B00AO57VOY EBOK Read online

  Yeah, because my life wasn’t complicated enough. Let’s add my English Lit teacher trying to kill me. Sure. Why not?

  And if that wasn’t enough to keep a girl awake, there was the hot vampire sleeping next to me. Nathan was wrapped around me like he was trying to become another appendage. He was creative about it, too. It seemed like every part of our bodies were touching but he had somehow managed not to touch any of my burnt skin.

  I spent half the night trying to figure out my feelings for him. He deserved better than I was giving him. He deserved for me to give him all of my heart, not just the part I felt I could survive losing if he changed his mind. And he deserved my trust, I knew he did, but there was that nagging doubt in the back of my mind that I couldn’t shake.

  When I couldn’t take lying there anymore, I began to gently extricate myself from the hold he had on me, feeling a sudden need to put some space between us before I began to bawl like a baby. It wasn’t easy, but I finally managed to wiggle out of his grasp. I breathed a sigh of relief when the only discomfort I felt was a sensation like my skin had been stretched way too tight. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling—especially when it started to itch like mad—but it was definitely better than the excruciating pain I had felt earlier.

  I slid from beneath the covers and put on the robe Grams had laid at the foot of the bed. Silently praying that Nathan wouldn’t wake up, I tiptoed out of the room. I needed some space with no one else in it. I needed some time to think, something I couldn’t do with him distracting me.

  I stopped in the hall and glanced through the door of my own room—or the room that would have been mine if I had been able to pull myself away from Nathan. Grams was sound asleep, her lips turned up in a smile. I wished I could feel that kind of peace. But, there wasn’t anything in my life that was peace-inspiring at the moment. Confusing? Terrifying? Maddening? Yeah, those things I had. Peaceful? Not even frigging close. With a soft sigh, I closed the door and continued down the hall to the kitchen.

  I got a bottle of water from the refrigerator and walked to the back door. It was one of those glass numbers and I could clearly see the backyard from where I was. It was a beautiful night and I suddenly wanted to be out in it, wanted to feel the chilly breeze against my skin as it rustled the dry leaves of the surrounding trees.

  I opened the door and stepped out onto the flagstone patio, my only thoughts of moonlight and fresh air. There was a wrought iron table and cushioned chairs to my left. I took my water there and sat down, looking around me at the beautiful landscaping of the yard beneath the silvery light of the moon.

  Curling up so that I could cover my bare feet with my robe, I positioned myself so my damaged back was comfortable. I let my head fall back against the cushion behind me and looked up at the moon, thinking about the bizarre twists and turns my life had taken.

  I was in love with a vampire. My ex was possessed by a demon. My English Lit teacher was a witch. And, last, but certainly not least, I was losing my best friend.

  It wasn’t the supernatural twists my life had taken that bothered me. Kim was. I wondered just how mad she was. I had stood her up, something I was sure she wasn’t going to take without sending out the cavalry to look for me—considering I had never stood her up in twelve years.

  I let myself imagine how that scenario would play out and actually found myself laughing a little. “Yes, Sheriff Martin, I’m fine. I’m being stalked by a demon who’s obsessed with me, but it’s all good. No, I don’t need your help. My Grams is some kind of superwitch and my boyfriend’s a vampire. I think we’ve got it covered.”

  Anyone know how long it takes to get out of a straightjacket?

  Shaking my head, I got up and drained the rest of my water before heading back into the house. It was as the last drop slipped down my throat that I felt a chill go down my spine.

  Lowering the bottle, I glanced around while backing slowly toward the door. I knew something was out there in the dark watching me. The back yard was full of shadows. Anything could be lurking out there, waiting to pounce the second I turned my back.

  Then again, maybe it was my back I should have been watching.

  I never heard so much as the sound of a footstep, but suddenly an arm slipped around me to hold me in place just as a hand clamped over my mouth. Warm breath caressed my cheek and neck and I could feel the dull thud of a heartbeat where my body pressed to the one behind me. I knew there was something I should do, but I couldn’t find my way through the terror consuming me to remember what it was.

  “Please, don’t scream,” a familiar voice whispered in my ear sounding absolutely petrified. “I’m not going to hurt you, I swear. Just take a deep breath and relax and I’ll let you go.”

  Why did everybody keep telling me to take a deep breath? I mean, it’s not like taking a deep breath ever really helps. Anyway, I couldn’t. Even if my lungs were working properly—which they weren’t—I couldn’t have sucked in a deep breath if I’d wanted to. His hand was pretty effectively cutting off my air supply.

  “You’re going to scream, aren’t you?” Jack asked, sounding terrified.

  Oh, yeah. He could bet his sweet ass on that.

  “I need your help. I’ve done…something… ”

  He twisted around me until he could look me in the eye. And, in that moment, I knew I wasn’t looking at the demon, but my friend. There was no feeling that I was going to die of smoke inhalation. I didn’t feel like my skin was burning where he touched me. Before me was a kid who was just as afraid as I was.

  He looked like he’d been through a couple different versions of Hell. His hair was sticking up in spikes all over his head which, unfortunately, drew my attention to his missing ear. His face looked tired and haggard, and there were circles under his eyes so dark that he looked like he’d joined a fight club—and lost.

  “Please, Ember?” he whispered again, something very sincere in his expression. “I’m begging you.”

  I swallowed hard and nodded as much as his hand would allow. His lips turned up in a sad smile, and he slowly took his hand from my mouth. I whirled around to face him and took a step back to put some space between us. I wasn’t sure if I could outrun him if he made another lunge for me, but I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. I was going to need at least a little room to maneuver. He seemed to realize what I was doing, though, and took another step closer to me. I didn’t bother backing away again. I could already see how that would play out. I’d had plenty of practice with Nathan.

  “Jack?” I finally managed to gasp out, examining every single inch of his face. He was alive. My Jack was still alive! “He said you were dead.”

  “Maybe I am,” he said, looking around the yard like he was confused. “I don’t know where I am or how I got here or…anything. All I know is that I had to come here. And then I saw you sitting there and… I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  I peered at him through narrowed eyes, not knowing whether to trust him or not. I glanced toward the house, chewing on my bottom lip nervously as I tried to figure out what to do. Did I scream for Nathan and Grams? Did I help Jack? What the hell was I supposed to do? I mean, he obviously wasn’t the demon—trust me, one glance into those big blue eyes and I would have known if he was just putting on a show—but he didn’t look all that stable, either.

  “What happened to you?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

  “What happened?” he repeated, looking frustrated—and kind of crazy. “Haven’t you been listening? I don’t know what happened. The last thing I remember, I was at Steve Knight’s party and you and Kim were offering me a ride home. I don’t remember anything else until a few minutes ago when I found myself hiding in the bushes like some creeper watching you.”

  My mouth fell open and I couldn’t do anything but stare at him. I knew the party he was talking about. He’d been wasted and Kim and I had practically had to carry him to Blake’s truck. The entire time we’d been dragging his big butt down the driveway he�
��d kept telling me how much he’d always liked me and how pretty I was.

  That had been Steve’s Fourth of July party. Four months before.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked, running a trembling hand through his hair. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

  “Jack, I want you to listen to me,” I told him, keeping my voice gentle and soothing. “You’ve been sick, but I think I know somebody who can help you.”

  He pressed his hands to either side of his head and clenched his fists in his hair, looking like he was ready to start ripping it out at any second. I took another step back even though I had already decided doing so was useless, but Jack didn’t seem to notice. He just kept tearing at his hair and mumbling about voices and shadows. Just watching him was enough to both put my nerves on red alert and break my heart.

  “I won’t do it!” he suddenly snarled, causing me to back up a few more steps. “I won’t hurt her! I won’t! I won’t! I won’t!”

  “Jack?” I whispered.

  He looked up at me, almost as if he had forgotten I was there, and I saw a flash of real insanity in his eyes before he blinked and they filled with tears. He looked so lost, so alone, that I wanted to cry for him. Gone was my friend, the life of the party, the guy who always wore a smile. What was left was a pale imitation of that guy.

  And I had never felt sorrier for anyone in my life.

  “It was always you, you know?” he suddenly whispered, his eyes locked on mine. “Do you remember the day we met?”

  “Yes, I remember.” I frowned at him, wondering what the trip down Memory Lane was all about. “Jack, let me…”

  “You, Kim, and Blake rescued me from Darby and his gang my first day at OA, remember?” he interrupted, shaking his head and smiling sadly. “I have to give it to old Darby, he could throw a punch. You helped me up and wiped the blood off my lip with the sleeve of your sweater. What were we? Nine? Who the hell falls in love at nine?”

  I frowned up at him, totally confused. In love? Since when? Jack had never shown any real interest in me. Sure, we had hung out, but it hadn’t been anything even remotely romantic. We had gone to ball games together, ate lunch at the same table every day, gone to movies and parties together. In all that time, I had never picked up the first signal that he wanted anything more from me than my friendship. Until he’d been taken over by a demon, that is.

  “You don’t love me, Jack,” I told him quietly, shaking my head. “You don’t. That’s the de—” I stopped myself just in time. Somehow, given how totally freaked he already was, I didn’t think telling him he’d been possessed by a demon was a good idea. “Jack, please let me go get my Grams. She can help you.”

  But he just dropped his head again, shaking it back and forth. “You don’t believe me,” he whispered.

  “No, it’s not that,” I told him quickly, starting to reach out to him. I dropped my hand before I made contact, though, reminding myself that he wasn’t really all there. “I just want to help you. That’s what you want, right? For me to help you?”

  But it was too late.

  Jack lifted his head to look at me and I saw something dark, like shadows, swirling in his baby blues. The second our eyes met I started smelling the pungent scent of smoke that had become so familiar before I’d banished him to the lost plane. I immediately started backing away from him again—well, running backwards would have been closer to the truth. I might have even made it to the door, but my feet got tangled in my robe. I flailed for something to grab hold of, but there was nothing there to catch me.

  I hit the bricks with enough force to knock what little air there was in my lungs out with a loud whoosh. Stars shot across my field of vision, making me feel sick. Before I could get enough breath back into my poor, aching body to scream, Jack grabbed hold of my ankle and started dragging me back toward him. The smile on his face was the most sinister thing I had ever seen.

  Never one to go down without a fight, I started grasping for anything to hold onto. I gasped when I broke several nails off all the way down to the quick, but that didn’t keep me from trying to hold on to the bricks beneath me. I felt something grainy beneath my fingers just as he gave me one last yank and grabbed a handful of it on instinct. Without thinking, I flung it directly into Bastian’s leering face.

  He screamed like I had just doused him in acid. I scrambled away from him as fast as I could when he let go of my ankle to clasp his hands to his face. He stumbled toward me, and I grabbed another handful of the grainy stuff I had used to save myself—which, oddly enough, turned out to be salt—and got ready to give him another dose.

  Just as I was about to fling it at him, though, a strong arm wrapped around my waist and I was lifted clean off my feet. Instinct took over and I slammed my elbow backwards, but all I got for my hard work was a sore elbow and a hissed “Stop that” from the pissed off vampire holding me against him. Nathan’s eyes were glowing white and his lips were pulled back from his teeth in a feral snarl that caused a little chill of terror to go down my spine.

  As scared as I might have been of Nathan at that moment, it was nothing compared to the terror—and disgust—I felt when I saw what that little bit of salt had done to Jack.

  The second he dropped his hands I felt my stomach lurch and had to suck in a deep breath so I wouldn’t gag. Acid couldn’t even have done the damage that hand full of salt had done. His skin looked like it was melting. In less than three minutes, his skin had started to welt up and a few of the blisters had already started to burst, leaving trails of blood-laced pus running down his face. It was the nastiest thing I had ever seen. Like, ever.

  But did it stop the demonic prick? Yeah, right.

  “You really have picked up some new tricks, haven’t you, Nathan?” he asked, his blistered lips turning up in a macabre mockery of a smile. “Sea salt, right?”

  “Blessed salt from the Holy Land, actually,” Nathan answered, his voice hard. “And there’s a lot more where that came from. You wanted my attention, Bastian, well now you have it. Keep trying me and I’ll bury you in it just so I can stand back and listen to you scream.”

  “Don’t get your panties in a bunch, bloodsucker,” Bastian said in response to Nathan’s coldly spoken threat. “I only came to give my lady a gift.”

  “Keep it,” Nathan snarled, his whole body vibrating with anger.

  “Oh, she’ll want this.”

  Digging in his pocket, Bastian pulled out something small and round and flipped it to Nathan like a coin. Nathan caught it smoothly and curled his fingers around it before I could see what it was. Then, with a cocky salute and a spiteful smile, Bastian was gone. My eyes searched the shadows for him, but there wasn’t a trace of him to be found.

  “Ember, baby, I am tempted to tie you to the bed for real,” Nathan growled, slamming the door and cutting off my view of the back yard. “What the hell were you—?”

  “It was Jack,” I told him, shaking and crying.

  “No, it was Bastian!” he snapped.

  “No, Nathan, it was the real Jack,” I sobbed, throwing myself into his arms. “He was begging me for help and I…”

  Nathan held me while I sobbed against his chest and mourned the loss of my friend. Other than Kim and Blake, Jack had been the only other person I had ever let get close to me. And what had I done? I had let that disgusting little demon take him all over again because I wasn’t strong enough to save him. I had failed him.

  He was gone and it was all my fault.

  “We’ll get your friend back, love,” Nathan whispered against my hair when I started to calm down. “We’ll find a way, I promise.”

  “What did he give you?” I asked, looking up at him. I saw his expression tighten and I suddenly wished I hadn’t asked.

  Slowly, like he was already regretting it, he held his hand out and uncurled his fingers from around the trinket my demon stalker had been so sure I would want. I felt my heart shudder to a complete stop as I stared down at the came
o in Nathan’s palm. I would have known that piece of jewelry anywhere. I could have described it with my eyes closed—right down to the missing pearls around the edge.

  “Kim,” I gasped, staring up at Nathan with so much terror on my face that he winced. “Nathan! He has Kim!”

  “No, he doesn’t,” he said quickly, grabbing me around the waist again when I turned to run out the door. “Em! Baby, listen to me!”

  But I didn’t want to listen. I had already lost one friend to that demonic freak’s clutches. He had taken all he was going to take from me. I would die before I let him take Kim.

  “Em! Look at me!”

  I felt my head turning toward the compulsion in his voice like a knee-jerk reaction I couldn’t control even as the mark on my neck started to throb. By the time our eyes met, I was ready to kill him.

  He had promised me he would never do that to me again! He wanted my trust, and every time he turned around he gave me another reason not to give it to him. Seeing the look of near-loathing on my face, he let go of me like I’d caught fire—something I hoped never happened again. I stepped away from him with my body so stiff I probably looked just like the puppet he had just turned me into.

  “I’m sorry. I couldn’t think of any other way to get you to listen,” he said softly, a shadow of regret already coloring his eyes a deeper shade of hazel. Dropping his eyes back to the cameo in his hand, he pulled a folded piece of paper from under the clasp on the back and held it out to me. “He left you a note.”

  I snatched the note out of his hand, nearly tearing it in half in the process, and put several feet of space between us. I continued to glare at him as I unfolded the little scrap of paper, then glanced down at it quickly. By the time I finished reading the message the monster had left for me, I felt like I was about a second away from the kind of nuclear detonation that would have made Grams look like a rookie in comparison.

  See how easy it is for me to get to your friends? I will leave the choice to you, my love. Come to me or I’ll take everyone you care about from you, starting with Kim Robbins. This is your last warning, Ember. Next time, I won’t leave you a piece of jewelry.