Daughter Trilogy Bundle (65 page)

Holy crap.  Where was he when I was single?

"You can't see me again.  I'm engaged.  I'm in love.  He might be a total jerk for forgetting my birthday and sending me off to Ireland, but I still love him," I huff in exasperation.

His eyes narrow suspiciously.

"He sent you to Ireland without him?  Why?"

Crap.  Me and my big mouth.

"Long story really," I mumble as I start to walk off again.

"I've got all the time in the world," he counters.

"I don't," I huff while continuing to walk toward the line and digging in my purse for my phone.

I free it from the confines of the tiny bag, and turn it back on.  My inbox for my voicemail and text messaging is full.  My email is loaded down with subjects of apologies, and there are just as many from Persia and my parents as there are from Devin.

I'm sure he probably called everyone after I made him feel an inch tall.  He had most likely planned on getting them to talk to me, and convince them to get me to talk to him.  I'm sure he felt like a bigger jerk when he found out no one else had thought enough about me to remember either.

I'm relieved when I cross the line of the vortex, and fortunately Jace has quit pleading with me from behind.

I start to call the driver, but suddenly my phone dies completely.  I look back to see the bar still roaring loudly at the bottom of the hill, and I almost scream into the night at the divine intervention that offered me a shit birthday.

I thought I had more charge on my phone than that.  Now I have to walk all the way home, damn it.

The uphill trudging is not easy in heels, so I toss them to the ground behind me.  I hate the dark right now, and the bloodsucking bugs of Ireland hate me… or love me one.  They keep treating me as though I'm a walking buffet.

I swear I'm buying the biggest can of bug spray as soon as I can.

After what feels like hours, I finally see the glow of the moonlight casting a faint shine on my house that is completely blacked out.  I have left every light in the house on since I moved in because every sound terrifies me.  There's no reason why my Irish home should be dark right now.

A rustling behind me stirs me to chills, and then a sound erupts that brings me to my knees.

A hollow shriek pounds into my ears with a ruthless intent, and I grip them fiercely to try to block the terrible screams.  I look up to see dark figures flashing from place to place, and the sick knot in my stomach overwhelms me with dread.

No!

The screaming threat fades as quickly as it erupted, and the sound of silence is all the more deafening as death's breath clashes against mine.  I can feel every part of me shivering in disbelief.  This place is supposed to be immortal-free.  This is supposed to be the safest place in the world.

The dancing figures continue flashing in the darkness, and the cold breath of one grazes my neck as it rushes by me so close the wind disturbs my hair.  I swallow hard against the disgusting knot that has found its way up to my throat, and I tremble as I stagger backwards to try and run.

I scream as a figure is suddenly in front of me, and I fall backwards when my startled jump ends in a clumsy splat.  The dark eyes stare into mine, and the man's head tilts from side to side as if he's trying to figure out what I am.

The screeching starts again, ripping through my ability to focus on anything else, and I scream as I grip my ears.  The figure in front of me vanishes, and suddenly it's behind me, dragging me to my feet.

I struggle in vain, seeing nothing but coldness inside the black eyes staring into my terrified blue ones.  The pale skin is cold as the hand grips around my neck, and the silence in his tone is more chilling than an ominous monologue.

"Stop," I beg, and the figure tosses me through the air as if I just startled it.

I bounce hard against the grass that only appeared to be soft and the tang of blood steeps in my mouth as I roll across the bristly land.  I gasp for the air that has been violently expelled from my lungs due to the crushing impact I was just forced to endure.

They surround me as they flash wildly from place to place in an investigative manner.  It's like a swarm of ants sizing up the cube of sugar they want to take back to their queen.

"You're not supposed to be here," I cry to the ominous figures that almost seem to be playing with chaos.

They almost mimic a child's curiosity as they continue to bounce from place to place and inspect everything in their way.  I try once again to turn and run, but another figure rushes to block my path as it swats me to the ground.

I'm a small, fragile mouse, and they're a fucking beastly pride. 
They're just toying with me, playing with me before the grand finale with death as consequence.

I scream as more blood pools in my mouth, and this time it's harder for me to get up.  A shooting pain rips through me as a kick to my abdomen cracks my ribs and sends me spiraling through the air like a rag doll.

I cry out as I thud against the ground and the flashing monstrosity charges me again.

Suddenly swirls of blue energy - similar to lightning - crashes horizontally into the pale flashing mob, and it sends him flipping through the air.

The shrieks from the others erupt at once, and I scream as I as I cover my ears again.  A warm liquid oozes from my ears as the sound penetrates too deep.

The shattering of glass barely registers as a sound in my overwhelmed and nearly deafened state.

More energy streaks shoot across the land and the shrieks halt when the figures begin flashing away in retreat.  I squeal out my pain as arms collect me from the ground.

"It's me," a voice echoes through my drowning ears as it tries to comfort my screams.

I look into the icy blue eyes I just left, and I gasp as see Jace carrying me in a blur.

He's one of us
.

"You're imm-"

A screech erupts almost too close behind us, and energy surges from Jace to the pale-faced attacker.  I screech as more begin to surround us, and an eruption of energy surges toward them to send their once weaponized screams into piercing screams of pain instead.

I groan in pain as he places me in the jeep when my ribs contract and remind me of their wounds.  He flashes to the driver's seat and floors the gas pedal, slinging dirt and grass up behind us.

I grunt and cry out each time we hit a bump, and the death-defying pace only quickens.

"I'm sorry, Adisia.  I know you're hurting, but we have to get away from here.  I'm sure you're scared, and I know you have a lot of questions.  I promise I'll answer them as soon as I find a safe place to leave you," he announces over the rumbling engine.

I cringe a little as I grip the aching side, and murmur through the pain, "The only question I have is why are there immortals in the vortex, and what in the hell were those things?"

His eyes widen, and I'm flogged by unruly bushes jumping into the jeep when he runs off the road.  I yell at him as one of the branches breaks the skin on my face.

"Damn it!  Do you know how to fucking drive?"

"Sorry," he yelps as he jerks it back onto the road.  "Are you-"

"I'm mortal," I interrupt.  "Obviously," I add while motioning to my tattered body.

"Then how do you-"

"It's a long, long story, and right now it hurts to try and speak.  So you do the talking.  Who were they?" I assert.

"Sirens," he murmurs with a slightly fearful tone etching his voice.

"That didn't look like a bunch of mermaids singing to lure sailors to their death on the jagged rocks," I murmur through the pain of the jostling ride.

"Apparently you're not as educated as I just thought," he sighs.

"I never claimed to be educated.  I just know the basics.  Explain the details please."

"Sirens are monsters.  They don't have the ability to produce offspring thankfully, but they're hard as hell to kill.  They're like carnivorous children with a vampiric desire to drain someone of everything in them.

"They're savage, brutal, and merciless.  Their screams are deadly, and that's what led me to you.  I knew the vortex had been compromised when I was able to cross the line.  Sirens are only created in times of excess immortal energy radiating around for too long.  Something big has apparently happened, but I don't know what," he says distractedly as his mind races for answers.

Something big - like a month long rewind.  Crap!

The ground beneath us starts quaking, and I turn around to watch in gaping disbelief as the hill where we just were sinks into the earth.  Dust storms emerge in swirls as the land turns inside out, and the house is wiped away like a forgotten blemish.

"What the-?" I squeal.

"I don't know," he mumbles as he gasses the jeep more.

I rip my phone from my purse, but the screen is cracked into almost nothing.  The stubborn thing still won't turn back on either.  Devin will be horrified if this comes on the news, considering he's keeping tabs on the local station's updates.

"Why won't my phone work?" I growl.

"The sirens were created in the vortex.  Anything alive was killed during spawning.  Anything subjected to their sound waves in the initial
birth
phase is also killed.  It's amazing you're still alive," he breathes nervously.

"So they were created in the vortex?" I ask to deter the conversation of yet another near death experience.

"Yes, but I don't know why.  It's happened once before.  The Bermuda Triangle was once the vortex several centuries ago.  I don't think I have to explain to you what it is now," he says chillingly.

"Oh.  Is that going to happen here?" I gasp.

"I don't know.  It's not like there's a set standard.  Like I said, it's only ever happened once."

He abruptly jerks the car to the right, making my body tense and my sides contract.  I scream out slightly from the rude and painful interference, and his hand rests on my leg to offer comfort.

"Sorry.  We just need to get the bloody hell away from here.  Sirens can track very vigorously, and they'll be coming after their prey that escaped," he explains.

"Does your phone work?" I whimper.

"No.  The screams crumbled it," he says with a frown.

"I don't suppose you have a whole box full of extras?" I mumble sardonically.

He looks over at me curiously.  "Why would I-"

"Never mind," I interrupt.

He shifts gears as he turns sharply down another narrow road, and once again I scream out.  He flinches at my pronouncement of pain.

"You need a phone?" he asks worriedly.  "You need to go to the hospital?"

"No hospitals.  I need to call my fiancé," I mumble.

"You really are engaged?" he asks curiously.

"You thought I was lying?"

"I thought you were giving me a gentle brush off considering there's no ring," he sighs disappointedly.  "You probably don't want him getting involved in all of this," he cautions.

You have no idea about all the crap he's involved in.

Devin will squash those vicious monsters for what they've done to me.  I have to get a hold of him before he sees all this.

"It's important I talk to him," I whimper.

"I'll find you a phone the moment we get far enough away from all of this," he promises in a gruff, irritated tone.  "I still don't think it's a good idea."

I just recline the seat back and close my eyes to drown out the horrific reality.  My aching ribs continue to be jarred around in the rough ride that needs new shocks, and the taste of blood still stings in my mouth.

I'm almost terrified to see what I look like.

"Adisia, wake up.  We're here,"
Jace's calming voice says.

I open my eyes just as he scoops me up and grimace in pain when he touches me just wrong.  He pulls me into his chest as he heads into a large apartment building.

"Where are we?" I mumble.

"My flat in Dublin.  We'll be safe here.  It's overcrowded, and it's drenched in mortal pheromones," he assures.

"Do you think the sirens will come here?"

"No.  The lights will be too bright.  Sirens need the dark, and Dublin stays very well lit just like most large cities.  It'll be daylight soon, and I'll start tracking them down.  If they get in the sun, they disintegrate."

"Like vampires?" I exclaim.

"Oh don't tell me you believe in vampires.  That's not what you think I am, is it?" he scoffs.

"No.  I know there aren't any vampires, or at least I don't think so.  I don't know what I know these days.  I was just pointing out the similarity," I grumble.

"Something like that, vampires I mean.  They don't suck blood, have hypnotic power, or have any romanticism about them though," he says to mock me a little.

"You said they drain the life out of you," I remind.

"Yeah.  Their screams subdue you, and they draw out your energy to feed themselves once your vessel is void of life.  Now please tell me how you know about my world," he prompts.