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Unravelled
Gena Showalter


Since coming to Crossroads, Oklahoma, former outcast Aden Stone has been living the good life. Never mind that one of his best friends is a werewolf, his girlfriend is a vampire princess who hungers for his blood, and he's supposed to be crowned Vampire King—while still a human! Well, kind of.With four—oops, three now—human souls living inside his head, Aden has always been "different" himself. These souls can time-travel, raise the dead, possess another's mind and, his least favorite these days, tell the future.The forecast for Aden? A knife through the heart. Because a war is brewing between the creatures of the dark, and Aden is somehow at the center of it all. But he isn't about to lie down and accept his destiny without a fight.Not when his new friends have his back, not when Victoria has risked her own future to be with him, and not when he has a reason to live for the first time in his life. . . .












About the Author


GENA SHOWALTER is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author whose teen novels have been featured on MTV and in Seventeen magazine and have been praised as “unputdownable.” Growing up, she always had her nose buried in a book. When it came time to buckle down and get a job, she knew writing was it for her. Gena lives in Oklahoma with her family and three slobbery English bulldogs. Become her friend on MySpace, or a fan on Facebook and visit her at GenaShowalter.com/young-adult.


Also available fromGena Showalter INTERTWINED Visit www.miraink.co.uk









UNRAVELLED

GENA SHOWALTER















www.miraink.co.uk (http://www.miraink.co.uk)




PROLOGUE


ADEN STONE THRASHED ON his bed, his sheets falling to the floor. Too hot. Sweat poured from him, causing his boxers, the only thing he wore, to stick to his thighs. Too much. His mind…oh, his poor, ravaged mind. So many flickering images tangled with consuming darkness, horrid chaos and brutal pain.

Couldn’t take…much more… He was human, yet scorching vampire blood now flowed through his veins. Powerful vampire blood that allowed him to see the world through the eyes of its donor, if only for a little while. That wouldn’t have been so terrible—he’d experienced it before—except he had ingested blood from two different sources the night before. Accidentally, of course, but that didn’t matter to his scrambled brain.

One source—his girlfriend, the Princess Victoria. The other, Dmitri, her dead fiancé. Or betrothed. Whatever.

Now their blood fought a vicious tug-of-war for his attention. A toxic back-and-forth. No big deal, right?

Over the years, he’d fought zombies, time-traveled and talked to ghosts; he should be able to laugh about a little ADD. Wrong! He felt as if he’d drunk a bottle of acid with a chaser of broken glass. One burned him while the other sliced him to pieces.

And now he was—

Switching focus again.

“Oh, Father,” he suddenly heard Victoria whisper.

He winced. She’d whispered, yeah, but, too loud. His ears were as sensitive as the rest of him.

Somehow, he found the strength to push through the pain and center his gaze. Big mistake. Too bright. The heavy gloom of Dmitri’s surroundings had given way to the sparkling colors of Victoria’s. Aden peered through her eyes now, unable to even blink on his own.

“You were the strongest man ever to live,” she continued in a solemn tone, and Aden felt as if he were the one speaking, his throat rubbed raw. “How could you have been defeated so quickly?” How could I not have known what was happening? she thought.

She, her bodyguard, Riley, and their friend Mary Ann had driven Aden home last night. Victoria had wanted to stay with him, but he’d sent her away. He hadn’t known how he would react to the two different types of blood inside him, and she’d needed to be with her people in their time of mourning. For a while, he’d tried to sleep, tossing and turning, his body recovering from the beat down it had given—and received. Then, about an hour ago, the tug-of-war had begun. Thank God Victoria had beat feet. What a freaking nightmare it would have been to see himself through her eyes, in his current pathetic condition, and know what she was thinking.

When Victoria thought of him, he wanted her stuck on the word invincible. Barring that, he’d make do with hot. Anything else, no thanks. Because he thought she was perfect, in every way.

Perfect and sweet and beautiful. And his. Her image filled his mind. She had long, dark hair that tumbled down her pale shoulders, blue eyes that glittered like crystals and lips that were cherry red. Kissable. Lickable.

He’d met her only a few weeks ago, though he felt as if he’d known her forever. Which, in a warped kind of way, he had. Well, at least for the last six months, thanks to a heads-up from one of the souls living in his head. Yeah, as if vampires and telepathic blood weren’t enough of an oddity, Aden shared his head with three other human souls. More than that, each soul possessed a supernatural ability.

Julian could raise the dead.

Caleb could possess other bodies.

And Elijah could predict the future.

Through Elijah, Aden had known he would encounter

Victoria before she’d ever arrived in Crossroads, Oklahoma. A place he’d once considered hell on earth, but now considered The Awesome, even though it was a total breeding ground for so-called mythical creatures. Witches, goblins, fairies—all enemies to Victoria—and of course, vampires. Oh, and werewolves, the vampire protectors.

And, okay. That was a lot of freaking creatures. But if one myth had been true, it kinda made sense that all myths would be.

“What am I going to do with—” Victoria began again, drawing his attention to the present.

He really wanted to hear her complete that sentence. Before she could utter another word, however, his focus switched. Again. Darkness suddenly enveloped him, consuming him, chasing away his connection to Victoria. Aden’s thrashing on his bed renewed, pain exploding through him just before he linked with the other vampire. Dmitri. Dead Dmitri.

Aden wanted to open his eyes, to see something, anything, but his lids were seemingly glued together. Through panting breaths, he smelled dirt and…smoke? Yes. Smoke. Thick and cloying, itching his throat. He coughed, and coughed, or was Dmitri coughing? Was Dmitri still alive? Or was the body only reacting because Aden’s thoughts sparked through their shared mind?

He tried to move Dmitri’s lips, to force words to emerge, to gain someone’s attention, but his lungs seized, rejecting the ashy air, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe at all.

“Burn him,” someone said coolly. “Let’s make sure the traitor stays dead.”

“My pleasure,” another replied, a gleeful edge to the tone.

In the darkness, Aden couldn’t see the speakers. Didn’t know if they were human or vampire. Didn’t know where he was or—the first man’s words finally sank in, consuming his thoughts. Burn…him…

No. No, no, no. Not while Aden was here. What if he felt every lick of flame?

No! he tried to scream. Again, no sound emerged.

Dmitri’s body was lifted. Aden felt as if he were suspended from a wire, head flopping back, limbs forgotten. Nearby, he heard the crackle of those dreaded flames. Heat wafted to him, swirling around him, enveloping him.

No! He tried to thrash, to fight, but the body remained motionless. No!

A moment later, contact. And oh, yes. He felt it. The first streams of fire flicked against his feet before catching…spreading. Agony. Agony unlike anything he’d ever known. Skin, melting. Muscles and bones, liquefying. Blood, disintegrating. Oh, God.

Still he tried to fight, to pull away and run, and still the lifeless body refused to obey. No! Help! Impossibly, the agony intensified…smoldering over him, eating him up bite by tasty bite. What would happen if he remained linked to Dmitri until the very end? What would happen if he—

Pinpricks of light winked through the darkness, bloomed and locked together, until he was once again seeing the world through Victoria’s eyes. Yet another switch. Thank God. He was panting, so drenched with sweat he was practically swimming, but despite the change, residual pain—far greater than the acid still swishing through his veins—slithered from his feet to his brain, and he wanted to shout.

He was—shaking, he realized. No, Victoria was shaking.

A soft, warm hand pressed against his—her—shoulder. She looked up, vision blurry from her tears. Moonlight glowed in the sky, he saw, and stars twinkled. A few night birds even flew overhead, calling to each other in…fear? Probably. They had to sense the danger below them.

Victoria lowered her gaze, and Aden studied the vampires surrounding her. Each was tall, pale, striking. Alive. Most were not the monsters storybooks painted them to be. They were simply detached, humans a food source they couldn’t afford to care about.

Vampires lived for centuries, after all, while humans withered and died. Exactly as Aden was soon to die.

Elijah had already predicted his death. The prediction sucked, yeah, but it was the method that sucked more: a sharp knife through his very necessary heart.

He’d always prayed the method would miraculously change. Until now. A knife through the heart beat burning to death inside a body that didn’t belong to him any day of the week. And when the hell was he going to catch a break, huh? No torture, no fighting creatures, no waiting around for the end, just flunking tests and kissing his girlfriend.

Aden forced himself to concentrate before he worked himself into a rage he couldn’t hope to assuage. The vampire mansion rose behind the crowd, shadowed and eerie, like a haunted house melded with a Roman cathedral. Victoria had told him the house had been here, in Oklahoma, for hundreds of years, and her people had “borrowed” it from its owner when they first arrived. He’d taken that to mean the former owner had supplied the vampires with a nice lunch buffet—of his organs.

“He was powerful, you’re right about that,” a girl who looked to be Victoria’s age said. She had hair the color of newly fallen snow, eyes like a meadow and the face of an angel. She wore a black robe that bared one pale shoulder, traditional vampire garb, but somehow she seemed…out of place. Maybe because she’d just popped a Juicy Fruit bubble.

“A great king,” another girl added, placing her hand on Victoria’s other side. Another blonde. This one had crystalline eyes like Victoria and the face of a fallen angel. Unlike the other girls, she wore a black leather half-top and black leather pants. Weapons were strapped to her waist, and barbed wire circled her wrists. And no, the wire wasn’t a tattoo. “Yes,” Victoria replied softly. Darling sisters. Sisters? He’d known Victoria had them, yeah, but he’d never met them. They’d been locked in their rooms during the Vampire Ball meant to celebrate Vlad the Impaler’s official awakening from his century-long slumber. Aden wondered if Victoria’s mother was here, too. Apparently, she’d been imprisoned in Romania for spilling vampire secrets to humans. Vlad’s orders. A real nice guy, that Vlad.

Aden was human, and he knew way more than he should. Some vampires—like Victoria—could teleport, traveling from one location to another with only a thought. And if word had already reached Romania that the vampire king was dead, mommy vamp could have arrived in Crossroads seconds later.

“He was a terrible father, though. Wasn’t he?” the first girl continued while chewing gum. The three shared a rueful half-smile. “He was indeed,” Victoria said. “Unbending, exacting. Brutal to his enemies—and sometimes to us. And yet, it’s so hard to say goodbye.”

She peered down at Vlad’s charred remains. He was the first human ever to change from human to vampire. Well, the first anyone knew about. His body was intact, though burned beyond recognition. A crown perched haphazardly atop his hairless head.

Several rings decorated his fingers, and a black velvet cloth draped his chest and legs.

His dead body still lay where Dmitri had dropped it. Was there some kind of protocol about moving a royal corpse? Or were his people still too shocked to touch him?

They’d lost him the very night they were to be reunited with him. Dmitri had burned the guy to death just before the ceremony and claimed the vampire throne as his own. Then Aden had killed him, which meant Aden was now supposed to lead the bloodsuckers. Aden, of all people, of all humans, which was honest to God craziness. He’d make a terrible king. Not that he wanted even to try.

He wanted Victoria. No more, no less.

“Despite our feelings, he’ll have a place of honor, even in death,” Victoria said. Her gaze swept past her sisters to the vampires still looming around them. “His funeral must be—”

“In a few months,” the second sister interrupted.

Victoria blinked once, twice, as if trying to jumpstart her thoughts. “Why?”

“He’s our king. He’s always been our king. More than that, he’s the strongest among us. What if he’s still alive under all that soot? We need to wait, watch him. Make sure.”

“No.” Aden felt the glide of Victoria’s hair on her shoulders as she shook her head violently. “That will merely offer everyone false hope.”

“A few months is too long a wait, yeah,” the greeneyed gum chewer said. Her name was Stephanie, if he was reading Victoria’s thoughts correctly. “But I do agree waiting a little while before burning him is smart. We’ll let everyone get used to the idea of a human king. So why don’t we compromise, huh? Let’s wait, oh, I don’t know, a month. We can keep him in the crypt below us.”

“First, the crypt is for our deceased humans. Second, even a month is too long,” Victoria gritted out. “If we must wait—” she paused until they nodded “—then let’s wait…half a month.” She’d wanted to say a day, maybe two, but had known the suggestion would be met with resistance. And this way, Aden would have time to acclimate to the idea of being king.

The other sister ran her tongue over her very sharp, very white teeth. “Very well. Agreed. We’ll wait fourteen days. And we will keep him in the crypt. He’ll be sealed inside, preventing any lingering rebels from hurting him further.”

Victoria sighed. “Yes. All right. You agreed to my stipulation, so I’ll agree to yours.”

“Wow. No one had to throw a punch to win the argument. The changing of the guard is working in our favor already.” Stephanie popped another bubble. “So, anyway, back to Daddy Dearest. He’s lucky, you know. He died here, so he gets to stay here. Had he kicked it in Romania, the rest of the family would have spit on his crypt.”

There was a beat of stunned silence before gasps of outrage flooded the congregation.

“What?” Stephanie splayed her arms, all innocence. “You know you’re thinking the same thing.”

Thank God Victoria wouldn’t be heading off to her homeland for the funeral. Aden wouldn’t have been able to travel with her since he lived at the D and M Ranch, a halfway house for “wayward” teens, aka unwanted delinquents, where his every action was monitored.

Everyone assumed he had schizophrenia because he talked to the souls trapped inside him, which had earned him a lifetime of institutions and medications. The ranch was the system’s final effort to save him, and if he blew that chance, he’d be carted away. Boom, done, goodbye. Hello, lifetime of confinement in a padded room.

He’d lose Victoria forever.

“Shut your mouth, Stephanie, before I do it for you. Vlad taught us to survive, and kept the humans unaware of us—for the most part. He made us a legend, a myth. He also taught our enemies to fear us. For that alone, he has my respect.” The blue-eyed sister—Lauren; her name was Lauren—tilted her head to the side, suddenly pensive. “Now. What are we going to do about the mortal while our fourteen-day reprieve is ticking away?”

“Victoria’s…Aden?” Stephanie’s brow wrinkled. “That’s his name, right? ”

“Haden Stone, known by his people as Aden, yes,” Victoria replied. “But I—”

“We’ll follow his rule,” a male voice said, cutting her off. “Because, and stop me if you’ve heard this one, he’s our ruler.” This came from Riley, a werewolf shape-shifter and Victoria’s most trusted guard, as he approached the half-circle the girls formed. He glared at Lauren. “If you don’t understand that, let me know and I’ll break out the hand puppets. He killed Dmitri, he calls the shots. End of story.”

Lauren scowled at him, her fangs sharper than before. “Watch how you speak to me, puppy. I’m a princess. You’re just the hired help.” More gasps reverberated.

Aden kept losing sight of the crowd, but they suddenly filled his line of vision as Victoria studied them, ready to leap into action if someone attacked her sister. Clearly they didn’t like that the wolf had been insulted. But then, neither did she. Wolves deserved respect—far more than what had been demanded even for Vlad. Wolves could—

Aden cursed as Victoria blanked her mind, forcing herself to concentrate on what was happening around her. Wolves were more important than vampires? he wondered. More important than vampire royalty?

Why?

Riley laughed with genuine humor. “Your jealousy is showing, Lore. I’d be careful if I were you.”

Lauren ignored him this time, swinging her crystal eyes back to Victoria and snapping, “Bring Aden here tomorrow night. Everyone will meet him.

Officially.”

And kill him before the fourteen days “ticked away? ”

“Yes.” Victoria nodded, but not by word or deed did she reveal her sudden trepidation. “All right. Tomorrow, you shall meet your new king. In the meantime, we shall mourn.”

The conversation ended, everyone properly chastised.

Victoria sighed and peered over at the body of her father. Which meant Aden peered over at her father. He considered the charred remains, speculating about what the king had looked like before. Tall and strong, surely. Had he possessed blue eyes like Victoria? Or green like Stephanie?

Vlad’s fingers curled into a fist.

Aden stilled, sure he’d just hallucinated. And he must have, he rationalized, because Victoria had not seemed to notice the earth-shattering event and he’d watched through her eyes. Vlad’s fingers uncurled.

Once again, Aden stilled, waiting, gauging, heart thumping against his ribs. He hadn’t imagined that. He couldn’t have imagined that because even as the thought formed, those fingers twitched as if trying to make another fist. Movement, true movement, and movement equaled life. Right?

Why hadn’t Victoria noticed? Why hadn’t anyone? Maybe they were too lost to their grief. Or maybe Vlad’s once-immortal body was simply expelling the last hints of his existence. Either way, Victoria needed to be told what he’d seen.

Victoria, Aden projected, desperate to gain her attention.

Nothing. No response.

Victoria!

She petted Vlad’s arm before rising, intending to instruct the biggest of the vampires to carry him inside for burial preparation. Obviously, she didn’t hear him.

And then it was too late. His world shifted, realigned, darkness closing in around him. No, not darkness. Light. So much light. Blue-white flames covered Dmitri’s entire body, and therefore Aden’s body. Scorching him, blistering what was left of him.

This time, Aden did scream.

He did thrash.

He also died.




ONE


MARY ANN GRAY STUDIED HERSELF in the full-length mirror in her bedroom. Makeup—light and unsmeared. Dark hair—not a tangle. Perhaps even, dare she think it? Silky. Clothes—an unwrinkled lacy T-shirt and clean skinny jeans. Shoes—hiking boots. She’d replaced the plain white laces with thick pink ones, giving them a feminine flair.

Okay, then. She was officially ready.

Breathing deeply, shaking a little, she gathered her books, stuffed them into her backpack, swung that pack over her shoulder and headed downstairs toward the kitchen. Where her dad was waiting. With breakfast she would be required to eat.

Her stomach churned in protest. She’d have to fakeeat because she doubted she would be able to keep a single bite down. She was simply too knotted with nerves.

From the living room, she heard pans clattering, water pounding into the sink and a man sighing in…defeat?

She stopped just before snaking the final corner and leaned her shoulder against the wall, losing herself to her thoughts. A few weeks ago, she and her dad had entered new territory. Ugly, deceitful territory. We’ll always be honest with each other, he used to tell her. All. The. Time. Of course, at the same time, he’d been feeding her lies about her birth mother. The woman who had raised her had not given birth to her, but had in fact been her aunt.

In truth, her real mother had possessed the ability to time-travel into younger versions of herself, yet he’d refused to believe her, had considered her unstable. She couldn’t prove otherwise, either, because she was dead and her spirit had moved on. Lost to Mary Ann forever.

God, the loss still hurt.

Mary Ann had gotten to spend one day with her. One amazing, wonderful day because Eve, her mother, had been one of the souls trapped inside her friend Aden’s head. Then, boom. Eve was gone.

Tears burned Mary Ann’s eyes as she remembered their parting, but she blinked them back. She couldn’t allow herself to cry. Her mascara would run, and then she’d look like a domestic abuse victim when Riley arrived to pick her up.

Riley.

My boyfriend. Yes, she’d think about him instead, looking forward to the future rather than wallowing in the past. Her lips even curled into a small smile as her heart raced uncontrollably. She hadn’t seen him since they’d attended the Vampire Ball together, when his king had been murdered and Aden had been named the new vampire sovereign. Not that Aden wanted the title—or the responsibilities that would surely come with it.

Sure, that had only happened on Saturday. But two days apart felt like forever when Riley was involved. She was used to seeing him every day at school, as well as every evening when he snuck into her room.

And, to be honest, she’d never liked anyone the way she liked him. Maybe because there was no one quite like Riley. He was intense and smart, sweet (to her) and protective. And sexy. All those muscles…honed from years of running as a werewolf shape-shifter and fighting as a vampire guardian. Both of which forged the many facets of his personality.

While acting as guardian, he was unemotional and distant (to everyone but her). He had to be, to do such a violent job. But as a werewolf, he was soft, warm and cuddly. I can’t wait to cuddle him again, she thought, her grin spreading.

“Are you going to stand out there all day?” her dad called.

She snapped to attention, grin fading. How had he known she was there? Just get the morning’s emotional bloodbath over with.

Raising her chin, she marched the rest of the way into the kitchen and settled at the table, dropping her backpack at her feet. Her dad set a plate of pancakes in front of her, the scent of blueberries and syrup suddenly coating the air. Her favorite. Her stomach had settled considerably as she’d thought about Riley, but even so, she didn’t think she could eat. Or rather, didn’t want to risk the possible consequences. Like vomiting in front of her brand-new boyfriend.

Her dad eased into the chair across from her. His blond hair was spiked around his head, as if he’d raked his fingers through it a few thousand times, and his usually bright blue eyes were dull, with dark circles underneath them. Lines of tension branched from his mouth, making him look as if he hadn’t slept in weeks. Maybe he hadn’t.

Despite everything, she hated seeing him like that. He loved her, she knew that. But that was what had made his betrayal sting so badly. And by “sting” she meant toss-her-into-a-meat-grinder-and-use-thepieces-as-fish-bait.

“Dad,” she said at the exact moment he said, “Mary Ann.”

They peered at each other for a moment, and then grinned. It was the first easy moment they’d shared in weeks, and it was…nice.

“You go first,” she told him. He was a doctor, a clinical psychologist, and he was tricky as hell. With only a few words, he could get her to spill her feelings without her realizing she’d even opened her stupid mouth. But she’d chance a spilling today because she had no idea how to kick things off.

He heaped a few pancakes onto his plate. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. For every lie. For everything. And that I did it to protect you.”

A good start. She followed his lead and filled her plate, then proceeded to push the food around, pretending to eat. “To protect me from…?”

“The stigma of thinking your own mother was unbalanced. The thought that you had somehow…that you had…”

“Killed her?” The words croaked from Mary Ann’s suddenly tight throat.

“Yes,” he whispered. “You didn’t, you know. It wasn’t your fault.”

Her real mother, Anne—known to Aden as Eve—had died giving birth to her. That happened sometimes, right? No reason for her father to blame her. But then, he didn’t know the whole truth. He didn’t know that Mary Ann muted paranormal abilities.

She had only just learned of it herself, and all she knew was that her mere presence prevented people—and creatures—from using their “gifts.”

If not for Aden, she never would have discovered even that. He was the biggest paranormal magnet of all time. (And if he wasn’t, he should be. �Cause anyone who was stronger—shudder.) Her mother had weakened each day of her pregnancy, little Mary Ann literally sucking the life right out of her. And then, at the moment of her birth, Anne/Eve had simply slipped away.

Right into Aden, Mary Ann thought with a sigh. Aden, who had been born on the same day, in the same hospital. Aden, who had also drawn three other human souls—ghosts—right into his head.

Only, Anne/Eve hadn’t remembered Mary Ann right away, her memories wiped when she’d entered Aden. Once they’d figured everything out, her mom had been granted the thing she’d wanted most in life, that which she’d been denied by her death. A single day with Mary Ann. And once her mom had gotten her wish, she’d vanished. Never to be seen or heard from again. Stomach…churning…again…

Her dad didn’t know any of that, either, and Mary Ann wasn’t going to tell him. He wouldn’t believe her. He would think she was as “unbalanced” as her real mom had been.

“Mary Ann?” her dad prompted. “Please. Tell me how you’re feeling. Tell me what you thought when I—”

The doorbell rang, saving him from finishing and her from having to form a reply. Heart dancing wildly, she popped to her feet. Riley. He was here. “I’ll get it,” she said in a rush.

“Mary Ann.”

But she was already racing from the kitchen to the front door. The moment that thick cherry wood swung open, Riley visible through the netted screen, her stomach calmed completely.

He smiled his bad boy smile, half wicked, half really wicked. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Yep. Sexy. He had dark hair and light green eyes. He was tall, with the body of a dedicated, can’tbe-sacked football player having an affair with weights. His shoulders were broad, his stomach roped. Tragically, she couldn’t see those mouth-watering ropes under his black T-shirt. His jeans bagged a little on his strong legs, and he wore boots caked with dirt.

Wait. Had she just given him a total body scan? Yep. Cheeks heating, she brought her gaze back to his face. Clearly, he was trying not to laugh. “Do you approve?” he asked. The heat intensified. “Yes. But I wasn’t done,” she added. He wasn’t beautiful in a male model kind of way, but he was ruggedly appealing, with a slightly crooked nose—probably from being broken so many times—and a strong jaw. And she had once kissed him, right on those gorgeous lips. When will we kiss again?

She was ready. More than ready. That was the most fun her tongue had ever had.

He opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it closed. Footsteps echoed behind her, and she turned. Her dad approached, her backpack dangling from his arm. She closed the distance between them, claimed the pack and stood on her tiptoes, kissing his cheek before she could talk herself out it.

“I’ll see you later, Dad. Thanks for breakfast.”

The tension in his face eased just a bit. “See you later, honey. I hope you have a wonderful day.”

“You, too.”

His gaze shifted to the boy still standing in the doorway. “Riley,” he acknowledged stiffly.

They’d met once, but only briefly. Her dad didn’t know it, but Riley was older than he was. By, like, a hundred years. As a shape-shifter, Riley aged slowly. Very, very slowly.

“Dr. Gray,” Riley returned, respectful as always.

“Mary Ann,” her dad said, attention returning to her. “You might want to take a jacket.”

It was the first of November and every day was a little colder than the last. But she said, “I’ll be fine.” Riley would keep her warm. “I promise.” Pleasantries done, Mary Ann returned to the door, pushed the screen open with her shoulder, and grabbed Riley’s warm, callused hand. She shivered. She loved touching him. As a human and a wolf.

As they walked, he confiscated her pack with his free hand.

“Thanks.”

“Not a problem.”

Morning was in full swing, though the sun was muted behind clouds and the sky a dark gray. Blackbirds were squawking continuously—they stayed in Crossroads all year round—and the air was cool and crisp. Still hand-in-hand, they bypassed the few houses surrounding hers.

Each house was shaped like a train station of yore, with posts, decks, colored wood and sloped two-story roofs. Once they’d passed the very last one, they approached a brick wall about half a mile ahead, a heavily populated forest directly behind it. The trees there were thick, their leaves now yellow and red.

Her dad assumed she and Riley took the long route to school, staying on well-traveled, paved roads. Not cutting through the forest. Her dad was wrong. Sometimes a girl needed to be alone with her boyfriend, with no prying eyes. Or ears. The walk to Crossroads High was one of those times.

“I can’t believe how much time has passed since I last saw you,” she said.

“I know. I’m sorry. Feels like eternity to me, too. I wanted to see you, believe me, but more vampires have been popping into the house in preparation for Vlad’s funeral.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, squeezing his hand. “About his death. I know you respected him.”

“Thank you. We have to wait fourteen days before we can hold the funeral—no, thirteen now, I guess. After that, Aden will be officially crowned king.”

“Why wait fourteen days for the funeral?” She did not want to imagine what the corpse would look like after lying around for two weeks.

Riley shrugged. “He was king. The people want to make sure he’s dead.”

“Wait. He could be alive? “

“No.”

“But you just said—”

“The people want to make sure he’s dead, I know, but they’re in shock, hopeful. Nothing like this has ever happened to them before.”

She could understand that. She’d been a mess after both her moms had died. “Aden will be happy to have a reprieve, at least. He’s not looking forward to being king, I don’t think.”

“Oh, he’s already king, no doubt about that. Not even Vlad could recover from such a severe burning.”

Again she found herself saying, “But you just said—”

“I know, I know. The thing is, alive or dead, Vlad isn’t ruling us and someone needs to rule us or there’ll be chaos, deserters and takeover attempts.”

With a human in charge, there’d probably be chaos, deserters and takeover attempts anyway.

“And everyone is…eager to meet Aden,” Riley went on, “to discover his plans for the clan.”

Eager. Yeah. Right. Sorry, Aden, she thought, suspecting he would balk when he heard. Looks like you’re gonna have to take one for the team.

“Now that the life and death issues are out of the way, you’ve gotta tell me. Are you okay?” Riley cast her a concerned glance. “After everything you witnessed.I’ve been worried.”

“I’m fine, I promise.” And she was. Yes, at the ball she’d seen humans reduced to nothing more than living plates of food by the bloodsuckers. Yes, she’d seen Aden fight and ultimately kill one of those bloodsuckers by burning him as he’d burned Vlad, and then stabbing him where he was most vulnerable: his eyes. And yes, those bloody images might haunt her for the rest of her life.

But she was alive, thanks to Aden and Riley, and everything else kinda stopped mattering when compared to that.

“So, are you okay?” she asked. He was a warrior and she had probably insulted him by even asking, but she needed to hear him say it.

“I am now,” he replied, and they shared a smile. A smile that melted her like ice cream in the sun.

Okay, so. Remind him of the rest of the “life and death issues” so you can concentrate on something else. Like cleaning Riley’s tonsils. “It’s probably a good thing nothing’s going to happen with the vampires for two weeks. We have a meeting with the witches to attend.

Or rather, Aden does.” Ugh. She hated even thinking about those witches. How powerful they were. How uncaring. How she would literally die if Aden didn’t make it to that meeting.

Several days ago, those witches had cast a spell over them. A freaking death spell. If, in the next five days, Aden failed to attend some sort of meeting with them, Mary Ann, Riley and Aden’s girlfriend Victoria would die.

That simple. And that complicated.

No one knew where the meeting was being held or even where the witches were staying. Which made it impossible to meet with them.

Maybe that had been their intention all along.

Stomach churning again…

And yet, the prospect hardly seemed real. They had cursed her with death if Aden failed to attend their meeting, yet Mary Ann felt fine. Healthy, whole, as if she had decades ahead of her rather than days.

Would her heart simply stop working? Or was she fooling herself? Would nothing actually happen, the spell just a joke? A means of terrifying her?

She’d spent all last night researching witches and spells and ways to break those spells. The information differed, depending on the source. The source she most believed, however, was Riley, and he said spells, once uttered, sparked to unbreakable life.

The muscles in Riley’s hand twitched, returning her drifting mind to the present. “Believe me, I haven’t forgotten the meeting.” His voice was toneless now.

Trying not to scare her? Too late. Even though the prospect didn’t seem real, she was still scared out of her mind. He believed in the witches’ power completely. Which meant he honestly believed everyone in their group would soon die.

“Any idea where that meeting will be held?” she asked, even though she knew the answer.

“Not yet, but I’m working on it.”

So frustrating! Not that she was frustrated with him, of course, but with the entire situation.

“It’ll be okay,” Riley said, as if sensing her growing upset. He probably did. He could read auras, and therefore emotions. “We’ll figure everything out. I promise. I would never let anything bad happen to you.”

She trusted him. She did. More than anyone else in her life. He never lied to her. He gave her the facts, straight up, unvarnished, no matter how harsh they were.

Finally they reached the wall, though they weren’t even close to the gate, and stopped. Without a word, Riley leapt to the top of the seven-foot structure, his graceful movements making the jump look seamless. Grinning, he leaned down and offered her a hand.

Even that, she had to use all of her strength to reach—and she probably looked like a spastic rabbit, hopping up and down as she stretched to connect with him. Yet the moment she clasped his fingers, he pulled her the rest of the way effortlessly.

“Thank you. For everything,” she said as she balanced on the ledge. “And not to change the subject, but do you think Tucker will be okay? ”

Tucker. Her former boyfriend. They’d rescued him from the Vampire Ball, where he’d been the night’s snack of choice.

Riley jumped to the ground on the other side. Again, the motion was seamless, the impact of landing barely registering. “He’ll survive. Unfortunately,” she thought she heard him add with a twinge of jealousy. “He’s part demon, remember?” He held up his arms, waiting for her. “Demons heal faster than humans.”

She’d done this so many times she didn’t hesitate; she, too, jumped. He caught her and settled her to her feet, letting her slide down his beautiful body, their gazes locked together. Her palms lifted and flattened on his chest. His heart was pounding. As was hers.

“Demon. As if I could forget.” That demon blood was the only reason Tucker had dated her. She’d calmed him, he’d confessed after their breakup. A breakup he had fought. Not because he loved her, but because he’d craved more of the calming, as if she were a sedative. Maybe she was.

Sometimes she wondered if that was why Riley was with her. Because she calmed him, too. He was a supernatural creature, after all, and her presence alone had to soothe the brutal, ferocious beast inside him.

If so, she would still want to be with him. She was already addicted to him, enjoyed his wildness. But she would still wish he wanted her for her, not for what she could do. Still. She could always content herself with the knowledge that she now soothed rather than drained, as she’d done to her own mother.

“You look sad,” Riley said, head tilting to the side as he studied her. “Why?”

Thoughts of her mother always brought melancholy, but that wasn’t the reason for the emotion he was sensing. “I’m.” What could she say? She didn’t want to lie to him, but she didn’t want to admit her fears, either. That the girl she was might not supersede the ability she possessed. She’d seem needy and her self-esteem low. Are you? Is it?

Without warning, Riley swung her to the left. She yelped as her entire world spun. Her back was suddenly pressed against a tree trunk, though she wasn’t jarred in the least. Strong hands had padded the collision, so much so she wouldn’t have known anything was behind her if not for her inability to move away. Not that she wanted to move away.

Riley pinned her completely in the next instant, caging her in, his hands at her temples.

“Are we under attack?” she managed to say. Had something—or someone—threatened them? Had—

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” he said, voice husky.

No threat, then. She melted. “Th-thank you.” Though she wasn’t sure she agreed. She could maybe be called “cute” on her best days. She just, well, she had a baby face. A little rounded, dimpled. Olive skin like her mother—the only attribute she did like—and light brown eyes. “So are you. Beautiful, I mean.”

“I am not.” Said with disgust, though his eyes were as bright as emeralds. “I’m manly.”

A laugh escaped her. “Manly. Definitely. I don’t know what I was thinking, calling you beautiful.” Exquisite was a better word for those rough features. “Forgive me? ”

“Always.” He leaned down, his nose at her throat, and sniffed. “Have I ever told you how good you smell? Like sugar cookies and vanilla.”

“That’s my lotion.” Was that breathless voice really hers?

“Well, your lotion is going to get you nibbled

on.”

That had been the plan. “Yeah?” “Oh, yeah.”

His head rose, but only slightly, and their noses touched at the tip. He was breathing heavily, and so was she, so every time she inhaled, she scented him. She might smell like cookies, but he smelled like the forest around them. Wild and earthy and necessary.

She cupped his nape, her other hand returning to rest just over his heart. The beat was faster now, so fast she couldn’t keep count. His heat enveloped her like a winter coat, keeping her toasty warm, just as she’d known he would.

“Riley?”

“Yes?” That single word was a low, rumbling growl.

“Why are you attracted to me?” Oh, God. Had she really gone there? And yep, she’d sounded needy.

“Fishing for compliments, darling? Well, I can play. I’m with you because you’re brave. Because you’re sweet. Because you care about your friends. Because every time I look at you, my heart beats out of control, as you can probably feel, and all I can think about is being with you longer.”

“Oh. That’s nice.” A silly reply, but she didn’t know what else to say. He’d just rocked her entire world. And now she wanted to rock his. “Kiss me.” Inch by inch, she closed the distance between their mouths.

“My pleasure.” And then their lips met.

Automatically she opened for him, letting his tongue thrust inside, and it was like being struck by lightning. Electrifying. So good. He tasted as good as he smelled, just as wild, just as earthy. Just as necessary.

His fingers slipped under the hem of her T-shirt and settled on her hips, branding the sensitive skin there. He urged her away from the tree and closer to his body, and she eagerly followed that urging. So good, she thought again.

This was their second kiss, and it was far better than the first. Which she wouldn’t have thought possible. That kiss had consumed her. This one lit her up and burned her all the way to her soul.

They stood like that, lost in each other, for several minutes, still tasting, hands wandering—though not daring too much—and utterly enjoying.

“I love kissing you,” he rasped.

“Me, too. I mean, I love kissing you. Not myself.”

His chuckle brushed her cheek with warm breath, and goose bumps broke out from there to her neck. “While we’re at school, I won’t be able to think about anything else. Just this. Just you.”

With a moan, she tugged him down for more. The tangle of their tongues excited her as nothing else ever had. The feel of him against her, so strong and sure, thrilled her. Other girls might look at him and crave him, but it was Mary Ann he turned to with desire in his eyes.

Yeah, but because he really wants you or because you calm his wolf? Stupid fear.

She stiffened, and Riley pulled away from her. He was panting, little beads of sweat on his brow. “What’s wrong?” he demanded. “Nothing.”

“I don’t believe you, but you’ll tell me the truth later, after the flames have died and I can think properly. Won’t you?”

He couldn’t think properly? She almost grinned. “Yes.” Maybe.

“And anyway, we needed to stop.”

The same words he’d uttered last time.

She was having trouble catching her breath or she would have sighed. “Yeah. I know.” Disappointing, but indisputable. “If we don’t, we’ll be late for school.”

“Or we won’t make it to school. At all.”

Plus, she didn’t want her first time to be out in the open. Not that she would tell him that.

They reluctantly parted and kicked into gear, heading toward Crossroads High. She couldn’t help herself. She reached up and traced her fingertips over her lips. They were swollen. Probably red. Definitely moist. Would everyone know what she and Riley had been doing with only a glance?

Twenty minutes later, not nearly long enough, they reached the edge of the woods and stepped onto school property, the massive building coming into view, forming a half-moon of three stories. In several places, the roof pointed toward the sky. Salmon-colored brick was decorated with multiple black and gold banners that read Go Jaguars.

The lawn was manicured, the grass slowly fading from green to yellow to off-white. Cars sped through the parking lot and kids rushed up the concrete steps, bypassing the flagpole without a glance.

In front of the closest set of doors stood Victoria. Alone. She was pacing, hands wringing together in agitation. She wore a black T-shirt and matching miniskirt, dark hair flowing down her back. A beam of sunlight bathed her as if drawn to her, causing the blue of her eyes to practically glow.

The younger the vampire, the more time they could spend in the sun, Mary Ann knew. The older they got, the more the sun burned and stung their skin. Surprisingly sensitive skin, since it was so thick and hard, like marble, that even a blade couldn’t cut through it.

Victoria was still at an age—eighty-one or something like that—where the sun didn’t bother her. Like wolves, vampires aged slowly.

For the first time, that thought upset her. Victoria and Riley would age at the same rate while Mary Ann would wither, becoming a hag. Oh, God. How mortifying! And now she wanted to slap the vampire girl around a bit, just on principle.

“Have you seen Aden?” Victoria asked the moment they reached her. Normally she was pale, but today she was chalk white.

“No,” Mary Ann and Riley said in unison. She recalled the last time she’d seen him. They’d snuck him into his room at the ranch and he’d flopped onto his bed. He’d been pale, shaking, sweating, breath shallow as he fought for every inhalation.

She’d thought he would rest, and rest would heal him. What if—

“Well, he wasn’t at the ranch this morning,” Victoria rushed on. “But he was supposed to be there so we could walk to school together.”

“Maybe he’s inside,” Riley said.

The vampire’s concern didn’t lessen. If anything, her hand-wringing became more insistent. “He isn’t. I checked. And the tardy bell will soon ring. You know he can’t be late. He’ll get into trouble, be kicked out, and you also know he’ll do anything to avoid being kicked out.”

“Maybe he’s sick,” Mary Ann said, not believing her own words. If that were the case, he would have been at the ranch, still in bed. And Victoria was right. Aden was never late to school. Not because he feared being sent away, but because he never missed an opportunity to spend time with his princess. He worshipped the

girl.

“I’ll hunt him down.” Riley glanced at Mary Ann before she could tell him she would be coming with him. “You’ll stay here with Victoria.”

“No, I—”

“I can move faster without you.” Embarrassing but true. “All right. Fine. Just be careful.”

“Riley,” Victoria began. “I—”

“You’ll stay, too,” he reiterated.

With the many creatures that now prowled the streets of their small town, he wouldn’t leave Mary Ann without a guard. His protectiveness was as fine a quality as the six-pack on his stomach.

Victoria nodded stiffly. “You’re my soldier, you know. You’re supposed to obey my orders.”

“I know, but it’s my king out there. Sorry to tell you this, babe, but he now comes first.” With a final glance at Mary Ann, Riley spun on his heel and strode away, soon disappearing into the trees.




TWO


ADEN AWOKE WITH A JOLT, a shout of pain caught in his throat, wild gaze cataloging his surroundings. Bedroom. Desk. Dresser. Plain white walls. Planked floor.

His bedroom in the bunkhouse at the ranch, then.

Alive. He was alive, not burned to a crisp. Thank God. But…

Was he intact? He patted himself down while looking himself over. Skin? Check. Smooth and warm, tanned rather than deep-fried. Two arms? Check. Two legs? Check. Most important—was he now a girl? No. Thank God, thank God, thank God. He expelled a sigh of relief, sagged against the mattress and took stock of everything else.

Sweat soaked him. His hair was plastered to his head, and his boxers looked like they’d…like he’d…His cheeks flushed with heat. If Shannon, his roommate, saw him like this, he’d be teased about having a wet dream. Albeit good-naturedly. That’s just what friends did. Still. No, thanks. He—

Saw the bottom of Shannon’s bunk, and his eyes widened. There were deep grooves in the wooden slats, as if he’d clawed and kicked at his friend’s bed. Repeatedly. He glanced at his fingernails, and sure enough. They were ragged and bloody, with wood shards embedded underneath them.

Great. What else had he done while crashing on vampire blood?

Worry about that later.

“Elijah? “ he asked. Time for roll call.

Present, the psychic said, knowing the drill.

One down. “Julian?” The corpse whisperer, as they called him. A single step into a cemetery, and hello, walking dead.

Here.

Sweet. Two down, one to go. “Caleb?” The body possesser. Yo.

Rock on. The gang was all here.

Once, Aden had wanted them gone. He loved them, but come on. A little privacy would be nice. But then he’d lost Eve. Her name might have been Anne in her real life, but she’d always be Eve to Aden.

He missed her, his motherly time-traveler. Missed her terribly. Now he wasn’t sure he could deal with losing the others. They were a part of him. His best friends. His constant companions. He needed them.

As always, that line of thought made him feel guilty. They deserved their freedom. Wanted their freedom. Maybe. Since Eve had left, they hadn’t asked him to figure out who they’d been before taking prime real estate in his head, as if they were afraid he would succeed and they, too, would have to leave and experience the unknown.

Where Eve had gone, none of them knew. They only knew that she’d disappeared and hadn’t returned.

So what’s going on? Julian asked.

What he means, Caleb said, is that our dreams were hot. And not the good kind of hot. We burned, dude. Burned.

And most of us normally don’t share your dreams, Julian added.

Well, Elijah did, but that was because Elijah was psychic and his visions were Aden’s. Tonight, last night, whenever, hadn’t been a vision, though. It had been real, a mind-merge, but now, pieces of his memory were missing. He remembered seeing Victoria, feeling those flames, then meeting her…sisters? Yes, her sisters. But nothing else stood out. The rest of what happened was blurred at the edges, as if his mind couldn’t process what it had seen. If that were true, though, why did he remember being burned alive? Why did they all remember that? Shouldn’t that be what they forgot? Something too painful to recall?

So? Julian prompted. An explanation would be nice.

“Vampire blood,” he reminded them. He couldn’t just think his replies because they couldn’t hear his inner voice amid the chaos. “We saw through two other sets of eyes.”

Oh, yeah. And speaking of vamps, Caleb said. Where’s ours?

Victoria, he meant. She’s mine, Aden wanted to snap, but didn’t. Caleb the Pervert couldn’t help himself. He lived for girls and “nookie” he might never get. “She’s supposed to meet us here and walk to school with us.” What time was it?

Before he could check the clock on his desk, his bedroom door swung open, and Seth and Ryder strode inside.

“—Shannon won’t mind,” Seth was saying. Seth Tsang. An Asian last name, though you couldn’t tell his race from looking at him. He’d streaked his black hair with red, and had blue eyes and pale skin.

Ryder Jones, who was behind him, arched a brow. He, too, had dark hair, but his eyes were brown. “You sure? You know how possessive that dude is with his

stuff.”

Aden grabbed the sheets and jerked them over his sweat-soaked lower body. “Hey, guys. Knock much?”

They ignored him.

“So what’re you looking for?” he grumbled.

Again they ignored him. In fact, they didn’t even glance in his direction.

“Just check the desk,” Seth told Ryder, and the boy shuffled forward to obey.

Aden frowned. Once, these two had hated him. Once, but no longer. They’d reached a truce after their Treat-Everyone-Like-Crap idol, Ozzie, had been kicked off the ranch—and, as of this weekend, sucked dry by vampires. Not that they knew that part. They were as clueless about the “other” world as he had once been.

So why the silent treatment now?

“Where is it?” Seth muttered, crouching in the closet and rummaging through the clothes on the floor, wrist turning and revealing the snake tattooed there.

“Where’s what?” Aden repeated, sitting up.

Yet again, they ignored him.

Shirts and jeans were tossed over Seth’s shoulder, followed by shoes. At the desk, papers crunched under Ryder’s hands. Several minutes passed. Aden kept up a steady chatter—“this joke isn’t funny, try something original, will you just talk to me already?”—to no avail. He finally stood, sheet falling away, forgotten, and stalked to the desk.

With every intention of beating some sense into Ryder, he reached out. Except his hand wisped through the boy’s body.

No way. No damn way.

Aden’s heart pounded against his ribs as he tried again, shaking this time. Again, his flesh wisped through Ryder’s and he could only stand there, wide-eyed and reeling. How was that possible? How the hell was that possible? He’d burned to death, yes, but in someone else’s body. He’d thought…He’d assumed…Was he dead, too? Truly, no-coming-back dead?

No. No way. But…Blood freezing in his veins, he stalked to Seth.

“Found it,” Seth said, standing. He held a book triumphantly in the air. A book about vampires. Any other time, Aden would have floundered over Shannon’s chosen reading material. “Shannon’s weird, dude. He’s always reading this crap. Saves us a trip to the library, but, frickin’ please. I’ve never written a report about wackos with fangs before and I don’t want to start now.”

“Mr. Thomas is the weird one, my man. We’re supposed to write about how evil the bloodsuckers are, like they’re real or something. I can’t take that crank seriously, you know. I’ll probably fail, but ask me if I care.”

His shaking intensifying, Aden tried to wrap his fingers around Seth’s wrist. Nothing. No solid contact. Bile burned a path up his throat. His arm thudded heavily to his side, and he stumbled backward, black winking over his eyes, dizziness rushing through his head.

The answer to his question? Dead. He was really dead. That was the only answer that made sense.

The boys raced from the room, mumbling about stupid new tutors and dumb homework assignments. Aden just stood there. Doomed to live the rest of eternity as a ghost?

God, was this how the souls felt? Trapped, out of control, lost?

“Guys,” he whispered, not knowing how to begin. If he was a ghost, he couldn’t help them figure out who they’d been in their other life. And if he couldn’t help them figure out who they’d been, they could never be free of him. If that’s what they still wanted. “I think—I—This is—”

“Hello, Aden.”

The male voice came from behind him, and he spun. There, in the doorway, was the D and M’s brand-new tutor. Not for him or Shannon since they attended Crossroads High, but for all the others. Mr. Thomas had shown up the day of the Vampire Ball, and Dan had hired him on sight. Which was completely unlike Aden’s guardian. No background check, no intensive interview, just, “You’re perfect!”

Even weirder, the boys acted like they’d known him forever, already comfortable complaining about him. Aden hadn’t met the man officially, but Victoria had secretly pointed him out. Mr. Thomas, as it turned out, was not a let’s-all-learn-and-grow kind of tutor. He was a fairy and Victoria’s enemy, here to find out who was helping her.

The man didn’t look like Aden’s idea of a fairy—small, female and winged. Instead, he was tall, lean, his skin golden and even a bit glittery (okay, that was fairylike). And never had Aden seen a more perfect face. There wasn’t a single flaw. Perfectly spaced blue eyes, a perfectly sloped nose, perfect lips neither too full nor too thin.

And it was embarrassing as hell that Aden had noticed. Anyone found out, and they’d take away his man card or something.

“You can see me?” He gulped. “Hear me?”

“Yes.”

“Am I…dead?” Saying the word was more difficult than thinking it. And how could the fairy see and hear what Seth and Ryder hadn’t been able to?

A chuckle rumbled from the fairy, almost like a thrum of a harp. “Hardly. You’re…somewhere else.”

He wished he could take comfort from that. “Somewhere else?” When everything looked the same? “Okay. Where am I? How’d I get here?” He plowed his fingers through his hair. “What’s going on? ”

Aden, Elijah said, and there was a warning in his tone. I have a bad feeling about this.

Dread instantly filled him. Elijah’s bad feelings were, well, bad.

“So many questions.” The man tsked. He waved to the chair at the desk. “Sit, please, and I will endeavor to answer you. After you answer me, of course.”

What should have been a simple request struck Aden as a threat. And with Elijah’s wariness, he suspected a fight would soon break out. He did a weapons check. He had nothing on him, but there were knives hidden in his boots. Boots he wasn’t wearing and might not be able to touch. Boots that were…tucked neatly beside the bed, he saw.

“Sit, Aden.” Two words, both layered with authority.

This time Aden sat. Without going for those blades. He didn’t want to play his (potential) ace unless absolutely necessary.

Blood will run before this meeting ends, Elijah said.

Ours? Caleb asked with annoyance and a hint of fear. �Cause I like ours and don’t want to give up a single drop.

“My name is Mr. Thomas,” the man said before Elijah could respond, walking forward and stopping only a few feet away from Aden’s chair. He anchored his hands behind his back and braced his legs apart. A war stance.

Aden knew it well. He’d stood that way many times—just before launching himself at the person threatening him. Concentrate. The plain, ordinary name didn’t fit the man’s smooth features in any way, and had to be an alias. If it wasn’t, Aden would plant a big, fat wet one right on his lips.

“You want answers,” he said, wondering, About what? “Then you’ll have to tell me what I want to know. First. How are we here but not here? How am I alive but invisible?”

There were several beats of heavy silence. At first he thought Thomas meant to strike him for using his own tactics against him. With every second that passed, fury grew in those blue eyes. Fury and indignation.

Finally, though, the fairy said, “Your people would call this place another dimension, though it is the true realm of the Fae.” Despite his expression, his words were calmly stated.

Fae had to mean fairy. And another…dimension? Was that even possible? As soon as the question hit him, he wanted to roll his eyes at his own stupidity. After everything he’d seen and done recently, anything was possible. “So, just to clarify, I’m not dead?”

“This constant need for reassurance is tiresome, so listen carefully, because I will not repeat myself again. You are very much alive. But you are in another dimension, therefore humans cannot see or hear you.”

If Thomas was to be believed, Aden wasn’t a ghost. He could return to Victoria, to his friends. “And you brought me here?” A croak.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Another tension-laden pause stretched between them. Clearly, getting answers was going to be like pulling teeth.

“Because,” Thomas finally said on a sigh, “I had met all the students—but you.”

There at the end, the fury had returned to the man’s eyes, this time blended with disgust.

Oh, yes. Blood will run, Elijah said on a trembling breath.

“From a knife?” Please, please don’t say from a knife. Don’t know, was the reply. Can only see the river of red.

“What do you mean, from a knife?” Thomas demanded.

He must not know of Aden’s reputation as the boy who always talked to “himself.” “Sorry. I wasn’t speaking to you.”

“Then to whom were you speaking? ”

A question he’d been asked a thousand times by a thousand different people.

Maybe we should. Run, I mean, Caleb said, all his bravado gone. Before we bleed.

I’m with Caleb. It’s not like we know how to fight a fairy.

Caleb suddenly snickered, amusement momentarily obliterating distress. Fight a fairy. Do you hear yourself, Jules?

“Quiet, please,” Aden snapped, and Thomas hissed in a breath.

“Do not speak to me like that, little boy.”

Rather than explain, Aden rubbed his temple to ward off the coming ache. “There was no reason for you to meet me. You won’t be tutoring me.” He couldn’t run, as Caleb had suggested. Where would he go? Plus, he wasn’t anxious. Yet. He still had those blades. Maybe.

“No.” Thomas started forward, one step, two, then paused, thoughtful. “But I will be killing you.”

Okay. Now he was anxious. Aden leapt to his feet. If Thomas issued another threat or made another move toward him, he’d dive-bomb the boots. And if he couldn’t clasp the blades inside them, he’d run like hell, despite his lack of direction.

“Do not even think of bolting, Haden Stone.”

“No one calls me that.” Not since he’d inadvertently butchered his own name as a kid and called himself Aden, and everyone else had followed suit. “I killed the last guy who did. True story.”

Far from intimidated, Thomas barked, “Sit. I answered your questions. You will now answer mine.”

Uh, that would be a big, fat no. He wasn’t waiting around for the second death threat, he decided. The fairy’s anger level had just jacked up a notch. “Sure thing.” Aden faked left, Thomas following him, and then spun right, ducking around the tutor and swiping at the boots. His hand ghosted through the leather.

He cursed under his breath as he sprinted for the door, not allowing himself to wallow in disappointment or fear. Only, some kind of invisible wall blocked him. He slammed into it hard and fast, the shock of impact reverberating through him and tossing him backward. Thomas was in front of him a second later, pushing him the rest of the way down and stomping one of his boots on Aden’s neck.

Instinctively, Aden wrapped his hands around the man’s ankle and shoved. The foot remained planted.

Bright blue eyes peered down at him, and if they’d been guns, Aden would have been blown to bits. “Several weeks ago, an electric shock split through my world, creating a doorway into yours. A doorway we cannot close. The source of that shock has been traced to this ranch. And now to you. I feel the energy wafting from you even now, tugging at me, drawing me. Even increasing my power.” The last was said in a drugged whisper. A needy whisper.

Increasing his power? Then why would he want to

kill Aden?

Aden tried to form a reply, but the only sound that left him was a gasp for air. He continued to struggle, clawing at the man’s leg, shoving. Breathe, need to breathe…

He couldn’t die here. In this…dimension? He just couldn’t. No one would know what had happened to him. Not really. They’d just assume Crazy Aden had relapsed and split.

Suffocation doesn’t cause bloodshed, Elijah said. Stay calm. This isn’t the way you’re going to pass on. You know that.

Kick his ass! Caleb shouted. Kick it good, Julian agreed.

They needed Eve, their voice of reason. But some of what Elijah had said did penetrate his fog of panic. Suffocation wasn’t the predicted end for him. Thomas was simply trying to scare him.

“We had hoped to keep you alive, to use you to finally close that doorway,” Thomas continued. “And yet, what do I find when I walk into your room to introduce myself? The stink of vampire. Our greatest enemy, the race that once tried to slaughter us.”

“I’m sure…they had…good reason.”

A muscle ticked in the fairy’s jaw. “Tell me, Haden Stone. Are you aiding them? Planning to lead them into this dimension to attack us?”

And just how was Aden supposed to lead the vampires here when he had no idea how he’d gotten here in the first place? “Can’t…speak…anymore.”

The pressure eased on his neck. “There’s no reason for you to answer my questions. I know the truth. You are aiding them, and that is why you must die.”

Aden kept his hands on Thomas’s ankle, taking a moment to catch his breath and making a production out of gasping as he stealthily searched the room for some sort of weapon he could actually use.

All he discovered was his own determination. Over the years, he’d fought too many corpses to count, their poison working through his body, weakening him, sickening him. Yet still he’d won. Every time. He would not let a fairy defeat him.

Use your hands, Elijah prompted. Unbalance him.

Aden curled his fingers under Thomas’s boot and jerked with every ounce of strength he possessed, upsetting the big guy’s center of gravity and finally sending him tumbling down. Aden was standing a moment later, assuming the same this-is-war pose the fairy had adopted earlier.

“That was not wise, boy.”

Though he’d never seen Thomas move from the floor, the voice came from behind him. Directly behind him. Warm breath trekked over the back of his neck, making him cringe. Slowly Aden turned, knowing a sudden movement would cause the fairy to strike. They faced off. Aden was tall for his age, just over six feet, yet Thomas towered over him.

“I do not like to see humans suffer, and would have ended you painlessly. But…” An eerie smile lifted the man’s lips. “I told you not to fight me. You disobeyed. Now I will show no mercy.”

Blood, Elijah gasped.

This was it, then. The big one.

“Bring it,” Aden said.

Suddenly the room’s only window shattered and a giant black blur flew inside. That blur—Riley in wolf form, Aden realized—landed, green eyes glowing, lips pulled back and sharp white teeth bared. A furious growl echoed from the walls.

Get back, Aden.

A command from Riley, whispered straight into his mind, blending with the others, yet still Aden heard it. “You can see me?” he asked, even knowing the wolf was too distracted to reply. If so, could Riley see Thomas? Could Thomas see Riley?

“Mistake, wolf,” Thomas said, turning to face Riley. There was enough menace in his expression to kill.

Apparently the answer to both of Aden’s questions was the same. Hells yes.

Without any more warning, the two leapt at each other, meeting in the middle of the room in a tangle of claws, biting teeth, odd bright lights and shimmering blades that appeared out of nowhere.

No question about this. As Elijah had said, blood would flow.

This match would be to the death.




THREE


Yep. True to Elijah’s prediction, true to Aden’s suspicions, blood ran.

Riley chomped at Thomas’s neck, and his sharp claws swiped at the man’s chest. The scent of burning cotton and flesh filled the air, smoke rising from Thomas’s shirt. Screams followed as a shaking Thomas grabbed thick hunks of the wolf’s fur and tossed him hard and fast. The animal flew into Aden, who in turn flew into the wall.

Plaster cracked and paint chips sprayed. Air was knocked from Aden’s suddenly deflated lungs.

Riley was up an instant later, again leaping for the fairy; the two twisted together as they fell. When the wolf’s nails next slashed, the scent of burning flesh intensified and blood sprayed. A few drops hit Aden in the face, and they were oddly chilled, like ice shards. When the fairy’s blades moved at lightning speed, Riley’s blood sprayed. Hot, like prickles of flame.

Help him, Julian cried.

This is why I’m a lover, not a fighter, Caleb, whose bravery had returned now that a wolf was taking the beating for them, said.

Breathing should have been impossible, but Aden managed to drag in a few mouthfuls of air as he lumbered to his feet. Dizziness hammered at him, and he swayed. “Elijah?”

Of course, the psychic knew what he was silently asking. How could he help? He had no weapons, and couldn’t leave the room to get to any.

I don’t know, Elijah said, agonized.

“Will Riley win, then?” He spoke quietly, not wanting to distract the wolf and cause his defeat.

I don’t know, the psychic repeated in that same agonized tone. I see the blood, washing through this home, bathing everything and everyone.

So much? And from this fight? Or something worse?

Over and over Thomas tossed Riley aside, and over and over Riley returned, a catapult of wrath and teeth. For some reason, he’d stopped using his claws. Furniture was smashed to pieces and more walls were ruined, including the invisible one, allowing the combatants out of the room and into the hallway. The fight then moved to another bedroom, the door smashed into puzzle pieces that would never fit back together. Aden followed. Somewhere along the way, Thomas lost his grip on his knives and dropped them. Aden tried to pick them up and insert himself into the action—multiple times—but the blades he couldn’t touch eventually vanished and the fairy and the wolf moved so quickly, they would appear in another location before he even realized he’d missed.

And why were they able to destroy the walls, doors and furniture, but nothing else?

The boys who lived at the D and M Ranch—Seth, Ryder, RJ, Terry and Brian—were in the entrance hall, each with a book in hand. Some were reading, some were pretending to read. None noticed the vicious fight unfolding around them.

Not even when their chairs were seemingly overturned and shattered. They just sat there. On air. Riley and Thomas ghosted through them, imperceptible, unfelt, unheard. Blood splattered over the boys, too, but again, they didn’t notice. Perhaps couldn’t even see it.

So freaking odd, all of it. Thomas had open wounds that were bleeding profusely, and yet he seemed stronger than ever. Riley, on the other hand, seemed weaker, his jumps slowing down, his snarls becoming slurred, and yet his wounds had already closed, healed.

What was weakening him?

Aden noticed that Thomas only punched to unhinge Riley’s jaw from whatever body part the wolf had decide to munch on. Then Thomas would tilt his head back and practically offer his neck to the wolf, rather than allow the animal to bite down on his hands. Why?

And rather than immediately batting Riley away, Thomas would flatten his palms on the beast for several seconds, allowing the wolf to do whatever he wished. That was stupid. That was—necessary?

Were Thomas’s hands somehow able to weaken Riley? That would explain Thomas’s determination to keep his hands free. That would also explain his lack of concern over his own injuries. What did a few cuts matter when your opponent would soon be too feeble to fight you off?

“What can I…do?” This time Aden’s whispered question trailed off. He knew. The answer had already slapped him, cold, hard. Stinging.

You know, Elijah said, and if he’d sounded agonized before, he sounded pulverized now. Clearly, he had realized the answer, too.

What? Julian asked. What are we going to do?

Aden gulped. “Caleb. You’re up.”

I’m u…p—oh, hell, no!

He hadn’t needed to explain. By requesting Caleb’s aid, they all knew what he now planned. They were going to possess Thomas’s body.

No. No, there has to be another way. If he’d had a body of his own, Julian would have been shaking his head and backing away.

“Sorry, guys.” This had to be done. For Riley. Hell, for himself.

The pain, Julian moaned. We’ve endured enough. This will wipe us out.

This is the only way, Elijah said. The fairy has to perish.

“We’ve been through worse.” Like burning alive. Nothing could be worse than that, he was sure. “And if I’m going to kiss Victoria again, I’ve got to save her bodyguard.”

Hate to be the harbinger of bad news, but Aden’s right, Caleb said, suddenly leaping on board the Plan Save The Day bandwagon. He’d do anything for another kiss. We’ll survive this. Even if Thomas doesn’t. That’s all that matters.

Aden focused on the two opponents. Riley lay on the floor, several feet away from Thomas, but inching forward as best he could, still determined to win. Having just been tossed like a rag doll, Thomas brushed big chunks of plaster from his chest and stood. His shirt was in shreds, his skin flayed, yet that skin was finally weaving back together, as if he’d somehow absorbed the wolf’s ability to heal.

Thomas smiled smugly as he approached the wolf and crouched down. “Tell your princess not to send a boy to do a man’s work. Oh, wait. As you won’t be leaving this room, you won’t be telling her anything.”

Riley’s eyes were glittering green fire and hatefilled.

The fairy sighed. “I admire your courage, wolf. Therefore, you will not die dishonorably. Know that I am not a mere Fae servant, but a prince. Indestructible. The moment you entered my realm, you were destined to die. But there is no shame in your death. You should see this as the favor it is.”

A favor? Hardly.

Echoing Aden’s sentiments, Riley growled.

Frowning, Thomas reached out. “Again, I admire your courage. A shame you serve the vampires. Would you, perchance, be interested in switching allegiances?”

Another growl. A clear no.

“Well, then, I am sorry for this, but it must be done. I’ll be swift, wolf.”

What are you waiting for? Whether the question came from himself or the souls, Aden didn’t know. Riley was his friend, for the most part, and he couldn’t allow a friend to be hurt. No matter the pain involved.

Just before fairy palm met wolf fur, Aden—who had obviously been forgotten—sprinted forward. He didn’t stop when he reached the fairy. He stopped only when he was inside the fairy.

One touch of skin against skin, and thanks to Caleb, he could meld his body with someone else’s. Morphing from solid mass to insubstantial mist was painful, as Julian had said, not to mention maddening, terrible and shocking. But he did it. He bonded to Thomas, a shout of agony ripping from his throat.

The voice he heard, however, was not his own. This one was deeper, huskier. Thomas’s.

Panting, sheened by a cold sweat, Aden fell to his knees. There were sharp lances working through him, and he wanted to pound at his chest, tear at his skin, anything to stop them. Each of his bones was like a blade against his muscles, cutting. Worse, this pain was only the beginning.

Thomas screamed inside his head. What are you doing? How did you do that? Release me!

Usually Aden could block the person’s thoughts. Could take them over so completely, they never knew what had happened. But creatures of myth and legend, he was coming to learn, were quite different from humans. They knew. And they hated.

“Riley,” he said in that deep voice. “This is Aden. I’m inside the fairy. I have control of his body.”

Green eyes pierced him, searching for signs of truth.

Aden could feel the power surging through him. So much power. Riley’s power, too, as if the fairy had not only weakened the wolf, but had drawn his energy inside his own body. Animalistic, wild pulses warmed the chill in his blood. They sang in his mind, more beautiful than a chorus of angels, drugging him.

This could be addicting. Once more, he couldn’t tell who spoke, him or the souls. Maybe all of them at once. Part of him wanted to remain inside the fairy’s body forever, losing himself in that warmth and power, forgetting what had to be done.

Act quickly, Elijah demanded suddenly. Or you will never leave him.

He would leave. In just a little while. What would a few more minutes hurt? That music…so peaceful…

The sooner you leave, the sooner we’ll be able to see Victoria, Caleb added.

Victoria. Yes. Being with her was even better than this, he thought, at last focusing on the task at hand. “Riley. Tell me what you need me to do so that you can defeat Thomas.”

The wolf studied him, then nodded as if he were satisfied Aden had truly possessed the body.

“Tell me, and I’ll do it. Whatever it is.”

A moment passed. The wolf frowned, snarled. Waited. Whatever reaction he wanted from Aden, he didn’t get. In the end, he hobbled to his feet and tripped his way to the nearest closet, disappearing inside.

“Riley,” Aden called. He knew the wolf wouldn’t abandon him here, but he had no idea what was going on.

Was Aden supposed to follow him? There was a bright light, several grunts, then the rustle of clothing. Just as Aden was stepping forward, Riley emerged in a pair of jeans. No T-shirt, no shoes, just those ill-fitting jeans that couldn’t be snapped.

How had he touched the cloth? Wouldn’t his hand have ghosted through the material like Aden’s had?

Riley’s normally suntanned skin was now pale, the blue veins underneath visible. His cheeks were hollowed out and his eyes slightly sunken and bruised. There were a few cuts on his chest, as if his ability to heal in a snap had abandoned him.

“Fairies can’t hear werewolf thoughts.” Even his voice was fragile. “That must mean you can’t either while you’re in there, because I was telling you what to do but you gave no reaction.”

So. He’d expected a reaction. Because bad news had been delivered? “Tell me again.”

Do not aid him, Thomas roared inside his head. He is the enemy. His masters will destroy your world and all the humans who populate it. Do you hear me? Kill him!

Aden tuned him out as best he could.

“I need to plunge a blade through his heart,” Riley announced.

No! The protest came from Thomas and Aden simultaneously.

Fabulous. From Caleb. Dear God. From Julian. Blood. From Elijah.

“Is there another way?” Aden managed to ask past the lump in his throat. “A way to leave him here, prevent him from causing any more harm? ”

“No. There’s no other way. He’s a fairy. Like all his kind, he has the ability to borrow strength from immortals, temporarily possessing their abilities. More than that, he’s a prince. If he lives, he’ll raise his army and come after us.”

“I don’t like the thought of killing him.” Even though Elijah, too, had said it was the only way. “He protects humans.” Victoria had told him. Still. Had he not known, he would have realized the truth the moment he’d stepped inside the fairy’s body. The knowledge was there, swimming through his mind with the same potency as the warmth. Humans were like children. Irresponsible, feral children, but loved by the Fae nonetheless.

“He’ll kill you if given another chance,” Riley said.

“I know.” That knowledge was there, too. “But I don’t care.” He could take care of himself. He hoped.

“He’ll kill Victoria,” Riley added coolly.

Low blow. The wolf knew Aden would do anything to protect her. His hands clenched, and his eyes closed. His heart pounded in a staccato rhythm as he condemned another creature to death. “All right. God. Let’s do it.”

“Are you sure?”

Sure he wanted to take a knife through the heart?

No. “Yes.” He wondered if he would die with the fairy the same way he’d died with Dmitri. If so, would he come back to life?

Yes, you will die, but yes, you will come back, Elijah said, calming him. Still. You’ll wish you’d stayed dead. You’ll feel the stabbing as if it was your own.

Okay. Bye-bye calm. Here was the pain he’d feared before possessing the prince. He’d known Thomas would have to be injured and subdued in some violent way. Stabbing, though.

For Victoria.

“All right, then,” Riley said, resolved.

Aden opened his eyes and nodded. “I’m ready.”

Riley returned the nod, and unsheathed a blade from his back pocket. A blade that belonged to Aden.

Do not do this! Thomas commanded.

“You didn’t arrive with that,” Aden said to distract himself from the sharp, deadly weapon soon to be embedded in his chest.

“While I was in the closet, I slipped back into the human dimension and gathered what I needed.” Riley shrugged those wide shoulders. “Then I slipped back.”

“That easily? ”

“That easily.” All of Riley’s nonchalance and confidence faded as he lumbered forward, paused and frowned. “You won’t be harmed when I do this?”

“No. I’ve been assured I’ll live.” For the most part.

“My king—”

“Don’t call me that,” he snapped, and Thomas gasped in shock. King?

Again, Aden ignored him.

“If there were any other way…” Riley continued.

“I know.” He was surprised by how sad he suddenly was that hatred and intolerance had brought them to this point.

For several minutes, neither of them moved or spoke.

“Maybe you should lie down for this,” Riley said, shaky now.

“All right.” Aden studied his surroundings. The fight had ended inside RJ’s bedroom. The bunk bed had been toppled, but one of the mattresses was on the ground. Aden forced the prince’s body to stride over to it and lie down. By the time he stilled, he was shaking worse than Riley.

What was a stabbing compared to being burned alive? He could do this.

You’ll regret this, the prince snarled.

“If you would just promise not to harm Victoria.”

Riley had already closed the distance between them and now blinked at him, clearly offended. “I would never harm her.”

“Not you. The prince.”

That, I can never promise. Your Victoria—oh, yes, I

know her very well—she is a spawn of Vlad, and her sister Lauren was to be my brother’s bride. A peace offering, a uniting of the races. Only, Lauren killed him before the ceremony and admitted she had never meant to wed him. Spat with enough acid to burn. Should I live, Victoria will die. A sibling for a sibling. My vengeance will not be denied. At least the fairy hadn’t lied. “Even at the cost of your own life?” Aden demanded, and this time Riley ignored him, knowing he conversed with the prince.

Hear me well. I’ve already killed three members of her family. The rest will follow.

“Three?” he gritted out. “That’s not a sibling for a sibling, is it? Who did you kill? ” Cousins. Not nearly enough of a sting. I want them all. The entire royal family.

“Then you are a murderer and you have brought this on yourself.”

I am a murderer? What are you?

Hesitant, Riley raised the knife. “Ready?”






She is vampire, Thomas said, cutting him off. You are a human. All you’ll ever be to her is a blood-slave, addicted to her bite. And still you kill for her?

Flickers of fury ignited in his chest. He was more than Victoria’s blood-slave. He wouldn’t believe otherwise. “Yes. For her, I’ll do anything.”

For my brother, I will do anything. You might kill me, but you’ll never break me. And Haden? Somehow I’ll make you pay for this, even from the grave.

“Ready?” Riley repeated then. Determination radiated from him, but that determination was waning. “I want to get this done before I change my mind.”

Deep breath in, hold, hold, slowly release. Aden was tense, which would cause more pain, but that wasn’t going to change the final outcome.

“Ready?” Riley repeated a third time. Sweat dripped from his hand.

“Ready.” He could do this. He would not chicken out. “Do it. Do it now!”

“I’m sorry.” The blade fell, a blur. Plunged deep. Cutting through bone, muscle and into the vital organ. Burning, stinging…destroying. Aden screamed, loud and long, and his voice soon broke from the strain.

The heart, though, continued to beat. At first. Each pump slid the knife deeper, cut worse, burned more. Blood flowed from the wound, soaking his chest, the mattress. Droplets even bubbled up into his throat, choking him, before rising into his mouth and spilling out, warming his cheeks.

Rivers, Elijah said, as if in a trance. Flow.

Caleb, Julian and Thomas were howling. They weren’t feeling Aden’s agony, he knew from experience, and he was glad to spare them that. But they were feeling the residual effects of his mental anguish.

Calm down, he told himself. For them.

But the pain never eased. Not when it felt as if every drop of life had poured from him. Not when his limbs chilled, so heavy he could no longer lift them. Aden could have abandoned the body at any time, but he wanted to spare Thomas every bit of pain he could. Besides, he had to know. For his peace of mind, he had to know when it was over. He had to know what he would one day have to bear himself.

A few moments later, Aden died for the second time that day.




FOUR


A few minutes earlier Crossroads High

MARY ANN PLOPPED HER TRAY on the lunch table and settled across from the too-beautiful Victoria, who had just sat down herself. Shannon, Aden’s friend from the D and M, was beside her, a gorgeous black boy with green eyes that reminded her of Riley’s. Once, she’d even thought he was the wolf dogging her every step.

Beside Mary Ann was Penny Parks, her stunning best friend and next-door neighbor whose platinum hair, blue eyes that were prettier than sapphires and pale, freckled skin had fueled the wet dreams of many Crossroads High students.

A (regular) girl could get a complex, surrounded by all that perfection.

Victoria focused her own baby blues on Shannon. “Question. Did you see Aden this morning?”

Shannon had just taken a big bite of his pizza. He chewed as he shook his head, then swallowed. “He was gone before I woke up.”

“But you saw him last night?” Mary Ann asked.

Another nod.

So where was he? What was he doing? She sighed.

“So. What’s your deal?” Penny suddenly asked Victoria, changing the subject. “You don’t even pretend to eat. Or drink, for that matter. Are you anorexic? Is that how you stay so skinny? ”

“Penny,” Mary Ann said, slack-jawed. Loosely translated: Rude!

“What?” her friend asked, all innocence. “I’m curious. Ask any teacher here. Curiosity is for the learning-inclined.”

Victoria glanced between them. “American food is…unappetizing.” Another translation: Because it wasn’t blood. “I prefer to eat at home.”

“I dig.” Penny nodded, clearly buying the misdirection. “Where’re you from, anyway?”

“Romania.”

“Spooky. Your accent isn’t thick, though. Lots of traveling? One parent from someplace else?”

Victoria nodded, noncommittal.

Blithely Penny continued. “So why’d you move to Oklahoma, of all places? Isn’t that, like, hickville to someone like you? ”

“Enough with the inquisition,” Mary Ann said on a sigh. Victoria had only attended the school for a few weeks, but the vampire had held herself aloof from everyone except Aden, Mary Ann and Riley all that time because she hadn’t known how long she would be here or what her father, Vlad, would order her to do. And really, she considered humans a food source, not a playground of friendliness. Though Mary Ann liked to think the vampire was softening because of Aden.

Aden. Where are you? Had Riley found him already?

Riley. Hurry up! Every minute he was away, her worry for him increased. And for Aden, of course. With that dumb death curse hanging over their heads…oh, God. She hadn’t needed the reminder on top of everything else. Couldn’t…breathe…

She’d been on edge all day. She’d been distracted, too, and had no idea what her first three classes had even covered.

Victoria’s gaze met hers, and they shared a moment of silent communication.

Entertain me, Mary Ann mouthed.

I can’t. You entertain me, Victoria mouthed back.

This sucks.

I know. And not the good kind. A joke. The first she’d ever heard Victoria tell, though she doubted Victoria realized the humor of her statement. Mary Ann’s lips twitched into a grin. Entertainment achieved. Intended or not.

“When will this day end?” an exasperated Victoria asked everyone at the table.

“Not soon enough,” Penny muttered.

Why was she muttering now? She’d seemed so carefree only a minute ago.

“I—I—like it here,” Shannon said, stuttering slightly. He’d admitted to being teased about that stutter his entire life, but it was getting less pronounced every day. “You know how r-rare it is to meet someone who accepts you for who you are? ”

Now she did. Now that she knew she merely calmed people with otherworldly powers, and they weren’t actually charmed by her. But whatever. Riley liked her for herself. Oh, the things he’d said to her this morning. Pretty. Brave. Caring. She’d be getting high off those compliments for weeks.

She moved her gaze through the room. Kids shuffled all around them, either running to get in a line—tacos and pizza slices were on today’s menu—or trying to find their friends in the vast bench-filled cavern that was the cafeteria. Plain white walls circled them, livened up (or marred, depending on your perspective) by the occasional poster proclaiming school spirit. The noise level was high today and suddenly scraped at Mary Ann’s nerves.

“Hey, Penny. Wanna come to my house later?” a jock asked as he strutted past their table. The boys around him chuckled. “We can study anatomy.” Penny’s cheeks reddened.

“Jackass,” Mary Ann shouted, her hands fisting. Some of the conversations around her tapered to quiet, and many sets of eyes pinned her in place. Cussing was unlike her, but the word had just sprung from her, unstoppable.

Penny was pregnant. With Mary Ann’s ex-boyfriend’s baby. That had been hard to get over, since the two had cheated on her. And really, she was still dealing with lingering feelings of hurt and distrust, but she loved Penny and was working on forgiveness. Still. That didn’t make her friend a slut, nor did it mean these boys had a right to tease her.

The jocks stopped, facing Mary Ann as one. A frowning Shane Weston stepped to the front, big and strong and clearly angry. “You better shut your mouth, Gray. Tucker isn’t here to protect you anymore.”

Mary Ann opened her mouth to reply, but no words emerged. Coward! Say something. Anything. She remained still, silent. She’d never been any good at confrontation, and now, when she needed the courage Riley had praised, she found none. Shame filled her.

“That’s what I thought,” Shane said with a laugh. “G-get the h-hell out of here,” Shannon suddenly growled.

“What? Are we making you angry, and we won’t like you when you’re angry? Whatever, Stutter.” Laughing again, Shane and his gang wandered off.

“Shall I kill him for you? “ Victoria asked without any inflection in her tone.

“Yes,” Penny snapped as Mary Ann rushed out, “No.” Penny had no idea that Victoria really would do it. Her fangs were hidden right now, but she could drain Shane Weston dry in seconds.

Victoria shrugged. “If you change your mind…”

“We need to change Mary Ann’s mind. I’m all for jockicide.” Penny pushed to her feet as if she hadn’t a care, but hurt lingered in her eyes. “Anyway, I’ve got a paper due next hour, and I haven’t even started it.”

“N-need help?” Shannon asked, standing before she could answer.

He meant to protect her, Mary Ann realized, in case anyone else insulted her. That brought tears to her eyes, because dang it, she missed her own protector.

Penny blinked in surprise, but strode around the table and linked their arms. “Sure. You any good with

Sylvia Plath?” “No.”

“Excellent. You can help me make everything

up.”

They laughed as they walked off, Penny throwing a smile and finger-wave over her shoulder at Mary Ann.

Alone at last.

Mary Ann propped her elbows on the table and leaned toward Victoria. “We’ve got to work on your…humanness.” Was that even a word?

The vampire furrowed her brow. “What do you mean? ”

“You can’t just go around offering to kill people. That’ll get you into all kinds of trouble.”

She raised her chin, and Mary Ann caught a glimpse of her stubborn core. “I welcome trouble.”

“Fine. But Aden doesn’t,” Mary Ann reminded her.

Gradually, Victoria’s chin fell. “You’re right.” She pushed out another sigh. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m the right girl for him. If perhaps…” she twirled her fingertip over the tabletop, tracing some sort of design “you wouldn’t be better suited for him.”

“Are you kidding?” One, Victoria might have phrased the words like a suggestion, but there had been fury in her tone. And two, Mary Ann adored Aden, but she didn’t crave him the way she craved Riley. “That boy worships you.”

Some of the tension left Victoria’s shoulders. “Yes, but sometimes, when we’re all together, you’ll laugh and he’ll watch you, and there will be such…longing on his face. When that happens, I want to rip out your trachea. Sorry, but it’s true.”

Okay. She’d been close to dying before the curse, and had had no idea. Perfect. “I can tell you for sure that he doesn’t like me as a girlfriend. Aden and I…we will only ever be friends. Our different—” She looked around, making sure no one was listening. Everyone seemed to be going about their day, eating and talking, unconcerned about her and her conversation. “Our different abilities make us want to run from each other most of the time. It’s a miracle we’re even friends. Besides, can you imagine wanting to kiss the guy who housed your mom?”

Victoria shook her head, but still didn’t appear completely convinced.

“Maybe that longing shows up because he wants to make you laugh like that. Let’s face it, I’ve known you for weeks and I’ve seen you smile once. Maybe. You might have been grimacing.”

Now Victoria blinked over at her. “Are you saying I’m…depressing?”

“Will you want to rip out my trachea if I am? ”

Crystalline eyes narrowed. “Maybe, but I won’t allow myself the luxury.”

“Thank you. Then, yes. I am. Just…lighten up, maybe. Tell a joke every now and then. Aden’s had a lot of seriousness in his life, you know? A lot of bad. Now he needs good.”

What? You’re a doctor now? Well, she had always wanted to help people.

“I…I—Well, I hate that the boys think it’s okay to leave us behind.” Clearly, the subject of humor was closed. “They treat us like we’re damsels in distress.” Like Mary Ann, Victoria propped her elbows on the table. She rested her chin in her upraised hand.

Mary Ann didn’t know if the girl would take her advice or not. Time would tell. “I agree,” she replied, allowing the change of topic without comment. “And it’s irritating.” But you are a damsel in distress, and that’s the real reason you find it irritating. Proof: she hadn’t punched Shane in the nose like he’d deserved.

Disgusted with herself, Mary Ann pushed her tray aside, even the scent of the pepperoni pizza suddenly hurting her stomach. She should be starving by now, she mused. First she’d skipped breakfast, and now lunch. But she’d been unable to think about taking a bite without wanting to barf.

“I mean, I understand that I can do a lot of good here,” Victoria continued, unaware of her inner turmoil. “I can protect you, of course. And I’ve convinced all of Aden’s teachers that he’s here today so that he won’t get into trouble and be kicked out of the ranch.”

Victoria could make anyone do or believe anything she wished with only her voice. Mary Ann secretly called the ability “Voice Voodoo” and nearly peed her pants in fear every time she thought about it. Stripping in public just because a vampire told her to? Yeah, it could happen. That, and a lot worse. Thank God they were on the same side.

The litany of her skills persisted. “I’m also a trained fighter. More than that, I can’t be hurt. I’m an indestructible vampire, for God’s sake.”

Mary Ann didn’t bother to point out that her father—an indestructible vampire—had just been killed. Or that her former fiancé—an indestructible vampire—had soon followed Vlad the Impaler to the grave.

“First, you don’t need to protect me. I’m not helpless,” Mary Ann said, her irritation clear. Didn’t you just admit to yourself that you are, in fact, a damsel in distress? And isn’t a damsel in distress, what? Helpless. “There’s no need for you to play babysitter.”

Victoria uttered a dejected sigh. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m new to interacting with humans. You have always been my food source, nothing more. Or rather, my delicate, easily destroyed food source.” Her lips twitched there at the end.

A grin? Now?

Victoria was attempting to joke with her, just as Mary Ann had instructed, but Mary Ann’s shoulders slumped in nervousness rather than amusement. Here was yet another reminder of the death and destruction that could be waiting around the corner. A vampire could drain a human in seconds. A werewolf could rip human skin into shreds. But.

Maybe there was a way to fight them.

The stray thought had her tilting her head, considering her options. She didn’t want to fight Victoria or Riley, of course, but she did need to learn how to defend herself. Then maybe they’d see her as more a help than a hindrance.

“What if—” she began at the exact same time as Victoria said, “Riley told us—”

Mary Ann laughed. “You first.”

“I was saying that Riley told us to stay here, but that doesn’t mean we have to obey him. I mean, he and Aden might need us. And if we save them, they’ll have to thank us for coming to their rescue.”

Slowly Mary Ann smiled. “True. Where would we go, though? How would we find them? ”

“I would—” Victoria stiffened, frowned, then blinked. “Did you hear that?”

Listening, Mary Ann glanced around the cafeteria. Same kids, same inane chatter. “Hear what?”

“That scream.” The vampire massaged her throat with one of her hands. “So much pain…I’ve never heard anything like it.” She jumped up, her chair skidding backward. “And I think…I think it belonged to Aden.”

Mary Ann was on her feet in the next instant, as well, heart hammering, blood chilling. Something hot and hard banded around her wrist, and then a strong breeze was ruffling her hair. Her feet lost their solid foundation, and suddenly she was floating, flying. She yelped in shock.

The kids, the tables, even the walls around her vanished. In a snap, thick tree trunks and orange-gold leaves took their place. Sunlight gleamed from the gray sky, murky, yet still too bright for her startled eyes.

An unruffled Victoria stood beside her.

“What just happened?” Mary Ann rasped. And why did she feel like she was going to fall over and vomit? Black spots replaced the light as her stomach churned mercilessly.

“I teleported us to the forest. I can only travel short distances, so we’ll need to do this several more times before we can reach the ranch.”

Wait. They’d just teleported? Out of school? “Did anyone…see us?” God. Now she couldn’t breathe, the air freezing in her nose before reaching her lungs.

“I’m not sure. We’ll find out tomorrow.”

Great, she thought, swaying with her sudden lightheadedness. “A little…warning next time. Okay?” She hunched over, sweat pouring from her, even though that winter storm was raging inside her veins.

“Mary Ann?”

“Yes?”

“Here’s your warning.”

Once again a hot brand circled her wrist. Once again the ground disappeared from beneath her. Once again she was floating, flying, wind ripping through her, splitting her into thousands of pieces, then fitting her back together again in an instant.

This time when she focused, she realized they were in a neighborhood. Small, kind of rundown houses surrounded her. Those pesky blackbirds were squawking and flying in every direction, as if something had startled them. Next to her was a street—with a car driving past. The driver rubbernecked, trying to look at them as long as possible. Had he seen them appear out of nowhere?

He’ll think he made a mistake. Don’t worry about that now. “Don’t…just…rest…” Words—form properly, damn it!

Another cuss word. Excellent. At this rate, she’d soon sound like every other kid at school.

No time to mourn that development, however. The black spots were expanding in front of her eyes, thickening, some of the circles now touching. The snowstorm inside her raged out of control, becoming a blizzard, and she shivered. Ice. Her new most-hated thing.

“Just a little farther,” Victoria said. There was no sympathy in her tone, only worry. “Okay? Yes?”

For Aden. For Riley. Mary Ann could do this. She straightened. Nodded.

Victoria wasted no time. Hot brand, ground gone. Mighty wind. Unwanted chill. Mary Ann in pieces—pieces that could be lost forever. What if she didn’t fit back together the right way? What if she—God, she really was a liability. She really was the weak link of their circle. She couldn’t even handle being teleported.

That will change. I’ll learn to fight, no matter what’s required of me, she told herself as she solidified in…she looked around, only fragments of her surroundings registering past the ever-growing black. A train track, too-tall grass that was yellow, brittle. A snake slithered and hissed over the rusted iron. Shouldn’t it be hibernating?

“Mary Ann?”

She knew what Victoria was asking. Was she ready to go again? “Just…do it,” she said. “Finish this.” Brand. Wind. Chill. Ground. Stop. Brand. Wind. Chill. Ground. Stop. “We’re here.”

Finally. Mary Ann’s knees gave out and she collapsed, sucking in as many breaths as she could. Which wasn’t many. Dizzy, so dizzy. Air too thick, still too cold. Only one thought made any sense at the moment: teleporting sucked.

“The ranch is just ahead. When you’re able, stand and walk. Yes? I am going inside now.”

Victoria didn’t wait for her reply—not that she was in any shape to deliver one—but bolted away, a blur of motion. Fight. Fight this! If she didn’t, and Riley was inside, he would come after her, wanting to help her. He would see her like this. He would view her as weaker than he already did.

A minute passed. Maybe an hour. But finally, Mary Ann clawed her way from the darkness, her head clearing enough that she was able to stand, the air thinning enough that she was able to breathe. Her knees knocked together, but she didn’t let that stop her from tripping forward. She had yet to warm, so every step was like pushing her legs through sludge.

Finally, she reached the ranch’s bunkhouse, where Aden stayed, a log cabin-type structure next to a bright red barn. She found his window, saw that the glass was pushed up, out of the way. Inside she climbed, just kind of throwing her body through. She plopped unceremoniously to the floor.

“Mary Ann!”

Riley’s deep voice penetrated the lingering fog in her mind.

Relief and dread, that’s what she experienced. If he said anything about her presence or current condition, she’d…what? Nothing, probably. Coward.

Not for much longer.

“I was just coming for you, baby. Are you okay?” His strong arms wound around her and gently tugged her to her feet.

“I’m fine. You can let go.” Don’t let go. “Where’s Aden? How’s Aden?” Her lashes lifted, and her gaze met Riley’s. As always, her heart constricted. He was just so beautiful. So much a warrior. But right now, despite that, he looked like death walking. He was shirtless and covered in dried blood. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Come. See for yourself.”




FIVE


MARY ANN EXPECTED TRAGEDY. Death, even. She was braced for the emotional impact, whatever chose to flood her—grief, remorse, sorrow. A combination of all three. What she saw surprised her, and it was happiness and relief that flooded her.

Aden’s room was neat. Clean. The papers on the desk were tidy, and the air was wonderfully sweet, smelling of roses and honeysuckle. Aden lay on the bed, buried under the covers. He was a little paler than normal, with dark circles under his closed eyes, his black hair—with its blond roots—in tangles and matted to his scalp. His body was shaking, but otherwise appeared healthy and whole. She flattened a hand over her thumping heart and grinned.

And yet, Victoria sat beside him, patting his hand, tears streaming down her face. Why the tears? He was alive.

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Mary Ann said, burrowing deeper into Riley’s side.

“He reeks of Fae.” Victoria shimmied under the covers and curled herself around Aden. “My poor baby,” she cooed. “You’re so cold. Like ice. Let me warm you.”

Aden, asleep or not, must have recognized his girlfriend, because he turned toward her, slid his arms around her waist and held on tight. Gradually, his shivering ceased.

“What’s wrong with smelling like the Fae?” Mary Ann asked. All she smelled was the roses and honeysuckle. And it was good. She inhaled deeply, savoring, wanting a bottle of the scent to take home and bathe in.

In fact, when she closed her eyes, she could imagine herself twirling in a meadow, thickets of roses stretching toward her, a rainbow of soft, fragrant petals. Warm air. Birds singing. Hazy blue sky, fluffy white clouds. The images calmed her, and her stomach settled completely for the first time that day.

“The stink lingers, and our people will never follow him like this. They will rebel. They will demand a new leader. But to gain one, they will have to kill him.” Tears fell from Victoria’s eyes again. “And he’s supposed to appear before them. Tonight!”

The last was a screech.

“That’s not the worst of it,” Riley said gravely. “I haven’t told you how he came to be in this condition.”

Mary Ann’s eyelids cracked open, the field and colors fading away. So. Weird. For a second, she would have sworn she’d truly been in that meadow.

Riley said something in a language Mary Ann didn’t know, and Victoria paled. “Mr. Thomas to the humans,” he finished in English.

“Who?” Mary Ann asked. “And what did you say? Before?”

“I spoke the name of the Fae prince who dragged Aden into Fairy Tale,” Riley said. “The human tongue cannot pronounce fairy names, and so they use shortened versions while here. Anyway, he once swore a blood oath to destroy every member of Victoria’s family for their part in his brother’s death.”

“Aden is now part of the royal family,” Victoria gasped out.

“As you can see, he’s fine, for the most part, but…there was a fight,” Riley continued. “I was losing. Aden possessed his body, allowing me to kill the—to win.”

Wait. Fairy…tale? “Fairy Tale is…”

“A dimension that coexists next to ours, as well as looking into ours. Meaning, while they’re there, they can see us, yet we can’t see them. Which is why they have all developed God complexes, and consider themselves masters and protectors of this world.”

Another dimension? Seriously?

Why are you surprised? Mary Ann was coming to learn that every creature she’d once thought belonged solely to, well, fairy tales, actually existed. They coexisted secretly. Or not so secretly now.

Victoria looked up at Riley, expression as grave as his tone had been. “Where is the prince now?”

“Still in Fairy Tale. Aden can raise the dead, and I didn’t want a fairy prince zombie on the loose, so I whisked Aden here as fast as I could. There’s a lot of cleanup needed, though, and I have to do it before another fairy discovers the remains—” His gaze skittered to Mary Ann. “I mean, uh, never mind. I just need to take off for a few minutes.”

She knew he feared her reaction to the violence of his nature, to the things he’d done—and would one day do. She also knew war would erupt if “the remains” were found. More than it already had.

So, there was no contest. Whatever he needed to do to survive, she wanted him to do. She released him. “Go on, then. We’ll take care of Aden while you’re gone.”

He’d gone rigid, waiting for her response, and now relaxed. “Thank you.”

After a swift, hard kiss, a whispered, “Be careful,” Riley was striding into the closet, soon gone from view. There was a murmur of falling clothing, then…nothing. Frowning, Mary Ann walked over and peeked inside. He was gone. Vanished. Reeling, she made her way to the only chair in the room and plopped down. Her feet sighed in pleasure, even as her mind continued to whirl.

Was Riley now in Fairy Tale? Was there a doorway in the closet? If so…talk about weird!

“He’ll be okay, right?” she asked Victoria.

The vampire was focused completely on Aden, brushing her fingertips over his face and kissing the line of his jaw. The opal ring she always wore glinted in the light, as if rainbow shards were trapped inside. “Yes. He’ll have to rip open a doorway, which is why he moved out of sight, and then he’ll—”

The bedroom door suddenly swung open. A boy stepped inside, one Mary Ann had never met. He stopped when he spotted Victoria in bed with Aden and Mary Ann sitting at the desk. His eyes narrowed, his mind clearly assessing the situation. He possessed the same dangerous edge as Riley, as if he’d done things—difficult, dangerous things.

“First, how come Aden gets all the hot chicks?” he said, his voice rough. “And second, who are you and what the hell are you doing here?”

Uh-oh. Caught. Aden was supposed to be at school. If Dan, his warden, found out he was ditching, he could be kicked off the ranch. Second, no girls were allowed here. If Dan found out about her, Aden would be kicked off the ranch.

So, either way, he was screwed.

Victoria sat up, her gaze never leaving the newcomer.

“You will leave this empty room and shut the door behind you. You saw no one.” Power wafted from her voice, so much power Mary Ann had to rub her arms to remind herself that she was not on the receiving end of that command. “You will not return today.”

“Empty. Leave. Will not return.” The boy nodded, his eyes glazed. He turned and shut the door behind him.

With barely a pause, Victoria refocused on Aden, as did Mary Ann. He appeared more relaxed, his color higher, the bruises fading.

“He’s healing,” she said, her relief palpable.

“Yes,” the vampire replied without looking at her. Despite the progress, the worry must not have left her.

She needed a distraction. “I’m a power neutralizer,” Mary Ann said. “So how can you use your Voice Voo—uh, command while I’m here?”

“You do not stop Riley from shifting, do you?”

“No.”

“Because the ability is natural, part of who he is. The same is true with me. Most of my powers are natural, what I was born to do. Like teleporting. You didn’t stop me from doing that, either.”

Too bad about the teleporting. And most of her powers? As in many. How many weird things could she do? And also, what wasn’t natural? Not that Mary Ann would ask. She and Victoria were friendly, for the most part, but the boys were the glue that held them together. Not affection. Not yet. Perhaps that would come in time.

“What a terrible week this has turned out to be,” Victoria muttered. “My father killed, a witch death curse unleashed and Aden injured by the Fae.”

The witches. Ugh. How could she have forgotten, even for a second? “Have you ever been summoned to a witches meeting before?”

“No. Usually, the witches and the vampires avoid each other. They are…well, their blood is our greatest addiction.” Her eyes closed, and she licked her lips, as if she were imagining drinking from one. “The taste is…I can’t even describe it. There’s nothing like it, and one sip can enslave us.”

Great. Neither of them knew what to expect, then.

“We’ve always maintained distance from each other, and have an unspoken pact. We do not use them for sustenance, and they do not bespell us. Until lately.”

“So you’re uncomfortable around witches.”

“I suppose.”

“And you’re also at war with the Fae.”

“Yes.”

“And you hate goblins.” “Anyone with sense does.”

Were vampires allied with anyone? Well, besides werewolves, their trusted protectors.

Maybe you joined the wrong team.

The stray thought hit her, and she blinked. Wrong! She’d joined the right team. She’d joined Riley’s team. How dare her mind consider anything else.

Are you seriously angry with your own brain?

She hated that cynical inner voice. Besides, what other team would she have joined? The witches? Yeah, that would have been nice. Wasn’t like they could curse her every time she angered them.

Oh. Wait. They could.

But, God, if she could just talk to a witch. Ask a few questions, figure this thing out. How, though? It wasn’t like the witches were wearing signs around their necks announcing what they were, or popping up at school or this ranch and asking if there was anything they could do for her.

But Victoria and Riley could spot them at a glance. What if they went into town—where most of the creatures were congregating, trying to figure out how they’d been summoned to Crossroads and not yet realizing Aden was the source—and kidnapped a witch?

Her eyes widened. Of course. Kidnap a witch, ask questions, get answers and boom. Success. Death curse reversed.

She could have danced.

Of course, she’d never kidnapped anyone and had no idea how to go about it. But she’d figure something out.

Who are you?

The old Mary Ann never would have considered such a risky plan. This was a new world, however, and she had to adapt. Or die. She wasn’t ready to die.

“Let’s backtrack to the witches… “ After she outlined her plan to Victoria, the vampire glanced over at her for the first time since she’d entered the room and nodded thoughtfully.

“Excellent.”

She beamed.

“I had not thought you so mercenary, Mary Ann.”

Slowly her “beam” dimmed. “What do you mean? ”

“Only that I approve of your plan. Kidnap and torture for information. And after the meeting, we can even bargain for our captive’s release. If the witches vow never to curse us again, she lives.”

And if they refused to offer such a vow? Mary Ann’s stomach hollowed. No way would she commit murder. And torture? No! In her mind, she kind of expected the witch to offer answers in exchange for freedom. Easy, done. Just like that. Clearly, Victoria thought differently. And that she could resort to brutality so easily and without a hint of remorse…

First, you didn’t mind Riley acting all He-mannish. Second,

Victoria’s a vampire, remember? Raised by one of the most vicious men in history. So for eighty years, and by her own admission, Victoria had viewed humans as food, nothing more, nothing less. Life had no true value to her. Besides, witches weren’t human, Mary Ann didn’t think, but they were a source of irritation to the vampire. Irritations were probably to be snuffed out immediately. Painfully.

That’s what Vlad the Impaler had most likely done, and that’s what Victoria assumed she needed to do. Someone would have to teach her otherwise.

So. New task to add to Mary Ann’s ever-growing list. Teach Victoria to respect other species. Hopefully, Riley wouldn’t need the lesson, as well. If he did, however, she would give it to him. There would be no killing unless absolutely necessary.

Unless absolutely necessary? Who are you? she wondered again. And just how was she supposed to teach a vampire and werewolf anything when they were far older than she was and had a lifetime of experiences she couldn’t even imagine?

“When is he going to wake up?” Victoria suddenly asked.

Mary Ann pulled herself from her thoughts. “When his body is ready, I suppose. Rest is healing.”

“I wish…I wish I could turn him into a vampire. Then his skin would be indestructible.”

She really needed to eliminate that word from her vocabulary. Vampire skin could be burned by je la nune; at least, that’s what she thought Aden had called it. He’d also said je la nune was fire dipped in acid then wrapped in poison and sprinkled with radiation. Or something like that. That’s what was hidden inside of Victoria’s ring.

What a painful way to die. Mary Ann wasn’t sure Aden would prefer that to the few cuts and bruises he had now.

“He’s going to die, you know?” Victoria said softly. She rested her head on Aden’s chest, as if she were listening to his heartbeat. Silky black hair spread around her shoulders and draped over the arm she had wrapped over Aden’s stomach. Together, they looked like a magazine ad for a fancy perfume. “Has he told you yet? ”

“What’s to tell? All humans die.”

“No. He’ll die. Soon.”

At first, Mary Ann could only blink over at her, certain she’d misheard. Then, as the words penetrated—He’ll die. Soon.—they became real. All the moisture in her mouth dried, her limbs shook and her heart did that hammering thing. “How does he know he’s going to die?”

“One of the souls inside his head is psychic. A death predictor.”

“Wh-when is this supposed to happen? How is it supposed to happen?”

“A knife through the heart. The other, the timing…that, he doesn’t know. Only that it will be soon, like I told you.”

Soon. What was soon, though? A day? A week? A year? And a knife through the freaking heart? Dear God. An even worse way to die than from the je la nune. He really did need tough vampire skin.

Why hadn’t he told her?

“Why can’t you turn him?”

“Attempts were made to turn humans in the past. None were successful.” “Can’t we—?”

“Stop it from happening, now that we know about it?” Victoria laughed without any trace of humor. “No. Apparently, that will only make things worse for him. He told me that stopping a death, once it’s been predicted, does not change the outcome, only the way that outcome is achieved. And when changed, that outcome becomes far more excruciating.”

Aden. Dead. Soon. No! Tears burned her eyes, stinging down her cheeks. “How does he live with that knowledge?” Don’t talk like that. Something can be done. Surely.

“I don’t know. But I don’t think I could. He is human, yet he is stronger than I will ever be.” She traced something over his heart, but Mary Ann was too far away to tell what that something was. If she were guessing, though, she would say it was the same thing Victoria had traced on the tabletop in the cafeteria.

“And you’re sure you can’t make him a vampire?” There had to be a way to save him.

“I am sure. Our blood is…different than yours and in large doses, which would be required to turn someone, it drives humans to insanity and death. Sometimes the vampire trying to do the turning dies, as well, though no one knows why.”

No way Aden would risk Victoria’s life. That she knew. “How did you become vampire, then?” The question emerged broken, hoarse.

“I was born this way. My father was the first to change, you see. He was a blood-drinker, even as a human, and slowly found himself changing. His skin thickening, his hunger for everything else fading away. His body no longer aging. He had his most trusted men and their females drink blood, like him, and they, too, changed. He then had his beloved pets, the wolves, drink. They changed, as well, though they became vicious. It is their offspring, like Riley, that you see now, able to shift into human form.”

“Why can’t Aden drink that blood? What your father and his people drank?”

“He drank from people, Mary Ann, and those people are long gone. Dust in the grave.”

“But if Aden drank from people…maybe…”

“That, too, has been tried. That, too, has failed.”

So that was it? They were supposed to give up and watch Aden die? Soon? No. Absolutely not. She refused. There had to be a way to save him, she thought again. Please let there be a way to save him.

Suddenly Riley strode from the closet, wiping his hands together and claiming their attention. He was fully dressed now. His clothes were wrinkled, torn and bloodstained, and there were streaks of dirt on his face and arms.

“It’s done,” he said, and there was no emotion in his voice. “No one will know a prince was killed in Aden’s home.” His gaze raked Mary Ann, ensuring she was okay, before moving to Aden and Victoria. “How is he?” “Better.”

As if he’d heard the question, Aden moaned. Both Mary Ann and Riley stilled before rushing to the bed and crouching beside him. Mary Ann latched onto his hand and squeezed.

Victoria rose over him, on her knees, and patted his cheeks. “Can you hear us, Aden?”

Slowly he blinked open his eyes. There was a collective intake of breath as they waited…waited…He focused, though his multicolored irises, a mix of brown, blue and green, were glassy. “Victoria?” he asked groggily. “I’m here. How are you? Is there anything I can get you?”

He frowned, his head tilting to the side. He blinked again, and his frown deepened. Then he shocked everyone by snarling, “No!” grabbing Victoria by the shoulders and throwing her behind him as he popped to his knees. “Don’t you dare touch her!”

Startled, Mary Ann followed the line of his gaze. She saw…no one. “Aden?”

“How are you still alive?” he demanded. “Riley killed you. I felt you die!”

“Aden?” Victoria approached him again and curled her fingers around his forearms, urging him down. “Who are you talking to?”

“The prince.” He remained where he was, balled his fists and raised them, ready to strike. “The prince who had better be leaving.”

“He’s here? “ Riley demanded.

“Yes.”

“But that’s impossible. I mean really impossible. I just buried him.”




SIX


BURIED HIM.

The words penetrated the fog drifting through Aden’s head, and he rubbed his face with a shaky hand. Not happening. This was so not happening.

Buried him.

He once again maneuvered Victoria behind him, but Thomas continually reached through him, trying to touch her. No, not just touch her. Kill her. There was hate in the fairy’s eyes. Only good news was Thomas’s hand ghosted through Aden and Victoria, every try.

Riley had already grabbed Mary Ann and pushed her against the wall, his body covering hers like a shield. His predator’s gaze circled the bedroom, searching, his body waiting to act.

Buried him.

Plausible, because Aden had taken a death-blow for him. He shuddered, remembering. The pain…He’d never experienced anything like it. In fact, there wasn’t a word to describe it. Excruciating was like a gentle massage in comparison.

And that’s how Aden was going to die.

Which meant he would have to experience that again. Chest ripping open, organ tearing, blood spilling. The cold consuming him, turning his bones to brittle ice. No. No, no, no. He refused. No one should have to endure that kind of death. And twice? Not just no, but hell, no. He’d think of something, do something, anything, to prevent it.

Yeah, he’d tried to save people in the past, hoping to circumvent the deaths Elijah had shown him. And yeah, they’d then died in other, more painful ways. But to Aden, there was nothing more painful than a knife through the heart. He’d take anything else. In a heartbeat. Stupid pun intended.

“Why can’t I touch her? “ Thomas snarled.

“Back off. Or—” What kind of threat would scare a fairy? “Or you’ll regret it.” Not the best, but all his foggy brain could come up with.

Finally, panting and skin glistening with sweat, the prince stilled. “What did you do to me?”

Good question. “Just leave her alone.” Slowly, Aden moved from the bed…his legs had better cooperate…yes! He remained standing, arms splayed to block any new attempt. “In fact, just leave.”

He stiffened as a thought occurred to him. Make you pay for this, even from the grave, Thomas had said before the knife plunged. Pay. Grave. Grave. Oh…crap. Had Aden earned himself a vengeful fairy-slashghost-slash-sidekick?

“Aden. What’s going on?” Victoria demanded, as the prince shouted, “I can’t! I tried.” She moved in front of Aden before he could stop her, ready to fight his demons for him. “Tell me what to do, and it’s done.”

“Victoria,” he said. He couldn’t stand the thought of her hurt. And despite everything, this could be a trick. What did Aden know about fairies and their afterlife? Thomas could be waiting for the right time to strike. For real.

“There’s no one here, Aden. Just us. The prince is dead. Riley buried the body, like he told you. Yet you see him still? ”

“Yes. But you can’t see him? Can’t hear him?”

A chorus of “No” rang out.

So. No one but Aden could see or hear Thomas, and Thomas couldn’t touch anyone. Maybe this wasn’t a trick, then. Besides, Thomas wanted Victoria and all of her family dead—enough to die himself—and wouldn’t have waited for the right time to strike. He would have simply struck. Aden should have considered that before.

The prince really was a ghost.

At least you didn’t suck him into your head, Julian offered helpfully.

Dude, Caleb said. Like that’s a silver lining.

The souls had been quiet ever since he’d taken that knife to the chest. Hearing them now, as if nothing had happened, was both a relief and a curse. They were alive and well, but he didn’t need the distraction right now.

Thomas was here to haunt him.

Sickness churned in his stomach, threatening to revolt. He’d encountered ghosts before. Hell, the souls inside him were ghosts without bodies. And yeah, he now knew Thomas couldn’t hurt Victoria, but that didn’t lessen his concern. This ghost wasn’t simply a deceased human. No telling what Thomas would be able to do.

“Leave,” he said to Victoria. He latched onto her arm and spun her around, then flattened his hand on her lower back and urged her forward, toward Riley.

“Wh-what?” She was so shocked by his words and actions, he knew, she offered no resistance.

“You have to leave.” Not once did he remove his gaze from Thomas. Just in case.

“I don’t understand.”

“You, too, Riley. Take Victoria and go.” He wanted to explain, but didn’t want Thomas to hear that Mary Ann blocked supernatural abilities, just in case other fairies were able to see and hear him. He didn’t want the fairies to know that she even blocked Aden’s. That, when she was around, he didn’t hear voices. That he didn’t see ghosts or wake the dead. Except when Riley was with her. Somehow, Riley muted her ability to, well, mute. One day he’d figure out how. Until then…“For God’s sake, go!”

Riley frowned but nodded. “Yes, my king. I’ll keep both girls safe.”

“I thought I told you not to call me that.” Aden was no one’s king. “And Mary Ann needs to stay.”

“No.” Green eyes narrowed on him. “Mary Ann goes with me, and that’s final.”

An argument? Now? For once, he would have preferred the reverence. “Actually, Mary Ann stays. That’s an order.”

Her dark head peeked from behind Riley’s shoulder. She made a slashing motion over her throat, silently telling him not to go there. Thomas watched, gauging. Deciding what next to do?

There was a pause, heavy and tension-filled. Finally, Riley growled, “Yes. My king. All shall be as you order.”

Aden pressed his lips together to stop his retort. He was getting what he wanted; he could let the sarcasm slide.

“Aden?” Victoria said, and he could hear the question—why are you doing this?—in her musical voice. Worse, he could hear the hurt.

He suddenly hated himself. She’d endured enough hurt lately, and he didn’t like adding to the mix.

Don’t be so harsh with her, Aden, Caleb scolded him. You know I only want to show her a good time.

A good time. Yeah. That’s all Aden wanted to show her, too. Always. She’d spent her life obeying one rule after another, sheltered, not really allowed to laugh, yet here he was, pushing her away without explanation.

Moment they were safe, he’d tell her why. And then he’d tease her until she laughed. He’d only heard her laugh once, and still dreamed of hearing that tinkling sound again.

Please don’t tell me you’re listening to Caleb now, Julian snapped. We’ve got work to do. Yeah. Sexy work. You are such a pervert.

Boys. Elijah sighed. Is arguing necessary? Now?

Looked like Elijah had taken over the role of mother hen now that Eve was gone.

“Aden,” Victoria repeated, drawing him back to the present.

He ground his teeth, irritated with himself. His concentration sucked, even in times of great danger. “Call me later,” was all he said, still unwilling to explain while Thomas could hear.

“I’ll do more than that. I’ll return for you this evening.” Victoria grabbed Riley’s hand before the wolf could protest. “My family wishes to meet you, and their wishes are not something you can ignore.”

With that, the two were gone.

A second later, Thomas vanished, as well. A second after that, the souls inside of Aden gasped, as they always did when Mary Ann muted them, fading from his mind, falling into the black hole they’d once told him about.

They despised that black hole, but they didn’t complain. They loved Aden. They wanted him happy, and they knew these private moments were necessary.

As necessary as letting them go, he thought, guilty again.

Aden sank to the ground, his back sliding against the wall. Yeah, he was going to have to set them free, no matter how much he might want to keep them. First, though, he had to figure out exactly who they had been as humans. Then he had to help them finish whatever was keeping them bound to the earth. To him.

That’s how he’d lost Eve. Once he’d given her what her human self had wanted most—a day with her daughter—she had disappeared in a snap.

So much to do, he thought. Overwhelming. First up, it seemed, was meeting Victoria’s family. The sisters he’d already seen in that vision. Laurel and…no, that wasn’t right. He wracked his brain. Their names remained just out of reach.

“Is the fairy.” Mary Ann began.

“Yeah. He’s gone.” But most likely, Thomas would return the moment Mary Ann left the ranch. What would Aden do then? He couldn’t keep her here all day and all night.

“Good. Now don’t take this the wrong way, okay?” She walked to the bed and threw herself on the mattress, bouncing up and down. “But you really need a shower.”

He glanced down at himself, heat blooming in his cheeks. Streaks of blood decorated his chest, and sweat had dried his boxers to his skin. “The bathroom is down the hall. Will you stay here? I’ll hurry.”

“I’ll stay,” she said with an impish grin. “Now, less talking and more showering.”

As weak as he was, he had to use the wall to unfold from the floor and stand. And while digging through the closet for clothes, he fought wave after wave of dizziness. Finally, though, he was in the bathroom, having managed to stalk down the hall without running into any of the other boys, hot water streaming down his body, cleaning him inside and out.

His first private shower, he mused. He wondered how far Mary Ann’s ability stretched—and he wished he could enjoy the solitude more. Yeah, really enjoy it. Instead, he had to hurry as promised.

When he finished, he dressed in a T-shirt and jeans and headed back to his bedroom. Just before he reached the door, the scent of peanut butter sandwiches drew him into the kitchen. There was a tray piled high with them, but no boys in sight. They should be here, studying.

You killed their teacher, remember?

Sad and guilty once again, Aden confiscated two of the sandwiches, eating each in two bites, and searched the rest of the bunkhouse. All the chores were done, so the boys had been here. The wood floors were polished, the oak table and scuffed chairs dusted. The walls were scrubbed clean and smelled of soap.

A few months ago, those walls had been filled with horseshoes and pictures of the ranch as it used to be a hundred or so years ago when it had first been built. But then two of the boys had gotten in a fight, and one of them had used a metal horseshoe to bash up the other. Or so Aden had heard. Dan, the owner of the ranch and the guy in charge of their care, had taken everything down.

There was no sign of the boys anywhere. Were they okay? Where had—

Laughter suddenly rang out.

At the far window in the entryway, he brushed the curtains aside and looked out. An overcast sky fashioned a gray canopy over the D and M as the boys played football in the field between the main house and the bunkhouse.

Aden experienced a momentary pang of jealousy. Once, that’s all he’d craved. Friends, games. Acceptance.

Now he finally had it, for the most part, but he also had a little too much on his plate to enjoy it.

“You’re gonna get into trouble,” he told them, even though they couldn’t hear him. Dan wasn’t here—his truck was gone—but Meg, his wife, rarely left the main house, and she would report what had gone on.

But no tutor, no studies, Aden supposed, and his guilt increased. Dan was going to have to find a new tutor, having no idea why Mr. Thomas had “left” as suddenly as he’d appeared.

Aden liked Dan. Respected him. A lot. The man was honorable and truly wanted to give the boys here a better life. Yet time and time again, Aden made his life more difficult. Don’t think about that now.

Back in his bedroom, Aden found that Mary Ann was still on the bed, though she was propped against the headboard and reading one of Shannon’s books. The door clicked shut behind him—no lock, though, since Dan had removed them—and she looked up.

“Much better,” she said with a nod.

“Thanks for staying.”

“My pleasure.” She set the book aside and straightened. “How are you feeling?” “As good as I smell.”

She laughed exactly like he wanted Victoria to laugh. “That good, huh?”

“Sorry you had to stick around.”

“I didn’t mind. I wanted to talk to you about something, anyway.”

He sat at the desk, marveling that the room was perfect, nothing out of place. After Riley and Thomas had ravaged the entire building in that other dimension—which still freaked him out—he’d expected some sign of what had happened. Yet there was nothing. Not even a speck of blood.

“Are you listening to me?” Mary Ann asked with another laugh. “I thought the souls were quiet when I was with you.”

He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. I’m so used to being inside my head, I often get lost in there.”

“Well, I was saying that you know how to fight.”

“Yeah.” He should. He’d been fighting his entire life. Other mental patients, doctors, other foster kids. Zombies that Julian, the corpse whisperer, raised from eternal slumber.

“Well,” Mary Ann said, squaring her shoulders. “I want you to teach me.”

He arched a brow, not sure he understood. “You want me to teach you how to kick as—uh, how to

fight?”

“How to defend myself and how to attack, yes.”

There was a big difference in what people needed to do to defend themselves and what they needed to do to attack someone else. A big, dangerous difference. “Riley won’t like it.”

She shrugged, swirling a finger along the cotton comforter. “He’ll have to get over it. I need to do this. I don’t want to be a liability anymore.”

That, Aden understood. Perfectly. “I’ll teach you.”

She clapped as if he’d just told her she’d won the lottery. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he said, mirroring her earlier words. “So when do you want to start? ”

She whipped her cell phone from her back pocket and checked the time. “We have a few hours until I have to be home from school. And I can’t believe I’m saying this, rather than rushing back to class, but…why not now? ”

Those sandwiches had given him strength, though he wasn’t one hundred percent racer ready. Still. He nodded. This girl had been the first person to accept him for who and what he was; he owed her. “We’ll have to go out back. The boys are in the front, and it’ll be better if they don’t see us.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Outside, the clouds were thicker than they’d been even a few moments ago when he’d peeked through the window, the air chilled and laced with dew. A storm was on its way.

He positioned Mary Ann on the grass, then moved in front of her. “First up, defense. And to do that, you have to learn how people will strike at you. Which means I’ll have to strike at you.”

Determined, she nodded. “Okay. I’m ready.”

The next few hours passed quickly, and by the end, they were sweaty, grass-stained and exhausted, but mostly wet and muddy. A fine drizzle had started fifteen minutes ago. Mary Ann was pretty bruised up. Fine, Aden was, too. He’d been jabbed, punched, poked and tripped. And yeah, he’d done the same to Mary Ann. Experience was the only way to learn. Because, if she was afraid of pain, she would cower rather than act. So he’d had to show her she could withstand anything.

Surprisingly, she had. Better than he’d hoped.

“So tell me what you’ve learned so far,” he said, standing in front of her again.

“Screaming is good. And punching people in the throat is far more effective than punching them in the face or stomach. Plus, throat punching is something anyone can do, even fragile little girls, since it doesn’t take much force to do a lot of damage there.” This last was said in a mockingly deep voice, mimicking him. She tightened her borrowed jacket around her middle. The only time they’d stopped practicing was when he’d gone to fetch her that jacket from his closet. “I should use my fists as if they’re hammers, or even hit with my open palm.”

“Good. What else?”

“Anything can be used as a weapon. Rocks. Keys. A purse.”

He nodded. “What else?”

“I shouldn’t use my toes when I kick. There’s not enough power there. I should use the flat part of my foot. Oh, and kneeing my attacker in the groin is acceptable. Even encouraged. So is eye-poking. I shouldn’t be afraid to cause this person pain, since their main goal is to hurt me.” She spoke as if she were reciting gospel. “If my back is to them, I should try and elbow the guy—or girl—in the face. That causes a lot of pain and stuns them, allowing me to try and get away.”

“Good. Now let’s put some of that information to the test. I’m going for your neck this time,” he warned her. “My plan is to choke you. Do you remember what to do? ”

She nodded. “As quickly as possible, I’m to move both my arms between yours and hit your elbows with mine.”

“And?”

“And knee you in the groin.”

“Yeah, but let’s just pretend on that last one. And by the way, an attacker won’t usually give you a heads-up.”

Her lips quirked at the corners. “Much as I wish otherwise.”

Next time, he wouldn’t warn her what he was going to do. He’d just act, and she’d have to figure out what to do without forethought. “Ready?”

“Read—”

Leaves rattled a few yards away, and they both turned.

“Aden? Mary Ann?” Shannon had just stepped from the forest, a backpack dangling at his side.

“Hey,” they called in unison.

“I—I wondered where you’d gone after lunch,” Shannon said to Mary Ann.

Guilt danced in her eyes. “I should have told you I was leaving. I’m sorry. But if you’re home, that means school’s out, and I have to leave again now.” She closed the distance to Aden and kissed his cheek. “Will you be okay?” she whispered. “Because the fairy’s going to come back. The moment I’m gone, he’s going to come back.”

“I know. And yes, I’ll be fine,” he lied. He had no idea how to deal with Thomas, or how far Thomas could roam. Still. He gave Mary Ann a gentle push toward the forest. “Go home before you get into trouble with your dad.”

“I’m going to call him and tell him I’m heading to the library. Which is true. I want to dig around and see if I can find any books on spells, that sort of thing. I’ll keep you updated.”

“Thanks.”

“Welcome. And thank you for the lessons. Not that my gratitude will save you from my ferocious wrath during our next lesson.”

“Those are fighting words, girl,” he said with a laugh. “But maybe you should go home and change before you hit the library.” He gazed pointedly at her muddy jeans.

“Will do!” Laughing herself, Mary Ann took off, stopping only to kiss Shannon on the cheek. When she reached the line of trees, a pair of green eyes and bared white teeth flashed through a thick bush.

Animal…hiding. The realization jolted him, and Aden sprinted forward. But then Mary Ann uttered another laugh, the sound just as free and happy.

Riley, he realized, stopping. A pissed Riley, at that. That scowl had been for Aden’s benefit, he was sure. Had the wolf watched the defense lesson? Or had he witnessed the kiss Mary Ann had bestowed upon his cheek?

He’d find out. Later. First, he knew, Riley would walk Mary Ann home.

Thank God, Julian said. We’re back.

What happened while we were gone? Caleb asked. Why are we outside?

Were you…fighting? Elijah demanded.

“Guys,” he muttered. “I’ll have to explain later.”

Shannon reached him, clearly concerned. “W-where were you t-today? I told Dan you’d already l-left for school this morning, so you’re clear on that front.”

“Thank you.” Aden was still amazed that he and Shannon were friends. They hadn’t started off that way, but they were pretty tight now. And it was nice. Even so, he couldn’t tell Shannon the truth. Boy knew nothing about the real world and the creatures populating it, and that was for the best. “Come on. Let’s go in, and I’ll tell you everything.” Yet nothing.

They headed into the bunkhouse, where the others were already washed up and in dry clothes, watching TV in the living room as if they’d just finished up their schoolwork like good little boys.

Aden waved at them, and kept moving. He and Shannon needed to talk, but what he would say, he still didn’t know. After that, he needed some time alone to talk to the souls. Where he would go, though, he didn’t know.

“Well, well,” another familiar voice said when he entered his room. “Look who’s back. Me.”

Freaking fantastic, Caleb grumbled.

Not good, Elijah said with a sigh.

Aden didn’t have to look around to know that the ghost prince had indeed returned. His hands curled into fists as he wondered if he’d ever lead a normal

life.

“Aden?” Shannon said beside him. “You okay? The guys asked if y-you wanted to watch Sports Center with them.”

At the same time, Thomas said, “Tell me what you did to me. Tell me why I’m here, why my people can’t see or hear me. Why no one but you can. Tell me!”

The voices blended together, making the words intelligible. He knew then that he wouldn’t be having a conversation with Shannon anytime soon. Nor would he find that private moment with the souls.

Not knowing what else to do, Aden covered his ears and threw himself on his mattress to wait out the storm.




SEVEN


TUCKER HARBOR HUDDLED in the corner of a dim, damp crypt, surrounded by darkness and flat-out creepiness. A spider might have just crawled over his hand, and was that a mouse squeaking? He would have given anything to see.

He hadn’t wanted to come here. He’d been lying on a hospital gurney, hooked to all kinds of monitors, drugs pumping straight into his veins, chasing away the pain. Yet the voice had called to him, drifting through his head, and he’d found himself unhooking the tethers, rising, walking, finally running, desperate to be wherever the voice wanted him to be.

Unfortunately, getting here hadn’t been that difficult. No one had tried to stop him, and his “gift” hadn’t been on the fritz. Tucker had cast illusions—something he’d been able to do his entire life. Whatever he envisioned in his mind, he could create around him. Or rather, make people think was around him.

If he pictured a gutter, a gutter would seem to encase him. If he pictured a circus, a circus would seem to appear, with him in the center ring. On his way out of the hospital, he’d pictured himself as the wall beside him. Outside, he’d pictured himself in a T-shirt and jeans, rather than this paper-thin gown.

So now, here he was. In pain, again, still weak from the vampire bites he’d endured only a few days ago—or maybe hours ago, he didn’t know anymore. Time was just…time. Ticking away, but not part of his awareness anymore. Maybe because he didn’t care.

Which he didn’t understand. He’d been tied to a table as if he were dessert, and vampires—real-life freaking bloodsuckers—had been allowed to simply lean over and bite him. Anywhere they had desired. He’d wanted to die. But then, as the blood had drained from him, his body growing cold, his conscious mind dimming, he’d wanted to live. So badly.

Then Aden Stone and Mary Ann had come to his rescue. He’d been so grateful. He’d thought, I’m going to turn my life around. I’m not going to cause trouble anymore. When I want to do bad things, like grinding my fist into as many faces as I can, watching the blood pour and hearing the screams echo, like stealing and fighting and hurting my mom with mean words just to hear her cry, I’m going to ignore the urges.

Yet now, without the threat of death hovering over him, without the utter helplessness, without the drugs, he wanted to do all of those things again. And he couldn’t ignore the urges. On the way here, he’d punched a middle-aged man he’d never met, felt the guy’s teeth cutting into his knuckles, and had laughed. Laughed. Because he’d liked inflicting pain. I’m a monster.

The only time those kinds of urges left him was when he was with Mary Ann. They’d dated for several months, and for those several months he’d been blissfully happy. Of course, being Tucker, he’d managed to ruin everything.

She’d taken off one night, so he’d visited her neighbor and best friend, Penny Parks. He and Penny had tossed back a few beers, had stupid unprotected sex, and now Penny was pregnant with his kid. Or so she said.

Part of him believed her. The human part of him that hated when he acted like a maniac. The other part of him, the part where all those urges churned, didn’t want to believe her.

He needed Mary Ann again. Not as a girlfriend. Just as a friend. He wasn’t sure he’d ever really wanted her romantically. He just liked how she made him feel. She would fix him, make him better again. And maybe then he could be a better dad to his kid than his own father had ever been to him.

Somewhere in the dark, he heard the whisper of cloth against flesh, the sound somehow far more obscene than the squeak of that mouse. Then, “You came,” a hard, emotionless voice said from the darkness. “Good boy.”

The voice. Only this time, it wasn’t inside his head.

As his heart pounded out of control, Tucker straightened. He still couldn’t see anything. There wasn’t a single beam of light in this crypt, and dust layered the air. Dust and death. “Y-yes. I try to be.” He would try to be anything this man wanted. “Who are you?”

“I am your king.”

Four simple words, but they changed Tucker’s life. Irrevocably. Yes. He belonged to the owner of that voice. It was strong, powerful, almost as if magic floated from each syllable, wrapping around him, tightening…tightening…controlling. More than being what this man wanted, Tucker would do whatever was asked of him, whenever it was asked. Happily.

“Vlad,” he said, knowing the name deep in his soul. He inclined his head in reverent greeting, even though he couldn’t be seen. Or could Vlad’s gaze pierce the darkness?

“Yes. I am Vlad. And there is someone else you know, Tucker. Someone I am deeply interested in. Aden Stone.”

A statement, not a question, yet Tucker replied anyway. “Yes.” He couldn’t help himself. Must please Vlad. Must always please Vlad. “I know him.”

“You will watch him.”

“Yes.” No hesitation.

“You will tell me everything you learn.”

“Yes.” Anything. Everything.

“That is good. I am counting on you, Tucker. Do not let me down. Because, you see, he took my crown, and when the time is right, I will take it back.”

THE NEXT FEW HOURS of Aden’s life passed in a blur. Shannon realized something was wrong with him and tried to distract him, telling him about his day and how Mr. Klien, their chemistry teacher, had had him stand at the front of the class doing fingerstrengthening exercises the entire period for dropping one of his test vials.

At the same time, Thomas continued to barrage him with rapid-fire questions. “Why can’t my kind see or hear me anymore? Why did I disappear into a black hole after the vampire and werewolf left?”

At the same time, Elijah demanded they discuss the coming vampire assembly. Plans needed to be made. What if there was a rebellion and someone tried to dethrone him?

At the same time, Caleb outlined what Aden should wear to impress Victoria enough to make out with him. Black leather was a top contender. Whipped cream, too.

At the same time, Julian wrote an I’m-sorry poem for him to give to Victoria. Oh, sweet darling, my heart bleeds. But you love blood. And I am mud. Forgive me.

That’s when Caleb became mocking, and Elijah incensed. Blah, blah, blah.

Through it all, Aden even thought he heard wolves howling in the background. Arf, arf, arf, he thought mockingly.

His head throbbed. He couldn’t keep up with the chatter, the words and sounds doing more than blending together. They were creating an ever-increasing buzz that hammered against his skull.

Finally, he gave up. He rolled over, closed his eyes and tried to block out all of them. Peace. He just needed a little peace.

Soon, lack of rest and dying-by-proxy twice caught up with him, and he drifted in and out of agitated slumber. No, slumber wasn’t the right word. He wasn’t asleep, but he couldn’t move. Even when Shannon shook him, he couldn’t move or respond. It was like someone had tied his arms and legs to the bed. Like his eyelids had been taped open, and he couldn’t blink, even when his eyes dried and burned.

What was wrong with him?

He was vaguely aware of Shannon leaving the room and returning with Dan, who looked him over with concern. Dan tried to talk to him as he undressed Aden and tucked him under covers, but still Aden couldn’t answer. One, his jaw was as useless as the rest of him, and two, he simply couldn’t wade through the sea of voices, his awareness still being tugged in too many different directions.

Besides, Dan would think he was crazy—like everyone had always called him—if he answered something incorrectly.

Finally, Dan left and he sighed with relief. Shortlived relief. On and on the souls chattered. On and on Thomas spewed demands. Then Dan returned with Dr. Hennessy, Aden’s newest therapist, adding something more to the mix.

Dr. Hennessy looked him over, as well, frowning but not concerned. The doctor was a short, balding man, with wire-framed glasses and cold brown eyes, and he never showed any type of emotion. He was clinical, impersonal and always radiated shrewd awareness.

Questions were hurled at him. Aden could only decipher two words: catatonic and regressed.

Were they talking about him?

Of course they were. Pills were shoved into Aden’s mouth, and he tried to spit them out. Dr. Hennessy pinched his nose closed and held his jaw still, his purpose clear. If Aden wanted to breathe, he’d have to swallow.

“Take your medicine like a good boy, Aden,” the doctor said crisply. “You’ve had these before. I’m not giving you anything new.” A sigh. “Still determined to resist? Well, if you don’t take them, I’ll simply give you an injection. Wouldn’t you prefer to avoid a needle?”

Only when his lungs screamed in protest and his throat began to convulse did he swallow. A second later, he could breathe.

He sucked in mouthful after mouthful of air, but his I’m-going-to-live happiness disintegrated when he realized what he’d swallowed. Those pills always fogged Aden’s brain and put the souls into a stupor, two things he loathed. Two things they loathed. More than that, he needed to be clear-headed tonight. He needed…The blood-brain barrier was broken almost instantly, and dizziness washed through him.

The fog he’d feared appeared behind his eyes, thickening, spreading, fuzzing his thoughts.

“Sorry,” he managed to croak out, jaw once again working. “So sorry.”

Julian was the first to quiet. Then Caleb, then Elijah, who fought the hardest to remain heard. You’ll need me, Aden. Tonight is…tonight is…

Even Thomas, standing beside Dr. Hennessy, glaring down at Aden, began to waver, shimmer, there but not there, an outline without substance.

“He’ll need to visit me tomorrow morning,” Dr. Hennessy was saying to Dan as he straightened, wiping his hands together in a job well done. “First thing.”

Dan crossed his arms over his massive chest. He was a former pro-footballer, tall, wide, pure intimidation with pale hair and dark eyes. “He has school. If he’s well enough, and I think that he will be. He always pulls himself together quickly.” “He can miss one day.”

“No, actually, he can’t. His studies are just as important as his therapy.”

Thank you, Aden wanted to say, but didn’t allow the words to move past his lips. No reason to encourage attention or unwittingly admit he understood what was being said. Dan cared about the boys here. Truly cared. Even about Aden, as his insistence proved.

“I’ll bring him to you immediately afterward,” Dan continued. “How about that?”

“I highly recommend you reconsider. This boy doesn’t need to be in school, around normal children. I could take over his—”

“Excuse me, Dr. Hennessy,” Dan said tightly. “I may not have a fancy degree, but I know this boy better than you do. He’s a good kid with a lot of heart, and he’s doing well here. He’s excelling in school with those so-called normal kids, and he’s even made new friends and gained confidence. He’s doing better than ever and I will not disrupt that progress.”

“Yes, but he still talks to himself. And today, well, he lost himself inside his mind. I would hardly call that �better than ever,’ Mr. Reeves. Would you?”

Dan stuffed his hands in his pockets, going all “well, shucks,” on the doctor, a sign Aden recognized as growing annoyance. “We all occasionally regress, as you said, but he’s pulling himself together.”

“That’s the pills.”

“That’s the boy’s strength of will.”

Slowly Aden relaxed, rubbed a hand over his face. His vision was slightly blurred, his movements sluggish, but at least his mind was quiet. Still. Poor souls.

The two men continued their conversation a while longer, until finally it was decided that Aden would attend class, then immediately be driven to Dr. Hennessy’s office for a session.

Great. Those sessions were nothing but a pain in the ass. The good doctor always wanted to touch him. Nothing overt, and nothing too creepy, just a handholding, skin-to-skin thing. That, on top of the fact that he had to be in therapy at all, aggravated the piss right out of him.

At last the men left, and Aden gingerly sat up. His stomach burned as if a fire had been set there, and that burn rose into his throat, his brain. More fog, more dizziness. He closed his eyes. In the distance, a wolf howled.

So he hadn’t imagined the howling. Riley must be nearby.

“S-sorry, man,” he heard Shannon say.

His lids cracked open, and he saw that Shannon was beside the bed and crouched in front of him, his features tight with concern.

“D-didn’t want to get Dan, but didn’t k-know what

else to do. You were really o-out of it. Never seen you l-like that.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He blinked, doing his best to focus. “What time is it?” “About ten-thirty.”

That late? Wow. Riley really would be here any minute. How was Aden going to sneak out now? Dan would check up on him throughout the night, Aden knew that he would. Apparently, that’s what people who cared about you did. Checked on you. It was new and wonderful and yet, hell on the social life.

Something clanked against the window, and both Aden and Shannon turned. The glass rose, then Riley was there, smoothly climbing through. He was dressed in a black suit, was cleanly shaven and had his hair arranged in perfect spikes. In his arms, he clutched what looked to be a garment bag.

“Shannon,” he acknowledged with a stiff nod.

Shannon, who was used to Aden’s nightly visitors, nodded in return. “Riley.”

“I’ve gotta borrow our boy for a little while.”

Shannon frowned. “He’s b-been sick and needs his r-rest.”

Riley frowned, too, gaze darting to Aden. “Sick? Again? How? ”

“Again?” Shannon’s focus swung back to Aden. “When were you s-sick before? What was wrong?”

Oh, yeah. Aden hadn’t explained—or lied, as he’d planned—so Shannon had no idea how iffy things had been for him.

“Shannon,” a musical female voice said from just beyond the window. Victoria had arrived. “You are tired. You must sleep now.”

“Sleep,” the boy muttered, yawning. “Yeah, I’m pretty tired.” He scaled to the top of the bunk bed and lay down. He was softly snoring a few seconds later.

So much power in one little voice, Aden thought. A voice she used liberally, but always to help him, so he didn’t want to complain. Even though a part of him sometimes feared she’d one day use that voice against him. How would he combat the compulsion to do what she wanted if, like, he made her mad and she told him to do something tragic?

Don’t think like that. She cares about you.

He blamed the drugs for his illicit thoughts.

Still outside, she moved backward one step, two, though remained in a beam of light spilling from the room. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head, he noticed, and several ringlets framed her pale face. Her eyes had been outlined in black and black glitter sprinkled on her lids. His favorite? Her lips were painted bloodred.

From what he could see, she wore a silky black robe with thin straps on both shoulders and a neckline that dipped low in the center. New favorite, he thought. He even liked the metal bands winding around her biceps like thin, bejeweled snakes. She was breathtaking.

Mine. The thought was his own, no one else’s. Because she was. His.

“Aden,” Riley said, claiming his attention. “You were sick? ”

Aden nodded, and had to blink against the sudden renewal of dizziness. Stupid pills. He explained what had happened, what had been done to him. How he’d been drugged.

Riley shook his head. “I don’t know how you deal with all those voices anyway. But don’t beat yourself up about it. One slip-up in how long? A year or more? That’s reason to celebrate. You know, at a vampire mansion. Like, now.”

At least the wolf wasn’t snarling at him. “Help him dress, and I’ll ensure Dan stays away from this room for the rest of the night,” Victoria said from her outer post, and then was gone.

Riley unzipped the bag he held. “I seriously hope you’re not going to make me do all the work.”

“Please. I’d have to be dead to let you put your hands on me.” Aden stood—and almost tumbled back on his bed, his knees were so weak, but he managed to remain upright, and held out his hands. Several articles of clothing were thrust at him.




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