Shiver (Night Roamers) (22 page)

“
It’s a surprise,” she said.

“
I don’t think I can handle any more of those. Where’s Ethan?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll see him soon enough.”

Something in the way she said that made me hesitate.

“Celeste,
” I asked. “Why didn’t Ethan come back for me himself?”

She stopped and turned to me. “He was
very busy.”

“I… I just don’t understand.”

She grabbed my hand. “Just, come with me if you want to see him.”

I sighed and let her drag me to the end of the hallway, to a
large double-doorway, where I could hear loud music coming from the other side. As she opened it and we took our first steps, my eyes strained to adjust to the darkness inside.

“My my…” giggled Celeste, “Now what is
going on over there?”

I turned my head to look and noticed we’
d happened upon another creepy sex scene, this one a
ménage à trois
. I didn’t recognize the two girls, who were both dressed in leather and chainmail, but as my eyes began to adjust to the low lighting, I did recognize the guy lying on the bed.

“U
h, oh,” chuckled Celeste.

“Ethan?”
I choked, unable to believe my eyes.

Ethan’s head shot up from the center of the bed and our eyes met. “Nikki?”

I turned around and ran out of the room towards the elevators, which were thankfully, still in the basement. I slipped inside, pressed the “close” button, and began sobbing.

I was still crying when I left the front doors of the club. Trevor had tried to talk to me, but I’d ignored him and walked away, wa
nting to escape the memory of seeing Ethan entwined between those two girls.

“Need a ride?” asked a
young couple who appeared to be getting ready to leave the nightclub. From the way the guy was ogling me, I knew his ride meant something totally different than mine, and from what I’d witnessed in the club, it didn’t surprise me.

Willing myself to be brave
, I turned away from them and wiped the tears from my face. “No, thanks.”

“It’s danger
ous to be wandering the streets like this,” called his girlfriend from the passenger side. “Are you sure?”

“No, thanks. I’ll be fine,” I sa
id as I kept walking towards Main Street.

Duncan’s house wasn’t too far and although it was early morning,
I decided to see if he’d made it home. As I neared his house, I realized in relief that their kitchen lights were on. I hurried to the door and knocked.

The door opened and I sighed in relief.

“Duncan?”

His face broke into a wide
, relieved grin.

“Nikki. Thank God,”
he said, pulling me into the house. “We’ve been looking for you all night. Your mom is even here.”

“Nikki!” cried my mother, rushing towards
me. She threw her arms around my shoulders and pulled me close. “Thank God you’re alive!  I was so worried about you!”

“I’m fine,” I murmured
as she released me and stared into my face.

“You sure?”
asked Sonny, moving towards me. “Those vampires didn’t get you?”

I stared at Sonny in shock. “You know about the vampires?”

He nodded. “I’ve known about them for a while now. Duncan just confirmed everything tonight, however.”

“
Seriously, you really knew?”

S
onny sighed. “I had a suspicion. Especially after those girls started dying, and your old neighbor, Abigail, paid me a visit last summer. After she was murdered, I knew she’d been on to something. It was just hard to swallow at the time. Vampires are supposed to be fictional characters, not members of the city council.”

I turned to Duncan
, who looked pale but didn’t have any bruises or cuts. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine
, I heal pretty quickly. By the way, where is that asshole?” he asked.

I lowered my eyes. “He’s at the club.”

His eyes narrowed. “Nightshade?” he asked. “Were you there, too?”

“Yeah
, but not for very long. Um…where’s Nathan?” I asked, looking around.

“He’s searching around town for you
with Caleb,” said mom. “I’d better let them know. Listen, Nikki, I want you to know, Duncan and Sonny finally convinced me,” she said, smiling weakly. “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you. I feel like such a horrible mother.”

I gave her a hug.
“It’s okay, mom. I’m just glad you’re safe and that you know.”

“Of course I’m safe,” she said, pulling away to look into my eyes. “Caleb’s been watching over me.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You do realize he’s a vampire, too, right?”

She let out a ragged sigh. “Yes, I know. I still love him though
, Nikki. I can’t help it.”

I understood it more than she realized. I was still in love with Ethan, even though he’
d grabbed my heart, taken a bite, and then spit it out. More than once, obviously.

“You’re not going to let him turn you into one of those things, are you?” I asked, staring into her eyes, which weren’t covered with sunglasses for once.

She bit the side of her lip. “He says that I have cancer.”

“
Mom, you don’t know for sure.”

“I guess I’ll have to find out
for certain then,” she said, looking away.

“Listen,” said Sonny. “Caleb’s a pretty decent guy and all, but the truth of the matter is
… these guys feed on us.”

“Some of them can’t help it.”
My eyes met Duncan’s and he smiled sheepishly.

Sonny noticed our exchange. “Shit, you know I love you, Dunc,” said Sonny
, patting him on the back. “And I will do anything to help you overcome this… blood thirst thing of yours. But the hell if I’m going to stand back and let the rest of those monsters kill any more folks in town.”

“
Sonny, they’re not all monsters,” said my mom.

“Anne
,” he replied. “I know how you feel about Caleb, but the truth of the matter is, he’s behind most of these murders. I mean, listen, he’s probably the head of their group. You have to stay away from him and keep your family safe. It’s too dangerous for any human to associate with the likes of them. Look at what happened to Nikki tonight. What if she would have turned up dead?”

My mom closed her eyes and nodded. “I know
you’re right. I’d never forgive myself.”

“We have to stick toge
ther,” said Sonny. “And beat these creatures. Maybe get more people involved. Shit, maybe we can run them out of town.”

“There’s one more thing,” I said. “Faye Dunbar.”

Sonny’s eyes narrowed. “Who is she?”

Duncan’s face darkened. “She’s pure evil, that’s what she is.”

“They say she’s some kind of shape-shifter,” I said.

Sonny smirked. “Shape
-shifter? Christ. Well, we’ll have to take care of her, too then, I guess.”

“Something tells me it won’t be that easy,” I said.

“None of it is going to be easy,” said Sonny. “But we have to try.”

***

When my brother and Caleb returned, my mother didn’t say much. I could tell she was confused and mulling things over in her mind.

“Thank goodness, you’re al
l right,” said Caleb, looking genuinely relieved to see me.

“Didn’t Celeste
call and tell you she found me?” I asked him.

“I haven’t spoken to her all night,” he replied.

“Really? Well, she picked me up in your new car; I just figured you would have known.”

He raised his eyebrows. “New car?
”

“A Mercedes?” I answered. “She picked me up in it around three this morning.
”

“I’ll bet it
s Drake’s new car,” he said. “I only have my Cherokee and the squad car.”

“Well, maybe I just misunderstood her,” I said.

The truth of the matter was, I didn’t understand anything that happened after she’d picked me up. The entire time I’d been with her, she’d seemed more secretive than usual and appeared almost giddy when I’d found Ethan with the two girls.

“Maybe. I’m just glad you
’re back with your family,” said Caleb.

“How did Celeste find you?” asked Nathan.

“It’s a long story,” I mumbled. I wasn’t even sure what had happened myself.

“I told Caleb about the girl you found earlier,” said Nathan.

“Yeah, we’re looking into it,” said Caleb.

“It was Faye Dunbar,” I said. “You need to investigate her.”

“She has an alibi,” said Caleb. “I already questioned her.”

Of course.

My mom yawned. “We should get back to the cabin. It’s very late and we could all use the rest.”

“
What about you, sweetheart? You doing okay?” Caleb asked, rubbing my mom’s shoulders.

“I um…I’m fine,
” she murmured.

His eyes narrowed. “Do we need to talk?”

“It is really late,” I interrupted. “We should get back to the cabin, mom.”

“I’ll drive you
guys back,” said Caleb.”

“No,” I said,
“Sonny’s already volunteered.”

Caleb turned to Son
ny. “You sure?”

Sonny nodded. “It’s no problem
at all. I’ve been meaning to check out their boat anyway. Make sure Nathan winterized it properly.”

“Okay
, well thanks, Sonny. Listen, hon,” said Caleb, turning back towards my mother. “I’ve got to go and look for that Ethan character. You make sure you get some sleep. I want you raring to go when it comes time to catch our plane tomorrow morning. Okay?”

“Of course,” she said, not meeting his eyes
as he studied her.

“Caleb,
if you’re looking for Ethan, he was at Club Nightshade the last time I looked,” I said.

“Okay
, thanks,” he replied. “Listen, Nikki, you have to say away from Ethan,” he said. “That kid is bad news. When I get my hands on him, he’s in deep shit. Are you sure you don’t want to press kidnapping charges?”

I shook my head and could tell he was relieved.

“Okay, then,” he said, “But, if you change your mind, just let me know.”

“Sure,” I said.

After Caleb left, Sonny released a long breath. “Now that I know what he really is, it scares the hell out of me.”

“I had to drive around with him,”
complained Nathan. “Every time he looked at me, I wondered if I was a goner.”

Duncan sighed. “Caleb’s not going to attack you. He definitely wants your mom and isn’t going to
do anything that might jeopardize that relationship.”