Blood Awakening (26 page)

“And you will,” he said. “We will. I promise.” He stopped talking for a moment and just stood there, staring at me. Part of me wanted to look away, to break the connection still between us; the other part wouldn’t let me. “But that bloodsucker over there’s right.” He pointed over his shoulder at Sebastian, who was still talking with members of his coven. “We can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous.”

I brushed a tear from my cheek, angry that crying seemed to be my choice for emotional expression lately. “If something happens to him—”

“—it won’t.” Erik finally touched me, taking my hand into his. The feeling of his warmth was intoxicating. “We won’t let anything bad happen to him, Ava. I promise.”

“Thanks.” More tears wiped away. “But you can’t make that promise, Erik. No one can.”

He seemed to contemplate that a minute before adding, “Okay then, I promise that I’ll be right beside you when you do what I tell you not to and go after him.” His smile was so comforting, so forgiving. After all I had done to him, or not done to him, he still seemed to genuinely care about me. It was sweet…and heartbreaking.

“Thank you.” I tried to smile back, to reassure him that I was okay. “So,” I said after a moment of seductive staring—mostly on my part, “what now?”

“We need to go home,” Kayla said.

“Smartest thing said all night,” Lacey added.

“You may all leave,” Sebastian said, coming to stand in the middle of our group, “after you tell me why Zyris was so desperate to have your friend?”

I dropped Erik’s hand from mine. Though I couldn’t be sure, he looked hurt by my actions. “What are you talking about?”

“Why would she want him?” Sebastian took a few steps in my direction. I felt Erik tense beside me. “If he were still human, I could possibly understand her reasoning. After all, his blood was quite enticing at one time.”

“You’re disgusting.” I curled my nose at his description, but the memory of the scent of Chance’s blood—the taste of it—flooded my mind; I was disgusting, too.

“Be that as it may, the question still remains why a powerful vampire such as Zyris would want a newborn.” He stared intently at me. “Any thoughts?”

He knows, Ava. He knows.

“I have no idea.” I ignored my inner voice. There was no way Sebastian knew about Chance’s abilities. Other than his mom and me, he had never told anyone.

“If I am to help you, Ava, you must be completely honest with me.”

I looked from Sebastian to Kayla and Erik. Through everything, these two people had been there for me. They’d fought for me, even lost for me. They trusted me, and I trusted them. Even though it wasn’t my secret to tell, I needed to come clean about Chance if I ever hoped to get him back. “Fine,” I said, turning back to Sebastian.

“Very well.” He crossed his arms over his chest; the human gesture was awkward on him. “Why does Zyris think Chance is special?”

“Because he is.” I rubbed my hands together furiously, suddenly nervous about spilling what I knew.

“Really?” Sebastian asked, sounding way too intrigued.

Here goes. “He’s a Healer,” I blurted. Four faces stared back at me, confused and intrigued.

“And?” Sebastian said, eyebrows raised. “What, exactly, is a Healer?”

“Just what it sounds like,” I answered. “He heals people.”

“No way.” Lacey said. “Geez, is everybody around here a freak?”

“Not you,” Kayla snapped. “Well, not a supernatural one, anyway.”

“Ha ha.”

“So what does that mean?” Erik asked. “He can...heal people?”

“He could,” I answered, turning back to Sebastian. “But he can’t anymore. He told me. Not since he became a vampire.”

“I still can’t believe this.” Lacey was shaking her head and looking down at the ground. “Vampires. Healers. Unbelievable.”

“You should be a writer,” Kayla said. “You have such a way with words.”

“Will you two stop?” I ran my hands through my hair and took a deep breath. “Chance is a Healer. Was a Healer. He says he can’t do it anymore. And I believe him. So I have no idea why Zyris wants him.”

“Apparently she must believe that he can still heal,” Sebastian said. “Otherwise, he would be dead.”

The thought of Chance dying made me sick. I would never let that happen. Not again. “But how could she know that?” I asked. “How would she even know he was a Healer in the first place?”

“Zyris is very powerful, Ava. She knows much more than you think.”

“Okay, okay.” I took another deep breath and began pacing, trying to put all the pieces together. “So, if Zyris is right, and Chance still has the ability to heal people, what does that mean for her? Why does she want him?”

Sebastian stole a quick glance at Klaus and the other vampires before looking back at me. “That is the real question, isn’t it?”

“What is it?” I asked, staring him down.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand the question,” he said.

“What is it you’re keeping from me?”

“Why do you believe I am not being completely truthful with you, Ava?”

“Ah, because I know you, Sebastian. You’re a liar. It’s part of your DNA.”

He smiled. “That hurts.”

“Just tell me what you know.”

Sebastian smiled again before walking toward me. “Zyris used to be part of our coven,” he began, glancing again at Klaus and the others. “The first member, in fact, other than myself and Aldric.” He moved past me. “She was just as beautiful then as she is now, demanding everyone’s attention without even realizing it. I was instantly drawn to her, in such a way that nothing else mattered. Not Aldric, not myself, nothing. Only Zyris was important. I wanted her with me, for eternity.”

“And?” I asked when he stopped talking.

He slowly turned around, the choppy waters of the Hudson River behind him. “And I was lucky, for she wanted the same thing. At first. For decades, the three of us were inseparable, Zyris, Aldric and I. We traveled the world, lived in places most people only dream of visiting, growing closer with each passing day. It was magical. The two most important people in my life were by my side. I could not have asked for more.”

“So what went wrong?” Erik asked, seemingly interested in Sebastian’s stroll down memory lane.

“About a hundred years ago, after our little coven had blossomed to a respectable, revered capacity, I made the decision to take our goal to the next level.”

“Next level?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “I wanted vampires to stop living in shadows and secrecy, to come out of hiding and stroll among the living.” Aldric had briefly mentioned Sebastian’s ideals to me the night of the battle in the woods, but hearing it from Sebastian himself made it much more real. “Thankfully, Aldric and Zyris agreed with me. They, too, felt that humanity would benefit from a shared existence. That the lesser human race would flourish with our help.”

“You were one of those humans once, Sebastian.”

“That I was, Ava.” I could see him smiling. “And for the first few years of my new life, I longed to be once again. But as time passed, I came to the realization that the life I have now is far better.” He stared at me from across the open lot. “Perhaps you would benefit from the same realization.”

“Don’t worry about me,” I snapped, “just get on with it.”

“Of course.” He began walking back over to us. “As I said, the three of us were in agreement that the time to reveal ourselves had arrived. So we began structuring our…‘coming out,’ if you will, intricately mapping out exactly what would happen. Everything was going as planned, and Zyris and I had become closer than ever before.

“But Aldric, as I’m sure you now know, began having second thoughts. He felt that perhaps we should wait, hold off on acting on our plan. Though I wanted to stop hiding more than anything, I am not above listening to others’ ideas.”

“So you agreed with him?”

“No,” he stated. “But I was willing to revisit our plan, to double check everything we had in place, just to be sure there was no room for error.”

“Let me guess,” Kayla said. “Zyris didn’t agree?”

Sebastian smiled at her. “She believed that the time was right, that we would need to strike if we hoped to be successful.”

“So what happened?” I asked. “Why is she not part of your coven anymore?”

“Because I made the mistake of siding with Aldric,” Sebastian said. “I waited.”

“And she what?” Erik asked. “Got pissed?”

“I wouldn’t have chosen that word,” Sebastian said, “but yes. She was furious that I had ‘turned on her,’ as she put it, so she left.” Sebastian’s features grew dark, ominous. “I spent the next several years searching for her, but to no avail. She was gone. Tonight was the first time I have seen her in nearly a century.”

I stood silent, imagining what that would be like, to spend nearly a hundred years in want of someone. Judging by the looks on everyone else’s faces, their imaginations weren’t too far off. Knowing this about Sebastian, that he had once cared for someone other than himself, made him a bit more human in my eyes; I quickly squashed the feeling.

“So you knew this entire time what she wanted,” I said, the ever-present anger inside me rising up again. “And you didn’t warn me?”

“I had no idea that Zyris would want your friend, Ava,” Sebastian said. “But I do know her ultimate goal, yes.”

“And what’s that?” Kayla asked.

“The same as mine,” he said, the tiniest of smiles on his face—which instantly made me fearful that he still wasn’t being completely honest with us.

“How does she think Chance can help with that?” I asked.

Sebastian shook his head. “I’m not sure. But if there is a way he can be of service, rest assured that Zyris has long since discovered it. She is nothing if not resourceful.”

“Perfect,” I said, throwing my hands up. “How the hell are we supposed to compete with a God-knows-how-old vampire who is so far ahead of us we can’t catch up?”

“Perhaps you should cut your losses now, Ava,” Sebastian said. “Prepare for the inevitable, as they say.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you cannot stop what we are doing.” He came to stand directly in front of me, those golden, evil eyes looking deep into my soul. “You are truly foolish if you think you can.”

“I won’t let you get away with this,” I said. “You or your psychotic prodigy.”

Sebastian laughed. “Ah, Ava, you are most amusing.” He moved away from me then, followed by Klaus and the other vampires. “I must say,” he continued, “I do look forward to playing with you again.” I stood my ground as he and the others stepped into the shadowy bowels of the island. After a few seconds, he reappeared through the darkness. “With all of you,” he added. “Perhaps next time, our differences will be settled.”

“Can’t wait,” I said, my fingers curled into fists by my sides.

“I’ll bring the arrows,” Erik added, he and Kayla stepping up beside me. The three of us stood our ground, a small but united front.

Sebastian’s face twisted into a menacing grin before he slipped back into the shadows. None of us moved, fearful that he or one of his undead soldiers would attack. My heart beat wildly in my chest, my entire body on edge with the wait. Erik and Kayla’s blood scents were flooding my senses, sending my mind into a panic.

“I-I think they’re gone,” Lacey said from behind us, her voice crackling with fear.

I thought so, too, but waited a bit longer just to be sure before turning around. “Are you okay?” I asked her, surprising both of us with my concern.

“Um, yeah, I guess,” she said. “I mean, I did just meet a ton of vampires, half of which wanted to kill all of us. And I’m stuck in New York with all of you. Other than that, I’m good.”

“Yeah, sorry.” I took a few steps toward her. “Like I said earlier, I’m sorry you got mixed up in all of this.” And I truly was. Having another innocent person involved in my mess of an unlife was the last thing I wanted. But if it had to happen, I was actually glad it was Lacey. At least I knew what to expect with her around.

“Not more than me,” she said. “But no sense crying about it now, right?” She tried to ease some of the tension by smiling, but I could see the fear in her eyes. Any day before this one I would’ve been happy to see her squirm. Now, I just felt bad for her.

“Aw, did you two kiss and make up?” Erik followed me over to her, smiling like his usual obnoxious self. “That’s so sweet.”

“Shut up,” I said, smacking him in the chest. He feigned injury and laughed, and I laughed too—and immediately felt bad for doing so. With Chance in so much danger, laughter was the last thing I wanted.

“It’s okay, you know,” Kayla said after joining us. “You can laugh. It’s okay to laugh.”

“No, it’s not,” I said. “Not while he’s gone. It’s not okay to have fun while he’s gone.”

“Then you’re about to have a serious problem.”

“What? Why?”

“Because,” she said, moving in next to me. “We’re about to kick some major vampire ass.” She linked her arm with mine. “And you know how much fun that can be.”

F
AMILY TIES

Y
ou have a weird definition of fun,” I said to Kayla as the four of us made our way across the bridge back to Liberty State Park. “I wouldn’t call risking our lives fun.”

Erik tensed up next to me. “Not always,” he said. My mind filled with images of Lila and her death. “But it’s fun when we win.”

“Yeah, well, we haven’t won anything yet.” I wasn’t really counting our “victory” in the clearing that night a win, seeing as how Lila died, Chance became a vampire and Sebastian got away. Sure, we killed most of his coven, but he still lived. For now.

“Exactly,” Kayla said, slipping her arm into mine. “Yet. We haven’t won yet. We will, though.”

“You can’t say that,” I said, thoughts of Chance filling my mind. What were they doing to him as we casually strolled back to our car, safe and alive? Was he being tortured? Were they ripping the skin from his undead body, watching and laughing as it painfully grew back, only to do it all over again? Were they slaughtering live humans in front of him, but not giving him the satisfaction of feeding? I closed my eyes, hoping to ward off the horrible images and ideas. “You don’t know that, Kayla.”