Cruel Stakes: Vampires & Vices No. 2, page 5
“What do you mean what did he say?” Kenton asks, genuinely confused by my question.
I widen my eyes. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe about the fact that he ditched us, only leaving behind a cryptic note like we’re all in some kind of murder mystery novel?”
Kenton shrugs. “Didn’t think to ask.”
“Right . . .”
He changes the subject, and we go about our training. The craziest part is that everyone I talk to about Tate throughout the morning gives me a similar answer. They don’t seem to care where their leader has been or why he left, only that he’s back. Surely Tate isn’t infallible to scrutiny. Do they follow this man blindly no matter what?
I corner Cameron by the drinking fountain. We’re alone so I need to be quick. “Hey, do you know what’s going on? Everyone’s acting like it’s no big deal that Tate is back.”
“Why don’t you talk to Tate yourself?” Cameron says, shooting me an odd look. “That’s what I did.”
“Uhh––what about the whole energy demon thing?”
“The what?” Cameron raises his eyebrows. They’re bushy today, reminding me of orange caterpillars.
“You know.” I make sure nobody is around us and then whisper low. “The whole reason why you’re a prodigy for Kelly.”
Cameron steps back, his face going slack. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. What’s your name again? Aren’t you a novice?”
Huh? “Eva, and yes, but that’s not the point. I’m talking about the nightclub and Kelly. Remember when we were at the casino and––”
He shakes his head, holding up his hands. “Alright, Ava. I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but whatever it is, you need to stop.”
“It’s Eva.”
“Whatever. Don’t make up lies like that.”
I open and close my mouth a few times. “But what about your little brother? Avenging his death and all that if you can’t beat them, join them stuff?”
Cameron’s face pales. “My brother died of childhood cancer.” His voice is dangerously low, like he’s close to erupting. I catch sight of his clenched hands and step back. “And what are you doing looking into me like that? I don’t even know you. Are you doing this to everyone?”
I stare at him, completely flabbergasted. Did he really forget everything? It’s hard to believe, but then I know what Tate can do. He told me from day one that he can make people forget things. Has he done that to me? My mind whirls with the possibilities, and suddenly I want to run far, far away from this secret training facility and never look back.
But my friends are here and I can’t leave them vulnerable.
“Everything okay here?” Seth slides in next to me. He assesses Cameron with a hard stare.
“Is this girl on your team?” Cameron asks. He’s short and stocky, but his bulk is considerable and his hands are fisted.
“Yes.” Seth’s tone darkens to match Cameron’s, and I’m grateful that Seth decided to get over his annoyance and welcome me to his team. It feels good to be wanted. It’s not a feeling I’ve had too many times before.
“Your little girl here is digging into people’s backgrounds, and you need to get her to stop.”
Seth turns to me. “Is this true?”
I don’t know what to say to get this to make sense, but my team knows about Cameron, who he really is and what his plans are. At least, what they were before his mind was washed clean like a window. In the end, I decide to go with Cameron’s side of things just to get him to leave us alone. “Yeah, I guess so. Sorry about that, Cameron. It won’t happen again.”
Cameron huffs and stalks off, his eyes still on me as he crosses the gym to join his teammates.
“Okay, so what was that really all about?” Seth is never that interested in me, but right now he’s looking at me with scrutinizing eyes. There is also sympathy in them. And trust. And I love that he trusts me. I didn’t realize how much I needed it.
“You still remember the stuff I told you about Cameron before, right?” I whisper.
“Yes.”
Relief floods through me. “Good, because the guy was just acting like he had no recollection of any of it.”
“Nothing? Do you think he was bullshitting you?”
“Could be, but I really don’t think so. His memory was wiped.”
“Hmm . . .” Seth turns, and we both watch Cameron as he starts to spar with one of his teammates. They’re not in the gym a lot because they’re usually out hunting, but today it’s like everyone’s here. Maybe Tate told the leaders to call all their teammates in.
“I asked him about Leslie Tate, and he acted like it’s no big deal that Tate is back. Same with Kenton. Do you think something’s going on?”
Seth’s eyes go from hard to soft. “Nothing’s wrong. You can trust Tate. Go talk to him yourself and see.”
“Well, Tate obviously wiped Cameron’s mind, so you’ll excuse me if I don’t want to talk to the guy.”
“Nah, trust me, Tate is a good guy. If he did anything weird, he did it to protect us.”
Okay, so now Seth is acting the same way as everyone else, and I am certain something is definitely up with Tate. Maybe I should stay away, but it feels inevitable. Against my better judgement, I take to the stairs, determined to get answers.
I find Tate in his office, sitting at his desk, business as usual.
“Hi, Eva,” he greets me with a smile. “How are you doing?”
I sit down in the chair across from him and glower. “I’m fine. More interesting question––how are you doing? And while you’re at it, where have you been? And why did you ditch us like that?”
Tate nods once, understanding framing his eyes.
“And for that matter, what happened to Cameron? He’s wiped. You took his memories away, I know you did.”
“I helped Cameron.” He leans forward. “Do I need to help you?”
Does he know about Adrian? I blink and my heart speeds up.
“All your questions are valid.” He smiles. “But they’re questions you don’t need to ask or think about anymore.”
There’s something about his words that sink into me like an anchor. He’s telling the truth. Even if there’s something about that truth that’s not entirely ringing true, it’s still trustworthy. I try to grasp on to what could be off about this moment, but my mind goes a little fuzzy. I need to remember that he’s doing something to me, that he’s using his powers somehow. I need to cling to the fact that he himself admitted to being something other than human the first time we met. I need to hold on to Cameron’s words at the nightclub, that Tate is some kind of energy demon, and I need, I need . . .
The fuzziness takes over my thoughts and then clears, leaving nothing behind.
“Okay,” I say simply. My mind is at ease, so I get up to leave. “When will we be resuming training together?” He takes new recruits under his wing, and I’ve really missed having that one on one time with him. He’s a great guy, like the father I never had.
“How about tomorrow?”
A little burst of happiness releases in my chest. “I’ll be here.”
Felix wraps me in his arms and kisses me one last time. “It’s been fun having you around today.”
I smile and nod. We’re standing on his front porch after having spent most of our Monday together. After practice this morning, he apologized for turning in early last night, and asked me to hang out at his house in between his classes so he could hop over and spend time with me. Since I wasn’t working until later, I figured it was a good idea. And I’d been right. The whole day was amazing, so much so that I think I’m almost ready to take Adrian up on his request and finally cash in my v-card with Felix. Not today because I’ve got to get to work, but soon.
We hug and then I reluctantly walk down to my car. Whatever jealousy Felix had about the Porsche, he hasn’t said another word about it. Maybe he realized he was being a jerk.
I wave goodbye and slide in, then pull out on the road and turn toward downtown. I have to go home and change into my work uniform, and I’m keenly aware that my mom wanted to swing by first to talk to me about something. I’m super curious about whatever it is she wants to tell me––and nervous. I didn’t like the tone of her voice, it reminded me too much of the days before Adrian compelled her.
As I turn the corner, I catch sight of Tate walking through a parking lot. Seeing him out in the wild like this makes me pause at the stop sign and watch him. I shouldn’t worry about what he’s doing, but something deep within warns that’s a false thought. I’m filled with mixed emotions, but I follow that little warning bell, pulling into the same parking lot. I jog over to the sidewalk to catch up with him, but he doesn’t see me in time and walks into a revolving door before I get a chance to call out his name.
I want to say hi and to thank him for coming back after he had left and ask . . .
There’s something else, something important, but my mind has gone fuzzy again. I don’t know if it’s out of curiosity or a suspicion I can’t quite name, but I find myself following Tate inside the building.
I look up at the sign above the glass door and frown a little: Tulane Medical Center. What could he be doing at a hospital? I hope he’s okay. My first thought is he’s probably visiting someone and would appreciate his privacy. But my feet keep moving forward, and I walk right past reception, following him to an unmarked door. I find myself in a plain hallway, Tate’s footsteps echoing ahead. Again, I want to call out to him, but a deep sense of knowing crawls up my throat. It seals my mouth shut, and all I can do is follow him.
Chapter 8
Once again, my senses grow, everything prickling to keen awareness. The scent of antiseptic, the clacking of shoes on polished tiles, and the air conditioning running through the vents all seem to surround me at once. I’m not sure why it’s so strong right now because Tate isn’t a vampire or connected into Hugo’s bloodline. Maybe it’s because I’m sensing something is off or because I’m hyper-focused. I’m still not sure how this venom works yet, but I’m certain that I have to keep it a secret. The vampires will kill me if they find out I have it. Adrian still might. And I don’t want Tate to know.
Pieces of my mind still want to relax and let Tate go, but clarity has peeked through like sunbeams in thick clouds. Clarity that says, it’s time to learn the truth about Tate. I grit my teeth, realizing the only reason why I want to trust Tate is because he told me to, and that has more to do with his secret abilities than it does with how I actually feel deep down. I’ve been manipulated, plain and simple.
Growing angry, I push through double doors and end up inside a bustling emergency room floor. I wouldn’t have known how to get back here without asking at reception, and I find it odd that Tate did. What’s a guy like him doing sneaking around a hospital? If he were visiting someone, there wouldn’t be a need for secrecy.
A middle-aged woman with blurry red eyes rushes past, and I catch sight of the bright blue visitor sticker on her shirt. I fold in on myself, hoping nobody will notice that I don’t have one of my own. What I’m doing might be illegal, but luckily the place is busy, and it seems the doctors and nurses aren’t concerned with me, not when they have ten places to be at once. A sign at the far end of the hall reads Blood Donation Center, and I recoil. I shouldn’t, it probably has nothing to do with feeding vampires and everything to do with saving humans, but I’m turned off by any kind of blood donation at this point. There’s a reason the top ailments in our society have become anemia, restless leg syndrome, fatigue, brain fog, and more—all symptoms of donating too much blood.
I’ve lost sight of Tate and can’t very well start opening doors to look for him, so instead I casually stroll down the hall, keeping my eyes open. I’ve never had to be admitted into an ER before, but I did bring Mom into one once when she donated too much blood, and I know hospitals well enough from when my gran died. I’ve avoided those memories, but being here now makes me think that maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to go into medicine. I’ve always wanted to help people, and since being a police officer turned out to be a bust, maybe I could go to nursing school or do something in the medical field. I like the buzz of this ER and the thought of responding to people in immediate need. Maybe I could find my way into working here and keep hunting vampires on the side, at least until my brain fully develops and it’s no longer safe to be near vampires.
The idea seems . . . impossible.
But maybe it’s not.
There’s a huge glass door marked ICU for Intensive Care Unit in bright red lettering. The unit inside is surrounded in glass and lit with sunshine, as if all that light helps the people in there heal. I peek through the glass, my breath catching when I spot Tate. He’s standing with his back to me next to someone in a hospital bed. The patient has so many tubes and wires taped to him that I can barely make out his face. Whatever is going on with this guy, it looks like it’s pretty bad.
Something catches the light, and I blink rapidly and then squint. Just like that night at the Neon House, the humans have auras again. This time I don’t need neon to see the energy––I can see it in broad daylight––another sense heightened. They’re all sorts of colors, but the person lying on the bed has a very weak yellow glow around them, and exactly like Cameron claimed, Leslie Tate is syphoning the energy away from the human. It flows from the person in the bed directly into Tate’s body.
I have to run in there, to rip him away from that innocent person, but when I yank on the glass door, it doesn’t budge. I curse, realizing it’s because I don’t have access. I really don’t understand how Tate got inside because surely he doesn’t have access either. It’s like the man went to a hospital looking for the person in the weakest state and zeroed in on them. It’s horrific. Cameron was right. If I don’t stop him, Tate’s going to kill that guy.
I bang on the glass door, but nobody inside hears me, and Tate doesn’t stop or even flinch in my direction. Is that why they come here––these energy vampires/demons––to prey on humans at their very weakest? Do they get some kind of extra boost when they take a life? Is that why Cameron’s brother was targeted?
“Stop!” I yell.
“Excuse me, you can’t go back there,” a nurse cuts me off sharply.
I turn to her, panic growing. “See that man?” I point to Tate. “He’s hurting your patient.”
Her eyebrows furrow and then she’s through the door, closing it in my face before I can follow after her. I expect her to stop him, but as she approaches Tate, her body language softens, all urgency evaporating into thin air. She doesn’t even bother to speak to him. In fact, she moves past the patient and Tate as if he’s not even there, as if the patient is completely fine and peacefully dreaming about sugar plum fairies.
“Are you kidding me?” I hiss, looking around the hallway for someone else who could get me access into the ICU.
This must be part of why his kind––whatever they are––have gone undetected for so long. Nobody can stop them because the second a human questions them, they’re able to turn our minds to peach fuzz.
I can fight it, but that must be because of the venom.
I still don’t agree with Cameron’s whole “if you can’t beat them, join them” attitude, but I can understand why he’s so concerned about these things, why he made it his life’s mission to stop them after the things he witnessed. I make a mental note to grill Adrian about these things next time I see him because surely he knows. This must be why he wants me to spy on Tate for him, so I can give him more information on his enemy. This is far beyond humans hunting down vampires. Maybe the vampires don’t fear human hunters at all, maybe it’s these other things that are the true targets.
My mind whirls with the implications, and questions sprout in my mind. What if it’s not only humans in that gym every morning? What if there are others like Tate working with us? How many are out there like him? Could Seth or Kenton be one of them?
I used to think I knew everything. I’ve since realized I know nothing.
I turn around and spot a grumpy looking security officer charging right toward me. Maybe banging on an ICU door wasn’t the best way to keep myself inconspicuous. Not my smartest idea, I’ll admit. I take on a relaxed posture and walk briskly in the opposite direction. He follows, but before he can get to me, I’m strolling through the waiting room, and then I’m on the front sidewalk, and then I’m sprinting back to the Porsche.
I jump in and peel out of the parking lot, my heart rioting in my chest.
Maybe there was nothing I could do to help that one person in the ICU, and it kills me to even think about leaving them vulnerable like that, but now I know that Cameron was right about one thing: there’s definitely more out there than vampires. And maybe he’s right that vampires aren’t the worst of them. That’s hard to believe with what I know of the suckers, but at least they’re out in public and open about their vileness. At least they have weaknesses, like the sun and silver and wood through the heart. And at least they don’t lie about who they are.
Because Tate is a liar. And now I really want to know where he disappeared to and why. I drive home with my knuckles white on the steering wheel and more questions than ever racing through my head.
Chapter 9
I lean against the side of the brick wall, aimlessly watching the cars in the street and the people on the sidewalk. I have to go into work but I’ve been standing out here in the evening sun waiting for someone who will never come.
My mom stood me up.
And even though she’s done it a million different times before, this one stings the most. It’s my own fault for caring so much. I’d dropped my guard and allowed myself to hope. I shouldn’t have done that. I know better, have learned better. Experience is the best teacher, as they say. I hate that I was foolish enough to let this happen.
