Shifters Rule (Rule Series) (15 page)

She left the room, and Silver hurried back in.
 
She dropped the ring, chain and all, onto his stomach.
 
Sorrow clouded her eyes.
 
She said, “You can have it back if you want.”

“Your mom talked you out of marrying me?”

“No way.
 
I still want to do it… if you do.”

Jack grunted in pain as he swung his legs off the bed.
 
He struggled to his feet, ignoring Silver’s protests.
 
Adrenaline gave him power.
 
The chain dangled from his clutched hand.
 
He held onto the side of the bed as he lowered himself onto one knee.
 
He took her hand and said, “Silver Reign, will you be my wife?”

“Yes.”
 
She giggled.
 
“Put the ring on my finger, please.”

Jack didn’t know how much longer he could bear the pain.
 
Dizziness ate at the edges of his consciousness.
 
He tried to take easy, slow breaths while he fumbled with the chain’s clasp.
 
Damn thing was stuck.
 
It finally opened, and he removed the ring.
 
Taking her hand again, he pushed the ring onto her finger.

“Now kiss me,” she said.

Silver helped him to his feet.
 
She held onto him as he weaved a bit.
 
His legs were like rubber, barely able to hold his weight.
 
Any second they would buckle.
 
He was sure of it.
 
His lips brushed over hers in a quick kiss before he moved to the bed.
 
He tried to go down easy, but his strength was sapped.
 

Silver lay down next to him and rested her head against his chest.
 
She lifted her hand and moved it around in the air.
 
The ring sparkled.
 
Her soft, dreamy voice followed him into the darkness.
 
The last thing he heard was her saying, “I am going to be your wife.
 
I can’t wait.
 
There’s so much to do.
 
Do you want a big wedding or a small one?
 
Where do you want to do it?
 
A church or maybe a garden somewhere would be nice.”

He drifted away, a smile on his face.
 

He had the girl, and no one was going to take her away from him.
 
Not her mother.
 
Not another guy.
 
Not even Jersey Clifford.

.

*****

Chapter Twelve:

THE TROUBLE WITH FAERIES

.

.

For the first time since his transformation back to mortal status, Jack
sensed
Cowboy’s presence.
 
He thought he’d lost that connection forever, so it surprised him when his insides began to tingle with awareness.
 
His eyes snapped open in the dark bedroom.
 
He half-expected to see his old friend hovering over him.
 
But, he reminded himself, Cowboy was a vampire and couldn’t come in uninvited.
 
Jack turned his head on the pillow, looked at the clock next to his bed.
 
It was an hour from sunrise.
 
Cowboy was cutting it close.

With a tired sigh Jack climbed out of bed and went to the window.
 
It didn’t take long to spot his former friend.
 
Cowboy leaned against the corral fence, his eyes on the house.
 
What could he possibly want now?

During his illness Jack had lost track of time.
 
If asked what day it was, he would have to throw a dart at the calendar.
 
All he knew for sure was sometimes it was dark when he opened his eyes and sometimes it was light.
 
He looked at the empty bed.
 
After his fever had passed, Vanessa insisted Silver sleep in her own room.
 
Once in a while Silver would sneak back in after everyone else was asleep.
 
Fortunately, she hadn’t done that last night.
 
He didn’t want her to know about Cowboy’s visit.
 
She had enough to deal with already.

Jack abandoned the safety of his room and carefully picked his way down the stairs.
 
He stepped over the third step from the bottom because it creaked loud enough to wake the dead.
 
It was smooth sailing after that.
 
He crossed the foyer, opened the door, and went outside.
 
Cowboy had moved.
 
No longer leaning against the fence, he was sitting in a porch chair.

Cowboy lifted a bottle of beer.
 
“Want a brew?”

Jack grimaced.
 
Vampires and alcohol did not mix.
 
Two swallows of booze and most vampires were drunk.
 
The effects of the alcohol also lasted longer with vampires than with humans.
 
It made them deathly ill.
 
Some vampires died after downing a single shot.
 
This was self-destructive behavior even for Cowboy

Jack shook his head.
 
“It’s a little early for me, thanks.”

Cowboy chuckled.
 
“That’s right.
 
I keep forgetting you sleep at night now.
 
So what’s it like being human again?
 
Is it everything you ever dreamed?”

The question was meant to provoke.
 
Cowboy seemed to be looking for a fight.
 
Jack had no intention of giving him one.
 
Instead, Jack took the seat next to him and forced a smile.
 
“Being human has its advantages.”

“Like what?”

Tongue in cheek, Jack said, “I don’t burst into flames when the sun comes up.
 
Stick around for a while and you’ll see exactly what I mean.”

Cowboy made a rude noise.
 
“Big deal.
 
I’ll be young and pretty forever.
 
You’ll dry up and turn to dust someday.
 
Sucks to be you.”

“I can get married and have kids.”

“But you can’t car surf anymore.
 
You can’t jump off cliffs and hit the rocks below without dying.
 
You can’t fight with a grizzly bear or leap out of a window thirty-six stories up just to freak people out.
 
You can’t live without fear anymore.”

Jumping out of a window didn’t appeal to him anymore, not after Billy threw him through one.
 
The pain was still fresh in his mind.
 
Then there was the night
Jersey
had tossed him (Tobias) off a tall building.
 
If he’d been a vampire, the fall wouldn’t have killed him.
 

 
“The advantages to being human far outweigh the disadvantages.”

“Traitor.”
 
Cowboy finished his beer and tossed the empty bottle into the yard.
 
He stood but seemed a little crooked for a moment.
 
When he walked, he weaved as if he was trying to avoid invisible obstacles.
 
When he spoke, his speech was a bit slurred.

Cowboy wagged a finger at him.
 
“You are a traitor.
 
Summer, Lily, and I saved your miserable life, and you repaid us by running back home the first chance you got.
 
I should have known you were a waste of time.”
 
He shook his head and there were actual tears in his eyes.
 
“We were like brothers.
 
What happened?
 
Summer and Lily are dead, and you might as well be because you sure aren’t Jackpot anymore.”

Jack sat quiet, thinking about Cowboy’s accusations.
 
Maybe he was right.
 
They’d been good friends.
 
Cowboy had taught him how to survive as a vampire.
 
If it hadn’t been for Cowboy, Jack wouldn’t have made it through a week let alone an entire decade.
 
He owed him.

Cowboy half-walked, half-stumbled down the porch steps.
 
He was leaving.
 
Jack didn’t want him to go, not like this.
 
There were too many things left unsaid.
 
Jack vacated his chair.
 
He followed Cowboy to the beginning of the long driveway, hands thrust deep into his back pockets.

“I didn’t ask for this to happen.”

Cowboy turned and glared at him.
 
“Yeah, well, you sure didn’t fight it either.
 
It was way too easy for you to bury your past with us and return to your old life.”

“Is that what you think?
 
That it was easy for me?
 
I’m still feeling my way around.
 
I wake up some days and wish I hadn’t changed at all, but it happened.”

A slow grin spread across Cowboy’s face.
 
“We can fix it if you aren’t happy.
 
You can become my vampire buddy again.
 
The two of us will find a couple of cute chicks and turn them.
 
It will almost be like the good old days.”

“I can’t do that.”

An angry scowl replaced the smile.
 
Cowboy instantly became a child, demanding to have his way.
 
“Why not?
 
What’s stopping you?”
 
A trace of whine entered his voice.
 
He gestured to the house.
 
“Your brother is tearing up the country-side, all
werewolfy
.
 
That girl you like so much is going away to college.
 
Yeah, Trina told me about Silver’s grand plans.
 
What’s keeping you here in this ridiculous situation?
 
You were never meant to be a normal guy.
 
It isn’t you.”

Hearing Trina’s name reminded Jack of what Silver wanted to know most.
 
“Did you do it?
 
Did you break up with Trina?”

“I sure did.
 
You were right about her.
 
After I stopped gazing into those lovely blue-green eyes and actually listened to her for a while, I realized she talks way too much.
 
If I turn a girl into a vampire, she’s going to have to be more independent.”

“How did she take the news?”

Cowboy snorted.
 
“She was pissed until I told her about the vampire council and how we needed to get their permission before I turn her.
 
I told her if any of them saw a single thing they didn’t like about her, they would kill her on the spot.
 
After that she was happy to back out of the deal.”

“There is no vampire council.”

Cowboy laid a finger against his lips.
 
“
Shh
.
 
She doesn’t know that.
 
Don’t tell her or she’ll hunt me down.
 
The girl is kind of scary when she gets all worked up.”

Jack turned his face and hid the grin.
 
This was what he missed most, conversations with his best friend.
 
Now that he wasn’t a vampire anymore Silver had taken over the role, but sometimes Jack missed having a guy friend to hang with, especially with Billy gone.

Although the sun hadn’t made an appearance yet, the horizon was bathed in color.
 
It was light enough for a human to see them standing in the driveway talking.
 
Jack gestured to the sky.
 
“Don’t you think you should be getting inside?”

Cowboy opened a second bottle of beer.
 
Jack fought the urge to snatch it from his hand.
 
Was the tough-talking vampire trying to kill himself?
 
Cowboy was on a downhill spiral.
 
It was hard to watch.

“No worries,” Cowboy said.
 
“I’m staying somewhere close.”
 
He snapped his fingers.
 
“I can get there like that.”
 
Snapping his fingers apparently threw him off balance because he stumbled.
 
Jack reached out to steady him.
 
Cowboy knocked his hand away with a throaty growl.
 
“Don’t need you.”

The bottle nearly slipped from Cowboy’s clumsy fingers.
 
Jack saw an opportunity and took it.
 
He grabbed the bottle and sniffed the contents even as Cowboy tried in vain to get it back.
 
There wasn’t a drop of alcohol in the liquid.
 
Jack shook his head slowly.
 
“Root beer?”

Cowboy stood up straight, dropping the drunk act.
 
He sneered.
 
“Did you think I would drink myself to death over you?
 
Wow, you are full of yourself.
 
What an egotist.”

“Why pretend to be drunk?”

“I wanted you off guard so you might give me the truth.”

“Truth about what?”

Cowboy grinned.
 
“I wanted to hear you say it, that you miss being a vampire and you miss me.”

The front door opened.
 
Both guys turned in the direction of the sound as Silver stepped onto the porch.
 
Concern drew her brows together.
 
She quickly crossed the yard to stand next to Jack.
 
Her hand reached for his.
 
“What is he doing here?”

Cowboy answered her before Jack could.
 
“Just touching base with an old buddy.”

She turned blazing eyes on their visitor.
 
Folding her arms over her chest, she asked, “Did you break up with Trina?”

“I did.
 
Thank you for asking.”

“Did you break her heart?”

Cowboy squinted at her and his grin widened. “I might have dented it a bit, but I doubt it’s actually broken.”

Silver lifted her worried eyes to Jack’s face.
 
“I should go see her and make sure she’s okay.
 
Do you want to come with me?”

“No.
 
You should probably have some alone time with her.
 
If I go running over there with you, she’ll make the connection and know we got to Cowboy.
 
Then she’ll want him back.”

Silver nodded.
 
She raced back inside the house.
 
He hoped she wasn’t going to tell Ian about their visitor.
 
Jack wasn’t in the mood for a huge fight to the death.
 
Since Cowboy had come to see him, he felt like he’d have to defend the guy.

Jack could smell the sun now.
 
It lightly burned the inside of his nostrils.
 
For the second time he motioned to the sky.
 
“You really need to go before it’s too late.”

Cowboy shifted from one foot to the other.
 
“I came here tonight to tell you I want to help you take the werewolf down.
 
I’m serious.
 
I kept my side of the deal and dumped Trina.
 
Now I want to know if you’re going to keep to your end of the deal.
 
Are you going to team up with me one more time to take down the big, bad wolf?”

Jack took a deep breath and considered the question.
 
He didn’t trust Cowboy anymore, not completely.
 
It was obvious the vampire had his own agenda.
 
But he could use the assistance.
 
“I’d appreciate your help.”

Jack offered his hand, and Cowboy gripped it hard.
 
They shook on it, sealing the deal.
 
In a flash Cowboy was gone.
 
He didn’t bother to say goodbye or make plans to meet up later.
 
Using vampire-speed, Cowboy took off like a streak of lightning.
 
Jack still had his hand out.
 
He lowered it, feeling a bit shaken by Cowboy’s quick departure.
 
Now what?

Could Cowboy be working with Jersey Clifford?

Only time would give him the answer.

.

*****

.

Ten minutes later, Jack entered his bedroom to find Silver holding the diary.
 
It was open in her trembling hands.
 
It was obvious she’d been reading, also obvious what she’d read had upset her.
 
Dressed up to visit Trina, she had a pretty blouse and long skirt on.
 
Her hair was pinned back.
 
It fell in long waves thanks to time spent with her curling iron.
 
She looked so mature, a woman ready to take on the world.
 
Her beauty blew him away.
 
It took him a moment to realize she was crying.