Burn Like Fire (16 page)

Chapter 32

Anna sat on the living room couch with Austin, her legs crossed away from him, as they waited for Dan and Lexi to meet them to discuss their plan. Austin reached over and grabbed her hand, and Anna locked her fingers between his.

Anna hoped that Austin wouldn’t notice that her grip on his hand wasn’t as firm as it normally was, but he must have been pretty perceptive because he asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Anna replied, without even glancing over to look at him. She exhaled nervously. She wasn’t sure how she was ever going to tell him that she didn’t want to become a vampire, but she knew it was something they were going to need to discuss soon—preferably
before
he asked her to become one.

“Anna—” Austin started to say, but luckily, at that moment, the French doors that opened into the living room were flung open and Lexi and Dan came inside.

“Hey, guys,” Lexi said, plopping down on the couch across from them. “So, did you come up with anything yet?”

Anna shook her head. “No . . . and I’m not sure that there’s really all that much to plan about. All we need to do is go to Huntington.” After she said it, Anna was afraid that she’d sounded too harsh; Lexi and Dan both gave her strange looks.

“We have more to think about than just that,” Austin said. “We need to think about what we’re going to do if this attack is as bad as it sounds . . . or if we become the main target.”

“We already know we will be the main targets,” Anna replied. “But you keep insisting that we need to go, anyway, so we are. We’ll take stakes and matches, but what more is there for us to plan?”

Dan tapped his finger against his chin. “She’s got a point. We can’t really do that much to prepare besides take all the supplies we can.”

“I guess.” Austin looked like he wanted to disagree, but he didn’t seem to want to go there at that moment.

Lexi cleared her throat. “I made a decision, guys. I know my dad and you,” she said, turning to Dan, “don’t want me to go to Huntington, but I’m going to go anyway.”

“No, Lexi, I don’t think—” Dan started to protest.

She tossed her hands up in the air to halt him from saying anything else. “Look, you might not like it, but I need to go with my gut on this one, okay?” She paused before adding, “My mom . . . she told me that even if I need to break a promise, I should trust my instincts. So, I’m going to break my promise to my dad because I feel like I need to be there with you. I can’t just sit back on the sidelines and wait to see what happens later on. I need to be there with all of you.”

Dan sighed, but he didn’t say anything.

“I think you should come, Lexi,” Anna said. “I know nobody wants you to get hurt, but is it even possible for you to get that hurt now? It’s not like they can kill you.”

“We don’t really know the extent of my immortality. We’re not sure if there’s a way I can die, like vampires can. I don’t think there is . . . but I also know that I can experience pain. I’m pretty sure Belinda did, at least.” Lexi shrugged, pulling her golden blonde hair into a ponytail. “It doesn’t matter, though. I can handle a little pain, if it comes down to that. I’m coming with you guys, whether you like it or not.”

“Well, I, for one, am happy about that,” Austin said. “I think you should come with us. We need as many strong fighters as we can get. Hell, I think even Gabe should come with us.”

“Yeah, he’s already got plenty of experience in killing,” Dan commented, but Anna couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or serious.

Anna bit her tongue; she didn’t want to tell everyone the way she felt. She couldn’t help it, though; she didn’t think Gabe was all that awful. She knew that what he had done to Lexi was bad. It wasn’t right for him to kill Justin. But . . . he was still Gabe. He had been there so much for all of them that Anna couldn’t help but think that maybe they should forgive him. Or that they should at least be nicer to him than they had been.

It had been a nice gesture for Dan to be willing to allow Gabe to come to his family’s house, but . . . Gabe had to know that no one was all that enthusiastic about it. How could he think otherwise? No one seemed to want to talk to him the whole car ride here, and he was staying on an entirely separate floor of the house than the rest of them. He had to feel segregated from them all.

“So, are we all settled then with our plan?” Anna questioned. “We leave tomorrow morning for Huntington, and deal with everything as it happens.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Lexi agreed.

Dan nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

Austin shrugged. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Good,” Anna replied. “On that note, I’m going to go hang out in our room until Caroline and I start dinner in another hour.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Austin questioned.

Anna shook her head. “No, I just need some time to myself.” She stood up and left the room, not bothering to look back even though she could feel Austin’s eyes burning a hole through the back of her head as she walked away.

Chapter 33

Gabe was resting on the bed in the guest room that he was staying in, trying to make sense of everything. As much as he wanted to believe that Dan’s sister was Caroline—
his Caroline
—it didn’t make any sense.

Gabe was positive that the Caroline he knew and loved had been killed in a car accident. It had been a really sad day for him. He’d been watching the local news, only to see a picture of her face. It had made his breath catch in the back of his throat to see her again after all of those years apart.

Even though, unlike him, his Caroline had aged, she had still looked like the same Caroline at the time of her death. Her blue eyes still twinkled the same way they had when she was a teenager despite the tiny wrinkles that had formed around them, and her sandy blonde hair still had that wave to it, even if it did have some gray streaks scattered throughout.

And then he’d heard the newscaster announce that Caroline and her husband, along with their two children, had been killed in the accident. It had been a head-on collision with a truck driver from Alabama.

Caroline had been pronounced dead. So, how was it possible for
his Caroline
to be downstairs right now?

It wasn’t possible, Gabe decided. It would be too good to be true, but it didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t possible for a woman to resurrect herself from the dead and go back to looking the same way she did during her teenage years . . .
was it
?

No, it wasn’t possible. As much as Gabe wished that it was possible, he knew it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. All of the similarities that he recognized between Dan’s sister, Caroline, and the Caroline whom he had once loved were nothing more than a remarkable coincidence.

It wasn’t uncommon for people to look alike. Gabe had learned that over the years. He’d seen the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the people he had once known when they were kids, and they were a spitting image of their ancestors.

And so what if Caroline Nichols enjoyed playing the piano, too? Plenty of people played the piano. It was probably one of the most popular instruments.

Besides, Caroline Nichols probably wasn’t half the piano player the Caroline he’d loved was. He could still remember the first time he’d ever heard her play . . .

The church was dark when Gabe entered the room. It was somewhat of an unfamiliar place to him. Even though his mother had raised him as a Christian, they didn’t go to church regularly.

Now that he was a vampire, Gabe wasn’t sure that he really belonged inside one of God’s temples, though. He believed, in his heart, that if there was really a God, he would be accepting of him even if he was a vampire. It’s not as though Gabe had chosen this life for himself.

None of that mattered that day, though. He wasn’t going to the church to practice religion or to worship God. He was going to the church because Caroline had asked Gabe to meet her there because she had something to tell him.

“Hi, Gabe,” a soft voice murmured from the front of the church.

Gabe scanned the dark room for Caroline, and that’s when he saw her. She was sitting at the grand piano at the front of the church, wearing a long, light blue skirt and a matching beige sweater. Her sandy blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail and tied with a blue ribbon at the nape of her neck.

The only thing Gabe could think about was that she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.

“Caroline,” Gabe murmured, inching closer to her. He brushed a hand against one of her cheeks, and it felt like his body was struck by an electric jolt. Caroline was the first girl he had ever loved, and the chemistry they shared with one another still amazed him every time they touched.

He leaned over and planted a small kiss against Caroline’s lips and then glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were truly alone. Caroline’s father, Reverend Nicholas, never would have approved if he saw them here together. After he’d heard the rumors about Gabe—that he was a vampire—he had strictly forbade Caroline from seeing him any longer.

When Gabe was sure that no one else was in the quiet church with them, he turned back to Caroline. He was about to take her in his arms and kiss her again, when she shook her head.

“Gabe, this isn’t what I came here for,” Caroline explained. “I-I wanted you to meet me here so I could show you something.”

“What is it?” Gabe questioned, feeling his curiosity peak. What could Caroline have to show him in secret? A perverse thought had run through his mind, but he quickly shook it away. They were in a church; surely there was no way Caroline was going to show him her body and let go of all her innocence here.

“It’s this,” Caroline said, motioning to the piano. She lifted her fingers to the keyboard and began to play a song.

Gabe listened as she stroked each chord, the music echoing throughout the church. He was positive that he had never heard the song before; it was a mixture of happy and sad—the perfect bittersweet melody.

Even though he knew Caroline loved to play the piano, it was the first time Gabe had ever heard her play. It became obvious to him, in those short minutes, how talented she really was.

When Caroline finished playing her song, she glanced at him. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s beautiful,” Gabe replied matter-of-factly. “Just like you.”

A blush blossomed on Caroline’s pale cheeks. “Thank you.”

“Who is the composer?” Gabe asked.

“Well, that’s the thing,” Caroline replied, slowly. “I wrote the song.”

“You did?” Gabe felt his own eyes widen, surprised to learn that the love of his life wasn’t just an excellent pianist, but she was also a fabulous composer, too.

Caroline nodded. “I wrote it for you, Gabe.”

“That’s the nicest thing someone’s ever done for me.”

Darting her eyes away from him, Caroline lowered her head. “Do you want to know what it’s about?”

“You mean, it’s not about me?” Gabe asked, jokingly.

Caroline met his eyes. “It’s about the type of love that you think you can’t live without, but that you know you can’t live with, either. It’s about the love that you lose because there’s no other way.”

Gabe felt his stomach turn, and a shiver crept up his cold vampire spine. All of the happiness that he’d felt before suddenly left his body. “What exactly are you saying, Caroline?”

“I’m saying that it’s over, Gabe.”

“But I love you,” Gabe protested. “And I know you love me, too. That love has to count for something . . . doesn’t it?”

“It’s not because I don’t love you because I do love you. I love you more than I ever thought myself capable of loving someone. But I can’t do this anymore. No one will ever be able to understand the love that we have for one another.” Caroline paused, long enough to stare into his eyes. “I’ll carry you in my heart forever, Gabe, but from this moment on, I can no longer be with you.”

“Gabe, it’s time for dinner!” Dan shouted from downstairs, snapping Gabe out of the memory of what had happened so long ago.

Gabe planted his legs on the ground and stood up. Even though he still didn’t understand the point of why it was so necessary for him to eat dinner (considering that, as a vampire, he didn’t even require food and his human taste buds had died many years ago), he wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to be in the same room as Caroline.

Even if Dan’s sister, Caroline, wasn’t the same Caroline who he once loved, there was no doubt that she intrigued him. There were enough similarities between her and his Caroline for him to believe that, under the right circumstances, he would be able to love her, too.

Maybe Caroline Nichols was just the distraction that he needed.

In fact, he realized, he hadn’t thought of Lexi at all since he’d laid eyes on Caroline. Part of Gabe was even starting to feel happy for Lexi; he knew from his own personal experience that it wasn’t often that you found true love. At first, he had been bitter that it wasn’t him, but all that mattered was that Lexi had found someone who could fulfill her needs the way he had originally hoped to.

Yes, he was happy for her. Even if things didn’t work out with Caroline, Gabe knew now that he and Lexi were over. He had to move on.

It felt like he already
had
moved on.

Once he descended the staircase and was in the kitchen, where Anna and Lexi were carrying plates of food to the dining room table, Gabe glanced around the room. He was about to panic because he didn’t see her right away, but then he spotted her.

Caroline was standing in the foyer, examining her hair in the mirror that was hanging from the w
all. When she saw his reflecting staring into the mirror at her, Caroline turned around and smiled at him. “Hi, Gabe.”

“Hi,” Gabe murmured, just as Dan came up behind him. “I hate to interrupt you guys, but it’s time for dinner.”

Caroline kept her eyes locked on Gabe’s and said, “Okay, Danny. We’re coming.” Glancing over her shoulder to keep her eyes locked on Gabe’s, she led him to the dining room. “Here, you can sit across from me,” she told him, pulling out one of the chairs for him at the table.

“Okay,” Gabe agreed. He wasn’t about to object—sitting across the table from her made it seem perfectly normal for him to stare at her; it would mean she was in his field of vision. The last thing he needed was Dan wondering why he had such an interest in his sister. Even though Dan was allowing him to stay at his house, Gabe knew that he still didn’t like—or trust—him.

Gabe slid into the chair and watched as Lexi sat down next to Caroline. Dan sat next to her, with Austin sitting at the very end of the table.

“Here you go.” Anna passed a tray of rolls to Gabe as she sat down next to him.

Gabe took a roll and placed it on his plate, just to be polite. When he glanced up, he found that Caroline—and Lexi—were both staring at him.

“Gabe, have you thought about where you’re going to go now that Rhonda is gone? Are you coming back to Huntington with us?” Lexi questioned, obviously trying to make conversation.

Gabe shrugged. “I haven’t thought about it. I’m just relieved that she’s gone.” And that was the truth. Now that he was finally free of her mind-control, all he felt was an overwhelming sense of relief. It felt like he could be himself again, instead of constantly being influenced by her.

“Who’s Rhonda?” Caroline questioned, meeting his gaze. Gabe wasn’t positive, but he could have sworn that he picked up on a note of jealousy in her voice.

“This crazy girl,” Anna explained. “She was a vampire, and she was pretty powerful. She could control everyone’s mind. And she was in love with Gabe, so she was always trying to force him into things that he didn’t want to do.”

“Oh, wow,” Caroline murmured. “And she’s dead now?”

Anna nodded. “Yeah, Lexi killed her.”

“Anna!” Austin objected. “We’re not supposed to tell anyone.”

“Oh, come on. It’s just Dan’s sister,” Anna insisted. “You won’t tell anyone, will you, Caroline?”

“Of course not. Your secret’s safe with me.” Caroline turned to Lexi and smiled. “Good job
killing her
.”

Just seeing Caroline smile made Gabe smile inside.

*

Once dinner was over, Gabe sat in the living room with Austin, who was doing a crossword puzzle to pass the time. Even though Austin had been talking to him a little, he seemed different now, and Gabe was sure it was because Austin knew that he had killed Justin.

So, when Gabe heard the sound of piano music drifting from another room in his house, he had immediately jumped to his feet and followed the sound. As he got closer to it, he realized that he recognized the bittersweet melody; it was the same song
his
Caroline had played for him.

Gabe felt a sick feeling form in the pit of his stomach. There was no way this Caroline would be
able to find the notes in a songbook or anything; as far as Gabe knew, his Caroline’s song had never gone any further than the church where she’d first played it for him.

This only made him believe even more that this Caroline was, absolutely, no doubt in his mind, his Caroline. Someway, somehow, she had found a way back to him.

When Gabe entered the common room, where the music was coming from, he watched as Caroline played the piano. She sat just as gracefully as his Caroline had, her blonde, highlighted hair pulled loosely into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. Her arms looked strong as her fingers stroked the piano keys.

Gabe stood in front of her and noticed that her eyes were closed. He stood there, watching her with admiration, until she finished playing the song.

Once the music stopped, Caroline’s eyes popped open. There was a look of surprise in her sky blue irises. “Oh, I didn’t even know you were standing there,” she said, her cheeks flushing.

“You play really well.”

“Thank you.” Caroline glanced down at her hands nervously.

“Who’s it by?” Gabe questioned, curious to see if the composer was, in fact, his Caroline.