by Lucinda Dark
I stiffened. Officially, Torin hadn’t mentioned what had happened since the night I’d nearly died … again. He and Maverick were similar in that, I supposed. Maverick hadn’t mentioned the kiss at the hospital either and didn’t seem to be in any mood to fucking talk about it. It was as though both were trying to avoid any more entanglements—or as much as they could considering the circumstances.
We practically ate, rode to school together, and trained nonstop when Torin was around. Maverick had grown by leaps and bounds and my own skills had been aided by Satrina’s changes in my body. Aside from the kissing, I definitely needed to tell them about her.
As soon as Torin got back, I promised myself. We’ll all have a sit down come-to-Barbie moment.
“Well?” Olivia prompted with no small amount of impatience.
“Huh? Oh, um … no, nothing. We’re not dating or anything.” It’s not like we could date. Torin was half vampire and I was a vampire hunter. I’d read Romeo and Juliet. I knew how that story fucking ended.
“Ugh,” she groaned with a roll of her eyes. “Lame.”
“Keep rolling your eyes,” I said with another yawn. “They’ll either get stuck back there or you’ll find a brain. Personally, I’m hoping for option number two.”
“Hmmmm,” she hummed in response. “Maybe if you get laid you won’t be such a bitch.”
My stomach tightened and my thighs clenched as Torin’s face appeared in my mind at that thought, followed just as quickly by Maverick’s. I shook my head. “Sorry,” I said. “But not all of us need a dick to feel fulfilled.”
“No, you just need it to get filled.”
“Olivia,” Mrs. Hilburn called. “I’m so sorry to interrupt your conversation, but if you could please turn your attention to the front of the class, you might actually learn something today.”
I snorted as Olivia’s face flamed bright pink. She shot me a look that promised retribution. Shaking my head, I turned my full attention to Mrs. Hilburn and listened as the rest of homeroom bled into English and passed rather quickly.
By the time the bell rang for second period, it seemed Olivia had completely forgotten the betrayal. “So, are you coming to my birthday party?” she asked as she packed up.
“Uh, sure, when is it?” I asked, slinging my bag over my shoulder.
“Next week,” she answered. “My parents are flying to Brazil for some business thing. I’ve got the run of the place and I’m throwing a party that would rival a Priest Party. You have to come.”
“Oh, really?” I tipped my head back as I exited the classroom and paused.
Maverick leaned against the lockers opposite the classroom we’d just exited, his arms folded and a beanie drawn down low over his forehead. Teachers usually called students on the no hat rule, but not on Maverick. It was as if they either didn’t dare or weren’t aware that rules were supposed to, in fact, include him too.
“Yeah. As my friend, you’re bound by obligation to come and bring your hot friends—and since you’re not banging them, they’re considered free game, by the way,” she informed me matter-of-factly.
My eyes widened as Maverick’s head tipped back and he lifted a brow. “Um, Liv,” I said.
“Nope. No getting out of it,” she said, stopping me from talking further. “Just because you haven’t banged one of them doesn’t mean that they’re off limits. I might have missed my chance with Maverick before, but I swear to God if that man is still free, I’m going to ride him ‘til dawn. It is my birthday, after all.”
Oh God. I pressed my lips together as Maverick’s eyebrows shot up past the line of his beanie. “Olivia.”
“What?” I pointed and her eyes followed, widening when she saw him. She whirled on me, her face turning from white to pink to flaming tomato red. Almost the same color as her hair.
“Why didn’t you fucking say anything?” she hissed, the mortification clear in her tone and on her face. Before I could say anything, though, she turned and glanced over her shoulder and emitted another squeak. “I … um … forgot, I had a … erm … thing to do!” She backed away from me. “I’ll see you later, bye.”
I pressed my lips together and watched her book it down the hallway, practically sprinting in her low kitten heels with the force of her desire to escape embarrassment. With a sigh, I turned towards the man responsible for my friend’s behavior.
“What do you want?” I demanded. Before he could answer, however, the same guy from earlier—Ben—jogged up to meet me.
“Hey, Barbie,” he said, stopping and shoving his hands into his pockets. “Sorry to bug you, but I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor?”
I blinked at him, startled. “Uhhh.” I glanced from him to Maverick, who seemed just as confused about this guy’s presence. His lips turned down and his brows drew closer together. I shook my head and turned to give Ben my attention. “Sure, what’s up?”
Ben grinned, revealing straight white teeth and a small dimple on his left cheek. Just as quickly, though, his grin faded as Maverick stepped forward. “Oh, hey, Mav, didn’t see you there, man.” Ben slid his hands out of his shorts and glanced between us. “Is this a bad time?”
“Yes.”
“No.” I swiveled my head towards Maverick as he spoke at the same time as me. He didn’t even bother to look my way. A wave of heat rocketed up and I swayed, clamping my fingers against my bag strap as the heat faded just as quickly as it had come.
“Oh, uh, well…” Ben hesitated, his hands clenching and unclenching. I tried to focus on him and not the riot of temperature inside my body. Finally, he seemed to gather himself together. He wiped his palms against his shorts and took a step back. “It’s not a big deal, I can ask you about it later. I don’t want to keep you from getting to your next class.”
“You’re not,” I assured him, but he was already taking another step back, laughing uncomfortably as he lifted his arm in a half-hearted wave. “I’ll see you again tomorrow in homeroom. Don’t worry, it’s not an emergency or anything.”
“I—” I stopped as he rounded the hallway corner and disappeared from sight. Silent shock rippled through me for a moment before I turned to the man at my side. “What the fuck was that about?” I demanded. Maverick’s gaze was still on the place where Ben had disappeared to. “Maverick!” I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “What the hell?”
Dark brown eyes leveled on me, and he stayed silent for a moment as my eyebrows continued to inch up in expectation. “I got a text from Torin,” Maverick said. “He’s coming back.” Oh, so we were going to ignore his strange behavior? Fine. I huffed and released my bag strap, letting it dangle over my shoulder, to cross my arms.
“Do you know exactly when?” I asked.
He shook his head, eyes fixated on me, watching me carefully. “Not yet,” he answered.
I frowned. “Okay, thanks for telling me.” I turned to go.
“Wait.” He snapped an arm out and latched his fingers onto my wrist. I flexed my hand, urging myself to stay calm. I resisted the automatic compulsion to lay Maverick out. He wasn’t my enemy. Yes, I was pissed at him, but it wasn’t something that deserved a concussion. Yet.
I tilted my head back. “What?”
He hesitated, his fingers clamping down harder for a split second. The corners of his mouth dipped downward. His eyes darted to the side. “You—I mean, I—” He stopped, swallowed, and inhaled sharply. “I’m sorry about last night.”
“What about last night?” I arched a brow at him.
The corners of his lips deepened. “You know what about,” he said sharply.
I shrugged. “You didn’t want to talk about it,” I said. “What brought about this change?” He stared at me without comment. I sighed and gently pulled my wrist from his grasp. “When you’re done being like this, I’ll accept your apology,” I stated calmly. “Until then, I’ll be driving myself to school.”
This time, when I moved to leave, he didn’t stop me. And though he re
mained silent and let me go without a fuss, I could still feel the heavy weight of his stare on my back. This couldn’t continue, I decided. As soon as Torin came back, we needed to address the kissing and … the demon.
Five
Maverick
The empty passenger seat of my truck irritated me. Every so often, I would catch myself glancing over to see what Barbie’s face looked like, to try and guess her mood, or just to observe the way her thoughts played out over her face. But she wasn’t there. After the tenth time I’d accidentally looked, I cursed and slammed a palm against the steering wheel with a growl.
Somewhere in the car, my cell rang. I punched the Bluetooth answer button on the console screen and barked out an answer. “What?”
“Bad time?” Torin’s voice filtered through the truck’s speakers, sounding slightly off. It was gruffer than usual.
I cracked my neck and took a stiff breath, releasing it slowly. “No, it’s not. Where are you?”
“I’m about to get on my flight,” he said. “Just wanted to let you know.”
“Have you called or texted Barbie?” I asked. Silence greeted me. It was answer enough. “She’s pissed at me.”
“Oh?” Torin’s voice sounded deeper, more throaty, as if he were suddenly coming down with a cold. “Why’s that?”
“Well, she’s pissed at me for,” I paused, unsure how much I should tell him. “Reasons,” I finished lamely before leaping for a distraction. “But she’s also pissed at you. Where the hell have you been for the last month?”
“I told you, England—”
“You haven’t told either of us shit,” I snapped. Had the steering wheel been a living, breathing thing, I would’ve been fucking strangling it. “You get a summons in the middle of the night from Daddy dearest and you disappear the next day with nothing more than a text message with the bare essentials of information.”
“It’s complicated,” Torin said, clearing his throat. “But I’ll be back within the next twelve hours or less.”
“When you get back, we have a lot to discuss.” I slowed as I came to my street and took the turn. “There’s a lot you’ve missed. Barbie and I have been hunting vamps in the local area.”
Torin’s intake of air was all I needed to know that he wasn’t happy with the information. “Without me?” he growled. “Do you know how dangerous that is?”
“She’s had it,” I replied sharply. “You may be a badass vamp, but she’s got speed, too. I’ve fucking mastered shooting targets at close range. You, on the other hand, have been absent as fuck. What did you think? Life would just stop if you weren’t around? That we’d sit on our asses and twiddle our thumbs until you deigned to show your face? There were problems. We took care of them. End of story.”
“I don’t like you putting her in danger, Maverick,” Torin said coldly. “Don’t do it again.”
“Are you fucking shitting me, man?” I scoffed, the muscles in my arms bulging as I felt them tighten and tighten until it felt like they were going to fucking pop. “There’s no stopping her. She’ll go with or without me.” And as much as I hated to admit it, she could still lay me out on my ass. I’d been practicing self-defense with her and not fucking once had I managed to gain the upper hand. It was humbling for a guy over two hundred pounds of muscle to be flattened by a five-foot-five blonde ball of self-contained fury.
“I don’t care what you have to do, Maverick,” Torin growled, sounding more animal than human. “You do not allow her to put herself in danger. There are things she and I need to discuss. She better be alive by the time I return or so help you, I will—”
“You’ll what?” I interrupted as I pulled into the driveway. I shoved the car into park and shook my head. “You’re not even here, man. You can’t just call and demand I follow orders. You’re not my fucking boss. You want to control her, good fucking luck.” As if that would ever be possible. Barbie was as uncontrollable as the wind and twice as unpredictable. “But you might have a better chance of doing that if you were actually fucking here.”
Silence stretched over the line as I waited for his response. I didn’t mention that we’d found more and more dilapidated vampire dens like the abandoned train station. Perhaps it was just how new the whole thing was to me—what the hell did I know about vampire numbers?—but it felt like there was an unusual number of loose-cannon vampires in the nearby area. In the last month that he’d been gone, we’d taken out at least three of them. All similar to the vampires we’d killed at the train station. Consumed by bloodlust. Too far gone for anything but a good staking. That, I felt, was a conversation we’d have to have in person.
“I’ll be there by tomorrow morning,” he growled. “Do not let her out of your sight until then.”
The line went dead and I shut off the vehicle, letting my head thump back against the headrest. Twelve hours or less. What difference did it make? I wondered. We were still in the same place as we’d been when he left.
I slammed out of the truck and stormed into the house. Barbie was still gone somewhere—probably with her little red-headed friend—and since no one else greeted me, I assumed that meant my parents were gone as well. That was fine with me. I needed time to do some more research.
I headed for my mom’s office, rounded the big desk, and plopped down into the leather swivel chair. My fingers itched to go digging for the files they had on Barbie to see if she’d signed the papers yet, but I already knew the answer. They’d offered to adopt her and she hadn’t yet agreed. A part of me couldn’t comprehend what held her back, but another part of me—the one that knew the truth. About her family. About her origins. About her blood-soaked past. I got it. And I was grateful that she refused to sign.
Because it was that girl, that Barbie, that kept me awake at night. The Barbie who had kissed me at the hospital after my parents had offered to adopt her was an addiction I never wanted to be rid of. She had stolen her way into my very soul and her remnants still remained. She had wanted to talk about that kiss, but I knew if we did, I’d have to fucking tell her the truth.
I would have to tell her that I’d liked it. More than that, I wanted more. I wanted her—body and soul. I wanted to fuck her against the wall and wake with her beneath me. I wanted to delve as far down as I fucking could and rip open every crack I found and wedge myself in there. I wanted to be the glue that held her together.
She was an addiction, a burning flame—volatile and intractable. Some men feared fire, but not me. I wanted to let it consume me.
I opened my mom’s laptop and pulled up the files I’d saved and hidden under a separate folder entitled ‘football statistics.’ Knowing my mom, it was the one place she’d never look and considering my father had his own computer and never looked at hers, I figured it would be the safest place to hide the articles I’d found on local murders. I separated the articles that had surrounded the abandoned train station and placed those into the trash folder. Now that the vampire den had been taken care of, they were old news.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the last of the vampire dens. I pulled up a picture of an old warehouse, about forty-five minutes out of town I’d been keeping my eye on. I clicked across the keyboard, sliding the mouse across the screen at lightning speed. As hard as I’d worked on catching up to Barbie in combat skills, it was here that I’d found the most talent. I’d always been good with computers after all.
I could’ve used my own laptop—or one of the many my parents had stashed for emergencies—but I wasn’t here for the computer. I was here for the files. Using my mom’s computer was just a safety precaution. She had specially designed firewalls added to the hard drive of this computer because of her business. Something I hadn’t gotten around to adding to my own computer. I’d never needed it before. I plugged in a set of headphones and hacked into a local police scanner.
As I listened to the crackle of the radio waves, I searched for any information on the warehouse whose address had shown up in conversation the last few times
I’d listened in. Missing pets. Missing people. All centered around this place. How many vampires would we catch this time?
I saved all of the information I gathered back to the same hidden folder and sighed as I exited out and went back to the home screen. I unplugged the headphones and pushed away from the desk after sending the info to my cell.
As I left the office, the front door opened. I paused on the threshold of the hallway and Barbie looked up. Our gazes clashed and my body tightened all the way down to my fucking groin.
Cursing silently, I whirled away and stomped up the stairs. I’d have to find a way to grind out my fucking issues for at least the next twelve hours. Twelve fucking hours. Then Torin would be back and all bets were off.
Six
Barbie
The door to my old house hung open. My footsteps were muted, but still there against the stones lining the front walkway. I floated forward and looked up as the front light turned on. My gaze settled back on the darkened doorway. The light from above didn’t reach past the foyer.
“Mom?” My hands scrunched into the skirts of the dress as I lifted one foot and stepped over the threshold. Something warm and wet hit my cheek and slid downward. I reached up and touched the spot, my fingers coming away red with fresh blood. My heartbeat increased. I blinked and raised my head towards the shadowed interior of my house. “Dad? Brandon?” I moved forward.
My foot landed against something soft and squishy, a sickening squelching sound emitting from whatever it was. My gaze went down. Cold shivers raced up my spine. I tilted my head to the side as sweat popped up in beads on my upper lip and brow. I swallowed against bile as I spotted the body at my feet. Mud caked against my shoes, splattering my legs. My mind saw red but didn’t connect it to what it really was. Blood.
“Mom?” My voice grew louder, echoing up throughout the house. “Dad? Brandon!” I turned in a full circle, a sinking feeling gripping my chest and reaching long fingers up to encircle my neck. Where were they?
