“I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this, Ariel.”
I didn’t have to look in the doorway to see who’d spoken those words.
“I told you to go away,” I said, refusing to look at him.
“I can’t. You need me. And you may not like it, but I’m here to stay, so you’d better get used to it.”
A chill traveled over my body as I looked into his clear blue eyes. I bet to anyone else he would be considered handsome and charming. But to me he was cold, calculating, and manipulative.
I pulled my cell phone out of my jeans and dialed Tave. “Auntie Tave, I have a problem. Can you come to Mom’s room now? It’s important.”
I clicked my phone shut and looked up at the doorway—only to discover my father was gone.
Vanished. Just like that.
But he was still around. I could feel him.
Auntie Tave rushed in like an elfin tornado. “What’s the matter? Is Liz okay?”
“No change so far. But Tave, she and the baby could be in real danger, and I’m not talking about the Bborim. Dad is back. He came by the house this morning and then was here just a few minutes ago. He says the hospital called him, but I think that’s BS. I think he’s been here for a while. I think Mr. Charles was telling the truth when he said my dad sent him after me. I’m scared that he’s here to hurt Mom and the baby.”
Octavia’s face paled. “This isn’t good. What did he say?”
“He basically said he knows he screwed up and he’s here to make things right. That he knows we don’t have anyone to take care of us and he wants to help.”
“Okay, you’re right to be suspicious, AJ. He’s here for something. Or someone. He’s not to be trusted. We need to have a family powwow. We can’t leave your mom or the baby alone for even a second. Someone has to be with them at all times.”
“Auntie Tave, there’s something else. We found one of the runes last night. The rune is trying to communicate with me and tell me where the next one is. If things go well, we’ll have the second one today. We think there are three in all, but we can’t let Dad know about them. I think that’s why he’s really here.”
My phone rang. It was Lex.
“Duffer’s good. He completely lost us. No scent, no trail, nothing. He’s a better magician than we gave him credit for.”
“Where are you now?” I asked.
“Back at the house. We thought maybe he’d show up, but so far, nothing.”
“I need you to tell Aunt D to bring the kids up as soon as possible.”
“Everything all right, sailor?”
“No. I need you here, too. And bring the rune.”
Chapter 16
Octavia made sure someone watched over Mom and the baby while we went to a private conference room for a meeting.
The whole family was there except for Ryan. Nobody had seen him since this morning, and he wasn’t answering his phone or his 911 texts.
We all sat at a large oval conference table, with Octavia acting as family CEO. The twins were still wearing their pink plaid PJ pants and cheer camp shirts.
Oz had his nose buried in his Nintendo DS, while Rayden was looking over his shoulder, trying to be a backseat gamer. Aunt D had her knitting, but her face did not have its usual happy and relaxed expression.
I sat between Lex and Robbie. Lex reached over, taking my hand in his. The gesture warmed my belly and eased the worry and fear that had been weighing on my heart.
I was both mentally and physically exhausted.
“We’ve got a situation,” Octavia started. “And everyone in this room needs to be made aware of how serious it is.” Auntie Tave looked over at the twins, sadness clear on her face. “Girls, your father is back. And he’s saying he wants to be involved with you since your mom and Rick are both out of commission right now.”
Their eyes went wide.
“I don’t even remember what he looks like,” Ana said. “And I don’t care, either.”
Ainsley couldn’t seem to sit still. She fidgeted in her chair, twisting her hands. I tried to reassure her with a smile, but she didn’t meet my eyes.
“I know this is hard,” Tave said. “But you two have got to stay away from him. You cannot allow him in the house. At all. Is that clear?”
“He’s not a dichampyr or a Bborim,” I said. “He was born vampire, so why does he need to be invited in?”
“When Liz and Rick married, I cast a protection spell on the house. Evil must be invited in, in order to enter the house physically. Obviously, I havna been able to keep them out mentally, but I’m working on that. ’Tis very important to keep everyone out of the house except for the people in this room. And, of course, Ryan. Where is that lad?”
“Right here,” Ryan answered as he opened the door. “Sorry, my phone died. As soon as I recharged I got your messages and rushed over.” He ruffled Oz’s hair as he took the empty chair next to him. “Anyone care to fill me in?”
Octavia did a quick recap.
“If this is a family matter, why are they here?” Ryan asked, pointing at Lex and Robbie. “We have no idea if they’re on our side or not. What if we’ve already invited the evil into our house?”
“That’s enough, Ryan Fraser,” Aunt D said. “Get yerself in check, lad. I understand yer concern, but we’re a family. And we do this as a family.”
“What if history repeats itself, Aunt D? What if these guys are somehow manipulating AJ? How do we know they’re not working with the Serpentines? How do we know one of them isn’t the Bborim?”
“Because they don’t smell like maple syrup. And because when the Bborim tried to kidnap me yesterday, Lex and Robbie were there to save me,” I said. “I wouldn’t be here right now if it hadn’t been for them.”
I felt Lex tense at the mention of the demon, but only because I was holding his hand. There was no other outward indication that Ryan’s comment bothered him.
“You were attacked?” Ryan asked, genuinely surprised.
I released Lex’s hand and leaned forward. “I tried to call and warn you, but you wouldn’t answer the phone. We were attacked trying to leave the church yesterday. Ryan, after everything we’ve been through, after last year’s mess, do you really believe I would do anything to hurt my family? Our family?” I sighed. “Do you really believe I would do anything to hurt you purposefully?”
For the first time since the Bborim showed up in our lives, Ryan looked at me. I mean, really looked at me. His eyes softened and his face relaxed, and for a brief moment I felt him.
And I longed for him.
It was unsettling how quickly those buried feelings resurfaced.
“I don’t want to believe it, AJ. But if we don’t learn from our history, we’ll repeat it.”
“Ryan, ye’re repeatin’ it now. It wasn’t a trust that split our clans, it was the lack of. If ye divide us, ye weaken us, and they win. That’s all they want is a weak spot. One small blemish to prey on. And ye’re givin’ it to ’em, love.”
Ryan’s brows drew together as he processed Aunt D’s statement. The idea that he might be the one who could cause history to repeat was a hard pill for Ryan to swallow.
When all was said and done, we’d worked out a bodyguard schedule for everyone. Lex and Robbie took the first shift. Tave had arranged with Dr. Douglas to move Mom and Rick into the same room because of the special circumstances.
Rick had regained consciousness that afternoon and was no longer listed in critical condition. His vitals were looking exceptionally good for his condition, but we knew that was probably due in large part to a little special juice Aunt D snuck him.
Unfortunately for Mom, no amount of magic, in juice or woo-woo form, seemed to help. Every few hours they would run a CBC, and her hemoglobin and hematocrit levels were still low. (We vamps know what a good H&H level is. It’s what we live for, so to speak.) The good news was that her levels seemed to be holding steady. The bad news was that they weren’t high enough to get her out of the semiconscious state sh
e kept drifting in and out of. She needed to start rebuilding her blood, stat. The transfusions were keeping her alive, but they weren’t healing her.
Dr. Douglas met with Octavia and me privately to break the news. “I’ve been doing an extensive amount of research and I’ve determined the only thing that will save her is pure Serpentine blood.”
“I’m part Serpentine—would that help?”
“We’ve been giving her part-Serpentine blood—we’ve even been giving her some of Lex’s and Robbie’s blood, since trainer blood tends to be a fast healant. The human in their blood was hurting her more than helping her. We can’t explain it, but for whatever reason she has no vampire healing properties left. Right now, it seems all the vampire blood is disappearing from her system, so she’s more human than vampire, and it’s killing her.”
“You guys have full Serpentine blood available to you, right?” I asked.
Octavia sighed. “Yes and no. It’s rare to have it. Even more rare than AB negative is for humans. As you can imagine, the pure-blooded Serpentines aren’t always the most open to giving their blood to save the impure.”
“What are our options?”
Dr. Douglas scratched his five-o’clock shadow and sighed. “We’ve ordered three units of Serpentine blood from the nearest vampire blood bank. It will be here this afternoon. Three units will buy us some time, but it won’t be enough. She’s going to need more—fast.”
The heaviness that had been weighing on my heart just thickened. I’d been saying I would do anything to protect my family—did that include bargaining with the devil?
Could I ask my father to save my mother? Did I have a choice?
No. I didn’t. But he did. He could say no. He could and probably would refuse. And where would that leave me?
Well, it would leave me motherless, that’s where. As far as I was concerned, that wasn’t an option.
Maybe Dr. Douglas was wrong. Maybe the three units would be enough to heal Mom. I hoped so, because I couldn’t imagine depending on my father for anything—let alone help saving his half-breed ex-wife.
Lex was stationed with the parentals this shift, and Robbie was with Baby F. I opened the door to find Lex sitting in a chair between the beds, flipping the rune over and over, tracing the etched symbol. He looked lost in thought, so it startled me when he spoke without taking his eyes off the stone.
“Hello, sailor. Was wondering if I’d get to see you before you took off.”
“You sure are concentrating awful hard on our little friend there. What’s going on?” I asked, walking over to Mom. I leaned over the bed and kissed her cheek. She stirred, but didn’t open her eyes. “Has she woken up at all?”
“Yeah, she’s flitted in and out, but she’s really weak.”
“Can you read her thoughts?”
“I can, but she’s so doped up, they don’t make much sense. Really foggy stuff. Now, Rick is pretty good company when he’s awake.”
I smiled and looked back at Momma. She seemed so small and frail. And weak. I couldn’t stand to see her like this.
“Any sign of my father?” I asked.
“Haven’t seen him, but Robbie says he’s here. Says he’s felt Clive a couple of times while he’s been watching the babe. He hasn’t heard anything specific, but he feels him. At first he thought it was you, but he realized quickly that it was your dad. You two have a similar brain imprint.”
The thought that I shared anything other than history and bad blood with my father made my stomach bubble. “You haven’t felt him?”
“No. Robbie’s the brain, I’m the muscle, remember?”
“You’re fishing for a compliment,” I teased.
“Maybe,” he said, laughing. “I miss being in your head.”
“I thought you liked a challenge.”
“I thought I did, too. And speaking of a challenge—” He tossed me the rune.
As soon as I caught it, the sickly sweet smell of the Bborim burned my nose.
“What?” Lex asked when I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
“Can’t you smell it?”
“No.”
The rune warmed me like a sauna as I held it. I tried to ignore the gut-roiling smell and just concentrated on the stone. I opened up my mind like Robbie had been teaching me and sent out feelers into the world.
“Talk to me,” I whispered.
The smell just got stronger. “The Bborim is in the hospital,” I said. “I smell it. It’s making me sick.”
“Let me talk to Robbie, see what he says.” Lex did his vampire mind-trick thing with Robbie. “He says no. It’s not in the building.”
“Then why do I smell it? It’s here. It’s trying to get into my head. Trying to see if it can learn where the next rune is. I need to find Ryan. We need to do this together, like we had planned.”
“Let me call someone to stay with your parents and I’ll come with you.”
“No, Lex. I need you to protect my parents. Besides, if I expect Ryan to trust me, then I have to trust him. I’m going to give him this rune, and we’re going to find the next one together.”
Chapter 17
I drove straight home from the hospital, hoping to catch Ryan at the house. We had to get on this fast.
And I had to convince him to work with me. After the family meeting this morning, he’d agreed that we should all work together, but I could tell he was holding back. He was saying the words we all wanted to hear, but something in the way he said them told me that’s all they were—words.
I pulled into the driveway, but Ryan’s Jeep wasn’t there. Would he answer if I called him? Probably not.
That overwhelming sweetness washed through me the moment I stepped out of the car and I had to stop myself from retching. It was here.
And it wanted what I had.
I had to get into the house.
The rune was a constant source of heat. It didn’t burn through my pocket or anything, but it was definitely noticeable. And I was nervous carrying it around with me. The only source of protection I was wearing was the necklace Aunt D had given me last year. And although that had helped me while I was being stalked by the dichampyr, I had no idea if it was strong enough to keep a Bborim at bay.
Or my father.
Part of me just wanted to hide the rune in the house, where I knew it would be safe. But the only way I could convince Ryan to trust me would be to hand it over to him. Why couldn’t he be at home, where we would be protected?
Because that would be too easy, that’s why.
As I was unlocking the carport door, a car pulled into the driveway. I turned, expecting to see Ryan, but was surprised to find Malia instead.
I sighed in relief.
“Hey,” she said, getting out of the car. “I was just at the hospital looking for you. Robbie said you’d come home. I’m so sorry about your parents.”
“Hey, girl. I’m okay. Rick is doing well, the baby is doing well, but Mom is struggling. She’s getting another transfusion today.”
“Wow. That sounds serious,” Malia said as she strode over to me. She opened her arms like she was going to hug me, then stepped back suddenly, her eyes wide. “Oh, sorry. I’m about to sneeze.”
“That’s okay,” I said, and laughed as she fired off a series of achoos. When she finished the sneezefest, she walked with me to the door. And when I said walk, I meant hobbled.
“Are you limping? What’s wrong with your leg?”
“I’m a longtime sufferer of graceitis. I tripped over my own two feet yesterday and banged up my leg pretty badly.”
I finished unlocking the door and went into the kitchen, leaving the door ajar behind me. I opened the fridge, grabbed myself a “V8,” and almost hid the rune in a carton of eggs. But no, I needed to take it with me to show Ryan.
“Have you got plans today?” I asked, my back still to the door.
“Yeah, Robbie and I are going to have lunch,” Malia said from the carport.
I closed the fridg
e and turned around. “What are you doing out there still?”
“I just assumed you were grabbing something real quick and coming back out. You seemed in a hurry.”
“Good call. I am in a bit of a rush. I need to find Ryan. You don’t happen to know where he is, do you?” I asked, going back outside and locking the door behind me.
Malia’s face darkened. “Yeah, he’s at Bridget’s. I actually went over there to see if she wanted to come with me to the hospital to see y’all. They were both a little shocked to see me. I swear they’re up to something.”
I shook my head. “They’re working on extra credit for Mrs. Christopher.”
“Convenient.” She rolled her eyes. “Will you be up at the hospital soon?”
“Yeah. Right after I find Ryan. You and Robbie have been spending a lot of time together. You really like him?”
“He’s so smart, AJ. And he makes me laugh. Plus, his lips are like—”
“Ugh. Really don’t need that mental image, but thanks. Y’all have fun today; I’ll see you later.”
I drove straight to Bridget’s house. I thought about calling first but decided against it, just in case.
Ryan’s Jeep was parked in the driveway behind Bridget’s car. Good. They were both here.
Ryan opened the door before I knocked. “Are our parents okay?” he asked.
“Same. Your dad is getting stronger, which is good. Mom is having another transfusion today. The docs say she needs pure Serpentine blood to heal her, but they don’t think they have enough in stock.”
“She’ll be okay,” he said. “I really believe that.”
I could tell he did believe it, and that warmed my heart. “Thanks. I hope so. Listen, we need to talk,” I said. “It’s important.”
“Can it wait? I’m in a hurry. I have to be somewhere in a few minutes.”
“No, it can’t wait. I’ll just come with you.”
I followed him to the Jeep, opened the passenger door, and hopped inside. I inhaled deeply, savoring the smell of leather and Ryan. He got in and started the car. “What’s so damn important?”
“Take this.” I handed him the rune.
Love Sucks! Page 11
