by K. C. Blake
“Go ahead,” she said. “I’m listening. Tell me why you were touching Isobel like she’s the girl of your dreams.”
“I was trying to get information out of her.”
Silver’s eyes narrowed on his face. “What sort of information?”
“Isobel is not what she appears to be.”
“Stop talking in riddles, Jack, and just tell me what’s going on. If Isobel isn’t who I think she is, then who is she?”
“Not who. What? She’s the second werewolf ever created.”
The blood drained from Silver’s face, and her lips parted on a soft gasp. She shook her head slowly, denying the truth even as her eyes seemed to accept it. “That’s not possible. I’ve known her since I started to high school.”
“And she hasn’t changed even the tiniest bit, has she?” Jack stared out the windshield at the night sky instead of looking at Silver. He didn’t want to see her heart break when she realized her alleged friend was lying to her, using her. He said, “She admitted it. Jersey infected her himself, making her into a very powerful, scary-ass werewolf. The night she saved me, she took out a pack of vampires like they were nothing.”
Silence filled the inside of the car for several minutes. Jack waited for Silver’s reaction. When she didn’t share her thoughts with him, he added, “I imagine Jersey sent her to keep an eye on me, on us. She’s probably reporting back to him at this very second.”
“It’s not possible,” Silver repeated. “The diary says the head werewolf can only make wraiths when he infects women. She should be a wraith then, not a werewolf.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Jack finally turned sideways to face Silver. He rested his arm on the back of her seat and leaned in. “Lovely isn’t right about everything. Isobel says she’s the exception to the rule, and that part I believe.”
Silver absently fingered her necklace. A frown marred her delicate features. When she spoke, she seemed to be talking to herself. “My necklace never burned around her.”
“It didn’t burn around Jersey or the janitor either.” Jack took her hands, wanting to capture her undivided attention. “If she is who she says she is, then it wouldn’t burn around her, would it? She’s the exception to all the damn rules.”
“That makes sense… I guess.” Silver stared deep into his eyes. “Now the question is what do we do about it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Should we warn my mom and dad?”
“I don’t think we should tell anyone yet.”
Her voice took on a desperate edge. “We have to do something. If Jersey sent Isobel back to the school, he’s seriously up to something. I have a bad feeling he sent her for you.”
His heart skipped a beat, worried Silver might suspect what was going on between the werewolf-girl and him. “What do you mean?”
“Jersey has this weird thing for you. It’s like he thinks the two of you are connected in some way, like you were brothers in a different life or something. He doesn’t want to kill you, so we can assume she’s not here to do the job.”
“No doubt. He’s really into destiny and believes his destiny is to kill me himself.”
“If he sent her, it’s for an entirely different purpose. But what? What could he possibly want her to do?”
“Maybe we should ask her.”
Silver nodded, but fear glimmered in her deep blue eyes. “Do you think she’s still at your house? We could try to talk to her now.”
Jack almost pulled the key from his pocket to start the car again and take off with her. His eyes went to Silver’s home, the glowing windows and occasional shadows of the people inside waiting to celebrate with him. They’d gone to a lot of trouble to put together this birthday party for him. He couldn’t leave without a good explanation, and he didn’t want to tell anyone about Isobel yet.
“She can wait. We’ll track her down tomorrow.” He forced a smile. “We’d better get back inside before your father comes looking for you. It’s my birthday. I’d rather not be shot today.”
Her face brightened. “That’s right. I didn’t get a chance to say happy birthday to you yet.”
Silver leaned forward and briefly touched her lips to his. She breathed, “Happy birthday, Jack,” in an airy voice. It sent a shiver of excitement through his entire body, making him wish they could be alone. Then she asked, “Do you know what you’ll wish for?”
******
Ten minutes later Jack blew out the candles amidst a small group of clapping friends. He hadn’t told Silver what he was going to wish for, telling her instead that he wasn’t sure. It was a lie. He wished for a quick end to the werewolf problem. He wished for a ‘normal’ world to live in. The most important part of the wish—he wished that he could be with Silver forever.
He lifted his head and smiled at her as the last candle flickered out. They shared a brief moment before her father’s booming voice reminded them that they weren’t alone.
Andrew raised a glass of punch. “Here’s to Jack finally reaching eighteen. May he get really, really old and gray like the rest of us.”
His wife playfully jabbed him in the ribs. “Speak for yourself.”
“I am, honey.” Andrew laughed, putting an arm around her. “You don’t look a day over twenty.”
“Right.” Vanessa’s eyes rolled.
Everyone raised a glass and all eyes went to Jack. He inwardly squirmed under the scrutiny of family and friends. It had been a long time since he’d been involved in such a celebration, a long time since anyone had cared enough to celebrate something with him.
“Speech!” Billy shouted.
“Speech! Speech!” Vanessa joined in.
Silver manipulated Jack to the center of the room before abandoning him. His throat dried up, and his chest tightened as if several invisible steel bands encircled it. He could hardly breathe. What was he supposed to say?
“I…uh…” He cleared his throat. “I guess I should start by saying thank you. This was totally unexpected, and I can honestly say I was surprised.”
There were a few chuckles. Looking at their smiling faces, Jack realized he did have some things to say. He decided to do what his mom would have told him to do in this situation: speak from the heart.
“I was seventeen for ten years, no hope of becoming a man. I wish I could make you all understand what it was like, how empty I felt, how time became meaningless. If you knew what it was like to be a vampire for a decade and suddenly get a chance to have a life again, then you would understand what this means to me.”
A tear slipped down Vanessa’s cheek, but she continued to smile.
He went on. “I’m not good at making speeches. In fact this is my first one… and hopefully my last. I wish I could find the words to describe how I’m feeling right now, how grateful I am to all of you.
“The vampires I hung with didn’t remember their birthdays, so I learned how to let mine pass without notice. My friends wanted me to forget special days just like they wanted me to forget about my family, forget I was ever human, and for a while I kind of did. Now I stand before you a changed man.”
He grinned and added, “I’m finally legal.”
Thunderous applause erupted in the small room even though there were only four people clapping. Vanessa hugged him. Andrew thumped him on the back the way his father used to do sometimes. Silver kissed him on the cheek. A secret smile in her eyes told him she was remembering their earlier kiss. Him too. She went to help her mother cut the cake.
“Welcome home, Jack,” Billy said.
Jack nodded. “Thank you.”
Vanessa handed him a small box. “I don’t know where this one came from. It was on the table with the other presents. There’s no card.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t open that until we check it out,” Andrew said, but it was too late.
Jack had already flipped the lid off. He gazed into the small box. A white card rested inside a pile of tissue. That was it. He opened the card and read th
e message. It was from Jersey. The words chilled Jack down to the marrow in his bones.
“What is it?” Silver asked. She took the card from him and read it aloud. “Happy Birthday, Jack. I hope you like my little surprise. Jersey.”
“Surprise?” Billy scowled. “What the hell does that mean?”
Andrew said, “He’s up to no good obviously, but what else is new? You’ll need to be on your guard, Jack.”
Worried, Vanessa stroked Jack’s arm as she suggested, “Maybe you should stay downstairs in the mansion for a while.”
Jack shook his head, pretending he wasn’t concerned. “Knowing Jersey, he’s sending me a new book. He just likes to shock people and make them nervous.”
“Maybe.” Billy rubbed his jaw. “Maybe not. It might be a good idea, you staying in the mansion.”
“You should both stay,” Vanessa said. “If he can’t get to Jack, he could decide his brother is the next best thing.”
Silver stood so close to Jack that he could feel her breath on his cheek. Her anxious eyes were on his face, urging him to listen to her mother. She pleaded, “Do it. Stay in the mansion.”
“Until when?” Jack threw his hands up in the air. “Until Jersey’s surprise is revealed? Or until we catch him and kill him? No offense, but I don’t want to live in your basement for the next ten years, even if has over thirty bedrooms. I kind of like looking out windows from time to time. And anyway, the mansion used to belong to Jersey. If he really wanted to, he could probably get back inside without being seen.”
Andrew said, “He’s got a point.”
“I don’t know.” Vanessa put a hand on Jack’s back. “It’s so dangerous for you out there right now. I wish there was something we could do to make you safer.”
He smiled at her, and a warm feeling spread over his flesh. She reminded him so much of his mom. The way she looked at him made him feel extra vulnerable. He tried to shake the feeling. “I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself.”
Billy looped an arm around his neck. “Fortunately you don’t have to. You’ve got me.”
He pushed Billy away, feeling a wave of nausea wash over him. He raced from the room and straight into the bathroom where he was violently sick. After he stopped puking he felt a lot better. He hoped Vanessa wouldn’t try to force a piece of birthday cake down his throat. The last thing he wanted to do now was eat.
Jack turned the faucet on and splashed his face with cool water again and again. The water dripped off his hot cheeks. He swallowed several times while silently demanding his stomach calm down. Every second he went without vomiting was a small battle won. While he was hanging over the sink, he replayed Jersey’s words in his head.
Whatever the surprise was, it was going to be bad.
“Are you okay?” Billy asked from the doorway.
“I’m fine. Give me a sec.”
What a way to end his birthday.
Billy reluctantly walked away.
A flash of his former friend Cowboy showing him a backwards peace sign came to mind. Cowboy said, “Vampires rule, buddy.”
Jack stared at his pale reflection in the mirror. He imagined it smiling at him, flashing a backwards peace sign and quoting Cowboy. “Vampires rule,” the image said. He shook his head and verbally disagreed. “No. Being human, that’s what I want.”
But at the moment he wasn’t real happy to be mortal because he hated throwing up more than anything else in the world. He waited for his stomach to settle before rejoining the others. Vanessa had a piece of cake for him. He couldn’t eat it. She told him she would wrap it up for him to take home.
Everyone watched him closely after that. They wanted to know what had made him sick. He didn’t want to worry anyone, so he didn’t tell them he’d been feeling ill for a long time. He hadn’t been himself since being stabbed by that werewolf.
A flash of a bloody body beneath Tobias made him cringe. Another wave of nausea washed over him. It was the worst thing he could remember seeing. He couldn’t imagine hurting a person, a human being like that, but he’d done it.
Okay, it had been done in another life. His name had been Tobias then. Maybe Tobias Blackstone was more responsible than Jack Creed, but he was still the same person inside, wasn’t he? He watched Silver laughing at something her father had said. Jack wondered how he was going to tell her about his previous life.
How could he tell her he’d killed people?
Those beautiful eyes would look at him differently then. She would see a monster instead of the boy who loved her, and he would lose her. He couldn’t handle that.
Now he had a new worry. Jersey had sent him a present but hadn’t told him what it was or where to find it. He silently prayed it was just a book, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something horrible. Jersey loved to be mysterious. Until Jack found the thing, he was going to be on red alert. It was like having a sharp axe hanging over his head, waiting to fall.
******
Chapter Eight:
ANOTHER SURPRISE
Jack was still walking on air a few days later, a side-effect of finally turning eighteen. He strolled across the parking lot behind Silver while carrying her books for her. Before entering the school building, he turned to take a last look at his new car. It handled like a dream, and it belonged to him. If he lived to be a hundred, he wouldn’t be able to repay Billy for giving him such an incredible gift.
By the time he had driven home after the party, Isobel was gone. He’d called Silver the second he made it to his bedroom. Two voices whispering in the dark, they had stayed up until dawn. Jack thought about suggesting they go to sleep a few times, talk in their dreams instead, but every time he started to say something about it, Silver would say something else. He loved the sound of her voice in the real world too much to tell her they should go to sleep. He’d been thrilled that she put aside studying for once to spend time with him, even if it was only on the phone.
They were both exhausted.
Silver stopped at her locker and yawned into her hand before opening the metal box. Jack stood behind her for a second, peering over her shoulder. Her books were lined up neatly in alphabetical order. There was a small box with pencils, erasers, pens, a highlighter, and other assorted items she might need in the course of a school day. He grinned. Her locker even smelled clean. It was kind of ridiculous to him.
“Silver Reign, I want to talk to you.” Trina marched over, spun on one foot, and fell back against the locker next to Silver’s with an exaggerated sigh. “Do you realize how long it’s been since we’ve had some serious girl time? Well I’ll tell you. Months. It’s been months.”
Trina crossed arms over her chest and scowled at her best friend.
Silver’s eyebrows drew together. “That long? Are you sure?”
“Positive. You’re either hunting, doing homework, spending time with Jack here or doing some college thing.”
“I assume you have a plan.”
“My house. Tonight.” Trina wagged a finger at Silver. “And you’d better not tell me you’re busy.”
Before Silver could utter a single word, Jack said, “I think that’s a great idea.” Both girls looked at him in surprise. He added, “Just do me one favor. Invite Isobel.”
Trina’s jaw tightened, and she shook her head vehemently.
Silver immediately understood what he had in mind. A big smile lit up her face. “That’s one way to get her alone so we can question her. If you think she would show up for it.”
“She will if you convince her I haven’t told you anything. Remember, she told you she wanted to have a slumber party? This is our chance. Just play it cool.”
Trina started complaining loudly about how much she hated that girl and how this was supposed to be her time alone with Silver. She ended with, “I don’t want that witch in my house.”
“Better idea.” Jack spoke directly to Silver. “Invite her to your house.”
Silver nodded, reading his mind. “The mansion
.”
“It’s perfect. You and I will go to your house after school today and prepare a little surprise for our mutual friend.”
“You’re going to give her a surprise?” Trina stared daggers at both Jack and Silver. “What do I have to do around here to get some attention?”
Jack got on one side of Trina with Silver on the other. They both put their arms around the girl, drawing her close so only she could hear their plan. Jack started by saying, “You were right about Isobel. She’s evil.”
“She won’t be staying the night,” Silver said. “We just need to talk to her, find out what she knows and what she’s up to.”
“Intense.” Trina smiled, hopeful. “Will there be torture?”
Jack and Silver leaned forward so they could see each other. They exchanged amused glances. Maybe scheming together would help fix what had gone wrong with their relationship. For a moment Jack wished Trina would evaporate so he could lean in close and kiss Silver. It had been too long since his lips had touched hers.
Reluctantly Jack dragged himself away from the girls and went to his own locker. Unlike Silver’s locker, it was a mess. His eyes searched for his History book. It took a while before he caught sight of a partial word: TORY. It was tucked under an open notebook. A torn page covered the first few letters of the title. Jack removed it and clanged the metal door shut.
Meghan Welch was there in his face with her usual cheerful smile. She handed him a pink flyer. “Have you heard the big news? I’m running for Prom Queen. I hope I can count on your vote.”
Meghan linked her arm through his and pulled him along the hallway as if she knew they were headed for the same destination. She continued to talk, reminding him of the Albino Vampire, another individual who enjoyed the sound of their own voice a little too much.
