Crimson Groves (30 page)

I belonged on my own. I tried telling Tyler that but he wouldn’t listen. He’d just pushed and nagged until I caved. Now I knew why he’d tried so hard. But what was in it for him? He couldn’t possibly just work with Bronx and not get something in return. I promised myself that if I ever got out of this mess, I’d never let my guard down again.

Tyler nervously ran his fingers through his messy hair. Oh how sexy I used to think that was. Now I’d love to rip every single strand from his head one by one. I stepped forward slowly. He flinched, stepped back, eyes wide with fear. Good! He
should
be afraid of me! I stepped forward again. He stepped back. All right, enough of this game. In the blink of an eye I was there, just an inch or two away from him.

He gasped but didn’t move this time. “Please, please let me explain. I know you don’t want to hear it and you have every right not to believe me anymore, but please at least listen to me.”

“What’s in it for you, Ty? Why are you helping him?”

He let out a deep sigh. “I am working for Bronx, yes that part is true.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know!”

“But I never expected to get feelings for you. That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“Save it,” I hissed. “You’re a liar! All of that was just part of your game.”

He threw his arms up in the air, waving them like he was shaking dirt out of a rug. “That’s not true! I care about you! I love you! I swear it!”

I rolled my eyes, glared harder at him. “Enough of that crap! Why are you helping him?”

He dropped his arms to his sides. They hung there, lifeless. “Bronx hired me several years ago after he heard about my premonitions. In exchange for my help, he paid me money, lots of money. Abby, I was broke and had nothing, and then all of a sudden this incredible offer just falls in my lap. How could I say no?” He closed his eyes slowly and then opened them. He looked desperate, pathetic. He took another deep breath and released it. “He wanted me to help find the most powerful vampire. Since most vampires don’t have special powers, it was easy to eliminate most of those found in my premonitions. But then there you were. The powers I saw you using in the future left Bronx speechless. Apparently no one had ever heard of a vampire with such extraordinary powers. He asked me to find you for him and I did. I thought my job was finished—”

“Wait a minute! I wasn’t a vampire? I wasn’t a vampire when you led him straight to me? That’s why he turned me? Because of you!” A lump formed in my throat, anger soared up my spine, and my neck got hot. I wanted to kill Tyler. I bit down hard on my bottom lip. It bled right away.

He looked down at his feet and nodded, voice soft, saying, “Yes. I led him to you.” He started crying. Fake tears that would not get any sympathy from me.

“You are worse than Bronx! You’re dead to me! You’re lucky I don’t rip you apart right now!”

He slowly raised his head up, eyes locked on mine. He lifted his hand, placed it on my shoulder. My body shuttered, and I stepped back. His hand moved with me, grabbing tighter. “I didn’t know you then. I never thought I would fall in love with you. I swear I wanted to tell you the truth, I wanted to tell you everything, but I couldn’t. I knew you would hate me if you knew—”

“And what is it I should feel for you now, Tyler? Forgiveness? Understanding? Compassion? Why the hell do you deserve that? You’re the reason I’m a monster! And you’re the reason that Bronx has me now! You! You knew how desperate I was to get away from him and yet you led him straight to me. How? How could you do that to me? That is not love!” I ripped out of his hold, walked back toward Lily. I was so angry I thought my head would blow up.

“That’s not true! I did love you! I still love you! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” He stepped forward, arms reaching out, but all I could do was back further away. “Abby, please, I never meant to betray you!”

I balled my fists and wanted to take a swing at him, but instead they hung frozen at my sides. I hurt so badly inside, I wanted him to feel it, all of it—the betrayal, the broken heart, the lies. I was seething with rage, filled with emptiness, and completely out of hope. “I don’t love you. You are dead to me!” my voice roared.

Even though I sounded scary and intimidating, a part of me, somewhere deep down in there, called me out on my own lies.

22

More Confusion

HE STARED AT ME, SPEECHLESS, emptiness and dread all over his face, but I still found it impossible to find pity for him. Not after everything he’d just told me. He was the reason Bronx turned me into a vampire. He was the reason Bronx now held me prisoner. Everything was Tyler’s fault. I needed him out of here. I glared at him, anger rushing in. “Please leave.”

He sucked in his breath, then murmured somewhat absently, “I can’t leave.”

My eyes widened. The lead balloon in my gut floated up a few inches. “Why not? I want you out of here! Now!”

There was a trace of sorrow in his eyes. Oh the poor little thing. “I have to change your hair color back to blond.”

“You what?”

“Bronx sent me in here to change your hair back to the way it was. He can’t stand looking at you with brown hair. I’m sorry. Please, let’s just do this and then I can leave as you’ve requested.” He sounded like he meant it and that he wanted to get it over with.

“I owe you nothing!” My voice was loud, defiant. I saw the fright in his green eyes. It fueled me a little. “I don’t care what Bronx thinks of my hair. Either leave willingly or I’ll throw you out!” My anger was starting to bubble out of control. Heat flashes flickered inside me. I needed to relax or my body would automatically try to bring forth the fire. And if that happened, I’d get sick and fragile all over again. Personally, I’d had about enough of that.

He shook his head to the right, then the left. He swallowed hard, like a cat really had his tongue. I could taste the fear exuding from him. His eyebrows curved down. “Please don’t use any of your powers. You’ll get sick and weak just like you were before. Only blood can help restore some of your vampire senses, and Lily is the only donor here. There’s no way you can drink from her again anytime soon.”

Maybe if I tasted a little more fear, I’d get back my sense of humor. Hmm, let’s see. I smirked. The muscles got tight in my cheeks. My tongue danced over my lips. “Lily may be the only donor here, but she is not the only
human
here.” Take that, scaredy-cat. You should have seen the look on his face! Freaking priceless! “What happened to my powers? You owe me that! Spill it!”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know—”

“Save it,” I hissed, “you
do
know, I can see it all over your face!”

“No, I don’t know what happened to your powers.”

“Swear it to me, to my face! Look me in the eyes and swear you know nothing!” As good a liar as he was, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell truth from fiction. But damn it, he owed me after everything he’d done to me!

“We’re running low on time, please, let me help you change your hair back. If he returns and it isn’t done, we’ll both be in huge trouble.” He turned around and strutted toward the bathroom, never looking back to see if I’d follow.

I just stood there, a little dumbfounded. Tyler totally just swaggered away. How could he be so confident that I’d just follow and not jump him from behind? Would one of his stupid visions already have shown him the outcome of this situation? What an advantage he had! That just wasn’t fair! And why wouldn’t he swear to my face that he didn’t know what had happened to my powers? Did that confirm he knew? But why would he become Mr. Honest now? Maybe I really did scare him bad enough that he didn’t want to lie anymore. But obviously, he also knew Bronx would kill him if he talked to me, so here he was—stuck in between two pissed off and deadly vampires.

I headed to the bathroom, each step slamming the floor like a marching band walking on concrete. Tyler was looking for something under the sink. He didn’t look up as I came in.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Getting the hair color and stripping crap out.”

“What are you, an experienced hair colorist now?”

“No, I googled the info I needed to make you blond again.” His voice was a little too defiant for my taste.

“Look, I really don’t need your help! I can do this myself. Please just go in the bedroom and let me handle this alone. You owe me that after everything I just found out.”

“Abby, please let me—” He reached out and grabbed my hand. I started to pull away but was instantly inside one of his visions.

Bronx was in a gothic-style building, castle-like with gray stone floors and walls. Enormous wrought-iron chandeliers hung from the thirty-foot-high ceiling, casting eerie shadows with their soft light. The massive hall he walked down led to arched wooden double doors. He forcefully pushed his way inside. A massive formal room with similar décor as in the hallway materialized. There was a large round table with six chairs circling it. Occupying five of the chairs were vampires. I could sense they were very old vampires, even though a few of them looked no older than me. All of them wore elegant black suits, but each had their own unique undershirt of different styles and colors, beneath their silken jackets. They were playing some kind of card game.

Bronx slowly approached the vampire in the center of the table with his back facing him. His hair was white as snow and draped down just past his shoulders. Without turning away from his card game, he addressed the new visitor. “Ah. Bronx Granger. It has been such a long time since we last met in person. Whatever has brought you here?”

“Elliott.” Bronx slowly dropped down on one knee and then bowed his head. “I have an important issue to address, and I am confident that with your help I will be able to take care of it.”

Elliott turned around, giving me a view of his face. It was smooth and youthful, unlike what I’d expected. His cheeks were slightly sunken and his chin was a little pointy, much like his nose. His eyebrows matched his hair. He wore a black button-up undershirt. Cocking his head, he said, “Is this not something that you can handle with your amazing gift of mind control?”

Bronx raised his head and stood back up. He patted Elliott’s shoulder with a hand. “I can handle it,” he assured, “ but I will need you to charm this and infuse it with a power so great that it will prevent the one who wears it from using their powers.”

I struggled to see what was in Bronx’s hand.

“I fold,” called out one of the younger-looking vampires. His hair was dark brown and spiky. His undershirt was a teal cotton tee.

“You fold every hand, Jeffrey,” scoffed another young-looking vampire. His hair was dirty blond, thick, and wavy. His jacket was unbuttoned, revealing a picture of the Tasmanian devil on an orange colored tee shirt. Turning his attention to Bronx he said, “I apologize for being rude. We should have taken a break from this agonizing game the moment we picked up your scent.”

“Thank you, Trace. But I am the one that has barged in here requesting your assistance. Please accept my apologies for disrupting your game.” Trace nodded an approving look at him.

Elliott held out an open hand. Bronx held it briefly, then released it and stepped back. There was something shiny in Elliott’s hand. I stared at it in disbelief. It was that Tiffany & Co. necklace that Tyler gave me!

The vision stopped. I was back in the bathroom with Tyler, sitting on a towel folded on the floor. My back was against the tub. I stared at Tyler, speechless, confused. The pain pricked sharper than before. Did I just uncover more betrayal from Tyler? I opened my mouth to say something, but Tyler’s fingers pressed into my lips. His head shook side to side. I frowned and then nodded so he knew I wouldn’t speak. He winked and got to work on my hair.

Since there was really nothing for me to do except sit here and wait, I started fondling the necklace. What a mess this nice little gift turned out to be. Tyler leaned down, his breath warm on my ear. “You can’t take it off. Only he can remove it.”

Well that was just great, one more thing for Bronx to control over me. The facts drizzled in like tiny puzzles pieces scattered across the floor. Except every time I put two together, it didn’t fit or look right. Was Tyler trying to help me now? Why would he show me that vision? It incriminated him further. Or did it? Was there something I wasn’t seeing? What the hell was I supposed to be looking for? I didn’t have deep pockets so I couldn’t pay him like Bronx was. So he was either pissed at Bronx and wanted to get revenge by helping me, or he really did have feelings for me. My heart stung like rubbing alcohol on an open sore. If I kept saying crap like that, I was actually going to start believing that I had one—a heart, that is.

Perhaps at first, I was just another job for Tyler. But something happened, changing everything. The way he had looked at me, like a lovesick puppy, all googly-eyed and full of emotion, it had to have been real. The way he kissed me, passionate, intense, full of love. It was real, damn it! It had to be. My senses were too precise, like Einstein on steroids; there was no way I could’ve read that wrong. None of those romantic moments would’ve worked if there hadn’t been real emotion behind them. It couldn’t just have been an act to keep me distracted.