Cruel Stakes: Vampires & Vices No. 2, page 9
Just as I thought, it’s an exact match for the one stamped on the back of my cross. Upon first inspection, it looks like any other simple design of feathers and nothing too special, but there’s a little hook at the bottom of the left feather that makes it distinctive.
Mine has the same one. I pinch it between my fingers and an eerie sense of foreboding prickles down my body.
“Can I help you?” a scratchy voice croons.
I turn to find a tiny middle-aged woman with creamy tanned skin and long braided hair staring at me. She’s beautiful but immediately I can sense her anger. It reminds me of Kelly and my heart drops.
“I was wondering if you could tell me about these feathers?” I ask politely.
She glares at me, which is certainly an odd way to treat a customer. “What do you want with that talisman, girl?”
My mouth pops open, but I recover quickly, folding my arms over my chest. My politeness was short-lived. “Listen, I don’t know what your problem is with me, but I’m a potential customer and––”
“No, you’re not.” She shoos me to the door. “Get out of here.”
I gape at her. I’ve never had such a strange interaction with a salesperson, and it’s obvious the woman is trying to get me out of here before I can learn what that talisman is for. I’ve watched enough CW shows to know a talisman is an object that holds a spell.
I pull the cross out from under the neckline of my shirt and flip it over, showing her the little stamp. “My grandmother gave this to me. She wore it her whole life as far as I know. Her and my mom have insisted I wear it now, too.”
“A lot of people wear crucifixes to ward off vampires, which is silly because it doesn’t work.”
“I want to know about the feathers. My gran is dead or I’d ask her myself.”
“What does this have to do with me?” The woman stomps past me and opens the door. “You need to leave or I’ll call the police.”
“No, look,” I press, “on the back of it, see? There’s a little feather. It’s the same one.”
The woman stares at me for a long moment, her eyes going from my face to the necklace and back again. Her demeanor stays hard. “It’s for protection,” she barks out.
“The feather or the cross?”
I already know the cross is supposed to be protection, but Adrian had no issue ripping it from my throat. It didn’t do anything to hurt him, but maybe that’s because the chain wasn’t real silver. Maybe it was, I’m not sure, but it easily could’ve been something else. I definitely think the new chain is silver though, Felix wouldn’t mess around or lie to me about that.
“Superstitions run deep around here,” she says. “Both.”
My eyes start to water. “My grandmother was my favorite person in the whole wide world.” Losing her nearly killed me and Mom.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” she grinds out. “Keep wearing the feathers.”
So really, it’s the feathers that mattered to gran, not the cross like she led me to believe.
“Protection from what?”
She swallows and then whispers. “Listen, I don’t want anything to do with this. You shouldn’t have come here.”
“Are you talking about vampires?” I whisper. “Or something else?”
She stills. That’s it then. Does this symbol have something to do with the energy demon things? Is this protection from them? I always thought it was for the vampires, but maybe I was wrong. I wonder how much my gran knew. I wonder what would happen if I showed it to Tate. Would he freak out? Would he be fine?
“Please . . .” My voice cracks. “I have nowhere else to go.”
“You don’t have a place here either, and trust me, you do not want to get on my bad side,” she hisses. She points to one of the dolls, which I know are used for hexes, and that’s when I decide maybe I’d better listen. I can’t even leave a bad review online for fear of retribution. I never thought I believed in any of this stuff, but turns out I sorta do.
I go back to my car and stare at the window display for a few minutes. How could a question about a feather symbol cause such an upset? The answer is because they mean something important, something to do with protection that she doesn’t want to discuss with me. I wince, realizing that the more I look for answers, the more questions I end up with. Hours roll by and I’m still thinking about the necklace.
Chapter 14
I knock on the Morenos’ door, and a few minutes later Mrs. Moreno opens it. “Eva, it’s so good to see you honey.” She hugs me, but she comes out onto the doorstep to do it. It’s the first time she doesn’t immediately invite me inside.
“Is Ayla here?” I ask tentatively.
The woman steps back and frowns. “I’m sorry, she’s not seeing guests right now.”
I blink at her, unsure how to respond. Ayla has been my bestie for ages and I still can’t believe this is happening. “Nobody?”
Mrs. Moreno shakes her head with a little frown. “We’re trying to respect her wishes,” her voice cracks and she whispers. “We don’t know what to do. She’s refusing to leave the house. The therapist says it’s an anxiety disorder called agoraphobia.”
“But she won’t let anyone visit her either?”
Her eyes water. “Not even Felix. She won’t talk to anyone. We don’t know what to do. At this point, our main concern is keeping her alive.” She wipes a tear. “I never thought this would happen to one of our kids.”
I wring my hands behind my back, my emotions torn to shreds. I should probably tell her about the vampire attack, but that would involve revealing Felix’s secrets. And I’m pretty sure Ayla would be upset if I did, but my friend’s safety and happiness is important. I want her to heal. Ayla’s made of tough stuff, always has been, so to see her like this is terrible.
In the end, I decide to go half way. “Is the therapist doing house calls?”
“They’re doing video conferencing. Ayla gets upset at the thought of anyone coming into the house.”
Yeah, because she’s afraid of vampires, and vampires have to be invited into a private residence. It makes sense. It doesn’t make sense that she’s turning humans away, but her mind is probably having a hard time separating it all.
“You should tell the therapist to talk to Ayla about a possible fear of vampires.”
Mrs. Moreno’s face goes pale and she does the sign of the cross, muttering to herself in Spanish. “Has Ayla seen a vampire?”
“I have to go,” I say, backing away. “But trust me, there’s something there.”
I go back and sit in the car for a while. Then I get out and go to the side of the house where I can knock on Ayla’s window. The curtains are drawn, so I can’t see in, but I know she’s got to be in there. I pull out my phone and text her.
Are you okay? We should talk.
I told you not to come back here, is her immediate reply. She knows I’m out here which is probably why she replied to me at all.
I have something to tell you. Please, at least come to the window.
A minute later the curtain moves and Ayla cracks the window. Not enough for me to go in or anything, but enough so we can talk. I jog over and study her through the reflective glass. Her hair is in a messy bun on the top of her head, her eyes are sunken, and she’s wearing oversized pajamas.
“Hey,” I keep my voice low and smooth. “Are you okay?”
“What did you want to tell me?” She folds her arms over her chest and lifts a messy eyebrow. It’s another reminder of how much my friend has changed. She’s hurting, sick, and I want to help her. I wish I knew how to rewind everything.
“I broke it off with Felix, but that’s not all I wanted to say.”
“Trouble in paradise? I could’ve told you he’s a player.” Her voice is annoyed.
“I broke it off because I don’t think it’s the best idea right now.”
“Oh, right now, huh? So you’re still going to hook up with my brother later on?”
I sigh heavily and grind my sandal into the grass. “Ugh, I don’t know, Ayla, that’s not what this is about.”
“Okay, fine, what else is so important that you had to disrespect my wishes by coming and knocking on my window? You already know how I feel. I don’t want you hunting, and you’re hunting. I don’t want you dating my brother, and you did it behind my back. What else is there to talk about?”
My eyes water. “You’re my best friend.”
“Not anymore.”
“What?” My voice cracks.
“Because I’ve changed.” Her eyes narrow. “People change and grow up and move on. You need to get over it.”
Despite everything I’ve gone through with my mom, this is the worst betrayal I’ve ever experienced. My heart squeezes, and the hot tears finally release, running down my cheeks. “I was going to say sorry and that I am here for you. I wanted to show you my apartment. I wanted––”
“Just go home.” Her voice is regretful. “I wish things were different, okay? But as long as you’re involved with hunting vampires, I can’t be your friend.”
“So you’re asking me to choose?”
“You already did.” And then she slams the window shut, the curtains sliding back into place. My heart shuts down equally hard.
I never thought this would happen. I completely took our friendship for granted. But I’m angry, too. Because this is Ayla’s choice, and she’s not even going to try. One scary experience with vampires and that’s it, she’s shut out anyone and anything she can that could possibly put her in danger again. I don’t blame her, but this extreme isn’t healthy. She’s locked herself in her room during the days now too. Vampires can’t go out in sunlight, so what does she think is going to happen?
And yet . . . my gut says something is off––that there’s more to the story. I want to help her fix the ending, but she won’t let me.
“Nobody knows what happened to Cameron?” Tate asks. We look around at each other, but nobody speaks up.
He’s called us in for an emergency meeting because it’s been so long since Cameron has disappeared. There isn’t room for everyone in his office, so we’re sitting on the gym mats in our teams. Each team consists of three to five people who were recruited together. We’re all young enough that our prefrontal cortexes haven’t fully developed, ranging in age from eighteen to twenty-four, and Cameron was getting near that cut off. Soon Tate would’ve been wiping his mind clear of any memories of his time with the hunters, except that’s impossible now that he’s dead.
I look around, really hoping that we’re all humans here. I blink a few times, concentrating, and the auras start to materialize. As far as I can tell, everyone has one. Everyone except for Leslie Tate, that is.
Someone in the back raises his hand. “I think I might know something,” he says with a regretful tone.
My heart riots against my ribcage, adrenaline racing through my limbs. I’m frozen, my breath trapped in my lungs. I feel as if everyone is staring at me, but I know they’re not. I wish I could debrief my team on everything that’s happened, but I don’t trust Tate anymore and they’re too close to him. What if he was able to get information out of them that I didn’t want him to know? I hate that Cameron’s death is something I’ve had to keep to myself.
“What do you know, Kevin?” Tate walks toward the guy, and once he passes us, I relax a little. I exchange worried glances with my team. Kenton reaches over to squeeze my hand. It’s completely platonic, we’ve become great friends, and I’m struck by how grateful I am for him. Nobody will ever replace Ayla, but it’s nice to know I have a friend like Kenton in my corner.
“I’ve only heard rumors.” Kevin stands up and addresses the room. “But apparently a hunter tried to attack vampires during one of their meetups. He killed one of them.” He swallows hard. “That’s the good news.”
“And the bad news?”
He doesn’t have to say it––everybody knows––but he does anyway. “They ripped him to pieces. By the time they were done with him, there wasn’t anything left.”
We’re all quiet. Nobody’s surprised. It’s part of the risks in doing what we’re doing, and nobody is stupid enough to come here thinking they’ll be the exception. We hope we’ll survive and assume we won’t. It’s the life of a vampire hunter.
“Thank you,” Tate says. He turns back to all of us. “This is why we do what we do. We have to defeat these monsters.”
But how? Honestly, how are we going to end them? They’re all over the planet. They’re everywhere. And they can turn more of us into them anytime they want. Sometimes this mission seems helpless.
“We’re going to take back our city,” Tate says, “we’ve been too soft, too slow, and too careful.”
Careful? Cameron is dead, and Tate’s telling us we’re being too careful.
“It’s time we get them in one swoop,” Tate continues. “There’s a meetup tomorrow at the Alabaster Heart with the entire coven. Every vampire in New Orleans will be there.”
His gaze locks us in. “And we’re going to pay them a visit. It’s time to end this coven and take back our city. Are you in?”
It’s a death wish. We can’t do this. We may be able to get some of them, but there’s no way we could get them all. And even if we did, the vampires from other cities would retaliate.
There’s no way to win.
“Our target is Adrianos Teresi. I’ll be emailing you all a breakdown on him. He’s the heart of the operation. We take him out first.”
Everyone stands up, and I follow. What else can I do? But my legs are shaking and Adrian’s face fills my mind.
“Who’s in?”
We cheer our agreement, but I know how foolish this is. We’re going to end up like Cameron, every last one of us.
Chapter 15
“We can’t go through with this,” I announce the second we’re back to Seth and Felix’s place. “It’s going to be a bloodbath.”
“It’d better be!” Kenton laughs. “This is what we’ve been waiting for. This is our chance.”
“I hardly think a few months of training is enough,” I scoff. I plop down on the couch and press my palms into my eyes, trying to think. “What benefit would Tate have to take Adrian out?”
“This isn’t just about your little vampire prince,” Felix interjects. It’s the first time he’s spoken to me directly since we broke up, not that we were really together for long. But he’s avoided me and it’s been awful. “Tate wants to clean up New Orleans.”
I shake my head. “This has more to do with the vampire royalty than it does our city.” I stand and begin to pace the little room. “Vampire princes have been turning up dead all over the world the last few weeks.”
“Good,” Felix mutters.
Are they even listening to me? “No, not good,” I retort. “It’s not what you think. If the royals fall, the vamp hierarchy collapses. And that means anarchy.”
“What are you saying?” Seth speaks up.
“I am saying that vampires will go back to killing humans for meals. They only follow all these rules about biting and feeding and making their children because the bloodlines are so strong and the queen makes the rules. If the princes die off and the queen is killed, everything they’ve created will fall apart and not in a good way.”
Everyone goes quiet for a while. “And why would Tate want anarchy?” Felix asks.
“I don’t know yet.” I swallow hard. I don’t want to say too much but I have to say enough to get them to understand. “And I know you guys trust him, but I promise you, that feeling is part of his abilities. We all know he’s not human, but has he ever told any of you what he is? Have you even asked?”
They stare at me blankly, their faces too relaxed. This is exactly the problem. Tate is powerful enough to get people to believe whatever he says. They know he’s different, but they don’t question him because he tells them not to. It’s only because of Hugo’s venom that I’m lucky enough to see through the lies. I never thought I would be grateful for that creepy vampire trying to turn me, but here we are.
“This is getting dangerous,” Felix says at last. “Maybe you should stay away.”
“Me? How about all of us?”
“No, you.”
“Oh, not this again. We already established that I’m part of this team.”
“Last I checked you’re probably invited to that coven meeting?”
I bite my lip and try not to scream. He’s missing the point, trying to make this about something that it’s not. “I honestly don’t know yet.”
“I think Felix has a point,” Kenton interjects. “I’m sorry, Eva, but think about it. What if the vampires catch you with us or vice versa? You could end up killed.”
I lean forward. “So what do you want me to do? Should I tell Adrian I’m out?”
“No,” Seth’s voice of reason cuts in, “I think you should be careful about being seen with hunters in public and skip the raid tomorrow. There’s got to be something you can learn from that sucker—something that can help us.”
I throw my hands up in the air. There shouldn’t be a raid tomorrow, but I’m talking in circles with these guys. It’s not their fault they’re so influenced by Tate, but I’m not about to let my closest friends, the only friends I have left, walk into that casino tomorrow to be slaughtered. So I get up to leave.
“Please, don’t go tomorrow. I promise, you won’t win. You will die and I can’t lose you.”
Nobody moves. I leave before they can see me cry. I hate crying. I’m not a crier, damn it.
Felix catches me by my car. He gives the car a frown but I get a sweet smile. “Why are you running off so fast?”
I don’t want to explain this to him, there’s no point. And the last thing I need is for any of this to get back to Tate. “I’ve got stuff to do,” is all I say.
