The Flash of a Firefly (5 page)

“’Cesca,” Davis called softly, “your attitude is not going to help.”

“What is this? Good cop, bad cop?” I asked, growing impatient. “This discussion is over. You knew my answer before I gave it.”

“Do you know what that means?” Francesca shrieked. “What we have to—”

“’Cesca,” Davis warned again, and she fell silent. “We haven’t had a second-in-command since you left, Kaden. It’s been very worrisome. There was almost a fight within the family during the war.”

He hadn’t replaced me?

That was dangerous for everyone. If he died, then everything would be thrown off balance. Major battles would be fought to find out who would become master. Law and order would fly out the window. There were at least two or three perfect candidates he could have stuck in the role. He was out of his mind.

“Listen closely, turncoat,” Francesca growled. “You’re coming back with us whether you like it or not.”

I hissed at her. That was it. My blood was boiling. She wasn’t about to waltz into my territory and threaten me. Not after all I had been through. I had earned the right to be where I was. The only thing she had had earned was a first-class ticket to hell.

Davis stepped between us. The vein in his temple stood out as he stared at me. He looked serious and a little nervous. I would have been too if I had been sent on a mission with a loose cannon like Francesca.

“We came to offer you everything on a silver platter,” she went on, spitting her words angrily. “You will return to Spain as if nothing ever happened. You won’t lose status. You’ll have all of your prior benefits. He’s going to forgive everything that you did.”

I teetered on the fence between explosive anger and a complete loss of sanity. The only thing I wanted on a silver platter was Phoenix’s head. After all the time I spent believing his lies, it was the least I could ask for, but I wasn’t. I had talked myself out of revenge a long time ago, and I was trying to settle on being allowed to start a new life. Apparently that was impossible.

It was time to step back and take a deep breath. In. Out. In. Out. When gravity slowly settled around me again, it was safe to speak. “You remember why I left, right?”

Francesca sighed. “I’m bored now.”

“Get out of my city,” I snarled. “Go back home and tell your master that I have no intention of coming back. Not now, not ever.”

“
Your
city?” she asked. “Kaden, this isn’t your city. This is just the place he has allowed you to live out your stupid temper tantrum. If I have to hear one more thing about you and the way things used to be, I might rip my hair out. No one can bear it anymore. Two hundred years of ‘Kaden this’ and ‘Kaden that.’ There isn’t a single member of the family that doesn’t resent you in one way or another. You have what we all want. Stop acting like a spoiled child.”

“You can tell everyone I’m not that Kaden any longer, and they can stop being jealous. Tell Phoenix to pick someone to replace me and move on.”

Francesca stepped around Davis and poked me in the chest. It wasn’t hard, but it was enough to get her point across. She was fighting with herself not to rip my heart out on the spot.
Well, ditto,
I thought.

Davis pulled her back gently. “We could use a little vacation time, but expect to hear from us again soon. And don’t worry; we will live by the current city rules while we’re here.”

Francesca gasped and pushed Davis’s arm away. “What is that? A human girl? I heard you had given up fresh blood.”

Davis sighed. “It’s time to go.”

“She’s very pretty, Kaden.” Her eyes flitted back to me. A big smile spread across her face as she peeked back around my shoulder. “Do you intend to let her survive?”

“Leave her out of this.” I moved to my right to block Lyn from her line of sight. I had a promise to Tom to keep. Nothing was going to happen to Lyn, even if it killed me.

Francesca giggled and licked her lips. “If you don’t kill her, maybe I’ll have a taste another night.”

“Get her out of here,” I growled at Davis. “Now.”

Francesca tossed a lock of hair over her shoulder and spun around. “You never did share very well.” She sauntered away, swinging her hips.

“Sorry about this,” Davis said. “It’s too bad we’re on opposite sides now. We really will be seeing you soon. Think about it. She was serious when she said we came prepared for you to say no.”

I nodded. We had been on opposite sides for a while. The only difference was that we were just getting around to doing something about it. It wasn’t my choice. It wasn’t his choice. It was coming from above both of us. That very fact reminded me just how much I hadn’t missed my old life.

“You knew my answer before you asked it.” I sighed.

“Unfortunately.” He cracked his neck and took off to catch up with Francesca.

I stood there alone listening to the waves break in the distance before turning back to Lyn. It was too dark for her human eyes to have noticed the quick movement, but she could tell that someone was there one second and gone the next.
Don’t ask questions,
I thought.
Just don’t ask questions.

As I plodded back through the sand to her, she cocked her head. She held her hair back into a ponytail with her hands, but the crisp ocean air was still blowing strands of it across her face. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” I lied. I wouldn’t have known where to begin even if I wanted to. And I definitely didn’t want to.

“It didn’t seem like nothing.” She hurried after me as I led the way back to the sidewalk. “Is everything okay?”

My head was spinning. I needed two minutes of silence to wrap my head around everything. I really had been convinced that I was seeing things the other night. It was what I wanted to believe, but I should have trusted my instincts. There was no denying it anymore.

“I’ll walk you home,” I told her. “Which way do you live?”

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously but didn’t comment. “This way.”

It was better that she didn’t know, even if she didn’t think so. I obviously couldn’t tell her the truth, and I didn’t want to create a believable lie. Lying wasn’t exactly something I enjoyed doing, and I didn’t want to lie to her specifically.

Ridiculous, but true. I glared down at her walking quietly on the sidewalk. I wondered what she had that was so appealing. It wasn’t that she was attractive or that she smelled wonderful. Those things just made me want to bite her; they had nothing to do with wanting to be closer to her. She seemed extremely fragile next to me, like she would break if I touched her. If I wasn’t gentle, she would. One wrong move of a finger, and her arm would snap like a twig.

The thought didn’t stop me from wanting to reach out and feel the heat from her skin, to move that little piece of hair from her face. Her cheeks were pink from the cold—small pools of blood lingering just beneath the skin. I was sure her blood would taste sweet.

My body jolted, and I forced my eyes away from her face. It wasn’t a good idea to think about it. She wasn’t going to make me ruin my long-standing diet. She wasn’t worth it, I reminded myself. I promised that I would never bite a human again, and I wouldn’t. But being near her, smelling her intoxicating smell, seeing her rosy complexion all made my jaw ache.

The silence became deafening. I should have been thinking about how to deal with Francesca, but instead all I could think about was the little insignificant person beside me. If I wasn’t going to think about the right things, then I wanted to talk. Talking would divert my attention to something other than that thick, rich liquid flowing beneath her skin.

Time dragged on and on, but she wasn’t going to be the first to say anything.
Is she mad at me?
I wondered. I hadn’t meant to come across as cold. I was just trying to protect her. I wanted to explain that more than I wanted to explain anything else.

Maybe I should just say something,
I thought. No. She was being obstinate. It wasn’t like I had any obligation to explain myself to her. She had no right to demand any details of my private conversation with people unknown to her.

Fine, I decided. If she didn’t want to talk, we wouldn’t talk. I should have listened to Tom. He was right; it was a bad idea. Humans and vampires didn’t mix.

I had proved my point to him though. I could wash my hands of the entire situation and forget it ever happened. She could tell Diana that I was a complete jerk if she wanted to. The point was that she could tell them anything at all. Her throat hadn’t been ripped open by a savage, bloodthirsty vampire. At least it hadn’t been tonight. There was a strong possibility that Francesca would make good on her threat.

Wonderful. Just wonderful.

Lyn’s teeth chattered, and she flipped the collar of her peacoat up. She held her hands up in front of her face and breathed into them. Little clouds of air formed each time she exhaled.

“Are you cold?” I asked, realizing it was a stupid question.

“We’re almost there,” she replied, shoving her hands back into her pockets.

“If I knew it was this far, I would have suggested a cab.” I wasn’t sure how long we had been walking, but it wasn’t a short distance by any means. It was no wonder her aunt was worried about her.

The buildings were covered with graffiti, garbage littered the streets, and old clunker cars were parked on the side of the road. There were apartment buildings with groups of men sitting outside and trains running on a track above our heads.

She shivered again. I had the urge to put my arm around her, but I couldn’t offer her body heat I didn’t have. I clenched my hands into fists and held them at my sides.

What was the matter with me?

“This is it,” she said quietly, stopping in front of a two-story brick house.

There were a total of three houses on the road. There was a car garage on one corner and a strip club across the street, right next to a Chinese restaurant. One of the windows on the first floor was cracked with plastic stapled over it, the front porch was beginning to dip, and the roof needed to be reshingled. Overall, it was a piece of crap.

“I’m sorry,” I told her. My stomach flip-flopped. I hadn’t apologized in a very long time. “I didn’t mean to upset you back there.”

“Upset me?” She dug around in the bottom of her purse. “You didn’t upset me. It just looked like you had a lot to think about. When I have things on my mind, I hate having someone jabber away in my ear.”

It was definitely not the reaction I was expecting. Where was the cold shoulder? The short, one-word response?

She pulled out her keys with a few colorful key chains attached, and smiled. “Thanks again for humoring my aunt and everything tonight. I’ll tell her we went out to a late dinner if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure. That’s fine.”

“Great.” She headed up to her front door and stuck the key in the lock. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, maybe.”
But not likely,
I thought.

She flashed me one last smile before disappearing into the house. My fingers uncurled stiffly. It was finally over. The air around me seemed so much clearer. I had acted like a complete fool. It served me right for being so proud. The next time someone doubted me I would let them. I knew the truth.

There was something more important to deal with anyway: my impending doom. Maybe that was a little melodramatic, but Phoenix would have sent enough muscle to drag me back half-dead if he really anticipated I would say no. I couldn’t take them all on my own. I sighed. There was a way to get out of it. There always was. I just didn’t know how yet.

Then the burning sensation hit like a Mack truck, almost bringing me to my knees right in front of her house. My veins were on fire, and every little movement sent a searing pain throughout my entire being, completely taking my breath away.

The stress from the walk on the beach had burned through nearly all the blood in my system. I had been so preoccupied with Lyn that I hadn’t realized I was running on empty. It seemed impossible not to notice this degree of pain for any reason.

I staggered on the sidewalk and grabbed a chain fence for support. This wasn’t good. In fact, this was very, very bad. The sooner I got home, the better. I filled my lungs with cold air and braced myself to run at full speed.

This was going to hurt.

 
Chapter 5

I stumbled across the threshold to my house and collapsed to my knees, still clutching the doorknob. It was hard to breathe, and my head was spinning, but I made it that far. I wasn’t going to give up a few hundred feet away.

The medallions on the wallpaper blurred into ugly blobs. I blinked hard until they had a vague shape again. The stairs looked so far away, but ascending them was my only choice. Every cell in my body was screaming in protest as I moved forward. I just had to make it up the stairs and down the hall.

I hoisted myself up, using the door for support, and staggered forward. My ears were buzzing. I latched onto the banister and slid against the smooth wood. My legs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, and the muscles burned with each step.