Dark Light of Mine (7 page)

"The tattoo on his neck is a rune as well.  I'll email a picture of it you can show Smith.  If you believe in fairy tales, he might just know how to get rid of it."

"Why don't you come with us?  Wouldn't it be easier if he sees you?"

"I need to make sure the wards here are stable and find a mobile blocking spell so your dad can leave the circle.  I can't be everywhere at once."

Elyssa took my arm.  "We should locate the comic book store and scope it out first."  She leaned into my ear and whispered the next part.  "And I need to feed.  Now."

My tummy erupted with a loud groan of agreement.  I looked at Katie.  "You ready to go home?  I'll pay for a cab."

She looked away from the computer screen, her green eyes curious and bright.  "You aren't planning to erase my memories are you?"

I chuckled.  "No.  But Shelton might have to send you to the supernatural rehab program the Arcane Council runs."

"You kidding me?" Shelton said with a snort.  "This girl's taking it like a champ.  Poor Linda is gonna be scarred for life."

Linda was the woman who'd had the misfortune to be kidnapped as a source of food for Dad when he'd been taken by the vampires.  "I can't blame her."

"That's horrible," Katie said.  "Does your program teach people about supernatural things?"

A wry smile worked its way onto Shelton's face.  "More or less.  Heck, maybe you should take it.  Justin could probably benefit from it, too, seeing how he don't know squat about the Overworld."

"Fine," I said.  "Give me the time and location and I'll take her for orientation."

"That's the spirit."  He laughed with genuine delight and I wondered just what I was getting myself into.

"I guess I should get home," Katie said.  "My parents are probably wondering why I'm not home yet.  And we have school tomorrow."

I groaned.  "I don't see a reason why I should bother going back."

"Because people will wonder," Elyssa said.  "Questions will be asked."  Her eyes grew very serious.  "And you have unfinished business with certain elements."

"You mean Coach Burgundy and his promise to hurt my friends if I don't keep playing football."  What had started out as punishment for me had morphed into a nightmare thanks to Burgundy and his good old boys club members:  the sheriff and the chief of police.  Thanks to my supernatural abilities—which they didn't know about—I had an unfair advantage on the field.  I'd already helped my hopelessly bad team win one game.  The coach and his buddies were counting on me to increase the winning streak and put more money in their pockets.

"That would be it," Elyssa said, her mouth set in a grim line.

"They made you play football by threatening you?" Katie said, eyes worried.  "You should tell the police."

I blew out a sigh.  "If only it were so easy."  Especially since the local law had a hand in the pot.  I looked at Dad's room.  "I'm gonna tell him what's up and then we should go."

Elyssa touched me with a trembling hand.  "Let's make it soon."  Her face was sickly pale from hunger.  I wasn't feeling that great myself.

I said goodbye to Dad, told him Shelton would fill him in on the plan, but we needed to feed.

Dad nodded.  "Be careful, son.  Soon as Shelton fixes this issue, I'm going to find the bastard responsible."

I wanted to tell him to sit tight because all his activities so far had only caused more problems.  Either messing with the Conroys was really dangerous business or he had more enemies out there than he knew.

Shelton did his magic to make the stairs leading out of the place appear again and told me to email or call him if I needed to get back in.  Then Elyssa, Katie, and I made our way out through the abandoned buildings and into the dark streets.  We had to walk several blocks, past trudging bums, a few likely drug dealers, and a lot of empty, boarded up houses before finding a cab.  We all hopped in and had the driver take us to downtown Decatur where Elyssa and I disembarked.

After I handed the cabby enough money to cover Katie's fare home, she got out and gave me a tight hug.  "I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

I gave her a resigned look.  "I guess so."

She smiled at Elyssa.  "Thanks so much."

Confusion spread over Elyssa's face.  "For what?"

"For the most interesting day of my entire life."

Elyssa stared at the cab as it vanished into the distance.  "That girl is messed in the head if she thinks today was interesting."

I hugged her tight against me and kissed her cheek.  "You have to admit she took it all really well."

"Yeah.  I guess."  Her body quaked for several seconds before growing still.

"Are you okay?"

She shook her head.  "I'm at the verge of losing control.  I can't hold on much longer."  She gazed at me with eyes the black of night as her pupils dilated, erasing the violet irises.

I jerked back, surprised by the sudden change.  I did
not
want to find out what happened when she lost control.  "Where can we get you blood?"

"There are places throughout the city the Templars have set up, but I haven't seen my parents since we rescued your Dad yesterday.  I need to go home before they send out search parties."

"Where do you live?"

Another tremor shook her body.  "You can't come, Justin."

"I'm coming."

"No the hell you aren't.  Are you crazy?"  Her legs gave out and I barely managed to keep her upright.

"Tell me where, Elyssa.  We need to get you blood now.  You might not make it on your own."

She gave me an address a mile from my house.  In fact, I knew exactly where it was because I'd passed the place dozens of times, never once knowing she lived there.  I flagged a taxi and barked out the directions, giving him a hundred dollars to get us there fast.  I think the guy must've been a rickshaw racer in his native country because he drove like a champ and dropped us off at the gates of the Big Creek Ranch, a horse ranch that somehow managed to survive the urban explosion on the edges of Decatur.

The wide metal gate was closed and locked, but the whitewashed ranch-rail fence wasn't much of a barrier so we climbed over it and trudged down the long asphalt driveway.  Thick woods separated the edge of the ranch from the highway on our right.  To the left stretched open pastures.  The occasional whicker of a horse reached my ears.  Antique-styled lamps lined the way, providing dim yellow light.  We hadn't gone more than a few feet when I sensed someone approaching.

"Please don't say anything, Justin," Elyssa said, her muscles tense, her face even paler than before.

Up until that point I'd felt pretty confident.  Right about then my nerves decided to use my stomach as a punching bag.  Also, I was famished.  It was foolish coming to this place without a full demon belly or whatever stored the psychic essence I stole from people.  I considered turning tail and running, but ego and the desire to keep whatever shreds of manliness I had in Elyssa's eyes powered my legs onward, toward whatever was about to meet us.

A guy who looked to be Shelton's age appeared from the shadows in the woods, his black outfit similar to what Elyssa had worn during our little jaunt against the vampires, perfect camouflage.  He held a katana at the ready in one hand.  Once his eyes settled on Elyssa, the sword vanished with a
snick
as he slid it expertly back into its sheath.  He wore his thick dark hair slicked back.  Long mutton-chop sideburns ran down his face, making him look older than he really was, not to mention a lot more redneck.

"Where have you been?" he asked, running to Elyssa and putting his hands on her shoulders.  His voice was low and rough, with a southern drawl.

She gave him a weary smile.  "I'm fine, Ryland.  I need some food.  That's all."

Ryland gave me a wary look, eyes narrow and full of suspicion.  "Who's this?"  He sniffed the air as if testing my deodorant, which had probably failed by this point.

The guy looked so familiar to me that I opened my mouth to blurt my name in automatic response.

"He's a friend," she said, cutting me off before I made such a stupid mistake.  "Please, just get me a pack.  I'm on the verge."

His eyes widened as he took in her eyes.  "Good lord, sugah.  How in the world did you hold off the hunger?"  He shook his head.  "I'll be right back."  With that, he blurred away into the darkness, heading for a tall manor-style house on the slight rise at the end of the driveway.

Elyssa stumbled and almost fell before I caught her in my aching arms.  The day's activities were catching up to me, although I wasn't nearly in as bad a state as Elyssa.  She'd already been peaked after nearly dying during my Dad's rescue the night before.  I should have sent her home the first chance we'd had.  What was I thinking, letting her run around like she was in full health?

But she hadn't complained a bit.  Hadn't once tried to leave me.  Wouldn't even let me send her away.  My heart swelled with love for my raven-haired goddess.  I couldn't imagine life without her.  I looked toward the house and a sense of dread whittled away at me.  First, I had to win over her family.  Considering how much Elyssa had despised me when she'd first found out I was an incubus, I couldn't imagine how much harder it would be to get her parents to like me, or at the very least accept the fact I loved their daughter.

Elyssa's love for me had won out over her hatred for incubi.  But if she'd never had the chance to befriend me before discovering I wasn't entirely human, she might never have loved me or given me a chance to even be near her.  This was the challenge her parents posed.  They didn't know squat about me, well, except her mom had cut my hair before knowing I was demon spawn.

Awkward!

Ryland sped from the pitch of night, several hospital blood packs in his hands.  Elyssa took one, her eyes groggy and unfocused.  He pulled the top off and tilted it into her mouth as she sucked greedily.  I forced back my gag reflex but kept my eyes glued on her.  Drinking blood was so gross, but it was part of her life and I had to get used to it.

"You're a friend, yeah?" Ryland said giving me a once over as Elyssa polished off a second blood pack.  "What's your name?"  He sniffed again.  "And
what
are you?  I'd think twice before lying."

I returned his little once-over, taking him in.  I could sense something in him that was different than what I sensed with Elyssa or normal vampires.  He felt a lot more like Stacey than anything else.  Underneath his human shell lurked something not quite human.  And I couldn't shake the feeling I'd seen this guy somewhere before.

"Well?" he said again, his rough voice laced with impatience.  "I can smell the fear on you."

I suddenly knew exactly who he reminded me of.  The mutton-chop sideburns should've been a dead giveaway.  "Are you trying to look like Wolverine?"

An embarrassed look crossed his face before his serious demeanor recovered.  "What's it to you?"

"Either you're a werewolf or a really big X-Men fan."

He grinned, baring his teeth and exposing canines that were definitely a bit longer than normal humans.  At this point, I figured anyone with disproportionate canines had to be supernatural, although mine were normal and boring.

"You're an observant one, stranger."  He stepped toward me until his face was inches from mine.  "Now, how about you tell me who and what you are before I give you a taste of what I am and what I can do."

Elyssa's arms pressed between us, shoving us apart.  I noticed with relief her skin had regained its usual fair hue and her eyes blazed vividly in the dim light from the lamps along the driveway.  "Ryland, he's with me, so take your questions and shove 'em."

Ryland laughed, low and harsh.  "No need to get mean about it."

"Actually, she's being really sweet right now," I said.  "I've seen her mean side and it isn't pretty."

He bared his teeth in a full-on wolf smile.  "If you're still alive after that, she must have plans for you."

Oh yeah.  She had plans for me all right.

Elyssa rolled her eyes.  "Leave us for a minute, Ryland?"

"Sure."  He wandered off, though I was sure he could hear anything we said.

"You should go now, Justin.  I'm fine and you need to eat."

I stared at the house, my instincts screaming at me to get the hell outta Dodge while my heart told me although the timing wasn't exactly ideal, I should do the whole "meet the parents" thing and see just how bad it was.  Elyssa seemed to sense what I was thinking.

"Don't even try," she said her lips pressed tight.

"I have to meet your parents," I said gently.  "I love you.  I'd do anything for you.  Surely me and your parents can get over our differences."

"You don't know my dad."

"Exactly."  I took her hand and looked her in the eyes.  "I have so many family problems I don't know where to begin.  But if I don't at least try to talk to your father, I won't respect myself, and he won't respect me either."

"You're taking a page out of a romance novel, Justin."  She placed her other hand on my cheek and her fiery eyes grew soft.  "I love you for that and for your big heart.  You want things to work out like they do in the movies.  I wish they did."  Her eyes drifted to the house.  "But they don't.  My dad has grown to accept some things over the years but he has a special hatred for spawn."

"I'm so sick of people judging me based on what I am!"  I growled and clenched my fists.  "First you, and now your family.  Why can't they judge me by my actions instead of other spawn I've never even met?"

"I don't know his reasons, Justin.  I'm sorry it took me so long to get past everything he beat into my head over the years."  She kissed me on the lips, and pulled away, her eyes pleading.  "Let this wait for another day.  Please.  Let me talk with him first."

"And make it look like I'm using you to get him to like me?"

"It's not like that."

"Elyssa, just let me talk with him.  Give me the chance to do that."

"This is a horrible idea."

"I don't know about that, daughter," said a commanding voice from out of the darkness.  A figure stepped into the dim light, all six-and-a-half feet of it, muscles bulging beneath a dark long-sleeved T-shirt.  The man looked about my dad's age, though his black hair was peppered with gray.  "I think right now is a splendid time to settle this."  He stared at me with fiery eyes and I knew exactly where Elyssa had gotten her stern looks.