Initiation (26 page)

"I’ll always be here for you when you need me,
Addy
."

"Thanks." Her voice was thick with tears, "I think about you and Kelly every day. I wish we could move back to Caron." Addison paused, not able to say her next words, "I—"

"Don’t be so sad,
Addy
. You’ll be back again someday. Maybe when you’re done there, the Master will let you come back for a visit."

"Let’s not talk about him right now, it makes me miss him too much."

"Okay… So, how do you like Jenson? I heard they have a kick ass soccer team."

"It’s okay. I don’t know about the soccer team stuff, though." Addison swung back and forth a little, the chains making a few groaning sounds. "Maybe I’ll ask my new boyfriend. He seems to be interested in that kind of stuff."

"What’s he do?"

"He’s a doctor, but he likes sports, and—"

"Addison."

Hearing her name, Addison spun around as someone halted her mid-swing. Addison quickly ended her call with Josh and shoved her phone in her pants pocket.

"What the hell are you doing outside by yourself at night?" Brandon let go of the chains and walked around to the front of the swing. "And who were you talking to?"

"Kim." Addison sent him a cutesy smile, her small fangs sticking out of her mouth.

"Give it to me." He held his hand out to her, uncurling his fingers.

"Why?" Addison was going to protest but didn’t after seeing the nasty glare she was getting. "Fine." She slapped the cell in his palm.

"Thank you." Brandon scrolled through her phone, sighing in annoyance when he saw she had been talking to Josh. "Addison—you know you’re not supposed to talk to your brother right now."

"Brandon, please." She held onto the chains of the swing, pushing them forward slightly as she stood on her toes. "Don’t tell on me. It was just this one time, I promise. Come on, it’s just my brother."

"I have to tell the Master," he sighed.

"Stop being a jerk." Addison stood up to leave, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"This mission is serious, and you’re taking it like a joke." Getting close to her face, Brandon’s words hissed in her ears. "The Master would be livid if he knew you’ve been talking to your friends."

"He will not." Addison tried to weasel away, but he was holding her tightly. "Now let me go."

"You can’t be left alone for five minutes without getting in trouble." He held her close, pinning her back against his chest and holding down her arms. "You’re coming with me back to your apartment, and then I’m telling the Master you were talking to Josh."

"You will not!" Addison wrinkled her nose angrily as she tried to get out of his arms, "He’ll hurt him!" She started to cry, "If my brother gets hurt I’ll kill you!"

"Ha." Brandon smiled, finding her struggles humorous "
You
kill someone? I’d like to see that."

"I will when I get…" Addison’s words came out stressed and choppy, "Loose. I can…do it."

"Yeah right." Brandon laughed, "The Master would have to starve you to even get you to try."

"I want Darien. He was supposed to come stay with me tonight, not you."

"He babies you, just like the Master does. Everyone treats you like a princess, so no wonder you won’t hunt. You have to learn the ways of a vampire and stop feeding like you’re a damn child."

"Let me go." When Addison bit his arm, Brandon retaliated and bit her neck, which he was forbidden to do. She screamed, letting out a few whines as she began to cry, "Stop it!"

After a few seconds, Addison felt Brandon fall to ground, her blood mixed with Christian’s knocking him out cold. She took a step away from him, holding a hand to her chest as she looked down on him.

Addison rolled her eyes before running away from him and toward her apartment. She took out her phone, angrily dialing Darien’s number. She wasn’t looking in front of her and bumped right into Zak.

She jumped back in surprise, clicking “end call.” Her whole body felt shaky, and she had no idea how long he had been standing there, or if he had heard any of her conversation with Brandon. She quickly whipped up some tears, which was easy because she was terrified at what Zak was going to do to her. She pretended to cover her mouth as she slipped in her false teeth that she took stealthily out of her front jean pocket.

"He just bit me." Pointing to Brandon, Addison tried to get Zak to come with her, "I think he’s dead." She raised her voice, frantically shaking Zak’s arm. "Let’s—"

Scratching his head, Zak had no idea what to make of the scene, staring at Brandon and then at her. "He’s not dead, Ashley. He just looks passed out."

"Zak?" She watched him take an axe out of his backpack. "What are you doing with that?"

"I’m killing him for
ya
, baby." Zak smiled at her, holding the blade close her face and making her recoil. "That’s what I do remember?"

"Oh." Addison looked away and covered her eyes, her face squishing up as she squinted. "Yeah."

"Why don’t you go wait in the car?" Zak placed a warm hand on her shoulder and found her extreme cuteness humorous.

"I’m scared." Addison still had her face covered, her voice a little muffled as she spoke. "I want to stay here with you."

"Okay." Zak raised the axe over Brandon’s head before bringing it down swiftly on his neck. Addison’s whole body trembled when she heard the chop, Zak letting out a small chuckle. "You can open your eyes now." He cleaned the blade before putting it back in the backpack.

"No, I’m still scared." Addison’s voice was whiney.

"I’m here to protect you, remember?" Zak reached up to her face and pulled her hands away. Her sad eyes looked at Zak, a great fear in them as they darted all over his face. He leaned forward and kissed her, quickly pulling away and pinching her cheek.

"Come on. We have to get you out of here." He quickly grabbed her hand and yanked her along with him.

"Where are we going?" She was running to keep up with Zak, her voice a little out of breath.

"Someplace we can talk, miss vampire hunter." Zak motioned for her to get into his car. "Why were you with Brandon tonight? And why is he after you?"

Addison bumped into him when he stopped, an innocent childlike expression on her face, "Because he wants to…umm…"

"Sorry for dragging you into all this." The vampires must be after you now because you’re my girlfriend." He watched her get into the vehicle before slamming her door shut. He ran around the other side.

"How did you take Brandon down like that?" Zach looked at her questionably, Addison staring at her fingers as she avoided his eyes. "Do you have poison blood or something?"

Addison spoke in a babyish tone, her shoulders moving inward as she attempted to make herself smaller. "No."

Her answer ignited an annoyed sigh from Zak. "
Aww
shit." Zak ran his hand through his thick blond hair, spiking it up a little. He glared at the road as he drove. "You’re a vampire, aren’t you?" Addison’s lips formed a giant pout, her eyes avoiding his as giant tears fell from them, "Ashley?"

"What?" She bit her lip as she looked up at him.

"God damn it." Groaning, Zak leaned over and inspected the wound on Addison’s neck, shaking his head as he watched the wound heal quickly, the bite mark almost completely disappeared. "You are." Pulling his hands away from her, Zak pushed harder on the gas, "You must be that special vampire the House has a hard on for."

Addison fidgeted with the charms on her bracelet as she slowly nodded her head.

"So you’ve been lying to me the whole time, then?" Zak’s eyes were narrowed on the road, his face set in an angry expression.

"A little. But if you knew I was a vampire, you wouldn’t talk to me, would you?"

"I would’ve killed you." Making a sour face, Zak looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror, glaring at the car behind him. "And I should probably do that right now."

Addison’s voice was very low as she spoke, her words shaky, "Okay. Do it. If I’m dead, I don’t have to be a vampire anymore."

"I heard a lot about you." Zak sighed, glancing over at her sad face. "And…" Pausing, he put a calm hand on her leg, making Addison jump, "I think I can help you without having to kill you."

"Help me?"

"Yeah, but you have to help me in exchange."

"You can't help me." Addison looked down at the charm bracelet on her wrist, her voice low as she spoke, "I’m doomed to be this bloodsucking monster for the rest of my life. I hate killing. Taking a life is something you never get over." Pressing her lips together tightly, a few tears made their way slowly down her cheek, Addison sniffling.

"But you’re a vampire, you have to kill to survive."

"I don’t have to kill anything." Addison crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a dirty look, "And I could care less what you or the other members of the family think." She looked out the window to avoid his eyes, "I’m not doing it."

"
Ooo
…" Zak laughed, tapping her on the knee. "That’s very noble of you. Did that belong to your sister?" He stared over at Addison, who wasn’t looking at him, "Her name was Kelly, right?"

"Yeah." Nodding her head slowly, Addison’s eyes met with his. "I couldn’t protect her from the Master. It’s my fault she’s dead."

"So have you spoken with the House?" Zak pulled into an underground parking lot connected to some upscale apartments.

"Yeah."

"They sent you after me, right?"

"Yeah."

"You’ve had a few chances to steal my medallion." Zak turned off the car. "But you haven’t yet. Why?"

"Well…" Pausing, Addison gazed at the people walking past her window. She had been in Zak’s building a few times before. "The vampires leave me alone while I’m here. I like the freedom and don’t want to go back to…umm…" She looked down at her hands, fidgeting nervously as she frowned, "I don’t like living with the other vampires."

"You like living like a human." He put his hand on her leg again, leaning over and giving her a kiss. "I like you as one of those too. Come on." Zak tapped her leg once more. "Let’s go inside." He glanced around quickly before getting out of the car. Then, he opened Addison’s door, motioning for her to be quiet. "
Shh
—don’t say anything until we get up to my apartment. I don’t want my hunters knowing my new girlfriend is a vampire, or I’ll never live it down."

Addison smiled at him, Zak grinning at her sweet expression and giving her his hand. He took her upstairs, waving to a few hunters sitting out in the hallways. They said a few hellos and cracked a few jokes about Zak slacking off and spending the night with Addison instead of hunting.

He opened the door to his apartment, turning on the light inside and motioning for her to go in. "Okay, now we have to have a serious talk, little lady." Zak sat down next to her on the couch. "First of all, tell me what your mission is."

"I’m supposed to take your medallion." She scooted nearer to him, testing to see how close he’d let her. His reaction showed how much he trusted her right away, Zak wrapping his arm around her shoulder "So you can’t kill the Master with it."

"Ha." Zak picked up her hand, looking at the bracelet he knew she was fond of, watching the light bounce off it. "They lied to you. If the medallion could kill that bastard, my ancestors would’ve done it a long time ago."

"It can’t? Then what does it do?" Addison turned around in his arms but when she did, Zak leaned forward and pushed her down on the couch.

"It does worse than kill him." He placed his hands on either side of her head as he hovered over her, Addison’s gaze darting fearfully around his face. "It makes him human." Reaching into his shirt, Zak pulled out his medallion, unhooking it quickly with one hand. "Just like I’m going to make you." He placed it around her neck, holding her down when she tried to wiggle away from him.

"I’m scared." Addison’s lip trembled as she looked up at him, "I feel…" Reaching a shaky hand out to him, she let it lightly rest on his face, "So…tired."

"Go to sleep," Zak put his hand over hers, his smile warm and loving as he watched her eyes slowly close. "And we’ll talk more when you wake up."

She passed out, her face turning slightly to the side. One of her hands fell off the couch and hung down the side of it, her fingertips barely kissing the soft carpet. Zak reached into her mouth, pulling out her false teeth. Letting out a wicked laugh when he saw her fangs had disappeared, Zak put the false teeth on the coffee table near him.

Feeling something vibrate against his hip, Zak moved off her and reached into her pocket to take out her phone. Reading the name on the caller ID, he snorted, "Dad. Hmm—this will be interesting." He looked over at the sleeping Addison before standing up and walking into the other room. He answered but didn’t say anything because Christian was the first to speak.

"Addison—where are you?" Christian had a panicked tone to his smooth voice, his worry very apparent over his lost mate. "We’ve been looking for you everywhere. Are you all right?"

Zak grinned as he leaned up against the wall, Christian’s distress pleasing him. He still didn’t say anything, the silence making Christian explode.