Immortal After All (Vampire Hunter Book 3) (7 page)

I plopped down on my bed and finally looked at my phone. Six unread text messages and three missed
calls.
Sorry, Henry.

Without reading the messages, I called Henry back. He answered on the first ring.

“Hey, I’m glad it’s you! I was starting to get worried.”

“Yeah, sorry I didn’t call you back yet, Henry,” I said apologetically. “It’s been a really weird day.”

I was planning to omit the part about spending most of it with Lucas and just tell him that Thomas and Bartholomew had trashed Lucas’ house, but Henry started speaking again.

“So Bunny called me,” Henry started.

Uh-oh.
No way I could lie to Henry now.

“Oh, I was just going to tell you about running into her,” I said.

“She said you were apartment hunting with your boyfriend. I was kind of confused. I didn’t realize you and the vampire were an item.”

“We’re not! She was all over Lucas and he needed a reason to get her to back off,” I lied. That was close
enough
to the truth.

“All over Lucas?” Henry echoed. “I know Bunny is a friendly girl, but I find
that
hard to believe.”

Well, believe it! 
Why was Henry defending her?

“Anyway,” I said, hoping to avoid an argument, “maybe he misread her signals. It was just a stupid excuse. It’s not true or anything,” I added quickly.

“Hmm,” was all Henry said.

“Lucas can’t go back to his house,” I said morosely. “The twins completely wrecked it; they were coming for him and trashed the place instead.”

“That’s right,” Henry said. “I forgot Lucas was planning on staying at your house. Enjoy your sleepover?” he asked sarcastically.

“It was uneventful,” I fibbed.

“You didn’t catch up with your old pal?” Henry pressed.

“We barely spoke until today. He was on my parent’s couch for heaven’s sake! And Kayla kept finding reasons to bug him,” I added. I wanted to make it absolutely clear that there had not been a chance for
anything
romantic to happen.

“So is Lucas running from those guys? What’s he going to do? Rent month to month? Leave town?” Henry sounded skeptical.

“He’s going to have to stop them,” I said. “But Lucas doesn’t know how yet, and he’s refused our help. Says it’s too dangerous.”

“Maybe Emmett can help us,” Henry suggested.

“I didn’t know you talked to him on a regular basis!” I exclaimed.

“Didn’t you read my texts? He wants us to meet him!”

“I called you back before checking any of the messages,” I admitted. “When?”

“He would have met us today but you were MIA for hours,” Henry said.

“I didn’t realize my ringer was off,” I said defensively.
Why do I keep lying to Henry?

Henry sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I’m just glad nothing bad happened.”

“Me, too. What time tomorrow?” I asked.

“He said at noon sharp. He wants to meet in the mall food court.”

I rolled my eyes, glad that Henry couldn’t see me. Emmett was so damn paranoid. The one time I’d met him before he’d insisted we convene at a Starbucks. He never wanted to talk about anything over the phone.

“Hey, how is summer school going?” I asked Henry, changing the subject.

“This is the last week of it,” he answered. “I’m sure I’m going to pass calculus this time. It was easy. I was just distracted at the end of the last school year.”

End of the last school
year.
I couldn’t believe I’d really missed hearing about almost two months of Henry’s life, all because of his stupid father.

I shuddered. I had managed to put the fact that his dad was actually a warlock, and not gay, out of my head, at least temporarily. It was all too much to take in.

Henry and I chatted for a few minutes more, catching up on what we’d missed about each other’s lives this summer. It felt like everything was
almost
back to normal. It was funny; he’d been out of my life for such a long time, yet things had slipped back into the same comfortable groove as though we hadn’t missed a beat.

I guess that was something you could appreciate with someone who knew you almost as well – if not better – than you knew yourself. Even if I had eternity with Lucas, would it ever be like that? I truly didn’t know.

Henry invited me to come over the next day before we met Emmett. I agreed, only because I knew David Matthews would be at work. I still couldn’t face seeing him. I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to.

Henry pulled the front door open before I could even knock.

“Were you watching for me out the window?” I asked teasingly.

“No.” Henry stuck his tongue out. “I thought I heard someone walking up the driveway.”

“Come on in.” He held open the door. I walked inside the house where I had spent so much time just a couple of months ago. 

“It’s weird to be able to walk around freely,” I commented as we headed into the family room. “I was always listening for any little sound, terrified I was about to get caught.”

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” Henry said. “Just so you know, my dad’s working from home today,” he said in a low voice. “I wouldn’t want him to hear us talking about
that
. I still can’t believe my parents had no idea.”

“Your dad’s here?” I hoped I sounded normal.
Why isn’t he at the office?

“Well, hello, Aurora!” Mr. Matthews said as he walked up behind me.

I turned around. ”Hi,” I replied, forcing a smile. Was it just my imagination, or was David studying me, trying to figure out what it would take to get rid of me – for good?

“I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to you at the party last night,” he continued. “I’ve never met anyone who was in a coma for
over
a year. You don’t remember anything from that time?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“And there’s no
ongoing
issues? No permanent head injury?” he pressed.

“No, the doctors gave me a clean bill of health.”
Why is he pushing me like this?

Henry looked as uncomfortable as me. Of course, he thought his dad’s questions were innocent enough; he had no idea Mr. Matthews was taunting me, purposefully trying to trip me up.

“Dad, we’ve got a lot to catch up on,” Henry interjected.

“Yes, I’ve got to get back to work as well,” David said. He was still staring at me, even though his words were directed at Henry.

I turned and we headed up the stairs to Henry’s room.

“Sorry about Dad’s questions,” he said apologetically once we were in his room with the door safely closed behind us.

“I understand people are curious,” I replied, trying to reassure Henry. It was true.

“Yeah, what are you going to do when school starts back in two weeks?” Henry looked worried.

I shrugged. “I guess I’ll just field the questions as best as possible. I’ll have you there for backup.” I grinned. For the first time since I’d been back, I was looking forward to something normal.

“Do you think you’ll pass the test so you can start back as a senior?” Henry asked.

“It shouldn’t be a problem. But I do have to buckle down for the next week. I’ve got study sessions with Meg each night for seven days straight. Then I have to take the test,” I said nervously.

“I guess you won’t be able to hang out with me much,” Henry said.

“Probably not.”
I wish we hadn’t wasted all of the good months in a fight.
But the past was the past, and mentioning it wasn’t going to make it any different.

“What do you think Emmett wants to talk to us about?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I don’t know, but I hope it’s good news for a change.”

“No kidding.” It seemed like Emmett was the only person who might be able to help us. But I really wanted to talk to him
alone
. He’d known about my blackouts without me having to tell him, but I needed info on what had happened last night. And fast. Because if I had another blackout, who knew where I might wake up?

Emmett was waiting for us when we arrived at the mall food court, even though we were ten minutes early.

“Where is he?” he asked as soon as we sat down across from him.

I looked at Henry in confusion.

“Lucas,” Emmett clarified.

“I didn’t know you wanted him to come,” I said, still looking at Henry. But he wouldn’t meet my gaze.

“Yes.” Emmett waved his hands. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

“I guess I forgot,” Henry mumbled.

Yeah right.

“I had wanted Lucas here to ask him something, but you’ll have to give him the message for me,” Emmett said.

“Okay,” I replied. “What did you want to ask him?”

“Henry mentioned Lucas had a contact – another hunter. I wanted to see if Lucas or Nicholas could find out something.” Emmett paused.

Henry and I were both looking at him expectantly.

“I told you before that something was blocking my mind. It’s still fuzzy, but I’m starting to get more images, more thoughts,” he continued. “At first all I could see was a gathering. I could tell there were tons of people there, but nothing else about it was clear.”

“Then a few days later I realized someone was at the center of it,” Emmett continued. “A short, weasel-y man who seemed to be calling all of the shots.”

“What do you mean?” Henry asked. “Was it some kind of meeting?”

Emmett nodded. “This man – I don’t know what he was saying – but it was like everyone there was in a trance.”

“How can you not know what he was saying?” I asked impatiently. It was so frustrating that Emmett could know everything but one of the most important details!

Emmett sighed. “I don’t know, Aurora. Usually I don’t have this much trouble when I’m consulting on someone’s case. It’s literally made me exhausted. I barely sleep at night. I’m tossing and turning, haunted by images I can’t understand.”

Come to think of it, Emmett’s eyes did have huge dark gray circles under them.
Ugh, here I am being snotty and poor Emmett is just trying to help us – to help me.

“I didn’t know it was taking this kind of toll on you,” I said guiltily. In fact, I hadn’t even realized that Henry and Emmett had been talking for the whole of the summer!

“It’s okay,” Emmett said quickly. “This is my passion. I
want
to help you. I just wish I could break through what’s blocking my mind.”

“Please finish what you were telling us,” Henry interjected. “I’m dying to hear what you know about this secret meeting.”

“What I did figure out is that the guy running the show is getting as many, um, participants as possible.”

“What do you mean,
participants
?” I asked.

Emmett pushed his glasses up on his nose. He looked perplexed. “I don’t know if everyone at this meeting is actually human. It’s one of the things I can’t see clearly.”

“Like vampires?” Henry questioned.

“To start with.” Emmett leaned forward conspiratorially. “
There are a lot of undead things in the world. And some of them even look human.”

“Right, like vampires,” Henry said again.

“Not just vampires,” Emmett replied. “There’s also shape shifters, demons, faeries… And not to mention the humanoids with an agenda, like warlocks...”

I jolted as Emmett’s voice trailed off. He was looking dead at me when he said the word ‘warlocks.’
Does he know about Henry’s father?

“Anyway, it finally hit me why all these, um, people, were gathering together. This guy is building an army.”

My mouth dropped open.

“What for?” Henry asked in alarm.

“A war,” Emmett said.

“The one that I’m going to be a part of?” my voice was barely above a whisper.

“That would be the one,” Emmett replied grimly.

Henry exhaled slowly and leaned back in his chair. “So is this the good side or the bad side?”

“It’s just a side,” Emmett said flatly. “I’m not naïve enough to believe that there’s a clear cut line between good and evil. There’s gray area in everything.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, trying to take in what Emmett was saying. “So what’s Lucas got to do with this?”

“I wanted to ask him if the name Tobias rings a bell,” Emmett replied.

Henry and I looked at each other in horror.

“What? What do you know about Tobias?” Emmett demanded.

“More like what do
you
know about Tobias,” I shot back. “Lucas found the dude’s case file – he was resurrected on the one year anniversary of his death, just like me.”

“Really?” Emmett’s eyes widened. “So he’s not human? I couldn’t tell.”

“Yeah,” Henry continued, “but according to what Lucas found, Tobias was a complete ass, promising to heal the sick and perform other miracles in exchange for the life savings of the people in his village.”

“Did Lucas say what ended up happening?” Emmett asked.

“He didn’t know,” I replied. “The rest of the case file was missing. Lucas seemed to think he was dead. He said there’s no way he could have lasted all of those years without being logged in any database.”

“I doubt there’s much chance that this is a different Tobias,” Emmett said wryly.

“So you think he’s been laying low for thousands of years, and now he’s building an army?” I asked.

“It sure seems that way.” Emmett wiped his hand across his forehead. I could see that the underarm of his shirt was damp with sweat. He really was a nervous man.

“What now?” I asked despondently.

“You two tell Lucas what I’ve told you,” Emmett ordered. “See if he or Nicholas can find out more. I’m all tapped out – for now.”

Emmett stood up abruptly.

I guess this meeting is over.

“It was nice to see you again, Aurora.” Emmett awkwardly leaned in to hug me goodbye.

“Oh,” I said in surprise, hugging him back.
He’s such an odd dude.

“Talk to you soon, Henry.” And with that, Emmett was off.

“What the hell…” my voice trailed off.

Henry laughed. “Yeah, a little high strung, right?”

“You got that right. I guess I should call Lucas and see if he can get any info on Tobias. I can’t believe that douchebag is still around!” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, it’s unsettling,” Henry agreed. “Why is he raising an army?”

“Worried that your senior year might get interrupted by the upcoming war?” My words were joking but inside I wasn’t laughing. I was worried my question was all too close to the truth.