Ageless (18 page)

Staring out the window, Violet felt
herself nod off several times. She tried to relax and kept
reminding herself that there was nothing to be afraid of. She was a
witch. Supposedly she had the ability to channel the power of all
her ancestors. It would all be fine. She wouldn’t die. About the
time her mental cog reached that point, she felt her shoulders
tighten up again, and then she felt a warm squeeze of her hand. She
looked up and saw Margo smiling at her.

“I know it’s a long shot, Vi, but
if you were able to conjure up that spell to make me human again,
I’d probably be the happiest girl in the world,” Margo said in a
low voice. She had a dreamy look on her face.

There were a lot of things that
Violet thought she knew about Margo that had obviously a cover
story. She was curious about her friend’s past. She wished she had
the same faith in herself that everyone else seemed to. “What’s the
first thing you would do?” Violet asked, playing along. She turned
slightly in her seat, drawing her knees up to rest on the firm
cushion. She rested her head on the headrest.

“I’d probably eat a whole gallon of
ice cream to start,” Margo said with a wide grin. “Although I’d
probably have to watch it after that. I’ve never had to worry about
things like calories, but it would be part of being human.” Margo’s
voice caught and her eyes dropped.

“Ice cream is good,” Violet said,
trying to encourage her.

“You know, I always wanted to get
married and have a ton of babies. Then grow old sitting on my front
porch with my husband watching sunsets every night and saying
thanks for my good fortune.” Margo’s voice trembled. Violet didn’t
miss the look that Margo cut toward the front seat. Margo’s hand
crept up and she twirled her hair around her fingers.

“How did you become a vampire,
Margo?” Violet had been afraid to ask her friend that question
before, but as long as Margo was talking about her past it seemed
okay.

Margo sighed. “My aunt asked me to
stay with Elysa after we found out about her husband. I had no idea
what she was trying to do; I didn’t know anything like vampires
existed.”

“But Elysa did?”

“Elysa grew up in small-town
Louisiana. I think she had some friends in low places,” Margo said.
“Remember, I told you she was the black sheep of the family. She
was obsessed with staying young forever. Everybody was so relieved
when she settled down with a nice boy that she had grown up with;
of course, now I know it was just a cover.”

“She made it sound like she was a
victim of what happened to her,” Violet said, remembering her
conversation with Elysa on the train.

Margo chuckled, “Elysa has never
been a victim of anything.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, after Elysa turned into a
vampire she just went crazy. She came back to the house and
attacked me. She left me for dead. Jonah found me. He was trying to
control her, and felt guilty about what she did to me, so he tried
to make it up to me.”

“By making you a vampire
too?”

“Jonah was tricked into making
Elysa a vampire, Vi. Like I said, the Montrose coven is more
exclusive than that.”

Violet had more questions now, but Margo changed the
subject on her.

“Do you really think it’s possible,
Violet? That you could change me back?”

Violet felt uncomfortable at the
longing in Margo’s voice. She had no idea if she could do what
Margo wanted. All she had was the word of a thousand-year-old
vampire.

She smiled, though, to cover her
uncertainty. “You know, if I can do, of course I’ll make you human
again, Margo. What are best friends for?”

Margo leaned in then and hugged her hard. Violet
hoped that she would be able to fulfill that promise. She was
surprised when Jeremiah pulled the car off onto a small dirt road
and stopped once they were about three car lengths in. There was
nothing but trees around them.

“We walk from here,” Jeremiah said.
“No sense giving her warning that we’re coming.”

“You’re assuming that she doesn’t
already know we’re coming,” Jonah said. “I think our snatch and
grab at the train was a little too convenient. In the end, she
wants Violet here as much as you do, so why put up a fight when she
knew you’d bring her here anyway?”

Violet didn’t like the sound of
that at all. She flung the door open and got out, feeling every
ache and groan of her muscles as they woke up. Jeremiah unfolded
himself from the driver’s seat and she was annoyed at how much
pleasure she got from watching him stand and stretch. He caught her
look and she could see the ghostly smile on his face. It was like
he knew what she was thinking and was mocking her. She turned on
her heel and looked in the other direction.

Then she felt him behind her and
she shivered. “All’s you need to focus on is trying to connect with
your ancestors. If something happens, Margo will be with you to
look after you.”

“I don’t need to be looked after,”
she hissed. She felt herself roughly turned and Jeremiah’s hands
clenched on her forearms.

“Elysa is cunning and devious. She
will say or do anything to distract you and make you believe that
she is the one telling the truth and that I am lying. You must
block everything out but the spirits of your ancestors and
convincing them to help you. Will you promise me that you will do
that?”

“Yes,” she said with a sulky tone.
She wasn’t a kid anymore. Then she wondered what Elysa would say
that would make her doubt Jeremiah, and everything in her head was
sent spinning again. She was taking a lot of things on faith, and
that completely conflicted with her normal analytical, logical
self.

She heard a low grumble off the
side and saw Jonah standing just a few feet away watching them.
Margo appeared at Jeremiah’s side and laid her hand on his arm.
“Don’t worry, Jeremiah, I’ll take good care of her. You should
go.”

Violet felt his hands relax and she
breathed a sigh of relief. Rubbing her arms to get the blood
flowing again, she looked anxiously at Jonah. She hoped that
Jeremiah’s actions weren’t going to cause another fight. Jonah’s
face was unreadable.

Jeremiah ran a hand through his hair and then popped
the trunk of the car. He pulled out two crossbows.

“So that part’s true, huh?” she
said, blushing after she realized she had said it out
loud.

Then Jonah was at her side, leaning
down to catch her eyes. “Wood through the heart, beheading, or fire
are the only permanent ways to kill a vampire,” he said. For once
she couldn’t sense a joking tone in his voice at all. Jeremiah
tossed one of the crossbows into the air and Jonah snatched it
easily. Violet was in awe of their grace and speed.

“We’re about half a mile from the
property line, and then it’s another quarter of a mile to the
house. Margo, Jonah, and I are going to go first. You and Violet
bring up the rear. Don’t stay too close. Let Violet feel her way
in. Then cross your fingers that the old ones will see fit to tell
her what to do,” Jeremiah said.

“Why wouldn’t they tell me?” Violet
asked.

“Let’s just say that if you do come
into contact with Bruckhart Ward, my guess is that after a thousand
years he’s still pretty upset with me,” Jeremiah said. “If you can
find Rose, she’ll be your best shot.”

Flutters overwhelmed her stomach as
Violet considered the possibility that she was going to communicate
with her long-dead doppelgänger relative. At least she’d know who
she was, she thought wryly.

She felt a touch on her shoulder
and looked up into Jonah’s eyes. “Follow your instinct. No matter
what Jeremiah says, you are my top priority. I can’t let anything
happen to you.” Violet heard the desperation in his voice. These
two men were driving her mad. How was she supposed to figure out
how to conjure up long dead souls when the two men in front of her
were making it impossible to think straight?

“Thanks, Jonah,” she said with a
gentle smile. Then she surprised herself by lifting herself up on
her tiptoes and giving him a hug. “Don’t die, okay?”

His return hug was fierce. “I won’t
if you won’t,” he whispered against her neck. Then he pulled away
and planted a quick peck on her forehead. The affection was
unexpected. She pushed away an invisible piece of hair from her
face and tried to pretend like she didn’t notice.

When she looked up she was dismayed to find that
Jeremiah had already moved away from the clearing and was melting
into the darkness, Jonah at his heels.

“Not that I’m against playing the
field, but I sure hope you know what you’re doing there, Vi,” Margo
said. The men disappeared from view.

“What do you think I’m doing?”
Violet said hotly. She stalked over the open trunk and started
digging through the bag, pulling out wooden stakes. She felt silly
for more reasons than she could count at that moment.

Margo pulled her jacket open and
put three stakes into an inside pocket. “Really, I could care less
what you do with Jeremiah. That man has thought that he’s god’s
gift for way too long. But I don’t want to see Jonah get hurt. He’s
a good guy, although he clearly suffers from a case of misplaced
loyalty.”

Violet turned and grimaced at the
look of concern on Margo’s face. “I’m not trying to play the field.
Doesn’t it just figure that I finally meet a guy that I’m
interested in and he’s a vampire? And I’m not interested in Jonah
like that. He’s a nice guy, but just in a friend kind of
way.”

Margo put up her hands. “Don’t get
pissed at me, Vi. I’m just calling it like I see it.”

Violet wanted to stomp her foot in
frustration. She wasn’t doing anything wrong, and she didn’t like
what Margo was implying. “We’re friends, Margo. Hell, at this point
I don’t even know who I am, or what I’m supposed to do next.
“

“Did you kiss him?” Margo said,
deftly changing the subject.

“Who?” Violet asked
warily.

“You know who,” Margo said with a
wink.

“Shouldn’t we go?” Violet said,
slamming the trunk closed.

“Violet Swanson! You are a terrible
liar and we both know it. You did!” Margo exclaimed.

Violet groaned. “Do we really need
to talk about this right now?”

“We’ve got a mile walk ahead of us.
What else do you want to talk about?”

Violet swung in the direction that
Jeremiah and Jonah had gone in and pointed. “We’re going that way,
right?”

“I know where to go, don’t worry,”
Margo said, gesturing for Violet to follow her.

Several minutes later, Violet
wasn’t even sure they were on a path. The trees overhead formed a
thick canopy, and the moonlight only managed to break through in
small patches. She knew that Margo was just a few feet in front of
her, but Violet could barely see her. Violet took small steps
trying not to stumble over tree roots.

“If rumors and gossip are to be
believed, Jeremiah Montrose is one of the best kissers on the
planet,” Margo’s voice drifted back to her.

Suddenly Violet was glad of the near darkness. There
was no worry that Margo would be able to see the sudden flush of
her cheeks. Just remembering the cascade of emotions that had swept
through her body made her stumble and she had to quickly readjust
to catch herself.

“He was alright,” Violet grumbled.
She hated that her body betrayed her. It hummed with the
anticipation of being back in his arms again. She was upset that
she hadn’t been allowed to tell him goodbye.

“Speaking from personal experience,
Jonah can rock a girl’s socks off,” Margo said
offhandedly.

The brazen comment made Violet
stumble again and she cursed. “Geez, Margo. If he’s so awesome why
aren’t you dating him?” She almost ran into her friend’s back
because Margo had completely stopped.

“Margo?” Violet stepped around her
and saw red streaks on Margo’s face.

“Violet, I love you, but sometimes
you say incredibly insensitive things,” Margo said, wiping her
eyes. Then she pushed forward and left Violet standing there
speechless.

Her suspicions confirmed, Violet
hurried to catch up with her friend. “If you still have feelings
for him, why haven’t you told him?”

“Now that would be pretty stupid,
wouldn’t it?” Margo said. Her feet were hitting the ground so hard
that Violet, walking behind her, could feel the tremors.

“What happened between the two of
you? Why did you break up?” The gap between them was growing
bigger, and although she was trying to speed up, Violet was afraid
she was going to be fall and break a leg.

“What happened is that I got
smart,” Margo said, venom in her voice. “Unlike my cousin, I’m not
interested in being a vindictive bitch if I can’t get my way. You
move on and make the best of a situation, which in this case was
becoming friends.”

“So he broke up with you,” Violet
said carefully “I’m sorry, Margo.” Then she ran into a wall of
solidness that she realized was Margo, who had stopped again. Margo
turned and her eyes were flashing with anger.

“No, I broke up with him. I have my
pride, Vi. I wasn’t about to live in the shadow of some girl who
died nine hundred years before I was even born. And wouldn’t you
know it was just my luck that I end up becoming best friends with
somebody who looks just like her. I am so pathetic.”