Dark Descent (Vampire Hunter Book 5) (13 page)

BOOK: Dark Descent (Vampire Hunter Book 5)
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You’re all drop
dead gorgeous?

“Strength,” Jet
said. “When a human is turned, their strength is magnified. But I want to start
with the cream of the crop. The most physically strong men and women. The
lottery doesn’t allow me to do that. Any old Joe Blow can have the
privilege
of becoming a vampire.”

Privilege.
To
Lucas, it was a curse.

“How can I help
you? I can’t change the system,” I said.

“No, but you can
recruit humans who want this lifestyle. It would be voluntary, nothing shady. I
have too much going on here. I don’t have time to vet the human race for
potential vampires,” Jet replied.

“What about Carl?”
I argued. “Or the others?”

Jet sighed. “Carl
already has his place. And not every vampire is loyal to
me
, Aurora.
Most of them covet my position in our society, are looking for any opportunity
to take over as head vampire. But the more humans I turn, the more loyalty I
will build.”

“You’ve still not
told me why it
has to be me
,” I said.

“You’re right.”
Jet grinned. “It doesn’t have to be you. I just
want
it to be you.
You’ve got no stake – no pun intended – in the vampire community.
You’re never going to try and de-throne me.”

“And besides,” Jet
continued. “Who wouldn’t want to partner with the most powerful, immortal
hunter in the world? I’d prefer to be on the same side of the fence as you. Believe
me, the relationship would be mutually beneficial.”

“Okay,” I said,
trying to think.

“I don’t expect an
answer right now,” Jet assured me. “Go home. Think about it.”

“But what if I say
no?” I asked suspiciously.

Jet shrugged.
“Then I lick my wounds and go on my way.”

“You wouldn’t try
to harm me or my family?” I asked in surprise.

“Why would I do
that? Whether you partner with me or not, you’ll still help eliminate the world
of true evil. And I already told you, I’m not an enemy and I don’t ever want to
become one. There would be no reason for me to kill your family. I’d just have
to figure out another way to recruit,” Jet replied.

“I just have one
more question,” I said. “Did you know I was coming tonight?”

“No,” Jet
admitted. “I knew you would find your way to me eventually, but I was trying to
be patient, not force the issue. I just happened to come home early from my
trip. I was walking the grounds, planning to feed my dog, when I ran across
Lucas.”

“You overtook him?
But you swear he’s not hurt?” I demanded.

“Yes, you’ll see
for yourself in a minute. I would never hurt Lucas – he’s one of the good
guys, like
me
,” Jet said pointedly. “He was so intently staring forward,
waiting on
something
, that it was easy to capture him. And now, before I
reunite the two of you, I have one last question for
you
.”

“Yes?”

“What are you
doing here? I know you didn’t come to tour the grounds, pet my sweet little
puppy,” Jet said with a smile.

I had to make a
decision. Lie, or tell Jet the truth. I couldn’t help it; he was winning me
over.

“I needed fur from
a hellhound,” I admitted, hoping I hadn’t just made a huge mistake. “For a
spell,” I added.

“That’s one
serious spell,” Jet commented. “What’s it for, might I ask?”

“To close the
Gates of Hell for good,” I whispered.

Jet’s face
registered surprise. I had decided to trust him – no going back now. I
told Jet about the plan. When I had finished, he started laughing.

“That’s
ingenious!” he exclaimed. “It’s exactly what those demon bastards and Tobias
deserve. How can I help? Do you need me to loan you Carl for the spell? I’ll
give you the hellhound’s fur; is there anything else I can get for you?”

“Wow, Jet, that’s
so nice of you,” I said sincerely. “We don’t need Carl – there’s a, um,
special warlock who has to close the gates.”

“Really? Who?”

“Matthews’ son,” I
said, refusing to say Henry’s name.

“Ah, you mean
Henry. I wondered if he would become a warlock. Surprising, though, that he’s
already more powerful than his father,” Jet replied.

“I have to check
with him on the other ingredients. We may need your help. This is supposed to
go down next Saturday, one week from today,” I said.

“Just let me
know.” Jet walked towards the door. I hesitated. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll take
you to Lucas, get you the hellhound fur and then you can leave.”

I got up and
followed Jet back into the hallway of the spooky mansion. “Like the décor?” he
asked. “I tried to make the place look as sinister as possible; you know, like
one of those old horror movies.”

I laughed. Jet led
me to a closed door down another hallway. He unlocked the door and we walked
inside. There was Lucas, pacing. He turned when the door swung open. I rushed
forward and threw myself into his arms.

“You’re okay!” I
said in relief.

“I was so worried
I would never see you again,” Lucas said, hugging me tighter than he ever had
before.

“Ah-hem,” came an
amused voice.

We turned to Jet.
“I’m Jet,” he told Lucas. “It’s nice to officially meet you. Sorry for locking
you up here. I wanted to talk to Aurora alone; she can fill you in on the
details. If you two could wait here, I’ll get you some fur from my pet, Lassie.”

I stifled a laugh.
“I didn’t name him,” Jet added. “The vampire who bit him did; bad joke, if you
ask me.”

Lucas looked
confused. “I told him why we were here,” I said, before he could ask anything.
“Jet is going to help us.”

“Yes, I’ll be
right back.” Jet turned to leave.

“Wait,” Lucas said.
“What’s stopping you from tricking us? Not giving us real hellhound fur?”

“I had hoped you
would
know
you could trust me, Lucas. But I see I’ll have to earn your
trust. Very well. Come with me.”

We followed Jet
out of the room, through the winding hallways, out the front door. As soon as
we stepped into the yard, Jet gave a low whistle. A blurry blob flashed past my
eyes. And then Lassie was sitting next to Jet, looking up at him expectantly.

Apart from being
huge, the hellhound had dark, coarse fur and a long snout. He wasn’t growling, but
his fangs still protruded past his jowls. Other than the werewolf, he was the
scariest thing I had ever seen. I grasped Lucas’ arm, even though Lassie’s red
laser eyes were obediently trained on Jet.

“He won’t do
anything without an order from me,” Jet told us. He leaned down and patted the
hellhound’s head. “Such a good boy,” he said, as though he were talking to a
normal
,
domesticated dog.

While he was
petting him with one hand, Jet took the other and plucked a handful of hair
from Lassie’s coat. The hellhound didn’t flinch. Jet held up the fur for us to
see. “Want me to put this in a bag for you?” he asked nonchalantly.

“I have one,” Lucas
replied. He stepped forward and took the hair from Jet, then pulled a plastic
bag out of his pocket and sealed it inside.

Jet started
walking towards the gate. “Stay,” he told Lassie. Lucas and I followed him.
Before opening the gate, Jet turned to us. “I meant it, Aurora, if I can help
with the spell, please don’t hesitate to contact me.” I could see Lucas out of
the corner of my eye, trying to stare a hole through my head. He couldn’t
understand why I’d told Jet.

“Here, let me give
you my number,” Jet was saying. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two business
cards, which he handed to Lucas and me.

“Thanks,” I said,
smiling. “We’ll be in touch.”

Chapter 22

As soon as we were
safely back in the car, heading home, Lucas turned to me. “What the hell
happened? Why in the world would you tell Jet our plan to double cross Tobias
and
Magnus?”

“You weren’t
there,” I argued. “You told me to go with my instinct, and that’s exactly what
I did. I could be wrong, but I think we can trust Jet.”

“I admit that I
don’t know much about him,” Lucas said. “I’ll
try
to keep an open mind.
He did just willingly hand over hellhound hair.” Lucas paused. “Tell me what
else he said.”

After I had
recounted our conversation, Lucas was strangely silent. “What are you thinking?”
I asked.

Lucas sighed
deeply. “I’m terrified that something will go horribly wrong, and even if we’re
successful, Senara is an issue – a major one.”

“You know what I
can’t understand, Lucas?”

“Yes?”

“If Senara is so
powerful, why is she holding back? Why not just show her face; is she
intimidated by Tobias?”

“I’m not sure,”
Lucas admitted. “And that’s what scares the hell out of me. We know what
Tobias, Magnus and Leon are plotting. But she’s a question mark. It makes me
think she’s planning something huge, something shocking.”

“How could you be in
love with someone who’s capable of such horrible things?” I blurted out.

“Rory, I wasn’t in
love with her. In lust, maybe.” Lucas sighed again. “I wish I had a good answer
for you. I was a different vampire back then. Believe me, you wouldn’t have
wanted anything to do with me,” Lucas said.

“I can’t imagine
that’s true,” I replied.

We were silent for
the rest of the car ride, both lost in our own thoughts and worries.

After Lucas parked
outside my house, he turned to me. “You know what you said the other day?”

I laughed. “I
can’t remember what I’ve said from minute to minute anymore. You’ll have to be
a bit more specific.”

“Something about
being crazy about me,” Lucas said teasingly.

Why’s he trying
to embarrass me about that? It’s obvious I didn’t mean to say it.

“Come on, look at
me,” Lucas said. I was staring out the window, feeling mortified.

Slowly I turned to
meet Lucas’ gaze. He reached out and caressed my face. “I just wanted you to
know I feel the same way.”

“You do?”

“And that’s part
of what has me terrified about what’s to come,” Lucas continued. “I’ll do
everything in my power, but I can’t guarantee I will be able to protect you.
But I would die trying. And if something happens to me, you carry on with the
plan. Don’t stop to help me.”

I opened my mouth
to protest, but Lucas placed his finger over my lips and gave me that adorable
grin. “I can’t make you do what I ask, but please don’t argue. If you have a
tough decision to make, choose what’s best for the mission. Leave your emotions
out of it.”

“Mission?” I
laughed. “We’re not spies,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

“I’m serious,”
Lucas continued. “Promise me?”

“But you said you
would die trying to protect me? How is
that
leaving your emotions out of
it?” I argued.

“Because if all
the prophecies are right, it’s more important for you to live than me,” Lucas said.
“If I died to protect you, that would be what was best for the mission. To keep
you safe.”

But what about
what’s best for me?

“It’s going to be
a long week. We should all regroup tomorrow. Maybe I’ll even invest in some
chairs so Nic and I aren’t always sitting on the floor,” he joked.

I gave him a faint
smile.

“But right now,”
Lucas continued, “try to relax.”

“I wish I could
stay with you tonight,” I said. “I don’t feel like being alone.”

Lucas leaned
forward and kissed me softly. “Maybe, someday in the not too distant future,
you’ll be able to stay with me every night.”

“I’d like that,” I
said quietly. I forced myself to open the car door. “See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Rory.”

My parents were
out at dinner, and Kayla was god-knows-where, so I had the house to myself.
Still, I climbed the stairs to my room, my sanctuary, and crawled into bed.

I was mentally
exhausted, and I needed to recharge, which meant trying not to worry. I couldn’t
relax my body, but I had to relax my mind. I needed every ounce of mental
energy I could muster.

Next Saturday was
critical. The turning point. If we succeeded, the war would be over before it
began, and we could focus on finding – and killing – Senara. But if
we failed, how many human lives would be in jeopardy? And not to mention the
painful, slow deaths that would be inflicted upon everyone who meant anything
to me.

Failing most
definitely was
not
an option.

So why did I have
this sick feeling inside? This nagging voice telling me we’d been lucky so far,
but luck always runs out?

I pulled the
covers over my head, hoping to shut out the world, and braced myself for
another long night.

BOOK: Dark Descent (Vampire Hunter Book 5)
9.78Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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