by Yvette Ford
“Hey, little girl,” someone whispered.
I froze. Turning slowly, I looked to the left and spotted a man in the alley. He grinned, glanced up and down the street, and then asked me if I needed drugs. He didn’t actually say drugs, but one of those stupid words they used on the street so the cops wouldn’t know what they were talking about. Yeah, right, like anybody would be fooled. I wasn’t giving him the time of day. Worse things than that dealer were probably in that alley. No thanks.
As if it was proving my thought, a black shadow came up behind the pusher and grabbed him around the throat. All I saw was an arm and sharp fingernails. That was all I needed to see. I bolted, hard and fast, down the street. Zipping through a couple of guys who were staggering around drunkenly, I kept moving. Even when I came up on the corner and saw that the Don’t Walk sign was flashing, I didn’t slow down.
“Lorcan, where are you?” I called out in my mind.
No answer.
A car screeched to a halt to avoid hitting me, and I don’t know where it came from, but my palms went down on the hood, pressed, and I flew up and over the car. Someone shouted behind me. “Did you see that jump? Yeah, girl, that’s what I’m talking about. Work it out, baby!”
My fear lessened, and I burst out laughing. Another few steps, I stopped to lean on a wall, holding my sides. My throat burned. I stooped and checked down the street the way I had come. No one was chasing me, and the guy in the car that had almost hit me drove on. I stared down at my hands, wondering.
“Dude, you won’t find the answer there.”
I raised my head. “Hey, Blake.” I sighed. “You come to take me back?”
He popped something in his mouth that looked like gum, but it was blood red. I cringed. “No, not exactly.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Lorcan’s looking for you.” He tapped his head. “We can’t get in there, dude. Your daddy blocked you again.” He rolled black eyes, circled with thick black eyeliner. “I so don’t like him. I hope you don’t mind.”
I shrugged. “Feeling’s mutual.”
He tossed the sides of his trench coat back and rested his hands on his hips. I tried to remember if the hand that had grabbed the pusher in the alley had black fingernails like Blake had. I didn’t know.
“Look, dude,” Blake began, “we’re all thinking about blowing out of here. The adult vamps think they know everything, and we’re tired of being pushed around. Lorcan’s coming with us and—”
I gasped. “Lorcan’s leaving town?”
He looked bored and annoyed that I had interrupted him. “Yeah, didn’t I just say so?”
I frowned. “Do you need a nap?”
He laughed. “No, I’m hungry. Wanna supply me?”
“Not!” I wasn’t scared of his threat. “Where is he? Where’s Lorcan? I want to see him.”
“Didn’t I come to find you to take you to him? What am I the errand boy? Everybody bosses Blake around.”
I walked over to him and patted his arm. “Sorry, okay. Chill. Just tell me where he is, and I’ll go there. You don’t have to get involved.”
His nostrils flared. I wondered why he wasn’t perfect looking like the others and was glad he couldn’t get into my head right then. It was probably the way he dressed that gave the illusion.
“So you can get there safely, on the other side of town, the vampires on the hunt for blood, and the grunts out looking for trouble?”
I gulped. “Ah, yeah, right. Come on, Blake, do me this huge favor. I won’t ask anything else of you. I’ve got to see him tonight, and besides aren’t you going to see him anyway. I mean all of y’all are leaving together, right? Please?”
He ran his fingers through his slick hair and growled, then started pacing while he thought it over. Blake had always been nice to me, but he had a selfish side too. When he was in a bad mood, I didn’t feel like dealing with it. But I was so not going to miss seeing Lorcan before he left, not for anyone. If Blake wouldn’t help me get to him, then I would just have to pull out some more of that power or whatever it was that made me jump that car, and just run all the way there without stopping. It was possible, right? I was my dad’s daughter.
Blake stopped pacing and faced me. “Okay, but it’s dangerous out here, and I’m not getting into a knock down, drag out fight with one of the stronger vampires over you. Got it?” I nodded. He searched the area again and then looked at me. “You do what I say one hundred percent, right?”
“Right.”
He eyed me like he didn’t trust my word, and I tried hard to look like he could. After an eternity, he smirked. His eyes lit up with his usual happy-and-don’t-care-who-doesn’t-like-it look, and he held out his hand to me. “All right, let’s go.”
I lurched forward, grabbed his hand, and clutched his arm. He pulled me closer, a little too close for my comfort, and he lowered his head to sniff my neck. It was creepy and kind of gross. I shoved at him, but he was a solid rock I couldn’t move.
“Your blood smells good,” he groaned.
“Eww, maybe you need to...uh...feed first.” I shivered, getting nervous.
Blake laughed. “Let’s go.” I didn’t get a chance to say a word before he had taken off running, with me hanging onto to his chest. The farther we got from the safe house, the weirder I felt, like whatever my dad had put over that house was getting weaker. And something else too. The pill was wearing off. The voices were coming in slowly, getting louder. It was different than it was before. The balloons were there, or what I called balloons, the barriers the others would put up in their head so lesser vampires couldn’t get in without a fight, and the older, more powerful ones had free reign.
The mind barriers were up, but I swear I could walk right through them. Or think right through them. While I hung onto Blake, I heard his thoughts.
“When I drain her, I’ll be the powerful one. I will be in charge, and I’ll hide her where nobody can find her, making her supply me with her power as often as I want.”
Oh crap! He was going to kill me. Fear hit me like a fist in the face. I couldn’t let on that I knew his plan because if I did, he might stop and do it right here. I had to make a plan, but first I had to calm down because if he sensed my fear, he would read my mind and know that I knew the truth.
I shut my eyes and took a few breaths, which did nada. Shivers ran over my body, but the night was cool, so I hoped Blake would think it was because of the chill. Stupid me, I had thought he was my friend, but like Ronnie said, all vampires were evil. When I thought that, I remembered what Ronnie had also asked me. “What about Lorcan? Is he all evil?”
Well, did I think so? Could he care about me? Or was I his ticket to the sun too? I mean he didn’t save me back there. Not that he could. It was daylight. I closed my eyes and shook my head. I couldn’t make excuses. Lorcan hadn’t come through for me. He had let Blake take me to the mansion. So why did I end up trusting Blake instead of Lorcan? I grumbled at the thoughts rolling through my head and forgot to try throwing up a shield to keep others out.
“Because you’re scared of what you feel.”
“Lorcan?” I called out.
“Ya think?”
“Funny. Where the heck are you? I’m in trouble. Or don’t you care?”
“I’m tracking you. No one’s taking you away from me. Not ever again.” I kinda thought those words were dramatic and on the silly side, but my heart acted like he had recited mushy poetry and I was some soft-headed girl from those romantic movies on the black and white cable channel. Not that I looked at them. My mother did, tears and snot flying.
When Blake stopped in the park where I had been heading anyway, I was relieved. At least I was near home, and that made me feel a little safer. Except we were on the other end of it, which came out to the street like two miles from my house. Back here, there was only a dead end road leading into the park area, and the clearing here was surrounded by trees but no lights. Only the moon illuminated the area. Th
is was the upper level. The park trail was on lower ground, and when it stormed really badly, the trail would flood with water.
I remembered Ronnie and I used to come out at night when the rain eased up so we could watch the water. I had wondered if a boat could float on it, but Ronnie, the coward had told me not to even think about it. In fact, now that I did think about it, Ronnie had tried to convince me not to go out there, but I had threatened to go alone if he was too chicken. He said somebody had to drag my curious behind out of the water when I fell in, so he better tag along. Whatever. I could out-swim him any day.
My memories came to a screeching halt when I noticed that Blake and I weren’t alone. Someone else in a hood came strolling up to us. “You’re late.”
I gasped.
“I had to get her out of her protection didn’t I?” Blake whined.
I should have known from the beginning. Blake had looked like even more of the good guy next to the cold-hearted Adrianne. And she was beautiful enough that she probably had him wrapped around her little finger. My thoughts were confirmed when she leaned over and kissed him. I made a vomiting sound. She scowled at me and rolled her eyes.
“Stupid, you didn’t pay attention?” she snapped at Blake. “She’s read your mind. She knows everything.”
I blinked. Dang, I didn’t even feel her press in on me. I made a lousy half vampire. I had no choice but to play it off. “Look, I don’t know what y’all are planning, but I’m going to tell you right now, I called in backup.”
Adrianne’s eyebrows went up. “What are you the police?”
“I’m not playing with you!” I tried to put up a shield around my head while at the same time urging Lorcan to hurry the hell up. I considered contacting my dad, but didn’t. After that, I tried to dredge up my power. I was seriously on E or something.
Adrianne walked up on me, and I had to admit I was intimidated, but she wasn’t going to know it. I felt her press my head, but I held out and stood my ground, my fists clenched at my sides.
“You want to do this?” I demanded.
She laughed, and her fangs came down. “Do you?”
Not really. I wanted to go home and never come out again. “Oh, we can go, girlfriend,” I told her. “What you got?”
All I know is she raised her hand up to swing at me, and all hell broke loose.
Chapter Eleven
Something rose up on the inside of me. It burned my belly like fire, and when her pale arm came up, my darker one clashed with it in the moonlight. I couldn’t believe I caught her swing. It hurt like nobody’s business, but I didn’t let on. And I didn’t wait for her to come at me again either. I grabbed hold of her and shoved with all my might. To my shock, and hers, and Blake’s too, she went flying back to smack upside a tree trunk. When she fell on the ground and then struggled to her feet, there was blood on her lip where her fang must have gone into it.
She glared at Blake. “Get her!”
I didn’t have a moment to turn in his direction. He jumped on me and knocked me to the ground. His fangs sank into my neck. I screamed. He dragged on my blood, and my vision blurred. My mind exploded with Lorcan’s yell. The next thing I knew, Blake was torn off of me, and he and Lorcan were rolling all over the ground punching each other. The hits were so hard, when they missed and their fists hit the ground, they broke the concrete. My stomach hurt hearing it.
I rolled over to my stomach and struggled to get up, but Adrianne fell on me and forced me flat to the ground. She too bit my neck. I tried to get her off me, but I couldn’t.
“Tanesha,” Lorcan shouted. Because he was distracted thinking about me, Blake got in a good punch, and Lorcan’s head hit the ground with a sickening thud. He didn’t move. Blake pulled something shiny from his coat, and I knew he was planning to kill Lorcan for good. My heart shattered at the thought.
“No!” Tears filled my eyes. I was getting weaker by the second. I had no choice. I had to call my dad. “Dad, please help us.”
I didn’t know if he would hear me, but I kept calling until I couldn’t open my eyes anymore, and my mind was so fuzzy, I couldn’t put the words together. They made no sense. Somewhere Adrianne was laughing, somewhere far away, and while I couldn’t be sure what that skank was saying, I thought it was something like, “Her blood is nothing like I’ve ever tasted.” I hated her guts.
I must have blacked out because when I opened my eyes, the twelve elder vampires were standing in the clearing. Jett had Blake up in the air by the front of his coat, and from the length of his teeth, I thought he could rip Blake apart with no trouble at all. I tried to focus on what they were saying, but my hearing came and went. I could only make out bits and pieces.
“What...think...know, Blake?” Jett growled through clenched teeth. “I...own you.”
Frustrated that I couldn’t follow what he was saying, I glanced around the ring of people. I looked around for Lorcan. He was still laying there where Blake had knocked him out, and I was glad to see his head was still attached. At least it looked like it from where I lay. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the truth. I wanted to reach out to him with my mind, but I didn’t dare. Every one of these creatures could get in my head, and they were probably aware already that I was awake. Not one paid me any mind.
I began to realize that my throat was dry, and it hurt. Not only my throat, but my arms and legs too. Every part of my body ached. I tried to move, but I couldn’t. Then out of the blue, I knew what my problem was. I was low on blood, real low. Not like get dizzy, pass out low, but low to the point that I had been turned. I didn’t know which one of them did it—Adrianne or Blake—but when I was stronger, they were both going down, one way or another.
Self-pity tried to come on me, but I shoved it away. At the same time, I forced myself with all that I had left to sit up. I wobbled and would have flopped on my face, but someone caught me. I glanced up to find Lin holding me. Her face was set in an expression of “I can’t stand you. I’m just doing my job.”
“Right back at you, sista,” I muttered. And then the strength came for me to attack her. I guess a vampire gathers it up from her toes if it means blood. I took a lot, and she seemed to be trying to fight me off, but my strength was sweet. Someone shouted “That’s enough” inside my head, but I ignored him.
The weakness left as fast as the strength could replace it. I was on top of the world. I was superhuman. When I pulled back, I started laughing, and the others gave me dirty looks. I got cocky, pointing at Blake who was looking at me like I’d lost my mind while he was the one hanging a foot off the ground. “You and me,” I told him. I swung my finger around to locate Adrianne. She stood near the woman who she looked like, trying to appear to be the innocent victim here. “You too.”
Her eyes widened, and she looked scared. Jett snapped his fingers, and two younger vampires I hadn’t seen came over to me. They grabbed my arms, but I shook them off.
“Don’t give us any trouble, Tanesha,” Jett instructed. “You belong to us now. Accept your fate.”
I took on a fighting stance, putting my fists up. Dang, blood was a rush. “That’s where you’re wrong, homey. I don’t belong to you or anybody else here.” I picked up on a scent just outside the circle. So vampires tracked by more than just their thoughts? Cool. I grinned. “It’s on.”
My dad came out of the trees, and soon he whipped around the circle of elders sending them flying with one punch. But they recovered fast and came at him. With the vampires who had grabbed me distracted, I ran past them straight for Blake, but before I reached him, he spun around and ran in the opposite direction, straight out of the clearing.
“Coward,” screamed after him. I changed my direction to Adrianne, but she wasn’t there either. I didn’t get to hit anyone.
When I heard a groan, I remembered Lorcan and rushed to his side. He was paler than usual and shaking all over. I helped him to sit up. “Are you okay?”
His eyes drifted closed, and his head dipped. I tugged him clos
er, tears in my eyes. “Lorcan, snap the hell out of it. Please.”
“Blood,” he whispered.
I swallowed and leaned in to offer my neck, but he drew back. “No, not you.”
“I’m not good enough now?” I put my hands on my hips but realized only afterward that I had to let him go to do it. He thunked on the ground, and I grabbed him up again, feeling bad. I’d never be asked to nurse the sick, that was for sure.
“Not you, Tanesha,” he insisted. “You’re still new, and you need your strength. Someone else.” He said all that with his eyes closed, and his body looking like it was about to go into convulsions. I noticed a dark, wet stain on his shirt, but I wasn’t going to investigate where it came from. Suffice it to say, Lorcan was dying, and if I didn’t get him blood, I would lose him. So I did what any good girlfriend would do. I jumped one of the lesser vampires and dragged his butt over to feed him to my boyfriend.
