End Game (Vampire Hunter Book 6)

by Reynolds, S. C.

  “Great,” I said angrily. “So now what?”

  “I’ll find out his whereabouts so you can kill him,” David said calmly.

  “And why would I trust you, after everything you’ve done?” I demanded. “You’d probably double cross me and try to let Leon kill me instead.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to trust me,” David snapped. “What other choice do you have? And besides, I can understand your hesitation, but now that I know my son is involved, I wouldn’t do anything to hurt any of you,” he said, looking around the room. I noticed that Henry wouldn’t meet his gaze.

  I turned to Emmett. “Can you tell us where Leon is?” I asked, still not ready to trust Mr. Matthews.

  “Maybe,” he said slowly. “But I think you need to listen to David. The bigger problem is you figuring out your power to actually kill a demon.”

  “No psychic thoughts on that?” I asked morosely.

  “At this point, I think it’s down to you,” Emmett replied. “But you killed Tobias – don’t sell yourself short.”

  “Did you know…about Henry’s decision? Before you got here and were told?” I couldn’t help asking.

  “Um.” Emmett looked away, his face turning a crimson color.

  “You knew,” I said incredulously. “And you didn’t bother to tell me!”

  “I knew it was a possibility,” Emmett corrected me. “If I had felt like it would put any of us in danger, I’d have mentioned it. But it wasn’t my secret to tell. Or your decision to make,” he added.

  I didn’t answer.

  Emmett stood up. “I’m glad I could come over and get the details of everything that happened, but I’m afraid I have to leave now.”

  “We should go home, too,” David said, looking at Henry.

  “I’m not going home,” Henry replied.

  “Henry, be reasonable,” David pleaded.

  “I’m going to Jet’s,” he said firmly. “You can contact me there if you need to. Frankly, you’re pretty damn lucky I’m even willing to have anything to do with you, after what you’ve done.”

  “How can I make up for it?” he whispered.

  Henry laughed tersely. “That’s just the thing, Dad. You can’t.”

  Henry walked to the door. “Do you want a ride home now, Aurora?”

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  “What a strange evening,” Henry commented when we got in the car.

  “I’m still in shock over it all,” I said. “But, thank you for doing the spell. You know I can never repay you for everything you’ve done for me.”

  “I never asked you to,” Henry reminded me.

  “Henry?” I said tentatively.

  He glanced away from the road momentarily. “Yeah?”

  “You’ll be working for Jet…but you won’t do anything bad, will you?” I blurted out.

  Henry laughed. “Of course not. Becoming a vampire didn’t change my morals.” He paused. “Jet’s not evil. You have to admit, you liked him, too. Yeah, he plays a political game, and he wants power, but he’s not out killing or hurting innocent people.”

  “You know I can’t do what he asked,” I said quietly. “Go around, recruiting people for him to turn.”

  “I figured as much. And I suspect Jet knows you’re going to refuse his offer. It was a long shot, anyway. But, you gotta do what you gotta do,” Henry said lightly.

  “What’s that mean?” We were at my house now. Henry pulled up to the curb and turned the car off.

  “You acted surprised that I would choose not to go back to school after all of this. But what about you? Don’t you think that hunting is your destiny? You didn’t get this amazing ability to kill demons so you can go to college and work in an office.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. “True,” I conceded. “I guess I haven’t let myself think too much about it. As terrifying as the shit we’ve been going through is, the future is almost worse.”

  “I know what you mean,” Henry agreed.

  Impulsively, I reached out and placed my hand on Henry’s knee. “You know how much I care about you, right?”

  Henry leaned forward and cupped my face in his hands, his soft lips connecting with mine. The kiss was sweet, sad almost. He pulled away but kept his hands around my face, leaning his forehead forward to touch mine.

  “As nice as that was,” Henry said, “we both know.”

  I knew what he meant: we both knew we couldn’t be together.

  “Yeah,” I whispered. “But you have to understand…my feelings for you were real. Are real.”

  “Same here.” Henry pulled back, leaning his head against the back of his seat and closing his eyes.

  “How did you know we couldn’t be together?” I asked finally. “When did you realize?”

  “When I decided I was going to be a vampire and not tell you about it,” he replied. “And then, to discover what my dad was up to, and you’d been keeping that from me…” His voice trailed off and he turned to look at me, his eyes more piercing than usual. “Do you really think soul mates keep those kind of secrets from each other? We were both hiding things. Big things.”

  I shook my head. He was right. Recently, our friendship had been muddled with secrets and lies.

  Besides,” he continued, turning away, “I see how you look at him. You may have feelings for me, but you’ve got them for Lucas, too. And I won’t – I can’t – sit around any longer, wondering who you’re going to pick. I think you’ve already made up your mind, anyway, even if you haven’t admitted it to yourself.”

  I didn’t answer. Initially I had been too confused to know what I wanted, but Henry was right. Lately, I had started to realize the bond I shared with Lucas was different than the one with Henry. Henry would always have a place in my heart, but only as a friend.

  “This isn’t goodbye though, right?” I whispered.

  “Of course not, Rory,” Henry said with a sad smile. “Our lives are going down different paths, but I’m sure they’ll cross again. After all, we’re both immortal now. And believe me, I intend to do everything possible to help you take out Leon and Senara. I will never abandon you; that I promise.”

  I leaned forward and hugged Henry, clutching my hands around the back of his neck, scared to let go. But you have to let go.

  “Talk to you soon?” I asked as I got out of the car.

  “Definitely. But don’t expect me to come out in the daylight,” he said, only half-joking. “I don’t think I can handle those sunlight pills yet.”

  “Deal,” I said with a smile. I got out of the car and trekked up to my house, feeling like I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.

  Chapter 14

  Sunday morning, bright and early, Emmett called me.

  “Have you had a premonition?” I asked as I picked up the phone.

  “I guess you could call it that,” Emmett replied, his voice tense. “I had this dream that you were fighting Senara. I’ve never had my visions in a dream before, so I wasn’t sure if it was real. What does she look like? Red hair, red lipstick, young? Maybe early twenties?”

  “Uh, that sounds like her,” I said, wishing I could forget her irritating face forever.

  “It was hazy,” Emmett said. “I saw her, then I saw you, and then I woke up.”

  “But you said we were fighting?” I asked.

  “It was in a house – there were things on the ground, broken,” Emmett explained. “I guess I just inferred the fight part.”

  “But do you know where the house is?” I asked.

  “Not until I woke up,” Emmett said excitedly. “The address popped into my head: 4400 Elm Street.”

  “I think that’s about twenty minutes or so from here,” I said.

  “Right. Seems all the supernatural creatures are convening in the same vicinity, near the Gates, near Tobias. Senara – and the others, for that matter – probably don’t yet know he’s dead.” Emmett paused. “I think you should tell Lucas and go over ther
e, try to catch her off guard. Maybe you can kill her, too. But if for some reason you can’t, then you and Lucas get the hell out of there,” he said grimly.

  “Maybe.” But my voice was filled with doubt. Senara had pushed me into that bookshelf with hardly any effort. My power was sketchy, at best. What if it didn’t activate? Maybe Senara couldn’t kill me, but she could most likely inflict pain in other ways. And, as she had so readily pointed out, she could kill Lucas.

  “Look, Aurora,” Emmett said. “This is the best lead I’ve had in weeks. I don’t want to put you in danger, of course, but she’s going to have to be dealt with, and if you can surprise her, all the better.”

  “Okay,” I said, still feeling skeptical. I promised Emmett I’d contact Lucas and we’d let him know as soon as we had news.

  When we got off the phone, I started to call Lucas, but then hesitated. He’d have to take a sunlight pill. But that wasn’t the real issue. I couldn’t put Lucas in danger. And you don’t want him seeing his old girlfriend, a nagging voice said. I could try and deny it all I wanted, but it was true. The thought of Senara and Lucas together still made me want to smash up everything in sight.

  No, I’d have to go it alone. I pulled up the map on my phone. Just as I’d thought, Elm Street was near downtown, about twenty minutes away. Thirty by bus, I thought, resigning myself to the fact that the bus would have to be my mode of transportation. Even though I could drive, I had no license, and my parents would kill me if they caught me driving one of their cars again.

  My parents were still asleep, so I texted my mom’s phone to let her know that I was spending the day with Lucas. He seemed as good an alibi as any, and if Mom called him because I didn’t come home, I knew he’d cover for me…and come and find me. I gulped. It won’t come to that.

  On the bus ride to Senara’s, I tried to devise a plan. But how could I plan when I had no idea what to expect? What was I going to do? Sneak in, hit her over the head with something, try to knock her out? And then kill her? It just seemed so ludicrous.

  Maybe I’ll just check things out today, I thought. That sounded like a better idea. She’d probably be in that house for at least a few more days. What did they call it when you snooped around someone’s house? I thought back to all those crime shows I used to watch, when I was holed up in Henry’s house over the summer. Casing the joint. That was it.

  The nearest bus stop was several blocks from the address Emmett had given me. I looked around nervously as I slowly walked towards 4400 Elm Street. I didn’t want Senara to see me, and briefly considered trying to disguise myself, but she didn’t remind me of the type who would be sitting at the window, waiting for an intruder. Senara was confident and powerful, always felt she had the upper hand. But not this time. I had an ace up my sleeve; Tobias had proven that I couldn’t be killed.

  When I got to the address, I saw that it was an apartment complex, not a house. Emmett specifically said house, I thought, a feeling of dread washing over me. I didn’t like that he was wrong about that. It wasn’t an important detail, but what if he was wrong about other stuff, too? Details that were important. Like my ability to kill the bitch.

  It was a high-rise apartment complex, like the one Lucas lived in. There was only one way to find out which unit Senara was renting. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, alert her that I knew where to find her, but there was no choice. It was a risk I would have to take.

  I headed to the leasing office. A guy was sitting behind the desk. He didn’t look much older than me, and he had dark brown hair with spiky red tips.

  “Hi,” I said, “I’m looking for someone who lives here.”

  The guy looked up from his phone. “I can’t give out the addresses of the tenants, but if you tell me who you’re looking for I’ll make sure I get a message to ‘em.”

  Crap. “Um, it’s really important,” I said, trying to give him an endearing smile.

  He shrugged. “Sorry, no can do. I can deliver a message for you, but that’s all I got to offer.”

  “Come on…Bob,” I said, reading the nameplate sitting on the desk.

  The guy laughed. “Do I really look like a Bob to you? Nah, Bob’s my dad. He owns the place. I’m Mark. What’s your name?”

  “Annabelle,” I replied, using the first name that popped into my head.

  “So who are you looking for, Annabelle? Boyfriend?” Mark leaned back and smiled.

  Is he flirting with me? I was a terrible flirt, but decided to try and play along. “Oh, Mark,” I said, “don’t be silly. I don’t have a boyfriend. I’m just looking for my sister, you see. She’s been…estranged from the family. I heard she’s back, living here. She’s probably not using her real name,” I added quickly. “It would be best if I could describe her.”

  “Sure,” Mark said, “and then I can get her a message.”

  I shook my head. “I need to surprise her,” I explained. “Otherwise she might bolt again. I’m not quite sure she wants to be found yet.”

  “Weird,” Mark muttered, looking confused. But he didn’t question it any further. “Sorry,” he said. “I wish I could help you…”

  “Pretty please?” I asked, batting my eyelashes, wondering if I looked as stupid as Bunny when she was flirting. “Isn’t there anything that would change your mind, allow you to bend the rules just this once?”

  “Well,” Mark said. He looked around nervously. “Okay, if you describe your sister, I’ll help you out. But only if you agree to go on a date with me.”

  “Um,” I said, “I don’t know.”

  “Why? You just told me you didn’t have a boyfriend. Let me take you out. You might even have fun,” he said teasingly. “How old are you? I’m 19.”

  “I’m 17,” I replied, trying to think of an excuse.

  “See? Perfect.” Mark grinned.

  “Okay, sure, why not,” I said. “I’ll give you my phone number.”

  I gave Mark a fake number, which he punched into his phone. Thank God he didn’t try to call it to make sure I hadn’t lied. He’ll find that out later.

  “My sister’s got bright red hair, thin, uh, curvaceous,” I said, not knowing how else to describe Senara. “She’s five years older than me.”

  “I know who you mean!” Mark said. “Samantha Wallace.”

  “Great!” I replied enthusiastically. “What her apartment number?”

  “She’s in 802,” Mark answered.

  “Thanks so much, Mark,” I said.

  “You may have to come back, though,” Mark told me. “She’s not home. She was leaving right when I got here for my shift.”

  What’s she up to now?

  I feigned disappointment. “Yeah, I guess I’ll try back later.” But, in truth, this was the best possible scenario for me to check things out – if I could get into the apartment. Now I almost wished I had brought Lucas. He had that key that could open any lock. What was I going to do? Break the door down?

  “Sundays are usually quiet,” Mark was saying. “You could hang out for awhile, see if your sister returns. There’s a TV in the back office. We could watch something.”

  “Don’t you have to stay out here?” I asked nervously. I didn’t want to lead Mark on, but there were certain to be extra keys for all the units in the office.

  “Nah, like I said, Sundays are slow. Besides, if anyone comes along they can ring the bell,” Mark replied, pointing to the bell on the counter.

  “Okay,” I said, even though I knew it wasn’t a stellar idea.

  “Great!” Mark hopped up from the desk and motioned for me to follow him. We walked through a door behind the desk, into the office. He shut the door behind us. There were two folding chairs next to the desk. Behind the desk, hanging on a board on the wall, were tons and tons of keys, each with room numbers underneath them. I looked away, not wanting Mark to pick up on the real reason I had agreed to ‘hang out’ with him.

  “So tell me about yourself, Annabelle.” Mark sat down in one of the chairs and
I sat next to him.

  “Oh, nothing to tell, really,” I said, trying to be vague. “I’m a senior. What about you?” I asked quickly. Maybe if I could get him talking about himself he would forget to ask me anything personal.

  I barely listened as Mark told me how he graduated two years ago and had been working for his dad since then. His father was planning to buy another complex, and Mark would be the full time manager there.

  “Uh-huh, that’s really cool,” I said, trying to sound interested.

  Mark paused. “I’m boring you, aren’t I?”

  “What? No, of course not!” I protested.

  “I see how you’re looking at me,” Mark said. “And I just want you to know, I feel the same way.”

  Huh? Before I knew what was happening, Mark leaned forward and kissed me. My initial reaction was to pull back, but I stopped myself. You’ve got to get that key!

  So instead I responded to his kiss. Even though there was only one person I really wanted to lock lips with, the kiss wasn’t bad. Mark was cute, and his lips were soft. After a moment I pulled away and laughed nervously.

  “That was nice,” I said.

  “Yeah, it was.” Mark smiled shyly.

  But it will never happen again. I felt guilty for leading him on, for kissing someone other than Lucas, for mildly enjoying it. But what other option did I have?

  Mark started to lean in to kiss me again, but I held up my hand. “Could I have a glass of water?” I asked.

  “Okay,” Mark said reluctantly. “There’s a water cooler out front. I’ll go get you a cup.”

  As soon as he had left, I jumped to my feet and rushed to the board, scanning frantically for the key to room 802. I plucked it off the wall and stuffed it in my pocket just as he got back.

  I turned around and took the water from him. “Thanks so much, Mark,” I gushed. “But my mom just called. I have to get home, pronto!”

  Mark’s face fell. “That sucks,” he said.

  “Yes, totally,” I agreed.

  “I’ll call you tonight,” Mark said. “Maybe we can go out Friday, if you’re free?”

  “Sure,” I said, feeling guilty again. But Mark would figure it out when he called the number and it wasn’t Annabelle’s. And I’d never have to see him again. And even though I’d vowed not to keep anything from Lucas, I wouldn’t tell him about that kiss, either. It wasn’t technically cheating since we hadn’t defined our relationship, but he wouldn’t understand. And what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.