End Game (Vampire Hunter Book 6)

by Reynolds, S. C.

  In theory, I thought, but I didn’t comment any further. Henry was right; we needed to have the attitude that everything was going to work out. Because the other option was far too scary to fathom.

  “Thanks again for letting me stay here,” I told Emmett. “We’ll get out of your hair now.”

  When we got to the car, Henry said, “Want to come back to my house for awhile?”

  “Sure, why not?” I replied, hoping Mr. Matthews wouldn’t be there.

  “Yeah, I was thinking we could get our plan set to deal with Benji,” Henry said.

  “Ugh, I almost forgot about that with everything else going on.”

  “Tomorrow will be a week since he tried to attack you,” Henry said. “I still want to do that spell I told you about, the one that will make him weak if he tries to hurt anyone.”

  “The anti-meathead spell,” I said. We both laughed.

  “So are you game?” Henry asked, his tone turning serious. “If we get his hair tomorrow after school, I can do the spell that evening. I already got the other stuff I need. Like I said, it’s a beginner’s spell.”

  And you’re probably already an expert.

  “Sure,” I said, “why not?”

  When we got to Henry’s house, I was relieved to see there weren’t any cars in the garage. I didn’t feel like making idle small talk with David Matthews, pretending I didn’t know he had supported Leon in trying to send me back to my grave.

  We went upstairs to Henry’s room. “Wanna see the stuff we have so far?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  Henry got down on his stomach and pulled out a plastic container from under his bed. He took off the lid and started lining items up in a row on his bed. By the time he was done, I counted twelve things. I pulled the tooth out of my pocket and set it down. That made thirteen.

  “I’m scared to ask what some of this stuff is,” I said nervously, eyeing a vial of clear liquid.

  “Oh, that? It’s just holy water. Probably the least scary thing in the bunch.” Henry picked up a plastic bag with a gelatinous, green substance inside. “This is afterbirth. From what, you don’t want to know.”

  “Eww!” I exclaimed. “How can you put that shit on your bed?”

  “It’s in a baggy,” Henry said, giving me an odd look.

  “You didn’t…hurt anything to get that, right?” I asked.

  “No, of course not. I bought this, actually.” Henry sat up straight and pursed his lips into a serious expression. “No creatures were harmed in the making of this spell,” he said in a television announcer voice.

  I laughed. “Well, that’s good to know. But if you didn’t get it yourself, what’s to say it’s real?”

  “I just know,” Henry replied. I didn’t press him further.

  “Want to watch TV or something?” Henry asked, changing the subject. “You know, pretend like life is normal for a change.”

  “Sure,” I replied, just as my phone rang. It was Lucas!

  “Go ahead, get it,” Henry said.

  I gave him an apologetic look as I answered, “Hello?”

  “Hey, Rory,” came Lucas’ sexy voice on the other line. “Nic and I got the rest of the things for the spell. I was hoping you could get Henry and come over?”

  “Sure,” I said, not wanting to tell him that I was already with Henry.

  “Great,” Lucas replied. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “What was that about?” Henry asked when I hung up the phone.

  “I think our morning of watching TV and vegetating just got squashed,” I said. “You up for a trip to Lucas’ apartment? He got the rest of the stuff you need, with the help of Nicholas.”

  “Why not?” Henry asked. “I knew having a normal day was just a pipe dream anyway.”

  “It will be normal…eventually,” I said, trying to sound positive. “After next Saturday,” I added. If we get out of there alive.

  When we arrived at Lucas’ apartment, I was surprised to see that Nicholas was there as well.

  “Good to see you, man,” he said, slapping Henry on the back.

  “Nic, I didn’t think you’d be here. What happened last night?” I asked.

  Nic flashed his crooked smile. “We took care of business,” he joked. “Nah, seriously, Lucas and I got back here right before sun-up and I decided to stay indoors instead of taking a sunlight pill and going home.” He handed a shoebox to Henry. “Voila,” he said. “The last things you requested.”

  “Thanks,” Henry said gratefully. “I think we’re in a really good position to be totally ready for Saturday.”

  “Except for the wendigo tooth,” Lucas interjected. “We still have to figure that out. Did Jet ever tell you if he found out whether it had to be you who extracted it or not?”

  “Uh, about that,” I said nervously.

  Lucas and Nicholas looked at me expectantly. “It’s kind of taken care of,” I said in a rush.

  I told them, not leaving out a single detail, about getting the wendigo tooth.

  Lucas, who had maintained a stony expression the entire time I was speaking, was silent when I finished.

  Nicholas let out a low whistle. “Damn, so now you can heal as well? That’s pretty fucking awesome.”

  I nodded. “Lucas?” I asked in a low voice. “I know you’re mad, but at least it’s over with, and it gave me more insight into my powers,” I said hurriedly.

  Lucas stood up abruptly. “Aurora, can I speak with you alone?”

  “Uh, yeah,” I said, following him into his bedroom.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?” he exploded. “I told you that we can’t trust Jet. He’s head vampire, for Christ’s sake. His agenda is completely opposite of ours. All he wants is to become even more powerful. This is just a game to him.”

  “You’re wrong,” I argued. “I’m allowed to make my own decisions about people – and vampires!” I snapped. “All Jet has done is try to help. It’s not my problem if you have some chip on your shoulder from a gazillion years ago. Maybe Jet was an asshole in the past, but you were, too, by your own admission. Why is it possible you’ve changed but he hasn’t?”

  Lucas reached out, pulling me towards him. I felt his warm lips against mine. I was surprised, but I couldn’t help but respond. Our kiss deepened and he pulled me closer against him. I kept kissing Lucas, my head swimming, only vaguely registering that Nicholas and Henry were just a few feet away from us in the other room.

  Lucas pulled back, cupping my cheeks in his hands. “What was that for?” I asked, trying to regain my composure.

  “It’s just…is there something going on between you and Jet?” Lucas asked, not meeting my eyes.

  “Do you seriously think I could kiss you like that if there was?” I shot back incredulously. “Just because I trust Jet, it doesn’t mean I’m in love with him.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I felt embarrassed.

  “So what are you saying?” Lucas asked huskily. “You’re in love with me now?” His tone was flirty, teasing.

  “I don’t know!” I said honestly. “I really don’t. But I can assure you that I’m only trusting Jet because we’ve got no other choice.” I wanted to laugh at the realization that Lucas was jealous. It was absurd. Sure, Jet was hot, but it didn’t mean I was about to discard my feelings for Lucas and start pining over Jet instead. Jet was a womanizer – it was obvious – and even if he wasn’t, my un-beating heart was already torn between two other men – well, one man and one vampire, to be precise.

  “They’re going to wonder what we’re doing,” I said.

  “Yes, we’d better head back,” Lucas agreed reluctantly.

  “Welcome back,” Nicholas said with a smirk when we walked into the room.

  “Sorry. I just needed to understand why Aurora decided to trust Jet,” Lucas said smoothly.

  “Yeah, so now you’ve got everything you need, right Henry?” I asked, eager to get off the subject of Lucas whisking me away to his bedroom.

 
; “I’ll do a final inventory when I get home, but yeah, looks like it,” Henry agreed.

  “Good,” Nicholas said. “I don’t think there’s anything else we need to do today then?” His question wasn’t directed at anyone in particular.

  We all nodded and agreed that it looked like we were prepared for Saturday.

  Henry and I got up to leave. “If something else comes up, I trust you’ll tell me,” Lucas said lightly. His words were directed at Henry and me, but I knew he was referring to me sneaking off with Jet.

  “Of course,” Henry agreed, oblivious.

  “Do you want to come back to my house?” Henry asked as we walked out to his car.

  “I think I’ll go home, if you don’t mind,” I said. “I just need to…think.” My head was still swimming from the kiss with Lucas.

  “Right, sure,” Henry agreed. Is that disappointment in his voice? I couldn’t tell, but I had enough on my mind. I literally might explode if I added one more worry.

  “Want me to pick you up for school tomorrow?” Henry asked as he pulled up outside my house.

  “Yes,” I said. I groaned. “You just reminded me I still have to do my damn homework. Juggling everything is turning out to be a real pain.”

  “Tell me about it,” Henry agreed. “But, look on the bright side: it will all be over soon.”

  I nodded, not quite sure I knew what specifically he was referring to. Even if Saturday went as planned, we’d still be high school seniors, stuck with homework and classes for the next seven months of our lives. And after that, Henry would go on to college, while I did…God knows what.

  “See you tomorrow morning,” I said, getting out of the car and slamming the door shut.

  As I trudged up to my house, I couldn’t help but think that this might be the last normal week of my life. If we failed – and Hell came to earth – it would be complete chaos. No, school, no law enforcement; the locks on our doors would mean nothing if the world became an anarchist society.

  And if we succeeded…well, that was almost just as bleak. It meant I would have to decide, once and for all, what I was going to do with my life. As much as I cared for Lucas, the thought of leaving my family to go hunt with him was terrifying.

  One step at a time, Aurora, I told myself. But it was a colossal decision. One I was going to be forced to make in the very near future, whether I was ready or not.

  Chapter 8

  Sunday proved to be uneventful, which was fine by me given the escapades of Friday and Saturday. When Henry picked me up for school Monday morning, I could tell he was tense.

  “What’s happened?” I asked, immediately thinking the worst.

  “Nothing. Why?” Henry gave me an odd look.

  “You just seemed…pensive. I don’t know, I guess I miss the happy-go-lucky Henry I used to know.”

  “Yeah, if someone had told me this was how my senior year of school was going to pan out, I’d have thought they were crazy!”

  “No kidding,” I muttered. “So you’re sure Benji will be in the gym after practice?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “Yeah, should be,” Henry replied.

  The day went by slowly as I tried to concentrate on my classes. I hadn’t been doing my reading assignments for English and last week Ms. Perry had threatened to arrange a meeting with my parents if I didn’t pull my D up to a B. So I was trying extra hard to pay attention.

  When the final bell rang at the end of the day, I headed to the library. I’d have to wait until after football practice to confront Benji, and it usually lasted for an hour and a half. There was no point in going home – what was I going to do anyway? Climb the walls as usual? – so I’d decided to use the time to get my homework done.

  The library was empty when I walked in. Good. I’d rather be alone. Henry was going to come over once his basketball practice ended, and he’d wait outside the gym while I got Benji’s hair.

  I pulled my English book out of my bag and flipped it open. We had to read a short story by Wednesday that was over 200 pages. Ugh.

  I leaned back in my chair and propped my feet up on the table, since no one was there to bitch at me not to. For the next half hour I read, trying to focus on the story, until I heard the thud of the library door as it slammed shut. I peeked over my book, towards the door, but didn’t see anyone.

  I’m sure I heard someone come in. “Henry?” I called tentatively. Maybe I lost track of time and he’s already done with basketball practice.

  But something didn’t seem quite right. I sat up in my seat, craning my neck to see if anyone was standing between the massive bookshelves. No one was there.

  I was just climbing out of my chair when someone spoke. “Don’t get up on my account.”

  I swung around to see who was talking. A tall, slender woman was standing a few feet away from my table. She walked over and sat down across from me.

  “You’re Aurora, right?” she asked with a slight smile.

  This can’t be good. I didn’t answer. I knew the woman wasn’t a student here; the high school was small, and even if you didn’t know someone’s name, you’d at least recognize them.

  But that wasn’t the real problem. She looked too old to be in high school. She had to be in her twenties. Maybe she was a new teacher’s aide?

  Although she sure didn’t look like any teacher’s aide I’d seen before. The woman was pretty, with shocking red hair, piercing green eyes and red lips that looked about five shades too dark. She had on a form fitting black top that showed off her ample curves.

  “Who are you?” I finally asked, deciding not to answer her question about my name.

  Her pouty red lips spread into a wide smile. “Me? I’m not sure you know me. My name’s Senara.”

  I tried to keep my face expressionless – and my mouth from hanging open – as I stared at the woman in front of me. I had no idea how to react. Play it cool and pretend I’d never heard that name a day in my life? Tell her I knew exactly who she was?

  “No matter.” Senara waved her hand dismissively. “If you don’t know me now, trust me, dear, you will.” Her tone was condescending, menacing.

  “Why are you here?” I asked.

  “Just checking out the competition.” She looked me up and down slowly, purposefully. “Honestly, I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. I can’t imagine I’ve got much to worry about,” she concluded with a humorless laugh.

  My mind was reeling. How could Lucas have liked this…sexpot? If this was Lucas’ type, then how could he even begin to think of me as anything other than a friend? I was the polar opposite of Senara.

  That was a long time ago, I reminded myself. I had laughed when Lucas was jealous of Jet, but now the shoe was on the other foot. The thought of Lucas kissing Senara, touching her… I wanted to reach across the table and smear my fist across her ridiculous red lips.

  Instead, I remained silent. If she was as powerful as Jet said, this wasn’t a battle I was prepared to fight – not yet at least.

  “Cat got your tongue?” Senara leaned forward. Her eyes flickered across the open notebook that was next to my English book. She picked it up. “Aurora Nathaniels?” she read, then threw her head back and laughed.

  I snatched the notebook out of her grasp. I had been doodling absentmindedly during Math class; I hadn’t meant to write my name with Lucas’ last name.

  “Well, I guess there’s no need to ask about your relationship with Lucas. My ex,” she said, pausing to see if I’d respond. I didn’t.

  “I wondered if there was something between you two,” she continued, “when I heard he was supposed to kill you and couldn’t follow through. But that always was Lucas. He never quite seemed to understand that business was business. Always had to question things, make certain every decision he made was morally sound. But when it came to pleasure…he understood that all too well.”

  “I don’t need to explain myself to you,” I said coolly, ignoring her innuendo. “If you’re done, I’ve go
t a lot of work left to do.” I kept my hands pressed firmly in my lap, hoping she wouldn’t notice that I was shaking like a leaf.

  Senara laughed. “Sure. Whatever you say. I must admit, I’m a bit surprised to find that Lucas is robbing the cradle, though. He always liked his women…mature.”

  I stared ahead stonily. Senara was taunting me. I refused to take the bait.

  She stood up and leaned forward, her face barely a few inches from mine. “Stay away from Lucas,” she hissed through her stupid red lips.

  “What’s it to you?” I asked in surprise, before I could really stop to think if that was such a good question.

  Her eyes flashed angrily. “Lucas was once mine. And if I can’t have him, no one can. I’m not yet sure if I can kill you, but I certainly can kill Lucas. And I will, if you don’t keep your distance.” She paused. “Have you ever been with a man?”

  I averted my eyes from Senara’s pointed stare.

  She laughed again. “That’s what I thought. Wow, what a cute little project you are. The little virgin dead girl. Lucas always liked his projects. If you give it up for him, he’ll be out the door the next morning. Sure, Lucas is hot as fuck, but he’s still your typical man. One track mind.”

  I was glad there was no blood circulating through my veins. I would have been as red as a tomato, from anger or embarrassment, I wasn’t quite sure.

  “You done?” I snapped.

  But she wasn’t. Senara grabbed my shirt by the neck. I was forcefully pulled from my seat.

  “I’ll be done when you’re dead,” she hissed. Then, Senara put her hand square against my chest and pushed. I was slammed into the bookshelf behind me. It teetered but didn’t fall.

  Senara smiled. “Next time I won’t be so gentle,” she warned. And then she turned on her heel and was gone.

  I got up off the floor and walked shakily back to the library table. She’s just trying to intimidate you.

  But still, I couldn’t get Senara’s words out of my head. I wasn’t stupid. As much as I’d like to believe that the relationship Lucas and Senara had was handholding and hugging, I knew better. He had been with her, in the most intimate way you could be with someone, and that was a fact I was going to have to accept. But to think that Lucas would use a girl for sex and run away the next day? That, I couldn’t, wouldn’t believe.