Leviathan (Fist of Light Series) (21 page)

Opening my eyes, a gasp escaped me at the sight of light streaming through the window; the clock on the dash read seven o'clock. We had stopped somewhere off the road, parked on a rest stop. Kathryne startled on my sudden waking. From her awkward position facing Jas and I, she had fallen asleep watching us. Hesitantly, I looked over to Jas, praying to all that was holy that he remained unharmed. My cramped hand was already in place on his head, which ran an initial prognosis: no fever, his skin wasn't clammy or sweaty. His eyes appeared to be flicking back and forth under his lids, but it wasn't an abnormal thing. His limbs were no longer twitching and it was readily evident that the losing battle he had been fighting had been righted.

“I'm sorry,” Kathryne whispered, trying not to wake any of the vehicle’s occupants. “I was trying to stay awake but must've fallen asleep.” She tried running her hands through her hair to make it cooperate, but the effort was a lost cause.

Without any sleep in almost a full day, I wasn't surprised that I cracked then. Laughter burst out of me, no longer restrained by an all-consuming darkness. It continued to stream out, almost hysterical, until finally it trailed off behind a hacking cough. Smiling, I leaned my head against the window.

“Where are we? What happened?” Jas sat bolt upright.

I squeezed his shoulder, trying to interrupt the sense of surreality. “We're fine. You're safe.”

H
erk had volunteered his services as a driver while the rest of us talked it out. Kathryne was still sitting shotgun, but was lying on the center piece, her body contorted so that she could be present in the conversation. We had stopped to get gas a few hours back, where she had insisted to get a brush, because the wind had made her hair impossible to manage. Apparently, my hysterics hadn't done much for her already touchy mood. I tried to bury the moment we had last night, but it wasn't working as well as I'd hoped. Telling Jas about his father hadn't been easy on either of us. It lifted a weight off his conscience to know he died with honor, but there was a pervasive sorrow surrounding Jas, a consuming guilt. I didn't push to bring that fracture into the open; it would either reveal itself or heal on its own.

He took the rest of it with a grain of salt, bitter that he hadn't been able to provide any help in the confrontation. Overall, though, Jas was still reeling from the new information given to him by Andros, his
brother.
The Royal had no reason to lie, but it was still a hard concept to grasp. All the pieces fit together, the little bits and mysteries that Noah had been reassembling backwards since the murder of his wife. Jas offered every scrap of knowledge he had regarding Celeste's death, which painted the picture in gruesome detail.

“And you're sure you're not feeling sick? Not even a little bit?” I asked for the thousandth time.

“I told you Caleb, I'm
fine
.” He had gotten tired of my mothering.

I gave Jas some room to breathe. “If you're sure then, I'll leave it.”

“I'm positive.” He made a disgusted noise, exasperated. “Don't you think we should be focusing on more important things?”

“Like what?” I twiddled my thumbs, hoping to avoid any more sensitive topics.

I was thankful for Kathryne's interruption, steering the conversation onto solid ground and away from any pitfalls. “We should probably try and nail down our next move.” She repositioned herself and I flicked my eyes back and forth, unsure of where the safe zone was, or if it even existed.

“It'd be suicide going back to the house, that's for sure. Not that I want to see the place again.”

“What about your father's bonded, the ghoul?”

“If he's still alive, then he'll have to take care of himself,” Jas replied coldly, his decision made.

Silence enshrouded the vehicle, during which time I figured the eyes were my best bet to keeping all my fingers attached. “We could seek sanctuary.” I rolled my shoulders, trying unsuccessfully to work the kink out of my neck.

“You want to go back to the orphanage?” Kathryne guessed.

My choice hadn't backfired, yet. “For starters. I bet Mr. Tanner has a more closely held base for his Order.”

“Wouldn't it be easier to phone Sanders and hole up there?” Jas furrowed his brows.

“I don't know how well-equipped that facility is to fend off a horde of vampires. I figure the Order is more prepared for that kind of thing. Plus, I've got a feeling Sanders is a little shorthanded.”

“Sanctuary is the best option,” Herk said.

“As long as they have somewhere to clean these.” Kathryne gestured down at her clothes. “I'll never get the smell out until I give them a good scrubbing,” she lamented.

“Fine. I'm in,” Jas said. “But if some priest tries to stake me, I'm
not
going to be happy.”

“I'm just along for the ride.” Herk flourished his best toothy grin.

“Good, we're decided then. Maybe we should see if our friends are still on speaking terms with us,” I told Jas. “The Clan is probably going to fall to pieces without Noah acting to keep it together.” I winced, regretting my thoughtlessness.

“I can handle it.” Jas glared at me. “I'm not some delicate piece of china. You're right. Ever since D-Day, my dad was doing his best just to keep Were from each other’s throats. Who knows what's going to happen now that he isn't here.”

For now, I kept silent on my other reasons for wanting the pack to get back together again. It wouldn't be right to worry the others unnecessarily after all we'd been through recently. Jas started making calls, while the rest of us sat back and braced ourselves for the grueling ride. From what we'd ascertained, it was likely that the vampires wouldn't be hounding our trail back to California. They didn't need to. All they'd have to do was show up at the mansion and lie in wait, or settle back until we made contact with Sanders and his gang. Still, I didn't regret not taking a quick flight home. There was no way I'd risk our lives on a hunch. Which is why we needed the extra firepower provided by a pack of Were. We'd gone and foiled the evil villain’s plan and his minions were all likely to climb out of their holes in pursuit.

Once we crossed into California, we swapped vehicles, this time snatching a black Escalade. It was less inconspicuous, but far more comfortable. Of course, since we had crossed state borders with a stolen vehicle, we'd broken federal law. Hopefully if we were caught our little spree could be smoothed over by the paranormal department in favor of national security. It was a little bit of a stretch, but that was definitely one reason to hope Sanders held sway in the right places. I was driving again, multitasking between bites of cheeseburger. We'd been switching off, taking turns sleeping while one person took charge of the wheel. When the In-N-Out sign proclaimed our closeness to the burger joint, there was no resisting its allure. While we all gorged ourselves, Jas appeared less than thrilled by the prospect of greasy goodness.

“Not hungry?” I snatched up my lemonade and sucked noisily on the straw.

He hesitantly took a bite of the burger, chewing tentatively for a few seconds. Then Jas made a face, rolled down the window and spat it out. “Gross,” he wiped at his tongue, trying to cleanse himself of the taste.

I stared at him in astonishment. “That was quite possibly the most blasphemous act you've ever committed,” I proclaimed heatedly.

Jas pushed the rest of the food away from him, moving it in my direction. “If you like it so much, eat it yourself. I don't have the stomach for that garbage. It tastes like I just poured a handful of ashes down my throat.”

“It’s good!” I took another bite to prove it, putting the juicy patty in close proximity to his face.

“I don't think there's anything wrong with the burger,” Kathryne said slowly.

“Your body isn't geared to process that kind of food any longer,” Hector said over his quad-stack burger. “You could probably eat it if you had to,” he said between bites, “but it's not going to taste good anymore. There's only one thing that will satisfy.” He didn't sugarcoat.

“How do you know so much about vampires?” Jas asked.

“I've fought a few on the sands. Talked to a couple. They're an interesting breed.” He shrugged his shoulders noncommittally before resuming his usual reticence.

I don't think anyone had really come to terms with the change until that moment. Not even Jas had thought anything would be significantly different. He'd gone and ordered a burger without hesitating. It just underscored the change in his nature, despite appearing no different. He was only half vampire, but that didn't protect him from the metamorphosis wracking his body. Even now, cells were mutating, becoming something wholly dissimilar to what they once were. Jas leaned his head against the window and covered his face with his hands. A muffled stream of curses poured from his mouth.

I put down the burger and patted Jas on the shoulder. “Come on, it's not that bad. Look on the bright side, I doubt you'll ever get fat and blood probably tastes fantastic!” The attempt at levity didn't cheer him.

“I'm a damn monster! Parents threaten their kids with things like me to keep them from misbehaving.”

My brows rose. “That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?”

“What he means to say is that we're all monsters here.” Kathryne motioned me to butt out with some rude gestures. “That doesn't mean we have to give in to our nature.”

“Plus, think of all the hot babes that are obsessed with vampires these days. All the chicks will be swooning to have a dark romance with you.”

That got his attention. “You do have a point.” He carefully inserted a thumb into his mouth, searching out his canines.

I shot a look of triumph over my shoulder at Kathryne. “They won't even have to decide over Team Jacob or Edward.” I wagged my eyebrows suggestively. “You've got both in one compact, strikingly handsome package.”

“You're right.” Jas nodded and some of his dismal cloud burned away.

“See, being a—” I struggled to find the word.

“Werevamp,” Kathryne supplied helpfully.

“Being a Werevamp has some serious perks. I bet all the girls want you to come and suck their blood.” A Transylvanian accent peeked through my words on the last bit, despite my best efforts.

“Yes, how romantic,” Kathryne commented dryly.

I ignored the intrusion. “So, have we come to terms with your predicament?” I was running out of ways to extol his metamorphosis.

“We have.” He grinned, almost like his usual self.

“Good. Now, if you aren't going to eat it...” Jas handed me the burger amusedly and I smirked triumphantly.

“C
an't we just park at the orphanage?” Jas pleaded.

I didn't budge. “Hell no. You think Mr. Tanner will be interested in helping us when we implicate him in a federal crime? I don't think so. Besides, it's not that far. We can take a stroll down memory lane.”

We all hopped out of the car, Jas still offering up grumbling complaints that were far too loud to go unnoticed. Sounding like a chorus of exultant schoolchildren, we groaned in relief at the chance to stretch. Unfortunately, you learned a lot of unsavory things about the people you hung around when you were trapped in a car for an extended period. To say the least, the drive had not been pleasant. Jas' sleeping cycles were all messed up, not to mention the fact that he snored up a storm when he finally did crash. Kathryne was a light sleeper. She would lash out indiscriminately if you made any sudden movements. One particular night, Jas restlessness had him tossing and turning, which won him a rude awakening by a blade pressed to his throat.