Lucas (Immortal Blood) (14 page)

A thought popped into my mind. “Maybe Kate knows who his creator is.”

“And why would she know that?” Dane asked dryly.

“I don’t know,” I muttered. “But she might. He was her uncle after all; and besides, what does it hurt to ask?”

“Nothing, I guess. I’ll call her.”

“No.” I stepped back. “I need to do it face to face.” I swallowed. “And I also need to tell her it was me who killed him.”

“Okay. Whatever you say. It’s your call.” He dug the car keys from his jean’s pocket and put his arm around my shoulder. “Let’s go home then.”

I nodded, and even if I was scared to face whatever might come for me, I felt happy. After all, Dane had rushed to rescue me, and no matter what he had said earlier, I didn’t believe he felt nothing for me. Not after tonight and especially not after I’d seen the tenderness in him and felt his fear when he had first found me. I was sure that he had been scared to death that he wouldn’t reach me in time. That Lucas had already killed me before he got to me. So maybe this terrible day was a beginning of something beautiful. Something we would both finally accept and be ready to admit was real.

We drove home in silence, both lost in our own thoughts about our unknown future. However, Dane never let go of my hand and we both knew something irreversible had happened to us. What? We didn’t yet know, but after the dust about Lucas’s death
had settled we wouldn’t waste any more time. Life was too short and the day’s events had shown us that anything was possible and there might not be a tomorrow to be together.

Dane parked the car and got out. I didn’t move. I glanced in the mirror and winced. I looked terrible. My face was streaked with the tracks of my tears and Lucas’s ashes, and I had a haunted look in my eyes. My hair was all tangled and looked as if I hadn’t brushed it in months. I tried to wipe the dirt off my face but I only managed to make it worse, as I had so much dirt and ash on my hands.

Dane walked to my door and opened it. He gently grabbed my wrist and knelt down. “Stop it.”

I glanced at him and my lower lip started to tremble.

He sighed. “Look, what’s done is done and there’s nothing we can do about it.” He kissed my knuckles softly. “The only way from here is forward, okay?”

I nodded and let him help me out of the car. He hugged me and I hugged him back, hard, before collecting myself and moving away from him. He looked at me questioningly and I breathed shakily. I tried to fix my hair a bit, then rolled my shoulders and took a deep breath.

“I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” Dane asked suspiciously.

“Yeah.” I nodded and met his eyes. He placed his hands on my shoulder and looked at me searchingly. I didn’t let myself stir but met his gaze steadily. “Yes. I’m sure.”

“Okay.” He still looked a bit doubtful. “Let’s go in then.”

“Okay,” I sighed and let him lead me to the door.

Dane opened the door and expected me to fo
llow, but before he could react I pushed him aside and burst in.

“Katie!” I yelled and my eyes searched the lobby feverishly. “Kate!”

Kate ran down the stairs and straight into my arms. “Oh my God, Sam! I was so scared for you.”

“I know,” I whispered and hugged her tighter. “I was scared for you, too. But it’s all over now.”

“What happened?” she asked and pushed herself away from me. “Where’s Lucas?”

I didn’t answer but pulled her with me to the living room and sat her on the couch. Her hand flew to her mouth and she inhaled sharply. I nodded and tears sprung into her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“No! I’m sorry.” I leaned closer and wiped a tear from her cheek. “I had no right to do that.”

She was quiet and stared at her hands. “Did he hurt you?”

I swallowed and felt panic growing inside me. Would she hate me after what I had done? After all, he had been her uncle, but I couldn’t lie to her. “No,” I said passively.

“Did you … did you hurt him?”

Now it was my turn to lower my head and look beaten. I tried to find the right words. The words that wouldn’t lie but wouldn’t cause pain to my best friend either. But what could I say? I had hurt him and I had hurt him badly.

“Sam?” She touched my hand gently. “Did you hurt him?”

I nodded slowly and she sniffed. She nodded her head as if she were trying to convince herself that it had been right to hurt Lucas. “Okay,” she breathed. “It’s okay.”

The silence stretched between us and I tried to find something to say, but suddenly all the words were gone from my head and all I could think about was Lucas lying on the ground with flaming branches shoved into him as if he were some sort of fire-porcupine. I closed my eyes and tried to fight the ugly lump in my throat that made me want to gag. However, I opened my eyes in a flash as Lucas’s bright green eyes appeared in my mind and I pictured his rough, fallen-angel look clearly and heard his half-mocking laugh way too vividly. Oh ... my ... God. Lucas is dead, I thought, and when the thought really settled in me I couldn’t help a small half-terrified, half-relieved laugh burst from my mouth.

Kate looked at me weirdly and I tried to control myself.

“Lucas is dead,” I said, as I felt the words needed to be said out loud.

“Okay,” she breathed. “Was it quick? Did he suffer? What did you do to his body?”

I met her eyes briefly before turning my head away. I could feel Kate’s growing annoyance and I knew there was no escaping from this. I owed her an explanation and yet I was unsure if it were wise to go into the gross details of his death, as no matter what she said or how she acted, Lucas had been of her blood. Okay, maybe they hadn’t been close and he had been some kind of serial killer or a bad-ass assassin, but he had meant something to Kate. And yes, he had hurt her badly, but I knew her. I knew how gentle and forgiving she was, so no matter how bad Lucas had been, I knew she had a soft spot for him. Heck, she’d probably had some bonding plans reserved for his future and a rosy picture of Lucas living happily with us and being part of our bizarre family glued in her mind, and I had taken all that away. And yet she didn’t seem mad at me. Nope. She just seemed sad and a bit annoyed at my vague answers.

I breathed in and out a couple of times, gathering my strength. Okay, I thought, here we go. “Kate,” I whispered, my voice stretched. “I killed him, so what do you think? Of course he suffered, and yes, I guess you could say it was quick, as it was over within minutes and…” I looked at my dirty hands. There was no way I could say I was literally covered in him.

Kate inhaled sharply and I turned to look at her. She didn’t meet my eyes. I reached for her hand and squeezed it lightly. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you?” she breathed.

“Yes, I am.” I leaned my head on her shoulder. “I know you have every right to be mad at me and that you’re probably mourning him, but I’m truly sorry about what happened.”

“But he was evil,” she said weakly.

I nodded. “I know. But he was your blood, too.”

“How did … how did it happen?”

I lowered my eyes and stared at my knees. “Well, I killed him.”

Kate snorted. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.” I sighed and squeezed my eyes closed for a moment.

She touched my cheek. “I really need to know.”

“Why?” I sounded hurt. “What does it matter how I killed him? I killed him and now he’s dead, okay?”

She was quiet and eventually I lifted my gaze and met her eyes. “I ... am ... sorry.”

She touched my hand and smiled shakily. “Don’t be. I know you did what you had to and that it wasn’t easy for you to do it.”

I shook my head, tears blurring my eyes. Dane was behind me in a blink, wrapping his arms around me. Kate watched us as if she were hoping she’d have a comforter, too. Someone she could love like Dane and I loved each other. Jonathan walked in and she looked at him. His eyes were on me and he looked worried. A stab of jealousy hit her heart but she quickly pushed it away. She loved me, and so what if I got all the hot guys. She had all eternity, so maybe sh
e would meet her true love someday.

Jonathan coughed. I lifted my head and met his eyes.

“I just heard,” he said shaking his head. “Can’t say I’m sorry, though.”

Kate straightened her back and glared at him, but when he looked at her she saw no regret in his eyes. Fine. Her uncle had been an A-class ass, but a little discretion would’ve been appreciated. She reached for my hair and stroked it to get my attention. “What happens next?”

“We don’t know.” I extricated myself from Dane’s arms. “But we hoped you could help.”

“Me?” she cried, looking flabbergasted.

I nodded. “Yes. We need to know who Lucas’s creator is and what he’s going to do about me killing him.”

“Well, that’s easy.” She grinned. “I heard him talking to his creator on the phone and he called him Sean-Sean or something like that.”

“Sean?” I turned to Dane and Jonathan. They shook their heads.

“Never heard of him,” said Dane.

“Did you hear anything else?” I asked and felt hope rising inside me.

“Nope. Nothing useful that is.” She squeezed my shoulder. “But that’s a good thing, right? I mean if no one has ever heard of him he has no reason to avenge Lucas’s death.”

“Not if they weren’t close,” I said thoughtfully.

Kate laughed. “Well, then you have nothing to worry about. For what I heard they weren’t actually all buddy-buddy, and Lucas sounded quite military when talking with him.”

“I hope you’re right.” I sighed and got up. I felt exhausted and hungry and all I wanted to do was crawl under my blankets, with Dane if possible, and forget this day ever happened. My stomach growled and I went to the kitchen. The others followed and I poured them all a drink.

Kate hugged me and lifted her glass. “For surviving this day.”

“I can drink to that,” I laughed and clinked my glass with hers.

“And let’s hope this Sean-Sean will never cross our path,” she added.

An older woman turned to look at us. “What did you just say?”

“And let’s hope―” Kate began.

The woman waved her hand. “Not that part. The name.”

“Sean-Sean,” Kate said and I felt cold breath in my heart.

The woman paled and a pan dropped from her hands.

“
Margharet?” Dane leaped next to her. “Are you all right?”

“No. And neither are you. That is the name of a devil. A name I haven’t heard for a long time.” She made the sign of the cross across her chest and looked kind of fearful.

Kate laughed nervously and glanced at the others, hoping they weren’t feeling as troubled as she was. “I’m pretty sure it was a man on the other end of the line.”

“Oh, it was a man all right, but the name you heard was not Sean-Sean. It was
Séasan, and if he has set his eyes on you, you’d better run. And run as far and fast as you can.”

“I’m not
gonna run,” I snapped. “None of us are, right?”

The others nodded but the look on their faces told a different story. There was something bone-deep scary in the way
Margharet had said the name and described him as pure evil that I felt myself hesitating, too. Maybe I should run, but if this Séasan was as nefarious as Margharet made him sound, where could I run to? How could I escape from the devil?

“But if you stay you’ll die,”
Margharet said steadily. “Séasan might be a man but he is as evil as the devil himself, if not worse, and you…” She took my hands in hers. “You of all people should know that.”

I was confused and wished
Margharet would shut her mouth. She was scaring me, and even if she were talking nonsense, a bad feeling had filled me and a memory was starting to lift its head.

“Samantha.”
Margharet’s voice broke, “Séasan is a Gaelic name and I believe it translates into English as Jason.”

I swayed and both Dane and Jonathan grabbed me. “No,” I sighed in horror.

Before anyone could say more there was a knock on the front door.

No one moved. The knocking became more demanding and we knew someone should react to it soon. We all stayed still.

“Aren’t you going to open it?”
Margharet asked finally.

“Should I?” I asked, unsure.

Margharet nodded. “If you don’t, someone else will. And since they have no idea what might be waiting for them on the other side, I think you should do it.” Her voice was gentle but I could see steel in her eyes, and in that moment I remembered that I couldn’t trust her. I was not one of them. Not really, as I had done everything I possibly could to show them how much I hated being a vampire, and I had barely avoided being executed for my stupidity. And no matter how I tried to convince myself otherwise, I was still a target. The others would sacrifice me in a blink. Not my friends, of course, but those who’d witnessed me screaming and blustering about my miserable life as a vampire and how I would destroy them all.