“Dad says they’re in San Francisco.”
I glanced away from the road, realizing I had been lost in thought, and looked at Lydia. She held my phone to her ear and looked at me with the same haunted expression in her eyes.
I nodded. “Tell ‘em we’re headed that way, then,” I said. I reached for my GPS and plugged in Victor’s address. The screen flashed with our first set of instructions and traffic crawled forward another few feet. “If we can ever get out of here,” I added, murmuring the words under my breath.
Lydia frowned. “You don’t think they’ll follow us there, do you?”
“I don’t know.” I sighed. “Considering how we left the place, though, they might be preoccupied for a while.”
“Good point.” Lydia went back to talking to Dad and I focused on the road ahead of me again.
Our first mission hadn’t been too much to sneeze at, but we made it out of there in one piece. The second mission, though… I shivered at the thought. I’d never stared death in the eyes like that before and yet, the mission was the least of our problems.
We didn’t realize it at the time, though. One of the underlings working for our first enemy slipped away and when it happened, we didn’t think much of it. Not until we faced our second enemy and realized he was a much bigger fish to fry than the first guy we killed. Much more skilled, much older and faster, and with the one who got away by his side, telling him what we were capable of doing.
Ben hadn’t made it sound like a big deal and I believed he thought that was the case when he sent us off, otherwise he wouldn’t have given us the plane tickets without somebody helping us. The fact that we didn’t have anybody to report to immediately raised my suspicions, but me and Lydia walked into danger anyway. And promptly got knocked on our asses with the first wave of attacks.
I still couldn’t remember all the details, because it was a blur. A mortal woman in danger. Vampires descending on us from all angles. Lydia with her weapons drawn and I, with my sword in hand, and supernatural abilities flying this way and that. Lydia used her precognition and I, my telekinesis. Our opponents nearly got the better of us several times and several times, Lydia warned me of an attack that could have very well meant my death. A few deep cuts and bruises and protection spells later, we stood in the middle of a room full of ashes and I almost collapsed. Like two heroes, we staggered our way from the wreckage.
But like a scared child, I curled on the couch back at our safe house and wanted to go home.
That night was strange. Lydia wandered out for a hunt while I sat in the living room, trying to convince myself I was still alive and in one piece. The doorbell rang and I debated answering it for two solid minutes until I realized the woman we’d saved stood on the other side of the door. Once it opened, she looked at me with a coy expression on her face. “You’re the young man who rescued me,” she said.
I stole a minute to take a better look at her. She couldn’t have been more than ten years older than me and with a look in her eyes that made me swallow past a lump in my throat. I invited her in despite my better judgment. By the time the lock clicked into place, she was in my arms.
I didn’t have a chance to issue a protest before I found myself on the couch, my shirt being pulled over my head. The woman kissed me hard and deep and several times, I tried to break away until I felt her hand dip underneath my pants. In the end, I didn’t bother to fight it because I was still scared to death and sex seemed a better alternative than hugging my knees in the dark. We stumbled into the bedroom and I tumbled into bed with her.
At some point after she straddled me and slipped me inside her – after the orgasm and the aftershocks – I realized what the fuck I’d done. She laid on the bed beside me and watched the myriad of reactions pass across my face until she finally said, “Please tell me your name.”
I turned my head to look at her and issued a nervous chuckle. “Now you want names?” Smirking, I turned to my side. “John Michael Dawes,” I said.
She smiled. “Stephanie,” she said. “Stephanie Costello.” Her hand brushed across my shoulder. “I’m usually not this forward, but it’s not every day somebody saves my life.”
I nodded. Her words knocked me back into the realization of how close I’d come to it all ending. No chance for Victor to turn me, not another day with Delilah. A frown settled on my face as I thought about my vampire lover and Stephanie picked up on it. She touched the chain around my neck and studied its pendant. “This must have been given to you by someone special.”
“Yeah.” I smiled softly. “Somebody very special who I’m hoping is also very forgiving.”
Stephanie frowned, her eyes meeting mine. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see a wedding ring and you looked too young to…”
I held up a hand. “It’s alright. I’ll deal with that later.” Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair. “I honestly don’t know what the hell just happened to me in more ways than one. Not talking about… this… but about… the night in general.”
She nodded. Curling closer to me, she slipped an arm around me. “I can’t imagine.” She paused. “Well… I know how scared I was, but still…” I watched her glance away. “It’s not like I’m not used to vampires.”
An eyebrow lifted in response. “So, this wasn’t just a case of a damsel in distress, eh?”
Stephanie chuckled. “No, it was, but…” She shook her head. “My family’s been their accountants for years now, dating back to my grandparents. I remember the first time I ever saw one meeting with my parents.” The corner of her mouth curled upward. “Probably why I decided to become a legal secretary.”
I laughed and draped an arm around her, settling my hand on her back. “I entered the family business, but not by choice.”
When she looked confused, I grinned. “I’m a seer. My dad’s a seer as well and my sister’s a sorceress. She’s the one who was fighting beside me.”
“Oh, right.” She chuckled. “I thought I saw a little resemblance.”
“A little. I look more like my dad.”
Stephanie nodded. Her smile turned solemn. “A lot of danger in this line of work.”
“Yeah, and the pay sucks.”
She laughed. I grinned more readily. “I imagine it’s a thankless job.”
“Well, I don’t know. Right now, I think I just received a hell of a thank you.” I winked.
Stephanie curled closer and brushed lips with me. A long, sensual kiss passed from her to me and back again until I forced myself to break it. She opened her eyes and spoke in a whisper. “I’m sorry. Is it your girlfriend?”
My eyes flicked up to hers and down again, but I didn’t back away from her. Instead, I sighed and said, “I’ve never come so close to dying. Granted, I’ve only been a seer for a few months, but this was…” I shook my head. “I keep thinking about the fact that I might not have ever seen her again. Or my father, or the rest of my family. Dead and bleeding in the middle of some vampire’s house without even getting a chance to tell her I love her again.”
Stephanie’s fingers brushed through my hair as I shut my eyes. She kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry, John. I love my family, but I’m not close to them. I stumbled into all of this by accident and have every intention of driving into Canada and not looking back tomorrow.”
My lids lifted. I looked at her and she looked back at me and before I could stop myself, I pushed her onto her back and climbed on top. Her arms and legs wrapped around me and her lips kissed up my neck until they hovered over my ear. “Let it out, John,” she whispered. “Go ahead and let it out. I need it as much as you do.”
I gasped as a shiver ran up my spine. Our lips met and as we kissed, I couldn’t help but think of Delilah and how much I wanted to be with her again. I didn’t know where she was, except that she had Robin, Dad, and Victor with her, and I ached for her in the worst way possible. It made my eyes well with tears. I wanted her to be the one below me, whose lips I was kissing, and I became so intent on the thought, I didn’t notice my tongue slipping past Stephanie’s lips. Her fingers clawed at my back. My teeth nipped at her neck and I entered her in one solid thrust. I knew she wasn’t Delilah, but the more I lost myself in the moment, the more I heard the hints of a German accent, felt my fingers tangling in long, blonde hair, and imagined the heels digging into me belonged to the vampiress I adored.
Holding Stephanie tight, I fell asleep beside her. When I woke a few hours later, she was gone. Not even a note, which was probably just as well, but I had to wonder if the experience could get any more surreal. Especially when Lydia told me about the night she’d had as well. Confessions and revelations dotted our conversation as we packed our bags and didn’t stop until we’d reached the airport. It was at that point that the thought of returning to Seattle started to make me nervous.
Lydia and I didn’t speak much on the flight. Not until the plane began its approach to the airport. “I have a bad feeling,” I said to Lydia. “The kind of feeling like I want to get off this fucking plane and just board another one.”
My sister nodded and looked at me. “Still feeling shaky after what happened back there?”
“Just a bit.” I sighed, glancing toward the night sky visible in the airplane window. “I need some time to clear my head.”
“Yeah, and the Order isn’t going to give us any breaks when we get back.”
“No, they’re not.” Frowning, I stared at the city lights becoming visible through a veil of clouds. “Something’s wrong about all of this, though. We went from fighting the bottom rung people to trying out for the major leagues. Why the hell would they do that?”
“I don’t know.” I turned my head to look at Lydia. She frowned. “But Ben’s the one who gave us the assignment. He wouldn’t trick us like that.”
“Yeah, I know.” I paused. “Maybe they just didn’t know how difficult it’d be.”
The moment I said the words, I felt like I was choking on them. Like a lie had lodged in my throat and started strangling me. We made our way back to the headquarters and the knot of dread forming in my stomach got larger and larger until we walked through the doors and stole a glance at the people around us.
The rank-and-file were there again, and gave us a hero’s welcome, but after we had the chance to drop off our suitcases and equipment, the anxiety started up once more. We were summoned into Wallace Alexander’s office for a report on our mission, but the closer we got to it, the more I noticed the looks of scorn the elders and their assistants shot our way. One woman frowned when she saw us. I read pity in her eyes. My inner alarms started screaming at me to grab Lydia and run for the doors, but we walked into the office and sat down like the obedient people we were.
As soon as the door shut, though, I knew we’d made a huge mistake.
Wallace turned to face us. We sat in the chairs on the other side of his desk. He paused by the door and stared at us for a few seconds, then drew in a deep breath. “Your little game has finally reached an expiration date,” he said, folding his hands in front of his waist.
I raised an eyebrow. Lydia blinked. “Excuse me?” she asked.
He glanced at her, an eyebrow lifted. “Miss Dawes, when I allowed you and your brother to join this Order, I told you that if I suspected you were here to cause trouble, there would be grave consequences. Do you remember this?”
“Yes, and I told you we understood.”
“Yes, you did.” Wallace paced closer to his desk. “If I remember correctly, you agreed my point was crystal clear.”
“What does this have to do with the price of rice in China?” I asked, lounging in my chair. “We haven’t caused any trouble. In fact, we just got back from staking a dark magician.”
“I’m well aware of what you just did, Mr. Dawes.” He sat in his chair and steepled his fingers. “It might surprise you to learn I’m actually very disappointed you were successful in your mission.”
“I beg your pardon?” I asked.
His voice rose in volume and became sharp. Angry. “It was a challenge, Mr. Dawes. A challenge I assigned specifically so you might fail. As I just said, your little game has finally reached its expiration date and while I hoped that mission would take care of the matter, apparently we need to make a public spectacle out of you.”
Lydia glanced at me, looking like somebody’d just told us Elvis was alive and living in our basement. “Maybe… if you could explain what game you think we’re playing?” she asked.
“Oh, I know it, Miss Dawes. I see it every day you’re here. You and your brother gallivant around these headquarters as though you’ve become the public relations team for vampire equality. You make friends and do your best to try undermine everything we teach about how dangerous vampires are.”
“Whoa.” I held up a hand. “We might be friendly to the people around us, but we’ve never tried to say vampires aren’t dangerous.”
“Besides,” Lydia added, “I didn’t realize us making friends wasn’t allowed.”
I nodded. “Maybe, just maybe, they’re learning they’re not all the monsters you keep trying to make them out to being.”
Wallace stared us both down. “Are you finished?” The office fell deathly silent. I locked eyes with him and his scowl turned into a glare. “Good. Because you won’t find me as easily deceived as the people you’re been trying to brainwash. And it is for the sake of this Order, its mission, and its integrity that I and the Council have voted to make an example of you both. You have been trying for weeks to inspire rebellion. Abject rebellion and don’t think for a moment I believe you aren’t well aware of what your father and his so-called companion are doing.”
“You mean Victor?” I grinned smugly. “I’m aware you’re full of shit. That’s all I know.”
Wallace slammed his fist onto his desk. Lydia and I both jumped. “Enough!” he shouted. “I have had enough of the both of you and this circus sideshow act you’ve been orchestrating in my Order.” I watched him press a button on his phone and lean close to the speaker. “Jennifer, send in the seers.”
“The seers?” Lydia asked as a reflex. The door opened and we both shot our attention toward the two men who walked in, heavily armed and holding shackles in their hands. My eyes widened and Lydia turned whiter than a ghost.
“Yes, seers.” Wallace nodded at them both. “Restrain them and take them down to the cellar.”
“Whoa.” I shot up to my feet and held out my hands. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m taking action.” Wallace raised an eyebrow at me. “You both have been charged with subversion. Like I said, we are going to make an example out of you and the example is this.” His eyes shot to Lydia. “You and your kind are nothing more than demons who would kill your own brother if starved for long enough. The rest of this Order is going to watch you both in a cell and see these so-called instincts of yours at work. And after you kill your brother, you will be staked.”
“Oh God,” Lydia murmured in a small voice.
The two seers advanced toward her and I shook my head. “Oh, no you don’t,” I said and charged for the first seer with all my might. While I expected to be able to tackle him down onto the ground, he held up a hand and threw me onto my back with his telekinesis. “Fuck,” I murmured after my head impacted with the floor. “Two master seers.”
The first one walked toward me while the other strong-armed Lydia and forced her hands behind her back. I didn’t have the chance to see what he did to her as I kept trying to stand and kept getting sent back down by the first seer’s psychic powers. He tossed me onto my stomach and pressed my face against the carpet while securing the shackles around my wrists. “You motherfucker,” I murmured.
He pulled me to my feet. The other seer shoved Lydia forward. I glared at Wallace as we walked out of his office, but then kicked and screamed and bucked as hard as possible while a crowd of onlookers watched the seers escort us to the elevator. I almost freed myself long enough to run when we reached the prison cells in the basement, but the seer threw me back onto the ground and this time, my head hit unforgiving concrete when it impacted.
I felt a cut on my forehead weeping blood and the room spun long enough for him to shove me into a cell and remove the shackles from around my wrists. His partner threw Lydia in with me and closed the door before either of us could react. I tried everything. I raised my hands and attempted to summon any of my abilities, but none of them seemed to work.
“Don’t bother,” Lydia finally said. “The cell’s protected with magic.”
“Son of a bitch.” I stood and slapped the bars with my hand, murmuring under my breath after the impact caused my fingers to throb. I ripped them through my hair. “What the fuck are we supposed to do?”
“I don’t know.” The sound of Lydia’s voice forced me to turn around and face her. For the first time, it truly hit me what was happening. I had been locked in a cell guarded with a spell preventing me from using my abilities. With me was my vampire sister who wouldn’t harm a hair on my head, but starved? I frowned. Without blood, she would get weaker and weaker and one of these days, she would snap and her instincts would get the best of her. She’d drain me as dry as a vampire can and then they’d drag her out and stake her for killing a seer.
My knees felt weak. I slid to the ground and sat there, staring at her and shaking my head. “How long can we hold out?”
She glanced at me, looking frightened. “I don’t know. I’ve never tried to starve myself before, John.”
I nodded, tempted to mirror the look in her eyes. “What if you fed from me a little here and there?”
“I could do a few swallows every few days, but…” She trailed off.
Frowning, I walked over to my sister and hugged her. Sitting beside her, I sighed, wrapping an arm around her as much to be comforted as to comfort her. I could hear the rest of her sentence just fine. ‘… but at some point it’s not going to be enough.’ Maybe if she had been Dad’s age, or Robin’s; definitely if she was Victor’s she might be able to hold out a little longer, but as it was, past a few days, we’d be living on borrowed time.
“What’ll we do ‘till then?” I asked, not realizing I meant until the end came for me.
“Sleep, I guess.” Lydia shrugged. “Conserve our energy.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, sis.” I rubbed her shoulder. “I’m glad I have you. We’ll get through this somehow.”
Lydia nodded, but didn’t answer. I realized I fell silent after a while, too, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say that didn’t sound like false hope. How would we get through it? Who’d come charging in to save the day when it was obvious we wouldn’t be able to save ourselves? I ached for home, for Delilah, and for the second time in two days I wished I was with her – home – instead of there. Unless The Fates had some card up their sleeve to play, though, we were screwed.
“Maybe if we hold out long enough, somebody’ll issue a protest,” I said, breaking the silence.
“Yeah. Maybe.”
I inhaled deeply and nodded again, but didn’t say anything else. At some point, I paced, and soon after that, I fell asleep. Our first day in the cell passed without anything momentous happening, but I knew the battle’d just begun.
