked at me from the corner of his eye and said, “Thanks.”
I wanted to tell him that the last thing he should do is thank me –it was my fault he was in this mess to begin with– but even I was tired of that line.
Chapter 8
Aurora
VAMPIRE OFFICER MIKE DUNN was the first to arrive on the scene. He parked his police car a short distance behind the Mazda and was at my side in the blink of an eye.
“Miss Evins,” he said, bending down to look at me. “I got a call from your maker. I understand a vampire was killed tonight.”
“Yes,” I said. “Antonio has the body.”
“Is there anything else I should be aware of before the humans arrive?”
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s the same vampires responsible for killing Weston Leavy.”
Officer Dunn seemed to chew on the information for a second. “You’re certain?”
“I’m certain,” I said. “The other two took off in their black SUV in that direction.” I pointed down the road. Officer Dunn gazed at the dark street for a second before turning his attention back to Trey me.
“Is he okay?” he asked, gesturing to Trey.
“Does he look okay?” I answered, but I could already hear the sirens approaching.
“It’s Trey, isn’t it?” he asked Trey.
“Yeah,” Trey breathed, struggling to focus.
“I know you’re hurt, Trey,” Dunn continued. “But you have to be on top of your game. You can’t tell the other humans what really happened here.”
Trey breathed for a second and then looked up at Officer Dunn from the corner of his eye and said, “This ain’t my first rodeo.”
Dunn eyed him for a moment and then smiled. “You’re okay, kid,” he said. “For a human.”
The ambulance pulled up next, followed by another police car. Officer Dunn helped two EMT’s carry a backboard over to the car. One of them was a man in his fifties and the other was a girl who appeared to be in her early twenties. The girl recognized Trey immediately, which was kind of reassuring. At least she’d know who she was dealing with. I was reluctant to give up my seat next to Trey, but I had to move so they could get to him. They checked his eyes with a penlight and secured a neck brace on him. It was all Trey could do not to cry out in pain as they loaded him onto the backboard. His shoulder w
as throbbing so intensely that his thoughts were barely cohesive.
A human police officer was examining the hood of Trey’s Mazda when Officer Dunn gestured for me to step away with him.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Trey, hating to leave him even for a second. Then I followed Dunn to his police car where we could talk privately. “I trust you’ll help detour Officer Murray if he gets wind of this,” I said. Officer Murray had been the cop who investigated Wes’s murder, and although we now knew more about Wes’s killers, we had to keep Murray and the other humans out of it for their safety.
Officer Dunn nodded. “I’ll take care of things on our end. Just make sure you both stick to whatever story you come up with.”
“There’s something else,” I said. “I managed to break through to one of the vamp’s minds as they were leaving. The only thing I caught was ‘she won’t be happy the human survived’.”
Dunn furrowed his brow. “Any idea who she might be?”
I shook my head. “No idea, but I have a feeling she’s the answer.”
Dunn nodded and pulled out his cell phone to make a call. I left him to deal with the other police and made my way back over to Trey’s Mazda. I found my phone a few feet from the passenger door and was pleasantly surprised when the screen lit up at the touch of a button. I put it in my pocket and headed straight for the ambulance. Trey was inside lying on the gurney, gritting his teeth against the pain while the young EMT checked his blood pressure. I climbed up and sat on the bench seat across from him. He was a hot mess, still covered in drying blood that had gushed from his nose.
Immortals And Melodies (Blood And Guitars #2) Page 4
