Chapter 20

I jerked as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on my face. My blood ran cold, then I pushed him off me and jumped to my feet. He was covered in blood. His face looked worse than mine the first night we’d met, but his eyes glittered with a feral light. 

“What are you doing here?” I snapped, my pulse beating so fast I felt my heart might explode from the shock.

“You stabbed me,” he said, voice low and menacing, ignoring my question. 

I narrowed my eyes and glanced at his chest, shocked to see my pretty shoe poking out of it. It didn’t look real, more like a movie prop. But as I thought, I grew increasingly aware of the cold blacktop against my naked foot. Vaguely the memory of Lust stabbing him came back and with it an overriding anger.

I hated being startled. Demons don’t handle it well. 

I planted my aching hands on my hips, wondering what he’d done to them, and glowered back. “Doesn’t feel good, does it?” 

He spit, and it was crimson-streaked. 

I smiled, emotions still zooming a mile a millisecond. “I want my shoe back.”

He snarled, grabbed the hilt, and yanked it out, then threw it at my feet.

I had stooped to pick it up when the metallic glint of metal caught my eye. It was a chain with a silver medallion. I scooped it and my shoe up, wrapped the necklace around my wrist, and studied the blood-soaked heel. I wiped it off, then noticed it’d snapped in half, the other piece of it probably still inside him. 

“Serves you right. I hope it punctured a lung,” I muttered. First my boots, which I still hadn’t found, and now this. Mad as a polecat, I stomped toward the door. It was barred shut, and without the password I had no way inside that wouldn’t compromise the mission.

My chest ached thinking about the little girl, and in a moment of supreme frustration I slammed my fist into the brick wall, then ported to the woods around my trailer and screamed into the night.

~*~

Early the next morning, before the sun had even begun to rise—sporting a monster headache—I put on three layers of wool socks, got dressed, poured myself a thermos of coffee, grabbed a granola bar and stuffed them into my book bag, then headed out toward the solitude of the mountain.

I wanted to think, and the unspoiled beauty of nature always helped ground me. I took a path I hadn’t used before, wanting to explore and exert myself.

The day was blistery cold. The smell of snow hung heavy in the air. Stinging slaps of wind buffeted my cheeks; I brushed the hair out of my face and walked.

I hiked with no destination in mind other than to get as far away from camp as I could. I’d toyed with the idea of porting to Rome or the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, my two favorite spots in the world, but it would take too long and I had to call Grace—and hopefully make it to the library at some point today. 

I slipped on a loose sheet of gravel and had to latch on to the branch of a pine tree poking up out of a large gray slab of stone.

Curling my lip, I wiped the sticky sap off on my pant leg, then turned to study the layout of my surroundings. Several clicks to my right perched a rocky outcropping of large, smooth boulders. An ideal place to sit, drink, and think. I moved. If I was lucky I might even get there in time to watch the sun rise.

Tightening my hold on my book bag, I jogged. Reveling in the wild thrill of muscles bunching and gathering, the wind rushing through my ears, my heart beating steadily in my chest, and the scent of grass and damp earth all around me. Moments like these helped remind me why living was worth it.

Finally I found the perfect spot. I stopped and threw my bag atop the ten foot boulder—it landed with a heavy thud—and jumped up, landing with the gracelike reflex of a cat. Ten feet is about my jumping limit.

Stretching my arms high above my head, I smiled, sucking in air, and looked out at the black silhouette of trees and outcroppings on the cusp of dawn.

Vivid streaks of purple and orange slashed through the blue canopy of night. Gray wispy clouds rolled lazily by, bringing with them the promise of snow I’d smelled. Aside from the constant sound of wind, the world was silent. No birds, no bugs, no animals. Only me and the dawn. 

Tension drained from my body, leaving me exhausted but more alert than being confined in my home with nothing but books and music to keep me company. I sat down, pulled my thermos and granola out, and ate. 

No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about the little girl. What’d happened to her? Why had Billy stopped me from going inside and rescuing her? Was he part of this? Was that why he hadn’t killed me yet? Because his plan was bigger than me?

And speaking of Billy, my stomach dived. How had his kiss broken me from going feral? Not even Luc could drive the demon out of me with a simple kiss. 

Butterflies crowded my insides. To call the kiss simple was wrong. It had been heart pounding and primal. I wanted him with a ferocity that was frankly terrifying. 

Something cold and wet touched the tip of my nose. I looked up and saw the first flakes of snow. I held out my hand, watching as one landed and then melted on my palm. Was it really true that each flake was different? Each as unique as a fingerprint?

I don’t know why, but the thought comforted me. If someone went out of their way to take such a simple thing as a snowflake and make it the only one of its kind, then maybe I mattered too.

I sighed, took a final sip of coffee, polished off the bar, and then set the thermos and wrapper aside.

The stone I sat on was colder than steel in the morning, but the wool socks were doing the trick. I felt fine. Invigorated even. Maybe I’d start sleeping outdoors for a while. 

I laid down, crossed my arms behind my head, and closed my eyes. Snow kissed my skin. I imagined this peaceful moment, and not the death threats, not the craziness of vamps and Nephs and conspiracies, was my life.

I don’t know how long I lay like that. I think I may have even snoozed off for a second when I heard a twig snap and a gentle voice whisper, “Pandora.” 

I opened my eyes to find Luc sitting next to me, blond hair whipping in the strong breeze. Blue eyes filled with worry. He traced my cheek with his finger, beautiful full lips pulled down in a tight frown. He’d obviously been following me. Made me wonder how long—since last night, this morning?

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I let him touch me for a second, enjoying the feel of that gentle caress more than I should. I leaned into his hand, wishing we could go back to a time when things hadn’t become so complicated. My heart twisted. But no one can turn back the hands of time.

I sat up, grabbed a barrette out of my pocket, caught my hair into a makeshift ponytail, and then pulled my knees to my chest before I answered him.

“I went to the club last night,” I said, resting my chin on my knees.

Luc sat back on his booted heels, looking like he wanted to say more. Finally he sighed. “Yeah? And?”

I shook my head. “It’s a façade.”

He frowned. “What? Weren’t there vamps there?”

“Yes. Like a swarm of ants all over the place. But they weren’t doing anything aside from drinking a little blood and partying it up.” I shrugged. “Whatever’s going on, whatever the order thinks might be happening, isn’t going down there. I searched. There was nothing.”

He rubbed his stubbled jaw. “That doesn’t make sense. The order has never screwed up before.”

I twisted my lips, the frustration that had gnawed away at me all night coming sharply back into focus. “I know. But I did see something else.” A picture of the tall man formed in my mind, and I shuddered, creeped out as much now as I’d been then. 

“What?” he asked, snapping me from my thoughts.

I threw my hands up and growled. “A man walking down the street with a kid. It’s a gut feeling, Luc, but it just felt wrong. What was a man doing with a child at that time of night in that part of town?”

He ground his jaw. “Human trafficing?”

I wish I could say I detected anger, or even shock in his voice, but I didn’t. There was curiosity and nothing more. And had I not seen that little girl with my own two eyes, I probably would feel like him. When you’re as old as we are, nothing shocks much. We’ve seen it all. A million times and then some. Evil exists. Sad, but true. 

“Yeah, maybe.” I shrugged, stomach churning with bitter anger at Billy. “I thought of that too, but I think it might be more than that. He dragged the kid to the back of the club, did some knock, and then walked inside. I’m thinking that’s the secret of Sanguinary. Not the club itself, but what’s behind it.”

He snarled. “So what, you think the vamps are peddling kids?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, the pain in my skull beginning to hammer away at my sinuses. “I heard one of the guys say something like Mo and Sac.” I grimaced and clamped my jaw tight. “I don’t have the first freaking clue.”

“So is that it?” He shook his head. “You didn’t see anything else? Another Neph maybe. What about that?”

“No.” 

He sighed. “But just because you didn’t see one doesn’t mean it wasn’t there,” he said, mimicking what Grace would say.

I rubbed my forehead. “Where was Vyxyn last night?”

“Here.” His mouth thinned. 

“All night?”

“Yeah.” He took a deep breath. “I told Bubba to keep an eye on her, report back to me if he saw her leave her post for anything other than her break. I personally kept an eye out on the rest of the family. We were all here, all night. None of us,” he stressed, “left.”

I frowned. “You didn’t tell Bubba anything, did you?”

Luc gave me a droll expression. “Give me some credit here, Pandora. Besides, don’t just assume it’s her. I know she’s the obvious—” 

Now it was my turn to return his stare. “I’m not stupid. I know that. But something’s not right about Vyx. I’ve told you that for years. It would be incredibly stupid of me to overlook her just because she so obviously fits the bill.”

“I think you’re headhunting. I think your bias toward Vyx is screwing with your ability to see anything outside of her,” he snapped. “Grace only said she thought one of us might be responsible, not that we were.” 

I gritted my teeth. “I’m not even going to justify that stupidity with an answer. If you don’t know me by now, Luc, than you never will.” 

He crossed his arms. A long, bitter silence stretched between us.

I rubbed my cheek. I didn’t want to fight with him. Not today. Seemed like it was all we did anymore. “I’m going back.”

“When?”

“Tonight.” His jaw worked from side to side. I could tell he didn’t like it, didn’t want me going out alone again. 

I licked my lips and said very softly, “It might be nice if you came with me this time.”

He turned his face to the side, wouldn’t look at me, wouldn’t let me see the truth in his eyes. “No.” The word was low, harsh. 

My gut knotted up, and I knew why. I knew this man better than I knew myself. This rejection had nothing to do with keeping up appearances—pretending we weren’t looking for a potential rogue inside the family—and everything to do with our past. 

“Why?” Anger mixed with hurt. “You can’t or you won’t, Luc. Which is it?”

He glared at me, eyes growing darker. “You know why I won’t.”

“No, I don’t,” I snapped. “Why don’t you enlighten me?” Luc had no problem sharing my body, touching me, talking to me, using me, so long as our interactions only ever stayed within carnival confines. 

“Pandora—” 

“No.” I held up my hand to silence him. “Forget I asked. I don’t know what I was thinking. Of course you won’t join me. You never do. Why should Luc ever have to put his body on the line when he’s got Pandora to do the dirty work?” I trembled with rage.