Vampire's Shade Discounted Box Set

Chapter 17

Chapter 17The roads were quieting down, mostpeople settling down into their weeknight routines. I was the onlyone who was out of mine. If it had been an ordinary night, I wouldhave been heading out from the office with a stack of papers fromRuben and a night of blood and guts ahead of me.

I wanted to go back to that. It hadn’tbeen a great job, and I’d always been a little torn. But it wasfamiliar. Safe, ironically. It was my life.

What did I have now? A big mess toclear up before it was all too late.

The neighborhood felt like it alwaysdid, with so many suburban families at home. The neighborhood buzzedwith vibrant life – if not happiness, then at least contentment.Families were together; I could feel the strength of their bonds as Ipassed the houses. It made me feel strangely untethered, like anisland. Surrounded by nothing but ocean. Disconnected from everythingelse like me.

I cut the engine before I got toConnor’s house and rolled the last couple of feet. But who was Ifooling? He had probably heard me coming. He was a purebred, withhearing that outmatched my own. But it made me feel better to do itthis way. It made me feel like somehow I still had control.

I parked my bike and slid off it, thenwalked up the dark driveway. I was aware again of the strong scent ofnight flowers. The jasmine hung the thickest in the air, and Icouldn’t decide if I liked it or hated it. Smells brought with themso many memories, both good and bad.

I tried the front door, the onlyentrance to the house I hadn’t used before, and found it unlocked.That was a surprise. If Connor was home, I expected him to havestronger security.

Clyde, the mean old housecat, came tothe door making a low moaning sound that warned me off.

“Get over it,” I sneered. I workedfrom the one room to the next, systematically checking each of them.I had my SIG out, gripped in two hands and pointed toward the floor.I didn’t want to shoot Connor, for once, but I didn’t want to runinto unwanted company either. After all, the door had been unlocked.

When I got to the office, a room I’donly been in once before, I found Connor standing in it with his backto me. “So, you’ve decided to have another run at it,” he said,not looking at me.

His voice was dull, empty. He soundedbored. But the muscles in his back were tense, both his feet wereplanted firmly on the floor, and I knew all his attention was on me,not on the papers he was flipping through.

“I’m not here to kill you,” Isaid. My voice sounded thin. I didn’t feel capable and toughtonight. I had three guns on me, but I’d never been so nervous inmy life.

I tucked my SIG back into my waistbandto prove my point. Connor still wasn’t looking at me, but I didn’tdoubt that he’d heard me.

“I know you’re not,” he said.

Finally, he turned to me. His faceseemed paler than it had been before, and his eyes had faint circlesunderneath them. He looked taller, and the skin on his face clung tothe bone underneath so I could see the structure of his skull. Iwanted to ask if he was all right, but it wasn’t my place to dothat.

“I need your help,” I said.

“What for?”

I’d expected an immediate no. Hisanswer sparked a little hope inside of me.

“I need to find the masters. I needto know how to find them. They’re angry, and at some point I’mgoing to have to face them.”

“Well, that can’t be due to anyfailure on your part,” he said, his voice cold and hard. “Afterall, you did shoot me. I was just lucky enough to be faster than thebullet.”

“Connor…”

“I’d like for you to leave,” hesaid, then he walked past me.

“Connor, please. I… they haveAspen.”

I hated to admit my weakness. I hatedthat I was begging for help. But there was nothing I wouldn’t dofor my sister. If I had to give the upper hand to my mark… well,I’d do that.

“At this point, Adele, I don’treally think I want to help you. I’ve done more than enough to showyou that you’re above all this. That you’re worth more.”

And all this time I’d thought he’dintentionally been driving me crazy. A sharp pain shot through mychest.

“I fell for you,” he admitted. “Godknows that was the biggest mistake in the world. Who falls for thegirl who’s trying to kill you?”

“Why did you?” I asked, becausesuddenly I was dying to know what anyone could see in me other than amonster. That was all that I saw in the mirror anymore. I had thathorrible scar and eyes that promised nothing but death, and I dressedit all up in leathers and guns that drove the point home.

“How can someone like you thinkanything… good… about me?”

He chuckled, without humor. “I don’tknow the answer to that,” he said, and his words stung. “You see,there was a time when I believed I could see the beauty in you,despite all the ugliness you’re trying to bury it under. I wantedto believe that I could change you, that I could show you what it’slike to have something to live for again. Something that would stopyou looking over your shoulder, back at your father.”

I suddenly felt like there wasn’t asingle bone in my body. I reached out for the wall to steady myselfbefore I lost my balance.

“How did you know?” I asked, myvoice brittle.

“Your secrets may not be in the newsnow, Adele, but they were once upon a time. It didn’t take a lot ofdigging to get the story. Not that I can even begin to imagine whatyou’re dealing with, but I told myself that what you were doing wasjustifiable.”

“And still you think I’m themonster,” I sneered. I was getting closer and closer to crying, andI had to come up with a plan to make the tears go away, fast. Beingmean was the only way I knew, even if it meant I got hurt even more.

“I don’t think you’re a monster.At least I didn’t. But it takes a lot for someone to shoot the manshe’s just slept with point blank. I’m not so sure anymore.”

I took a deep breath, and it was shaky.It made me sound weak. I looked weak. I knew that. And I hated it.

“Please just help me with Aspen,” Isaid. “Then you can hate me forever.”

Connor smiled, but it didn’t reachhis eyes.

“I’m sorry, princess,” he said,and then he disappeared. I was left alone in the empty house.

Clyde padded into the room silently andmewed.

“Shut up,” I said, and left thehouse.

My eyes burned as I tore full throttledown the road. Everything around me faded to a blur and the windwhipped around me, yanking at my emotions. I prayed they would blowaway behind me.

I made it to the ugly side of town inunder five minutes, sure there were about six cameras with picturesof my plates on them now. But I didn’t care. Joel could squash themfor me again.

Joel.

My stomach contracted, and I felt likeI was going to throw up. If he was dead…

I didn’t even want to think about it.I was becoming more and more aware that I was completely alone. I hadno one left. I wasn’t one of those people with a huge social life.But I did have a few people I held dear.

And one by one, they were being rippedaway from me. That was why I was in this filthy neighborhood wherethe streets were full of garbage, a twisted insight to the type ofpeople who lived here. The night was quiet, and there wasn’t alight on in any of the windows I passed. Not even the streetlightswere on despite the fact that it was going on eleven o’clock.

I parked in front of the rundownbuilding where Carlos lived. At night it was even worse; the wholeplace seemed to have sunk in on itself. When I stepped into thelobby, it really did feel haunted. Everything was dark; the counterwhere the doorman should have been was a gaping black hole. I hurriedthrough the lobby towards the hallway where I would find Carlos’sdoor.

When I reached it, I stretched out myhand to knock, then I caught myself. The door wasn’t closedcompletely. It was slightly ajar. The apartment inside was quiet, nomusic blaring like the last time I’d been here.

“Please, no,” I whispered. NotCarlos too…

“Well, we didn’t expect to see youhere,” a voice purred around me. I couldn’t tell where it wascoming from, but I recognized its echoing quality and soft, seductivetone.

I spun around. She laughed, and itdanced around me like chimes in the wind.

“You’re just a surprise everytime, aren’t you?” she said. Her words echoed in a whisper thatmade my skin crawl.

I looked up and down the hallway,relying on my other senses because I couldn’t see in the dark, butit was difficult to tell where she was. She was very good at makingit sound like she was everywhere at once.

“What’s wrong, Celia?” I asked,using her name for the first time. “Too scared to come out and faceme? Is that why you’re hiding?”

She laughed again, and this time it waslaced with malice. I knew she wasn’t scared. There was arrogance inthe air, and a lot of confidence. If there was any fear, it was mine.I needed her to come out and show herself because as much as I hatedto admit it, I couldn’t find her.

I knew she wasn’t inside theapartment, so I stepped back toward the lobby. As I got closer, Celialaughed again, and this time it came from one place: the dark areawhere the counter was.

I took another step, and then I saw adark shape, crouching on the counter. Her eyes were glowing green,which gave her away. I reached behind my back to pull my gun, but shelaunched herself toward me and she was quicker than I was. Shemanaged to knock me to the floor even though I attempted to duck. Ihit the floor, and for a moment I couldn’t breathe.

“You shouldn’t challenge me ifyou’re not ready to face me,” Celia said, her voice sweet andsultry.

“Oh, I’m ready,” I said, pushingmyself up.

I was more than fed up with this woman.I’d taken out the S&W and held it tight, my fingers curlingaround the butt like it was a lifeline. She was quick, but if I couldget this one shot fired, she wouldn’t live to laugh about it. Itook aim at the dark shadow with the gleaming eyes and pulled thetrigger.

The shot rang out, and the plastersplintered. A big hole in the wall showed me where the bullet hadhit.

And she laughed again. Dammit.

Then, out of nowhere, she kicked me onthe jaw and I saw stars. The gun fell and bounced away, and I heard adull thud in the darkness as the world tilted. A second later my headhit the floor.

I lay there stunned, trying to get mybearings. The carpet was rough and gritty under my cheek. When Itried to get up, my head spun and I felt sick. That was definitely aconcussion.

She waited for me to pull myselftogether and get back up before she struck again. I was ready for herthis time, and I got in a blow. I imagined I’d given her a bloodynose, at least, but I wasn’t sure.

I unsheathed the knife at my thigh andheld the blade away from me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw ashadow move, and I slashed without thinking.

I cut something. She screamed anunearthly howl and my blade had blood on it. Where I’d gotten her,I didn’t know.

“You have to stop doing that,” shesneered.

I knew she was hurting. I could hear itin her voice. There were very few supernatural creatures that couldwithstand silver – and she wasn’t one of them.

I reached behind my back for my SIG. Iwanted to kill the b***h.

Her next attack was slower, which toldme I’d cut her somewhere that mattered, but again she was fasterthan I was and she knocked the SIG out of my hand too. She was stillputting up a damn good fight, and she came in with her claws, readyto scratch my eyes out.

I was just as eager to get to hers, soI punched her in the face. She managed to scratch me down the throat,but I already had a scar there and it wasn’t going to slow me down.I managed to elbow her in the gut, and she doubled over, gasping forbreath. I jammed my knee up to hit her in the face, but she’dalready recovered and straightened out. She slammed into me and Ilost my grip on the knife. It clattered away in the dark. I still hadthe Glock on me, but she wasn’t giving me time to draw it. Shethrust out her arm faster than I’d seen her move before, grabbed myhair, and yanked it.

Pain shot through my head as I bentover backwards, trying to escape her grip. I fell to the floor, butshe didn’t let up. She kicked me while I was down: in the ribs, inthe stomach, two kicks to the head. I couldn’t think about movinganymore. I curled into a ball and let her kicks rain on me. There wasnothing else to do but hope I survived.

After what felt like forever, shefinally stopped. I lay there, curled in a ball, for a long time. Iguessed she was gone, but I didn’t know for sure. Every bone in mybody ached, and I knew from experience that I would have a wholecollection of bruises. I was sure I was bleeding somewhere, too. Icould feel the blood draining out of me, taking my energy, mystrength, along with it.

I heard footsteps. I didn’t have theenergy to face anything more, so I closed my eyes and let thedarkness surround me. If it called me home, I would go.

I woke up in a blue room. The coversover me were heavy, and when I moved to get them off me, the painmade me groan. Everything hurt. It felt like I’d been dragged formiles. I couldn’t open my right eye all the way. I figured it wouldbe bruised too.

I did a quick inventory. Nothingbroken. I could deal with the rest of it.

“You’re up,” someone said fromthe doorway, and when I looked I saw Carlos standing there, leaningagainst the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest.

“What time is it?” I asked.

Carlos frowned, but he looked at hiswatch. “Eight,” he said.

“Tuesday?” I asked. My worst fearwas losing days. I couldn’t afford that.

But Carlos nodded. “You took quite abeating,” he said.

“She was here,” I answered, andswallowed. Talking hurt.

“I tried to tell you not to come. Themasters were checking me out.”

“Am I going to get you in trouble?”“I think it’ll be okay. I’m pretty sure they think you’redead. I thought you were dead when I found you.”

I pushed myself up and groaned.

“You really shouldn’t be up,” hesaid. “You can stay at least until you can move.”

“I can move,” I said, but it tookeverything I had to get myself out of the bed. “I have a trainingsession at nine.”

“I don’t think that’s wise,” hesaid.

“And yet, you’re working forvampires and I’m killing people.”

He shut up because it was true.

“I owe you money,” I said.

Carlos shook his head. “Don’t worryabout it. You got assaulted in my building. I think we can wait withthat.”

I nodded… and regretted it. My headthumped painfully. I tried to stretch myself out. Everything ached.My ribs were badly bruised – I could feel it when I moved – andthere was something wrong with my wrist. I couldn’t move my handwithout it hurting.

“Maybe I’ll take it slow on thehand-to-hand combat today,” I said to Carlos.

He just shook his head.

It took me a full hour to make my wayto the Academy, where Sensei was waiting for me. When he saw me, heraised his eyebrows. Then he put his hands on my shoulders, lookingat me with a lot of worry on his face.

I was pretty sure I looked like hell. Icould feel it.

“Want to tell me what’s going on?”he asked.

I lowered myself to the floor, slippingout from underneath his hands, and managed to lie down with Senseistanding over me like a towering sentry. I winced, moving arounduntil I could lie flat on my back. Nothing hurt if I didn’t move.

“Not really,” I answered.

“Let me rephrase. Tell me what’sgoing on.” He sat down next to me, watching, and he clearlywouldn’t take silence as an answer.

I closed my eyes and took a deepbreath. And then I told him – about my job, about Jennifer and herstrange request, and my ridiculous act of kindness where I had savedthe vampire I should just have killed. I told him about Ruben, theman who had been so arrogant I couldn’t stand him, but now that hewas gone, I missed him. Aspen and Joel were lost to me; I was sure ofthat, and I might have dragged more people into this situation bygoing to Carlos and promising Carl he could have a hand in what wasgoing on. Sonya was involved too, of course.

When I finished, there was a moment ofsilence. Sensei was just looking at me, and I wondered if he hated menow.

“You’ve been training to fightsupernatural creatures all this time?” he asked. I nodded as wellas I could manage, which wasn’t very well at all.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Would you have believed me?”

“I would have trained youdifferently,” he said after a moment. “I don’t think you shouldtrain today, though.”

I chuckled, and a sharp pain shotthrough my chest. I groaned. “I didn’t really come here totrain.”

“Then why did you come?”

I sighed, a lump rising in my throat.“You’re all I have left.” My voice was thick and my throat felttight, like I was having an allergic reaction. Yeah, I was allergic.To grief. “Aspen and Joel might be dead by now. I’ve lost Rubenand Zelda, and I won’t be surprised if Sonya and Carlos turn updead too. I just can’t…” I took a deep breath and blew it outagain. “I can’t save everyone. I can’t save anyone.”

I blinked furiously, trying to get thetears that were stinging my eyes to go away.

“Can I ask you a question?”Sensei’s voice was soft and calm.

“What?” I asked.

“Why do you do it?”

“Kill vampires?”

He nodded.

“Because I have to make sure mysister is safe. My father… I can’t let it happen again.”

“You need help,” Sensei said.

“Yeah, thanks for that,” I snapped.Then I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. It was hardto be angry and aggressive with so many injuries. “You’reprobably right, though.”

He chuckled. “I didn’t meanprofessionally, although I don’t think you’ve been handling itquite the way you should have. I meant that you need people who backyou up so you can end this.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you have friends who arewilling to help you. So, let them.”

I pushed myself up and wiped my goodeye with the back of my hand. “I can’t let more people sacrificetheir lives for me. I’ve lost too many already.”

“Have you asked them?” he asked.“Maybe they want to do this for you.”

I shook my head, and Sensei got up andstood in front of me. He looked tall, from where I was sitting on thefloor.

“I know I would,” he said, andsmiled.

“Why?” I asked.

“Some things are worth fighting for.”

This was the second time in two daysthat someone had mentioned my worth. It was a difficult pill toswallow. Since the night my mother died, I’d figured I wasworthless. It’s easy to flirt with death when you feel like you’redisposable.

“Come on,” Sensei said, and heldout his hand to help me up.

“Where are we going?”

“You need real medication.”