Bring Me to Life (20 page)

Bryna opened her mouth to retort, but Vincent beat her to it.

“Only, he’s standing right here,” he said in mock surprise. “And he doesn’t like being turned into an undead asshole.”

Shawn’s eyes widened as he slowly turned in the booth. He blinked and looked up, and then up again. “She said you were dead.”

“I’m standing here, aren’t I?”

Shawn scooted back on the seat and pressed his back up against the wall. “How do I know she didn’t put you up to saying this?”

*

Vincent leaned down and put his face right in Shawn’s. It wasn’t that he cared about being turned into a fictional vampire, because he didn’t. It had everything to do with how upset it made Bryna. No matter how much he was supposed to let go of his life before he’d ever be able to find a favorable judgment, he couldn’t forsake anything that would make her life easier. He let the ethereal glow of power flow through him and illuminate his eyes. “Listen, asshole, I was murdered by a vampire. I’ve been sent back to fix all the mistakes in Bryna’s life.” He paused and waited a beat for Felix to show up and strike him down for the blatant lie, but when his boss didn’t materialize, he continued. “Guess what you classify as?”

Shawn whimpered and tried to scramble back further only to end up smacking his head off the wall. He whimpered again. “Hey, man, vampires are hot in fiction. Her story sparked an idea. I wasn’t trying to do nothing wrong, honest!”

Vincent was quiet for a moment as he decided how to make this better for Bryna. The book was already published and already a bestseller. The cat couldn’t be put back into the bag. “How close to Bryna is your main character?”

Shawn winced.

Vincent nodded. “I thought so. This is what you’re going to do.” He sat down in the booth next to Shawn and gave a wide grin. “You’re going to finish your series and every bit of profit you make from each book sold will go toward the charity you’re going to create.”

Shawn’s voice trembled. “And which charity is that?”

Vincent’s eyes moved to Bryna and then back to Shawn. “One that helps people overcome and recover from tragic life events.” He patted the other man on the shoulder. “I’ll leave the logistics to you, but know that I can and I will check up on you to make sure you’ve done it. If it’s not a fully functioning charity by my next birthday, you’ll get to meet a real vampire.” Then his hand curled around the base of Shawn’s skull and he transferred the image of what real vampires were.

Shawn shrieked as Vincent let him go. Vincent got out of the booth and wrapped his hand around Bryna’s. He gave a cheerful smile. “You can write about this, if you want.” He nodded to the wide-eyed brunette in the booth across from Shawn, and then tugged Bryna into motion. “Did you want one of those death by chocolate drinks you used to like so much?”

She blinked twice at him with total confusion.

He shrugged and led her out of the café. By the time they got to the car she was sputtering. “What the hell did you just do?”

“Scared the ever-loving hell out of him and made something good come out of our ordeal.”

Bryna snapped her mouth shut, she studied him for a long moment before letting out a breath. “Why did you pause?”

Vincent opened the driver’s side door for her. “I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did,” she said as she sat down and fished her keys out of her purse. “When you said you were fixing my life. For a second it looked like you were expecting to be hit by lightning. Why?” She started the car and waited for him to get in. After drumming her fingers on the steering wheel for a moment, she turned and looked at him. “You’re not supposed to be fixing my life, are you?”

“I’m supposed to protect you. Felix doesn’t like us lying if we don’t absolutely have to.” He glanced up, hoping the lightning strike wouldn’t come. Those hurt.

Her brow furrowed. “What exactly did this Felix tell you to do with me?”

“The assignment is to protect you.” He wanted his assignment to be going back and saving his own life, but it went against the rules. It was Felix’s number one rule. The one rule if broken that could get him sent to Hell without judgment.

“And you’re not happy about that?” Her tone bordered on hurt.

“Let’s just go talk with this Andy guy. I’m not sure I need to share my confusion right now.” And he didn’t, not until he figured out how to save her life.

“You don’t want me safe?”

Vincent closed his eyes and slumped back against the seat. No, he didn’t want to save her life. If he could keep the demon from yanking her into Oblivion, he’d be able to be with Bryna forever if she was dead. There was one couple who stayed together after death and fought evil together. It wasn’t an impossible dream—improbable, yes, but not impossible. Still, she deserved a chance at life. It didn’t matter if it was a chance he’d never get. Her needs and what was best for her should be paramount, but he was quickly starting to see the logic in Bryna’s death wish. He let out a growling huff and looked at her. “I want you with me, Bryna, but that’s not how this is supposed to work, so yeah, I want to keep you safe.”

Her teeth tugged at her bottom lip as she pulled out of the parking space and headed for the main drag. She shook her head while she waited for the light to turn green and then laughed quietly. “So if you could find a way to make my death okay for your higher-up, you’d let me keel over without lifting a finger?”

She was making fun of him. “I will do everything I need to do to protect you, Bryna, no matter what Felix wants or doesn’t want, but your track record for dying is pretty high.”

She stomped on the brake and turned to give him a look. “You’d be happy if I died?”

He rubbed at his temples. When was the last time he got a headache? Probably when he’d been alive. He growled at himself and then sighed. “Actually, we shouldn’t be having this conversation. You’re supposed to live, and what I want doesn’t factor into this.”

“But it would make you happy?” she demanded while ignoring the honking behind them.

“No. Your death would not make me happy.” And it wouldn’t, at least he didn’t think it would. He didn’t want her dead; he wanted her with him. That was the big difference.

Her brow winged up before she shook her head and started driving again. “You’re not very convincing.”

“What the hell do you want from me?” he said in an almost whining tone, so he cringed and muttered, “Damn woman.”

But Bryna was giggling. “You’re not making this death wish any easier. Seriously, what happens if I die and the demon doesn’t drag me into Oblivion?”

Vincent’s eye twitched. What would happen? As far as he was able to tell, with each of Bryna’s deaths it left a very specific demon running around. Maybe it wasn’t her death he needed to prevent so much as it was keeping her soul protected from the demon. Making that kind of speculation wasn’t going to help either of them without concrete answers. For that he was going to have to seriously investigate Caleb’s need for oatmeal raisin cookies.

“I don’t know, sunshine, but I am gonna find out.”

* * * *

A fist connected with Vincent’s jaw the second Andy’s door opened. Vincent’s head snapped to the side. He rubbed at his cheek and turned a glare on the man glowering in the door. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Zerek, another time walker and technically Vincent’s supervisor, crossed powerful arms over an equally powerful chest. “The better question is what are you doing here?”

“Andy?” Bryna said from behind Vincent. “What is wrong with you?”

Zerek’s face softened. His stance relaxed. “Giving this ass the greeting he deserves. What’s up, hot stuff?”

Bryna slipped between the two men before Vincent could lay into Zerek. “Y-you know Vincent?”

Zerek backed out of the door to let them inside his apartment. “You could say that. It’s death day, so, since you’re not at his grave, and he’s standing behind you, I’m taking it everything’s going to shit.”

This was more than odd. Vincent had known Zerek was a time walker, but he seemed to prefer to spend his time post-apocalypse instead of trying to do something to prevent it. “His name isn’t Andy.” He hooked his arm around Bryna before she could go inside.

Zerek let out a long side. “No, it’s not, but that’s how she knows me, moron. Get your ass inside before I kick it inside.”

Bryna patted Vincent’s hand. “I’ve known him almost as long as you’ve been dead. I think he’s the only reason I’m still alive today.” Bryna pulled out of Vincent’s grip and walked right over to Zerek. She poked the large man in the chest. “You ever hit him again, and I will hurt you so badly your grandchildren will feel it. Got it? And what’s your name?”

Zerek cocked his head, and then chuckled. “Zerek. So, Bryna, you’ve discovered your boyfriend is a time walker.”

“I guess. What is that exactly?” Bryna asked.

Zerek motioned for them to go sit on a thread-bare brown couch. “I’ll get some lunch. This might take a while.”

“No,” Bryna said. “You will tell me now.”

Vincent closed the door and nudged her toward the couch. “We’re a group of men and women who protect the world from things like demons and vampires.”

“And you have to be dead to do this?” Bryna demanded, still refusing to sit.

“Yes,” Vincent said as Zerek said, “No.”

Bryna made the motions of pulling her hair out. “Which is it?”

Zerek pressed his lips together and then let out a long sigh. “The two of you were supposed to figure this out on your own.” He lifted a glare at Vincent. “And you’re too goddamned goodie-goodie to be selfish enough to break fucking rules.”

“Hell.” It was the only comeback Vincent had for him. He didn’t relish the idea of fire and brimstone for the rest of eternity, and he didn’t think ending up there would help Bryna’s death wish.

Zerek shrugged. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. A little boring, if you ask me, but it’s a nice place to rest for a while.” He pointed to the couch. “Bryna, sit, and I am going to get you something to eat other than a goddamned pickle and a slice of cheese.”

Bryna sat, but if she could kill with a look Zerek would be dead. “You are making no sense. You can’t come back from Hell.”

He walked into the kitchenette, right off the main room of the studio apartment. “And people can’t come back from the dead. They can’t walk through time. And they can’t pulse energy to kill the undead. But it all happens, sweetheart, so you need to get used to the laws of physics being fucked over.”

Vincent rubbed at the back of his neck, sure this was more a lesson for him than having anything to do with Bryna. At least he knew why the vampires or demons had never flashed away with Bryna. With Zerek hanging around, they wouldn’t risk popping in where they could be killed, not to mention Bryna’s ability to pulse. “You’re alive?”

“Yep. The Argents are too. Time walkers aren’t exactly mortal, but you managed to get yourself in a bad situation when you let that vampire kill you. Please tell me he’s at least dead.”

“I killed him last night,” Vincent said. His life caused the apocalypse? But that wasn’t possible. “I’ve been dead for two hundred years.”

Zerek pulled everything needed to make a ham and cheese sandwich out of the refrigerator. “It took Felix ten years to figure out where the turning point was, and another one hundred and ninety to figure out who the key was to keep the world from going to shit.”

“It’s not Bryna, is it?”

Zerek made the sandwich in silence, and then brought it over to her on a folded paper towel. He set it down on a broken coffee table in front of Bryna and stepped up in front of Vincent. “There are a lot of people in the world who died on the day you did. Felix had a lot of shit to sort through. He kept trying to save Bryna’s life, but she kept doing stupid shit to be with you. Felix ran through every possible endgame scenario and the only one we don’t end up in a burnt-out husk of a world is the one where you didn’t get yourself killed.”

Bryna jumped up with a whoop of excitement. “I told you! I told you! Now you have to go back and save your life.”

“Eat,” Zerek snapped, he turned a glowing glare on Vincent. “And it’s not that fucking simple or one of us could have gone back in time and saved your ass when you were a kid. Once you cross the gates of Heaven or of Hell in spirit form, it’s game over.”

Vincent was sure Zerek was saying all of this just to make his brain hurt. “You were in Hell, apparently.”

“I had to go get someone for the guy higher up than Felix, but that’s entirely beside the point.” He took to pacing the length of the dilapidated coffee table. “If you’d have crossed either of those gates, we’d lose the chance to bring you back. A living time walker is a hell of lot more useful than a dead one. You can pulse and kill demons and shit all in the form you are in, but you’re not strong enough to snuff out a Hell Spawn, and that’s exactly what Draven is working for.”

“Hell Spawn?” Vincent felt like he was that almost eighteen-year-old kid again sitting in Felix’s office trying to come to terms with his death, and the possibility Bryna had betrayed him. “Why am I just hearing about this now?”

Zerek slapped a hand on his face and dragged it down before letting out a huff. “Because if you’re supposed to be dead, then you need to get rid of your damn baggage to cross the pearly gates, but since you’re not, having you cross those gates would be very bad for humans, and for your girl there.”

Vincent looked down at Bryna. She hadn’t touched her sandwich, but Vincent could have predicted that. She didn’t like ham. He drew in a controlled breath and let it out slowly. “I am missing something else. It’s not all adding up. Bryna has a powerful pulse. Can’t she kill this Hell Spawn?”

“Bryna pulsed the night you died, yes, but so did you. She took out the two vampires next to her. The rest would have killed her, but you also pulsed. Everything undead in that clearing was gone. Have you been able to achieve that kind of pulse again?”

Vincent leaned against the wall and slid down it until he was sitting on the olive-green shag carpet. “But the rule? How do I avoid Hell if I go back to save my own life?”

“Finally,” Zerek said. He picked up the sandwich and handed it to Bryna. “I don’t care if you don’t like it. Eat.”