Dangerous Lovers (38 page)

My fury scorched the earth beneath my feet. “Then come and get it.” She clucked her tongue and flashed another terrifying smile. “Clever little Warrior, you know that I can’t.”

I considered trying to throw my sword at her, but the thought of losing it in the river stopped me. The sword was the only gift I had left from my mother. Then I thought about trying to swim across the river, which was stupid for obvious reasons. So, I ended up just standing there.

I decided that this was pointless and turned to climb back over the wall. The Lamia hissed again behind my back. “I called you here for a reasssson, Warrior,” she said.

I spun back around to face her. “You have no control over me. You didn’t call anything.” I knew that was a lie, but I was just really pissed off now. I had to get away before I did something reckless.

She laughed again, and the sound was like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. “You have our blood in your veins. Of coursssse I can ssssummon you.” She tilted her head a little and smiled again. “So doessss that ssssister of yours.”

I wanted to scream in rage, or better yet, send my blade through this bitch’s neck. Taking a deep breath, I said, “Tell me why you came here, or I’m leaving.”

The Lamia shrugged, and the normal gesture looked very odd on her. Her black eyes stayed locked on me as she spoke. “I came to deliver a messssage.”

I clenched my fists and spoke through gritted teeth. “What message?”

She smiled again, and I got the strong urge to knock her fangs right out of her head. If I could only reach her. “A deal hassss been broken,” she hissed. “Sssso, I’ve come to break our end of the deal.”

I stood there waiting. The whole hissing thing was getting more than annoying. I was beginning to think that no matter what message she had for me, it wasn’t worth hearing another word out of her mouth.

Finally, she told me what she had come to tell me. But it was not a message that I had ever expected to hear. It was not something that I had even thought was possible.

With one more flash of her fangs, she said, “Your mother livessss,

Warrior.”

Chapter Sixty-Seven

“You’re lying.”

The Lamia rolled her black eyes. “I have no reasssson to lie to you. Do what you will with what I’ve told you.”

She turned to leave, but I called out to her. “Where is she?”

Her head whipped around, and a slow, jagged smile spread over her face. “What do I get in return for that information?”

I almost growled in frustration. I had nothing to give her that she would want, and I wasn’t even entirely sure I believed her. But was I willing to bet my mother’s life on that? No. Glancing around, I picked up a large rock, then used my sword to cut my palm open. Blood welled up on my hand. From across the river, the Lamia hissed loudly. I rubbed my palm all over the rock, covering it in my blood.

“You want this?” I asked, holding up the rock.

“Yessss,” she hissed with her eyes locked on the rock in my hand.

“Then tell me where my mother is.”

This made her laugh again. The monster raged inside me. “Clever little Warrior,” she said. “Give me the rock and I’ll tell you.”

I rolled my eyes and pretended like I was going to toss the rock in the river. She hissed again and spoke quickly. “She’ssss in Dangeon.”

My breath caught in my throat. Why would she be there? She hadn’t committed any crime. And if she was in the prison, that meant that the Lamia were not behind what had happened to her. The anger that I always kept so close to me threatened to take over at that moment. But I took a deep breath and tried to regain control over myself.

“Thanks,” I said. Then, I tossed the rock into the river.

Across the river, the Lamia screeched that ear-splitting noise, but I just climbed up the wall and swung my legs over the other side.

Before I hopped down on the other side of the wall, I heard the Lamia call out to me. “Good luck with reaching your mother, Warrior. As ssssoon as you sssstep over thissss river, I’ll kill you, and I’ll drink every last drop of your ssssweet blood.”

I jumped down and rolled my eyes again at her threat, even though she could no longer see me. Making my way back to my dorm room, I mumbled to myself, “Yeah, well, you’ll have to get in line.”

Chapter Sixty-Eight

I stuffed everything I owned—which wasn’t very much—in my backpack and headed out. It was still early, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon. I had a few stops to make before I left, and I wanted to be out of here before the rest of the city woke up.

I made my way to the Wolves’ dorms and checked the directory to find out which room was Jackson’s. When I got there, I took a deep breath and knocked on his door.

I had to knock a few times, but finally, the door swung open, and Jackson stood there, his reddish-brown hair messy from sleep. He wore only a pair of boxers, which had cowboy hats and lassos printed all over them.

“Alexa?” he said. “God, what happened to your face?”

I shrugged off his question. “Can I come in for a second?”

He stepped to the side and gestured for me to enter. “What’s going on?” he asked, once he’d closed the door behind me.

“I’m sorry I woke you up, but I need to ask you for a favor.”

He looked confused, but he nodded. “Anything.”

Taking another deep breath, I said, “I need you to keep Nelly safe while I’m gone.”

“Okay, but, where are you going?”

I sighed, wishing I could tell him, but I had to do this on my own. I wasn’t going to put anyone at risk while I went on a mission that I wasn’t even sure was real. “I have some things I need to take care of, Jack. I need you to trust me. Will you keep Nelly safe for me?”

He nodded and pulled me into a hug. “Of course I will. But, you’ll be coming back, right?”

I pulled back and kissed him on the cheek. “Of course.” At least, I
hoped
I would.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. When he spoke, his green eyes were full of affection. “I’ll wait for you, then.”

I smiled, and fought tears that were threatening to surface. “You might be waiting a while.”

He smiled back, but there was hurt behind his eyes. “I’d wait an eternity for you, Alexa.”

I pulled him to me and gave him a long, sweet kiss, and felt what was left of my heart break into pieces. This may be this last time I saw him. When we broke apart, his eyes were glowing Wolf-gold, and I was pretty sure mine were as well. “Thank you so much, Jackson, for everything. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, and that means more to me than I could ever tell you.”

He smiled again, and this time, it reached his beautiful eyes. I turned to go, but remembered one more favor to ask. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the note I had scribbled down in my room before I’d left. “Will you give this to Nelly for me?”

He pulled me into one last hug and kissed my forehead. “Alexa,” he whispered. “I’d kill a bear for you.”

I laughed at that. This was the reason I loved Jackson. He could always manage to make me laugh, no matter what horrible situation I found myself in. I decided then that if I was ever going to tell him, now would be the time to do it, especially since I didn’t know if I would make it back from my trip.

“I love you, Jackson.”

He brushed some hair out of my face and ran his fingers down my cheek. “Alexa…” He sighed. “I’ve always loved you.”

I left then, but I knew with absolute certainty that he really did.

Chapter Sixty-Nine

My next stop was a little farther away, and I ran to get there. I was still feeling pretty strong after drinking Kayden’s blood, but I knew that I would need to eat once I made it outside the walls.

When I reached Tommy’s house, I knocked on the front door, and to my surprise, he answered pretty quickly. He was fully dressed in his usual expensive attire, black dress pants and a blue button-down shirt that matched his eyes. He looked surprised to see me, but he immediately stepped to the side and gestured for me to enter.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Alexa?”

I was thankful that he didn’t mention my swollen face. But Tommy was a Brocken Vampire, a fighter, so he was probably accustomed to seeing injuries among his friends.

“I need to ask for a favor,” I said, deciding to cut to the chase.

He smiled that easy smile of his. “Ah, and here I thought you just wanted to see me.” He paused, and then asked, “What do you need?”

I swallowed hard. “Your car.”

To my astonishment, he raised both eyebrows and said, “Okay, for how long?”

“I don’t know. A couple of days… or maybe a couple of months.”

He laughed at that. “Okay… Do I get to know where you will be taking it for a couple of months?’

I shook my head. “No.”

He shook his head in return and got up, disappearing into the other room. When he returned, he held out a set of keys to me. Then, he asked, “Do you have money?”

I had about four hundred dollars saved up from my school allowance. “Some,” I said.

He sighed and reached into the pocket of his slacks. Pulling out his wallet, he handed me a stack of hundred dollar bills. “Here,” he said, pushing the bills into my hands.

I hadn’t even really expected him to say yes about the car. I was almost speechless with shock and gratitude. “Um, thank you… Why are you so willing to help me, Tommy? You don’t even know what I’m going to do.”

He shrugged. “You’re my friend, Alexa. And you usually only do things that are meant to help other people, so why
wouldn’t
I help you?” He paused, and that sly grin appeared on his lips. “Besides, you know how I feel about you.”

I smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you so much, Tommy. I owe you big time, and I won’t forget that.”

He smiled again and pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me. “Just try to bring the Mercedes back in one piece and we’ll call it even.”

I laughed. “I’ll do my best.”

I turned to go, but he called out to me. “Don’t you want to know where the exit is that will lead you to a road through the forest?”

I turned back and smiled. “Why, yes. Yes, I do.”

Chapter Seventy

I drove through the deserted streets of Two Rivers and headed to the exit in the wall where Tommy had directed me. The city was so quiet this time in the morning, and I glanced around me, taking time to acknowledge how beautiful the place really was. Each structure was unique, and every bit of lawn was manicured to perfection. The flowers and cherry blossom trees seemed to be bidding me farewell with their bright faces turned up to the sun.

Then I had to slam on the brakes, because there was someone standing in the middle of the street.

Well, not
someone
. Kayden.

He was staring through the windshield at me, as if he had been waiting for me to come. He walked around the side of the car and waited for me to unlock the door. I considered what to do. I could hit the gas and take off, denying him the chance to say whatever he was waiting to tell me. Or, I could unlock the door and hear what he had to say.

I unlocked the door. As much as I was still hurt by what he’d done to me, if I was being honest, I didn’t really want to leave without giving him a chance to explain himself. I supposed I could’ve just rolled down the window, and maybe my not doing so was a more of a subconscious message.

When he opened the door, though, he just folded himself into the passenger seat and sat staring straight ahead. I waited for several moments before saying, “What?”

He didn’t look at me, he just said, “Let’s go.”

I shook my head in confusion. “
We’re
not going anywhere.”

Kayden looked at me then, and the apology that had been in his eyes last night was still present this morning. To my astonishment he said, “You don’t want to go find your mother?”

I gasped. “What are you talking about?”

He gave me a look that said
stupid question.
With a sigh, he said, “We’ve shared blood, Alexa, and whether you want to accept it or not, you’re
my
Warrior. I felt the summons to the gate last night, just as you did.”

I hated that his words made my heart flutter,
his Warrior
. I rubbed my face with my hands. This could not be happening. “Then, you saw everything?”

He nodded. “And I’m not going to let you do this on your own, so you can either let me come with you, or you can make things difficult and force me to follow you the whole way.”

I stared straight out the windshield. “Get out, Kayden.”