Silverthorn (26 page)

Nolan rushed to his feet. He clambered on top of a vampire, threaded his fingers into his hair, and bashed his head against the ground once, twice, three times…until the vampire’s head appeared as mushy as applesauce.

The vampire beside him pushed off the ground, prepared to dash in the opposite direction, obviously having seen enough death to convince him that leaving was his best option. But Nolan grasped onto his pant leg and dragged him to the ground.

The vamp kicked his legs and tried to shake his opponent loose, but Nolan vaulted onto his back, grabbed his neck and twisted it, rendering the vampire harmless.

Alexis appeared in the bedroom doorway, looking into the kitchen at the downed vamp. “That won’t do a thing unless you end it.” Sensing Kendall beside her, she stepped aside until my friend stepped through the threshold. She hurried over to the vampire and with one quick tug, removed his head with her bare hands. When his body turned to dust, she breathed heavy and looked pale, eyes checking out every area for a food source…until her gaze landed on mine.

For a fraction of a moment, she bared her pointy teeth, having found someone with the requisite amount of blood to nourish her. Recognizing me, however, she grunted in frustration and glanced in either direction for someone she could feed on. She’d no doubt done similarly with Alexis. Otherwise, she would have already tried to feed upon her. Her left cheek had turned scarlet. One of the vamps must have hit her there. Otherwise, Alexis appeared unharmed.

Kendall hadn’t escaped the brawl without incident either. She had a large gash on her forehead, where blood glistened. Her knuckles were bloody as well, but I didn’t see any scrapes, so it the blood probably belonged to one or more of the vampires she’d dusted.

“Where’s Darius?” Kendall asked, doing her best to get her breathing under control. She squeezed away from my sister and entered the kitchen. She looked left and right, appearing suspicious. “And Zephora?”

I wondered the same thing. “He must have suspected that we’d come looking for him.”

“How?” asked Alexis. “Who could have tipped him off?”

Rather than answer, because I didn’t have one, I went over to the vampire whose head that Nolan had bashed repeatedly against the ground. I swung the blade down, separating it from its body. Seconds later, both turned to dust.

“Where could he have gone?” Alexis continued. “Is he on his way to my house?”

“He won’t visit your home,” I said, “because we might suspect that
he
might drop by. How many did you two handle in the bedroom?”

“Seven,” said Kendall and Alexis in unison. That they answered at the same time disturbed them. They stepped away from one another, preferring not to have anything in common, other than their mutual distrust.

“He accomplished his plans,” I said and set my sights on Kendall. “Look at you. Darius knows you’re reluctant to feed on a human, which will keep you weak.” I turned to Nolan. “And he knows you only have so many paranormal creatures to steal power from.” I shook my head, frustrated at our lack of success, despite having killed a dozen vampires. I hated that I’d played into Darius’s plans. “You’re both weak. That’s what he wants when he attacks us tonight at the show.” I turned to Alexis. “You’re the most knowledgeable when it comes to this sort of thing…What should we do?”

At the insinuation that anyone considered her a leader, she staggered back. “How should I know? I don’t know Darius. You do!”

I felt Alexis, Kendall, and Nolan staring at me. I’ve never felt comfortable with others looking to me for direction, unless it had to do with music, which came so naturally, because I always knew exactly what sound we needed at any given moment of every song we wrote.

I locked eyes with Alexis once more and noticed something I hadn’t seen a moment ago…just like Kendall and Nolan, she looked haggard, weary. I’d never seen her appear so worn out, so weary. She’d always been strong and fearless, unrepentant and vengeful. But she now appeared indecisive and irritated. It was the first time I’d seen her appear anything but completely confident and in control. I didn’t know what to make of it.

“What is that?” Alexis asked, glancing in either direction, obviously trying to pinpoint a sound that only she’d heard. She turned to Kendall. “I didn’t see a ticking clock.”

Kendall shrugged. “Because we don’t have one.”

That’s when realization hit me. The lingering scent was natural gas. One of the vampires must have turned on the oven before leaving, and the ticking sound must have been a bomb.
Darius probably hadn’t had enough time to educate his minions in supernatural methods of mayhem. Otherwise, these vampires wouldn’t have resorted to such a human approach to wreck havoc.

I waved toward the back door. “There’s a bomb. Everybody out!” I rushed toward the exit. A couple seconds later, I burst through the door, followed closely by Alexis, Kendall, and Nolan. We trampled down from the third floor, heading towards the ground.

Once we touched the floor, an explosion rocked the building, shattering glass windows on each floor. We hit the dirt in the small backyard, covering our faces as glass and aluminum siding rained down on us.

Shocked, I turned back toward the building to find that a huge hole emerged on the third floor at the left side of the building. Although embers still burned, the fire was limited to Kendall and Brandon’s unit, since the flames stirred but didn’t spread.

Nevertheless, screams erupted from the building as other residents in the complex hollered in fright.

Each of us breathed easy, thankful that we’d survived the explosion.

Shocked by the damage, Kendall said, “All of our stuff…gone!” Rather than fearful or saddened, she trembled with barely contained rage.

Alexis snorted. “Did you and Serena once take a field trip to Guantanamo Bay? You’re both obsessed with revenge.”

Kendall didn’t seem to have heard her words. “No matter how long it takes, I will find him. And I will hurt him.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“What happened?” asked Celestina, concerned by the disappointment on my face upon walking through my front door.

Lulu barked and trotted over to me. Also noticing my apprehension, she wagged her tail and whined, eager to put me at ease.

I couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, my Little Lulu!” I crouched down, and she jumped into my arms. I hoisted her up as I stood tall. Lulu went about licking my neck. “Did you miss me?” Her kisses increased in speed. For the first time since leaving Kendall’s apartment, I smiled. “You’re so precious! I bet the Gollum would love you!” That only quickened the pace of her kisses. I couldn’t prevent myself from chuckling.

“So what’s up?” Brandon said, approaching us now that we’d all entered the house. “Did you take care of Darius?”

“No,” Alexis said. “But we killed all of his underlings.”

“And,” Kendall said, “we’re homeless.”

“Huh?” Brandon looked among us for answers. “What do you mean, we’re homeless?”

“Darius’s minions blew up our apartment.” Kendall shook her head, dispirited. “Our home is gone!”

Brandon hurried over to her and wrapped her in a hug. Although he looked frustrated and disturbed, he found it more important to expend his energy comforting Kendall. He held her as gently as though she were fine china. “It’ll be fine.” He released a heavy sigh. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Celestina shivered and wrapped her arms across her chest.

“What’s wrong?” asked Alexis approaching her. “Have you had a vision?”

She nodded, disappointed to have to answer.

I went over to her. “What did you see?” I felt Nolan come up behind me as Kendall and Brandon joined us.

Celestina, no doubt sensing their attention, lowered her eyes and cringed, as though too much attention resulted in social anxiety. She turned around, bent over, and placed both hands on her knees, while taking in deep breaths. “Don’t look at me,” she said. “I don’t like it.”

Alexis went over, knelt down, and faced her. “Honey, they’ve stopped.”

My niece breathed easier.

“What did you see?”

“The same thing as always. You and Aunt Serena hurting each other. It never changes.”

My sister grabbed Celestina’s arms and lightly shook her to get her attention. “But that already happened. What about what’s coming up? With Darius? Or Zephora?”

Like a child three years younger, Celestina glanced back at me with a troubled expression, one that revealed frustration that her mother didn’t trust her. I knew what my niece’s visions meant. Although Alexis and I had crossed paths in an adversarial manner in the past, we would do so again at some point in the future. While it made me quiver with trepidation, I needed to keep my attention on the present. Besides, Alexis once stated that her daughter’s visions weren’t one-hundred percent accurate.

“What about Darius?” I asked. “Can you tell us anything about what’s coming?”

She met my gaze with a stern stare. “He won’t be alone.”

“What does that mean?” asked Alexis, shaking her daughter a little too firmly. “Is Zephora with him?”

Her response shocked me. How could Alexis be so caring and attentive a moment ago, only to revert to a disposition fitting for a child abuser? I had no doubt that our mother’s impatience influenced how my sister treated her daughter. “Hey,” I said, stepping forward to approach my sister. “Let’s give her some space.”

Alexis shook her head at me in annoyance and clutched her daughter’s arms so tightly that Celestina’s arms turned white from the pressure. “Tell us! What do you know?”

“That’s enough,” I said, locking my hand around Alexis’s wrist and gripping it tightly. “Let her go!”

My sister ignored me. She rattled Celestina. “Come on, speak! What’ll happen?”

Celestina cringed. She drew her shoulders inward with fright. “Please, stop…”

With a heavy chop, I knocked my sister’s hand from around Celestina’s wrist. “I said, knock it off!”

Alexis shot to her feet, her eyes blazing with hatred. “How dare you!” She pointed at Celestina. “She’s my daughter. Not yours!”

I would never lose sight of that fact, even though I felt closer to her than merely an aunt did. “Then prove it. Don’t mistreat her!” I stalked up to her, staring in her eyes, willing to throw down if necessary.

Alexis didn’t retreat, didn’t even look away. She met my gaze and doubled the intensity with which I glared at her. “You’re ignorant. You don’t know anything about being a witch.”

“And you don’t know anything about being a parent!”

She sneered. “And you do? Do you have a child no one knows about? If not, you better shut your damn trap.”

“In some cases, you don’t need to be a parent…to know how to parent.” Grams’s example had proven that much. Nevertheless, I’ll admit to ignorance when it came to parenting. Without a child of my own, how could I not? I just knew I would never have treated any child the way Alexis had treated her daughter. “For you, everything seems to come down to one thing: being a witch. I bet you’d sacrifice anything to learn more about witchcraft, even if it means hurting the ones you love.”

Startled, Alexis met my gaze, as usual acknowledging my assertion as a challenge. It seemed that, no matter the contest, much less the spoils of any given conquest, she couldn’t bypass a chance to defeat anyone who attempted to provoke her.

Enraged, Alexis raised her right hand to slap me.

Nolan appeared between us and caught her wrist with an incredulous look. “What are you doing? I thought Darius was the enemy. I thought we were fighting him…not each other!

“Let me go!” Alexis said and tried to remove her hand from his grasp, but he held her arm stable. That she didn’t attempt to ice him expressed that she didn’t consider him a threat, even if she couldn’t gain the upper hand in a physical manner without resorting to magic. Besides, she probably feared that using magic would allow him to steal whichever ability she resorted to.

Nolan released her hand and set his attention on me. “We lost Serena’s grandmother .” He turned to Alexis. “You lost your mother. There are only two people to blame, and they’re not in this room! You keep saying Serena doesn’t know anything about our birthright. So you want the truth? Fine, here goes: you’re stronger than her.” He pointed to Kendall. “You’re stronger than her. Same thing with Brandon and me. You’re stronger than all of us.”

He went over and stood beside Celestina. “But you’re not stronger than your daughter. I think that’s why you’re upset. Because you’ll
never
be as strong as her. Now, I don’t care
who
you are, or
how
much power you have. If you
ever
lay a hand on her again, I will fucking
end
you!”

I’d never heard Nolan speak so many words in such a short time period. Likewise, I’d never heard him speak with so much power and emotion. More than that, I cherished how strongly he advocated for Celestina, a girl he barely knew. He must have endured some form of abuse as a child, which hurt my soul, but I appreciated that he spoke to my niece with such acceptance and understanding. I wanted to slide into his embrace and rest there forever…but we both knew I couldn’t do that, and it made tears enter my eyes that I couldn’t show my affection for him.

Nolan glared at Alexis with unflinching eyes, but when he set his gaze on Celestina, his eyes grew glassy with tears. “We’re a lot alike. We both know what it’s like to suffer. For that reason, we don’t take anyone for granted. That’s why we know we’re stronger together than alone.” He looked at Alexis. “You should give that some thought.”

Alexis went over and collected Celestina into a hug as though to show how much she cared for her daughter.

If I didn’t end the silence between us, Alexis would probably presume that the group hated her and find some reason to attack us for failing to side with her. To avoid that eventuality, I said, “So now what?” I gestured towards Kendall. “You’re weak.” I looked to Nolan, wondering whether I should have given him a shot of energy, given his pallid face. At the same time, I couldn’t ignore that the longer we held hands, the more my body adjusted to the time we connected. My level of tolerance made it difficult to track how long we connected. And the more often that occurred, the more susceptible I became to losing time, until my body passed the breaking point, whereupon I began spouting thoughts that I would have otherwise keep private.

“I still think Darius will be at our show tonight,” said Kendall. “He probably thinks I’m reluctant to feed on anyone, which means he’ll think that I’m weak.”

Nolan nodded. “The same goes for me.” He explained to the group what I’d long known about. How he derived strength from those with supernatural abilities.

“And I’ve got a bum leg,” I chimed in. “Plus, he’s arrogant. He’ll think he could easily defeat us.”

“You should get a cane,” Brandon said. “Prince uses one. Granted…when he struts with it on stage, he looks like a pimp, but…”

Everyone laughed, but his suggestion gave me an idea.

“Ooh,” Celestina said. “I want to go.” She swung her head to her mother. “Can I? See them in concert? It’ll be awesome! So? Can I?”

“No,” Alexis said firmly. “Heavy metal music is…” She looked us over, “the music of the devil!”

“What?” I asked, appalled by her ignorant insinuation. “That’s such BS.” I stared at her, waiting for a response. Getting none, I said, “Sure, we all love metal, but so does Lady Gaga and Carrie Underwood. Are they evil? I also love pop and country. Brandon likes jazz and R&B. Kendall? Alternative and rap! And Nolan? Blues and classical music. You see?” I stared at my sister. “How many classical music fans are devil worshipers? Or jazz fans? The next time you criticize someone, you better know what you’re talking about.”

“What about bands like—”

“We’re talking about us! We might have heavy guitars and pounding drums, but the melodies I write are the same heard in pop and country music.”

“Whatever,” she said, noticing her hand shaking. She placed her free palm over it, acting as though she’d twisted it and massaged the pain away. “But she’s still not going. It’s too dangerous. My shift will start soon. I need to get to work.” Having finished kneading her hand, she should have relinquished it. She didn’t, meaning she feared it would continue trembling, which in turn meant that she had an addiction that needed a fix.

“What about your lingerie line?” asked Brandon. “When do you spend time on that? Or is that all bogus?”

“I have a partner.” She grinned, revealing that she did little to justify whatever profits she made from the business. “I design the products. He handles the rest.”

“So, he takes care of the finances, promotion, merchandising, taxes—”

“Works for me,” Alexis said with a buoyant smile.

I nodded. “Translation: You use mind control to trick him into working
for
you.”

“A nice gig,” Brandon said, “if you’re okay with raping someone’s mind to force them into doing something they don’t want to.”

“I didn’t force him to do a thing. He wanted to run a business. I gave him a business he could run almost single-handedly.”

“You’re a mind-reader,” Brandon said. “Worse than that, you push thoughts into people’s heads.” He turned to me. “You trust her?” Then he looked at Kendall. “How about you?”

“Blind trust,” Nolan said, holding Alexis’s gaze. “That’s what no one will give you willingly until you’re worthy of it.”

“Yeah, Mom,” Celestina said, cringing at the admission. It appeared that she feared retribution for acting out, but that she took some pride in having aired her feelings.

Alexis’s grin widened to the point of giddiness. “You’re all wound up so tight!”

I’d had enough of her lackadaisical attitude. I stepped up to my sister, grabbed her forearm, and led her across the living room and through the hallway until we entered my bedroom. I shut the door behind us. I sensed that she was about to underplay my reaction, so I flung her a few feet away to show that we all took the situation seriously.

“Taking this a little too—”

“Quit with the nonchalant crap.” I heaved for air and found it difficult to keep my emotions in check. It seemed that occurred every time I had a disagreement with my sister. Few others could rouse such ire from me without trying, but my sister did so with ease.

“What’s got your—”

“Lingerie in a bunch?” I finished for her. “Have you fought vampires before today?”

“No, but I don’t—”

“Has your mother died before?”

Anger flashed in her eyes. “How dare you—”

Based on my sister’s response, my suspicions were correct. Alexis feared that our mother had died, but she didn’t truly
believe
it had occurred. That explained how she had acted so unaffected, so disconcerted.

“She’s gone,” I said, trying to get her to accept the truth.

“I never saw—”

“Proof? Why would I lie to you? What would I gain? If I lied, you’d come after me. You’ve already killed me once.”