Crimson Groves (27 page)

“You remember Britney’s friends, don’t you?” Stone asked. “Will they be in our way if they’re in here?”

“I knew Mac and Sara were here somewhere. Have they already been bitten?”

He gave a graceful shrug. “No, not yet. Would you like to?”

“Sounds good to me.”

He let go of me to open the door. As we walked in, our boots crunched the rotted floors. Sara and Mac were laughing about something but quickly stopped once they saw me and Stone. They were sitting on the sofa on the left side of the room, and Stone and I sat down across from them.

A big smile stretched across Mac’s face. “Hey Stone! Hey Anna!” he exclaimed. “We were just waiting for the first round of vampires, wasn’t expecting it to be you two.” He was wearing faded blue jeans and a dark gray tee. Shadows danced on his face making his auburn hair look black.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Stone snickered, “but Anna and I will have to do.”

Without hesitation Mac responded, “No disappointment at all. Was wondering if I’d ever get a chance to have Anna.” He leaned forward and tugged at his tee, evening out some of the wrinkles. “Britney always gets her and never shares.”

Sara couldn’t have looked more disappointed if she’d tried. She slumped back in the sofa, bottom lip plumped out, pouting. Her honey blond hair was tied in a ponytail with lots of wispy strands flowing freely around her face. Her oversized gray sweater threatened to swallow her up. A pair of jeans and a white V-neck tee completed her look.

“I was kinda hoping to get Sara this time,” I said through a smile.

Sara swung an astonished look at me. Mac looked like a deer standing in front of bright headlights.

“That sounds great,” Mac replied, his voice stained. “Sara, you should take her up on that offer.”

She nodded. “Thank you, Anna.”

“You’re welcome.”

Sara’s blood was incredible. It wasn’t quite as fresh as Britney’s (that first time I drank from her), but it was close. I sucked and gulped until my appetite was satisfied. Then I licked her neck one last time to seal the wound and gently laid her to the side. I went back to the other sofa, while Stone was still drinking from the vein in Mac’s arm. Did the blood flow as freely from there? I would have to try that sometime.

Waiting for Stone to finish left me with nothing to do but think. And the only thing on my mind was the grueling night ahead. When I got to Lily, would Bronx be hiding or would he instantly reveal himself to me? Would he be surprised that I would show up, alone and ready to destroy him?

I reached up to fondle the thick silver chain hugging my neck.
Abby, you’re a liar and not worthy to be with such a nice guy!
I scolded myself. Tyler would kill me if he found out. He’d done nothing but help me since the day we met. Which was part of the reason I was going alone tonight. I cared very deeply for him—so much I didn’t want to see him get hurt. But did I love him? The attraction was undeniable and I wanted to say those three precious words to him. But did any of that even matter? After tonight, everything would be different, except the fact that he was a human and I was a night-living creature.

Stone sat down beside me, pulling me out of those heavy thoughts. “So what can I do for you tonight?” he asked, satisfaction from a delicious meal spread out across his face.

Time to lie some more and hope he’d ask to taste me. “I feel horrible for bringing Tyler here. I want to apologize for that. He just doesn’t fit in with our kind.”

He flashed me one of those “I told you so” looks. “Oh Abby, didn’t I already tell you that?” He let out a burst of laughter. “Now please tell me you no longer require his attention.”

“I wish it were that easy. You know, to just shut off your feelings.” My fingers traced along my collarbone, nervously tugged at some brown strands. “Shouldn’t stuff like that be easier now?”

Stone’s eyebrows arched up, wrinkles forming in between them. He rubbed my back sympathetically. “It should be easier but it isn’t.”

“Well hopefully I can get an ability that makes it easier.”

He didn’t respond at first. He watched me with a heavy fascination, shaking his head. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need. We can work on controlling your pyrokinesis and then I’ll go with you to end this bullcrap with Bronx. We’ll destroy him together. Nothing would bring me more satisfaction than seeing him perish.”

Giving him a mild shrug, I said, “That sounds nice. Thank you.”

Stone’s eyes lit up. “So you’re moving in as of tonight?”

That question rattled me a little. I really did need somewhere to go, some place safe and preferably with other vampires so I could learn more about my kind. Tyler would never forgive me for what I was about to do in Florida, but would Stone hold a grudge? Would this invitation still be here for me once he found out? “I don’t know. I have a lot to figure out tonight. I’m not really sure how it will go with Tyler.”

“Well, the invitation is always open.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m sorry to ask this,” Stone said, voice sounding cautious. He looked down at his lap for a moment and then back at me. “Did he promise to keep our secret, or is your arrangement with him compromised?”

“Our secret is safe. There’s nothing to worry about. He’s known about our kind for a while now. Please don’t make that an issue.”

Stone smiled gently, nodding. “I won’t mention it again.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it. He should ask to taste me any moment now, just any second. The anxiety was almost unbearable, Stone’s lips trailing away from my hand, grazing across my wrist. “Just a little taste before you go? Maybe we will discover a new ability?”

Bingo! I nodded with a smile, hoping he couldn’t sense my relief and excitement.

His fangs punctured my skin, sinking into me. The room started shifting and warping, just like it had every time before. Then I felt it creeping through me, Stone’s powerful attempt to dig out my deepest darkest mysteries. I concentrated hard to block it. I felt it swirling at the edge of my mind and yet I was able to stop its invasion inside. It reminded me of when Bronx tried to use his persuasion on me at Pulse. I deflected his power then, and I was doing the same with Stone’s now. I was really doing it!

Stone kept sucking down my blood. I could sense his desperation to penetrate beyond my shield, but he wasn’t making a bit of progress. “Stone, that’s enough,” I said with a small voice. When he didn’t stop I repeated it louder, but instead of stopping, he just sucked harder. I tried to pull away from him but his grip was firm, and I couldn’t budge an inch. Why wouldn’t he stop? He was taking too much blood! Shadows lurked in my surroundings; my eyes struggled to focus. “Stone, stop! You’re hurting me.” The sound of my voice was strained and weak. It scared me to hear that.

I wobbled back and forth. The room got darker. Stone’s grip tightened as my body gave way and fell backwards. The sofa started to swallow me up. Maybe that would be better than Stone draining me dry. And that was the last thought to cross my mind before my consciousness faded away.

Something felt wet, warm, and tangy as it drizzled down my throat. It was quenching my hunger and restoring my energy. It somewhat reminded me of the time that I died as a human, but without bright lights or any type of euphoria. Surprisingly, it was easy to focus when I opened my eyes. The sleeve of Stone’s gray button-up shirt was rolled up his forearm, and his wrist was pressing down on top of my mouth. Relief flashed across his face when we made eye contact.

“Abby, my God, are you okay?” he asked. His voice was frantic, like he was out of breath.

Reluctant to stop drinking, I nodded my head. As I lay there, memories began swirling.
Lily! Crap! How long was I out?
Instantly sitting up and pushing Stone’s arm out of my way, I gasped, “How long? How long was I out?”

Flashing an astonished look at me he answered, “Not long, about ten minutes or so. Are you okay? What the hell happened?”

“I don’t…I don’t know.” I nervously rubbed my face, around my lips, above my eyes, as I tried to make sense of what just happened.

Stone reached over and gave my hand a tight squeeze. His face was filled with concern and worry. “I wasn’t able to read your blood. That’s never happened to me before.” He shook his head and then gazed deep into my eyes. “Then I felt you try to pull away. I tried to stop drinking from you but I couldn’t. Something came over me. I don’t know how to explain it. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m fine, I think.” But I was more than fine. I was ecstatic! I’d blocked Stone’s ability, which meant I could do the same to Bronx when I saw him tonight. He wouldn’t have any mind-controlling advantage now.

“Abby,” Stone murmured, “I was so scared that I hurt you.”

“It’s okay. I’m okay. Maybe tonight is just not my night. I’m stressed out. There’s so much on my mind.” Pulling my hand free of Stone’s grasp, I stood up and took a couple steps toward the door. “I should probably go.”

In a flash Stone was beside me, his body between the door and me. “But we don’t know what happened! What if that, whatever it was, happens again?” His voice was fast and heated.

A few soft moans erupted from Mac, reminding me that Sara and he were still in the room. I looked up into Stone’s worry-filled eyes. I sensed just how much he cared about me and how much tonight just scared him. His concern weighed heavy on my heart, and I was very thankful to have him as a friend. And that motivated me even more to keep him out of my messy situation. I grabbed his hand, gently squeezed it. “I’ll be back soon. Promise. Please don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”

He stretched his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. “All right. You better return soon. And you better be okay.”

I hugged him back and then walked out of the back room. He didn’t follow right away. Muffled voices grew louder as I made my way into the bar area. It was busier than when I’d first arrived—so busy that some were standing because there weren’t enough places to sit. That made it very easy for me to slip right out of the pub without one word from Britney or the vampires she was sitting with. I was thankful for that, since my mind was working overtime rejoicing in my success and worrying about why Stone couldn’t stop drinking from me. And more importantly, what if something like that happened again when encountering Bronx in just a few short hours?

19

Caught

I RAN WITH IMMEASURABLE speed through the night, heading back to Florida, back into the mouth of the monster that made me. I tried to stay focused on my primary goal: save Lily, kill Bronx. It was useless to worry about things I didn’t understand or couldn’t control. There would be no reason for Bronx to drink my blood. That wasn’t the way his mind-control gift worked. And the last time I blocked Bronx’s powers, nothing had happened to me at all. The only reason I got weak and fainted back at the pub was because Stone couldn’t stop drinking from me. Perhaps I just needed to practice that new ability of mine a little more.

I zipped past the Georgia-Florida line in about an hour. The chilly air swept against my face as my feet swiftly proceeded through the heavily treed forest. There was an odd growling noise coming from somewhere ahead of me. I slowed my pace and closed my eyes. I should be able to quickly sense what’s up there and then get back on my way. But I couldn’t identify the scent. As I got closer, the growling got louder. Then some bushes nearby started rustling. My eyes followed the sound. It was close, just a few yards in front of me. But there was still no scent. I froze in my tracks, seized by fear. But what could I, a vampire, be afraid of? Surely whatever hid behind those bushes was nothing that could overpower me.

When human, I’d loved animals, which I still did, but it wasn’t the same since all of them were terrified of me. Regaining my confidence, I slowly started toward the bushes. The sooner I unveiled what hid behind them, the sooner I could get moving.
What brave animal could possibly be hiding back here?
I thought as I inched closer, slow and steady, careful not to make a sound. But one of my steps was off and it crunched down on a pile of dead leaves. Instantly, the bushes stopped shaking. An eerie feeling crept over me, that kind where you know you’re not alone. My ears tweaked, my nose twitched. Nothing. No scent. No sound. The little voice inside my head was screaming,
just run. Get out of there!
In a full-blown panic, I jumped back away from the bushes and began to flash away.

Out of nowhere, something hit me—no, collided into me—and I fell hard to the ground, landing on my face. Molten coppery liquid mixed with dirt and cracked leaves filled my mouth.
What hit me?
Facing the ground, I used my hands to push up, but as I did something hard rammed into my stomach. I gasped in pain as it rammed me again, causing me to spit the dirty blood from my mouth. I felt pressure on my back, like something was on top of me, smashing me harder into the ground below.

Where are my powers? Where are my advanced strength and senses? Damn it! Did blocking Stone’s powers cause me to become powerless?
Multiple failed attempts to use my pyrokinesis only led me to mental exhaustion. I desperately tried to lift up again, pushing as hard as I could. Nothing. What could possibly be holding me down? I tried again to get up but still couldn’t budge. Maybe if I could get a glimpse of what the hell was holding me down, I could figure out how to get it off. Straining, I turned my head to the side, and as I did pain shot through the back of my neck, torturous, agonizing, throbbing. Something was trying to rip off my head!