Bizarre Life of Sydney Sedrick (13 page)
Read Bizarre Life of Sydney Sedrick Online
Authors: Mandi Casey
So the vampires knew the wolves had been in contact and watching over me. Why wasn’t this vampire seething with anger because the wolves got to me first? There had to be more to the story about the relations between the wolves and the vampires than what I had read so far.
“What do you mean since they won’t be able to watch over me? Wouldn’t the vampires rather do it themselves anyway?”
A bit of uneasiness shown in his posture. He confirmed my observation when he stalked around the store, pretending to look at the wares for sale.
“Of course, it is the place of the vampires to watch over the Selected, as is only right. Unfortunately, the vampires of Kenosha have a few tribulations that need be attended to before Kieran can fully put his focus to you.”
“What kind of tribulations?”
Aaron continued to walk around the store, with me following not too close behind. He picked up a cross, fashioned from a red-colored stone encircled with silver decorative wire, turned it over, and set it down. The cross didn’t appear to affect him until I spotted a burn mark quickly develop on his palm as he put the cross back where he found it. The mark wouldn’t heal as quickly as a regular vampire injury, according to the journal. Interesting, a little piece of info to tuck into the little box locked away in my brain that was becoming overstuffed with things possibly able to hurt the vampires and werewolves. A girl had to know how to protect herself with all the scary beings lurking about these days.
“The conflicts among the covens are of no concern to you. Kieran is confident the wolves are keeping an eye on you until he is more available to do the job himself. He only offered to have you spend the evening in his company, with people he trusts, because the wolves are not able to watch over you this night. Knights will be sent to watch over you while you participate in these plans you have made.”
I stood in front of Aaron and put my hands on my hips. “That’s not necessary, and besides, I’ll be with my very human sister, so you and your vampire Knights will stay far away from us. She doesn’t know anything about you, or me, for that matter. So you won’t be going and making a scene where we are and letting her know about you, us. And I’m not asking.” My arms crossed over my chest in emphasis.
Now it was Aaron’s turn to take an aggressive stance. “Sydney, do not confuse yourself into thinking you can dictate to the vampires what we will and will not do when it comes to you and your safety. Some of the tribulations our covens are dealing with involves a rather large nest of rogue vampires in the area. Until we know for certain what the intentions of these rogues are that have recently moved into the area and started to cause us problems, we or the wolves will always be watching over you, regardless of your desires on the matter.”
Now there are rogue vampires and rogue werewolves? And they all might be hunting me? Great, just what a girl wanted to hear. Yeah, thanks, Mom, for insisting on my move to Kenosha. Going out with Brianna, who knew nothing of what was going on, without some sort of protection would be foolish. Everyone kept talking about powers that were at the Selected’s disposal. Exploring them in a darkly lit nightclub with unsuspecting humans all around didn’t sound like a good idea if we were attacked, and as of yet, none of the powers had risen to my attention. In fact, these powers had yet to prove themselves to me that they even existed, especially if, and when, they were needed.
“I’m supposed to go out with my sister tonight for a few drinks and some dancing. One Knight, meaning one, uno, a single, solitary vampire will be allowed to watch over us so we can have a semi-normal evening out. My sister doesn’t know vampires and werewolves exist, and none of you are going to be the ones to tell her. Got it?”
“Your wishes are clear. Your requirements will, of course, be discussed with Kieran as he will be the one deciding how many Knights he sends to watch over you, no matter what you want. You may do well to keep that in mind. What Kieran dictates encompasses your will as well, not just the vampires of his coven. Your wants are not our priority. Whatever Kieran says is what goes. It will be Kieran who decides who is assigned to you this evening while you and your sister enjoy your adventures.”
I didn’t like the sneer in his eyes when he said that last bit.
Aaron took one more glance around the store, ran a finger along one of the shelves and inspected it intently. I was glad I had dusted and that there was nothing for him to fault me on my lack of care with cleaning.
Then he said with clear disdain, “They will be waiting for you and your sister to leave your house. They will also follow you to your house once you have closed down your little store. Do not try and shake them. They will be there only for your and your sister’s protection. If they feel you are in harm’s way, you will be removed from the situation and brought to safety. Do you understand?”
The message was clear. Kieran was planning on running my world, telling me what do. That was not acceptable. But I’m a level-headed person, most of the time, so it would be foolish to refuse his offer for someone to watch over my sister and keep her safe while she was with me.
The black sedan sat parked inconspicuously down the road from where Aunt Judith’s driveway met the street. It was fairly easy to spot, and when my headlights flashed across the car, more than one person’s silhouette shown inside. Kieran must have felt it necessary to send more Knights than was agreed upon. So much for telling him how it was going to be. Aaron had explained that a Knight in the vampire realm was similar to a bodyguard who watched over important government figures in my world, which was fast becoming integrated with theirs. Their responsibilities also included the safekeeping and transportation of the Selected, among other things.
I parked my car next to Brianna’s and went into the house.
Aunt Judith was waiting for me inside, just past the front door. “Sydney, we need to talk. There have been new developments you should know about before you go out into the night.” She glanced toward the door leading to the kitchen.
I really didn’t like the sound of that. How much could a girl take in one day?
“What sort of developments?”
Aunt Judith leaned in and, as quietly as she could, said, “Meredith called me early this evening. She said there were some sort of attacks on humans, and the police are unable to determine the cause of death on the poor souls. The bodies were found in a dumpster behind the shopping plaza on 60
th
Street. Sydney, the bodies were mutilated, as if a werewolf attacked them, but there was not a single drop of blood left in the bodies.”
My gut felt like a ball of lead when she said there wasn’t a drop of blood left. That must mean the attacks were made by vampires. But from what Blake had said, vampires didn’t mutilate the bodies of their victims, and they rarely ever killed humans. If the attacks were made by werewolves, which would explain the part about the bodies being mutilated, how were the bodies completely drained since that wasn’t the wolves’ way of doing business? The problem was it was a full moon outside, so either set of rogues could be the guilty party. But the presentation of the crimes didn’t fit either, specifically. I assumed by Aunt Judith’s quiet voice that Brianna was in the kitchen.
I put my hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring, but gentle, squeeze. “Please don’t worry. Kieran assigned some of his men to watch over us tonight. I’m not going to let these attacks get in the way of taking my little sister out on the town for some seriously needed girl time. She needs to have fun and let loose.”
When she looked at me like a crazy person was talking to her, I knew what she was thinking. Brianna made sure there was always a lot of fun in her life.
“Michael couldn’t explain why he wasn’t able to be with her tonight, so she’s quite hurt and confused. I’m going to take her out so she can get her mind off of him. If anyone tries anything, I’m betting the vampires assigned to watch over us won’t let anything happen to either her or me.”
Aunt Judith followed me into the kitchen where we found Brianna digging into her favorite Tiger Claw ice cream right out of the container. She was using my favorite ice cream spoon, the one that heated and made the ice cream perfectly soft and ready to be eaten. The smell of the caramel and chocolate that were swirled throughout the ice cream was enticing me.
Being able to smell the distinct ingredients separately made me pause. My sniffer hadn’t exactly been super sensitive before. Was being the Selected the cause? Come to think of it, the wonderful, individual aromas floating in the air at Morris’ house should have been my first clue something had definitely changed.
Brianna lifted her spoon toward us in greeting before scooping up a large glob and shoving it into her mouth. Over to my left, the tantalizing aroma of spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove drew me over to investigate. I took a deep breath. It was wonderful separating and appreciating the different seasonings: garlic, salt, oregano, butter? I didn’t know she put butter in her sauce. Nothing beat a warm meal of Italian food when the weather was freezing cold outside. No matter how many layers you put on, the cold air still stung right to the skin. Hot chocolate was a close second.
Aunt Judith dished me up a heaping pile of noodles topped off with sauce and a slab of garlic bread covered with melted cheese, and we sat at the table together.
We all sat there in silence while Brianna sulked in her ice cream, and every last bit of my sauce was mopped up with the garlic bread. Aunt Judith always waited for me to get done with the store to have dinner ready. Pasta was my favorite food to eat in preparation for a night on the town.
Aunt Judith was the first to break the silence. “Brianna, your mother called today, wondering when you were planning on making the trip back home. She mentioned that she may be going on a vacation with your father and wanted to know if you would watch the house for a while.”
“I have to talk to Michael and make sure he’ll be ready, but I’m pretty sure we’re leaving sometime tomorrow afternoon.” After mentioning Michael, Brianna’s eyebrows cinched together, and she stuffed another heaping spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. Yeah, she definitely needed some distracting tonight. Hopefully Michael would figure out a better way of explaining his absence in the future than him just having ‘stuff’ to do. It was hard watching my usually over cheery sister mope and sulk because he wasn’t around.
While rinsing off the spaghetti sauce and breadcrumbs from my plate and putting it into the dishwasher, they continued their light chatter. It was time to get ready for a night of drinking and dancing. After showering, I wrapped an oversized, fluffy, purple bath towel around me and went over to the bathroom window facing the front of the house to take a peak. The black sedan was still parked in the same spot as before.
Closing the drapes to cover the window, all of a sudden my blood pressure plummeted to what felt like nothing. Lightheaded and dizzy weren’t strong enough words to describe how I felt. The overwhelming sense of sickening heat sucked the air from my lungs and dropped me to my knees. It became unbearably hot in the bathroom, and moving to the door to open it was nearly impossible. Cold air, that would make me feel better.
The feeling was similar to when Blake had come into the store and then again at the werewolf den. But there was a distinct difference. This time, the heat was not warm and welcoming like Blake’s. It was tainted with a toxin. The nearby wolf must be a random rogue in the area. There hadn’t been enough time since becoming the Selected for me to know if it made a difference since the moon was currently full and high in the sky compared to being near a wolf in their human form when there wasn’t a full moon. But whoever the wolf was, they definitely didn’t belong to Morris’ pack. From the sickening feeling the rogue was causing me, they had harmful intentions toward the occupants of our house.
Vampires were unable to sense the presence of a werewolf unless they were in the same enclosed vicinity with each other. That was another reason the wolves and vampires each wanted me on their side. That was besides each of their prophecies, of which neither sounded good to me. It was the first time I’d felt the presence of either, with them on the outside and me on the inside of a building. Was it possible my sensing abilities were growing already?
I opened the bathroom door and immediately started to feel better. The air was starting to cool down while I stayed slumped on my knees, gulping in the fresh air from the hallway. What did it mean, having a rogue werewolf prowling around the house? Why would they come so close to my home?
Well, they weren’t going to ruin my night with Brianna. After a few more minutes, the nausea and feverish wave faded, allowing me to stand again without dropping to the floor. The urge to vomit dinner all over the white tiled floor of the bathroom wasn’t as strong. Whoever the rogue was must have seen the car with the vampire Knights waiting outside, and decided whatever they wanted wasn’t worth the trouble the Knights promised if they tried to enter the house. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing having them close at hand after all.
It didn’t take long to get ready. I quickly blow dried my hair, applied a fresh layer of makeup, dressed, and then finished with my straightening iron. I took a final look at my refection to make sure everything was where it should be. The dark circles under my eyes seemed a little less puffy with a new layer of foundation on and some fresh eye shadow with a hint of mascara.
