Sixteen Going on Undead (15 page)

“How the hell did she do that?”
Adrianne complained.

“I don’t know, but it was seriously cool, wasn’t it? She’s amazing.”

My heart warmed hearing the pride in
Lorcan’s
voice, but I wasn’t stupid enough to trust him again. I had liked him—a lot. I wanted something more with him, but that was shot.

“When I get my hands on her, if the others don’t kill her, I will! What is she anyway?”
Adrianne demanded.

Lorcan grumbled.
“How do I know? They only tell us so much. But she’s more than a regular human. That’s for sure. I want to know what, but...”

“But you have to follow orders, Lorcan. You know what they’ll do to you if you don’t bring her in.”

After that, the conversation was cut off. I didn’t know if I was too far away or if they had blocked me hearing. It wasn’t until I had jumped on a subway train that I realized how far I had come in such a short time. I didn’t think I’d moved as fast as Lorcan had bringing me to the lake, but it had been about three miles in a few minutes, and I’d never run that fast.

I jumped onto the first train through the station, even though it wasn’t the one that would take me back to my dad’s apartment, or to my home with my mother. I just needed to get away and do some thinking. I wasn’t dead, but I had some kind of latent power. Who was I? Were my parents my real parents, or had I been adopted? One thing was for sure. My dad wasn’t going to admit anything, and now I knew that Lorcan and Adrienne didn’t know much more than I did. What about the others in the coven? Could I trust going to them?

I shook my head as I sat down in a vacant seat. “No way. That’s crazy.”

“Excuse me?”

I looked up to find a woman watching me from across the aisle. Her eyes were so dark and shadowed beneath the hood she wore that I couldn’t see the whites in them. I shivered and hugged myself. “Nothing.”

Suspicion that she was one of them rose in my mind. I scanned the car to see which way I’d need to run if she attacked. The power that had gotten me here had fizzled. I was on my own.

When I looked back at the place where the woman had been sitting, the seat was empty. My heart felt like it was about to choke me. I gasped for breath, looking around. Maybe it was my imagination. Maybe she’d never been there in the first place. If she had been there, she would have taken me, wouldn’t she? I mean, she was a full grown vampire. I was just...well, whatever I was.

“
Whatzzzzzzuppp
!”

I turned toward the back of the car, and coming through the doors connecting two cars was Blake. I sighed. “Hey, Blake. They sent you for me?”

He dropped into a seat. “Yup. I’m the only one crazy enough to run around in a train when the sun is coming up soon.”

“Oh, you didn’t learn your lesson last time, huh?” I checked our location. We were coming up on Franklin, the first stop where the train moved from below ground to several feet above it. My watch said four-thirty. It didn’t seem like so much time had passed in the little I’d done tonight. This was the first time in my life I had stayed out all night. If I wasn’t in so much danger, I would have gotten a thrill out of it. As it was, I was dog tired. “You look like you healed okay,” I told Blake.

“Yeah, I fed. That always speeds it up.” He lifted his arms out to the sides, and his coat widened making him look like one of those Count Dracula guys who were about to turn into a bat. As usual, Blake’s clothes were dumpy and dark, and it looked like he’d added another piercing to his left ear. “You’re not going to fight me on this, are you, Tanesha? Come on, dude, I think you and me could be buds.”

I rolled my eyes. “Buds? Get real. How do you keep those holes in your ears if your body always heals?”

“Willpower.”

I glared at him. “Fine.”

“Fine, what?”

I stood up. “I’m ready to go with you. I figure if I’m going to find out what’s going on, I should go to the man running the show.”

Blake whistled. “Yeah! Now you’re talking. We’ll be grunt-hunting together in no time. You wait and see.”

Not! That one experience was more than enough. I didn’t want to see those weird creatures ever again, if I could help it.

* * * *

My eyes burned, and my throat was dry. I had been crying for the last hour and a half or more. I couldn’t be sure because they had taken everything—my
watch, my cell, even
my shoes. I sat huddled in a cold, dark room with only a twin mattress on the floor in the corner. The door was locked from the outside, and I was pretty sure from the scrapes over the cement floor outside the room that someone guarded the door.

Unlike how Lorcan and I traveled together, Blake brought me to his people in style. I had never ridden in a limo, but that’s just what was waiting for us when we climbed the piss-smelling steps from the subway. A sleek black limousine was parked at the curb with a chauffeur beside it. He had his hands crossed in front of him and a hat pulled low on his head, along with sunglasses. At night, mind you.

It wasn’t until I was sliding onto the soft cushion under my butt and gawking at the interior of the car that I realized the windows were tinted really dark. And while we rode, it got later until the sun rose in the sky. I couldn’t see it, but I knew it was out there by the time on my watch.

“Cool, huh?” Blake asked. He touched a button, and a panel slid down revealing all kinds of sodas. “Want something?”

I frowned. “Why is that there? You guys don’t drink it.”

“For you.” He winked. “You get the VIP treatment.”

“Whatever. Did you arrange all this, Blake? You called them?”

He tapped his head. “Yup. See, I know how to do it right, not like that wannabe, Lorcan. He thinks he’s so great because the head man favors him, but I’m the one they can depend on. In the end, I’m the one who got you to come.”

I turned away, rubbing my arms because it was cold in the car. “I don’t’ want to talk about him. Why is it so
freakin
’ cold in here?”

“Wards off the heat of the sun. Not a good thing, trust me.” He
laid
across the seat and slipped his hands behind his head, with one ankle crossed over his knee. “Get comfortable. We have a long ride.”

“How can the driver stand it? The sunlight, I mean. We’ve got tint here, but there’s no way he would be able to see through that much at the front.”

“Grunt.” Blake yawned.

“Huh?”

“The limo driver is a grunt.”

“Say what!” I would have jumped out of the car if I didn’t think I’d break my neck. “What is that thing doing here? How do you know? I mean he looked regular. Of course he looked regular. They shape shift.”

“Hey, calm down.” Blake laughed.
“You might have heard, grunts can be enslaved.
The one driving is a slave to the head dude. He does what our leader wants, asks no questions. I know by the look on your face that you don’t like it, but that’s how we live. Better get used to it.”

“What about—”

“Ugh! Tanesha.” He glared at me. “I’m happy to answer questions, but not now. Do you know it’s not natural for us to be awake during the day? I’m sleepy as all get out. Once that ball of fire hits the sky, I’m out. So please, dude, just give me some time. K?”

I settled back in my seat, twisting my hands together. “Okay.”

I liked Blake. He was cool, blunt, up front with me. He didn’t seem to take life seriously, but he knew what he had to do. The best part was he didn’t get my heart going or make me feel like I was a little girl who should be home with my mommy. Not like Lorcan, and for that mater not like Adrianne, who for her slutty look still made me feel
ugly.
I thought Blake and I could be friends, but right then I was missing Ronnie. Blake was nice and would be fun, but it had seemed like Ronnie cared about me. Of course that could have been years of lies.

I closed my eyes thinking I’d get some sleep along with Blake. If a battle was coming, I would do much better if I was rested. At least I wasn’t craving blood, even though I was sure the red pill had faded out of my system. After a quick fifteen minute nap, I intended to practice bringing up that energy thing. I had a feeling I would need it and more.

Chapter Nine

I couldn’t see it, but Blake told me the members of the coven lived in a mansion set on eighty acres of land. He said the driveway alone went on for a mile. I couldn’t imagine, but we were turning into it by afternoon. If the place was so far, why were they in my city? I asked Blake since he looked more rested now and wouldn’t snap at me.

“Vampires don’t hunt near their home. We like to keep the two separate.”

I swallowed as the car slowed. “Hunt. You mean the grunts?”

He laughed and flashed his fangs. “Hunt. For our food. Grunts are for fun.” He tilted his head to the side like he was listening to something. I tried to tap in, but it didn’t work. The car stopped. “We’re here. Let’s go.”

The driver opened the door, and as I stepped out I tried to look closely at his face to see if I could spot any evidence that he wasn’t human, but he didn’t meet my eyes. I wondered if that was part of his job. It wasn’t right that they made these beings slaves. Not that I had too much sympathy for them, cause for real, they
creeped
me out, but it was still wrong.

We were in a darkened garage, brightened by a small light overhead. Not even a crack of daylight got in that place. There were no windows. Blake led me over to a door, and we came into a hallway. I looked around. They had money, I know that. I guess whoever was in charge had been around for long enough to save a few lifetimes’ worth of money. Must be nice.

Hardwood floors, giant pictures of landscapes on the walls, and every room we passed decorated to the hilt. I was impressed. So why they led me to that empty prison room place I didn’t know. It was all kinds of cruel. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they had a grudge against me, but I didn’t do anything to them, except avoid being killed.

Before I was taken to the empty room, I had to meet with the head guy. Blake handed me over to a woman no taller than four feet and rail thin, with dry, flyaway red hair.

“
Lin’ll
take you to the big dude,” Blake told me. He started to walk off but then stopped and grinned at me. “Don’t let her size fool you. The smaller they
are,
the more vicious.” He winked and disappeared in a breeze. I chewed a thumb nail.

“This way,” she told me. I followed.

“Hey, um, have you seen Lorcan?” I told myself I wasn’t going to ask about his lying ass, but I couldn’t help it.

She didn’t answer.

“Did you hear me?” I called out. She turned a corner, and we came across some stairs. While we walked up, I concentrated on the back of her head, narrowed my eyes, and tried to get in her thoughts. I actually felt it, like pressing on a balloon. At first it seemed like I was getting through, and then I’m not sure what happened.

One minute, she’s looking the other way going up the steps, and the next her fangs are out, her face is scary crazy, and she’s coming at me. I don’t know where the
clawlike
fingernails came from, but she would have sliced me like bread if she got to me. An instant before she did, someone passed between us.

“You came.”

I glanced up, and almost fell on the floor seeing Lorcan. “Oh, it’s the loser, the liar
,
the—”