Fallen (8 page)

"When she's going through her transformation and she drinks his blood."

I stared at the ring, feeling the growing need to throw up.

"Don't worry, darling. The ring isn't specific to the boy. You can try to find another guy, but I have a feeling that Marguerite—Alexis—will start her transformation soon, if she hasn't already."

"What am I supposed to tell him when I give him the ring? I can't tell him what it does and I can't guarantee that he'll wear it if I can even get him to have her drink his blood."

"You're smart. I know you'll think up something. Tell him that it will protect him from redneck vampires."

My eyes widened. How did he know about that?

Vince laughed. "You can't hide as much from me as you think, my dear. Oh good. Here's our food."

As we ate, I barely tasted the food. All I could think of was how I could find someone else to go after Alexis. The thought of Tanner with her made my skin crawl. I didn't want him with anyone else.

CHAPTER NINE

I sat in the high school cafeteria, rolling the ring around in my hand under the table. I watched across the room as Alexis was writing in a spiral-bound notebook, oblivious to the world around her. All the chattering students were just as unaware of her, even the ones sitting at the same table. Those two friends of hers appeared to want her to join in, but seemed to know that it would be futile to ask.

The last thing that I wanted to do was to give the ring to Tanner. Why would I give him something that would cause Alexis to fall for him? Granted, that didn't necessarily mean that he would fall for her too. But if she ever figured out her true potential, she would be gorgeous and would prove to be serious competition. That was it. I had to find someone else to give the ring to. Anyone except him.

When I had met Tanner, he'd been down on his luck. Maybe that was the kind of guy that I needed to go after instead of the nerds. Sure, they weren't popular but that didn't mean that they were unhappy or easy to convince about the existence of vampires. I needed to find someone depressed and hopefully desperate.

I looked around the room for someone who matched that description and couldn't find anyone. I would have to look elsewhere because the cafeteria was too bright, too busy, and too loud for someone who wanted to be left alone.

Stuffing the ring in my pocket, I stood up, dumped my tray of uneaten food, and headed for the halls. The kind of guy that I needed to find would be sitting in some dark corner, hoping to remain unnoticed. The first kid that I found sitting in a corner playing a game on his phone had greasy hair and skin. If there was a chance that I'd have to drink his blood, I didn't want that one.

Walking along further, I saw several others sitting quietly by themselves, but they all made my skin crawl. There had to be more like Tanner, who actually took the time to bathe even though they were lonely.

Just as I was about to give up, I saw a boy sitting beside a drinking fountain reading a science book. He was clean and had potential. In my mind, I removed his glasses, cut his hair, and gave him a new shirt and a little stubble. He could be the next singing sensation. I sat down next to him and pretended to dig into my backpack.

He looked at me, obviously trying to figure out why someone like me was sitting next to someone like him on the floor, on purpose.

I flashed a smile. "Hi there."

"Uh, hi."

"What's your name? I've never seen you around?"

"That's because I tend to blend in with the wallpaper."

I looked around. "There's no…oh, you're being funny. Cute."

"How come you're sitting by me?"

"Just thought I'd say hi. I'm kinda new here."

"I've seen you around for a few months. You hang out with Tanner. Why aren't you with him?"

"He doesn't own me, silly."

"So what do you want?"

"What do you mean?"

"Girls like you don't talk to me unless you need something."

"Really? Girls like me?"

"Yeah, the 'it' girls," he said, rolling his eyes.

"I think you'll find that I don't fit into the normal types that you cast girls into."

"What do you want?" he asked, looking irritated.

"The—"

"Look, there's your boyfriend. I'm outta here." He stuffed his book into his backpack and stormed off. Where had I gone wrong?

I stood up and saw Tanner walking down the hall. His face lit up when he saw me. He walked faster and then wrapped me in a hug. "You're back. Did you manage to get that jerk off your trail?"

"The jerk? Oh, you mean the redneck vampire. Kind of."

"What do you mean?"

I had to think quick. "Well, that's why I was talking to that kid. I need to give the impression that I'm not with you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well…if he thinks that we're together he might go after you. I can't have that. I need to protect you."

The scent of fear rose from him.

"I don't want you worried about some vampire coming after you. You're fine."

He narrowed his eyes. "Then why would you try to set up a decoy?"

Sighing, I said, "There is another option."

"What?"

"This," I said, showing him the ring. I wasn't going to find another guy to convince about vampires, so I decided that I may as well give him the ring. I loved Tanner, but it wasn't as though I was going to leave my position with Vince to be with him. Ruling the entire vampire kingdom was my most important objective and it could only be done with Vince. I couldn't let something as fickle as love get in the way of that. I'd been working on this since before Tanner's grandparents were even born.

He held the ring, flipping it around to see all angles. "What's so special about this ring?"

I looked to the side, not wanting to see him as I lied to him yet again. "It'll protect you from a vampire using mind control on you. If one comes to town and tries to take advantage of you, they won't be able to."

"Seriously?" he asked, sounding excited. "How does it work?"

"A witch placed a blessing on it," I said. At least that much was the truth.

He put it on and it was a perfect fit. "Thanks!"

"Don't mention it," I muttered.

CHAPTER TEN

I spent the next six months enjoying my time with Tanner, knowing that it was limited. I wanted to stay with him forever, but knew that wasn't a possibility. As much as I wanted to be with him, I knew that wasn't possible if I was going lead the vampire world. I kept a close eye on Alexis, waiting for her to show signs of beginning her transition into becoming a vampire. I was beginning to think that it was her dull life that was keeping it from starting.

She would probably need something to happen to kick it into gear. Maybe being exposed to blood or someone tempting her anger. She appeared to be as even-keel as they came, but she was born a vampire and vampires have violent tempers, especially during the transition period.

One warm, summer night as I was walking through town after a tasty evening with Tanner, I received a text. I thought it was him wishing me goodnight, but I was surprised to see that it was from Vince. I hadn't heard from him since he'd given me the ring. He wanted a progress report.

I texted him back that I was still waiting for Alexis to begin her transformation. He told me that I didn't have much more time in Delphic Cove and that I'd better stop playing around. I told him that I'd get everything ready so that once she did begin her transition,
the boy
would be ready and waiting.

That night, I didn't bother finding a hotel room to sleep in. I sat by the lake and thought about how I was going to handle whatever time I had left. I had to find a way to make Tanner aware that Alexis was turning into a vampire so that he would go to her for his venom needs once I was gone. She was nearly seventeen, so she had to be starting her transformation. Vampires never made it to seventeen before changing. She would feel all alone surrounded by humans, and when she found out that she could talk to Tanner about it, she would begin to trust him. Then Vince could make his move.

I had to figure out how to say goodbye to Tanner. That was something that I didn't want to do. Lost in my thoughts, I was startled when someone sat next to me on the bench. I looked up to see Tanner smiling at me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Sometimes I like to jog around the lake. In the morning, the air is so crisp and clean. What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I came here to think."

He wrapped his arms around me. "Is everything okay?"

"Sure," I said, forcing myself to cheer up. "Hey, have you ever noticed Alexis Ferguson?"

His eyebrows crinkled. "No," he said, clearly deep in thought. "Wait, is she related to Natalie Ferguson?"

"They're sisters."

"Natalie has a sister?"

I laughed. "Yeah, she's going to be a junior."

Tanner shrugged his shoulders. "I thought I knew all of the girls in school," he said in a teasing tone.

Running my hands down his bare arms, I asked, "Are you trying to make me jealous?"

"Is it working?"

I grabbed his chin and kissed him. "Maybe."

He put his hands around my waist. "Good," he said, and then kissed me back.

Running my fingers through his hair, I knew that I was going to miss him fiercely. Being with Vince was never going to be the same. Not after Tanner. With Vince, it was all about power and convenience. If someone else held the key to me becoming a ruling vampire, I would drop Vince in a heartbeat. Had there been a way I could be with Tanner and still have a shot at getting my family line back on the throne, I would take it. I had tried to imagine possibilities, but being with Tanner couldn't happen. I couldn't have my cake and eat it too. There was no way a teenage football player was going to help me achieve my goals—as much as I wished it were so.

I could hear the sounds of kids running toward the lake and we pulled apart, looking at each other with hungry eyes. Part of me wanted to tell him that I'd be leaving soon, but I preferred to spend our last time together, however long it would be, just like this. Happy and carefree. What we had was perfect, and I wanted to hold onto that as long as I could.

He held my hand. "What were you saying about Natalie's sister? What's her name?"

"Alexis. It looks like she's in the process of turning into a vampire."

His eyes widened. "How can you tell?"

"The signs are subtle, but when you've been a vampire as long as I have, you can tell these things."

"Like what?"

I always hated lying to him. "I noticed her eyes turned a little red when she got angry. She's also starting to run faster."

He looked deep in thought. "How can you tell when someone is turning into a vampire? Can I tell?"

"Since you manage the track team, you should be able to tell when someone is running faster than possible. That's a telltale sign. A lot of times things around them will explode when they're angry before they can control their volatile energy. You can look for the red eyes and subtle bodily changes—always improvements. Better skin, thicker hair, stronger, and other sorts of things. Those are classic symptoms. There are other subtle signs too, but I don't think you'd be able to notice."

Squeezing my hand, he asked, "You don't think that your ex turned her do you? Is he in town?"

"No. He'd go straight for me. He wouldn't play around with anyone else."

"So there are others here in town?"

"Maybe," I said, shrugging. "I haven't seen anyone else. Remember, you're safe with that ring."

"Safe from mind control," he said. "It won't keep them from biting me. I also can't outrun one."

"Keeping your mind safe is half the battle. Just remember everything that I've been telling you and you'll be fine."

He turned and looked at me. "It sounds like you think you'll be gone."

I shook my head. "I don't ever want to leave you," I said, meaning every word. "But I can't be with you every minute. You have to watch out because you know the truth. Most people won't even consider the possibility of vampires existing."

"They're missing out," he said. "I'm the lucky one."

Leaning my head against his shoulder, we sat watching the waves splash for a while in silence. Then Tanner's phone buzzed and he said, "I have to drive Charlie to his baseball camp. I'm really glad that I ran into you here."

"Me too. Are we still on for this afternoon?"

He smiled. "Of course."

I gave him a quick kiss and watched him walk away. I had a heavy feeling that we had just had our last time together. Tears welled up in my eyes and I tried unsuccessfully to blink them away. I didn't want to go back to Vince and I really didn't want to send him to Alexis, but I couldn't be with Tanner. It had always been about getting Alexis so that we could be one step closer to ruling over vampires everywhere.

Falling in love with a human never ended well, I knew that long before I met him. Even though he wasn't going to round up the town with pitchforks and stakes, I was still going to end up heartbroken because of him.

After a while, I realized that I was hungry and I stood so that I could find some lunch. I thought of going to the deli to see if there was any truth to my story about Alexis starting to transform already.

On my way there, my phone went off and I knew from the music that I had a text from Vince. He wanted me back, which meant that I had been right when Tanner left. I wasn't going to see him again. I texted him back and told him that I'd meet him after dinner. I shut my phone off so that I wouldn't have to deal with him if he was pissed that I wouldn't be back earlier. I also didn't want to talk with Tanner because he would know that something was wrong if he heard my voice.