Love Sucks! (3 page)

“Ryan!” I screamed.

All of a sudden, a flash of brilliant white light blinded me. When I opened my eyes, Ryan was suspended in midair, about five feet from smashing into a tree.

“Wee nasty beast, I'll send ye back tae hell where ye came from,” Aunt Doreen said, raising her hands above her head.

A loud, earsplitting groan of disappointment pierced the air as the demon realized he had been bested. Aunt D quickened her unintelligible mumbo jumbo, but just as
she cast her spell, the demon shot back into the woods. We heard one last yelp as it disappeared.

“At least I hit the bloody thing. Maybe it'll walk with a limp for a while.”

“Where's Mr. Charles? Don't tell me he got away,” I moaned.

“Aye, I saw the pustule-covered coward slinking off when the demon attacked Ryan. Oz, ye get dessert first tonight for casting that spell. Brilliant, laddie!”

“Um, a little help here?” Ryan said. “As much as I appreciate not being a pine-tree pancake, this being frozen in midair thing really isn't all that comfortable.”

“Och, sorry Ryan.” Aunt D worked her magic and Ryan floated safely to the ground.

Ryan walked over and scooped me into his arms again. “How's your leg?”

“Burns, but I can manage.”

“Some things never change,” he said with a sad smile that made my heart flutter. “You'll always be the same stubborn AJ.” He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, then carried me to the van. After I was settled into the front seat, Auntie Tave came over to talk to me.

“I'm very proud of you, honey. You were so brave. But you need more training than I can give you.”

“What
was
that? A hairless King Kong Jr.?”

“It's called a Bborim. It's a shape-shifting demon that is also part Serpentine. They are vile beasts and dangerous. Family meeting when we get home.”

A
s soon as we arrived home, Aunt Doreen took over. “We can talk at dinner. Mum is still resting and we dinna want to wake her just to stress her more, ye ken? Kids, get to your homework. AJ, come here and let me tend to your leg.”

I sat down at the island in the kitchen, and Ryan brought me a hemoshake. Aunt D pulled out her emergency medical kit, full of homemade salves and herbs and other things that were better left unidentified.

My cracked hip was fine now, but for some reason the wound on my leg had barely started healing. “I must need some extra hemoglobin, because this stupid gash on my leg still burns like a bitch,” I said.

“That's the demon's curse,” Aunt Doreen said. “Or I suppose they consider it a gift—but to their enemies, 'tis definitely a curse. One reason a Bborim is so difficult to defeat is because the injuries they inflict inhibit your natural immunity. Vampires who canna regenerate quickly make for easier targets.”

She clapped her hands twice and the kitchen stereo came on. Aunt Doreen immediately began to buzz around the kitchen singing.

“Is that the Bee Gees?” I asked.

“Aye. I've been around a long time now, but nothin' stirs my soul more than the Bee Gees. Except for maybe ABBA. And Elvis. Och! I loved that man.”

I cocked an eyebrow and Ryan laughed. Who knew?

“Now off with ye, and we'll talk more at dinner, aye?”

Ryan and I left the kitchen together. My leg was starting to heal, but there was no hope for my jeans.

“Guess I should go upstairs to change.”

“Yeah, those jeans have seen better days,” Ryan said.

I took one stair and paused, turning to face Ryan. “Thank you for today. You've saved me twice now. This is starting to become a habit.”

“One more time and I get my vampire-saving merit badge in the warlock scouts. It's always been a goal of
mine, so thanks for helping me out,” he said with a wink.

“Shut up, goofy,” I said, ignoring the tickle in my belly as I headed upstairs to my room.

Ryan followed me. “Why do you think they want to find the runes?” he asked.

I opened the door to my bedroom and my white cat, Spike, stood from his spot on the bed and stretched. I walked over to him and scratched his head as I thought about Ryan's question.

“Remember that book Jill sent me when I was doing all that Serpentine research in the fall? Well, there was a theory that the runes were a time-traveling device. That the Frieceadans had taken and hidden the runes, then fled from the Serpentines.”

“What did the Serpentines want with them?”

“According to the book, they wanted to ‘correct their mistakes' and start over. They had planned to go back, form the alliance with the Frieceadans, and then betray them, annihilating your entire clan. It would be easier to go back in time when the Frieceadans lived in the open, as opposed to now where y'all are in hiding, spread out all over the globe.”

“And that's their plan now?”

“I don't know. I'm just guessing. I mean, they obviously know Mom is carrying a vampire-warlock baby, and that probably terrifies them. We've kept Mom well protected, and so far the Serpentines haven't tried to get to them. But if that baby is the prophesied child I read about last year, then its blood is the anti-venom to the Serpentine bite. That will make their bite powerless, which will in turn make
them
powerless. I think they want the runes as backup. They're going to try to use me to get to the baby, and if that doesn't work, then they'll just go back in time and start over.”

“What if the runes aren't the backup plan?” Ryan asked.

“What do you mean?”

“If the runes are really a time-traveling device, then think about the power they would have if they had control of them. I don't think the runes are the backup plan at all. I think they plan to go back in time and rewrite history. If we don't exist, then the baby will never be born.”

“If that's true, then they want me to help them kill off my own family. Why would I do that?”

“I don't know, but they think you will. Man, Ashe, that's some family tree you've got there,” Ryan joked. But his eyes weren't smiling.

“I guess it's a good thing I'm not my father's daughter then, isn't it?”

 

The family sat in the dining room. Our table was giant and round; we often joked it was a replica of King Arthur's round table. Rick could totally be King A, too. He was sorta majestic in his place. And even in her weakened state, Mom was definitely his queen—only without all that infidelity stuff.

Tonight's dinner was bangers and mash, and everyone seemed very happy. Auntie Tave joined us, which surprised Mom, but she was all smiles as Tave entertained us with blood-bank stories throughout dinner.

Dessert was a fabulous lemon cake that Aunt D whipped up without even blinking an eye. I know the woman is a witch, but really, not even magic could explain the depth of goodness that was her desserts.

As we all silently enjoyed our lemony slice of heaven, Aunt D took command of the table.

“We have a wee problem,” she said, standing. “Here, love, ye'll need this.” She walked over to Rick and poured him two fingers of scotch, neat.

“Me too,” Tave said.

Aunt D nodded and poured Tave a glass. “Me three,”
she said, pouring her own serving.

“Today the bairns were chased by a beastie known as a Bborim. It was big and mean and hell-bent on taking our AJ with it back to the Serpentines.”

“AJ!” Mom said, bolting from her seat. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“Have ye some tea, Mum,” Aunt Doreen said, pouring her a cup of something hot. I'm quite sure it was a very special pot of tea. Mom would be calm in no time.

“We told the kids to stay quiet until tonight,” Tave said, taking a very big drink of her scotch. “You're already under a lot of stress, and we didn't want to make matters worse.”

“These are my children!” Mom said. “If it pertains to them, I need to know!”

“And we're telling you now,” Rick said, laying a hand on her belly. “This is your child, too, and any stress could cause more problems. We aren't excluding you, but we aren't going to wake you up just to upset you.”

This seemed to calm Momma down a little bit. “Okay, but don't ever think I'm too weak to know what's going on in their lives,” she admonished before sitting back down and taking a sip of her tea.

“There's more,” Aunt Doreen said. “As much as I wished Ryan had sent that no-good teacher of theirs to
a parallel universe—preferably one with starved teacher-eating giants—I knew that was too much to ask for. Mr. Charles was also there.

“According to Ana, there was a third person who the rest of us never saw. He was in robes, and the demon and teacher both called him Elder. I'm sure he's the one who's in control of the demon right now and is probably behind this whole mess.

“We know they're after AJ because they think she's the one chance they have of retrieving the runes. We also know that they know you are carrying a half-Frieceadan, half-vampire baby and they don't like it. Mum, from now on you don't get to leave the house without a protection spell and without one of us with you.”

Mom nodded. Her clear blue eyes were cloudy all of a sudden. Her forehead was drawn, and all the color had drained from her face.

“Kids, you guys will always travel in pairs,” Rick added. “We're not leaving this house unprotected or alone. Am I clear?”

Aunt Doreen walked to an antique bookshelf in the living room. She pulled out a large, ancient, leather-bound book and laid it on the table in front of us as she flipped through the pages.

Each page was filled with sketches, drawings, diagrams, and calligraphy.

“Ah, yes. Here is the creature. A Bborim is a shape-shifting demon. Serpentines don't just let anyone in their inner circle, so my guess is this demon is probably part Serpentine as well.”

“How could it be
part
Serpentine?” Ryan asked. “I thought they only wanted pure blood in their family.”

“During the wars, the Serpentines decided the demons would be more powerful allies if they were assimilated into the clan. So they began to bite them and transform them. A Bborim that has been transformed is difficult to detect. They shapeshift into whatever they fed off last—human or animal, it doesna matter. Once they've shifted, they can maintain that form for as long as necessary.

“There are some documented cases of successful matings between the vampires and the demons, but the clan wasn't always happy with the end result. The Serpentines wanted a stronger being, and they wanted to maintain their ‘superior' bloodline. In their minds they couldn't remain superior if they continued to transform Bborims. So they began to experiment with different ways to combine the two species. Eventually they developed a vaccine from the Bborim spinal fluid and marrow. When this
vaccine is injected into the vampire, they become a perfect mix of the two beings.”

Aunt Doreen paused and looked directly into Ryan's eyes. I had never seen her so serious before.

“The Serpentines werena always bad. They were allies of the Frieceadans. We trusted them. It's always been best if the magical folk stick together. And it was all well and good until they became power hungry. That's when the runes and the scrolls were hidden. To keep them safe from the evil that had taken over.”

“And that's when the Frieceadans went into hiding?” I asked.

“Precisely. As soon as the documents were hidden, the new people in charge of the clan killed everyone involved. Including their families. They came after the Frieceadans, and they managed to kill off a good number of our people before we escaped.”

“Why do you think this demon is part Serpentine?” Oz asked.

“Because it wants to take AJ back to the clan,” Ryan answered.

Oz's eyes widened.

“Don't worry, kiddo. I'm not going anywhere,” I said. “What makes the Bborim so dangerous, Aunt D? Why is
it different from just a normal vamp?”

“One thing is, they dinna have to feed often. They're sturdy and dangerous creatures because they are difficult to sense.”

“Except for that awful sweet smell,” I said with a shudder. “That was like candy-store overload.”

“What smell?” Rayden asked.

“You didn't smell its super-sweet breath?” I asked.

Everyone shook their heads no.

“Well, I wouldn't recommend getting close enough to smell it, because it is
nasty
.”

“The Serpentines are slime. We should do to them what they tried to do to us,” Ryan spat.

I flinched with every venom-tinged word.

“I'm sorry,” he said when he realized how hateful he'd sounded. “I don't mean y'all. But that extended family of yours is bad with a capital B.”

“Ryan!” Rick said. “The Frieceadans protect and defend. That's our place in this world. We don't bring harm to others.”

Ryan stood and walked to the doorway, unable to hide the sadness on his face. “I know that, Dad. I do. I love our family and I know that the girls would never do anything intentionally to hurt us. But what if . . .” His voice trailed off.

“What if what?” I asked softly.

He looked at me and my breath hitched. “The Bborim was convinced you'd find your way home to the Serpentines. What if it was right? What if that's your destiny?” His voice was almost a whisper. “What if . . .?”

He didn't finish the thought; he just turned away from us and walked out the door. Aunt Doreen sat next to me, hugging me close to her. “Dinna fash yerself over that lad, dearie. He's got the weight of the world on his shoulders, as do you. In the end, family will stick together. Ye'll see.”

Wasn't that exactly what Ryan was worried about? Was it possible that I might one day decide the Serpentines were my real family?