Creature of Habit (Book 3) (20 page)

Chapter 35

Grant

“We can’t trust Amelia.”

The entire family sat around the table, each with an even, non-committal expression on their face at my statement. Well, except Olivia who looked like she wanted to jump across the table and tear out my hair by the roots.

“Overall she’s adjusting well to the transition, even with the added complication of the heartbeat, but her level of distraction is off the charts. She can’t focus. She’s dangerous.”

A liability
, Noor’s words echoed in my head.

I don’t tell them about the darkness I sensed in her. The utter confusion and slipped grip on reality.

“Grant’s right,” Ryan said, before Olivia could argue. “She nearly killed Adam.”

I nodded. “She’s apologizing to him now. It’s how I got away to talk to you all.”

“Maybe we need to spend more time with her. I volunteer,” Olivia said. Elijah looked panicked at the idea.

“I think what Grant is trying to say is that even we can’t trust her. She could hurt any one of us, even you.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “I can take care of myself. Plus I’ve checked into her future, I’m not seeing anything dangerous.”

“Did you see her attacking Adam?” Elijah asked.

“No.”

“There’s no premeditation with her behavior,” I clarified. “But her fledgling strength is still in play. She’s fast and incredibly strong. She’s a good asset when she’s focused but when she’s not…”

“She’ll cut your throat,” Ryan added.

“She gets confused. Loses time. I’ve caught her several times distracted and overwhelmed by her senses. It’s nearly impossible for me to do my job when I’m worried about her.”

Ryan snorted. My eyes narrowed and darted in his direction.

“What?” Elijah asked.

“He’s not lying but that’s not the entire truth either. Those two are like rabid, frisky bunnies. One minute they’re in the fight or fighting one another, and the next they’re screwing in the woods.”

I felt the last remaining color drain from my face. 

Genevieve raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“Hard core,” he continued. “Sorry, bro.”

“So who really can’t be trusted, Grant?” Olivia asked. “Amelia or you?”

“Sounds like both of them, but I’ll back Grant on this one. Getting her off the field is probably the best solution,” Genevieve said.

I swallowed and said, “Thank you.”

“How do you plan on handling this, because I don’t see her taking being sidelined well,” Miles said. He’d been quiet during most of our discussion.

“I’ll give her a job. See if Adam is willing to help.”

“She stabbed him!” Ryan shouted. “Why would help her.”

Elijah chimed in, “Olivia and I will stick with her. Together.”

I nodded. Between Elijah’s raw fighting skills and Olivia’s gift they should be able to handle her.

Miles cleared his throat and our eyes swung to him. “I spoke with Noor. The council wants—“

I held up a hand. “I don’t care what the Council wants.”

“It’s not that easy, you know that.”

“It is that easy. I’ve made my position clear with them—to Noor directly. I’m not interested in working with them in any way.”

Silence engulfed the room.

“Update us on the cabin,” Miles said, switching subjects.

“There were no signs of Sebastian ever having been there.”

“Then why would he give Amelia that location?”

“It was a trap,” Elijah said with certainty.

“Yes,” I agreed, pressing my palm against the table. “But who set us up and how did they get to Amelia?”

Chapter 36

Amelia

“I don’t even know how to apologize.”

Adam stood in front of me, shoulders tense, eyes leveled on the amulet. “You don’t need to apologize.”

“Of course I do. I hurt you.”

“We heal quickly. You were just confused. Things happen in a fight.”

I wasn’t even sure about that. I wasn’t sure about any of it. I had no memory. No recollection of actually stabbing him, certainly not why I’d done it.

“Look, I know this is hard for you. We’re natural enemies and half the reason I’m here is because of Laurel—“

“Stop.”

I stopped.

“I told Grant I’d see this through—help him find Sebastian, but you’re right. We’re not supposed to be friends and you coming after me the other day”—he rubbed his hand through his hair—“that proved the purpose for my people.”

“What? How?”

“You’re dangerous. Violent and erratic. One of you killed my sister. Caleb killed dozens of people just to play some stupid game and you lost your life. When this is over I’m headed back to Lost Cove and pray I never see any of you again.”

~*~

Grant stood before me, worried expression on his face. I wasn’t sure of the last time I’d seen him look happy. Probably before I’d transitioned. It was clear he had things he wanted to say to me. Concerns. Admonishments. To his credit he kept his mouth shut other than to kiss me on the forehead.

“You’ll be okay with Olivia and Elijah?”

I nodded, wrapping my arms tight around his waist.  “How long will you be gone?”

“Just a day,” Grant said. “Maybe two.”

I should know how much time had passed. Surely more than the twenty-four hours Grant hoped it would be and closer to the forty-eight The Council had given him. I’d ask but it would make the line between his eyes appear.

“Do you think we’re close?”

“To finding Sebastian or stopping Emmanuel?”

“Either. Both,” I said. I felt like a bomb was ticking inside of me. Tick, tick, tick.

“Hey.” He moved my chin so I looked at him. Into those pale violet eyes.

“Hey.”

“This is going to pass. You’ll get stronger. More focused.”

“I know.” I bit my bottom lip. His eyes followed. “I just hate being separated from you.”

He placed two hands on my cheeks and kissed me. Once, twice, five times. “I just want you to be safe,” he breathed.

“I will be.” I stroked his cheek. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Love you,” he said, claiming my mouth again, not giving me a chance to say it back. I showed him instead.

~*~

The coven had a brownstone in Boston and we set it up as a temporary office. Elijah had specific instructions to track down Sebastian’s cell phone. Olivia’s eyes followed me around the house, cautious and wary.

“I’m not going to attack you or anything,” I finally said, walking away from Elijah and his setup of computers.

“I know that.”

“Then why are you looking at me like I’m a homicidal maniac?”

She rolled her eyes and pushed her dark red hair over her shoulder. Pointing to her face she said, “This is not my homicidal maniac expression. This is my ‘I’m worried about you because you’re my friend,’ expression. Totally different.”

“It was an accident.”

Her lips made a thin line. “That’s not what Ryan and Grant think. It’s certainly not what Adam thinks. Tell me what’s really going on.”

I stared at her. “Nothing. It’s just fledgling crap. Apparently I’m ‘easily distracted’.”

“Well, that’s very common. Taking a break from the field—“

Elijah entered the room, eyes darting around and asked, “Do you smell that?”

“No,” Olivia replied, waving him off.

He paused, studying the room, then me.

“What?”

“It’s just… something. I don’t know. I can’t place it.”

“This house has been empty for five years, Elijah,” Olivia said. “It’s just dust and cobwebs.”

He gave us one more sweeping glance but left the room, the desk chair creaking as he sat back down.

“What was that about?”

She tapped her nose. “Super senses. He smells everything, like the gunk on your shoes or the last time, you know…”

“I don’t know,” I said. My own senses were pretty freaking good, so amplifying it sounded ridiculous.

“Never mind. The point is that he’s always smelling or hearing stuff that’s not a big deal.” She grabbed my hand and laid my palm flat.

My fingers clenched, but I knew I had nothing to hide, so I relaxed. “What? You read palms now?”

“Shut up. I just want to try something.” She closed her eyes and exhaled. “Think about something. Anything.”

I watched her as she combed my future, different topics flitting into my head. Grant. Sebastian. Weddings. Blood. Fire and ash. Family. Food. Red lips and scarred faces. Her nose wrinkled and she said, “One thing. Think about one thing.”

I took a deep breath and focused. Grant. His smile. His shoulders. The way they flexed and moved. I thought about how angry he’d been and if he’d ever get like that with me again.

Olivia’s hand seized mine and she said, “Not that. No. Ew. Uh…”

Her eyes popped open wide, glazed and glassy. She dropped my hand and moved to my face, palms flat on my cheeks.

“Olivia?” I whispered. A strange feeling unfurled in my stomach. Nerves and excited energy.

“What is that?” she mumbled. “Who?”

“Who?” I wanted to know too. “Who is it, Olivia?”

Her eyelids fluttered and her body jerked violently. I grabbed for her arms to hold her upright, but the seizure stopped and her feet swayed beneath her. “Elijah!”

He was by our side in a moment, pushing me out of the way. “Liv,” he said, lifting her into his arms. He shook her gently, pressing his forehead to hers. “She’s passed out.”

“Is that even possible? Do vampires lose consciousness?”

He glanced at me, eyes wide and scared. “No.”

~*~

“Amelia, can you tell me what happened?” Miles stood over the bed where Elijah had placed Olivia hours before. She hadn’t moved an inch. Not a blink or twitch of her body.

“Nothing—not really,” I said. “She took my hand and was trying to see my future or something. I don’t know. She just got a weird look on her face and grabbed me. That’s when she had a seizure or something. Oh my god. I’m so sorry.”

“Any idea what she saw?” he asked, pressing the back of his hand to her cheek. She looked truly dead.

“At first I thought something about Grant, you know… with the two of us being intimate? But then I think it changed, but I can’t be sure.” Had she seen something with me and Grant? Was that it? Maybe I’d misinterpreted her reaction completely.

“You didn’t say or do anything? Give her something?” Elijah asked in hard voice. He’d fully checked her body over while we waited for Miles. He’d also insisted on patting me down—looking for what, I didn’t know.

“No. I promise.”

The men looked at one another, conveying something I clearly wasn’t privy to. I assumed they’d called Grant and he’d be back—once again displeased with my actions. I was basically the vampire equivalent to a wrecking ball against their family.

Miles offered me a pained smile. “We know it isn’t your fault, Amelia. You and I can go to the other room and give Elijah some time alone.”

I followed him out the door and down the stairs. His phone vibrating in the pocket of his shirt. “One second,” he said, answering the phone and stepping into the room at the bottom of the stairs.

My own phone chimed. No one called me but Grant and I didn’t want to hear the disappointment in his voice. Of course, if I didn’t answer it, he’d worry something had gone wrong. Before I chickened out I answered the phone.

“Hello.”

“It’s time,” the familiar voice said, skipping a greeting.

Something in the back of my head clicked, like a key turning a lock. An awakening.  I stepped into the living room and asked in a low voice, “Now?”

“Yes. Do you know where to go?”

An image flickered in my head. “Yes.”

There was a slight pause. “The others don’t know?”

“No… well, Olivia may have seen something but—it’s not a problem.”

“Hmm,” he said, understandably worried. “Hurry. I’ll wait for you.”

“See you soon,” I said, disconnecting.

I listened carefully. Miles was a room away, still on his phone. Elijah’s footsteps paced from upstairs. With a firm squeeze I crushed my phone, knowing they’d use it to find me. I tossed the pieces in the dark fireplace.

Crossing to the window, I carefully opened the sash, sliding it up quietly. I had minutes before they searched for me. I had a job to do, one that had been drilled into my head since the moment I’d turned. 
No one can stop me
, I thought, pulling my legs over the windowsill. I dropped straight to the ground, landing like a cat on agile feet.

Especially Grant Palmer.

              Chapter 37

Grant

Miles waited for me at the front door and I knew something was wrong.

“Olivia?”

“No change.” He shook his head and I spotted worry lines. Apprehension. “Grant…”

I listened carefully before pushing past him into the house. “Where is she?

“She couldn’t have gotten far.”

I spun and faced Miles, making no effort to keep the snarl off my face. “You were supposed to be watching her.”

“I know—and I was, I got a phone call from The Council I had to take and during that time she escaped out the window.”

Escaped.

Why would Amelia feel the need to escape the family? Had she gone to hunt? Was she lured away by the flashing lights or siren on an emergency vehicle? “How long ago?”

“Less than an hour.”

I paced the room trying to collect my thoughts. An hour. That wasn’t long but it was harder to track people in the city.

“Grant, she may very well come back.”

Something black and silver caught my eye and I walked to the fireplace. The destroyed pieces of a cell phone, Amelia’s cell phone, lay crumbled among the ashes. I picked up the pieces and shouted, “Elijah!”

He was in the room a moment later. “What?”

“I need you to track the last calls on this phone.”

He glanced toward the stairway. “But Olivia…”

“Now,” I said through gritted teeth, walking toward him and placing the shards of phone in his hand. “This is more than just about Amelia being a fledgling. It’s all connected, the trap and Sebastian running off. The wild goose chase up and down the coast.”

Elijah nodded. “Olivia must have seen something.”

“Yeah, but what would make her brain shut down like that? Or rather who?”

“Where are you going with this, Grant?” Miles asked.

“Only one person can get into a person’s head like this. Convince them to do things—terrible things.” I swallowed back my anger. I should have known something was wrong. The blackouts and lost memories. I’d thought it was just the changes she was going through.

I snatched a lamp off the end table and smashed it into the fireplace. The ceramic exploded into countless shards, blasting back into the room. Amelia had been compromised the whole time.

~*~

The coordinates from the calls on Amelia’s phone led me to upstate New York. As soon as I saw them I realized I didn’t need them. I probably should have made the connection long before. I could have ended this whole thing weeks ago.

The air smelled the same—the area itself still completely rural. The farmhouse, the housing quarters, even the barn off in the distance stood more like a memory—a faded snapshot—than reality.

Barbed wire ran the length of the property once I moved past the street. Signs declaring, “Property of the State of New York” dotted the fence. The land and buildings were abandoned, the animals long gone. Work farms went out of popularity in the 1950s but I still sensed the sweat, the manure, and my last moments as a human clinging to the air like a ghost.

I passed the deteriorating main house and out buildings. Over the lumpy ground that had once been the small garden the residents harvested and prepared meals from. Elements had coated a tractor in rust, and useless pieces of equipment had been discarded on the property decades before. Stopping before the barn, I wondered why it had come down to this very specific place and who exactly waited for me on the other side. Sebastian? Amelia? Both? Apprehension bubbled in my chest. I had no choice but to get us all out alive. I just wasn’t sure if they’d let me.

I swung open the wooden door, the hinges barely holding on and stepped into the dusty barn. My eyes flicked to the work table on my left, covered in oil and grease. The stalls were in the back—
the
stall where I’d met my end. I pushed the images out of my head and focused.