Fanged Fury (The Adventures of Sydney Sedrick Book 3) (8 page)

Grabbing my arm, Kat held me steady on my feet. For as petite as she was, she was quite strong. “Sydney, are you okay? What’s the matter with you? Do you think you’re going to be sick?” Without another thought, Kat pushed me against the wall to position me so that my back leaned against the cold drywall while my head tucked between my knees.

After a few moments, the feeling like I was going to pass out faded until it resolved altogether. “I’m fine, Kat, thanks. I don’t know what came over me.”

Still nervous about the bumps I’d felt on her back, I averted my gaze from her general direction. Kat seemed so nice. I didn’t want to upset her. Her friendship was important to me.

“Uh, Sydney, did you feel my wings? Is that what has you all wound tight?” She knelt beside me, concern written over her face. It seemed that her eyes not having turned red yet wasn’t the only human quality she still held on to. Her facial expressions were more sincere than any vampire I’d met.

“Wings? You have wings?” Confused, I started to stand. Kat held on to my arm to make sure I was stable on my feet.

Nodding, Kat stepped into the middle of the hallway. “Do you want to see?”

“Do I want to see a vampire with wings? Um, yes. Hello.” I smiled.

She hopped on to the tips of her toes, holding her arms straight out to the sides of her body and closed her eyes.

After a moment of concentration on her part, wings sprouted from Kat’s back. She rotated her shoulders. Her wings did a flexing motion. They started to illuminate with an iridescent fluid running through vein-like structures throughout each wing.

“Kat, your wings are beautiful.” I was in awe. They were spectacular. If I ever had wings, those would be the ones I’d want.

“Thanks, Sydney. I’m still getting used to them. Torque promised to take me to a football field or somewhere with a lot of space so I can practice using them, but that’s kind of hard when the big guy says I can’t ever leave the palace.” She relaxed her shoulders and, with an ease only a vampire could have, she descended back to the ground.

With a roll of her shoulder blades, Kat’s wings neatly tucked back into their hiding spots. The only sign they existed were the red bumps running the length of her shoulder blades.

“Kat, how is it you’re like the only vampire in existence with wings? Doesn’t anyone else think that’s a little odd?” Embarrassed that the question left my mouth—because unfortunately the filter between my brain and my lips didn’t always work so well—I said, “I’m sorry, that came out wrong.”

She motioned for us to start up the stairs while explaining, “Don’t worry, Sydney. Everyone that sees them asks the same question. Well, my father’s mother wasn’t a full-blooded vampire, she was half fae.”

Her explanation didn’t clarify anything. “Um, what’s a fae?”

Kat stopped on the stairs with one leg lifted in the air. Laughing, she slapped her knee. “Sydney, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh, but it’s so refreshing to meet someone just as new to this world as I am. I didn’t even know vampires existed until my husband tracked me down before Hunters got the chance to kill me before my change. You see, I was brought up by my aunt after being told my parents died in a car crash while they drove one snowy night on the freeway. Well, that story was only partially true.”

I waited for her to keep talking, but she turned to continue up the stairs. It didn’t pass my notice I was the only one out of breath when we reached the top landing. I put my hand out as I bent over to catch my breath. “Give me a minute, okay?”

Kat squatted a few feet in front of me. “Uncle Alex doesn’t like when people find out about my having wings. He thinks the Hunters will focus on me as their target because they’ll see me as more of an abomination than they do the vampires. So what I’m about to tell you is secret. Mum’s the word.”

I nodded, not wanting to waste precious air to speak.

“Sydney, I’m part fairy. My father’s mother was half-fae, so if you do the math, which I have a million times, well, I’m one-eighth fairy. Apparently that’s enough of my grandmother’s genes to have made me develop wings during my change. I’m not the only vampire who has them. My father has them, too. His look way different, though. They are black and feathered.” She leaned over to pat me on the back.

Finally having caught my breath, I stood straight. “Phew, I clearly need to work out more. Maybe that’s what we can do when I come to visit? I wouldn’t mind getting in better shape, not that you have to worry about that, but it could be fun.”

Kat was instantly in a better mood with our having plans for future hang-out times. “Good, then it’s settled. We should set up weekly dates, if that’s okay with you?”

I didn’t mean to be a downer, but I had a store to run, plus there was a lot going on with the vampire coven and werewolf pack. Actually make that packs, as in pleural. Now that the wolves from Mobile, Alabama, were on their way, I had a dreadful feeling I was going to be sucked into pack business more than I’d ever wanted to be.

“Kat, I really enjoyed tonight. Hanging out with you was a blast, but I can’t set times yet. My life is so hectic with everything going on right now. Maybe soon, if things start to cool down, then we’ll be able to make plans on a more regular basis.” I instantly felt horrible seeing Kat’s lips turn downward.

“Sydney, I understand. I’d love to hang out with you. I could help you with your Selected stuff. We’d do some serious butt-kicking together. But, alas”—the princess put her hands up in the air, motioning toward the ceiling of the palace’s great hall—“I’m stuck here like a prisoner in a golden cage.”

Sadness encompassed her entire being and a rock thumped to the bottom of my gut as her shoulders slumped a little lower.

I leaned forward, giving her a hug. “Don’t worry, Kat, we’ll figure something out. Thanks again so much for inviting me. Seriously, this was a lot of fun.”

She nodded. “Yeah, it was fun, wasn’t it?”

Leaving the palace wasn’t nearly as arduous as getting into it. I unceremoniously held up my middle finger to both the fish demon at the first gate, then to the vampire guard who’d jabbed my finger so hard with his dagger that it still throbbed as I drove by.

The next day, I woke up refreshed. It was time to face Aunt Judith. She was going to tell me exactly how she was feeling and why Meredith had seen her going to the hospital. I descended the stairs wiping the sleep from my eyes, listening for Aunt Judith’s presence in the kitchen. None of the typical sounds of her kitchen activities were in the air, so I made my way through the wooden door to find the room void of human presence. There on the fridge was a note. Aunt Judith would be gone most of the day.

My heart sank.

Meredith was right to worry.

Aunt Judith had doctor’s appointments and tests to attend.

Chapter 6

Puffs of white air blew from my mouth with every breath as I walked to Mountain Bean after parking my car in front of Morning Sun. Dale, the mailman, stood at the counter when I entered. He greeted me with a smile.

“Mornin’, Sydney. You opening up that store of yours this early?” Dale straightened his back to stand taller. I noticed him sucking his beer gut in, too.

I tried not to laugh at his attempt to make himself more appealing. “Hey, Dale, yeah, customers can’t buy my goods if they can’t get into the store.” I finished ordering my coffee, complete with caramel drizzles on top, before heading toward the front door of Mountain Bean.

“Sydney, wait up, honey.” Dale approached and gently touched my arm while leaning in close. “I have some news you may find important.”

I met his gaze, searching for a clue what he was talking about. The telltale green sparkle glinted in his eyes. Dale’s family consisted of the oldest sect of witches in the city. He refused to disclose what else his blood was made up of, but I had a feeling he was part Other. My Selected senses kicked in whenever Dale was near, but he didn’t give off a distinct hot or cold vibe the werewolves and vamps did. Dale gave off more of an electric current.

“Okay. Why don’t you come on over to Morning Sun while I open up?”

Dale held the door, waiting for me to exit before him.

Dale squinted against the bright sun, holding his hand over his eyes to shield himself. I looked at him suspiciously. “Dale, what’s up with you? Did you have a late night last night or something?”

His grin was that of a naughty young man who’d just spent the night hanging out with his friends doing nefarious activities while his parents believed he was pulling an all-night study session at his friend’s house. Word to all parents, that’s the basic lie kids will tell you when they plan on partying with their friends.

The walk from Mountain Bean to Morning Sun was but a block. We arrived at my store in a few short minutes.

“Nothin’s up with me. I have no idea what you’re talking about, Sydney.” He closed the store’s front door behind us as I went straight to the fireplace to get a fire started. Outside, the morning air was frigid, making the store chilly inside. The walls of the store’s old building weren’t well insulated.

I peered over my shoulder. “Why don’t I believe you, Dale? You’re hiding something. You know I don’t like being held in the dark. So spill it already.” I turned my attention back to the fireplace to position the kindling into a pointed structure.

Dale sat on the couch next to the fireplace. Nervously massaging his chin while trying to feign interest in an object against the far wall, he tapped a shoe against the floor while remaining silent.

After lighting the fire, I went to the couch to sit next to Dale. I positioned myself close to him, knowing my nearness caused him discomfort. Dale had a crush on me. It would never turn into anything because he wasn’t the werewolf who held my heart in his temperamental paw, but I was the Selected. I had a responsibility to stay informed, even if that meant using Dale’s feelings to get information I needed.

No longer able to stand the silence, Dale cracked under my scrutiny. “Okay, fine. I was with my family last night. You were right, Miss Sydney. We were up pretty late.”

“Uh huh. What were you and your family doing up in the wee hours of the morning?” I scooted closer to Dale on the couch while making sure we didn’t physically touch.

He frowned. A thin sheen of sweat broke out on his brow while more glistened above his top lip. I couldn’t help but smirk. My ploy, albeit not a nice one, was working.

“Miss Sydney, that’s what I was going to tell you. You see, I’ve told you my family has certain abilities. We’re well aware of what kinds of people live here in Kenosha. Well, we try to stay out of their business. For the most part they stay out of ours. We keep a watchful eye on what they’re up to, but we don’t intervene unless we have to.” Dale lifted the cup of coffee to his lips and took a long gulp.

I put my hands up, motioning for him to continue his story. Patience was not one of my strengths. “Did something happen last night, Dale?” I knew he was leading up to telling me something, but his stalling was driving me into a state of annoyance.

Dale put his head down, staring at his jean-clad knees. “Sydney, last night a few members of my family and I were working on something out in the woods. We were approached by a vampire who tried to bribe us into working with him.”

My lungs iced while a chill ran down my spine. I couldn’t take another betrayal from someone close to me. Liam, Kieran’s second-in-command, had betrayed us all. There was a time I had considered him a close friend of mine. I didn’t intend on making that mistake again. Had I with Dale?

“Dale, what are you saying? What did the vampire want?” Kieran told me his coven knew about Dale’s family. They served as the watchers of the city. The coven leader never mentioned his vampires were in communication with the witch family.

The mailman lifted his leg to place an ankle on his other knee. He jumped when our thighs grazed each other’s. A laugh caught in my throat. I couldn’t bring myself to let my emotions flow free. I struggled between laughing in a hysterical fit and screaming about the injustices that made up my life.

“Sydney, we can’t tell when vampires are rogue or not, so I’m not sure if he’s a member of your vampire friend’s coven. He approached us in the woods asking us to help him get information. The vampire said if we don’t help him get what he wants he’ll hurt the women of our family.” Shame pinked his cheeks. He refused to make eye contact with me.

“Dale, what information did the vampire want?” The icy chill stayed wrapped around my spine but began to travel through my chest, making my body vibrate.

Dale got to his feet, leaving me paralyzed, but shivering. He scratched his fingertips against his scalp in a nervous act. “The vampire wanted to know about you, Sydney.” He held out his hands when I started to get up. “There’s more. I don’t think you’re the vampire’s main target. The bloodsucker was more interested in your association with the Judge, the one that helped with security at the vampire ball.”

“Kasdeya? What would a vampire want with her? She’s a Judge. She works for the vampires. There’s no reason why a vampire would go around asking questions about her. They should be able to ask her themselves.” Then realization hit. “The vampire must not be part of the royal family or the local coven. That’s why he’s going around behind their backs, trying to get information on her.”

I wondered what about Kasdeya they wanted to know. The demon Judge was contracted to the vampire king, but she also had a ruthless, angry ex-lover searching for her. What part of her life did the mysterious vampire want to find out about?

Dale shrugged. “No one from my family has ever seen this vampire before. He kept asking questions about where she lived, who she associated with. He wanted to know where they could find her. They asked about you, but only in terms of your connection to the demon.”

“Did the vampire say what he wanted with her?” Kasdeya wasn’t my best friend, but I’d be darned if I was going to allow something to happen to her. We were kindred acquaintances, of sorts.

Would she protect me if given the opportunity? I wasn’t so sure she would if she didn’t have the vampire king’s contract hanging over her head, but I had to give her the benefit of the doubt. We had been dealt lives with factors beyond our control. Determined to help her, I’d do whatever I could to find out about the mysterious vampire. I needed to warn her.

Dale went to the counter to put space between us. Luckily for me, Dale was too shy to push the boundaries of our friendship, so I didn’t have to deal with any pressure from him.

“No, he just said he needed to find her. He also said he didn’t have much time to complete his task. The vampire mentioned something about his master exacting punishment upon him if he didn’t follow through with his orders. Sydney, if that vampire doesn’t find out where the demon is, he said he’d suck dry every single female in our family. If he still doesn’t find out where she is, he will go after our children.” Dale’s voice wavered with worry. I didn’t blame him. Vampires could be ruthless, especially when they thought they were in danger.

“Don’t worry, Dale. I’ll talk to Kieran about the vampire to see if he knows anything. I’m sure he won’t be too happy having a vampire in his territory going around making threats like that. He’ll see to it. Think nothing more on the matter.” Taking Dale’s hand in mine, I gave him a reassuring squeeze.

I didn’t know for sure if Kieran would help with the issue of the mysterious vampire. Kieran may already know about the vampire, but I knew he couldn’t have anything to do with wanting to know where to find Kasdeya. Kieran had a direct line into where the vampire’s Judges spent their spare time, so he wouldn’t be looking for her through the local witch family. What the vampire wanted was what had me confused. I’d have to speak with Kasdeya to see if we could figure out the vampire’s intentions. Then we’d take care of it before Dale’s family got hurt.

Dale smiled but the expression didn’t quite reach his widespread eyes. “Sydney, I know you mean well, but I gotta take care of my family. We’re going to put our women in hiding until this vampire business is over with.”

I nodded in understanding. “Good, make sure they stay safe. I’ll do what I can to help.” We headed for the front of the store. “Dale, you make sure you stay safe, too, you hear me?”

He laughed, finally relaxing a bit. “Miss Sydney, I always hear what you say, even when you don’t think I’m listening.”

The tips of Dale’s ears pinked when I gave him a peck on his cheek.

After Dale left, I finally had time to clean up the store, water the plants by the front door, and work on ordering stock for the shelves. I’d stay all night if that was what it took to keep the shelves full. Aunt Judith and I needed the store’s sales to keep us afloat. Too bad being the Selected didn’t pay the bills.

The thought of staying all night at the store was more appealing to me than where I’d planned on spending my night, or at least most of the evening. The meeting at the pack house was scheduled for ten o’clock. Morris had scheduled it that way so I could be there. I didn’t have warm fuzzy feelings toward having to see Blake. It seemed we were capable of arguing, but not much else. Being together complicated matters because we couldn’t be together as a couple, despite both of us knowing how the other felt. I knew tonight wouldn’t be different than any other Blake encounter.

We’d talk.

We’d flirt.

We’d update each other on what’s been happening.

Then we’d fight.

He’ll start in on the life-mate speech I’ve heard multiple times. He’s heard my logical reasoning behind us not being together just as often. Blake didn’t care about those things. He cared that we weren’t spending all of our time together, working toward making a life and a future for ourselves.

A cool breeze blew through the store, but the door hadn’t opened. Vampire. A member of Kieran’s coven approached. The door chimes jangled as Daire strutted in wearing a well-tailored black suit. Despite my man troubles with Blake, my body reacted to Daire’s masculinity. The material of his suit stretched across his toned thigh muscles while hugging the bulges of his arms, showing off his sexy build.

The vampire wore sunglasses despite it being night out. His eyes must be blazing red like the rest of the vampires in Kieran’s coven. According to Kat, vampire eyes changed after a certain amount of years, meaning Daire was a lot older than his physical appearance led me to believe.

I circled behind the counter, grateful the vampire wasn’t able to detect my reaction to him like Blake could. I lifted an eyebrow at his presence, making him laugh. He did nothing to hide the long white fangs extending from his otherwise perfect set of teeth.

“Sydney Sedrick, how nice to see you again. Although, I thoroughly enjoyed our encounter when you fell out of the sky like an angel, right into my arms.” He lifted his arm in a grand gesture to show the garment bag draped over his bicep. He placed the bag on the counter that kept me a safe distance away from the sexy vampire. Despite the wood and glass structure between us, I couldn’t help getting a whiff of his cologne. The smell emulated electrified fresh water, turning the dial of my attraction to him up ten notches.

“So, you’re Kieran’s new errand boy. I get it. Thanks for the dress. Now you should probably be on your way.” He needed to leave. Actually, I needed him to leave. I had enough complications in my life. I didn’t need him to add to the ever-growing list.

Daire tipped his head awkwardly. Yep. Yep, he must have been born a vampire. Vampires, who were once human, possessed human-like movements and expressions. Those born as vampires struggled to replicate human gestures. Kieran put forth an effort for my benefit, but they were funnier than he meant them to be. He’d probably be ticked if he knew I often had to hide a laugh at his expense because of how foolish he looked while trying to act human.

On the other hand, Daire’s expression was awkward, but somehow sexy at the same time.

Ugh, why me?

He licked his lips slowly. I did everything in my power not to imagine having him glide that tongue along my skin, but I was helpless.

“I thought we could talk awhile. My boss has assigned me to your care. Since the failure before me did such a poor job, I’ve decided to make a better effort in ensuring your safety.” Daire’s smile was disarming. I turned my back on him to get a grip on my feelings and my body’s reaction to him.

What was wrong with me? I didn’t want a vampire vying for my attention.

Who was I kidding?

I wanted his attention.

Bad.

I swung back around to glare at him. “I appreciate the fact you’re doing what you’ve been told to do by your boss, but I’m doing fine on my own. I didn’t need Liam around to take care of me. That means I don’t need you hanging around, either.”

My words were more pointed than I intended, but I needed him out of my sight.