Immortal After All (Vampire Hunter Book 3) (8 page)

After I got home, I called Lucas and told him about what Emmett had said. Lucas promised he’d contact Nicholas as soon as possible to see if they could get any more information.

It wasn’t until I slipped my phone back into my purse that I noticed the piece of paper sticking up.

That’s strange.

I pulled it out. It was a sheet of paper folded into four squares. Inside was a typed message. It read:
I must talk to you alone. Please call me. Emmett – 555-682-9123

So that’s why he hugged me goodbye
. With trembling hands I dialed the number.

“Hello?”

“Um, is this Emmett?”

“Is this Aurora?” the voice on the other line countered.

“Yes.”

Emmett breathed a sigh of relief. “I was hoping you’d call soon. Can you meet me?”

Again!

“Maybe you could tell me over the phone?” I suggested. “I can’t drive. I kind of rely on Henry and Lucas to take me to the places that are too far to walk to.”

“No, no, that won’t work.” Emmett was agitated. “I guess I can pick you up,” he said with a loud sigh.

“I could ask Lucas,” I offered. “He doesn’t seem to mind.”
And I sure don’t mind any opportunity to see him.

“I’d prefer we talk alone,” Emmett replied.

“Er, okay. Do you need my address, or do you already know it since you’re a psychic and all?”

Dead silence.

“Emmett?” I finally asked.

“Yes?”

“Um, pick me up in a half hour?” I quickly gave him my address, but Emmett insisted on meeting three blocks away so as not to arouse any suspicion.

I wanted to laugh, but truthfully, a man who was at least twenty years older than me probably didn’t need to be seen picking up a seventeen year old girl in front of her house. I just hoped no one recognized me. That was the last thing I needed someone to tell my parents!

“I’ll see you then.”
Click.
With that, Emmett was gone.

I arrived at the meeting spot early. Emmett was already there, parked on the side of the street in a beat up old truck. I quickly got into the passenger seat.

“What’s so secret that you needed to talk to me alone?’” I asked immediately.

“For one thing, I know about Henry’s father.”

“Okay. So is he still trying to kill me?”

“No,” Emmett replied. “He gave up on that when it didn’t work the first time. He was at the meeting I was telling you about.”

“Doing what?” I demanded.

“Haven’t we been through this? Like I said before, I really don’t know!”

“Alright, alright, sorry,” I muttered.

“Look, I know I can be a little high strung sometimes.” Emmett’s voice softened.

That’s an understatement!

“I’m as frustrated by this as you are,” he continued. “Anyway, obviously I couldn’t tell you about
that
with Henry there. “

“Yeah,” I said morosely. “When Lucas told me he was a warlock, I hoped it was some big misunderstanding.”

“It’s not,” Emmett replied. “But that isn’t the worst of it,” Emmett continued.

“I don’t know if I can take much more,” I said.

“Henry’s father wasn’t the only person I picked out at the meeting. You were there, too.”

“What?” I wailed. “How is that possible?”

“I’m wondering if it’s something to do with your blackouts. Has anything changed about them?”

I didn’t answer immediately. I was torn. I had wanted to figure this out alone, but Emmett wouldn’t tell Lucas or Henry.

“Come, on, Aurora, you’re going to have to trust someone. It might as well be me,” Emmett cajoled.

“I know,” I said slowly. I filled him in on the details from Saturday night.

“That makes sense,” Emmett said when I’d finished. “I didn’t mention it before but this meeting was taking place in some kind of pit, possibly underground.”

I shuddered. “I guess you don’t know what I was doing there?”

“No, everyone was in a trance. You included.”

“I wonder if Mr. Matthews knew I was there,” I said.

“Oh, he knew for sure. He was the right-hand man. Chanting, saying spells, that kind of thing.”

“Why in the world did he want me back in my grave then?”

“I think it’s that whole
if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em
mentality,” Emmett replied.

“So they can’t destroy me and the next best thing is to have me on their side?” I asked.

“Yep.”

“Do you think they’re trying to take over the world?” I asked Emmett. “It’s the only thing that makes sense, bringing all these unnatural creatures to one place. It’s kind of like the opposite of what Lucas is fighting for by hunting, by keeping the existence of non-humans secret from the world.”

“Exactly,” Emmett replied.

“Why didn’t you want me to bring Lucas here? Why did you care? He already knows that I have blackouts – just not that I went somewhere the last time.”

“Because you’re so sensitive about it!” Emmett exclaimed. “I thought that if I brought Lucas you would just lie about the blackouts. I don’t care if you tell him; hell, it will probably help us out if you do! Maybe he can get some more information.”

Sensitive.
Emmett’s words stung, but deep down I knew that he was right. It was kind of like Lucas about his synthetic blood – I didn’t want to talk about it or think about it.

“I’ll call him after you drop me off,” I promised.

“Good.” Emmett looked relieved.

“Anything else?” I questioned. “While Henry isn’t around.”

“I think Tobias is getting ready to call another meeting. He must be using some type of mind control – I’m guessing David Matthews is the one making sure everyone is in a trance. If Lucas has any idea how we can keep it from having an effect on you, that would be ideal.”

I nodded. “I’ll make sure that he and Nicholas are on the case. Maybe we can stop the blackouts once and for all.”

“I hope so.” Emmett looked nervous. “But even if we pull you out from the middle of this war, they’re still going to move forward with it. We have to find a way to stop it.”

“Yes,” I said aloud. But my mind was churning. If we stopped a war to bring the undead to Earth, what would become of me?

Instead of dropping me off near my house, I asked Emmett to take me to Lucas’ new apartment.

“I guess,” he had said, sounding annoyed. “I don’t like changes in the plan.”

Emmett had insisted on leaving me a couple of blocks from Lucas’ place, even though there was no good reason for it.

By now the sun was setting and I wasn’t too keen on having to walk alone in the dark, especially after Lucas’ warning. But if Mr. Matthews was no longer looking to put me in my grave, maybe Thomas and Bartholomew weren’t either? They seemed to have it out for Lucas, not me.

Almost as soon as I got out of the car, it started sprinkling. “Do you have an umbrella?” I turned to ask Emmett, but he had already sped off.

Guess my hair is going to look like a frazzled mess.

I trudged forward, willing the rain to hold off until I got to Lucas’ place.

No such luck. With an ominous clap of thunder, it started pouring. In less than a minute, I was drenched to the bone.

Good thing dead girls can’t catch a cold.

I decided I would sprint the rest of the way there. When I had run from the werewolf, Lucas had said I must have been going at an incredible speed. But it didn’t feel fast when I was running. It felt normal.

So when something caught my foot, I fell – hard. Searing pain coursed through the left side of my body. I probably had a nasty gash down my leg.
At least it won’t bleed.

I stood up, squinting through the sheets of rain, trying to see what had caused me to fall. But it didn’t matter. I was immediately tackled to the ground. I twisted my head to get a look at my attacker.

“Bartholomew!” I sputtered. He was standing above me, sneering down at me. Thomas was next to him.

“You’re quite the talk of the town,” Thomas said, smirking.

I scrambled to my feet and started backing away from them, but Thomas reached out and grabbed my wrist, holding me in place.

“Let go of me!” I screamed, my voice shaking.

Thomas tightened his grip. “We have a message for you to deliver to lover boy.”

I played dumb. “I don’t know who you mean.”

Bartholomew rolled his eyes. “We’re not stupid. Tell Lucas we’re coming for him. He can move all he wants, but we’re still two steps ahead of him.”

“Oh, really?” I knew I shouldn’t taunt them, but I couldn’t stop myself. “That’s why you were so successful last time, right? How’s your stake wound healing?” I reached out and poked Thomas in the chest with the hand he wasn’t holding.

“I’ll rip your arm out of its socket,” he sneered, jerking me forcefully.

“Calm down.” Bartholomew looked nervous. “We can’t harm the girl, remember?”

“I remember,” Thomas muttered. I could barely hear his words above the pounding rain.

So they don’t have orders to kill me anymore.

Now that I knew they weren’t allowed to hurt me, my confidence was rising. “Lucas is going to find you, to kill you two losers,” I spat out.

Bartholomew leaned forward, inches from my face. His eyes were blazing and I could see his vampire teeth were showing. “Just because we can’t harm you
right now
doesn’t mean we’re not coming for you.”

“Who knows?” Thomas added. “Maybe we’ll take out you and your boyfriend at the same time.”

With a shove, Thomas let go of my wrist. I landed on my butt on the ground. And with that, the twins were gone.

Even though I had managed to hold my own, inside I was quaking. I struggled to my feet, willing my shaky knees to work.

That means they already know where Lucas lives.
He had just gotten that apartment. The twins really were two steps ahead of us. We were going to have to devise a plan to get rid of them, whether Lucas wanted my help or not. Time was running out.

I knocked on Lucas’ apartment door frantically. I knew I probably looked like a drowned rat, but there was nothing I could do about it.

After what seemed like ages, I heard him unlocking the door.

“Aurora!” he exclaimed, ushering me inside. “You’re drenched!”

“I know,” I said morosely.

“Let me get you something dry to change into. One of my shirts,” Lucas said.

I liked the sound of that. “Sure,” I said, trying to keep my voice normal.

Lucas went into his bedroom and returned a minute later with a black t-shirt. “I’m sure it will be huge on you, but it’s all I have,” he said apologetically.

“That’s fine,” I assured him. I headed into the bathroom to change.

When I first saw my reflection in the mirror, I almost didn’t recognize myself. My hair was matted to my head, which wasn’t surprising given the downpour. But I didn’t look different just because of the rain. My eyes were hollow, nervous and full of dread. I was a shadow of my former self, the carefree sixteen-year-old
living
girl with everything to look forward to in my life. For the first time, it hit me that I actually did look like a zombie.

I turned away from the mirror and peeled off my soaked clothing, then slipped the t-shirt over my head. It was enormous on me, almost touching my knees. But I couldn’t worry about looking silly. I needed to talk to Lucas.

He was sitting on the couch when I came back. “What brings you by for an impromptu visit?” he asked lightly.

“I wish I had good news, but I don’t,” I said. “I’m not even sure where to start!”

I plopped down on the couch next to him. “Thomas and Bartholomew waylaid me about a block from here,” I told him.

“What!” Lucas
exclaimed. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said. “But I think they already know where you live. We have to come up with something to get them off your back!”

Lucas reached out and touched my arm. “I told you not to take any chances! Why did you walk here? You could have called me.”

“I was with Emmett.” Lucas’ eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I’ll get to that in a sec,” I said. “There’s tons to fill you in on!”

“What was interesting about meeting the twins, though,” I continued, “is that they are no longer
allowed
to do anything to harm me.”

Lucas looked confused. “Okay,” he said slowly. “That’s a good thing, but I don’t understand it.”

I quickly told Lucas about my meeting with Emmett. I wouldn’t look at him when I got to the part about ‘waking up’ covered in dirt.

“So that was the missing earring scene?” Lucas asked me. He laughed. “I knew you were acting kookier than usual. Really, Rory, did you think I was going to buy that whole
humans hang around in towels
or whatever it was you said?” Lucas was ribbing me; his eyes were twinkling.

“Well, I didn’t want
you
deciding to hunt me again,” I retorted. “How would you have reacted if I’d told you?”

“Hey, I’m not judging. It’s fun not knowing what to expect with you.”

I smiled. “Got any ideas about how we can stop them from controlling me?”

“Let me talk to Nicholas,” Lucas said. “If Tobias and David are behind the blackouts they must have been testing, honing their powers, all of the other times when you were unconscious but
nothing
really
happened. It sounds like the meeting Saturday night was the first successful event.”

“I feel certain we can come up with something to stop this,” Lucas continued. “Emmett is going to have to figure out when the next one is scheduled.”

“But even if Emmett can tell us
when,
I doubt he can tell us
how
to stop it,” I said morosely.

“Do you remember that locator I had the day we were looking for Henry’s father?”

I nodded.
How’s that relevant?
I really wanted to ask Lucas but I kept my mouth shut.

“I heard about another device, a long, long time ago,” he continued. “One that scrambles the frequency in the air.”

“Why would we want to do that?” I asked in confusion.

“It might help stop them from controlling your mind. I know Emmett said that David was casting spells – and I don’t doubt that he was – but from my experience, that
level
of control on a mass scale would take something more – they’re probably manipulating the frequencies to make everyone’s brains more susceptible for the spell.”

“That’s assuming I have a brain,” I said sourly. Months out of the grave and I still didn’t know how all of my organs worked, or perhaps
didn’t
work.

Lucas laughed. “Maybe I don’t get as caught up as you do in the details; I’m so used to dealing with undead creatures. Hell, I’m one of them. Of course, you’re unique, but it’s not that crazy to me to see you walking, talking, but yet not breathing.”

“Hmm,” I mumbled.

“I guess I better get going,” I said, standing up. I had been purposefully ignoring the texts on my phone from my mother. There were only so many times that I could put her off about why I missed her call or text before she got pissed and grounded me.

My mom wasn’t stupid; she’d see through my loosely crafted stories about
accidentally
turning the ringer off. Which didn’t even make sense to begin with! What teenager in the best months of the summer doesn’t notice her phone ringer’s off?
I have to work on coming up with better excuses.

“You’re not staying?” Was it me, or did Lucas’ face fall when he asked that?

“I can,” I said immediately, all thoughts of my mother completely gone.

“It’s nice to have company,” Lucas said. “But I don’t want you to get in trouble with your family,” he added quickly.

“I won’t,” I said, even though I wasn’t so sure.
Sorry, Mom. This will be the last time I ignore you – I promise.

I sat back down on the couch. “Most of the time, I enjoy my solitude, but since I met you, I’ve found that it’s nice to be around people sometimes,” Lucas continued. “Well, you specifically,” he amended. “Because of the whole blood thing.” Lucas wouldn’t look at me when he mentioned the blood.

“Anyway,” he continued, “apart from Nicholas, you’re the only friend I have.”

“Don’t say that!” I exclaimed. “What about your boss? You never told me about him. How many years have you been working there? Surely you consider him a friend, on some level?”

Lucas looked at me sideways. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re too young to understand. Once you get old like me, you’ll become jaded.”

I hate when he calls me young.

“What the fuck does that mean?” I asked, not even trying to hide my anger.

“Woah, Rory, chill out,” Lucas replied. “It just means that you don’t mix business with pleasure and my work is business.”

I raised my eyebrows at Lucas.
I
had been business to him, at first, and he certainly hadn’t minded it then!

Lucas laughed. “I know what you’re thinking. Believe me, I knew better than to get close to you. I guess I just couldn’t stop myself.”

“Anyway,” Lucas continued quickly before I could speak, “my boss is a nice guy, for the most part, but we’re not friends. If he got an order to kill me, he’d do it.”

“You really believe that?” I whispered.

“Yes, but I don’t do anything to get a hit on my back,” Lucas said lightly. “I think you’re always better off if you recognize the truth, even if it hurts at first. I figured out a long time ago that Nicholas was
the only
soul in this world that I could trust, unconditionally. And then you came along.”

“You really trust me?” I blurted the words out before I could stop to think if I really wanted to say them.

“Why? Are you planning to double cross me?” Lucas asked in that flirty tone of his.

“No,” I said immediately. “Of course not.”
I just can’t understand how you can trust me after a few months’ time.

“I hope you know that you can trust me, too,” Lucas said solemnly. He was staring at me so intensely that I had to look away.

“I do trust you, but I’m not exactly sure why.” The words tumbled out of my mouth.

“Do you believe in fate?” I jolted, looking at Lucas. His question caught me off guard.

“I’ve always liked to think that I had the free will to choose,” I said slowly. “But since I came back, I feel more and more like maybe this is what I was
chosen
for, if that makes sense.”

“It makes sense.” Lucas nodded. “I spent eons trying to understand why Nicholas turned me, why I was a vampire, why I had to live on Earth in this hellish situation, craving something that would hurt innocent people.”

“That’s a really depressing fate,” I admitted.

“But it’s not,” Lucas countered. “As much of a monster as I was, I’ve taken out even worse monsters. Maybe it was my fate to get turned, so I could do exactly what I’m doing.”

“The creatures you hunt?” I questioned.

“Yes. I hate myself – I will never truly stop hating myself for my past.” Lucas paused and raked his fingers through his hair. “But at least I can see some value I’ve brought to the world, and maybe – just maybe this
is
my fate. Maybe I was meant to be immortal after all.” Lucas paused and looked at me. “Just like you.”

“Don’t say you hate yourself.” I knew how I sounded, trying to simplify a past I could never begin to understand, telling Lucas that he had to forgive himself for the bad things he had done. I reached out and grasped Lucas’ hand, not caring what he thought, how he reacted. I wanted him to feel comforted; I couldn’t stop him from hating himself but I could make sure he knew I didn’t feel the same way.

I intertwined his long fingers with mine, brought them to my face, holding them against my cheek.

“You’re a good person,” I said, my voice shaking.

“Rory, I’m not fishing for compliments,” Lucas replied. “And I’m also not a person.” He paused. “I’m telling you the truth about what I am. I’m not asking for pity, or for assurance that all can be forgiven. I know the
truth
about myself, and that’s what matters. I’ve served a purpose in this world, and I’m okay with that.” He leaned in and kissed my hand, which was still wrapped with his.

“You say that you trust me, but why the fuck don’t you
want
me?” I blurted out.

“You think I don’t
want
you!” Lucas exclaimed. “God, you really are young.”

“No I’m not.” I leaned forward, pushing my lips against Lucas’s lips before I could think better of it. He responded immediately, his soft lips moving against mine, his tongue searching my mouth.

I wrapped my hands around the back of his head, what I had dreamed of doing each time I’d seen him this summer, but I’d been too terrified to actually follow through.

I moved in closer, pressing my body against his chest. I was acutely aware that the only thing between Lucas and me was the t-shirt he’d lent me just an hour before.

“Rory.” Lucas pulled back. His arms were still around me.

“What?” I said, leaning in to kiss him again. My head was swimming. All I could focus on was Lucas’ soft lips and his hard body pressed against me. I didn’t care if I looked needy. I wanted Lucas. That was all I knew.