THE ENTIRE DRIVE HOME, ELLE tries to call Ian. He doesn’t answer her calls. He doesn’t answer mine. So we head straight back to the Ward property.
And we both sigh a big breath of relief when we find Ian’s van parked next to the cabin. We pile out of the car and barge through the front door.
Ian looks up at us from a duffle bag he’s packing. For a moment, he seems surprised to see us together. But then his eyes are cold and hard.
“What the hell were you thinking?” I blurt. I take five aggressive steps to close the distance between us and shove him in the chest. Hard.
He stumbles back two steps and clenches his teeth, his lips pursed. His fingers ball into fists, his nostrils flare as he lets out a hard breath. For a second, I think he’s going to hit me.
“We saw you tonight. Your sister, who you’re supposed to be protecting,” I poke him in the chest, “and I, we, followed you to the House tonight. We saw you acting like an idiot. We saw Micah attack you.” My voice cracks. Suddenly, tears have welled up in my eyes and my throat feels tight. And that makes me angry.
I don’t want to care this much.
I don’t want to be this scared for someone else.
“You can’t do stuff like that, Ian,” Elle says quietly. I look over at her. There are no tears in her eyes, but she’s pale and scared. “They hate you already. Don’t give them a reason to kill you.”
“I can’t just sit by and do nothing,” Ian hisses. His fingers flex and clench harder. “You know who got attacked last night? The mayor’s wife. That’s right, Dotty Jackson was attacked. Her husband called 911 because she was lying there like she was in a coma. And just as we got there, she woke up, bit her husband, and took off. I couldn’t catch her. And now she’s out there in Silent Bend, rabid and wild and out of control, with a Debt to a faceless enemy. Someone is trying to take our town down. And I’m not going to just sit by and let this happen. If the House isn’t going to do anything about it, then I will.”
He opens a cupboard, grabs a shotgun, and throws it into his bag.
“But you can’t go running around pissing Jasmine and the House off,” I say, my fire dimming, being smothered out by my fear. “Especially Micah. He will do anything for Jasmine. And Markov is just plain psychotic. He’ll kill you for fun and do it with a smile on his face.”
“Ian, please listen to her,” Elle whispers.
He stalks across the room and pulls the cushions off the couch to retrieve a huge handful of stakes.
“I’m going to find this terrorist, and I’m going to stop them.” Ian zips up the bag and slings it over his shoulder. He shoves his way between Elle and I and opens the door.
“Ian, please.” I grab his wrist and make him stop.
He hesitates. His eyes shift to me, and for just a moment, they soften. For just a second, I think I’ve convinced him to stay. To not go run out into the night with a death wish.
He leans down, presses a soft, lingering kiss to my lips. And then he walks out the door.
“Ian!” I yell frantically. But he doesn’t turn back.
Elle and I watch him back down the driveway. He doesn’t look at either of us.
“You know there’s no stopping him, right?” Elle says softly. She reaches out and takes my hand.
“I know.” Because I do.
ELLE DRIVES ME HOME, AND it’s nearly eleven by the time I walk through the front doors. I would have asked her to stay with me tonight, to try and protect her. But she has Lula, and since Ian is out trying to get himself killed, it’s now up to Elle to protect her. And there’s no way I could have convinced Lula to come to my house.
I don’t know what to do. I want to ask Rath for help, but once Ian sets his mind to something, there’s no stopping him. Rath couldn’t force Ian to go into hiding. That’s just not Ian.
I want to go to Jasmine, beg for her not to hurt Ian. To tell Micah to let it go. But I can’t do that. I can’t protect Ian. I can’t protect this town.
To combat the feeling of helplessness, I sit on the front porch with a crossbow. I’ve got a box full of arrows. And a glass of sweet tea on the other side of me. It’s freezing out here. My toes are numb and my fingers are stiff.
Knowing what Ian is out doing, the night feels dark and dense. It feels like it hides things. Demons lurk in the shadows, stare at me with hidden eyes. It’s a night that feels like anything terrible and horrifying could happen.
One o’clock.
Two o’clock.
Three o’clock.
My eyes grow heavy. But I do not sleep.
Around four-thirty, it happens.
There’s a sound. It’s an unidentifiable one, but I know it’s there and there hasn’t been any other sounds all night.
I stand on the porch, straining my eyes in the dark. But I’m not a vampire yet and I can’t see much of anything. My movement, however, turns on the motion sensor light, flooding everything within fifty feet of the house in light.
A gargled scream cuts through the silent night and a thwack falls on my ears. Red eyes flash for a brief second. The sound of scattering gravel and a scuffle sound out.
“Who’s there?” I yell, bringing my crossbow up to eyelevel. I dart off of the porch and ten feet out. “I’m armed and if you don’t like the feel of wood splinters in your heart, you should get off of my property!”
Fangs flash, and as something hits the ground, another figure leaps out at me with the glint of yellow eyes. I fire off one shot, hitting them in the arm. Just as we collide, I pull a stake out of my pocket and swing.
We both go to the ground, and in the movement, my aim shifts and I embed the stake deep into the right side of the man’s chest. He grabs both of my wrists, pinning them to the ground. With a beastly howl, he screams in my face, fangs fully extended.
I swing my knee up, catching him in the balls. Just as he’s about to roll off of me in a fetal ball of pain, he’s gone.
Rath flies through the air and the two of them tumble through the gravel. He locks his arm around the vampire’s neck, choking him, as I scramble to my feet. Grabbing the other stake that fell from my pocket, I give a possessed war cry before jamming the stake through the vampire’s rib cage and into his heart.
His body instantly grows gray and still. Rath lets him fall to the ground.
There on the back of his hand, is the branded symbol of the snake eating its tail.
I dig through his pockets and pull seven glass vials of green liquid out.
“He’s looking for Born to take out,” I say, my brows furrowing. “Did he know I’m a Born? That toxin won’t work on me until I’ve resurrected.”
Rath shakes his head and his eyes go to somewhere in the dark. He stands and walks with direction. I follow him.
My eyes adjust just as Lillian’s shaking body comes into view.
“Lillian?” I breathe as I drop beside her. “What are you doing here?”
She’s a mess. The needle is still embedded into her neck. A stake is poking out of her stomach, right below her rib cage. Claw marks trace down one of her arms.
I rip the needle from her neck. “Let’s get her inside,” I tell Rath.
He scoops her into his arms with no effort at all. I pull out my cell phone and call Ian as we walk into the house. It goes to his voicemail. “I know you’re out looking for your own vamps, but I’ve got a dead one out on my front lawn if Bernie and Carl are feeling hungry tonight. Lillian just got attacked.” I hang up.
Rath carries Lillian into the first guest bedroom on the ground floor. Gingerly, he lays her on the bed. Blood instantly stains the light blue comforter.
“Do you know why I have objected to your and Ian’s relationship?” Rath asks with controlled anger in his voice.
I look back at him with a glare. This is so not the time.
“Because he makes you vulnerable,” he says, his eyes hard and cold. “Feelings blind you in any relationship and getting involved with such a volatile enemy such as Mr. Ward is dangerous.”
“Nothing about being in this town or this world will keep me safe from what is coming,” I say as I look back down at Lillian. “Get over it.”
Lillian’s eyes are unfocused, but her lips move slightly, like she’s trying to say something. I sit beside her on the bed and take her thin hand in mine.
“What can we do to help her?” I ask, once again feeling helpless. I look up at Rath.
“The toxin normally would take twelve hours to wear off,” he says. Rath really is all knowing. “But with her injuries, it might take longer.”
“Do I dare pull the stake out?” I ask in horror as I look back down at it. It’s nearly fully saturated in blood. Had it just been three inches higher and to the left, it would have killed her.
“She’ll live,” Rath says. He stands stoic and removed. His hands folded in front of him.
“And there’s no way to speed up the recovery process?” I ask in sadness. Lillian’s eyes close in pain and she shakes harder.
Rath sighs, heavy and hard, like he doesn’t want to divulge what he’s about to tell me. “Blood not only sustains a vampire, it aids and quickens the healing process.”
And when I glance back at Rath, he’s gone. The bedroom door has been closed.
I look back down at Lillian and feel desperate. We aren’t friends, but she is the one vampire who has been kind and understanding. She never wanted this life and she’s shown sympathy over what is in store for me.
“What were you doing here?” I whisper as I push her short hair off of her forehead. She’s sweating profusely. I need to get that stake out, but I’m scared to do it. I wish Ian were here. As an EMT, he deals with blood and gore all the time. It’d be no big deal to him.
Lillian clenches her teeth and breathes in hard, harsh pulls. And suddenly a scream rips from her chest.
I swear she’s dying.
And I can’t just sit here and watch.
“Lillian, nod if you can hear me,” I say, feeling frantic. She takes a second, but she nods. “I’ve got to pull that stake out. You’re not going to recover if I don’t. I’m going to pull it out and then I need to be able to trust you.”
I swallow hard. Because this is terrifying what I’m about to say.
“I’m going to trust you that you have damn good self-control,” I continue. “You’re going to feed on me, just enough to give you a boost. You will not kill me, you will not drain me. You hear?”
Her eyes open just a sliver. But I see commitment there. And gratitude. She nods her head.
“Okay,” I say, trying to calm my thundering heart. “On three. One, two.” But I don’t wait till three. I yank the stake out on two.
She screams in pain, bunching up around her stomach. But I hold my arm out in front of her and shove it against her teeth.
And like a shot of adrenaline, her teeth latch into my skin.
It’s been months since I’ve been bitten by a vampire, but I haven’t forgotten what it feels like. The numbing sensation. The blurring out of my mind. The languid feeling of floating off into darkness. Lillian pulls the life from me, and I am both terrified and don’t care.
I’m not positive how long it’s been since she bit me, but eventually, she releases me. And instantly my brain starts to clear. I blink hard and my vision sharpens. My breathing returns to normal.
I look back down at Lillian. My blood is smeared all over her lips, clings to her teeth. But her face doesn’t reflect agony any more. She looks in pain, but my eyes slide down and marvel.
Her skin is slowly knitting itself back together. The bleeding stops. The claw marks on her arm mend, leaving only crusted blood.
“Thank you,” she manages to hiss. She’s not out of the woods yet. Obviously, human blood doesn’t reverse the effects of Elle’s toxin or the House would have used that method. But she’s recovering from her external physical injuries.
“You’re welcome,” I say, feeling slightly woozy. “How are you feeling?”
“Like piss, but it’s better than shit,” she gets out.
A tiny smile crosses my lips. Lillian is all class and beauty. It’s odd hearing such vulgar words from her. I can only imagine what she’s feeling right now.
“That is an improvement,” I offer. “That was a pretty nasty attack.”
“I should have been on guard,” she says, angry with herself. “I know full well what’s going on.”
“What were you doing here, Lillian?” I ask, my brows furrowing. I take her hand in mine once again.
She looks up at me, her dark eyes serious and deep. “I came to warn you,” she says. “I know you and Mr. Ward are involved. I saw you one night in town. You were trying to be careful, but sometimes a woman just knows.”
I swear under my breath. “Does anyone else know about us?”
Lillian manages to shake her head. “I don’t think so. But I thought you should know. Jasmine has given Micah permission to kill Ian.”
All the blood in my body pools down to my feet. My fingers grow cold and stiff. My eyes freeze, wide and open.
Micah threatened Ian. He meant it. And Jasmine was just angry enough to let him do it. That was Ian’s last straw that broke the House’s back.
“You have to tell that boy to leave town,” Lillian says. Her voice sounds far away. “It isn’t safe for him in Silent Bend any more. Micah won’t give this up until Ian’s dead.”