Shifters Rule (Rule Series) (9 page)

“I don’t need rest,” he assured her.

She waited patiently for him to make it across the room.
 
Her hands went to his waist to steady him.
 
He felt like an idiot.
 
He hated it when Silver saw him in those rare, weak moments.
 
How could she feel comfortable in trusting him with her life after seeing him in such a state?
 
He was supposed to protect her.

The corny story Trina told him about the guy proposing on a white horse before riding off into the sunset with his true love sprang to mind.
 
As stupid as it sounded, he wanted to be that guy for Silver.
 
He wanted to be able to rescue her from anything and everything.

Jack looped an arm around her shoulders and forced a grin.
 
“Don’t worry.
 
Everything is going to work out.”

A dazzling smile parted her lips, flashing a set of pearly white teeth.
 
“When you say it, I believe it.”

“I won’t let Cowboy hurt Trina.”

“I know.”
 
She nodded.
 
“We make a great team.”

“Yeah, and don’t you forget it.”

On their way out, Jack touched his chest where the ring rested at the end of a gold chain beneath his shirt.
 
When the time was right, he would give it to Silver.
 
He wanted to do it now, but it was too soon after her father’s death, and she was worried about Trina.

Maybe he could ask her to accept the ring after they took care of the Trina and Cowboy mess.

.

*****

Chapter Seven:

DISAPPEARING ACT

.

.

“Trina’s cleaning her room,” her mom said.
 
She hesitated, glancing back over her shoulder as if she was going to ask them to leave without seeing Trina.
 
Her eyes welled up with tears.
 
Arms opened wide, inviting Silver in for a big hug.
 
She patted the girl on the back a few times.
 
“I am so sorry about your daddy, honey.
 
He was way too young to have a heart attack.”

It was the story circulating through town.
 
Fortunately, the higher-ups in
Lincoln
knew about werewolves.
 
The medical examiner put ‘heart attack’ as cause of death on the official certificate without blinking an eye.
 
Jack wondered how many other deaths from ‘natural causes’ were actually people torn to pieces by werewolves.

An image of his father’s body blinded him for a moment.
 
He cringed.
 
When he glanced at Trina’s mother again, she was standing off to the side.
 
A silent invitation had been issued.
 
He’d missed it.
 
With a sheepish smile he crossed the threshold.
 

Trina’s mom closed the door before adding, “She’s supposed to have her room clean by nightfall, but you stay as long as you want.
 
I won’t ground her if it doesn’t get done.
 
It’s been a while since we’ve seen you here.”

They went upstairs after declining a snack, Silver in the lead.
 

Trina’s door was closed.
 
Loud music permeated from the room.
 
She was listening to
Fergie
.
 
Jack shared a wry smile with Silver before she knocked on the door.
 
She rapped her knuckles against the wood several times, finally banging furiously to be heard over the music.

Trina yelled, “Come in!”

Silver pushed the door open.

Trina tugged the corners of a pink sheet and tucked it under the mattress.
 
When she looked up and saw who her guests were, she turned off the music and fell back on the half-made bed.
 
“Oh, it’s just you two.”

“Thanks,” Silver said.
 
“That’s the greeting I was hoping for.”

“Sorry.
 
Mom’s been on my case all week to clean my room.
 
She’s threatening to take my phone and computer away.
 
Can you imagine life without the true necessities?
 
Anyway, I thought you were her coming to check on me.”

Silver sat next to Trina, but Jack remained standing.
 
Being in Trina’s ultra-feminine room put him ill at ease.
 
He clasped his hands behind his back and waited for Silver to give her friend the news.
 
Maybe he should have stayed at Silver’s house.
 
The girls didn’t need his awkward presence.

Silver blurted out, “I know who you’re dating.”

“What?
 
How?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Trina’s eyes widened.
 
They bounced between Silver to Jack and back again.
 
“You used your power to see into my mind?
 
I thought we were friends.”

The girl wasn’t as dumb as she looked.

“We are,” Silver insisted.
 
“That’s why I asked Jack to do it, and I’m glad I did.
 
Otherwise, we wouldn’t know what a total mistake you’re making.”

Trina shoved Silver off the bed, and Silver almost fell on her butt.
 
She barely caught herself before hitting the floor.
 
Trina stood on the mattress and pointed a finger at the door.
 
“Get out!
 
I want you both to leave and don’t ever come back.
 
I never want to see you again!”

Silver shook her head.
 
“You don’t mean that.”

“Yes I do.
 
You don’t know anything.
 
I can’t believe I ever thought you were my friend.”

“I am your friend.”

“Right.”
 
Trina rolled her damp eyes, hands on hips.
 
“Sure you are.
 
You have a guy you’re crazy in love with.
 
You get to decide when I see you and how much time we spend together.
 
The second I fall in love, you want to destroy it.
 
Well, too bad.
 
Derek and I were made for each other, and we’re going to run away together and have the most intense love affair anyone has ever seen.”

Silver’s face paled.
 
“You can’t run away with him.”

“Stop telling me what I can do.
 
Get the hell out of my room before I start screaming.”

Too late.
 

Jack’s gaze swung to the door, wondering if Trina’s mother would come up to investigate.
 
Then what?
 
Was Silver mad enough to blurt the truth out in front of a civilian?

Jack could see Silver was in a losing battle.
 
She’d lost sight of why they were there in favor of worrying about destroying one of her most important relationships.
 
He decided to take charge.
 
The girls might end up resenting him for it, but someone had to tell Trina who she was dating.

“Derek is my old friend Cowboy.”
 
Jack looked up at the girl on the bed and burst her bubble with a piercing stare.
 
“He is a vampire.
 
You
are dating a vampire, and he’s got his eyes on your neck.”

Trina returned his hard glare, trying to look as if the news didn’t affect her, but he saw her swallow.
 
Her pointing arm slowly lowered.
 
“Liar.
 
I can’t believe the two of you would sink so low just to keep me from being happy.”

Silver took over then.
 
“Do you really believe I don’t want you to be happy?
 
My father just died, but I came all the way over here to warn you about a vampire.
 
Do you honestly think I would be playing games with you right now?
 
Do you really think I’m that jealous or spiteful?”

“No.”
 
Trina climbed down off the bed.
 
She apologized to Silver for doubting her.
 
They were finally getting somewhere.
 
She turned to Jack.
 
“Are you sure Derek is this Cowboy guy?”

“Positive.”

“But he’s always been so sweet to me.”

“Vampires can be charming,” Jack said with a grin.
 
“How do you think they get so many girls to willingly give up their blood, sometimes even their lives?”

Trina crossed to the window, chewing on her lower lip.
 
She turned to face them after a long time and shrugged.
 
“I don’t care.”

Silver’s jaw dropped.
 
“What do you mean you don’t care?
 
You have to care.
 
This is your life we’re talking about.”

“I don’t care if he’s a vampire.
 
I love him.”

“You can’t possibly love him.”

Trina shouted, “There you go again telling me how I feel!
 
Stop acting like my mother.”

“I’m not.”

“You hooked up with a guy who used to be a vampire and you’re happy.”
 
She gestured to Jack.
 
“He’s got wacky powers still, and you have no idea what he’s going to do next.
 
For all you know he could morph back into a vampire at any second.
 
Then what?
 
Would you walk away from him?
 
I don’t
think
so.
 
Tell me why I should give up the only guy who has ever cared about me?”

Silver shook her head, clearly distressed.
 
She turned to Jack for answers, but he was also confused by the turn of events.
 
He asked Trina questions in the hope of showing her a different angle.

“Are you willing to become a blood-sucking creature of the night?
 
Give up sunlight forever?
 
Run from hunters?
 
Move from town to town for the rest of your life?
 
Are you willing to walk away from your family and friends?
 
Do you love him that much?”

Trina’s eyes narrowed.
 
“It wouldn’t be all bad, would it?
 
I mean, I’ll live forever, stay pretty forever.
 
I wouldn’t get old or sick.”

“You’ll have to drink blood every day at first, until your body stabilizes.
 
Then it will become a weekly thing.
 
Are you ready for it?”

She visibly shuddered but recovered quickly.
 
Putting on a brave face and lifting her chin high, she said, “I’ll do whatever I have to do to be with Derek.”

“Cowboy,” he corrected her.

“Whatever.”

Silver’s eyes filled with tears.
 
She latched onto Trina’s hands and pleaded with her.
 
“I lost my father.
 
I can’t lose you, too.”

“You won’t.”

“I will if you become a vampire.
 
We won’t even be able to talk on the phone.
 
Another hunter could find out and track you down.
 
Don’t do this!
 
You won’t live forever because someone will drive a stake through your heart.
 
You might even turn on your own family and kill them.
 
I’m begging you.
 
Don’t see him anymore.”

Trina wiped her eyes on her sleeve before nodding.
 
Her lips wobbled.
 
“Okay.
 
You’re right.
 
I promise.
 
I won’t see him again.”

Silver wrapped her arms around the other girl’s neck.
 
“Thank you.”

“I need to tell him though.
 
I can’t just dump him.
 
I have to explain why I can’t see him again.”

Silver opened her mouth to argue.
 
Jack beat her to it.
 
“Don’t you worry about Cowboy.
 
I’ll make sure he knows why you can’t hang with him.
 
He’ll understand.”

Trina smiled.
 
It was laced with regret and sadness.
 
Left up to her, she would probably keep seeing Cowboy despite her promise to Silver.
 
Jack intended on making sure it didn’t happen.
 
He was going to have a long talk with his former vampire buddy.
 
If he had to, he would use blackmail or threats to get rid of Cowboy.

.

*****

.

Later that evening, Silver decided she wanted time to herself, so Jack went downstairs to
Jersey
’s old study.
 
It had occurred to him in the early morning hours that
Jersey
might have hidden the rock somewhere inside the room.
 
The study was, after all, the last place Jack saw it.
 
He remembered how
Jersey
rotated it in one hand, enjoying the feel of it.
 
The head werewolf probably had a secret drawer or safe somewhere.

Jack sat behind the werewolf’s desk.
 
He ran a hand beneath the middle drawer, searching for anything out of the ordinary.
 
Smooth wood, nothing more.
 
He opened the top drawer on the right.
 
It was filled with miscellaneous papers.
 
He removed them in three handfuls and dumped them on the desk.
 
Once the drawer was empty, he knocked on the bottom to see if maybe there was a secret place to stash things.

There wasn’t.

He moved onto the next drawer.
 
There wasn’t much inside: an old checkbook, plastic case of paperclips, and some assorted junk.
 
He dug in and tossed things on the floor this time before tapping on the bottom.
 
Still nothing.
 
Before he moved on to the last drawer, he scanned the room.
 
Where else could it be?

Maybe there was a secret compartment in the bookcase.
 
Or there could be a loose stone in the fireplace.
 
Jersey
loved his angel statues.
 
Could one of them have the rock inside it?
 
If so, he would have to go to the local garbage dump because Silver’s parents threw out almost every single thing belonging to the werewolf.

Jack returned his attention to the last drawer.
 
It was empty.
 
He knocked on the bottom before feeling underneath it.

“Are you looking for something?”

Jack’s body stiffened at the sound of the masculine voice.
 
He sat up, hand still on the drawer.
 
Jersey
stood in the doorway.
 
Of course, that wasn’t possible.
 
They’d werewolf-proofed the house and mansion.
 
Jack figured he was receiving another message from
Jersey
through his power.
 
It was probably the desk that had given birth to the scene.

It wouldn’t do any good to talk to
Jersey
.
 
The werewolf wasn’t actually there, but Jack couldn’t help himself.
 
He leaned back in the chair and said, “I hope you don’t think I’m going to forget the horrible things you’ve done just because you gave Silver’s necklace back.”