Hunter Trials (The Vampire Legacy Book 2)

by Rita Stradling

  Mitch wasn’t threatening him. He was telling him that being around us three was bound to get Zack killed, and Mitch cared about Zack’s safety because Justin did. Obviously, Mitch was in on a lot more than I thought.

  “No. Mitch is right,” I said as I stepped back from Zack. “He’s not right about keeping away from me. That would be awful, but Justin would want me to keep you out of this. He’d rather you hate him than be in danger.”

  Zack looked so utterly confused, and it tugged at my heart, but I had to walk away. Going on instinct, I went to my tiptoes and kissed Zack on the cheek. “You keep safe, okay?”

  "Can we talk for a second, Blondie?" His voice sounded deliberately light. Zack swung his arm all the way over my shoulders. “So, yeah. I’m getting a really off feeling from all of this. Let’s head inside and talk for a minute.”

  "Mitch, go get the car." When he didn't move, I added, "Please. I just want to tell Zack that everything's okay while you're not looming over me like you're about to kick my ass."

  Mitch pointed into my face and gave me a heavy stare.

  "I get it, and I agree, okay? You're right. I'll even apologize to you in the car if you just go," I said. When he opened his mouth to say something, I said, "On the tally, I know."

  He nodded and walked unhurriedly down the street toward his muscle car.

  Zack released me, stepped back, and turned. "What's up, January?"

  I took a steadying breath, breathing in the sweet floral scent of an oleander bush that curled over the road. "What I should have said to you, Zack, is Justin hasn't contacted me. From what I could tell, the evidence against Justin is real, but I can't believe that he'd betray us. He's taken so many personal risks to keep us safe that it just doesn't make any sense. That is the honest truth."

  Zack's gaze shot down the street and then darted back. "What were you going to tell me?"

  "Something that would probably have put you in serious danger and for nothing. Mitch was right to stop me. I guess it's safe to say ..." I paused to consider my words carefully. "Justin keeps a lot of secrets, and I didn't trust him at all until recently. But every time I find out the truth, it turns out that Justin was keeping me or someone else safe and suffering for it. He's earned my trust, and I'm going to believe that he's good until there's absolute proof that he's guilty."

  Zack's gaze fell to the ground. "I wish I could have the same faith in him, but I don't."

  Justin wouldn't expect him to, but saying that would sound patronizing, so I just held out my arms and offered a hug.

  Zack squeezed me just a little too tight, but it felt amazing. "Hey, Blondie," he said as he let go of me. "Can I ask you something unrelated to this?"

  "What's up?"

  "Is there something going on between Susie and Richard?"

  My gut clenched tight as a fist. "Did you ask them?"

  "No." He shrugged, but the move seemed far from nonchalant. "You just seem to be hanging out with them a lot, and I thought I'd ask."

  Fuckety fuck. I hated lying, especially when so much rode on Zack trusting me, but I wasn't about to betray Susie's trust either. "Maybe ask Susie if you're getting that feeling. Would you be mad at them if they are?"

  "And they're lying to me and hiding it? Yeah. I'd be mad." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry to put you on the spot like this January."

  "It's fine,” I said, even though it really wasn't. "Look, I am one hundred percent an outsider looking in here, but it's obvious that you guys have been through a lot of shit together and your bonds are super close-knit."

  "You're not going to give me a straight answer, are you?" he asked.

  I held up my hands and shrugged. "I don't really have one to give, and I think Mitch is going to freak out again if I don't head over."

  "You and Mitch are friends now?" He asked it half-disbelieving and half-pitying like he was asking if I made friends with a vicious junkyard dog. The trace of pity made me wonder if Zack had seen Mitch's face covered in bruises as well. Everyone treated Mitch with a cautious rejection. But the Baldwin brothers hadn't mentioned a nickname for the guy, and they seemed to give one to every asshole in the school. They also told me that Mitch was generally considered the nice Holter brother. From the way Mitch acted at school, I couldn't even see how someone could come close to the word "nice."

  "Mitch and I might have some objectives in common, but he's going to let me die in the hunt if his brother orders him to. I guess that sums up our non-friendship in one sentence."

  "You're not going to die in that hunt. Blackburn won't allow that."

  After the video I watched earlier today, I knew his words were based more on a lingering blind trust in his academy than hard evidence. "I hope you're right."

  We said goodnight, but Zack waited until I climbed into Mitch's car to head back to the Baldwin house.

  The moment I closed myself in with Mitch, he turned to me and said, "You're going to have to harden up and stop worrying so much about having everyone like you, or you're going to get people killed."

  "There has to be a midpoint between you and me," I muttered as I clicked on my seatbelt.

  Mitch didn't respond until we passed back over both sets of train tracks.

  "That's easy enough to say from where you're sitting." The words called for no response. I could tell that as far as Mitch saw it, they were a statement of fact.

  "I can't stay at your party long, Mitch. Bailey is still at the kennels, and they close for the night at nine." By “not stay long,” I meant I was going to walk in and insist we walk out—preferably before anyone noticed me.

  “Nope. You’re not getting out of this party. We’ll get your damn dog first.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The party was already raging as we pulled down the familiar road that led to my nana's small apartment. At least Nana was out tonight, having fun with her girlfriend and friends, and I would be perfectly placed to clean up the party mess so these jerks couldn't leave it for her. My heart jumped as we pulled up beside Justin’s truck, but then Mitch told me that the Roberts had towed it here from the Academy parking lot. The realization that Justin was gone hit me once more, weighing down on my shoulders until my legs ached because my body felt so heavy. Justin had been on the run for more than forty-eight hours now.

  The pool area reeked of spilled beer. Thumping techno music pounded out from the speaker system, and people were dancing alongside the pool in swimsuits and bikinis. I recognized some of the people we passed, but I didn't know anyone there enough to greet them.

  "January," a voice said from behind me. Arms wrapped around my shoulders, and I spun to find my former best friend, Char. She leaned in, and her blue eyes almost looked like they were bulging from her skull. "Oh no, January, why did you come? Amber is here specifically to pick a fight with you and Mitch.”

  "Well, fuck her," I called over the chatter of the crowd.

  "No," Char stretched out the word as she jumped up and down in place. "Can't you just head over to your nana's? I really don't want to have to get in between my two best friends. Please, think about it from my side."

  Damn it. I'd had just about enough of Amber and her minion for one week. "You know what, Char, how about you think about it from my side for once? I didn't do anything to Amber, so why don’t you tell her to leave? I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one of us two who was actually invited to this party."

  Char recoiled as if I slapped her. "January, why are you being so mean?"

  I wasn't sure that asking her to look at this situation from my perspective was mean—especially as it was something she never did, and I always tried to do for her.

  "You're taking her side, Char. And I didn't do anything, and she's awful."

  "You did. You humiliated her in front of the whole school—"

  I held up a hand. I didn't have the energy to waste on this, and hot fury was surging through me. I had so many problems; I couldn't deal with other people's bullshit right now. "I already sa
id it to her, and I'm not going to do it again. I played no part in Mitch's plans. He definitely didn't consult me, and when I told him that I wanted nothing to do with the Senior Hunt, he nominated me anyways. If you really think I want to be part of a death match with a vampire, then you don't know me at all."

  She squeezed her eyes closed and flung back her head. "I can't choose between you."

  "Fine. I'll make it easy, Char. I'm pretty tired of you backstabbing me at the worst possible times." I turned and walked away. Anger had been boiling in my chest, but the moment I turned from Char, I felt gutted like messy emotions were spilling out of me as I faced the crowd, only to find Mitch standing there, waiting for me to finish my conversation.

  "Fuck her," Mitch said as I drew level with him. "Fuck everyone."

  What did it say about me that I was agreeing with Mitch Holter's outlook on life?

  He nodded into the pool house. Legacy kids parted before Mitch like cars before an ambulance, pulling off to the side and trying not to get in his way whatsoever. As we approached the sofa, someone handed Mitch a capped beer bottle that dripped with condensation. Mitch didn't even say thank you, he just pulled out his key chain, popped the cap and let it drop to the floor. The whole thing was pretty gross. Mitch fell onto a couch beside a couple heavily making out. The chick straddling the dude's lap beside Mitch was definitely gyrating in a back and forth motion. I didn't think the couple were actually having sex right here on the couch, but no part of me wanted to sit down next to people while they were dry humping.

  "Come on and sit," Mitch called before swigging down his beer.

  “Um, no. I’m going to find somewhere else to be.”

  “Stay.” Mitch rolled his eyes, leaned over, and smacked the guy on the arm. The couple broke apart, and Spineless Corey leaned over. His lips were bruised and eyes a bit lazy. "Wha—what?"

  "Take it to your car," Mitch growled as he nodded toward the front.

  The girl looked between us, her eyes owlishly wide. Her cheeks darkened. I could guess she was a year or so younger from her plump cheeks and size. She clung onto Spineless Corey like he was her safety net from Mitch, though, I was pretty sure Corey was the bigger asshole of the pair. Char had told me that Corey's mother stole from her husband and blamed their endless stream of maids. And Corey shared in his mother's spoils in order to buy cocaine to make him popular. Like every time I saw Corey at these parties, he was sucking face with a different girl. I was guessing that he wasn't only after popularity.

  "Let's go, babe," Corey said, smacking the chick on her butt.

  She squealed, giggled, and then climbed off his lap, heading outside.

  "Sit," Mitch demanded, patting the couch beside him.

  “Uh… no.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “See, this blows because I was about to sit down—because I actually want to, but I can’t now because you’re talking to me like you think I’m your dog.”

  "You’ve got to be kidding me,” Mitch muttered so low I could barely hear him over the music. His gaze rose to mine. “January, will you sit on the couch…” he paused to widen his eyes, “please?"

  “Sure.” I settled onto the cushion beside him, and we both sat there, not talking to each other.

  The party raged on around us, and my eyelids grew very heavy. Between the low hum of chatter and noxious odor of hops and fruity mixed drinks, I was starting to get sleepy.

  "Hey." A hand shook my shoulder. "Are you falling asleep? What's wrong with you?"

  I covered a yawn. "Dude, replace the techno with decent rock music, and this was like my lullaby growing up. Also, being around this many people makes me tired."

  "Well, I didn't do all this shit so you can fall asleep. Do you need me to smack you or something?" It was a weird, quasi-violent question, especially since Mitch didn't say it in a threatening way.

  "Hit me, and I hit back, jackass." He opened his mouth, but I came in with, "Going on your tally. Got it. You know that your tally isn't going to be worth shit if you let me die next Friday,” I said, even though there was no way that I was ever going to put my life in the guy’s hands. I just hadn’t found my way out of this mess yet.

  "Why do you mouth off so much? Shut up for a damn minute."

  I threw up my hands. "You just got mad at me because I was falling asleep, which would have made me silent. Make up your damn mind, Mitch."

  He lifted his dark brows at me. "Justin has to be out of his mind." Maybe I was just deluding myself, but it kind of sounded like Mitch's voice had less conviction than when he said something similar a week ago. Maybe I was growing on him.

  Mitch set his beer bottle on his knee and rolled it between his fingers. "Your mom partied all the time like this while you were growing up?"

  I looked over at him, side-eye. "I am not about to get personal with you about my mom."

  "Why not? Your mom is pretty cool. I like her outlook on life."

  "Her personal motto is life sucks, and then you die."

  He looked up to the ceiling and nodded. "Sounds about right."

  It figured that the one person that Mitch would like besides Justin was my ornery, alcoholic mother. From what I could tell, Mom liked him too. I guess it was better than them not liking each other. If I survived until next Sunday, and Justin still wasn't here to take me.

  "She partied, but she didn't put me in danger or anything. It was just loud, and so I got used to the sound of laughter, chatter, and music while I slept. It's better I nap anyway because when I get home, I'm going to get back to searching." I had been carefully avoiding saying Justin's name, but we both knew who I was talking about. What I could do to search for Justin at this hour, I had no idea. I might just have to map out everything I know and see if some spark of brilliance happens. "I can't hear my own thoughts here."

  Mitch narrowed his eyes and peered at me like I was stupid. He twirled his hand in the air. "Why do you think I threw this party here?"

  Oh. Shit. We were right where we needed to be to find out information on Justin, and I had been too caught up in the idea that Mitch was taking advantage of his aunt and uncle to party to see the brilliance of his plan.

  “You’ve clearly figured things out more. What were you going to tell Zack Baldwin?”

  I leaned back into the couch and turned to Mitch fully. "Prove to me that Justin trusted you because I don’t."

  His gaze fell down, and he concentrated on his beer, tipping it up and downing it in a long gulp. With a sharp exhale, he rocked forward and set his beer on the ground. Leaning his elbows on his knees, he looked back at me. "If you can do it with no one noticing, slip your hands between the couch cushions behind you and break through the bottom of the couch."

  I pivoted slightly toward Mitch and pushed my fingers between my butt and the backboard of the couch. As I was sitting close, the fit was tight, but I ignored the pinch and maneuvered my hand through. My fingers hit a soft material layer, and I scratched at the edge with my nails, but they threatened to break from the unforgiving seam.

  "I might need scissors," I mumbled.

  "No scissors. Figure it out," he said before taking another swig.

  Jerk.

  I scraped and tore, finally able to pull up the cloth. Beneath the liner, there was a long, shallow hole. I brushed my finger over stacks of soft paper that were clearly money. "I'm in."

  "Feel for a small, thin, and smooth booklet."

  My hand traced over the stacks of bills. There had to be several in there, and I found what felt like three stiff booklets."

  "There are three."

  "Three? That means he somehow got you a passport in the last week." Mitch's gaze went miles away for a second. "He said he had a plan, but it took years to get our fake passports." After a second, his gaze shot up to mine. "Anything else in there?"

  I felt around. "Paper, large stacks of bills, and ..." My hand brushed over an abrasive metal case, "Some sort of container."

  "That’s our weapons. It's all there," Mi
tch said. "That's everything we've collected over two years, plus another passport. If he planned his escape in advance, why did he leave everything behind? It doesn't make sense. Even if he knew that he might have to disappear after what he did the night before, he would have taken his passport. He commits treason, casually goes to school, gets a phone call, and goes on the run on foot with no money or fake ID? How have they not found him yet? It makes me think that the vampire king is either hiding Justin or Justin’s dead.”

  I flinched away from Mitch. “No.”

  “How would we know?”

  Shit. I was probably making the worst mistake of my life, but I needed Mitch’s help if I was going to find Justin. I glanced around the party, seeing that everyone was engrossed in talking, dancing, or hooking up. Mitch was right. This was about as private as we could ever possibly get. Turning back to Mitch, I gritted my teeth, unclenched my jaw, and then whispered, "Do you know who my father is, Mitch? My real father, I mean."

  Mitch narrowed his eyes at me. “Some Elite asshole.”

  "I just assumed because you stopped me from telling Zack."

  "I stopped you from telling Zack shit about what's going on here. I figured you were trying to make yourself an ally you wanted to work with, even if it killed the guy."

  I shook my head. "I screwed up, but that wasn't what I was going to tell him. I think I know who called Justin before he disappeared."

  Mitch’s brow furrowed. “Who?”

  "My father. He was the one Justin sent those files to. He said he was going to arrange an escape."

  Mitch's brow furrowed, and the lines just kept deepening. He didn't get it.

  "My father was married to my mother, he died, and then he got Mom pregnant."

  Mitch's head shot up. "The fuck?"

  Shit. From the incredulity in his squinting eyes, I realized that I probably made a terrible mistake. My arm was still halfway in the couch, clasping the papers and passports, when a girl slurred, “Hey baby. Come dance with me.”