Into The Void (Vampire Hunter Book 4) (4 page)

“What’s going on? How do you know this –
Senara
?”
I hissed to Nicholas.

“Let’s just all go inside and talk,” Nicholas responded, getting out of
the car to follow Lucas.

I looked at Emmett. “Any
feelings
?”
I asked. I wasn’t trying to be snotty, but even to my own ears, my words
sounded snide.

Maybe Emmett agreed, because instead of answering me he also got out of
the car and started walking in the direction of the cabin.

I could barely make out the backs of Nicholas and Lucas in front of us.
It looked like they were talking.

“What are they saying?” I asked Emmett.

“I’m not a vampire whisperer,” he replied sarcastically. “If you can’t
hear them, neither can I.”

I didn’t speak again until we reached the cabin. I was happy not to talk
to Emmett ever again, if needed. I knew I was channeling my frustration at him,
but hell, he was an easy target. His cryptic answers were almost as infuriating
as most
of
 
Lucas’
responses.

When we stepped into the cabin, Nicholas and Lucas were already there,
sitting on opposite couches.

“What was that all about?” I asked tensely.

Lucas raised his eyebrows and held us his hands.
The
perfect picture of innocence.
“Nothing,” he said.

“
Senara
.” Emmett was staring at Lucas. “You had
a relationship with her, no?”

Lucas squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. “We have a history, yes,” he
finally answered.

I sat down next to Lucas on the couch. “History?” I pressed. “As in
you’ve heard of her? Or is there more to this?” I knew the answer but I was
going to force Lucas to spell it out.

Lucas wouldn’t look me in the eye. Finally, he turned to Emmett. “Usually
I appreciate your abilities…” his voice trailed off.

“Sorry to put you on the spot,” Emmett started. He didn’t look or sound
sorry at all. “But this isn’t about us nosing into your past. All of our lives
are on the line, and whatever you can tell us about
Senara
might possibly help.”

Lucas still didn’t speak. “You want to spill the beans?” I glared at
Nicholas. Obviously their conversation on the way in was about this hideously
vile woman. Maybe I
would
join
Tobias’ side, just to get rid of her. I commanded myself to calm down. I was
already planning the death of someone I knew next to nothing about.

Nicholas was looking at Lucas, who was still silent. “We did know
Senara
,” he said slowly. “Long, long time ago. Honestly, I
thought she was dead now. She’s not in any of the registries. Believe me, I’ve
looked.”

“Why?” I asked him. “What’s so special about her? Is Lucas her maker?” I
blurted out.

“I didn’t turn her, no.” Lucas sighed and finally met my gaze. “I knew
Senara
a very long time ago, like
Nic
said, but she was already a vampire back then. Well, half-vamp.”

“What do you mean?” Emmett asked. “Isn’t it all or nothing?”

“One would think,” Nicholas said wryly.

“We used to travel together,” Lucas continued. “
Nic
,
Senara
, and me. And a couple of other vampires,” he
added. “We were much younger and dumber then; that was about the only thing we
were smart about: safety in numbers.”

“And we didn’t know
Senara
was a psychotic
crazy bitch back then,” Nicholas interjected.

I laughed, despite myself.

Lucas shook his head ruefully. “Unfortunately, we found out when it was
almost too late.
Senara
was going to kill me.”

“Why?” I demanded. “Lover’s quarrel?” I added sarcastically.

Lucas ignored me. His face was serious. “
Senara
wasn’t a normal vampire. She was a fairy, who was bitten by a vampire. That
gave her the best –or worst – of both worlds, depending on how you look at it.”

“Fairy? Like
Tinkerbell
?” I crinkled my nose.

Nicholas shook his head. “Not quite.”

“We found out that, even before she was bitten, she was up to no good,”
Lucas explained. “She was pure evil from the very beginning.
Senara
practiced magic – black magic. And her specialty was
making deals at the crossroads.”

“Selling your soul at the crossroads? That’s real?” I asked in surprise.

“All too real,” Nicholas said seriously. “
Senara
was interested in harvesting as many souls as possible.”

“But you didn’t know this at first?” Emmett asked.

Lucas and Nicholas exchanged a glance. “I guess we had our suspicions
that something was wrong,” Lucas responded. “But we ignored them for awhile. I
already told you I wasn’t the smartest vampire, back in the day.” Lucas turned
to look at me.

I shrugged. I was still pissed about
Senara
. I
wasn’t going to cut him any slack – not yet at least.

“Get to the point,” Emmett said. He was standing by the fireplace, arms
crossed in front of his chest. He looked exhausted.

“
Senara
wanted to kill this human that we had
befriended,” Lucas said, looking down at his hands. “She wanted his blood, and
I later found out she wanted his soul, as well.”

“At the time, I didn’t understand it,” Lucas continued. “There were
plenty of easy targets, and this guy was trying to help us – Charles was his
name. He was a doctor; there was no synthetic blood, but he wanted to try an
experiment. Cow blood.”

“That shit was nasty,” Nicholas muttered. We all turned to look at him.
“Sorry, didn’t realize I was speaking out loud.” Nicholas scrunched up his
face. “It really was bad,” he said. “Synthetic is a lot better.”

“Anyway,” Lucas shot a pointed glance at Nicholas. “
Senara
approached me about Charles. She wanted us to kill him – to feast on his blood
together.” Lucas paused.

“And?” I asked shrilly.

“I was confused,” Lucas admitted. “I was also tempted, but I thought we
were all on the same page – try the experiment with the cow’s blood. Worse case
scenario, it didn’t work. And we’d continue killing – but we’d kill enemies,
not friends.”

“When I told
Senara
I didn’t want to kill
Charles, she went ballistic. She started smashing up our place. At first I
thought she was just a woman unhinged, that it would blow over, but then she
turned on me. I hadn’t felt vulnerable since my rebirth as a vampire. But when
Senara
lashed out at me, I thought I was a goner.”

“That’s when I showed up,” Nicholas said. “Lucas wasn’t expecting me, but
it’s a good thing I came when I did.”

“It sure is,” Lucas agreed. “I told you that Nicholas had my back, and that
he would have
yours
,” Lucas said.

I nodded, unable to speak.

“I got there and Lucas was in bad shape,” Nicholas continued. “He was on
the floor, not moving, bleeding profusely from his head.”

I leaned forward on the couch.

“
Senara
was still there,” Nicholas continued.
“She was preparing for the final blow. She had a crudely carved stake, but I
knew it would do the trick.” Nicholas shuddered.

“What did you do?” I whispered.

“I tackled her, tried to take the stake out of her hands. But I couldn’t
get a hold of it,” Nicholas explained. “There was a poker by the fire. It was
iron, which doesn’t kill a vampire, but I knew it would stun her, buy us time.
I grabbed it and staked her through the heart.”

 
“It knocked her out, as expected,”
Nicholas continued. “Once she was immobilized, I sprang into action. I could
see Lucas wasn’t dead, just badly beaten. I picked him up and carried him the
fuck out of there.”

“Wow.” I didn’t know what else to say. I was reeling. The entire night,
finding out Tobias wanted to exterminate all humans, then hearing that his
nemesis was one of Lucas’ former girlfriends, was too much to process.

“So you didn’t
really
kill
Senara
?” Emmett asked.

“No,” Lucas said. “She disappeared after that incident.”

“What about Charles?” I asked. “Did he finish the cow blood experiment?”

Lucas shook his head. “I tried to warn him, but I was too late.
Senara
got to him first.”

“You let him die?” I directed my question at Lucas. My tone was
accusatory, but I couldn’t help it.

“And you think if I had saved him he’d be around today?” Lucas asked
harshly. “If he were still alive thousands of years later, it would mean I had
turned him, which I
vowed not to do.
”

“Just stop it!” Emmett practically yelled.

I turned to glare at him. “I’m trying to understand all the nuances of
Lucas’ ex-girlfriend,” I said sarcastically.

“We don’t have time for this!” Emmett exclaimed. He paused, running his
fingers through his hair and pushing his glasses up on his nose.

“
Senara
is still alive. Charles is not. That’s
basically all we need to know,” Emmett said.

“He’s right,” Lucas piped up. “I, I know you’re interested in my past,
Rory.” Lucas looked at me nervously. I forced a smile. “But we have to focus on
how to get rid of
Senara
. Without you committing to fight
for Tobias,” Lucas added quickly.

“How did you find out what she really was?” Emmett asked. “Half fairy,
half vampire.”

“When did that other fairy come looking for her? What was it, 10, maybe
20 years later?” Nicholas questioned Lucas.

“Sounds about right. It was at least a decade,” Lucas said. “
Senara
had stolen souls from him. Apparently she was a huge
con artist. She was only supposed to be brokering the deals at the crossroads.
Instead, she was stealing the souls for herself.”

“She screwed this other fairy over; took the souls he had collected, and
made it look like he was the one keeping all of the souls for himself,”
Nicholas explained.

“Who was supposed to get them? The devil?” I asked nervously. “That
doesn’t sound like someone you’d want to have on your bad side.”

Nicholas shrugged. “I guess they were supposed to go to whoever was
ruling Hell at the time. I try to stay out of matters involving that place.
It’s full of politics, just like Earth.”

“The fairy didn’t know
Senara
had been turned,
and up until then, we didn’t know she was half-fairy,” Lucas said. “Once we
realized the full extent of her powers, we tried to find her. But nobody we
knew back then had seen or heard from her in years.”

“
Senara
isn’t the kind of woman you’d expect to
stay quiet for long,” Nicholas continued. “I wasn’t surprised to hear her name
tonight, to be honest. I can’t believe she’s waited until now to make a power
move.”

“I really thought she was dead,” Lucas added. “When it became mandatory
for all non-humans to register, get logged into the database, I looked for her.
They didn’t even have a record that she
had
ever
existed.”

“I did the same thing,” Nicholas said. “Hell, I even searched for half
fairy/half vampire, thinking they made her register but she managed to do it
under a fake name.
Nada
.
Zip. Zilch
.”

“So to sum this up, she’s one of a kind, insane, and has tons of power
from the souls she’s taken?” Emmett asked warily.

“Yep. I doubt a normal stake would even kill her,” Lucas said. “I’m not
sure what would. Sounds like this prophet thinks you’re going to get a
spectacular power.” Lucas looked at me, his eyes filled with worry.

“I wonder if
Senara
knows about me?” I asked.
“Or even about Tobias? They’re obviously both planning to take over and rule
Hell on Earth.”

“She can’t know about the prophet’s prediction,” Nicholas said.
“Otherwise she’d try to kill you first, before you develop your powers.”

“I need to go home and think about all of this,” Emmett said.

“I’ll take you,” Nicholas offered.

“No, no.” Emmett held us his hand. “It’s too long of a way. Just drop me
off in the nearest town, and I’ll take a taxi from there.”

“You sure?” Nicholas asked. “I really don’t mind.”

“I’m sure.”

“You guys staying here?” Nicholas turned to Lucas and me.

“I can’t go home,” I replied. “My parents think I’m spending the night at
a friend’s house.”

“Just crash here tonight,” Nicholas offered. “Lucas and I will flip a
coin to see who has to take one of those annoying sunlight pills, and the loser
will drive you back in the morning.”

Lucas laughed. “You know I’ll do it. It’s no problem. And besides, you’ve
already done so much for us.”

“It’s actually been fun,” Nicholas said. “A good excuse to take a break
from hunting and see my oldest and dearest friend.”

“When I asked to go home, I meant
now
,”
Emmett interjected.

“Sorry, man,” Nicholas grabbed the car keys. “Be back in a few,” he
called over his shoulder.

Now that I was alone with Lucas, I was at a loss for words.

“What are you thinking?” Lucas asked me.

“Just trying to understand what’s going on,” I said honestly. “This night
has been surreal.”

“I’m just so happy that you’re safe. Even with Nicholas there, if
something had gone wrong, you two would have been outnumbered. It was a hell of
a risk. One I don’t think I’m willing to take again,” Lucas said.

“You think there will be another meeting?” I asked nervously.

“At some point,” Lucas said grimly. “If Matthews tells Tobias that your
power is ready, he’ll probably call one. Or, he might try to get a hold of you
individually. Depends on timing and if he’s still ‘conditioning’ his army, as
you said.”

“Yuck. He was more disgusting than I pictured.” I laughed. “I feel like
I’m in a bad dream. I seriously can’t believe this evening.”

“And Henry isn’t mad at you?”

Why did you have to bring him up?

“He’s fine,” I said lightly.

I didn’t have to elaborate. Nicholas was back.

“That was quick,” Lucas commented.

Nicholas shook his head. He looked bemused. “Do you think that Emmett
dude is going to be okay?” he asked. “Intense guy.”

“He and I don’t always get along so well,” I admitted. “I think I annoy
him.”

“Everything annoys him,” Lucas said. “But I’m not bashing the guy,” he
quickly added. “Most of what we know is because of him.”

“Things cool with you and your pal Henry?” Nicholas asked me.

Ugh! Why did everyone keep bringing him up?

“Uh-huh,” I mumbled.

“Alright, well, I’m going to get some sleep.
There’s
two bedrooms. You guys can take those and I’ll take the couch,” Nicholas said.

“No way,” Lucas protested. “You two can have the bedrooms. I’m not tired
anyway. Too much on my mind.”

“I’ll probably just hang out with Lucas, unless he wants to be alone.” I
shot a glance at him.

“I’d love the company,” Lucas replied.

“Alright well, see you two tomorrow. It’s been real.” Nicholas headed to
the back.

Lucas and I sat on the couch, not speaking at first. But it was a
comfortable silence. I wanted to ask him more about
Senara
,
like how long they were together, but I didn’t dare. Not like I had a right to
know, or that it even mattered.
 

“She didn’t mean anything, you know.” I looked over at Lucas. He was
studying my face.

“The past is just that. I’m not going to press you about it,” I told him.
“It caught me off guard, that’s all.”

“It scares the hell out of me knowing she’s still out there, and if she
gets wind of you being destined to kill her she’s going to come for you,” Lucas
said.

“Yeah, I wasn’t too thrilled about that part either,” I admitted. “But if
I ever get my mysterious power, I’ll just have to take her out first.” I was
only half joking.

Lucas shook his head. “I don’t care what that prophet said; you’re not
going after
Senara
.
I’ll
kill her, if that’s what it takes to ensure your safety.”

“No offense, but you haven’t even been able to get rid of Thomas and
Bartholomew on your own, and they’re normal vampires.”

“I know I sound crazy, Rory,” Lucas said. He didn’t sound crazy. He
sounded desperate. “I just can’t let anything happen to you!”

“Well, we’re not going to find a solution tonight,” I said lightly.
“Let’s hope after Emmett gets some shuteye he knows more. Then, the four of us
can come up with a plan.”

Lucas forced a smile. “I’m going to lie down on one of the couches. I am
tired but I wasn’t going to let
Nic
sleep out here.”

“You can have the other bedroom. I’m too wired to relax, and I lie in a
bed staring at my ceiling every night at home. At least here I don’t have to
pretend I go to sleep.”

“Or we could both take the bedroom,” Lucas said. He was flirting with me
again. Thank God he was starting to sound normal now.

“Hmm, let me think about it,” I said, pretending to ponder the decision.
But I was already standing up and walking towards the back of the cabin.

Lucas placed his hand on the small of my back and led me down the left
side of the hall. The bedroom was at the end. “You know I didn’t mean anything
other than just lying here together, right?” Lucas said, opening the door.

“Of course.” I had been hoping he
did
mean more, but I wasn’t surprised. Lucas had made it perfectly clear that
although he was attracted to me, he couldn’t act on it, risk losing control.

Lucas lied down on the bed on his back and motioned for me to join him. I
cuddled up next to him, resting my head in the crook of his shoulder and
draping my arm over his chest.
 
It felt
so wonderful to be with him.
So safe and secure.

In just a few minutes, I could tell by his breathing that Lucas was
asleep. I took the opportunity to look up at him, to study his chiseled face.

“Yes?” Lucas asked, opening one eye to peer at me quizzically.

“I, um, thought you were asleep,” I stuttered. “Didn’t mean to disturb
you.”

“I learned to be a light sleeper.
Safer that way.
Why were you looking at me?”

“I like looking at you, and I don’t get a lot of opportunities,” I said
bluntly. With all the lies coming out of my mouth these days, I was surprised I
was still actually capable of telling the truth.

Lucas laughed. “That wasn’t the answer I was expecting. For what it’s
worth, I like looking at you, too.”

“Don’t mock me,” I said.

“I’m not at all. I’m just teasing you, Rory. You know how I feel about
you.”

I didn’t answer. We’d had this conversation once before; no need to
repeat it.

“You should get some sleep,” I said. I ran my hand over his chest,
feeling the outline of his shredded abs. “There, now that I got that out of the
way, I really won’t disturb you again.”

Lucas caressed my head with the arm I wasn’t lying on. “You never bother
me, Aurora,” he whispered.

I pressed myself closer into his body and pushed all thoughts of
everything out of my mind.

I would enjoy the moment while it lasted, and worry about the shit
hitting the fan tomorrow.