Dark Descent (Vampire Hunter Book 5) (11 page)

Lucas was
laughing, too. The more he laughed, the more I did. We must have looked like
two people having mental breakdowns. Lucas was wiping tears from his eyes.
“That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time,” he said when he’d
finally regained his composure.

“At first I was a
little miffed,” I admitted, “but I soon realized that not being on that creep’s
radar is the best possible scenario.

“For what it’s
worth, you’re a ten in my book, Rory.”

“I’m not fishing
for compliments,” I told him. “It was just a funny story.”

“I meant what I
said,” Lucas replied softly.

I had been able to
put my feelings for Lucas on the backburner, channel my energy into solving the
constantly growing list of problems. But his voice, being so close to him,
hearing him say such a sweet thing, made me get that dull ache in my chest. I’m
sure it was a phantom ache. There was no beating heart inside of me. But it was
an ache nonetheless. Screaming that I needed to be with Lucas forever.

“I didn’t mean to
make you uncomfortable,” Lucas said, mistaking my silence for embarrassment. We
were almost back to my house now. He pulled the car to the side of the street
and turned to face me.

“You didn’t,” I
said truthfully. “It was such a nice thing for you to say. And I know this
isn’t the time or place to have a conversation about our relationship, but I
just don’t know where we stand. And eventually I
have
to know.”

Instead of
answering me, Lucas leaned in and cupped the back of my head with his hand,
pulling me closer to kiss him. I was taken aback, but I didn’t resist. The
second I felt his warm lips on mine it was like electricity was coursing
through my body. I kissed him back. At first it was slow, methodic, but then
the intensity picked up. We were kissing each other harder, longer, with the
frenzied passion of two people who could never get enough of each other.

I couldn’t think
– didn’t want to think – I just wanted to feel Lucas’ lips on mine,
rake my fingers through his beautiful dark hair, caress his face with my hands,
then run them down the back of shirt and feel his bulging muscles. A voice in
the back of my mind told me it was getting out of hand, getting too hot and
heavy, but I ignored it.

Lucas pulled back
and laughed nervously. He’d obviously heard the same voice. His vampire teeth
were out. “This is why I can’t – why I don’t – kiss you. Every time
it ends like this. I have to pull away before I lose complete control of
myself. The longer we kissed, the harder it became to stop.”

I grabbed Lucas’
hand. “Maybe I don’t want to stop.”

“Surely you don’t
doubt how I feel about you, how much I
want
you,” he said, ignoring my
comment.

“And you must see
that I feel the same way about you,” I whispered. “I’m crazy about you.” I
looked away in embarrassment. I hadn’t meant to say that last part. It just
kind of slipped out.

“Crazy about me,
huh?” Lucas said teasingly. His face was starting to look normal again.

I leaned over and
rested my head against Lucas’ shoulder. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to
take care of business. And when everything is said and done, you can spend some
time thinking about what you really want,” he said.

“I know what I
want though!” I tried to argue. “You’re the one always hanging back.”

“Aurora, I saw how
you looked at Henry. When he almost died.”

“I was just caring
for my friend,” I argued.

“I’ve been around
long enough to read people,” Lucas said. “You have feelings for Henry. And
that’s okay. Do I want you to decide you’d rather be with him than me? Fuck no.
But I’m not going to influence you one way or the other.”

“When we’re
together, it just feels…right,” I whispered.

“It does,” Lucas
agreed. “You’ve got too much to focus on right now – too many things that
mean the difference between life and death. I was serious. We’ll figure out if
there’s an ‘us’ after this whole thing is over.”

“Okay,” I said,
but I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

I was just so
fucked up. When I kissed Henry, I couldn’t imagine ever wanting to kiss anyone
else ever again. But the same thing happened when I kissed Lucas. At this rate,
I was going to have to flip a damn coin to decide between the two of them.

After Lucas
dropped me off, I called Henry. “Sorry I didn’t text you right away,” I said.
“I was just so keyed up and I had to tell Lucas what happened.”
And I was too
busy kissing him.

“I’m just glad
you’re home safe,” Henry replied.

“What about you?”
I asked. “Did you talk with Emmett and Nicholas? And you realize we haven’t
even considered what it takes to
open
the Gates of Hell?”

“Closing them is
the bigger problem,” Henry said grimly. “Look, I can’t believe I’m supporting
this, but Emmett swears you won’t be hurt when you get the hellhound fur. If
you can just focus on that, then I’ll work with the other guys to gather the
rest of the, er,
ingredients
.”

“Alright,” I
agreed. “I’m sure Lucas will go with me, anyway. I’ll find out what he’s
thinking and let you know.”

We said goodbye
and hung up the phone. Normally, I wouldn’t bother giving Emmett an update, but
I felt like we were starting to finally understand each other, to become
friends
.
I grabbed my phone and texted him that Lucas and I were home safe.
Thanks
came
the immediate reply.

I was so mentally
exhausted that I flopped back onto my bed and closed my eyes. For once, the
night didn’t drag. I wasn’t plagued with constant worry; no, instead I felt a
strange calm. As if maybe,
just maybe
, things really could work out.

When Henry picked
me up for school Friday morning, I opened my mouth to ask him if he’d
researched the spell, but he held up his hand to stop me.

“I know what
you’re going to ask,” he said. “All we do is talk about this situation. We used
to have
fun
together. I miss my old friend. Do you want to go out
tonight, do something
normal
for a change?”

“Sure,” I said,
smiling. “That sounds great, actually. I’ve forgotten what normal feels like.”

“Me, too,” Henry
admitted.

“So what did you
have in mind?”

“A group of us are
going to the fair tonight. I was hoping you would come,” Henry said.

“Oh.” I tried not
to let the disappointment show in my voice. I had thought Henry meant we should
do something together,
alone
. Even though I was forced to socialize at
school, I was still a loner since I got back. Maybe it was because I didn’t
feel like I could relate to anyone outside of Lucas, Nicholas and Henry.

But my friendship
with Henry was still rocky at times, too many unresolved feelings between us. I
might as well try to have a good time. And maybe I could forget, for one night,
that my life was a complete mess.

“What a great
idea! I haven’t been to the fair in forever!” I said with feigned enthusiasm.
Every year, at the end of summer, a travelling fair comes through town and sets
up rides and food stands for the weekend. I had been so out of it that I had no
clue this weekend was when they were here.

“Awesome,” Henry
said. “I’ll pick you up at six tonight. And, Rory?”

“Yes?”

“Let’s just have
one day, that’s
all
I’m asking for, where we don’t talk about
you-know-what,” he replied.

“Deal,” I said.

By the time Henry came
to get me, I was
almost
looking forward to it. My parents were happy to
see me going out with an actual group of friends, and for once I didn’t have to
lie about where I was going.

I had assumed the
group of ‘friends’ would include that cow Bunny, but I happily surprised when
she didn’t show up.

For the next three
hours, we rode every ride there, walked through the haunted fun house and
looked at all the other attractions, like the world’s tiniest pony. Everyone
except me filled up on the yummy, greasy carnival food. I didn’t know Henry’s
friends that well, but they were all genuinely welcoming towards me.

I couldn’t
remember a time I had laughed and smiled so much. And I truly didn’t think
about my life; I just let loose and had fun.

 “Thanks for
inviting me. I had such a great time,” I said sincerely.

Henry smiled. “Me,
too. We should do stuff like this more often.”

We said goodbye
and I trudged towards my house. Tonight had been great, but tomorrow, it was
back to reality.

Lucas called me
Saturday morning. I was sitting downstairs, watching TV with my mom. “It’s…a
friend,” I said. “Is it okay if I make plans for tonight?” I asked her.

“As long as you
tell me with whom, and where,” she called as I ran up the stairs to my room.

“Hello,” I
answered.

“I was just about
to hang up,” Lucas said. “But I’m glad I caught you.”

“What’s up?”

“Jet – I
found out where he lives, and he’s not going to be home this evening. His
hellhound will still be there, to protect his house,” Lucas replied.

“Let me guess,” I
said. “Jet lives
here
, too?”

“He does,” Lucas
confirmed. “It makes sense now – even though all these creatures pretend
to live in harmony, there’s always been a power struggle. Jet wants to stay
close to the gates, just in case things in Hell ever get out of hand, and
Tobias is here in anticipation of the war.”

“Do you think
Senara is here, too?” I asked.

“If she’s not
already, she will be soon,” Lucas replied. “We have no time to waste.”

“So you want to go
to Jet’s house tonight, then?” I asked nervously.

“Tonight,” he
confirmed. “But I don’t care what Emmett says, I’m going in with you.”

I felt a wave of
relief. “It’s comforting, knowing you’ll be there, but what if Emmett really is
right? What if you go and something terrible happens to you?”
Like you get
staked.

“I don’t care,”
Lucas said forcefully. “I refuse to base every decision on someone else’s
instinct. We either succeed, or we fail – together.”

“Okay.”
I hope
you know what you’re doing
. “Are you sure Jet won’t be home?”

“He’s been out of
town for the past week, but he’s back tomorrow. I’m a black sheep, but Nicholas
still has some connections in the vampire community,” Lucas explained.

“Sounds
foolproof,” I muttered.

“Aurora, it’s now
or never.”

The way Lucas said
it sent chills up my spine.

“Just tell me when
to be ready,” I replied, trying to keep my voice light.

“Sunset.” Lucas
hung up the phone.

I started to call
Henry, but then thought better of it. What was the point in worrying him? He
had enough on his mind, studying the spells and gathering all of the stuff. No,
it was best to get this over with,
then
tell him about it.

I considered
pretending that I was going out with my new BFF Kelly, but if I mentioned her
too many times Mom was likely to insist she meet her. If that happened, I’d be
screwed.

Instead, I told my
parents that Lucas and I were meeting some friends at the mall, and that it was
most definitely
not
a date. Luckily, my mom didn’t interrogate me. She,
Kayla and I had spent most of the day shopping together, and she was in a good
mood after bonding with her daughters.

I was hoping to
avoid Lucas having to come inside for another meet and greet with my mom, so as
soon as he texted me that he was here, I barreled out the door before she could
insist on saying hello to him.

“I won’t be back
too late!” I called. “Love you,” I added for good measure.

I got into the
passenger seat. “You ready?” Lucas asked with a strained smile.

It wasn’t really a
question. I tried, unsuccessfully, to return the smile. The thought of kissing
Lucas the other day flashed through my mind, but I pushed it aside.

“What’s the game
plan?” I said.

“The hellhound
lives in the fenced-in yard around Jet’s house, which is on the outskirts of
town,” Lucas explained. “I’m sure Jet needs seclusion, to be away from blood,
like me. There aren’t any other houses for at least two miles.”

“We’ll have to act
fast,” Lucas continued. “Hellhounds move at incredible speeds, but so do you. I
want you to distract him – then run like your life depends on it. Make
sure you stay along the perimeter of the house; when you turn the corner, I’ll
be there, and when the hellhound comes by, I’ll grab him, rip out a fistful of
fur.”

“But he’ll tear
you to shreds!” I argued.

“I may not be as
fast as
you
, but I can rival him in speed. If I catch the hellhound off
guard, he won’t know what hit him. And listen to me – you
do not
stop
and wait for me. You keep on running. I’ll be right behind you,” Lucas
promised.

“But what if the
hellhound manages to attack you?” I demanded.

Lucas sighed. “Do
you have another suggestion for how we get the fur?”

“Yes,” I said
quietly. “I go in alone.
I
take on the hellhound.”

“Aurora, you have
to trust me – we have to trust each other.”

I didn’t answer.
Lucas wasn’t going to budge. What else was there to discuss?

We didn’t speak
again until we got to Jet’s house, or more like mansion. “Holy shit, you didn’t
tell me he lived in a freaking castle,” I said. Lucas parked on the street, far
away from the house, but I could see it looming in the distance, and it was
gigantic.

“That’s another
reason I’m not part of the vampire clique,” Lucas said. “They’re obsessed with
wealth and power. I don’t care about either. I just want to survive and help
keep the world safer.”

As we approached
the house, I could see that it was set back from the road. There was no driveway
leading up to the place, nothing inviting about it. A wooden fence that was
over ten feet high surrounded the entire house. “How do we get through that?” I
asked nervously.

“We don’t. We go
over it,” Lucas replied.

I looked at him
skeptically.

“I’ll help you over,
then jump over myself,” he said.

“Let’s do this,” I
said nervously.

Lucas gave me a
quick hug. “You’ll be fine. Wait for me on the other side of the gate, unless
of course the hellhound is there; in that case, you run.”

“It’s a huge yard.
That would be really bad luck.” My voice was shaking.

“Don’t think about
it,” Lucas instructed. Before I could say anything else, he turned me around to
face the fence and lifted me up by the waist.

I quickly surveyed
the yard from my new position; it was perfectly manicured, with immaculate rose
bushes and flowery hedges. The problem was, it almost looked like a maze. The
hellhound could be hiding anywhere.

Lucas held me up
higher, obviously interpreting my hesitation as being too low to reach the top
of the fence. I pulled myself over before I lost my nerve. I wanted to climb
down the fence gracefully, hoping to make as little noise as possible, but I
lost my footing and slid down it instead. It sounded like a stampede of
elephants when I hit the ground.

You’re
imagining it. It wasn’t that loud
,” I tried to reassure myself.
But
don’t dogs have superior hearing?

Lucas was over the
fence in no time. “I don’t see the hellhound. Run that way – “ he pointed
“and I’ll stay here. When you circle back around, I’ll grab him.”

I nodded, too
scared to speak, and started tiptoeing towards the side of the house. If I
stayed along the perimeter, like Lucas said, I wouldn’t have to dart through
the hedges and bushes in the middle of the yard.

When I got to the
end of house and was just about to turn the corner, I looked back. Lucas was
standing there, watching me. Still no sign of the hellhound. But I was moving
forward at a snail’s pace.
Go faster! You don’t want the hellhound to find
Lucas first.

I broke into a
jog, my eyes constantly scanning the yard. And now I was rounding the next
corner of the house.
What if he’s not here? What if he’s already gotten to
Lucas? Should I turn back?

I stopped in my
tracks, panicked, trying desperately to make a decision. I couldn’t just stand
there! As each minute ticked by the hellhound could be closer and closer to
finding Lucas.

I have to make
sure he’s okay.
It didn’t matter if that meant we abandoned the plan. Like
Lucas had said, we would either succeed or fail together. His safety was more
important than anything else.

I spun around,
ready to retrace my steps, and that’s when I saw him. The hellhound was about
twenty feet away from me, staring at me. His eyes were red, and his mouth was
twisted back, his long, pointy teeth sticking out. He was at least triple the
size of the biggest dog I’d ever seen in my life.

Before I could
react, I saw a flash of red as the hellhound leaped through the air. He moved
so quickly that it was a blur.

And that’s when I
started running. I knew I was going fast, but was it fast enough? I glanced
over my shoulder, scanning the dark for those red eyes. Nothing.
How long
have I been running? Shit.
Why hadn’t I paid attention?

I slowed to a
stop, confused. What was going on? Had the hellhound given up chasing me,
doubled back around to kill Lucas instead?

Something was
terribly wrong. And then it happened. My wrists were cinched together behind my
back. The hellhound; he must be smarter than we’d anticipated, had waited in
hiding until I stopped running, then made his attack.

But whatever was
digging into my wrists didn’t feel like teeth. “Come with me,” said a deep male
voice. “I won’t hurt you.”

I started
screaming, struggling. “Let me go!” I said over and over. Where was my power
now? I willed my body to heat up, for my superhuman strength to kick in, but
nothing happened. I was being pulled backwards like a rag doll. I tried to turn
my head, to look behind me, but all I could make out was a shadowy figure.

“This will be much
easier if you don’t fight me,” the voice said again.

“Who are you?”

“I just want to
talk to you,” he said, ignoring my question.

I was pulled
through the front door, into a huge, dark corridor.
Is this Dracula’s house?
Am I in a haunted mansion?

Down a hall we
went, then another hall. I was being dragged to a torture chamber, I was sure
of it.

Finally, my captor
opened a door and effortlessly slung me inside. I was thrown down into a chair,
my hands tied behind me. I looked around. I was in a huge room, with a long,
medieval style dining table in the middle surrounded by high-backed chairs,
like the one I was sitting in.

The person who had
bound my hands stepped in front of me. I kicked my feet, trying to stop him
from binding those as well.

“Stop!” he
commanded, stepping back. “I’m not going to hurt you. Get a hold of yourself,
Aurora.”

I had been so
focused on fighting him off that I hadn’t even looked at my attacker. When he
said my name, I stopped struggling, stared at him in surprise.

How does he
know my name?
Most everyone I’d encountered only knew the legend of the
living dead girl. And they certainly wouldn’t recognize me.

“Who are you?” I
whispered. “And how do you know my name?”

“I’m Jet,” the man
said. “I’m the one responsible for bringing you back to life.”