“So how are we going to find them?”
“We’re going to give them something to come above the surface for. Then we’re going to follow them.”
“What are you going to use for bait?”
Luca ran his hand through his hair. “Well, that’s what Nate and I have been arguing about.”
“Let me guess, he wants to use me as bait,” she said flatly.
“No, actually, he’s the one who thinks you have been through enough.”
Evaine laughed. That was a new one—Nate was watching out for her, and Luca wanted to put her into danger? She thought about it. She’d been in a lot of danger lately, and what had happened? She’d gotten shot, had seizures, and almost died, but she was still here. Still undead. Confidence filled her. It flowed through her, and she stood up straighter. She could do this. End the experiments once and for all. And of course Luca would be right behind her.
“I’ll do it,” she said.
“Really?” His voice showed no surprise. “We have to think of a reason for you to be in the city, and it has to be plausible.”
“I need to go get my dog.”
“Your what?”
“My dog, Kale. Tristan has him, I need to go get him. Tristan never was very fond of Kale and I miss him.”
“Wait. You mean that furry, white behemoth that found me in a tree?”
Evaine laughed. “That would be him.”
“I don’t think bringing him here is the best idea.”
“Why? We have other dogs.”
“Security dogs.”
“Well, he is a security dog. My security dog. You wanted me to learn to do security with Ronan. Well, after Kale’s here we can be on security duty like Bobby Lee and John Casey. It’ll give me something to do besides sitting around all day and flipping through channels.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on.” She leaned up and put her arms around his neck. “I want to go get my dog and you want me to stay home. If I get my dog, I’ll stay home.”
Luca got a funny smile on his face. “Stay home, huh? Like a stay-at-home housewife?”
“Not funny.” She smacked him on the chest. “You aren’t going to trap me with those words.”
“OK, OK.” He put his hands up in surrender. “Come on, let’s go tell Nate, give Tristan a call, and add one more dangerous white creature to our home.” Luca laughed.
* * *
Tristan walked into his apartment to his answering machine going off. Kale greeted him in his usual exuberant fashion and barked so loudly that Tristan couldn’t hear what the message said. He tripped over the enormous dog and missed the call. Banishing the dog to his bed Tristan hit the button on the machine. He needed just to get rid of the stupid thing and use the voicemail on his phone, but the message on his machine was one that Evaine had recorded right after they had gotten engaged.
“Message left at six fifteen p.m.” Beep.
“Hey Tristan, it’s me. I’m going to be coming into town tomorrow and I’d like to pick up Kale. Call so we can set a time. My number is…”
Tristan stopped listening. She was coming back to get the one last thing she really needed to feel like she was at home there. If he could think of a way to get her to come up to the apartment, he could make her stay. But only if she came alone. Luca would never allow that. Tristan blew out a sigh and rubbed his face. He had to think of something—he just had to.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
There had been another House meeting, and everyone had been in attendance. The vote was unanimous to try to stop the Feeders. Mac had been secured downstairs in Evaine’s old cell. No one was sure that leaving the House wide open was such a good idea, but they had no choice. The security was tighter than ever with all six dogs running loose. The upper house had been locked down and Abbey was to stay below with Jeff. Everyone else suited up. Even Bobby Lee and John Casey came along.
If anything happened Abbey would call the local sheriff. They knew it would cause problems, but there was no choice. Abbey was still human, and there were some things only humans could do.
The group crammed into five vehicles and headed out. Evaine and Luca were in his little black sports car. The others had gotten into the Explorer, Suburban, and Escalades. Feeding had not been optional, which made for a lively trip. Trey had blared his loud music. John Casey and Bobby Lee engaged Victor in several rounds of arm wrestling. And the women chatted, all before piling into the vehicles. Out on the road, the walkie-talkies that all the vehicles had been equipped with were abuzz with joking and karaoke. Evaine felt as though she were on her way to a Halloween frat party as opposed to going to her possible death. Inside the sports car, Evaine and Luca stayed quiet. She scratched at her wig and wrinkled her nose at the scent of her theatrical makeup. The getup was so uncomfortable she knew that there was no way she could do it daily. It had taken her over an hour to get it all right. In her old life she’d barely spent ten minutes doing her makeup.
Luca had come up with the plan. Adam was tranquilized in the trunk of one of the vehicles. Fed and cleaned he looked like a new man, but he hadn’t acted like one. They were counting on his animalistic side to work in their favor.
The tranquilizer had been a smaller dose and was due to wear off thirty minutes outside of the city. They reached the mark and the caravan pulled to the side of the road. Victor dragged him out and laid him on the ground. Ten tense minutes passed before Adam started to rouse.
“Adam.” Nate towered over him. “You will run all the way to Damien. You will tell him that we took you and offered you a home. You will say that you played along and let us clean you up. Then when we weren’t looking you slipped out of the house and ran back. You’ll tell him that you overheard little miss tell Luca that she was coming to the city tonight to see her human boyfriend and to pick up her things, alone. Go now, and deliver the message.”
And with that Adam stood up and ran as fast as he could toward the city. Nate got into his car.
Evaine and Luca switched seats so she could drive. Taking a few deep breaths she tried to relax, readying herself for what she was about to do. The last time she had taken the car and driven she hadn’t thought about it, she had just done it.
“Having second thoughts?” Luca stroked her cheek.
“No,” she lied. “Just not happy about having to involve Tristan in this whole thing. He’s been through enough already.”
“You worry about everyone but yourself. You’re only doing this because you feel guilty about the doctor getting away, which wasn’t your fault, but you think it is.”
“Well that’s why I brought you along. So you can worry about me.” She meant it too. There was no one else who would try to protect her harder than he would.
“Marry me.”
“Luca, not now. Do we even have marriages? I mean with real marriage certificates and everything?”
“Sure we do. Ronan fakes the documents we need. We go down to the justice of the peace and get hitched.”
“Really? Besides Abbey and Nate, who else has done that?”
“Well, Trey and MJ did it last year. Out at the other Haven Houses there are several couples who have done it. I know Victor’s thought about asking Cami. I think that he’s going to after all of this.”
“That would make her very happy.” She smiled. “She loves him very much.”
“I didn’t know he could care about someone till he met her. I also never thought that he would be led around by the nose by someone either, but here we are.”
“Yes, here we are.” She looked out the window. They were in a green, heavily forested area off Saw Mill Parkway. Just a few short miles and the solitude of her surroundings would be a memory. This was it, her last chance to turn around to the safety of the Haven House.
“Marry me.”
“After we’ve done this, and after we’re home, then we can talk about it.”
“Evaine, I—” His cell rang. “It’s time. Let’s hit the roa
d.”
She sighed. She turned the key, the engine roared to life, and she pulled out onto the parkway. Civilization came into view as they rounded a bend. There was no going back now. The lights of the city twinkled in the distance, beckoning to her like tiny candles lighting the way.
They were almost to Tristan’s building when Luca put his seat back and lay flat in the car. She pulled around the corner off the alleyway where she had met up with the Feeders before, her nerves getting the better of her. Finding an empty spot she parked and turned off the engine.
“I’m scared.” She stared at the dark street.
Luca reached out and took her hand. “I’m right behind you, lover. Just remember whatever happens and wherever you go, I’ll be there. If you need me, feel for me, I’ll come closer if I can. Even if you can’t feel me, know I’m still there—we’re all here. We’ll get through this and go home and get fake papers and go down to the justice of the peace and get married. We’ll be undead together till our bodies wear out.”
She laughed out loud; he was nothing if not persistent. “I guess it’s time for me to go.” She checked herself in the small mirror. “How do I look?”
“Normal.”
“Is that good or a bad?”
“It’s just…not you.”
Luca pressed his cell phone into her hand. She flipped it open and dialed the number. “Tristan, I’m here. Can you meet me down here with him? OK, I’ll compromise with you, you come down and we’ll go down the street and grab something to eat and talk.” She snapped the phone shut.
“I don’t like it.” Luca’s voice was tense.
“No, no, it’s fine.” She scoured the area with her gaze and then pretended to fiddle with the radio stations and spoke under her breath. “This will be better. I’ll walk down the street with him, making myself more visible to anyone watching. After Kale I’ll go down the block to the park, by then you’ll be there. I’ll relax and act normal and then hopefully they will take the bait. Me.”
“I still don’t like it.” He sounded strained.
“I’ll be back soon.” She opened the door.
He grabbed her wrist as she got out. She stopped and looked down at her watch as though she were checking the time.
“I love you,” he said.
“I know.”
Evaine could see Tristan was a bundle of nervous energy when he exited the building and walked down to where she waited on the corner. He stopped for a minute and stared at her. He closed his mouth and hugged her, but it felt stiff and forced.
“You look great.” He lifted her black hair.
“It’s a wig,” she said. “But thanks.”
“The makeup and contacts make you look just like…you.”
“Come on, let’s get off this corner and go down to Marshall’s for a steak.” She glanced around.
“Sounds great.” He smiled.
Tristan reached out, taking her hand. He seemed distracted, almost preoccupied. She wasn’t sure what was up, but she was sure he would tell her soon. She couldn’t help but glance back at the car she had driven in, trying to spot Luca.
“Did you come alone? I can’t imagine that they let you go without an escort of some kind.” Tristan broke into her thoughts.
Evaine turned forward again. “I’m not a prisoner—I told you that before. They’re my family.”
“I am your family,” he said a little too forcefully.
“We have been over this already. I—”
“Let’s go have a nice meal.” He pulled her close.
Evaine nodded, but inside she wanted to run.
All through dinner she felt as if Tristan’s mind were elsewhere. He smiled and laughed, but his eyes were vacant. Now, as they walked in silence toward his building, she couldn’t take it anymore. “What’s up, Tristan?”
“What do you mean?”
She stopped in the middle of the block. “Don’t lie to me. You’ve been hiding something. What is going on?”
“OK, you got me.” He looked crestfallen. He spoke very fast. “I wanted to surprise you. I cleaned out your flat after you disappeared. I have everything and had hoped you would come up and look through it.”
“Everything?”
“Yeah. CDs, books, clothes…”
“I can’t.” She thought about the real reason she was there. “I…throw it away. I can buy anything I need. I’m sorry you went through all that trouble.”
“Please, there must be something you want. Just come look.”
She started walking again. “I need to get Kale and get going. Luca will worry.”
“Right. Luca.” He fell into step beside her.
“Don’t. Please.” She glanced around nervously. It wasn’t going to be long now. She needed to get moving. She reached out with her mind for Luca. His presence was distant, but she could feel him out there. It eased her somewhat.
Suddenly Tristan grabbed her hand and pulled her down the street. She had to run to keep from falling.
“Slow down. That’s enough—you’re hurting me,” she snapped.
He wouldn’t stop though, and she was finally forced to push him mentally. He stumbled forward but steadied himself. She caught a glimpse of his face; he looked as though he were going to lose control.
“I think that maybe this was a bad idea. Let’s do this a different day. You can bring Kale up to the Haven House next week.” She took a step away from him, scanning the street.
“No. You need to come up and get him. If you don’t I’ll…I’ll take him to the pound tomorrow,” he shouted.
“You wouldn’t!”
He moved swiftly to her. “I will.” His voice was deadly calm. “I’ll go down there tonight and tie him to the door and walk away.”
A sob caught in her throat. Why was he was acting like this? “All right,” she whispered. “I’ll come up.”
His face was like stone as he dragged her up through the building to the elevator. When the elevator opened on his floor he reached for her arm again.
“I’m up here already, you don’t need to keep pulling on me.” She yanked her hand away. Her rage was beginning to take over where her nervousness had been. Something wasn’t right with him. Just days before he had been fine up at the house with her, but now he was more of a stranger than ever. Lightly she reached out with her mind again to try to find Luca. She found the thread that connected her to Luca and followed it out into the vast space between them. It was faint.
“What are you doing?”
Her eyes flew open. He glared at her suspiciously.
“Nothing.” He frowned. “Fine, if you must know, I am trying very hard to control my anger with you right now.”
“Anger with me?” His voice registered disbelief. “I’m not the one who’s having an affair with someone else.”
“I’m not having an affair with anyone. I told you already, we aren’t engaged anymore.”
“According to you.” He pushed the door open. Kale tried to rush into the hall, but Tristan caught him. Kale barked madly and tried to bite Tristan’s hand. Evaine pushed into the apartment and fell to her knees. Kale ran to her, licking her all over. He knocked off her wig and she fell onto her back, laughing happily. After several minutes of happy reuniting she told him to lie down. Kale hit the floor with a thud. Evaine shook her hair out of the wig cap. She felt lighter without it, more like herself.
Tristan walked to the bar and poured himself a drink. He watched her in silence as she plucked out her contacts and tossed them into the nearest trashcan. She pulled down black stretch leggings from under her skirt, then flung the skirt to the carpet.
Tristan swallowed his drink, undid his sports jacket, and laid it over the arm of the couch. She moved around him warily, going to the boxes Tristan had collected. She exchanged her heels for her favorite pair of sneakers. Silently she went box by box; only the sound of Kale’s thick tail thumping on the floor could be heard. When she was done she turned to Tristan, who’d seated himself on
the couch with his head in his hands.
“Where’s Kale’s leash?” Her voice carried a hard edge.
He pointed to the guest bedroom she had used in the past.
Kale’s leash sat in the large brown plaid bed she had bought for him. She picked it up and headed out of the room. Tristan met her in the hall. She stopped short of running into him. He reached out and ran his hand down her arm.
“I want you to stay,” he said. “I can take care of you.”
“I need to go.” She tried to step around him, but he placed his hands on her arms.
“No, see, that’s the thing, you don’t. You could do this. Dye your hair, wear the contacts, put on the stage makeup, and we could be together.”
“Please, don’t do this.” She pushed past him and headed toward the door. “Kale, heel.” Kale was on his feet in an instant and by her side.
She had her hand on the knob when she stopped. Turning she saw the look of defeat in Tristan’s eyes. “Part of me will always love the boy who sung on stage just to get to meet me. This is not how I imagined my life turning out, but I’m finally happy now. I want you to find happiness too. Right now it doesn’t feel like you ever will, but you will. You just have to try. I never really belonged in this world anyway.”
She got as far as turning the door handle before he grabbed her and spun her around. He kissed her softly on her mouth. After a second, she pushed him away.
“Tell me you didn’t feel anything. Tell me that there was nothing there for you and I’ll let you go.”
Evaine remembered Luca’s words when he had kissed her in her room. “I want you to remember what it feels like when I kiss you.” She sighed. “What I felt was comfortable and familiar, like putting on an old coat.”
Dead Awakenings Page 25
