Blood Awakening Read online

  “Find anything?” I asked when he walked back to me. I was feeling markedly better, my vision clearing up and the headache nearly gone. I wasn’t ready for any marathons or vampire killing sprees, but better than a moment ago.

  “Just tracks,” he said, not really to me, but to the open air. “Looks like she headed northeast.”

  “You sound like a pro.”

  “What I am is pissed off. I wanna know who that was, where she came from, who sent her here.”

  “I do, too.” Lame response, but effective; Chance finally looked at me. Any other night—before he became an undead bloodsucker like me—Chance would have taken me into his arms and held me close after something like that. But now, he only stood there, revenge his new motive for action.

  “What did she say to you?”

  “Nothing really. Something cryptic about him not wanting to be found. Then she told me to leave them alone.”

  “Him?” he asked. “Who’s ‘him’?”

  “No clue. Maybe Kayla’s dad?” The idea just hit me. Obviously my brain was too rattled from being thrown against a tree at warp speed to figure that out thirty seconds ago. Just what I need, brain damage.

  Chance looked away from me for a moment. I knew him well enough to know when his mind was spinning out a possibility. “Makes sense,” he finally said. “Can’t think of any other ‘he’ who’s missing.”

  “Me either.” Other than my boyfriend, who’s standing right in front of me but won’t touch me or hold me or kiss me.

  “So who’s ‘them’?”

  “Don’t know that, either. Vampires, I guess? Like I’m worried.”

  He finally looked at me again, an eyebrow raised. “That’s different.”

  “What is?” Now I was the eyebrow raiser.

  “You. Being all badass. It’s different.” It was the nicest thing he had said to me since stepping back into my life. That hurt most of all.

  “Yeah, well, a lot’s happened.” I walked away as I spoke. I couldn’t look at his face, his eyes. I couldn’t see more pain there. I had had enough to fill my eternity.

  “Don’t suppose you’ve ever seen her before?”

  Nice subject change. “No, but obviously she’s part of Sebastian’s coven. He had to have sent her here to get me to back off. Not that I’ve had any action lately.” I sounded like one of Chance’s jock friends moaning about not “getting any.” Gross.

  “Aldric says it’s because of you. That you’re the reason they’re not around a lot.”

  I spun and glared at him. “Really?” My blood immediately began to boil at Aldric’s nerve. Instant Anger, just add water.

  “You sound surprised?” Chance began closing the large gap hanging lifeless between us; only by two steps, but it was a start. “If somebody was running around killing teenagers, wouldn’t you be freaked out?”

  “Point taken.” I helped span that gap. Three steps this time. His move. “Doesn’t really help me out much, though. I still have a long way to go.”

  “Maybe you don’t have to do it.” His voice was different now, a tiny tremble that I hadn’t noticed a moment ago.

  “Um, what?” He couldn’t be serious. No way he was saying what it sounded like he was saying.

  “You could just stop. Stop killing vampires.”

  And he was.

  “Why would I wanna do that?”

  His move this time was a big one: six more steps in my direction. Now, only inches separated us. “You could stay a vampire, Ava. With me.”

  What? He didn’t just—

  “You’re not…you’re serious?” I must’ve heard him wrong. Had to. He of all people would never say those words, to me or anyone else.

  “Imagine how great our lives would be, Ava.” He scooped my hands into his. “We could spend the rest of…forever, together.” I couldn’t speak. I could only stare into his face, the hard contours of his jawline juxtaposed against the soft jade of his eyes. Oh, those eyes. So truthful, so real. They drew me in, held me, told me it was all going to be okay. I didn’t think my heart could have been more broken than it had this past month, but Chance had just proven that theory a bust. He wanted me to be with him. I had been wrong these last few weeks. He didn’t hate me. He didn’t hate what I had done.

  He hated that I wanted to be human.

  “I-I…” I had no answer. I wanted to be with him, too. More. Than. Anything. But give up the fight? Give up being human again? Let Sebastian—and ultimately, Aldric—win? I didn’t know if I could ever do that.

  “Don’t.” Chance’s words were whispers now, filled with emotion and sadness and—yes—hope. “Not yet. Don’t answer yet.” Fingers on my face, my earlobe, my neck. “Just think about it, Ava. Please think about it. I can’t go back. But you can go forward.”

  “But…I don’t understand.” Hello, understatement of the century. His hands kept caressing my skin, the cold of his touch electric. “You hate vampires, Chance.” My eyes were pleading with him to explain his total 180.

  “Still do,” he whispered, his words lifted by the bitter wind and carried off into the abyss of the night. “Myself included.” The pain on those words stayed grounded. “And if I could do anything to change what happened, I would.” I opened my mouth to say “sorry” again; he stopped me. “But I can’t,” he went on, “and neither can you. That’s the main thing I learned since becoming...this. So, we have to move on.” He paused and squeezed my hands. “And I want us to move on together.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead. It was The Kiss of Doom, according to Kayla—the forehead kiss is the last kiss a girl gets from a boy—but to me, it was perfect. Painfully and emotionally perfect.

  He stepped away and smiled. “Let’s go.” He flashed away then, his vampire super-speed something to behold. I was left standing alone in the cemetery, with nothing but the memory of his hand on my face and a once-broken heart that had just gotten its first stitch toward repair. Chance still loved me, no doubt about it.

  Now the question was…did I love him enough to give him my life?

  The ride home was worse than the ride to the cemetery, though this time I was the one who refused to speak. I couldn’t, really, too afraid of what I might say:

  Sure, Chance, I’ll stay a vampire for you!

  Hell no, I wanna be human again!

  Curtain Number One was eternity with the guy I loved. Curtain Number Two was, well, curtains. Yeah, some choice. I couldn’t wait to get home to Kayla so I could fill her in on everything.

  Unfortunately, Kayla had a different plan. She was sitting on the front porch waiting for us when we pulled in, a pile of folders and papers stacked in her lap. She looked frantic, like she would burst if she didn’t spill some government secrets.

  “I found something.” She was at my door before I could even climb from Chance’s truck. Judging by her tone, she was excited, so at least it wasn’t bad news. I was relieved; I didn’t think I could handle anything else bad today. “Erik’s on his way over.”

  Cue bad news.

  Kayla rambled on about whatever it was that had her so hyped up, but all I heard was “blah blah blah Erik is coming blah blah blah.”

  Erik.

  And Chance.

  At the same time.

  I was screwed. The minute I saw Erik, Chance would see me see him, and he would know. What he would know, I had no clue. But he would know.

  “So, um, why’s he coming?” I tried my best to sound uninterested, like it didn’t matter if it was Erik or The Pope who was on his way to cause me more problems.

  “Because he wants to help, duh.” Kayla never looked up from her paperwork, just blurted the words like it was common knowledge. My stomach was kicking my ribs so hard I had to lean against Chance’s truck to keep from passing out, and she sounded like she was reciting her mom’s grocery list. This so couldn’t
be happening.

  “Help with what?” Chance came around the front of his truck, suddenly interested in my life. Perfect timing, Chance.

  “Finding my dad,” Kayla said. “Ava’s gonna help me look for him. Now Erik’s offered to help. You want in?” Like it was a card game. Or a bank heist. Lucky for me, Chance was still pissed about what happened—what I had done to him—so I could count on him to bow out gracefully.

  “Of course I’ll help.”

  I was batting a thousand today.

  “Are you sure?” I hadn’t meant to sound so skeptical, but I was truly surprised that he was willing to be around me. I mean, he had sort of told me only a few minutes ago that he still loved me, but that he also wanted me to stay a vampire. It wasn’t like we were in a good place.

  “She’s my friend, too.” He cut his eyes at me for a second before looking at Kayla and smiling. She was smiling, too, obviously happy that Chance was back in her life. I wished I could feel the same. “And if it has anything to do with tracking down Sebastian or his coven, I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else.”

  “Well, we don’t know if Sebastian is responsible,” Kayla said, clutching her folders next to her chest. “But I’m not counting him out.”

  “He’s responsible,” Chance said, his words dripping anger. “He’s responsible for all of it.”

  Kayla’s lips curled into an eerie grin. “I think so, too,” she said, climbing the porch steps and heading into the house. I couldn’t decide which was more unsettling, the fact that Chance was dead-set on believing that Sebastian was behind Mr. Harper’s disappearance, or Kayla agreeing with him.

  “So, um, what did you find out?” I asked once we were inside. Chance and I followed her into the living room, where several Diet Coke cans littered the coffee table.

  “Well, it turns out my dad did make it to Boston.” Kayla fished a paper out of one of her folders and handed it to me.

  “This looks like Greek to me.” I couldn’t make out anything on the paper—a bunch of numbers and prices and businesses listed one after the other.

  “It’s a credit card bill.” Kayla came and sat on the couch next to me; Chance took her place in the chair across the coffee table. “All these are places my dad used his credit card.” She pointed to the businesses listed on the paper. “Down here, at the bottom”—she singled out a place called JP Licks—“is where my dad took me the last time we were in Boston. It’s an ice cream shop. We have one here in town, but the one in Boston is nicer. First time I ever had pistachio ice cream. Which is awesome, by the way.” She kept her eyes glued to the paper, a memory marring her face with sadness.

  “I’m new to the whole credit card thing…what does this prove?”

  “That he was in Boston. See the date?” More pointing, this time to the far left. “It’s the day of his lecture. He must’ve stopped by there on his way to the university. He was an ice cream nerd.” A slight pause, then, “Is. He is an ice cream nerd.” She stood and walked to the large window looking out over the front yard. “Can’t believe I said that.”

  “It’s okay, Kayla.” I dropped the paper onto the coffee table and crossed the room to her. “You found something. This is good.”

  “I just miss him, you know?”

  I wrapped my arms around her, laying my head on her shoulder. “Yeah, I know.”

  “What if something bad’s happened, Ava? What if I’m too late?” Her tiny hand wrapped around mine, gripping hard.

  “Don’t say that. You’re not too late. We’ll find him.”

  “From your lips.” I had no clue what that meant, but it sounded ominous. I was about to ask her, when movement on the front porch caught my attention.

  “Crap.”

  “What?” Kayla turned to look at me, following my gaze out the window. “Yay, he’s here!” She released my hand. My arm fell from her shoulder as she bolted toward the front door. “It took you long enough,” she said, closing the door behind them.

  “Sorry,” Erik said, stepping into the room. He looked really good (okay, hot) and I had to stop myself from running over and hugging him—which made no sense, given our last conversation.

  “No problem.” Kayla closed the door and sat down on the couch. Erik didn’t move, standing just inside the entryway.

  “Why’s he here?” Chance’s voice caught me off guard; I actually jumped.

  “To help,” Kayla said. The scent of her blood spiked; she was nervous, too.

  “Better question is, what the hell are you doing here?” Erik kept his eyes locked on Chance. “You should be in the ground somewhere.”

  Chance was on his feet now. “Wanna try to put me there?”

  Erik finally moved into the room. “Ready when you are.”

  “Stop it!” Three heads whipped around to stare at me. “Save your macho crap for somebody else.” I was fuming, my vampire side fighting to get out. Heat clawed at my skin, pricking the hairs on my arms. “We’re here for Kayla, nothing else.” I looked at both Erik and Chance, praying neither of them would fight me on this.

  “Sorry.” Erik spoke first, dropping his puffed-out chest and lowering his shoulders. “Sorry, Kayla.” He touched his friend on the arm before crossing the room to me. The overpowering scent of his blood was nauseatingly good.

  “Stop,” I said, holding my hand out at him. He didn’t listen, moving closer to me. “Erik, don’t.” I wouldn’t be able to control myself if he didn’t.

  “You won’t hurt me.” And then he was next to me, inches away, his scent and heat and warmth swirling around me like a magnetic blanket. I was drawn to him, wanting nothing more than to wrap myself up with him and never let go.

  “Get the hell away from her!” Chance lunged at Erik, pulling him away from me and tossing him across the room like a rag doll. When he turned back to me, his eyes were glowing and his fangs were exposed.

  Judging by the look on his face, mine were, too.

  SEEING DOUBLE

  What are you doing?!” I heard Kayla’s voice but couldn’t see her. I was enraged, and all my focus was on Chance. I wanted to jump him—and not in a good way.

  “Kayla, get back.” The words spewed from my mouth amid the venom dripping from my fangs.

  “No,” she said, stepping between Chance and me. “I won’t let you two do this.” I looked past her (and the sweet scent of her blood) to Chance. His eyes were crazy, frantic. I knew what he was thinking: Kayla was lunch.

  “Move!” I didn’t wait for her to respond, pushing her hard across the room. She slammed into the wall next to Erik as Chance inched toward me, his eyes enraged, pulsing with his undead blood. I didn’t want us to fight—ever—but I couldn’t let him hurt Kayla. Or Erik. It was the monster inside him that was in control now; the real Chance would never harm anyone.

  But maybe this was the real Chance. Maybe this was his true self, a monster whose only goal was to feed.

  I couldn’t believe that. I wouldn’t. I knew him, and he wasn’t a monster. He was kind and considerate and forgiving. I just needed him to remember that.

  “Chance,” I said, forcing the monster inside me to back off. “Chance, look at me.” Those glowing yellow eyes, fiery and manic, swirled in my direction. Could he even see me? Could he understand who I was, what I was doing? I had no clue, but I wouldn’t give up. “I love you.” He didn’t seem to react, though he didn’t try to attack me—or anyone else. Erik, however, had obviously heard what I said. I could see him across the room, shifting uneasily on his feet. Was he bothered by me saying that, telling Chance I love him? Surely not. Erik and I weren’t together. Yes, there was something between us, but it wasn’t like we had those kinds of feelings for each other. At least, I didn’t think so.

  “I know you hear me,” I went on, doing my best to ignore Erik and focus on Chance. “And I know you love me, too. You told me you do. People who l
ove each other don’t hurt each other.” My heart was beating wildly in my chest. I knew by his twisted features that he could hear it, too. “That’s my heart you hear, Chance. You once told me that as long as it was beating, I was still human. Remember that?” A quick pause to gauge his reaction; still nothing. “You also said you would never let anything bad happen to me.”

  He stepped forward then, slowly and methodically. My first instinct was to attack, to defend myself. He kept coming, inch by inch, until he was standing as close as possible to me. Even though his eyes were still erratic, they had returned to their normal green, and I could see bits of him in there, fighting to get out. He slowly lifted his hand and brought it to my chest. It felt like a lifetime before he spoke.

  “I’ll never have that again,” he said, his words faint, forced through clenched teeth and pain.

  What did he mean? That he would never have me again? Us? The thought made me sick.

  “Yes, you will, Chance. I’m not going anywhere.” I placed my hand over his, the two of us one again, always. He closed his eyes, and I could feel the anger and desire for blood leave his body—at least, for now. His entire frame relaxed and his breathing returned to normal before he finally opened his eyes.

  “That’s not what I meant,” he said, slowly taking his hand away from my chest. From my heart. He turned and walked away from me, disappearing into another room. Kayla was frantic, practically bowling me over with her approach.

  “Wow,” she said, taking me in her arms and giving me a warm hug. “Are you okay?”

  “Am I okay? What about you?” I forced a smile, terrified that she would be freaked out by what had just happened. Luckily, she didn’t even seem to notice.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Confusion filled her face. Sometimes, she was oblivious.