Time Will Tell (7 page)

Even though Connor and Erica didn’t say anything in response, Gabe could tell from the way the tension in their bodies eased up that
he had been able to calm them down a bit.

Once they approached the town square, Mary-Kate glanced over her shoulder at them. “I need to go get my mother. She’s in the nursing home a block away.” She hesitated a moment, tapping her finger against her chin. “Do I trust you to stay here with them? I th
ink you might try to run off.”

Gabe decided that it was time to plead with her
, even if it was just because he needed some way to stall her. “Mary-Kate, you can’t do this.”

“Yes, I can, Gabe. And I will,”
Mary-Kate said, frowning at him. “I thought you promised you were going to be good.”

“I’m going to be good,” Gabe insisted. “There has to be some way you can let them live, though. Just tell me what you want me to
do, and I’ll do it. Anything.”

Mary-Kate tapped her finger against her chin for a moment before her lips tilted into a small smile. “Actually,
Gabe . . . yes, there
is
something you can do to save them. But you’ll have to act quickly. The time left to save my mom is running out.”

Gabe braced himself, knowing that whatever Mary-Kate would say next wouldn’t be easy, but it didn’t matter. He would do whatever it was, as long as it meant he could try to win back Lexi’s trust.

Chapter 15

Anna tried to close the filing cabinet drawer, hoping that no one would catch her
rummaging through Greg Lawrence AKA Geoff’s file. She had to get out of the office and call Lexi to let her know what she’d just found out.

Even though Anna had known that Greg Lawrence was a crazy, deranged person, he had never done anything to hurt
her personally. Not that she knew of until now, anyway.

Just thinking about it made her livid. Now that Anna knew who had killed her mother, she wasn’t going to give up
on getting her revenge anymore. She was going to make sure that Greg Lawrence would pay for what he had done.

Before she had the chance to stuff the folder inside the drawer,
she heard Darius ask, “What are you doing in here, Anna?”

Anna froze in place
. She was busted.

Slowly, she turned around to face Darius. Anna felt guilty about snooping through his files, but she also hoped that he would
be able to understand if she explained. He had loved her mother, after all, so surely he wanted to know more about the vampire who had murdered her. “I was just . . . I looked through your files to learn more about my mother,” Anna offered lamely. Holding up the folder, she added, “And I found this.”

Darius motioned to the folder. “What is that, exactly?”

“It’s Geoff’s file,” Anna explained, remaining rooted in place. “Except his name isn’t really Geoff.”

“What do you mean his name isn’t really Geoff?
Of course his name is Geoff.” Darius narrowed his eyes at her, and Anna was pretty sure that she noted a look of coldness in them—a look that she had never seen in them before, and she began to feel uneasy.

Anna hoped that she hadn’t lost his trust by breaking into his personal files, but . . . he had to forgive her. It would help him
if he knew the truth, too. “His real name is Greg Lawrence. He’s the mayor of Briar Creek, and he’s been trying to kill one of my best friends for over a year now.”

“
Anna, I think you’re reading that file wrong,” Darius said, laughing. “Geoff can’t be the mayor of Briar Creek. How could he have been a mayor if he spent months at our facility? That wouldn’t even make sense.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t make sense,” Anna said, considering it. “It’s the truth, though. I know that face well enough to know it’s Greg Law
rence’s picture in that file.”

Darius took a step closer to her, and sat down at the leather chair behind his desk. “Perhaps you’re mistaken, Anna. It doesn’t seem possible. Unless Greg Lawrence ha
s a twin brother named Geoff.”

Anna shook her head. “No, I’m pretty sure Mayor Lawrence doesn’t have a brother.” She wasn’t about to admit that the reason she knew
that was because she’d had a background search done on the mayor once, trying to find a way to prove that Greg had killed Lexi’s mom. The search had turned up nothing that would help, but she had learned that the mayor was an only child.

“Listen, Anna. While I appreciate your theory, I don’t really have time for it right now,” Darius said, rising to his feet again. “In fact, there’s someone who
I would like for you to meet.”

“Okay.” Anna glanced at the clock on the wall. It had been at least a few minutes
since she’d come into the office. Hopefully there had been enough time for Brandy and her fiancé to leave Westbrooke without getting caught.

Darius turned to the door and said, “Come on in. I
want you to meet Anna, Geoff.”

As Greg Lawrence entered the room, Anna felt a knot tighten in her stomach, and she began to twirl her ring around her finger nervously. She understood now why Austin had insisted that she become a vampire. Even though Anna had spent months preparing to defend herself from a vampire, the vampire she most wanted to kill was standing right across fr
om her, and she felt helpless.

Greg met Anna’s eyes, and a trace of a smile crossed his lips. “Why, hello, Anna
. It’s very nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” Anna mumbled, not breaking their gaze. Looking away from his eyes would be a sign of weakness, and Anna didn’t want Greg to know just how vulnerable she really was. But she couldn’t help but notice that Greg looked a lot stronger and taller than he usuall
y did, as he towered over her.

“You
see, Anna, there’s been a mistake,” Darius explained. “Geoff has come back to explain everything to me. The reason he left our training facility so early is because he decided to join the Peace Corps. It just happened to be around the same time your mother was killed.” He paused, meeting Anna’s gaze. “I was wrong . . . Geoff
isn’t
your mother’s killer.”

Anna felt the heat rising to her cheeks, and even though she wanted to say something, to protest what Darius had said, she was at a loss for words. It sickened her to think that Greg had somehow been able to convince Darius
into believing he was innocent. How could Darius be so naïve?

“Anyway, Geoff has requested to speak to you, Anna,
” Darius went on. “I hope you’ll be able to become better acquainted with one another.”

“Wait!” Anna protested, as Darius headed for the door. “You can’t just leave me in here alone with him.” She motioned towards Greg, but she didn’t meet his eyes because she didn’t want him to see
just how afraid she was to be left alone in the room with him.

Darius gave her a small smile. “It will be okay, Anna. Geoff’s a nice guy. I’m sorry to have misled you the way I did. I underestimated him, but Geoff has already forgiven me. I hope that you’l
l be able to forgive me, too.”

Once the door clicked shut behind Darius, Greg turned to Anna. “Well, well, well. I have to say, I’m a little surprised to learn that you’re here at Westbrooke all by yourself. I didn’t think you were capable of doing something without your friends. I expected you to be here with that chump, Austin, at least. Guess things didn’t wor
k out between the two of you?”

Anna pursed her lips. “
I don’t really think that’s any of your business.”

“Oh, that’s alright,” Greg said, waving a hand in the air, dismissing her from answering him. “I’m already t
aking care of Austin, anyway.”

“What do you mean you’re
taking care
of him?” Anna asked, her heart pounding harder against her chest. Was Greg telling her that he’d done something to hurt Austin? “No,” she realized aloud. “You haven’t done anything to Austin. Lexi would have told me if you did something to him.”

“So you
are
still in contact with Lexi.” Greg grinned. “Anyway, the reason she hasn’t told you is because it hasn’t happened yet. My guys are in the process of fetching Austin right now. They’ll take him to the vacant building I have reserved just for him, which they’ll set on fire at my command. Of course, Austin’s life doesn’t have to end.” He glanced over at Anna. “There’s something you can do to stop this from happening. You can save him.”

“What do I have to do?” Anna questioned, knowing that she would be willing to do anything Greg wanted her to do, as long as it meant that Austin didn’t have to die. Regardless of what happened between Austin and Anna in the past, or what would happen between the two of them in the future, Anna still cared about him more than she had cared about anyone. She had to save him, no matter what the circumstances were, or
she would regret it for life.

“It’s simple, really. All you need to do is bring Lexi Hunter to me,” Greg said with a sneer.

Chapter 16

The Nichols’ house was quiet when Lexi and Dan got back. Their search for Darlene, Erica, and Connor hadn’t turned up anything, and Lexi and Dan both knew that there was only one wa
y to find out where they were.

Caroline answered her cell phone on the second ring. “Hello?” she asked, and Lexi noticed that she sounded distant . . . out of sorts, almost.
Whatever it was, Caroline definitely didn’t sound like her naturally bubbly self.

“Caroline, is Gabe aroun
d?” Lexi asked into the phone.

There was a slight hesitation at the other end of the line before Caroline replied, “No, he actually stepped outside to
catch a breath of fresh air.”

“Well, can you ask him to call me back?” Lexi asked. “It’s really important. My stepmom and my brother and sister, Connor and Erica, are missing. I need Gabe to try to have a vision, so we can tr
y to find out where they are.”

“Okay, I’ll tell him,” Caroline replied. There were a few seconds of silence, before she blurted, “Lexi,
did Gabe ever drink from you?”

Lexi hesitated. Did Caroline want to know because she was jealous of the relationship that Lexi and Gabe once had with one another?
She wasn’t sure of the best way to answer her question, without getting anyone upset.

Finally, Lexi said, “Yes. What makes
you ask?”

“Did it ever feel like he wasn’t going to stop?” Caroline asked. “Like he was going to kill you i
f things got too out of hand?”

“No, it was never that way between us,” Lexi replied. “Gabe always knew his limits. Why? Did Gabe do something to
hurt you?”

From across the room, Dan froze and turned to Lexi, fully aware of the conversation that she
was having with Caroline now.

“I . . . I don’t know,” Caroline said. “It just didn’t feel right. And when he kissed me . . . it wasn’t like the firs
t time he kissed me.”

“What
do you mean?” Lexi questioned.

“I mean, it just felt different. This is kind of crazy, but . . . I almost feel like he’s not the same Gabe I met in the beginning. Almost like he’s a completely different person, if that makes a
ny sense,” Caroline explained. “I’m not so sure if I like it.”

“I understand,” Lexi replied, “but what I don’t understand is
why
. What changed between the first time you met and now?”

Even though Lexi hadn’t actually expected Dan’s sister to answer her, Caroline said, “It happened around the same time as the fire at Huntington, actually. I thought things were fine between us at first, but . . . ever since we left the building that day, something changed in him.” Lowering her voice, she asked, “Do you know if it’s possible for a soul to make its
home in another person’s body?”

“Like demon possession or something?” Lexi asked, mortified that Caroline was even considering the possibility that something like tha
t could have happened to Gabe.

“Yes,” Caroline replied. “I know it sounds crazy. There are times when he still seems like Gabe, but there are other times where he just seems really cold and distant.” She paused before adding, “I’m sorry I doubted you guys about him killing people.
I think it could be true now.”

“Caroline, don’t let Gabe drink from you again,” Lexi instructed her. “In fact, do yo
u have any classes tomorrow?” 

“I have one early in the morning, but that’s
all,” Caroline replied. “Why?”

“I think you should come home,” Lexi told her. “We were planning to come out there to confront Gabe tomorrow afternoon, but . . . I don’t think you should be in the same city as him anymore. Dan and I would both feel a lot safer if you came back here. I’m sorry I told you it was a good idea to move in with him in the first place.
I feel horrible about it.”

“You did
what
?!” Dan yelled at her, and Lexi realized that she had slipped up. She hadn’t wanted Dan to know that she had told Caroline that it was okay for her to move in with Gabe, but she had forgotten that she didn’t want him to know until just now.

“
I can do that, Lexi,” Caroline said into the phone. “I’ll come home. And I’ll make sure that Gabe doesn’t even know I’m leaving. I’ll leave straight from class.”

“Can you still ask Gabe to try to have a vision?” Lexi asked, and Dan eyed her accusingly f
rom across the room.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Perfect. We’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, then,” Lexi said before ending the conversation and turning to Dan.

“Why would you tell Caroline that she should live with Gabe?” Dan questioned, ruffling his sandy blonde hair nervously. “I thought we agreed that you were going to tell her she
shouldn’t
be with Gabe.”

Lexi sighed and sat down on the bed. Smoothing out the white sweater she was wearing, she explained, “I didn’t want Caroline to get mad at me. And I also didn’t want to ruin her shot at happiness. I guess part of me wanted to believe that maybe Gabe isn’t as evil as we know he is.
I found my happiness with you. I wanted the same thing for them.” She met Dan’s eyes. “As much as I love you, Gabe will always be my first love. And some part of me wanted to believe that, deep down, he’s a good person. It’s hard for me to admit that I was once in love with a monster.”

Dan nodded understandingly. He sat down beside her and grabbed her hand. “I know it’s hard to deal with, but you have to accept it, Lexi. Gabe isn’t the guy you thought he was, and he pro
bably won’t ever be that guy.”

“I know,” Lexi said, blowing a strand of golden blonde hair out
of her face. “It just sucks.”

“I agree,” Dan replied. Sighing, he turned to her. There was a look of worry in his blue eyes. “I’m sorry I’ve acted the way I have been about this whole Gabe situation. It’s just that I’m so worried
I’m about to lose another sibling.”

Lexi glanced over at him, surprised to hear him mention his brother, Dave, who
Mary-Kate told her had died from leukemia. It seemed so long ago, and even though they had been together for a while now, Dan never mentioned his brother and Lexi had never asked about him. “You never mention him,” she commented.

Dan shrugged. “I
don’t like to talk about it.”

“I didn’t realize the two
of you were close,” Lexi said.

“Yeah, we were pretty close,” Dan replied. “See, when our parents disowned me because I was a vampire, Dave said he wouldn’t let me go through it alone. So, he went out and got himself turned into a vampire so I wouldn’t be
dealing with all this by myself. When our parents moved out of town, Dave stayed with me at our uncle’s house.”

“That must have been
hard for you,” Lexi commented.

“It was. I wish I could have done something to save him, but it was already too late.
”

“He had Wilkins Syndrome, didn’t he? Mary-Kate told me he had leukemia, but I know that wasn’t true now.”

“He did,” Dan told her, shaking his head frustratedly. “He used to drink from Mary-Kate, but then he got cocky when he started dating this new girl. He thought that Wilkins wasn’t real . . . that it wouldn’t affect him. I told him he was being an idiot. That there was proof that Wilkins existed. He wouldn’t listen to me, though. He wasn’t invincible.” He glanced over at Lexi. “That’s why it’s so important to me that we keep Caroline safe from Gabe. She’s the only sibling I have left, and I need to make sure she stays safe.”

“That’s how I feel about Erica and Connor. My mom’s already gone, and Mary-Kate isn’t here anymore, either. Not that she and I ever could have been sisters, with how angry she
always was at me. Aside from my dad, Erica and Connor are the only ones I have left.” She turned to Dan and told him, almost apologetically, even though she wasn’t really sorry for it, “That’s why I asked Caroline if she could still ask Gabe to have a vision. I don’t know how we’re going to find my brother and sister otherwise.”

Dan nodded understandingly. “I get it, Lexi. I do.” He sighed. “I’ll just feel a whole lot better once my sister
is back here, safe and sound.”

“Yeah, but what are we going to do about Gabe?” Lexi questioned quietly. Even though she had told Caroline that she needed to come back to Pennsylvania, Lexi hadn’t really considered what would happen after that. She knew that they couldn’t keep Caroline at home with them forever; she would need to go
back to Juilliard eventually.

Dan ran a hand over his sandy blonde hair and glanced nervously in her d
irection. “I say we kill him.”

“Kill him?” Lexi’s voice squeaked as she said the words aloud. It hadn’t dawned on her that Dan might have been considering that t
hey should actually kill Gabe.

As much as she hated Gabe for what he’d done to Justin and Rosie, just the idea of killing him made Lexi feel sick to her stomach. She’d always believed that two wrongs didn’t make a right, but it made it even harder when the vampire who they were thinking about killing was someone who she had once lov
ed.

“Well, how else are we going to make sure he doesn’t
hurt anyone again? I know it’s not something you want to do, but . . . I think it’s something we really need to consider, Lexi,” Dan said gently. He cupped her chin in his hand, and looked into her eyes. “It’s the only way I’ll ever know for sure that you and Caroline will both always be safe.”

Lexi sighed. She wasn’t going to tell Dan that she agreed with him, because she didn’t. She wasn’t going to argue with him, either. “Fine. Why don’t you call Caroline and tell her that she should bring Gabe home with her tomorrow? That way, he’ll be here.” She paused. “Can we wait until he h
as a vision, though, at least?”

Dan nodded. “We can do whatever you want. And I agree. Maybe it will be best for Gabe to come home with Caroline, just so he doesn’t suspect anything. I’ll call her later, though. Right now, I have other things in mind,” he whispered, leaning in closer to her until his mouth was inches away from hers and h
is breath was hot on her cheek.

Lexi pressed her lips against his and, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulled him in closer to her. As Dan’s mouth moved
down her neck, Lexi peeled off her shirt and thought about how much she wanted this, how much she needed this. It had been too long since he’d drank from her, and with all of the stress that was going on in her life, she wanted him to drink from her more than she’d ever wanted him to before.

As Dan sank his teeth into her neck, Lexi felt all of the tension melt away from her body.