Blood Awakening (30 page)

“This is my fault, then? Is that what you’re saying?” She turned from the mirror to face me, and the confident, bigger-than-life Lacey was gone, replaced by a scared, timid little girl.

“Of course not,” I said, suddenly ashamed of myself for letting her get to me this long. “None of this is your fault, Lacey.”

“I just wanna go home,” she said, almost crying again.

“I know.” My own tears threatened mutiny. “Me, too.”

“Ava?” I could hear Kayla’s voice from the other room, calling to me.

“Come on,” I said to Lacey, gently nudging her back with my hand. “Let’s go in the living room where it’s not so…crowded.” She didn’t protest, allowing me to guide her through Adam’s still-blood-soaked room and into the living room, where Kayla was holding her cell phone in one hand and covering the speaker with the other.

“For you,” she said in a whisper. I raised an eyebrow as I made sure Lacey was safely on the couch and took the phone.

“Who is it?” I whispered back before putting the phone to my ear.

“It’s me.” Aldric’s voice carried through the phone, and my anger at all that had gone down tonight came rushing back in full force.

R
EVISITED

I
’m stepping into the hall,” I said aloud, to no one in particular. Well, no one in the actual apartment. I was saying it to Aldric, however, so he would know that the earful he was on the verge of getting wasn’t suitable for mixed company.

“What the hell do you mean taking off without bothering to tell me?” I said once I was out of earshot of the others. Even so, I was doing my best to keep my voice to a dull roar. “Where have you been, Aldric?”

“My apologies, Ava,” he said. “I had every intention of clearing my schedule with you before I left.”

“I don’t need your sarcasm right now, Aldric. I needed you.” It pained me to say that, to tell the monster who’d turned me this way that I actually could have used his help, but I was too mad to cover the truth.

“Again, I apologize. I had to leave town, as you well know. I would have preferred being around in case something happened, but the trip was simply unavoidable.” I could hear something in his voice, like he wanted to tell me the truth but couldn’t—or wouldn’t.

“Well, whatever it was, I hope it was worth it.”

“I must admit, it was.” Dead silence filled the air for a few seconds before he finally said, “But it’s nice to know that I was missed.”

“Not hardly,” I snapped, my anger subsiding a bit just hearing his voice. Though I would never admit it to anyone, Aldric had become important to me, if for nothing more than what I could use him for. “Look,” I went on, “I need to see you. A lot has gone down since you’ve been gone, and more is coming. Where are you?”

“Well as it happens,” he said, just as a knock sounded on the door, “I’m right outside.”

“How did you know we were here?” I asked once Aldric was inside the apartment. Kayla at least took a brief second to look up from her paperwork and acknowledge his presence, while Lacey merely stared at him, most likely terrified that yet another vampire was within fifty feet of her.

“Surely you don’t have to keep asking that type of question, Ava,” he said, choosing to stand in the center of the room rather than take a seat. “I truly thought we had perfected your sense of smell?”

“Wait,” Lacey said, still curled up on the couch but at least not too scared to speak. “You can smell her?” Aldric nodded with a smile. “Huh, I thought only I could do that.”

I cut my eyes at her. “Ignore her, Aldric,” I said, turning back to him. “She’s just mad because she’s crazy and the world hasn’t accepted it yet.”

“Be that as it may,” Aldric said, completely ignoring my jab at Lacey, “I cannot stay.”

“What do you mean, you can’t stay? You just got here.” My anger was rising again.

“Yes, but now I have to go.”

“For what?”

“Well, now that I’m in New York, there are some things I must attend to here.”

“Yeah, well, there are some things you need to tend to here, too.” I was using my pointer finger to single out the immediate vicinity. “I told you on the phone, Aldric, there’s some stuff you need to know.”

“You mean about Zyris being back? And she and Sebastian working together?” I stared in shock. “Oh, and that they have taken Mr. Caldon?”

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, my brain going into spasms. “Are you telling me that you’ve known about this?”

“Well, as much as I could know,” Aldric said. “It only just happened a few hours ago.”

“When doesn’t matter, Aldric. You knew. And you didn’t get in touch with me.” I was so mad I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I quickly stepped away to keep them from spilling over in front of everyone.

“I did contact you, Ava. Just now. Honestly, I came as soon as I found out.”

“How did you find out, exactly?” I asked, turning toward him again. “Because I know that no one here told you. Right, Kayla?” I hadn’t even realized that she had long since abandoned her work, and was soaking in every word of our conversation.

“I didn’t tell him,” she said, clutching her chest with her hand. “And I’d say it’s a safe bet that Erik didn’t, either.” She pointed to Lacey over her shoulder. “And chatterbox over there is too whacked out right now to tell anybody anything.”

“Screw you, Harper,” Lacey chimed from the sofa. Kayla only smiled.

“So no,” Kayla went on, “nobody here told him.”

“Ava,” Aldric said, “none of your friends have turned on you or stabbed you in the back.” He gave a quick glance toward Kayla and Lacey. “Not yet, anyway.” I just glared at him. “I have contacts all over the country,” he went on, “and they have kept me informed of your goings on.”

“Well, isn’t that just great,” I said, still angry. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me, and I didn’t even get a phone call or text from you. Glad to see that this…whatever it is, is equal.”

“I apologize if I have upset you,” he stated matter-of-factly. “And I also apologize if, for some reason, I have led you to believe that our relationship is one of equal stature.” I couldn’t speak, only stare at him; no way did he just say that.

“Thanks for clearing that up for me, sir.” I crossed the room and plopped down onto the sofa next to Lacey, who never even glanced at me.

“Ava—”

“—don’t bother,” I snapped, my gaze fixated on a spot on the wall behind him.

“As you wish,” he said, lowering his eyes. I knew him well enough to know that it was all merely for show. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go.” He crossed the room to the door and pulled it open; Erik and a large pizza box occupied the other side. “Oh, hello, Mr. Sutter.” Erik slid past Aldric and set the pizza on the coffee table. Kayla and Lacey practically tore the box in half.

“Come back, Aldric,” I said, still sulking on the couch. “Don’t leave me hanging.”

Aldric stood in the doorway, his large frame filling the small space. “I promise I will, Ava.” And with that, he was gone.

“When did he show up?” Erik asked as he took a bite of a slice of pepperoni with onions, my favorite.

“A few minutes ago,” I said, grabbing a slice of pizza for myself. I was so happy that Kayla had enough common sense to at least disinfect the coffee table before she began working on it, so at least we had a semi-clean place to eat. I myself would have opted for a dining table, but Erik’s uncle clearly wasn’t a decorating guru. “Said he has some stuff here in New York to do, but supposedly he’ll be back.” I took a larger-than-necessary bite of pizza, nearly chocking on the blast of still-hot marinara that eked out from beneath the cheese.

“You don’t sound convinced.” Erik had already finished off one slice and was on to another, which was impressive given that the slices were at least twice the size of a normal one. “You don’t think he’ll actually show back up?”

“No, I do,” I said, taking another bite. “But I really don’t care at this point. He’s an ass.”

“Language,” Kayla said with a smile, almost to the crust of her own slice she was so focused on it.

“He is,” I reiterated. “I mean, who leaves town and doesn’t bother telling anybody? Who does that?”

“He told Chance,” Erik said. “That’s somebody. Sort of.”

“Stop it,” I said, though I wasn’t mad. “And yes, he told Chance. But Chance isn’t me. And come to think of it, Chance and I weren’t even speaking when Aldric left town, so he had no clue that I would find out. I don’t think he ever intended for me to know.” I was so wound up I couldn’t stomach another bite of pizza, so I tossed my half-eaten piece back into the box. “It just pisses me off.”

“Geez, Ava, take a breath,” Lacey said. “You’ve been complaining since Boston. Chill out.”

“Says the girl who’s been curled up on the couch crying all night.” I stood up, ready to punch her if she said one more thing.

“Ava!” Kayla was the one who rose to Lacey’s defense, which surprised me into almost-silence.

“What?” I snapped at my best friend. “I can’t get mad about something?”

“Yeah, you can,” Kayla said. “But take it out on who or whatever you’re mad at, not us.”

“And what if I’m mad at you guys?” I said, placing my hands on my hips, like that would somehow solidify my demeanor and bad attitude.

“Then I would say too damn bad,” Kayla threw back, tossing her crust into the pizza box and standing up. “Because you’re stuck with us. So deal.” The two of us ended up in an unscheduled stare-down, neither of us willing to back off or say sorry.

“You know, I think someone told me something one time that kinda fits here,” Erik said, wiping his hands on his jeans as he stood up. “Why don’t you two compare sizes later.” Kayla and I both looked at him, our Stare-Off officially over. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing, and from the corner of my eye, I could see Kayla doing the same. “See,” he added, “that cleared it up.”

I did laugh then, but only a little. “I’m sorry, Kayla,” I said to my best friend, who smiled, gave me a warm hug, then sat back down. “And you too, guys. I didn’t mean it, honestly. I’m just…wound up, you know?”

“We know,” Kayla said, helping clear the table. “Tell you what,” she continued as Erik took the uneaten pizza into the kitchen, “why don’t you try and get some sleep, okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, sitting back down. “Like that’s gonna happen.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Lacey said, standing up. “Does this place have another bed in it, or are we all supposed to pile up on the floor together?”

“You could sleep out in the hall,” Kayla said. “Or maybe on the street like a stray? Your pick.”

“Ha. Funny.” Lacey stepped on Kayla’s foot as she moved between her and the table.

“There’s a bedroom in the back,” Erik said, pointing over his shoulder. “You and Kayla can take that one. I’ll take the floor. Ava, you okay with the couch?”

“Fine with me,” I said. “I doubt I’ll be sleeping, anyway.”

“Fine. Goodnight.” Lacey disappeared down the back hallway, and Kayla pulled out her papers and began rifling through them again.

“You can take the bedroom with Lacey if you want,” she said. I knew it was to me, though she never looked up. “I’m not gonna be sleeping much, either.”

“No thanks,” I replied, “I’d rather sleep on the street like a stray.” She smiled, her head still buried in research. “What about you?” I said to Erik, who was sort-of lingering by the end of the sofa.

“I’m cool with the floor,” he said, kicking off his shoes and snagging a throw pillow from the chair across the room. As he lay down on the opposite side of the coffee table, I couldn’t help but be the tiniest bit happy that he didn’t want to sleep in the same bed as Lacey.

“So,” he said from the floor. “Read any good books lately?” I couldn’t see his face from the angle he was in, but I could hear the smile in his voice. One thing about Erik: he always tried to make you feel better.

“Um, yeah, actually,” I said. “What about you?” I took a cue from him and lay back on the sofa, my body instantly feeling tired and ready for sleep.

“I don’t read,” he said. “Unless it’s movies with subtitles.”

“Then why’d you ask, silly?”

“Cause I know you like to read, duh.” I could see his feet jutting out past the legs of the table, his toes curling and uncurling inside his white socks. Was he…nervous?

“I do,” I said, suddenly aware of every word I was saying. “But, I also like movies. So, we could talk about those if you want?”

“Really?” he said, his voice rising at the end.

“Sure.” I kept my feet tucked beneath a pillow on the end of the couch as Erik went on and on about some action movie he had seen the other night. He went into vivid detail about the explosions and the gore, explaining that the main character had a short amount of time before his heart would stop and that it looked as though he wouldn’t make it in the end, and before I found out if he lived, my body gave in to the pressure and I drifted off to sleep.

S
URPRISES

A
va, wake up.” I could hear Kayla’s panicked voice in my ear. “Ava. Get up, get up, get up!” Her voice again, this time joined by a violent shaking that snatched me from a dream. My eyes flew open and landed on her frantic face.

“What?!” I bolted upright on the sofa, ready to attack a bloodthirsty vampire or run from a burning building.

“I think I found a way to get Chance back.” She shook a handful of papers at me as she spoke before rushing over to the desk across the room.

“Are you kidding me?” I fell back against the arm of the sofa and closed my eyes. “That’s why you woke me up?”

“Well excuse me for thinking you’d want to jump at the chance to get him back.” I could hear papers shuffling as she stacked them up. ”Guess I’ll just keep it to myself.”

“No, you’re right.” I sat up again and leaned back on the sofa, my neck instantly twitching from the worst sleep ever. “So, what is it?” I glanced quickly at the floor behind the table; Erik wasn’t there. Guess he didn’t sleep all that well, either.

“He’s gone out for coffee and donuts,” she said, catching my gaze.

“Oh, okay.” I tried to play it off like I wasn’t wondering. Yeah, didn’t work.

Kayla practically leapt from Adam’s desk chair and rushed the couch, a slew of papers in tow. “I found something in my dad’s files.” She spread the papers out on the coffee table in front of us and rummaged through them rapidly. “There’s all this stuff in here about vampires and their societal laws and legends.”