Talisman 2 - The Sapphire Talisman (2 page)

Chapter Two

“
E
nigma, nice to see you again,”
I spoke internally, my words laced with sarcasm.
“Let me guess, I can’t say anything, right?”

“Correct,”
she said in my mind.

“And if I do?”

Her tail twitched ever so slightly.
“Disastrous consequences.”

“For who? You? Or me?”
I asked tempestuously while staring daggers into her little kitty face.
“Because when Nic
holas finds out I’ve been lying
this whole time, he’s not going to understand. I’m putting everything in jeopardy to keep your secrets.”

“Not for me—”

“Really? Really!”
I let my air out forcefully in preparation of my well-rehearsed speech.
“I’m only giving you grace because you saved our necks last fall, but my patience is running thin, especially since all you’ve told me is to keep quiet, then you disappear, and even now, you’re leaving me in the dark.”

“I have my reasons. In time, this will all make sense. ”

“Yeah, right.”
I leaned up against the porch pole and folded my arms. “
I should take you to the Pound.”

She arched her back, bristled the hair across her spine, and tightened her cat-eyes.

“You lack manners, young lady. I’m older than you can fathom. I deserve your respect for that at least,”
she hissed
.

My eyebrows shot up at the revelation, stealing away all my bravado. In human form, she only looked a little over twenty
-
five.

“Your job is to help Nicholas find Alora before she finds you, but he’s going to need his father’s help first.”

With a slouch of my shoulders, I leaned my head back. Yet again she insisted on more impossible things. Alora was the meanest and most cunning vampire I
knew, who, unknown to Nicholas,
nar
rowly escaped after he defeated her
coven.
Enigma
made me vow I wouldn’t mention I knew of her until it was time. But getting Nicholas to admit he needed help, let alone ask, was never going to happen—especially when it came to his father.

Lovely.

“Anything else?”
I asked haughtily
.

I heard a guttural snarl
. “Stop trying my patience.”

Humph.
I let my lip curl a tiny bit. It was nice to feel like I’d had some control for once.

Enigma, a mind-reading shape-shifter, was used to having the advantage whenever we ran into each other, able to ruthlessly sift through my secrets. But now that I wore the talisman, my thoughts were shielded against her invisible grasp. She could only read what I wanted her to, leveling the playing field since I couldn’t read her emotions while she was in
cat form
.

Before I could lay in another retort, a waft of my dad’s confusion floated over me, distracting my concentration.

“Julia?” he called while he poked his head out. “What’s taking you so long? It’s late.”

“Sorry, Dad,” I said quickly. “I was looking for Aladdin.”

“Pretty sure she’s upstairs,” he said and stepped onto the porch to usher me inside. “Come on.”

I looked over my shoulder to give the cat one last angry reply, but she’d already disappeared.

Figures.

Enigma’s words echoed in my mind while I lay on my bed, cell phone in hand, trying to figure how to warn Nicholas with nothing coming to mind. He was somewhere in the city, patrolling the area like always at 2:20 in the morning. If it were under any other circumstances, I’d have chuckled, but I worried he’d run into Alora without me and me
e
t the demise a fortune teller predicted to me a while back.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

-
Miss me?

The surprising buzz of the phone made my anxious hands jerk, almost dropping it on the floor. The relief was instantaneous; he was still okay. Nervously, I punched the keys to reply.

-
Yes. Where are you?

I held my breath.

Please be close.

-
Long story. Sleep tight. Talk to you soon.

I smirked at the secret code he used to throw my dad off. Whatever happened was going to be interesting.

Since there weren’t any vampires to rid the city of, Nicholas had become the resident incognito superhero, minus the costume. He’d document the crime in process via film, catch the bad guys, and leave them cuffed at the precinct where they’d be found (usually in the alley). It was reported Nicholas had said, “Do you feel lucky today, Punk?” which coined him
Dirty Harry
in the Sentinel. Tonight must have been more intricate than usual.

I began to pace, knowing he’d arrive on my roof at any moment and I didn’t feel ready to talk yet. The hospital left me shaky from the barrier I tried to create during those three long hours, and now, with Alora back, I knew he’d hear the worry in my voice.

If we could just touch first,
his soothing spirit would relieve my tension in a second. The tap on the window made my insides jump even though I’d already felt his presence.

“You’re here,” I said after opening the window. I leaned out so he could reach me.

His strong hands gently cupped my cheeks and his green, electric eyes focused on mine. The energy zinged from his fingertips down to my toes and weakened my knees. His lips met mine and were firm, yet gentle. My eyes closed as I submitted to his kiss. The only thing that mattered anymore was us being together, and I crawled out of the window into his waiting arms.

“Are you doing okay?” Nicholas asked while he stroked the back of my hair.

“I am now.”

I stayed firmly planted into his side, not wanting to move, and wondered if we could just stay like this forever—then nothing bad would happen.

Pride swelled inside Nicholas and he chuckled.

“What?” I said quickly and pulled back to look into his grinning face.

“One of the guys asked if I was
Dirty Harry
after I tied them up.”

“Oh?” The kiss had made me forget all about his escapade he’d mentioned earlier. “So, what happened?”

“I caught them trying to jack a car. So I tied them up, put them in the trunk, drove it down to the precinct, and parked out front.”

“Aren’t you afraid the cops will see you?”

“Not really,” Nicholas said and wrapped his arms tighter around me.

“But the bad guys saw you.”

“I gave them the look.”

“The what?”

Nicholas hesitated. In his excitement he’d revealed more than he wanted.

“I let the demon out.”

He’d always referred to his vampire side as a demon fighting to overtake control. I’d regularly felt the wall he’d stuffed all the hate behind, unsure what really lay there. Even during the most recent attack with Bettina and the rest of her vampires, he’d managed to keep it under control. The thought of what Nicholas would turn into if the animal within was allowed to emerge frightened me.

“I’d show you, but I don’t want to scare you,” he said apprehensively.

Inside him, I felt the excitement of something new, something separate from the man I loved. It wanted to frighten me. It wanted all the control. I sensed the urge tempt Nicholas’ desire to quench my curiosity before the feelings vanished, stuffed back into Pandora’s Box.

“Um
. . .
better not then,” I said with a nervous twinge in my voice.

He hugged me tighter and nuzzled my hair gently with his nose. He’d told me several times he was addicted to my scent—a cross between cotton candy and a fresh rain storm. I felt the same about his—earthy yet ocean-like.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you,” he said with caution. “This whole vamp hiatus has got me a little worried. I need to go see someone in L.A. to find out what’s happening, and it might take more than a day.”

My anxiety jumped. I didn’t like the idea of Nicholas being so far apart from me, especially for so long.

“Why?” I said while pulling away.

“It’s okay, Julia,” he said and grabbed onto my hand. “It’s just my arms’ dealer. I need more stuff anyway; plus, this tank-top is getting a little ripe.”

“What are you talking about?”

All the time we’d spent together and he’d never mentioned an ‘arms’ dealer’ or a tank-top. Nicholas dropped my hand and undid the top buttons of his shirt. Underneath was a thin, yellowish undershirt.

“This,” Nicholas said, “protects me from getting staked.”

I furrowed my brow.

“It’s soaked in vampire venom. We’ve found you have to fight immortals with immortal properties. Without the talisman I needed extra protection.”

My mouth fell open. “That’s nasty!”

“Better than blood. Venom doesn’t reek as quickly.”

Blood?
I wrinkled up my face in disgust. “Wait, so you wear—” I full-body-shivered “—a venom-drenched undershirt because it protects you from being staked?”

“I do.”

I remembered back when Nicholas told me he was protected and not to worry. He never elaborated on the details, though I’m sure it was because it was gross.

“Who’s venom?”

“My dad’s.”

I processed the information quickly, seeing my moment of opportunity. If I could tag along, maybe I’d get a better handle on Nicholas’ relationship with his father. And I’d be able to keep an eye on him as well. The problem was leaving without my dad’s knowledge.

“Hold on.”

I jumped up and crawled through my window towards my beloved ocean scenes calendar on the wall. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Dad was supposed to be leaving Friday for a weekend technology conference in Tulsa. I could go and tell Luke I was spending the night with Sam.

“What are you doing?” Nicholas called softly from the window.

I whirled around with a smug smile. “I’m going with you.”

“What?” Nicholas whispered emphatically, “No. I forbid it.”

“Why?”

“First, your father would never let you go. And the people I’m visiting are
. . .
dangerous.”

I put a hand on my hip. “Any more dangerous that what I’ve encountered already?” I tapped my finger lightly against the talisman.

“Yeah, well
. . .
” Nicholas turned and leaned against the siding of the house. His aura brimmed with anxiety.

I ran over to the window and poked my head out.

“My dad will be out of town this weekend, so I don’t even need to tell him. And I’m wearing the talisman. Your vampire dealer dude won’t be able to hurt me.”

“It’s not him.”

“Your father?”

Nicholas ran his hand through his hair.

“I’ll wait in the car,” I said quickly “They don’t even have to know I’m with you.”

“They’ll know,” he said and closed his eyes.

I leaned against the window frame. I’d already felt the decision before he spoke it. There was no convincing him. The sigh slipped through my lips.

“Julia, I’d love to take you, but it’s not a good idea. Besides, I don’t want to cause any issues between you and your dad. After everything
,
he trusts you again.”

“Well,” I said while pushing back the cuticles of my thumb with my fingernail, “not completely.”

Darn it!

“And, you need your rest. It’s very late now.”

I looked at the clock. If I happened to fall asleep right at that moment, I’d get three hours of sleep before I needed to wake up for school.

“Come here,” he said, arms outstretched.

I climbed back onto the eve and wrapped my arms around his torso. His sorrow enveloped my soul and left me guilty for secretly plotting against him. Maybe his absence was what I needed so I could find Alora first.

The nagging foreboding made me think differently.

Chapter Three

“
Y
ou need me to cover for you? Why?” Sam asked while we stood closer to each other than left and center fields during P.E., hoping we wouldn’t get in trouble for abandoning our positions.

“I’m going away this weekend with Nicholas,” I said casually.

“Holy
c
rap. No way,” Sam said with big eyes. “How?”

“Oh, come on. It’s no big deal
.
” I
cocked
my head to the side. “He’s visiting his dad and I want to go with him—totally innocent. My dad won’t be home anyway, but I need you to keep my phone.”

“Your phone? Why?”

I sighed. This proved to be more difficult than I wanted it to be.

“My dad activated that GPS tracking thing, so I need you to keep it and answer it if he calls. Tell him I’m in the shower or something.”

“Oh
. . .
wow
. . .
um. A tracking thing?”

Her hesitation surfaced. Sam didn’t lie well, which wasn’t a bad thing, but her reaction made me suddenly wonder if I should have come up with another alternative.

After my friend Phil, a recent transfer to our high school, died in a fire downtown, my dad’s been overprotective
of me
. Little did he know that Phil was actually a recent
ly
immortalized vampire and part of Alora’s coven.
Phil
happened to be
staked
by Nicholas
when he tried
to turn me into a vampire too. All that remained was his teeth
, so we staged a fire.

“I guess with everything that happened
with
Phil, he’s
just being a concerned dad
,” I said quickly. “I mean, I’m not going to do anything. I just know he won’t let me go if I ask. I doubt he’ll call. Seriously.”

My aggravation flared as the night I’d figured out he’d added the service replayed through my mind. I’d lied, saying I was at work when really I was on a date with Nicholas at the Boardwalk. Right as I stepped into the house, he called and grounded me for three weeks—all from Chicago. Baffled by his new psychic abilities, I hammered Luke to tell me how he knew, but he didn’t have a clue, so I tried—unsuccessfully—to figure it out myself, until I saw the GPS advertisement on TV. Once I checked online, I realized he’d clamped on the electronic leash.

“So you’re not going to
. . .
you know,” Sam said sheepishly, full of curiosity.

My che
e
ks flushed in response. I loved Nicholas with all my heart, but I wasn’t ready for anything like sex just yet. There were too many girls I’d known who’d rushed into it. Their disappointment and pain, especially if the guy dumped them right after, was immense and long lasting. Plus, I wanted my first time to be really special and when I was married. And not everyone was having sex like they bragged they did anyway.

“No,” I said defensively. “Not even thinking about it.”

“Really?” she asked and kicked a dandelion puff, knocking loose its wispy seeds.

Sam was a virgin too, but Todd had been putting pressure on her. She’d alluded to maybe going all the way, but I affirmed our pact to wait. If he cared, he’d accept her decision. She worried if she didn’t, she’d lose him. I worried he’d break her heart.

I stuck my pinkie out. She looked at it and laughed.

“We haven’t done that since the 6
th
grade,” she said and reached out her pinkie to meet mine.

“Pinkie swear, double dare,” we said together while doing our secret handshake. “Best friends we’ll be, for eternity.”

At the end, we bumped fists and did what we called “The Explode,” where our fingers shot open and drifted apart from each other. Our act bolstered her resolve. For the moment, Sam was going to keep her ground.

“Heads up!” Mandy called from first base.

I ducked with my mitt over my head and Sam moved forward to catch the ball, missing it. We both watched as it landed right between us with a thud, which sent some of the fallen dandelion seeds floating back up into the air.

“Ahh!” Alexis, the third baseman called out. “What the heck are you twits doing? Throw the freaking ball!”

I picked up the ball and, with my best effort, threw it forward. It sailed straight up and lobbed over, only to fall a few feet in front of Alexis. With ease, she scooped up the ball and chucked it to the second baseman for the third out.

Our team cheered and ran into the dugout. Sam and I exchanged relieved glances, thankful for Alexis’ recovery—she was on the Varsity team after all. But I dreaded the next part of the inning. My batting skills made my catching look brilliant.

Later, in the locker room, Alexis’ homerun made her forget all about my error in the outfield and my strike-out, but I still avoided her while we changed out of our gym clothes.

“I wanted to tell you,” Sam said under breath. “I’m worried about Katie.”

“What do you mean?” I asked while pulling my shirt over my head.

“Have you noticed her whole schedule changed this quarter?”

Katie mentioned something about how she’d been transferred into some Senior classes this term, but she’d been tight-lipped about how.

“Yeah, so?”

Sam leaned in. “Well, she’s been taking college courses at night and I think it’s because she’s trying to graduate early.”

“That’s ambitious of her,” I said.

“But she’s doing it to be in the same classes as Tyler.”

At Sam’s suggestion, the correlation clicked. All her classes were now conveniently with Tyler, but it didn’t change the fact that Tyler was still unavailable and deeply in love with Mandy.

“Hmmm, interesting,” I said as we walked out of the locker room. “Did she tell you that?”

“Not in so many words. Lauren, the office TA
,
told Megan about her college credits, who told Emily, who told me—all in confidence of course.”

This meant the whole school knew. Katie did seem to be keeping to herself lately and, come to think of it, I hadn’t heard her mention Tyler at all. Even though I felt she still had a thing for him.

Before turning the corner of the hall, a sudden burst of anxiety bowled me over and I scanned the area to find the source. Off to the side, Tyler and Mandy stood close together. It didn’t take an emotion
-
reader to know they were fighting. My eyes locked with Sam’s in surprise while we wordlessly took our books out of our lockers for History.

“What do you mean you don’t know who this text is from?” Tyler said quietly with a scowl and handed Mandy back her cell phone firmly.

“I don’t know anybody named James,” Mandy said, face flushed, fear flooding out around her. “It has to be a mistake.”

“Mistake? He seems to know you pretty well. Where were you last night anyway?”

“I was home like I told you,” Mandy said emphatically as her eyes began to water. “You can even ask my mom.”

Katie slid in between us. I felt satisfaction play across her aura though her face looked concerned.

“What’s going on?” she whispered.

“Stop gawking,” I said quickly. I closed my locker door and motioned for her to
move
out of my way. “Apparently a mis
-
understanding.”

“Oh?” Katie stated, still watching from the corner of her eye.

“But you obviously gave
James
your cell number,” Tyler said behind us.

“I promise, Tyler, I don’t know who this person is or how he got my number,” she said in truth. “I’m
your
girlfriend.”

We watched as Mandy reached out to touch Tyler’s arm, but Tyler pushed her hand away.

“I don’t believe you,” he said quietly, his eyes angry but glistening, expressing the hurt he obviously tried to hide.

“I promise. I do not know who this person is.”

“Yeah, right,” Tyler said, glancing away, putting on his sunglasses. “Don’t pretend you don’t flirt when I’m not around. I’ve seen you with other guys, with Cody.”

“Cody? You’re jealous of
Cody
?” she said, her voice astounded.

Tyler must have been pretty desperate to assassinate her with a flirty accusation tied to Cody, of all people, the widely known school flirt and class clown.

After taking a moment to process the rejection, Mandy took a step back from him, as if she’d been slapped. The tears streamed down her cheeks as she gave him one final look, which he ignored. Then she turned around and ran down the hall towards the bathroom. Tyler slammed his locker shut and headed in the opposite direction as the warning bell rang.

“Oops, late for Calculus,” Katie said and quickly darted off in Tyler’s direction. “Catch ya later.”

Sam mouthed “wow” while pulling open the door to Mr. Marshall’s room. I walked past her with a look, feeling the same shock. If it weren’t for my gift, I might have been on Tyler’s side. But Mandy’s innocence was clear and I couldn’t ignore Katie’s smug enjoyment of the altercation.

I took my seat and watched the news spread from person to person—the curiosity heightened with each retelling while Mr. Marshall lectured with his back to the class, oblivious
to the fact
he’d lost control of his classroom, again.

Sam passed me a note.

“I can’t believe that just happened.”

I hid the paper under my textbook and wrote back.

“I know, totally weird. Do you think K might be involved?”

Shock registered across Sam’s face as she read my words. She glanced at me, pupils dilated. Her pencil scrawled something quickly back.

“You don’t think she would, do you?”

“After what you said, I wouldn’t put it past her.”

Mr. Marshall turned from the whiteboard and suddenly noticed no one was paying attention to his lecture. His fury ignited.

“I believe it’s time for a pop quiz,” he said gruffly. “Books away. Take out a sheet of paper.”

Everyone collectively groaned as papers shuffled throughout the classroom. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam stuff the note in her bag to keep from getting caught. Completely deflated, I took out my own sheet. I’d almost recovered my grade to a B, after my huge distraction with Nicholas last quarter, and this zero would quickly undo all that hard work.

By the end of fourth period, there wasn’t anyone in the school who didn’t know about the break-up. Mandy, unable to deal with the pressure, left school with a sudden illness. My heart went out to her and I wished we were better friends—most people took Tyler’s side and she needed someone who implicitly believed her side of the story.

“She’s obviously up to something,” Dena said while picking apart her sandwich, only eating microscopic bites.

“And finally got caught,” Morgan said, finishing Dena’s statement.

“Maybe, but I was there when it happened and it didn’t look like that to me. Right, Sam?”

“Yeah, it seemed like the text was a mistake,” Sam said. “Tyler should at least give her a chance to explain.”

I glanced over at the table where Tyler sat. He was doing the macho thing with his buddies, pretending not to be upset while a greedy group of cheerleaders flittered in the wake, looking to give consolation. Any one of them could have sent the text to sabotage the relationship.

“I just never thought they’d break up,” Dena said. “They were like the perfect couple. Well, almost
. . .
”

Dena interlaced her fingers with Morgan’s while looking adoringly into his eyes. The gesture made me miss Nicholas until the heart-rocking reminder Alora was back overshadowed everything. I internally steadied myself by realizing I’d let the drama cloud my plans of finding her. After school I’d need to start scouring the city and look for her unique
bloodlust
. There couldn’t be too many places she’d be able to hide uninvited.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Katie said, out of breath, a smile plastered across her face.

I gave her a puzzled look while she sat down.

“You didn’t hear?” Cameron questioned.

“About?” Katie said, feigning innocence. “Oh, yeah that. I was there actually. Too bad. They were such a nice couple. Are you going to eat that?”

Katie pointed towards Cameron’s apple on his tray.

“Help yourself,” he said in bewilderment while Katie took a bite.

“I have news,” Katie said with a mouthful. “I’ve been accepted to Texas A&M.”

“You have? So soon?” I asked.

Katie’s pride swelled. She’d successfully managed to keep this juicy secret from everyone until now.

“I’ve been taking college courses to graduate early,” Katie said. “And with Mrs. Peet’s recommendation I applied in January and was accepted.”

“You’ve been taking college courses?” Dena said in amazement. “When?”