Blood and Guitars (30 page)

As I put the car in gear something warm and
wet trailed down my cheek. I wiped it away with the back of my hand
and pulled out of the drive. I left Trey standing by his car,
holding the package I’d given him and looking more lost than a man
should ever look.

I drove straight to the only place in town I
knew Trey wouldn’t come looking for me: Club Sanguin. And I was in
serious need of some blood after what I’d just done to him. His
thoughts echoed in my mind as I ordered a drink and went to find a
place to sit. As I made my way through the crowd, which seemed
exceptionally large tonight, I wondered if I was being paranoid or
if vamps really were staring at me and whispering to each
other.

I tried to ignore them, but as I walked I
realized they were definitely reacting to my presence. I couldn’t
imagine why until I found one that had left his mind completely
unguarded. I reached out with my power quickly and pulled a single
image from his mind. What I saw stopped me in my tracks.

My drink fell from my hands, shattering on
the club floor. I spun on my heels and raced to the front entrance
where a cork board was hanging. There were several flyers
advertising blood delivery services, but the one that had my
attention was directly in the center of the board.

It was the same picture of Trey and I from
the VMA’s that the Synod had shown me. In the margin at the bottom
of the picture, the word “Proditor” was typed in bold red ink.

I understood almost no Latin, but this word
was widely known among vampires. It meant traitor. Panic rose in my
throat and my fangs unsheathed reflexively. I took a defensive
stance as I turned to stare into the faces of the other vampires
behind me. Some of them were still watching me with amusement.
Others had returned to their dancing and drinking. I caught Mark’s
scent before he reached me, pushing his way through the crowd.

“Did you know about this?” I demanded,
ripping the flyer from the corkboard. Mark stopped at my side, and
I saw sympathy in his eyes. “I’ve been looking for you since
dusk.”

“Who’s responsible for this?”

“Not here,” Mark answered, looking around
cautiously. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Because I didn’t have a good reason not to go
with him, I let him lead me out the door and to my car.

“Maybe I should drive,” he offered. That was
pushing it, and apparently the look on my face told him so. He went
to the passenger side and climbed in without another word. I
started driving, not caring which direction I was headed.

“Talk.”

Mark took a deep breath and said, “I don’t
know who is responsible for the flyers.” Flyers. That meant there
were more. “I came to warn you.”

Mark was hurt that I’d been keeping so much
from him. He’d never been good at hiding his emotions, and tonight
was no different. But as I studied him with my power, I knew he was
sincere in his desire to help me. He was still my friend. After
everything. It was more than I deserved from him.

“I spoke with the Synod,” I explained. Mark
obviously hadn’t heard the entire story. The situation had already
been dealt with, and as angry as I was about having my name dragged
through the mud, it would pass eventually. “Trey doesn’t know what
I am. Once I’d proven that to them, the Elders ordered me to cut
ties with him and let me go.”

Mark was silent for a second, processing what
I’d said. “I’m glad to hear that, but it doesn’t change
things.”

“What do you mean?” That made no sense.
Working things out with the Synod meant everything. Trey was safe,
and whatever the cost to me, it was worth it.

“The danger you and your human face is not
from the Synod.” Mark’s tone was grave and apologetic. He didn’t
look at me, staring at the city lights as we drove.

“Then who?”

“The flyer you just found is proof that your
secret is out,” Mark said. “You went to a red carpet event with the
human, correct?” All I could do was nod. After all this time
keeping Trey a secret from Mark, it was strange to be openly
discussing our relationship. “Well, that flyer was a screen shot of
footage that can now be found all over the internet.

“Why would a vamp go to all that trouble?” I
wondered out loud.

“What makes you certain it was another
vampire?” Mark asked. I stared at him, incredulous. “This human
you’ve been dating is a celebrity, is he not?”

Mark’s words took the wind out of me. I
hadn’t once considered that Trey’s fans might have spread pictures
of us all over the internet. Of course they would. If they had
pictures or footage of us kissing at the VMA’s, which someone
obviously did, why wouldn’t they post it all over? The new mystery
woman in Trey’s life would be a big discussion topic in the forums
on Catalyst’s official fan club site for sure. They would have no
idea that putting our relationship out in the open like that would
be dangerous for Trey.

“Even if the Synod has decided Trey isn’t a
threat,” Mark continued. “The rest of our kind doesn’t see it that
way. Some of them are angry that you let a human, and a powerful
one at that, get so close to our world. They won’t care to learn
Trey has no knowledge of vampires. Some consider him a threat to
our concealment. Others are simply curious to see what it is about
this particular human that made him worthy of a vampire’s
adoration.”

Had I been so disconnected from my own world
lately that I hadn’t considered all of the ramifications, even if
the Synod weren’t after Trey? The answer was painfully obvious.

“I overheard a conversation tonight at the
club.” Mark paused and focused his eyes on something outside
again.

“About what?” I waited impatiently. “Don’t
make me get in your head.”

“A group of vampires were talking about
hunting Trey down. They’re convinced that his blood must be
irresistibly palatable. They can’t imagine that you’d have been
with him if that were not the case.”

The sick feeling that rose in my stomach at
the thought of using Trey to feed from was more than a little
ironic. I had been hunting the night I’d met him. If he hadn’t
sparked something inside of me from the start, I’d have fed from
him and that would have been it. He’d have gone on with his life,
with a new and unknown aversion to our kind, and I’d have gone on
with mine. There was no question now that he’d have been better off
if things had worked that way. Me? Well, that was a different
story.

“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “If I’d been
feeding from Trey he’d instinctively know to stay away from me. We
wouldn’t be hanging out and going to award shows.”

“I’m not the one you need to convince,” Mark
said. “Your reputation proceeds you,” he added. “Some believe your
mental prowess might allow you to control the human and combat the
aversion that comes with being bitten.”

I sighed. “Only full vampires can do stuff
like that. I’m not nearly as powerful as everyone wants to
believe.”

“I’m your best friend and sometimes you scare
the hell out of me,” Mark said, a smile tugging at the corner of
his mouth. Then his face grew serious again and he said, “If the
vampires are determined to find your human, he is as good as dead.”
The finality in Mark’s tone sent a shiver down my spine.

I’d rounded back toward the club and was only
a few blocks away from it now. I pulled the car over and looked at
Mark. I wanted to be alone, and he didn’t have to read my thoughts
to see that. He opened the door and got out.

“Mark?” He leaned back down to look at me.
“Thanks.”

He gave me a quick nod and then raced off in
a blur of shadows. The tires squealed as I sped down the road
again. There were a million things running through my mind and I
knew of only one way to organize my thoughts. I went to The Waking
Moon and started haphazardly painting on a huge canvas while I ran
through all the many scenarios my imagination was working out. Trey
was in danger, that much was certain. And if he was in danger, it
stood to reason that O’Shea, Jonas and Chase were too. They were
always together, especially now that the album was almost done. If
word had spread this quickly about my relationship with Trey,
surely every vampire out there would know and recognize the famous
human who had been so close to one of their kind.

The worst part was that I couldn’t go to him
and protect him. I was forbidden by the Synod. Even if I somehow
found a way to keep an eye on him from a distance, I could never
fully protect him if other vampires were determined to taste him,
or worse, get rid of the human threat. Trey’s life was
extraordinary as it was. Before long he would go on the road again
to promote his album, and then the band would tour. I couldn’t
possibly follow him around from state to state or across the ocean.
I’d never heard him mention having bodyguards, but now I really
wished he did. But what would it matter? What good would a couple
of human bodyguards be against vengeful, thirsty vampires
anyway?

I don’t know how long I sat in my car in
Aurora’s driveway, but it felt like the middle of the night when I
forced myself to drive home. The sick feeling in my stomach refused
to dissipate and I knew it wasn’t something that would just fade
with time. I went straight up to my room and collapsed on the bed,
kicking off my shoes and wracking my brain for a reason. I’d known
the bad feeling in my gut last night had meant something. Whatever
had happened to make Aurora act this way, I was certain it had
happened then. I was also fairly sure that the men in the strange
suits that had showed up at the restaurant in search of Aurora were
part of the problem.

Despite everything she had said tonight, she
hadn’t been able to deny what we had together. She loved me.
Whatever had happened, that hadn’t changed. And as long as Aurora
still loved me, I wasn’t going to give up.

I spent at least an hour running over the
possible scenarios of what could have made her break up with me,
but it was like trying to compare my life to a movie, nothing
seemed to fit just right, no matter how many options I had to
choose from. Eventually the exhaustion won out and sleep overtook
me, but it wasn’t a peaceful sleep. I re-lived the argument at
Aurora’s place over and over in my dreams, and even though my
subconscious mind changed some of the details each time, it always
ended the same: with her leaving me.

I woke up to my cell phone buzzing in my
jeans pocket. I rolled over, groggy from the dream-filled night,
and managed to pull it from my pocket.

“What time is it?” My voice was heavy with
sleep when I answered.

“It’s almost eleven. Are you still in bed?”
O’Shea chuckled and then added, “Is Aurora there?”

The mere mention of her name heightened the
sick feeling that was trying to make a permanent residence in my
gut. “No.”

“Okay…. What are your plans today?”

To sulk around for a while and then get
myself together so I could figure out a way to make Aurora tell me
the truth. But I could hardly tell O’Shea all of that. I couldn’t
even bring myself to tell him that she’d broken up with me. Saying
it out loud would just make it seem … final.

“I haven’t made any yet.” I went for vague
instead. “I was kind of hoping to take the day off, actually.”

O’Shea sighed. I knew that sigh. It meant his
creative juices were flowing and he needed an outlet. He was a
master guitar player and wrote amazing riffs but he had to have a
sounding board to actually get anything done. I was the glue. If I
had a dollar for every time one of the guys had called me that to
an entertainment reporter or a magazine editor I’d have … well, two
huge houses.

“I guess it can wait,” O’Shea said. “Is
everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I forced my voice to sound upbeat.
“Just have a lot of stuff I need to do today. That’s all. Are we
still going to Ken’s tomorrow night?”

“That’s the plan.”

“I’ll see you there,” I said, feeling a
little guilty. I hadn’t been spending as much time with O’Shea
outside of recording since Aurora and I had gotten serious. As I
got off the phone I made a mental note to try and make it up to
him.

I sat up on the bed and stretched. Then the
package on the night stand caught my eye. Aurora had given it to me
last night just before she’d gotten in her car and drove away. I
hadn’t wanted to open it then, but curiosity got the best of me
now. I grabbed it, turning it over in my hands. It was wrapped in
shiny black paper. I found the seam on one end and slid my finger
through it, pulling the paper off to reveal a pick guard for an
electric guitar. But this wasn’t just any pick guard. This one had
been hand painted. The painting was abstract but cryptic at the
same time. Aurora had put our band logo in large letters right in
the center. It was amazing, but it was also a harsh reminder of the
fact that she and I were no longer together. For the life of me, I
still couldn’t figure out why.

I went to bed only a few hours before the sun
went down. When I felt the presence of the moon in the sky it
gently pulled me from my sleep. I didn’t know what I was going to
do about Trey yet, and a little piece of my heart broke with every
hour that went by without a phone call or a text from him. Even
though convincing him to give up on us had been the goal last
night, that didn’t make the fact that it was working any easier to
swallow.

I drove to The Waking Moon and saw that
Kacie’s car was still parked out back. She must have had some
catching up to do with paperwork or something. I opened the back
door and caught a whiff of Trey’s scent as I walked inside. I
paused, reminding myself that he’d spent a lot of time here and
that it would take time for his scent to fade. I made a mental note
to open all the windows and see if that wouldn’t hurry the process
along. Then I set my bag down on the desk and hollered for
Kacie.