As quietly as he could, Drake cleared out the rest of the broken glass. He reached in and unlocked the latch. Within seconds he slipped into the basement. For all the security invested in this house he, a simple teenager, got in without setting off alarms.
Yeah, too easy.
Getting his bearings in the darkness took no time at all. He worked his way toward the stairs leading to the main floor. The moment his foot hit the bottom step, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.
He wasn’t alone.
Turning, he scanned the plastic totes, boxes and various other junk banished the hole in the ground. “Who’s there,” he hissed.
A woman emerged from behind a stack of boxes. She was dressed simply in jeans, Keds sneakers, and a red silk blouse. Her grey eyes watched him. Tilting her head slightly her long black hair fell over one shoulder. “Who are you? And how did you get through the spell on this house?”
Drakkar stepped down onto the basement floor, his eyes glued on the woman. “Who I am is no one. But you’re not going to stop what I have to do.”
The corner of her mouth rose slightly. “Is that so? And what might that be?”
He approached her slowly, keeping a hand behind his back. A glowing electric orb flickered to life in his palm. With every step toward her it grew in intensity. He didn’t want to hurt her, only stun her long enough to get upstairs, grab the kid, and get out of the house.
When he was close enough, Drake came to a halt and towered over her. “I’m taking the baby and you are not about to stop me.”
He flung the orb at the woman. Instead of ducking or trying to take cover, the woman inclined her chin. Just as it was about to make contact, the orb fizzled into nothing.
A bubble of panic rose in his throat. He should run but his feet wouldn’t obey. He was rooted to the floor.
The mystery woman cupped his cheek in her warm hand. “I’m sorry, child. I cannot allow that to happen. This baby is more important than you will ever know.”
Fear settled in his gut. Not from the woman cupping his cheek tenderly, but from the knowledge of what would be waiting for him if he failed. Absinthe definitely wouldn’t like this.
“You don’t understand.” He choked. “She will kill me if I don’t do this. It’s the only way I can be free of her.”
The woman frowned. “Who will kill you?”
“My mother,” he whispered. “If I don’t get that kid, I’m as good as dead.”
Sadness fell over the woman’s face. “Any mother who threatens her child doesn’t deserve the title. But I’m sorry, I can’t let you take little Annabelle. I hope you find it in you to forgive me.”
Drakkar was about to protest when she waved her hand over his eyes and everything went black.
Wonderful. My first night of freedom from the bitch and my head is pounding like a mother.
Drake pressed the heels of his hands over his eyes. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this way. It was like someone stabbed him in the forehead and twisted the dagger for good measure. If he were human, he imagined this was what a hangover felt like. Being vampire though, he wasn’t affected by alcohol in that way. Then again, he never really tried to get piss ass drunk. Breathing through the pain, he tried to recall what happened. The last thing he remembered was watching that bastard Bonatelli get out of the black Escalade and run into the house. Next thing he knew everything went black.
Where am I? And why do I smell strawberries?
“Hey, are you alright?”
He rubbed his eyes before blinking away the painful blurry vision. When he finally focused, the girl from his Biology class was crouched before him. Concern was written all over her face. Drake’s mind raced to figure out what to say. She tilted her head, red lips pursed. Her narrowed black rimmed toffee colored eyes regarded him curiously.
“Are you deaf? Do you need help?” She touched his head lightly. Her black and red-streaked ponytail fell over her shoulder, tickling his hand. For some reason, Drake wanted to touch it and run the silky strands through his fingers.
“Hey.” She snapped her fingers in front of his nose. “Stay with me here. Do you want me to get you some help? Is there someone I can call for you?”
Drakkar shook his head slowly. “No one to call.” He looked past her and searched their surroundings. He was sitting on the pavement against a brick wall. About twenty feet away were baseball fields. He was in a park somewhere. Okay, good, at least he wasn’t in a high-traffic area.
He turned back to find the girl staring at him. “Who are you?”
The girl sat back and smoothed her red plaid skirt over her thighs. “I’m Serenity, but most just call me Nettie for short. I was on my way home when I saw this flash of light behind the dugout. I thought it was weird to have lightning with no clouds, so I came to look.”
She shrugged, and her white blouse shifted showing off her midriff and silver bat belly ring. A steady throb pounded in his gums. Drakkar licked his lips. He blinked, catching himself staring and forced his gaze upward. It would be so easy. . . .
“When I got up here, I found you passed out against the wall. How did you get here? Did you cause the flash? Are you like a witch or something? No, that’s not right. You’re a guy you’d be a warlock. Are you a warlock? That would be so totally cool! What’s your name?”
Drake covered her over-revved lips with a finger. The girl must be a demon. No one else could cram that many thoughts into one breath. “Listen, I’ve got a pounding headache. Can we just take it down a notch while I try to think?”
Nodding, she smiled. “Absolutely. Let’s start with something easy, then. What’s your name?”
“Drakkar.”
“Ooo, now that’s an exotic name. Drakkar.” She mimicked the way he said it, rolling the r. “I like it. So, Drakkar what happened to you?”
Drake was mesmerized by the way she said his name. Coming from Serenity it sounded natural, not forced the way Absinthe spoke to him. Most of the time his mother sounded disgusted when she said his name. But this human female actually enjoyed saying it.
“I, I really don’t know what happened. One minute I was watching someone get out of a car, the next I woke up to you staring at me.”
“Whoa, what’d ya take? Are you tripping on something?”
She felt his forehead again then waved a hand in front of his eyes. Drake grabbed it, holding it firmly, but gently.
“No, I didn’t take anything. Human drugs have no effect on me, anyway.”
“Human drugs? What do you mean by that? You’re human. What else could you be?”
“I’m a vampire,” he replied matter-of-factly.
Serenity scooted away from him. “No way! You’re a vampire? Show me.”
Drake blinked. “Seriously?” She nodded. “Okay.” He curled back his lip exposing lethal fangs. Before he could stop her, she touched one with the tip of her finger.
Drakkar jerked away. “Don’t.”
“Why?” She moved closer.
“Just don’t.” He pushed to his feet and stalked to the fence, leaning over it. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Hurt me? Oh, are you like those brooding vampires with perfectly styled hair? If I nick myself, you’re going to attack me?”
Drake rolled his eyes with a sigh. “Vampires do not sparkle. We look like everyone else. We just need blood to survive. You have no idea how much I hate Hollywood for that shit.”
“Uh, sorry.”
“It’s okay, I get it. They couldn’t exactly get real with teenage girls. If the writers actually told the truth, their little money-making franchise would go up in smoke. Oh the horror of that!”
“Hey. Not all of us buy into it.”
“Sure you don’t.” He laughed. “If you didn’t, you would have run by now. No, I can tell you still have that romanticized idea of my kind in your head. But yeah, I could hurt you if I get a whiff of fresh blood. Kill you even. So just don’t, okay?” He crossed his arms on the top of the
fence.
“Okay.” She joined him. “So you’re a vampire. That’s cool, I guess. How old are you anyway? I’m seventeen.”
“The same. Before you ask the next obvious question, no I was born this way. You cannot be made into a vampire by getting bit.”
Serenity rolled her eyes. “I knew that. I’ve just been playing with you. I know all about your kind.”
“Then why…” He was confused.
“I just wanted to see how much you’d tell me.” She said matter-of-factly. “But, back to the problem at hand. We have to figure out what happened to you. Did you black out because you were hungry?”
“No, I ate earlier. I don’t only need blood. I eat regular food, too. The blood just gives me something the food can’t.”
“If that’s not it, what made you black out and end up here?”
“I wish I knew.” Resting his chin on his arms, Drake closed his eyes, playing back everything he remembered. Still, it gave him no clues. Something was missing.
“Well, you can’t stay here all night. Or is the whole sunlight thing just a myth?”
He lifted his head, smirking. “No it’s kinda right. It won’t kill me, but I’ll be nursing severe burns for a week. What time is it anyway?”
Nettie looked at her watch shaped like a skull. “It’s about five. Oh my god! My mom is going to kill me.”
Drake growled. “Why would she?”
She laughed. “Easy, killer. She won’t really hurt me, just ground me till the next century, maybe. I’m just late getting home from a friend’s house.” She nibbled her lip. “Hey, do you have somewhere to go?”
“Yeah. Not that I really want to go there.” Just thinking about going back to the mansion made his skin crawl. He did not want to be subjected to Absinthe. Between his apparent memory loss and not accomplishing the task she gave him, his mother would not be pleased, and that would only make his life more of a living hell than it already was.
“Then here’s a crazy thought, come home with me. My mom won’t mind. She’d rather a friend stay than drive home this late.” She looped her arm through his. “Come on, Drakkar. I promise you’ll be safe with me.”
But will you be safe from me?
“Slight problem. What about the whole, ‘I’m a vampire’ thing?”
Serenity waved away his concern. “Not an issue. Trust me. She won’t freak out about it. She handles freaky stuff all the time. You being a vamp? She won’t even blink.”
Looking into her sparkling eyes, how could he say no? This human girl made him feel like he was normal, not the monster his mother wanted him to be. He was raised to hate humans. They were nothing but cattle for his kind to feed on, but Serenity was more than cattle. She didn’t look at him with disgust or run from him scared. She genuinely liked being near him and that was what gave him his answer.
“You know, I’d like that. Sure.”
The gods must have been on his side for once. When they got to Serenity’s house, her mother was asleep. There were no awkward introductions and no explanations as to why he needed to stay there till the next night. Nope nothing like that. Instead, Nettie whisked him to the lower level in the immense home and led him to a cozy nook of a guest room, far away from any windows.
Flipping on the light, she set about pulling blankets and pillows from the closet, tossing them on the full size bed across the room. Drake took advantage of her distraction and sat, watching her. She was nothing like the women he was accustomed to. That was saying a hell of a lot given the only female he was repeatedly subjected to happened to be Absinthe. With her as a role model, he’d been spoon fed manipulation and hatred since the crib and there was no end to it in sight.
He put a hand on the pile of pillows and linen beside him. “Exactly how many of these do you think I need?”
“Oh, is there not enough?” She turned to face him, blowing some stray hair out of her eyes. “I can probably find some more.”
“No, I think you have enough to smother me to oblivion right here. I’m good, thanks.” He chuckled.
“What? I figured since I don’t have a coffin, at least I could create a comfortable cocoon for you this way.”
“Cocoon? What the- Serenity, I’m not a caterpillar. And I certainly don’t sleep in a coffin, geez. Friggin’ Hollywood.”
Nettie frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. “Hello! Joke! I’m only trying to make you comfortable.”
“Oh.” He patted the mattress beside him. Serenity flashed one more look of annoyance before sitting. “As long as we just keep sunlight away, I’ll be fine. The room has no windows, so we’re golden right now.”
“You’re sure? You don’t need anything else? How about something for that headache? I’m sure I can find some aspirin or something. Just give me a second to scrounge some up.” Nettie stood and sprinted for the door, only to have him snag her wrist, preventing her from leaving.
“Like I told you before, I’ll be fine.” He yawned. “Thanks for letting me crash here. I appreciate it. You don’t even know me. I could be a monster, yet you trust me in your home.”
He pulled her closer until she stood right in front of him. Cupping his cheek in her hand, Nettie bent till they were nose to nose. “Drakkar, you aren’t a monster. We met tonight for a reason and I have to believe it’s because I’m supposed to help you somehow.”
He gazed deeply into her eyes. She meant every word she said, believed it even. What if it was true? What if he was dropped there by someone or something so they could meet? But why? So many damn questionst but no answers.
“You know, if I decide to kill everyone in this house, there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
She nibbled her lip, still cupping his cheek. “Think so?”
He nodded. “Bet your life on it.”
Nettie leaned closer. Their lips were a breath apart. “That’s a bet I’d make any day.”
“Oh yeah?” His own voice was a mere whisper.
“Yup. I have a crossbow and I know how to use it. I’ll stake your ass before you could blink those pretty blue eyes of yours.” Serenity pulled away from him and headed for the door. “Just hit number one on the intercom if you need anything.” The door closed quietly behind her.
Drake sat staring at it for a few minutes. He felt like she hit him with a ton of bricks right in the middle of his chest. It all made his head spin faster, if that was possible.
He lay back against the pile of pillows- pushing some off the bed -and kicked off his boots yawning. Just as he was about to doze off, his cell buzzed. I thought I lost this thing. A vague memory of picking up a new one at the store in the mall flashed through his mind. Drakkar tried to focus, to make it clearer, but the specifics escaped him.
The buzzing became ever more insistent. Sighing he knew who it was without even looking. He unlocked the screen and lifted it to his ear.
“Yeah?”
Absinthe ran headlong into the tirade on his mission for the night. When he only gave her non-committal, noises she then proceeded on to screech about the time and why he wasn’t home yet.
He cut her off. “I’m staying with a friend.”
That didn’t appease her. She howled in anger making him move the phone away from his ear, cringing. She droned on about his duty and the need to make sure their plans all came to a head.
Blah, blah blah. Same old rant, just a different day. He was tired of it.
“I’ll be home after sundown, scream at me then. I’m too tired for this now.” Before she could go off on him again, he cut the call, shut the phone down, and threw it across the room.
Bite me, Bitch.
Drake hit the switch on the lamp next to him before rolling over and letting darkness claim him.
~ ~ ~ ~
Alex smiled at the small bundle in her arms. Their daughter, Annabelle, came into the world around two thirty in the morning with a warrior’s howl. She was sure anyone within a ten mile radius heard it. Hopefully they just rolled over, went back
to sleep, and didn’t call the police to report the noise. She could just imagine the look on the officer’s face if they explained it was only their hungry little one who wanted to make her presence known.
She brushed her fingers over the smooth softness of her daughter’s cheek, marveling at the fact she and Jared created something so perfect. Anna scrunched up her face and jutted out her fat lower lip, pouting. Alex already figured out what that meant and the child was only a few hours old. Feeding time was just around the corner and if the little Princess didn’t get it when she wanted it, all hell would break loose.
Shifting Annabelle to a better position, Alex woke her up and brushed her nipple across Anna’s lips. Not wanting to waste any time, the babe latched on with a vengeance and drank. She fussed for a moment or two, but quickly settled in and relaxed.
Jared stirred, yawning. Pushing up to sit next to Alex, he placed a gentle kiss on her bare shoulder. “You really should try to get some sleep. You can’t hold her all day, you know.”
She laughed quietly. “Every time I put her down, I’m afraid she’ll vanish, like it’s all a dream.”
“Oh, it’s not a dream. I think even New York City knows she arrived. I heard a report that the Empire State building’s lights flickered when she screamed.”
Alex slapped him lightly on the chest. “That’s not funny.”
“Sure it was.” He grinned and lifted one of Anna’s small hands in his own. “I think she’ll be a force to reckon with, maybe even give Absinthe a run for her money.”
Alex shuddered at the thought. “Don’t even go there. Annabelle will never be that evil.”
“Not evil. I just think she will be able to stand on her own. No matter what life throws at her. She already has a roar like nothing I’ve heard before, not even from the dragons at the castle.” Anna’s hand wrapped tightly around his finger. “See, she already has me in a death grip.”
“That’s not what I see.”
“Oh no?”
Alex shook her head. “No.”
“Then tell me, what is it you see?”
Drakkar ~ Beyond the Lie (A Dark Order of the Dragon Novel Book 3) Page 3
