H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (53 page)

“Tommy, stand down and walk over to me.”

Tommy looked at me as if to say, ‘you’re
really going to save this guy?’

“Tommy, transition,” I said. Tommy sighed
and eventually turned into his Carni form.

“What is your name?” I repeated.

“I am Cyrus.” Cyrus had dark brown hair and
looked a lot like Tommy.

“Look at Tommy,” I said, to Cyrus.

“No.”

“Look at him!” I yelled.

Cyrus reluctantly looked at Tommy.

“What do you see?” I asked.

Cyrus paused. Then he said, “I see a
man.”

“And?”

“I see a man, much like myself,” he
said.

“You two could be brothers. Your ethnicity
is Scottish, correct?” I asked.

“Scottish and Welsh,” he answered.

“Well, so is Tommy. Before you became a Mani
and Tommy became a Carni, you were both Scotsmen. You guys were
connected by heritage and tradition. You both bleed Scottish blood.
You have allowed this thing, who all of us have become, to dictate
sides. Why does it have to? Who says we need to be on one side or
the other?”

“Carni killed my brothers!” Cyrus yelled
loudly.

“Tommy didn’t kill your brothers. As a
matter of fact, if Tommy was there he would have fought for what
was right, even if it meant turning on his own. Don’t you see that
this isn’t about Carni and Mani. This is about right and
wrong.”

“What makes you the ones that are right?” he
asked.

I looked at Cyrus and then at Tommy. “I hope
we are. Cyrus, I think we’re right because we only react in “love.”
We don’t seek revenge and we don’t randomly kill. We protect our
own as well as other innocent people around us. If that isn’t
right, then I guess I missed the point to all of this.”

“It’s hard to just let that go.”

“You’re going to have to. Vengeance has its
time and place. It is not wasted on those who don’t deserve it.
Tommy has never wronged you. He is just a representation of what
you hate. You need to free yourself from that, and seek hope.”

Cyrus nodded his head.

“Will you join me?” I asked again.

“I can’t really go back now, can I?” Cyrus
said.

“Sure you can. You can tell Krull you
escaped my evil clutches. I want you to join us, but only if it’s
in your heart.”

“You’re not what I expected,” Cyrus said to
me.

“Honestly, Cyrus, I am not even what I
expected.”

Cyrus looked at me and smiled. He walked
over and shook my hand. He then walked over to Tommy. He stuck out
his hand and Tommy shook it. Cyrus turned to me and said, “I’ll
follow you, Josiah.”

Chapter Sixteen

The three of us walked to the highway and I
told Tommy to take a taxi back to Yari’s townhouse. I asked Cyrus
to come home with me. I knew he would be hunted down by Krull and
his army because he switched sides. He was my responsibility now. I
knew Yari’s place didn’t have any more room, but I had no other
option. Cyrus and I transitioned and flew to Yari’s.

When we got in, it was nearly 2:00 in the
morning. Yari, Hector, and Wyatt were all up in the living room
doing God knows what. Honestly, the less I know about those three,
the better.

We walked in and Yari instantly took a
liking to Cyrus. I guess he was fresh meat. She was no better than
a dude. “Hey, Josiah I see you were out making friends,” Yari
said.

“I guess you could say that,” I answered.
“Unfortunately, it came at a high price for some. Everyone, this is
Cyrus.” Cyrus gave an awkward wave to the group. “He has joined our
little cause.”

“Are we going to start taking in every stray
Mani from here to San Jose?” Wyatt asked.

“He risked a lot joining us, and I will see
to it that he is safe. This house is sunlight proof, so that’s a
good place to start.”

“Well, it looks like we have two less
visitors now anyway.” Yari stated. “So welcome Cyrus. I have a nice
big bed if you’re interested.”

Cyrus had a nervous smile and I winked at
him. “It’s okay, Cyrus, she bites,” I said, jokingly. I turned to
Yari. “So, let me guess. Lena left?”

“Lena said she needed some time,” Yari said.
“We gave her some money and she said she’d keep in touch. That’s
all I knew to do.”

“You are a saint, Yari.” I said,
sarcastically. I was extremely disappointed to hear that bit of
information on many levels. But the main one was I really wanted to
set things straight with her. “Who is the other person that left?”
I asked, knowing full well she was referring to Tommy.

“Lena said you sent Tommy packing.”

“That’s not exactly what happened. He kind
of spazzed out and went flying through the window.”

“Without any help from you?” Yari asked.

“Do you really think I’d throw my best
friend through a window?”

Yari smiled because she heard what I said. I
still called Tommy my best friend.

“Well, don’t worry about him,” I said to the
group. “He’s coming back and he should be here any minute.”

“Where is he?” Wyatt asked.

“Trust me, he’ll be here. There’s only two
rooms, so we need to all be courteous to each other,” I said. “If
you guys don’t mind, I’m going to take a moment.” I excused myself
and walked down the hallway and went into the guest room and shut
the door.

I started to feel really emotional. Now that
Lena had officially left, I was going to really have to see this
thing for what it was. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to. How can I
lead those people if I feel the way I do? My heart ached.

Forever and Always? What had happened with
that?

I laid on the bed and closed my eyes. I
needed to lay down and recharge my batteries. This sure has been
some kind of roller coaster since I’ve been back. I have a feeling
it’s only going to get worse.

I laid there for about twenty minutes and
then I heard a knock at the door. “Who is it?” I yelled out.

“It’s Tommy.”

Great! What the hell does he want? I knew we
had just fought by each other’s side, but we really didn’t have
much choice. We were pretty outnumbered. I wasn’t sure if I was up
to talking with him, but he was at the door and I couldn’t tell him
to leave.

“Come in,” I said.

The door slowly opened and Tommy poked his
head through the door. “Can I come in? I feel a little out of place
with all those vampires in the other room.”

“It’s not going to get any better in here,”
I joked. “Vampire, party of one.”

Tommy laughed and came in and sat on the
edge of the bed.

“Are we good?” Tommy asked.

“Good?” I asked. “There is nothing good
about this situation. I think we’re stuck together for better or
for worse.”

“That’s it, we’re just stuck together?”

“What do you want me to say? That I think
it’s cool what you did?”

“There are things we need to talk about,”
Tommy said.

“I know we need to talk. I’m just not sure
if I’m ready to, that’s all. Tommy, you’re five years older than
me. I have always looked up to you. This is a hard thing for me to
get my head around. My dearest friend played the girl I love to the
point that she left me. That’s a hard pill to swallow.”

“I didn’t play her.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. You fell in love with
her.”

Tommy looked at me and shook his head. “I’m
sorry. It was never supposed to be like this. In the end, Josiah,
she’s just a girl.”

“Exactly, in the end, Tommy, to me…she
wasn’t just a girl. She was my validation in all of this. She
lifted me up and made me want to become this God-forbidden thing
that I am. She’s not just a girl, and to think that’s all you see,
just shows how awful it is that you got her to fall for you.”

“She fell for me?”

“Yeah, Tommy. That’s why she left. She had
feelings for you, too, and she felt it wasn’t fair for anyone.”

Tommy seemed pleased to hear that Lena had
feelings for him. To be honest, his cocky glow started to piss me
off. I needed to call him on it; I couldn’t just let it slide.

I stood up off the bed. “Tommy, you saw an
opportunity and you took it, without any consideration for me. You
know me. I don’t fall for girls every day. You didn’t care. You
were only thinking about yourself.”

“I thought about you the whole time.”

“But yet you took her to the beach and told
her that you were having feelings for her? And you didn’t stop
there. You kissed her.”

Tommy shook his head at me. “Lena’s not in
love with me, she told me so herself. She might feel something
toward me, but it’s not the same as what she feels for you.”

“I don’t even care anymore. This whole thing
is tainted. You put your stink all over the situation. Even if Lena
and I were to work things out. I’ll always know that you…” I
stopped myself and then continued. “You will always know that my
girlfriend has feelings for you. I don’t want to live in that
world.”

“That is so selfish, Josiah!”

“You? Tommy? Are telling me? That I’m being
selfish? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Just hear me out, Josiah. You and I are
cast from the same mold. The reason why we’re so close is because
we’re so similar. Why wouldn’t the same girl see things in both of
us that she’s attracted to?”

“Okay, Tommy. That is all fine and dandy.
But, you’re in love with her.”

“I don’t know anymore.”

“Bullshit, Tommy. You sat there yesterday
and spouted your undying love for my girlfriend. You can’t sit here
and say it didn’t happen. Whatever you feel toward Lena is so
strong that she feels it, too. Don’t tell me this isn’t important
to you. I know it is. All I know is she broke up with me over it.
So, please don’t underplay it because that insults my
intelligence.”

“She broke up with you?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah, she did.”

“I’m so sorry, Josiah. Man, I fucked
everything up.”

“What did you think would happen?”

“I don’t know. I just wanted to come clean.
I didn’t want it to go down like this.”

“Well, it did.” I turned on the TV with the
remote and flipped through the channels. “She’s gone and I’m done
talking about it.”

Tommy got up and stood in front of the TV.
“Josiah, I need to know if you forgive me.”

I flipped off the TV and looked at Tommy.
“Did you sleep with her?”

“Of course not.”

“Did you kiss her more than the one time at
the beach?”

“No, it never happened again. We just
talked, mainly about you.”

I looked at Tommy and felt the history that
he and I had shared over the years, and in the end, Lena was a
woman that never owed me anything.

“I forgive you, Tom,” I said.

“You do?”

“Yeah, I can forgive, but I can’t forget.
Maybe over time I’ll be able to, but for now, I’m going to have a
hard time fully trusting you.

“That’s fair and I hope someday that
changes.”

“Was there anything else?” I asked, wanting
this conversation to just end.

“For now, I just wanted to make sure we were
straight.”

“We’re good,” I confirmed.

Tommy nodded. “Hey, can I sleep in here with
you?”

“Really dude?” Now he was pushing it.

“You don’t expect me to sleep out there with
a vampire who was trying to kill me an hour ago?”

I looked at Tommy and couldn’t help but
laugh. “Ok, but we sleep opposite of each other and absolutely no
talk about ‘morning hard-ons’.”

“You know, there’s nothing I like more than
my wood pressed up against your back, Josiah.”

“That’s what I’m talking about. Zip it.” I
made a zip motion with my hand over my lips.

Tommy laughed, and said, “Hey, put on
America’s Got Talent. I heard there’s a guy and his dog that can do
every kind of dance imaginable. I heard they do a mean salsa.”

“It’s no American Idol,” I said.

“I haven’t like that show since Taylor
Hicks.”

“I’m a Clay Aiken fan myself.”

“I knew you were a Claymate!”

“Shut up.”

Chapter Seventeen

Tommy and I bunked like a couple of sixth
graders having a sleepover. It was hard for me to stay mad at him.
He and I had been through so much in the last five years. I still
didn’t understand what he was thinking or what his intentions were
with Lena, but I felt like I needed to turn the page.

Did he seriously fall in love with Lena or
was he just being competitive?

It was the middle of the day and I woke up
hearing a knock at the door. “Hey boys!” Yari was knocking at the
door.

“Yeah?” I called out, groggily.

“Open the door,” she said.

Tommy was out like a light so I got myself
up and went to the door. I made sure I wasn’t slipping out of my
shorts and then I opened the door.

“What are you two doing?” Yari said, walking
into the room.

“We’re sleeping.”

“Well, get up! It’s the middle of the day!”
She laughed.

“Very funny. What do you want, Yari?”

“Well, if you two are done having your
makeup sex, I have a proposition for you guys.”

“Okay,” I said, ignoring the gay joke.

“Remember that gorgeous white house I took
you to, a couple months back, when we went to that crazy house
party?”

“The one in Victorville?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“What about it?” I asked.

“Well, as you remember, the place is
freaking huge. The guy who owned it isn’t exactly with us, if you
know what I’m mean. And the guy who is now looking after it said
all of us could stay there as long as we like. It has nine rooms, a
Jacuzzi and a pool.”

“I remember it well,” I said. “I had a
pretty memorable night. How soon can we move in?”

“We can leave right now if you like. The
place is completely furnished and just waiting for us to move
in.”