Violet Midnight (Violet Night Trilogy) (13 page)

Pain seared up Emma’s legs as the ground met her kneecaps. Her world tilted. Jake sprinted toward her, hands outstretched. Everything went dark before she saw what happened.

But she felt it.

Warm, tender fingers cupped her cheek, seconds before it made contact with the ground.

“Emma. Emma,” he said.

Through the static in her ears, his musical voice called her name, beckoning her from unconsciousness. She hadn’t heard him right. He didn’t say what she thought he’d said. It couldn’t be true. She refused to believe it.

The other cheek warmed as he touched it. Electricity tingled through her face. Her body slumped, but two strong, warm arms lifted her from the hard ground. Her eyes couldn’t open.
Wouldn’t
might be the better word. She only wanted to feel his arms around her. As long as she kept her eyes closed, he’d hold her and what he’d said earlier wouldn’t be true. It’d be part of a horrible nightmare.

He set her down on the grass near the rock. Their special place. One she’d never shared with anyone. Ever. Other than Ava.

“Em?” he said.

He used her nickname, and it sounded like a familiar song. She loved it when he called her that. Only those close to her got that privilege. First Gabriel, then Ava, now Jake. Sweet Jake.

His fingers nudged her chin. “Please, Em. Look at me.”

She did, and reality hit her like a brick, square to the temple. His black eyes stared back at her as he kneeled in front of her. Filled with sadness. Confusion. Fear.

Her purple eyes reflected off the dark pools.

“It’s not true,” she whispered. She pressed her hand over his, forcing it closer to her cheek.

His gaze shifted downward, like he couldn’t bear to face her.

So it is true.

He pulled away, but her strength caged him close. Warmth radiated from him like a space heater.

“Emma. Please.” His voice cracked.

She released her grip, and he stood. She rose to her feet and linked hands with him again. He looked everywhere but at her.

She stepped closer.

He hesitated, pulled back at first, then leaned forward, yanking her to him. His lips crushed hers hard enough to make her wince, but she didn’t care. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself closer, molding to him.

Hands tangled her hair.

Reluctantly, she pulled away for air, but her lips quickly found his again. She drank in his heat, his scent, his feel. Her hands snaked up his shirt and found the bare skin of his back.

So smooth and warm.

He sucked in a sharp breath. Probably her cold fingers.

“Sorry,” she mumbled into his mouth, her tongue following the words.

“Em, wait.” He severed the connection, but kept his face inches from hers. His cheeks were flushed, chest heaving.

“Is that why you told me to leave? You think you’re going to be a Vampire?” she asked. It all made sense now. Except the vampire part.

“I don’t
think
I’ll be one. I
will
be one.”

“No.”

“I’m sorry. Em, it’s true.”

“How do you—” she couldn’t finish.

He crossed his arms over his chest and turned. She moved behind him, rested her head on his back, and wove her arms around his waist.

“They found me. I was walking home from dropping you off at your dorm yesterday.” He shivered. “Something happened to me. I passed out and woke up at my house with them.”

“Them?”

“My parents.”

“Your
what
?”

“My parents, my
real
parents. They said they’d been looking for me for years, that I’d been stolen from them as a baby and hidden from them all this time.”

“Oh, Jake.”

“I thought it was a vision at first. Because I woke up at your dorm, Em. After having—” He wiggled out from her grasp and faced her.

“After what?”

“Nothing. I—it’s true.” His eyes glazed over, and he faced the ground. “It’s all true.”

“Jake. No. You’re a Hunter. You—”

“I’m not. My mark is pretty much opposite yours. And my powers. I’m not a Hunter. God. If only I could—” His nostrils flared. “Can’t fight the mark.”

“They’re Vamps,” she said as a bomb ignited within her chest. “They can’t have babies. When they become a Vamp, they lose everything. All humanity. Animals. Evil animals, Jake.” Her stomach churned as she pictured Jacob’s face on someone’s neck, piercing skin with fangs.

“These two are special. Unique. Like nothing you’ve experienced.”

“No,” she whispered.

“I hear them. I feel them. After you left my porch this morning, I saw them again. I wear their mark. And when I turn twenty-five, I’m done. It’s over.”

“No. No. No. That’s not true. It can’t be. It—”

“I have no say in it. None. That’s how it works. That’s how Vamps are created, Em. Marked, then they change. Your precious Gabriel never found that out, did he?”

Emma fumed at Jake’s flippant reference to Gabriel. “Don’t say that.”

“My parents went through the change over two and a half centuries ago. They became what they are now. It was their destiny. Can’t fight destiny.”

“I won’t let it happen.”

He stepped away, leaving a void deep within her. “I waited here for you. I knew you’d come.”

“Why?” Her lungs froze, momentarily ceasing to work.

“I couldn’t leave it like I did on the porch. I had to see you one more time. To tell—” He turned to walk away. “To tell you goodbye.”

“We have time, Jake. Don’t you want to try? Don’t you—”

Choose Love, Emma.
A familiar voice rang in her ears.

“Wait,” Emma shouted. “Jake. No. You have a choice.”

“No, Em, I don’t. Fate is sealed. There’s no going back once you’re marked. That’s how it works.” He turned to leave again.

“No. It’s a choice. Jake. I read about this. That’s what I came to show you. The paper.” She patted her sides. “Shit. I’m wearing running shorts. Jake. Wait. The trunk. I’ll show you.”

Jake stopped a few steps onto the sidewalk.

She rushed by him, then faced him. He’d crossed his arms over his chest. His brows furrowed.

“It’s a choice, Jake. You can choose Vamps, or you can choose Love. It’s that simple, Jake. A choice.”

“Love? What are you talking about? It’s not that easy.” He slapped his shoulder where she knew the mark was etched on his skin. “I’m marked by the devil himself. Hand picked for the trinity of Vampires.”

She shook her head to get her thoughts in order. “I went through my trunk. I found some things about the Vamps. The sheet I had you look over with Cynthia. Gabriel had the original translated, and I found the English copy.”

“What?”

She sucked in a breath, trying to sift through the thoughts streaming into her mind to find one that was coherent. “There’s more to the translation.”

“Em—”

“No. Stay with me.” She sucked in a breath and tugged at her hair. “I get it now, Jake. It’s choice. You can choose Light over dark. Good over evil. Love over hate.” She gripped his shoulders and rattled him. “Did you hear me?”

Everything Gabriel had ever mentioned about faith and love filled her head, her thoughts, her mind. Every fiber of her body vibrated with realization.

It is that easy. We can choose.

“It’s not that simple. Nothing is. I’m already changing. Did you know I can smell blood?” Veins bulged along his temple and the middle of his forehead. “It smells sweet, like sugar. I smell it on your arm. Tasted it in your mouth. It disgusts me, yet doesn’t. It’s too late. I don’t have a choice. They said the mark sealed it.”

“No! Don’t be deceived, Jake.” Her pulse soared.

He stepped away.

“Don’t you want to try, Jake? What’s wrong with you? Do they have some kind of hold over you? So what you said about caring for me—our so-called connection—it was bullshit.” She slammed her hands against his back, shoving him forward. “You’re a coward.”

Jake whirled around and grabbed her by the arms. He brought her so close their noses touched. “Watch yourself, Emma.”

The grip bordered on painful. Bruising. She watched the control slipping from Jake, his eyes glazing over, and his focus shifting downward. Instinct demanded she hurry. “Come with me to my room. I’ll show you the paper. Proof.”

His hold tightened, yet he didn’t move.

“Or am I going to have to kick your ass sideways and drag you there?”

“Won’t Ava be there?” Jake asked as they approached Emma’s dorm.

“I’ll take care of it. It’ll be fine,” Emma said.

Her hand felt smooth as silk in his. The moonlight danced off her skin as they made their way to the front door. She shouldn’t get her hopes up. It was too late. By tomorrow, midnight, they’d be ripped apart, forever.

His father, Marek, made that perfectly clear. The words still rang in Jake’s head.
It’s your destiny. You will join us, and we will become unstoppable.

He checked his watch.
Almost nine o’clock
. He’d savor a few hours with Emma, then leave. He didn’t have a clue where he’d go, but he would.

Emma led him up the stairs to her room.

“Follow my lead,” she said as she reached for the handle.

The door creaked open, and she pulled him in. A light illuminated the corner desk. Ava lay slumped over, her head resting on a pile of open books.

“Change of plan. Hold tight,” she whispered, sending her sweet breath washing over him.

She snuck over to a closet and opened the door. She bent over and lifted out the small green and gold trunk.

“Roof. Come on.”

He held the door open, and she snuck by him.

Up a few more stairs to another door.

“Here. Hold this.” She plopped the trunk into his hands. “They tend to put a new lock on this door every once in a while. I bet they can’t figure out why it’s broken so often.

She reached out, took hold of the knob, and gave it a quick turn. Her toned arm muscles flexed beneath her snug t-shirt sleeve.

Snap!

“I see,” Jake said. She was so strong.

“Love it up here.” She pushed the door open and strode through. “It’s second to our Rock.”

Our
Rock. Yes. It was their rock. What the hell was wrong with him? He needed to fight for that—for them. Here she was, having just heard he was doomed to be a Vamp, and she was helping him. Fighting it.

There is no fighting, Jacob.

Damn that voice.

As Jake walked out, the cold air prickled his face, jolting him free of the nagging voice. The stars felt miles closer to him up on the roof. They flickered like bright diamonds reflecting the moonlight.

“I see why you like it up here,” he said.

“Over here. There’s a security light. Should be bright enough to see. I only have one chair. Never brought anyone up here before.”

He walked to the edge and peered over. “Hey, Em, didn’t you say you jump down from here?”

“Yeah. You get a good view from up here when the wrist starts glowing.” She smiled.

He looked down. “Quite a drop.”

He imagined her soaring through the air in response to her glowing wrist. Landing, ready to vanquish what he was about to become.

“Come on.”

He toted the trunk over to her and set it on the ground. She knelt and hoisted up the lid. “It’s on top here.”

“Why didn’t you just call it to us at the rock, like you did those other papers?”

“Needed to get you out of there, Jake. You were wigging.” She handed him the sheet. “Read it.”

He scanned the drawing, and it was exactly like the one he’d shown Cynthia.

The Hunter must vanquish those who reject love. Those marked for darkness must choose the light or lose their souls to the deceiver for all eternity. The Avenos Family will return to their heritage with their prophesied son, groomed for leadership. The three will reclaim the night, allowing darkness to rule once again beneath their watchful eyes.

“Avenos,” he whispered. So, everything his parents had told him was true. Rosa and Marek Avenos had returned here, for Jake.

He was doomed.

“Jake?” Emma stood, her shoulder to his. “See? There is hope.” She smiled. Something red on her front tooth caught his eye.

He turned and brushed his thumb over her tooth. “What’s this?”

“One of those Vamps clipped me.” She reached for her mouth.

A vibration rattled up his spine as the smell of sugar ignited his senses. It shot to the base of his neck, tensing the muscles along his jaw line. He pulled her face to his and formed his mouth over hers. The sweet taste exploded on his tongue. Yes. He’d tasted a hint of this earlier when she’d kissed him.

Addicting.

He plunged deeper, seeking the sugar he craved. Her full, lower lip was rich with the flavor, and he drew from it. Each suckle sent his mind whirling. His pulse drummed in his ears.

Yes. This is what you need. What you are.

He curled his fingers around the nape of Emma’s neck, and she moaned. His body warmed to the core as he moved against her. She was intoxicating. A drug. He needed his fix. Two steps, and he pinned her to the door. That ignited a firestorm of heat through his nerve endings, and he groped for her shirt. He needed it gone. Needed more of her. All of her.

“Jake,” Emma said into his mouth. Her hand pressed against his chest. “Stop.”

He told himself to, but his body refused to listen. Moved without regard to what he wanted. A little more. One more pull from her nectar-filled lip.

A solid push to his chest separated Jake from Emma and sent him stumbling back, but she grabbed a handful of his shirt, near his chest, and held him steady. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and followed the curve along the side of her chin.

His mouth watered.

“Jake, snap out of it.” Her other hand folded into a fist. “Jake!”

He couldn’t let that precious nectar drip to the ground. He leaned toward her again, ready to lap up the sweet liquid. She ducked, still clutching his shirt, and connected her fist with his cheek.

“Jake, don’t do this.”

The jar to his head sent tears stinging his eyes. He froze, body tensed. “Oh, God, what have I done?” He ran his tongue over his sugar-coated teeth and something sharp pricked his tongue. “Oh, God.”

“Jake. Come on. Snap out of it.”

He batted her hand away and showed her his back. He spit red-tainted saliva to the rocky ground. The sight repulsed him, yet the flavor lingering in his mouth enticed him. He ran his tongue over his teeth again. They were smooth, no sharp points. Had he imagined the fangs?

Don’t deny it, Jacob. She will be your first.
His father’s voice rattled in his brain.

His heart slammed against his chest so hard, surely it would bust out. He leaned forward, resting his palms on his knees. He’d drunk Emma’s blood. He’d craved it, needed it. It was too late for him. He should have Emma kill him now.

Shuffling from behind him drew his attention. Emma snatched the sheet of paper he’d thrown to the ground. “Hold on, Jake. Stay with me.”

He moved to go around her, but she stood and snared his arm.

“Let me go, Em. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

“I almost just did.” He stared into her flickering, violet eyes. “Oh my God.” He’d almost hurt her.
My Emma.

“Hold on, Jake. I can help you.”

He shoved her aside and darted for the roof’s edge. “There’s nothing you can do.”

And he jumped.