Endless (12 page)

Chapter Twelve

Elizabeth climbed from the vehicle
and stood in front of the motel, her heart in her throat. The motel had blue paint flaking from the door. Above the main entrance, one of the fluorescent lights of the sign for the
Happy Rest Motel
flickered. It certainly wasn’t an expensive place, something that lined up with the cheap car, and Elizabeth wondered why someone who had enough money to hire staff would be staying somewhere like this.

Behind her, two car doors slammed, making her jump. She sensed the presence of the woman close behind her back
, and Ryan appeared by her side. A wave of claustrophobia washed over her and she swallowed hard. Was she doing the right thing? Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure. She turned her head to take in the sight of the boy beside her, and his easy grin eased some of her tension. He was like her, she reminded herself. He’d been through this himself and come out okay on the other end. What choice did she have but to accept his help?

Despite the rain drumming down on her head and shoulders, she didn’t want to move. Even the promise of shelter from the wind and rain wasn’t enough to make her run to the room. Besides, she realized, the cold barely affected her right now; it was as though she’d become numbed to it.

The woman, Orla, took a step closer. Elizabeth sensed her heartbeat like a distant tribal drum, the woman’s body heat flooding over her in a wave. The now familiar flood of energy began to build in Elizabeth’s muscles and she clenched her teeth, fighting it back down again.

Was this how her father felt all the time, she wondered? Her brain burned like it was on fire and only sinking her teeth into the flesh of another person would calm the sensation. She longed to connect with their heartbeat, to the initial race, followed by the slowing
lub-dub
of its beat until the rhythm became like a lullaby to a crying child, soothing her. She’d only experienced her vampirism in waves so far—the initial urge and overwhelming strength fading away after her needs had been sated—but did her father have to try to control this the whole time? The idea made her consider Sebastian with a whole new level of respect. She’d never imagined his life could be like this. Then she realized she could easily end up the same way.

Even though these people were supposed to be able to help her, she didn’t want to show them what she was really like. She didn’t want to expose herself at both her most vulnerable and her most violent.

The touch of Ryan’s hand on hers distracted her. “Ready? I’m getting soaked and some people want to meet you.”

She forced a smile. “Sure.”
             

The sharp-faced Orla brushed past and opened the door, stepping back to allow them through.

As she walked in, a number of faces turned to her. An older man and woman sat at a small round table. The man was in his thirties, she guessed, with thick, wiry dark hair and a scruffy, thin beard, the woman a little older and chubby around the face and hands. They eyed her curiously as she entered, but made no attempt to smile or welcome her in. A red-haired man who bore a striking resemblance to Ryan sat at a desk.

He pinned a smile on his face and got to his feet. “You’re here.”

She looked around the room, at the threadbare carpet and the two narrow single beds, and shifted uncomfortably. “Who are you?”

“My name is Mr. Callaghan. Ryan’s been telling us all about you. He says you need our help.”

“Umm, yeah,” she stammered. “He says he’s like me and that you helped him before.” This strange collection of people so far hadn’t done much to alleviate her fears.

The man gave another close-lipped smile, his
gray-green eyes remaining impassive. “That’s right. Your kind is very rare, Elizabeth. We need to do everything we can to make sure you get through this in one piece.”

“In one piece?
Are you saying if I don’t accept your help, I might not stay in one piece?”

“It’s not a threat, if that’s what you’re implying. I’m simply pointing out a fact.”

She studied his face. There was something familiar about him and she felt sure it wasn’t just that the man was obviously Ryan’s father or some other close relation. She couldn’t help feeling like she knew him from somewhere, that she’d met him before.

Touch his hand,
she told herself.
You’ll learn about him if you touch his hand.

Yet, unlike most people she met, who couldn’t seem stop themselves from shaking her hand or embracing her, and so giving her flashes of insight she didn’t want, this guy had remained a respectful distance.

“This is Liam and Mary.” Ryan introduced the two people sitting at the table. “They’re here to help as well.”

“And how exactly are they going to help?”

Mr. Callaghan stood. “You believe in magic, don’t you, Elizabeth?”

She shrugged and said, “Sure. I mean, I’ve seen it, so it’s not a matter of believing or not.”

He smiled. “Well, that’s good. Half of our work done then. In order to rid yourself of this thing, you’re going to need to make a sacrifice.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What sort of sacrifice?”

“Not the sort you’re thinking.” He laughed. “I won’t expect you to be killing any virgins. This is more your own sacrifice, one of your blood.”

“My blood?”

He nodded. “Yes, at exactly the right time.”

“And that is?”

“The exact moment of sunrise.”

“How much
blood are you talking about?” she asked, nerves still churning in her stomach.
What am I doing here!

“Not much.
A pint at the most.”

“A pint!”
She wasn’t even totally sure how much a pint was, but it sounded like a lot.

“Don’t worry,” said Ryan, pulling up his sleeve. He exposed a ridged white scar running along the inside of his wrist. “I’ve done it, remember. It’s totally safe.”

She stared down at the mark, and then he pulled up his other sleeve show her a matching one. The last thing she should be was squeamish, but she couldn’t help the sight turning her stomach. She didn’t want to either hurt herself or let someone else hurt her, even if it did mean putting a stop to this thing.

“Err, I don’t know …”

The man and woman sitting at the table, Liam and Mary, stood and moved closer, slipping behind her to block the only way out of the room. Orla folded her arms and stared at Elizabeth with her narrow-eyed gaze.

Unease spiked through her. “Ryan …?”

“Don’t worry, Elizabeth. You have to do this. What other choices do you have?”

“I’m not sure. My dad thought—”

“Your dad,” his father interrupted. “You mean the vampire? The one you are desperate
not
to become like?”

“Well, yes, but—”
             

He wouldn’t let her finish. “You want that for your life, then, do you Elizabeth? You want to kill people, to put your life, your existence above everything else in the world. Don’t you care about hurting people? Ryan, here, saw what you did to your friends, or at least the state of them afterward. You hurt your friends, Elizabeth. What kind of girl does that? Is this how you plan to live?”

He fired off so many words she struggled to think. She couldn’t put one thought in front of the other. “No, no. Of course not.”

“You experienced sensitivity to the light today, didn’t you? The light hurt your eyes, made your head ache. Those symptoms will only get worse, Elizabeth. Soon, your skin will start to blister as soon as you step into the light. You won’t be able to go to school or hang out with your friends in the daytime. You’re going to turn into a freak. Now, here I am, offering you a way out, and you’re thinking of turning your back on me?”

She shook her head, frantically. “No, not at all! I was just a little worried, that’s all.”

I’m disappointed in you, Elizabeth. I thought you’d be strong enough to accept this was the right thing to do. I mean, you’ve met Ryan. You’ve seen how normal he is, how he’s able to fit right into society. What other reassurances do you need?”

“You’re right,” she muttered, dropping her chin and staring at the worn carpet. “I’m sorry. I’ll do whatever you need me to.”

The people at her back didn’t make any attempt to move out of the way, which didn’t put a stop to her sense of unease. Though Ryan grinned down at her, trying to make her comfortable, she couldn’t help the tension which tightened every muscle in her body like a coil of a spring.

“You want a soda?” Ryan asked, loping over to the mini-bar fridge.

Her eyes flicked around the room and she realized she had no choice but to go along with this for the moment. “Sure.”

“Sit down, make yourself at home,” said Mr. Callaghan, lifting his chin toward one of the single beds. “We’ve still got a few hours till sunrise.”

Ryan tossed her the can and she snatched it from the air without even thinking, her hand creating a blur of movement. She caught the others looking at her, eyes wide in surprise at the speed of her movement.

I thought they’d seen this all before?

She took a couple of tentative steps forward and sat on the edge of the bed. Ryan took a seat on the adjacent bed so he was opposite her. She hooked her finger through the ring pull and the can opened with
a
psst.
Ryan lifted his own can in a salute and she mirrored the motion.

The adults in the room seemed to relax a fraction, Liam and Mary taking their seats back around the table, Mr. Callaghan sitting back down at the desk. Orla stayed positioned by the door, her arms folded across her narrow chest, her lips a thin, hard line, and she didn’t take her eyes off Elizabeth.

Elizabeth tried to appear at ease, but the whole time she was turning over where she could have recognized Ryan’s father from. He was so familiar, achingly familiar, and she knew if she could just figure out a way to make skin-on-skin contact, she would see it in an instant.

Perhaps their caution was understandable, she thought. After all, she was half vampire and Ryan had seen her feeding from people. Though she couldn’t control when her vampire instincts seemed to rise up and take charge, these people might think she felt that way all the time. Their antagonism toward her might simply be them trying to protect themselves. She was
dangerous, there was no getting away from the fact. Of course they had their guard up. And why else would they have her here if not to help her? Perhaps she was simply being too suspicious, she mused.

Outside, a particularly strong gust of wind tore something from the roof and the sound was accompanied by the groan and screech of twisting metal. A heartbeat later, part of the fluorescent sign for the motel ripped from its holdings, crashed against the outside of the building and hung down past the motel room window. Dangerous wires sent sparks sputtering and firing from the frayed ends.

Anxious glances were shared among the group, and this time Elizabeth didn’t get the impression it was her they were worried about.

Perhaps they’re right,
she decided. She needed to do this. For the safety of herself and everyone she knew.

Chapter Thirteen

The closer to home they
got, the heavier a hollow, wretched feeling settled in the pit of Serenity’s stomach. She couldn’t help thinking she’d let her daughter down. She should have known Elizabeth planned to run away—if that’s what she had done—or at least realized she had some kind of life outside of her home life. Serenity had always thought she kept a close eye on Elizabeth and the idea she had some kind of association with this boy worried her.

The visit to Jasmine’s house had produced almost exactly the same results, with her parents questioning what had happened at the mall and mentioning how Jasmine had been acting strangely ever since. They’d been suspicious of Serenity, suspecting she’d had something to do with Jasmine’s behavior, and her turning up in the middle of the night didn’t help. They’d been reluctant to drag their daughter out of bed, but the imposing figures of Vincent and Sebastian had helped to persuade them. Like Emily, Jasmine remembered seeing the boy at the mall, but nothing more. The girl had no idea where Elizabeth was now or if she’d had any other contact with the boy in the picture.

“I should have known,” Serenity said to Sebastian as she drove, negotiating the debris-strewn streets, leaning forward once again to peer through the rain-driven windshield.

“How could you? Her friends said the boy had been staring at her in the mall and that Elizabeth didn’t seem to recognize him, which means they only just met. You can’t predict the future, Serenity.”

“We don’t know they only just met. She might have been ignoring him for a reason, trying to keep him a secret from her friends as well.”

Sebastian frowned.
“Perhaps.”

“Why else would she let a strange boy into her bedroom? I raised her better than that!”

“She’s having a hard time of things at the moment. Her judgment might be skewed.”

Serenity’s hands tightened on the wheel. “What if we can’t find her and she turns fully vampire? How is she going to cope if she can’t go out in the light and is forced to live in the dark? She’ll not be able to go to school and she’ll lose all her friends. What happens if she stops growing and ends up being a thirteen-year-old vampire for the rest of her life? Do you have any idea how hard it is being a teenage girl, never mind being one forever?”

Sebastian shook his head. “We can’t be sure that is going to happen.”

Vincent leaned forward from the back
seat. “You’re jumping to conclusions, Serenity.”

She ignored them both, too caught up in her fears for her daughter to think rationally. “She’ll probably never be able to have children or any kind of a normal life. She’ll end up being a freak.” She broke down into a sob, clutching the wheel tightly.

“Serenity, stop it,” Sebastian said firmly. “You’ve written off her whole life and we don’t even fully understand what’s happening yet. She isn’t fully vampire because she’s half you. I’m sure that unless she’s turned by another vampire, she’ll never be fully vampire, no matter how strong her powers are. So we can’t predict what that means yet. Even if she’s light sensitive, she might still be able to go out in daylight. She might just need to be more careful and stay covered up as best she can.”

She sniffed and blinked back tears. Sebastian was right, Elizabeth wasn’t fully vampire and there was no reason to think she would completely turn. She just felt like all the fears she’d held for her child—from the moment she’d learned she was pregnant with Sebastian’s child, the whole way through her pregnancy and through to her birth—were being realized. She’d been terrified about what would happen when Elizabeth was born, if she’d be allergic to the light, or if her newborn baby would try to bite her or need blood to survive. Now, all of those fears were resurfacing. All she’d ever wanted for Elizabeth was a normal, happy life, and yet every force in the world seemed determined to stop that from happening.

The road turned a corner and Serenity drove the car toward the house before pulling to a sudden stop in the road. The big metal gates which normally barred the property from the road stood wide open.

Her stomach lurched. “We closed them behind us when we left, didn’t we?”

Sebastian pressed his lips together and nodded.

Serenity’s heart lifted in hope. Perhaps Elizabeth left the gates open when she came home. She might be sitting inside the house waiting for them now!
Damn, why didn’t I think to leave someone in the house to wait for her?
Even though both vampires had insisted on coming with her, she should have made Vincent stay.

She put the car back into drive and drove through the gates as fast as she dared. She screeched the car to a halt and jumped from the vehicle. Taking the few steps up to the front door two at a time, she pushed open the big, heavy door and dashed inside.

“Elizabeth? Elizabeth?” she shouted, her voice full of both hope and fear.

No answer came and she raced into the kitchen, searching for her. The room was empty. She turned and ran into the living room and drew to a sudden halt.

A girl was standing in the middle of the room, but it wasn’t her daughter.

Serenity gasped in surprise and caught hold of the edge of the couch, needing the extra support.
A roll of thunder pealed across the house, culminating in a final crash which made the window panes rattle and caused her to cringe.

“Iona!” she gasped.
             

The sorceress had grown into a young woman, still with her mane of white-blonde hair hanging down her back, but now with a maturity to her features. There was
a seriousness in her brilliant blue eyes. Her cheekbones were more defined, her jaw stronger. The wind roared in through the front door, which Serenity had left open in her haste, whipping the girl’s hair up and across, like a sheet on a washing line. She lifted a hand to tug away a strand which clung to her face.

Serenity sensed another presence at her back and looked over her shoulder to find the two vampires standing behind her, equal expressions of surprise on their faces.

“Hello, Serenity,” the young woman said with a half-smile. “I see you’re still choosing to keep questionable company.”

“Iona!
I … what ….” She stumbled over her words. “What are you doing here?”

The sudden appearance of the girl in place of Elizabeth had left her shocked. She’d not seen Iona since the day she’d rescued Sebastian from Dominion, the day she’d almost lost him.

When Elizabeth had been at school one day, curious, Serenity had driven back out to the site where the travelers’ camp had been. But she’d seen no sign of Iona or her circle. The area had been a barren spot, desolate and forgotten. She’d often wondered what had happened to the girl. Elizabeth had asked after her at first, but when no news came, the mention of Iona’s name grew less frequent until it stopped altogether.

The last thing Serenity had been expecting was to find her standing in the middle of her living room.

“What are you doing here?” she asked again.

“I thought that was obvious.”
             

Serenity frowned. “You mean because of Elizabeth? How did you find out?”

Iona’s fine eyebrows arched. “Are you kidding? The whole city must realize something is wrong.”

“What?” She was baffled. Nothing Iona said was making any sense.

Sebastian stepped forward, taking his place at Serenity’s side. He touched her arm and she looked up to him, grateful for his solid presence at her side. With an almost imperceptible shift, she leaned her bodyweight against him.

“She’s talking about the storm,” Sebastian said, his gaze shifting to Iona. “Am I right?”

The girl nodded. “As soon as I woke up this morning, I realized something had happened. It’s taken me all day to get here. Perhaps I should have called first, but I had to get here anyway. I couldn’t do anything to help from miles away.” She paused and then asked, “Where is Elizabeth?”

“What does the storm have to do with my daughter?” Sebastian asked, suddenly fierce.

Iona held his gaze, no fear on her young face. “Where is she?”

“I asked you a question. I’ve not seen you for six years and suddenly you’re back. You might be the one who knows where she is.”

“
You
don’t know where she is?” Her big blue eyes widened in alarm.

Sebastian’s top lip curled in a snarl. “Does it look like she’s with us?”

Serenity took a deep breath, forcing herself to tamp down her emotions. She placed a hand on his arm, trying to calm him as well. “Arguing isn’t going to help,” she said to him and then turned back to Iona. “Elizabeth went missing earlier this evening. We’ve been out looking for her, but there’s no sign. Now, please, tell us what is going on.”

“I felt the change happen in the atmosphere first thing this morning, like some equilibrium in the world had shifted. I always to
ld you the balance of good and evil inside Elizabeth was fragile, and now something has happened to change things, hasn’t it?”

Serenity nodded. “Elizabeth turned thirteen this morning, and she got her period.”

“The giving of blood,” Iona said almost thoughtfully.

“And the taking of it,” Serenity added. “Her vampire side has grown stronger. She attacked one of her friends, fed from her.”

Iona frowned. “Then it’s far worse than I assumed.”

“What is?” snapped Sebastian.

“Her change thinned the veil between our world and Dominion. That is what this storm is, a crack appearing between our world and theirs.”

“I saw one of them earlier,” said Sebastian. “I was hoping I’d imagined it, but the demon crossed the road right ahead of me and went into someone’s house.”

Serenity turned on him. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

He looked down at her, a yellow tinge circling the edges of his green pupils. “Like I said, I was hoping I had imagined things or that the demon was … a stray or something.”

She clutched a hand to her mouth. “Oh, my God. So do you think those things we saw in Dominion have our daughter?”

Sebastian’s jaw tightened. “I’m not sure, but if they have, who is the boy?”

A frown marked Iona’s smooth brow. “What boy?”

Serenity had forgotten she still clutched Elizabeth’s tablet tightly to her chest. She unraveled her cold, damp arms and held out the computer. “Right before Elizabeth went missing, she took a photograph of herself
, and this boy was in the background. Her friends also say the boy was at the mall, right before Elizabeth had her first
episode
and attacked her friends. Except they don’t know who he is.”

“Can I take a look?” Iona asked
, stepping forward to take the tablet from Serenity’s outstretched arms. Serenity nodded and allowed her to take it. With a few swipes on the screen, Iona brought up the photograph.

“I should have known.”

“You know who that is?”

Iona nodded and sank down onto the edge of the sofa, still staring down at the image of Elizabeth with the boy in the background. She placed a hand against the image of Elizabeth’s face. “She looks so grown up,” she said, almost wistfully.

So do you,
thought Serenity, but she wasn’t about to start reminiscing about all the missing years. She needed to find out who he was.

Sebastian got in first. “Tell us.”

“Do you remember Conner? He was there the day your old nanny, Bridget, was ki—” She corrected herself, “Died.”

“I’m not sure …” Serenity said, frowning, trying to remember. That time had been crazy, so much heartbreak and fear. Everything and everyone who surrounded their small family at that time seemed like a blur in her memory. All she could remember was focusing on Sebastian, what had happened and was going to happen to him.

But it seemed the vampires’ memories were better.

“I remember him,” said both Sebastian and Vincent together. They exchanged a glare. That day would forever sit like a loaded bullet between the two males.

“Conner was part of my circle,” Iona explained. “He was one of my right hand men, if you like. I trusted him with almost everything and he took care of me. But after he’d met you, Elizabeth, and Sebastian, he started to change.”

“In what way?”
Serenity frowned, the murky image of the big, redheaded man who had been present in the trailer with them that day finally starting to take shape in her head.

“About a year after we met you, we caught Conner working with black magic, trying to reopen the doorway between our world and Dominion. He and his family were ostracized from the group immediately, but before then, he was always asking about Dominion and Elizabeth. The idea of a person existing
who could bridge the two worlds fascinated him.”

“Okay,” Serenity
said slowly. “But I still don’t understand what that has to do with the boy in Elizabeth’s picture.”

“The boy is Ryan, Conner’s son.”

Over Iona’s shoulder, Serenity stared again at the picture, as though looking at it would make all the pieces fit together in her head. “But what would they want with Elizabeth?”