Talisman 2 - The Sapphire Talisman (11 page)

“I want more,” Nicholas growled and lunged forward with a snap of his teeth.

B
lood still clung to his lips. Dizziness caused him to sway and sit back down. He watched like a tiger deprived of his catch as Tony left through the door with his tasty snack draped in his arms. Then
Nicholas’
eyes locked with mine. I gaped at his contorted, animalistic face that hid any resemblance of the man I loved.

Alora patted his arm.

“The next course will be in a second,” Alora said, shooting a glance sideways at me. “We need to talk first.”

Chapter Thirteen

N
icholas had other plans as I felt his drug-induced stupor begin to fade and his body increase in strength. At any moment, fueled by a ravenous hunger, he was about to claw through the bars between us to get to me.

“Look at me,” Alora demanded, placing her hands on his cheeks forcing him to stop gawking. He looked into her eyes and her touch doused the flames of his burning want, clearing his focus temporarily.

“That’s better,” she said in a wispy tone and joined him on the cot, mussing with the front of his hair. “I’m here now. I’m going to fix everything.”

He grabbed her hand by the wrist, tightening his eyes, then opened them widely, strangely emanating recognition.

“Mother?” he whispered in disbelief, his voice slightly hoarse.

“Yes, Son,” Alora answered, with a mixture of love and loss, bringing his hand to her heart. “I’m here.”

I gasped, almost falling over at the confession.

“How is that possible?” Nicholas pulled his hand away. “He said you died when I was born.”

“Oh, did he now?” Alora’s disdain and nostrils flared outwards. “Makes sense. Preston hid you from me after we disagreed on the finer points of parenting. I’ve been looking for you ever since.”

Nicholas pressed his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. Anger, grief, disappointment and shock rose up into a full blown whirlwind. “I don’t understand.”

“After you were born, I hemorrhaged. Preston told me it would be the only way to save me and keep our family together.”

“He lied?” Nicholas mouthed, still e
xcreting
doubt.

Alora tilted her head, her shoulders sinking down. Both of them exhaled at the same time.

“I’m sorry, Son.” She rested her hand on his shoulder.

Nicholas opened and closed his mouth a few times. Confusion encompassed his body.

“So this whole time you were just
looking
for me? You’re not turning me in for all my slayings?”

“Of course not,” she said with a chuckle, clasping her fingers over his clenched fist. “Well, I might have misled the others into thinking it was my intention—” The corner of her lip curled up.

“What others?”

“You don’t remember? My sweet Bettina, her sister, their mates and Phil. Oh, how I enjoy Phil.” Her eyes twinkled at the mention of his name.

“It was
you
that was in charge of their coven?”

“Julia didn’t tell you?” Alora asked, faking her surprised expression. “I met her with Phil, the same day you defeated my coven. She seems to get around, doesn’t she?”

I returned her phony astonishment with a glare, suspecting she’d known all along I’d kept our meeting a secret, twisting yet another situation to turn Nicholas against me.

“You’ve met Julia?” Nicholas shot me a wounded look, which pierced my heart like an arrow. The distrust that followed crushed it into tiny pieces. I wanted to die.

“I did. It was delightful.”

Please remember you promised we could explain situations like these. Please remember, Nicholas.

“It wasn’t like that
. . .
” I stammered, a plausible excuse eluding me while my lip trembled.

“But yet you trusted her enough to give her
my
talisman,” Alora said, in disgust.

Nicholas looked off to the side, his mind elsewhere. “Your talisman,” he echoed.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I gave it to you, when you were born, to protect you from the both of us. A foolish and weak decision that I now regret. The truth is your father couldn’t bear to live without me, his precious and perfect human wife. He thought if he changed me, we would continue to be a happy little family. He didn’t account for what I’d want after becoming a servant of the night—and it wasn’t being a docile homemaker, hiding in the house, denying my thirst.

“I shouldn’t talk disrespectfully
about your father, he did liberate me. But he didn’t do so well in raising you,” she said, laced with irritation. “But soon you’ll see how being a vampire slayer isn’t really your place. But, I want my necklace back.”

Her flip from sweet to evil, with only one goal of retrieving the necklace, left me cowering in the corner. Only Nicholas had the power to remove the necklace beyond my will. Without it, I’d be a free lunch to any vampire that wanted me.

“No,” I whispered, watching Alora remove her hand and with it, the shelter she’d temporarily placed over him which dissolved to practically nothing.

Nicholas didn’t answer. The freedom from the absence of her touch finally allowed the evil leniency to push towards the surface and gain control, swallowing up the clear-headed side. What was left were cold and empty eyes like a
g
reat
w
hite shark, hungry for blood and determined to fulfill its murderous desires.

“I’ll leave you two to talk,” Alora said with a knowing nod, standing up. “Do with her as you want, Nicholas, just collect my necklace.”

“Yes, Mother,” he said and his eyes locked on my neck.

“Daylight will be upon us soon. Katie? Evan? Grab Aden. Let’s go.” She snapped her fingers and the group followed her command and scattered.

I shivered, finding that Nicholas and I were suddenly alone.

My eyes welled up with tears as the panic enveloped me. The prediction said I’d save the world with a hidden talent, that unfortunately still eluded me, and apparently without the talisman’s protection. Fulfilling the destiny under these circumstances seemed downright impossible.

Reasoning with him or becoming like him w
ere
my only two viable options. If I resisted, he’d snap me like a twig. But if I were to change, I’d have to commit suicide to defeat the vampiring world.

He moved to my cell door, effortlessly destroying the lock. I grasped the talisman with both hands, my arms shaking, unsure what he’d do next.

“You don’t want to do this,” I said quietly. “She’s our enemy, remember?”

The astounding hunger sparked his eyes, electrifying the viridian flecks, making my head dizzy. I backed up into the corner, holding the bars behind me for support.

“Nicholas, please.”

He walked in gradually, growing stronger with each passing second, watching me without blinking. I stared back, searching through his madness for the man I loved. Some shred of goodness stopped him from just tearing into me like an animal.

With all my courage, I stepped forward and turned my head to expose my neck. “If you won’t spare me,” I said boldly. “Make me like you then.”

He exhaled,
ooz
ing satisfaction. I felt his hand move my hair from the nape of my neck and with his finger, he lightly traced the chain lying on my collarbone.

My heart began to pound while ice poured down my spine. He ran his nose along the side of my cheek and inhaled. I swayed.

“What are you doing?” I asked, in a whisper, feeling excited and petrified.

“I’m savoring you,” he said, his breath hot against my ear while he nuzzled my skin.

The power of our emotions intermixed together, clouding my judgment. At the same time, his hands moved up the sides of my torso to the back of my neck, unclasping the chain. The talisman slipped off my body and fell into his other hand with a clink. I stiffened, feeling the tension within him coming closer to snapping.

The absence of the necklace made me feel naked,
raw,
and vulnerable. In response, I wrapped my arms around my torso, hugging myself.

With a velvety touch, Nicholas pulled away my
T
-shirt so my shoulder was exposed. His arms fastened around me, his breath dewing the hairs on my neck while he rested his lips on my skin, a simple kiss before the inevitable. My chest heaved in anticipation of the pain, already knowing what it felt like. I could no longer separate myself from his aura. The want encompassed me and all I longed for was to tumble into the bliss with him forever.

“Never forget I love you,” I breathed before surrendering limply to his body.

“Hold up, Nick,” a male voice called from behind us.

Suddenly, I was free and Nicholas’ body haphazardly sailed away from me towards the opened door. The talisman fell perfectly into my hands. My fingers gripped the stone in thankfulness before a blurred figure grabbed me as well, our bodies moving in the same direction.

Outside, we zinged upwards, hovering twenty feet in the air while Nicholas rolled over from his sprawled position on the ground.

“What the heck?” Nicholas cried, looking up at us. I also turned to discover the identity of my rescuer.

“Phil?” My voice teetered up an octave.

“At your service, Ma’am,” he said with a smile, fanged teeth gleaming in the moonlight. “Uh, hold on.”

Our bodies lurched up higher into the sky as Nicholas lunged to grab Phil’s ankle. I couldn’t help the déjà vu from flooding my senses. The last time I saw Phil, he was just about to sire me into a vampire and Nicholas impaled him with a stake just in time, turning him into dust. I had no idea vampires were capable of coming back from the dead.

“But you
. . .
he
. . .
that night
. . .
” I choked out.

“I’m supposed to be dead?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“I was—I mean technically I still am, but I’m back. Long story,” Phil said with a snort. “Good thing, isn’t it?”

We jerked higher into the air each time Nicholas found something new to catapult his body off of.

“Hang tight, Nick,” Phil said, throwing him a bag with red liquid inside. “Drink this.”

Nicholas grabbed the bag and sank his teeth in. I took a deep breath and clung to Phil, feeling another rush overwhelm me.

“What’s up with you?” Phil said, suddenly concerned. “Are you feeling all right?”

“Um, sorta,” I breathlessly squeaked out, relaxing into Phil’s embrace, reveling in Nicholas’ ecstasy.

“Whoa, girl. You need to hang onto me.” He let out an ear piercing whistle as if to call in the
cavalry
and held me tighter. “I need to get you home.”

From the corner of my eye, I drunkenly caught a flash of black bolting across the sand towards Nicholas. I squinted to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. The object morphed into a woman with jet black hair and fair skin, dressed in all black.

“Enigma?” I asked in a whisper, not wanting to recover from Nicholas’ drunken blood-engorged stupor.

“Enigma? That’s a new one.” Phil laughed. “That’s
Scarlett
, though she is quite the enigma, that’s for sure.”

“Her name’s
Scarlett
?” My head finally started to clear as Nicholas finished drinking the contents in the bag.

“Yeah. We just met. She’s totally rocking.” Phil’s aura brimmed with confidence, like the first day I met him in the cafeteria at school.

“I’m so confused,” I mulled out
loud
.

In slow motion, I watched as
Scarlett
tackled Nicholas to the ground, the sensation feeling like a punch to my own gut. I groaned.

“Yeah, I think we need to go,” Phil said quickly, smoothing back my hair like it was fur. “You got it, Scar?” Phil yelled down to the beach.

Scarlett
looked up and nodded. Nicholas struggled, but remained pinned beneath her.

“
Scarlett
,” I mumbled, curling up in Phil’s arms.

He launched into the air and I welcomed the cool wind, rushing against my face. At that moment, I didn’t have a care in the world.

Chapter Fourteen

“
W
e
have to go back,” I demanded and pounded my arms against Phil’s chest as he landed on the lawn in front of my house.

“Shhh
.
”
H
e put his finger against my lips. “Someone will hear you.”

I looked over his shoulder. The lights in the front room were still on and my dad happened to be awake, worried something fierce.

“Crap.” I gritted my teeth.

“What?” Phil turned to find the source of my discomfort, grimaced and came forward, about to grab me. “Do you need me to sneak you to your room or something?”

“Whoa. Hang on.” I placed my hands against his advancing body and felt the pectoral muscles beneath his shirt tighten. For a moment I struggled not to get distracted. “You’ve got a ton of explaining to do first.”

“Parker, you’ve got to smooth things over with your dad and then we can talk.”

I bit my lip, invisibly feeling him out. Phil had no bad intentions for once, which was surprising. “Um, I guess I could use a lift to my second story.”

He didn’t allow me to finish my statement before
he
spr
ang
up
like a gazelle to my window and set me down softly on the ledge of the roof.

He turned his ear awkwardly towards the house. “He’s downstairs in the kitchen. Go get a drink of water and act surprised when he questions your whereabouts. Tell him you’ve been asleep this whole time.”

“Uh, okay.” I wrinkled up my forehead. “But what about my car?”

“Where is it?” Phil reached out his hand and flicked his fingertips forward, obviously wanting the keys.

“Downtown, by Mr. Pickles.” I fished for them in my pocket, pausing before dropping them into his hand. He shot me his adorable half-smile which melted me.

“I’ll take care of it
.
”
H
e disappeared
and
only the rustle of the leaves on the nearby trees gave away his exit.

I steadied my arm against the house siding for a minute, stunned.
How the heck could Phil possibly be alive?

The memories of him burning up into a pile of ash flashed vividly in my mind followed by his funeral shortly after. I was grateful to see he was back, but totally confused and wondered if what I saw was real or not—or some horrific trick played by a very believable actor.

Wake up, Julia.

I bit my knuckle almost drawing blood when another burst of my dad’s angst hit me. Rushing inside, my stomach did a somersault when I realized the hour—one-fifteen in the morning. I didn’t waste any time
changing
into my jammies and muster
ing
up a believable sleepy-face. The sack over my head and windy ride had done wonders to give the perfect bed-head effect.

Taking a deep breath, I stumbled down the stairs to the kitchen in my bunny slippers and robe.

“Young lady,” my dad barked, suddenly confused after giving me a once over. “Where have you been?”

“Upstairs, asleep. Why?”

He scowled. “Since when?”

“Since earlier this evening?” I crinkled up my lip feigning confusion while rubbing my eyes to add to my act.

“Your phone is off.”

“Oh, that
. . .
” I put my head down and moved towards the cabinet for a glass. “I actually dropped and broke it. Sorry.”

“Another one?” he groaned, scrubbing his hand against his forehead. “But where’s your car?”

“It’s not out front?” I rushed to the kitchen window, prepared to freak if Phil hadn’t returned yet. Sure enough, my car was parked on the side of the house where I normally left it. My dad walked up behind me
flow
ing more confusion than ever.

“It’s there, Dad.” I put my hand on his forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”

“It wasn’t there earlier,” he said with a grimace and pushed my arm away.

I yawned to cover my smile, feeling Phil’s enjoyment waft down from upstairs, evidently listening in.

“I’m really tired, Dad,” I said while filling a glass up with water, relieved I’d avoided getting caught. “Big day tomorrow
:
math test
,
history report due. I’m going back to bed.”

With a shrug, I headed for the stairs.

“Next time, check in,” he said, his voice gruff but his interior bewildered.

I grunted a yes and purposefully meandered slowly upstairs. Once I closed my bedroom door, I ran to the window.

I threw open the blinds and opened my window. “That was so close.”

“You did amazingly well,” Phil said with a twinkle in his eye. “A little too good
,
perhaps.”

“Not really,” I said with a guffaw. “You told me what to say. How did you know
?”

Phil chuckled,
leak
ing a twinge of nostalgia. “Years of practice with my own parents.” He raised his eyebrows and nodded his head.

“Yeah, well
.
” I sighed, and slumped onto my window seat. “I’ve had to lie a little too much lately. I feel horrible about it.”

Phil stood at the window, his jet-black eyes were filled with compassion. In awe, I gave him a once over. He looked the same as before: blonde hair, pale skin, surfer build, breathtakingly beautiful. But his aura no longer ex
cret
ed consuming selfish desires for blood or my conversion to the vamp side. He’d returned to his former human self: compassionate, fun, carefree, brave, though a tiny hint of
bloodlust
gave away what he really was.

But once the adrenaline of averting lifetime grounding dissipated, the world stopped as reality resurfaced. Nicholas, the love of my life was evil now; the switch caused by my immortal enemy—his mother. The thought had me seething. Alora never intended to capture Nicholas and Scarlett knew this all along and didn’t tell us, for fear of what he’d do. And now that he was solely fueled by his vampire side, his new goal was to take the talisman from me and give it to her. I burst into tears and sobbed into my hands.

“Oh, geez, Parker,” Phil said in a panic, “If you are going to cry, at least invite me in.”

“I
. . .
I don’t know what to do,” I sniveled. “This whole thing is insane. He’s lost
. . .
gone
. . .
one of them now. It’s hopeless and
over
.”

“Jiminy Christmas,” Phil said with a grunt I couldn’t ignore.

I looked up to see his hands pressed against the space between us, like a mime does against the air. He pushed the invisible force field with all his might to no avail.

“Don’t you think I’d have bitten you by now if that was my intention?” he complained, repeatedly jabbing the corner of his shoulder against the barrier. “Please, just let me in. This is killing me.”

“Fine, you can come in.”

Phil fell forward, but landed gingerly
onto my floor
like a cat. His tender arms scooped me into a hug, encouraging me to lean up against his body. I curled up and closed my eyes while he placed his chin upon the top of my head and stroked the side of my cheek with his thumb.

“It’s like a bad dream,” I whimpered. “I just need to wake up.”

“If it is, I don’t want you to,” Phil said softly.

Any other girl would have swooned and thought she was in utter bliss being held delicately in his arms. But the fear he put out gave me the chills, squelching the unintended insulting comment.

“What do you mean?” I sniffled and tightened my eyes.

“It’s nothing. Never mind.”

“What? What happened?” I pressed off his chest, just to be corralled back in again by his arms.

“We’ll talk about it later. Just hush,” Phil said and shoved the fear back down.

“No,” I said, pushing away to study his face. “You didn’t die? You went somewhere else, didn’t you? Where?”

Phil’s eyes flashed in terror. “Where do you think?”

I blinked and tried to figure out what he meant.

“Well, I didn’t go to heaven,” Phil said darkly.

“Not
. . .
?” I asked in a gasp, unable to say the word
“
Hell
”
.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said and his anxiety erupted like a geyser.

I back peddled internally, fighting all the questions bubbling to the surface. “How did you get back?” I finally blubbered out.

“Alora did it somehow. One minute I was
there
, the next I was lying on the ground on a bunch of burnt two-by-fours, naked.”

I imagined the scene and blushed. “I
. . .
I didn’t know that was possible.”

“Me either, but thank God it was,” Phil said and pulled out a very small book from his pocket. He kissed the black leather cover. “We don’t have to tonight, but sometime soon, we need to compare notes.”

My mouth fell open. “Is that
. . .
a
Bible
?”

“Yeah, so?” An impish grin spread across his lips. “Look, I’ve got to get in good with
The Man
—and fast. I’m totally running on fumes right now, it’s not even funny.”

I stared in bewilderment at his cute, yet very serious expression.

“Come on,” he said, palms open. “I’m a changed man. Reborn, but not in the way I think I’m supposed to be.”

I rubbed my hand across my forehead. This couldn’t be real.

“I’m
. . .
” I couldn’t finish.

“Yeah, speechless, I know. Scar did the same thing. But we need to get to work. Alora has got to be stopped. I need to know everything about Nick and why she’s so keen on him anyway.”

All I could do was look at Phil with wide-eyes.

“I know you miss the old sexy wanna-bite-you Phil, but he’s long gone now. Sorry.”

I suppressed a chuckle. How could he be making jokes at a time like this? “Who’s Scar?” I finally squeaked out.

“Scarlett. Were you not there a few minutes ago? She’s the one who’s with
your boy
Nick. She’ll get him off the
stuff
, no doubt. She’s got
skills
.”

I didn’t like his tone inflection when he said she had “skills.”

“Really?” My eyes
narrowed
. “How?”

“Mind trick him basically, like she did me. I came out of Hades with a hang-over the size of Texas, itching for a fix something fierce. She just talked me through things and after a few days, sure enough, I felt better. I’m four days sober so far.”

I let out a gust of air, unsure what to think.

“It’s going to be okay,” Phil said and lifted my chin, demanding eye contact. “Just tell me what happened before I showed up.”

I glanced away, then zoned out. The memories hurt, making a lump form in my throat. The moisture brimmed in my eyes. “Alora is Nicholas’ birth mother apparently.”

“Really?” Phil said confounded, before growing somber. “Whoa, didn’t see that coming.”
He
became guarded, like he knew things he didn’t want to tell me.

His change worried me.

“What’s she going to do to him?”
And me
?
I looked into his eyes for support.

“Um, wow. Does that make us
. . .
half brothers?” Phil’s eyes darted away from mine, e
ffus
ing an inkling of disgust.

“Focus, Phil,” I said and put my palms on his cheeks
to
bring his awareness back to the severity of the situation.

He blinked once he looked into my eyes and fondness radiated outwards. I let go.

Phil cleared his throat. “She’s just assembling her group of followers, preferably ones she doesn’t have to sire. All to play into her power trip I think. She barely gave me permission to change you, but I told her I wouldn’t stay if she didn’t.”

My cheeks flushed as my heart warmed at the gesture. I still liked, in some weird way, that he chose me out of all the girls at school until the word
change
registered in my thoughts. The sound of a record player needle ripping across an album zipped through my head.

“Did you just say
change me
?” My voice was harder than I’d anticipated.

“Calm down. I lied to her. Believe me. I have no intention of doing that.” Phil said emphatically.

“How can you lie to a mind reader?”

“She wasn’t touching me then, so
. . .
”
H
e grinned, showing all his teeth including his sharp canines. “I’m convincing.”