The Vampire...In My Dreams (21 page)

“You’re the one who is beautiful to me,”
Dominic said, his mind scolding as if he couldn’t tell me enough how strongly he felt about me.

I smiled.

Then I drew my serious face while my mother looked on with a stone cold expression. Dad watched me with such intensity, I suspected he attempted to see if I lied each time I chanced to speak. When I explained how Dominic and I were soul mates, my mother couldn’t contain the small gasp that issued from her throat, nor could my father hide the flinch in his neck muscles as they constricted all of a sudden. He glanced over at Dominic, who nodded.

Then the questioning began in earnest, but most of the questions centered on my claim that Dominic and I were soul mates. I thought it odd they weren’t more concerned about Lynetta, or the vampires who had descended on the city, or Dominic’s brush with immortality, or mine, too.

“It was written in the stars,” I said rather melodramatically, waving my hands at the ceiling.

My mother opened her mouth to speak, but just as quickly clamped her lips shut.

Dad asked, “The stars?”

“The Stars Enquirer,”
Dominic said.

My mouth gaped as I stared at Dominic. We sat together on the sofa, and though we hadn’t once touched, I wanted to. I craved holding his hand throughout the ordeal, and I knew he wanted to provide me solace. I needed it, but we were sure it wouldn’t go over well with my parents, so maintained our rigid distance. Mom sat across from us on a wide-winged floral chair, her back stiff as a broom handle. Dad paced back and forth, but now stood still as a cat ready to pounce on a rat.

“The Stars Enquirer?”
my mother squeaked out.

“You weren’t a warlock then,” my father accused, immediately jumping on the lie he figured he’d caught Dominic in. Even I was astounded, though he sounded totally sincere. “How did you get hold of one of our magazines?” my father asked.

A miracle. If it was written in The Stars Enquirer, our being soul mates was irrefutable.

Dominic reached over and held my hand and warmed me through and through. He was staking his claim, despite my parents’ disbelief, and his touch didn’t go unnoticed. Neither of my parents said a thing, but the looks on their faces gave evidence of their displeasure. However, it was the words Dominic spoke next that drew their utmost attention.

“
The Stars Enquirer
was sitting in the front seat of my locked car the night I was bitten by Lynetta. At first, I was so concerned about what Lynetta was and how it affected me, I didn’t pay much attention to the magazine. But when I returned to my home that night, I found it lying on my pillow. Still, I ignored it. After Lynetta took my blood, I’d been so lightheaded, nothing seemed clear in my mind. I thought maybe I was imagining things. No human could get their hands on one of your magazines. They’re forbidden to humans, as you very well know.”

Dominic kissed my hand, and I felt a blush rise to my cheeks. “My father had already left for work and my brother for college before I woke from the coma-like sleep I’d been in. My mother left a note for me that she’d gone grocery shopping. I threw together a ham sandwich, then carried my plate to the table. The magazine sat at my place setting.

“I assumed then that something written inside pertained to me. In the index, I found my name…in fact, I couldn’t read anything else on the page, just my name. The rest of the writing looked like Greek symbols, totally foreign. Marissa’s name wasn’t there. Just mine. I quickly flipped to page twenty-two.”

“Marissa’s birthday,” my mother said, her voice nearly inaudible.

“I couldn’t read anything on the page except for an announcement.
‘Dominic Vorchowsky and Marissa Lakeland are destined to meet tonight, soul mates, now and forever. Nothing can break the bond they shall form. And only she can help him to win the battle he must face, while he protects her for all eternity.’
I knew it wasn’t possible. Nothing can predict the future. Yet, I couldn’t understand how my name could be linked with a girl’s in a magazine I had no ability to ever receive, nor should I have been able to read. What’s written in The Stars always comes to pass, right? At least that’s the rumor I’ve heard. But then again, I knew how powerful Lynetta was. Was the whole thing somehow her doing? A game she played?”

My mother squirmed in her seat, and Dad slumped down on a chair next to hers. “Soul mates,” he muttered.

“I still didn’t believe it,” Dominic said softly. “I wasn’t a warlock. I didn’t know what to think. Lynetta’s mind reached out to me, pulling me to rejoin her at the Hamburger Spot that night. But when I saw Marissa, I knew she was the one. At once, her blue eyes caught mine, and she held me, entranced me. I couldn’t break away from her gaze, nor she mine, until Kate yanked at her arm. Still, I couldn’t just approach her and say, ‘Did you know we’re soul mates? You’re to save me, and I’m to protect you?’ She would have thought I was crazy. A witch normally doesn’t have anything to do with a human.” Dominic paused for a breath. “Marissa explained what happened after that.”

Dad rose from his chair, then disappeared into his office. Mother just stared at Dominic.

I cleared my throat. “So you see, I have to help Dominic kill Lynetta.”

My father strode back into the room, flipping through
The Stars Enquirer
. He narrowed his eyes to read the fine print, a deep frown furrowing his brow. Then he raised his blond brows and yanked at his beard. “Well, welcome our future son-in-law into the family,” he exclaimed, his words a mixed bag of relief, surprise, and joy.

My mother took the magazine from him, verifying the words before she passed judgment. She looked up from the magazine. “It’s written in our ancient language.”

Dad rubbed her back. “All the more reason to believe, my love.”

Dad hadn’t called Mom that in ages. Her green eyes warmed at hearing the endearing term. “But he isn’t a real warlock…from birth, I mean.”

“He’s been admitted in one of the most ancient ways, Sienna. He’s been chosen. We always knew someone special would marry our Marissa. Very few of our kind can call a demon to their aid.”

“But a human-turned-vampire?” Tears shimmered in my mother’s eyes, and I joined her and gave her a hug.

“He’s truly a warlock now, and if we destroy Lynetta…”

The doorbell rang and I nearly jumped out of my skin. What now?

Dad answered the door, while we looked on.

A policeman stood on our front step and peered beyond Dad at me with an almost eerily dead stare. “I need to speak to your daughter about what happened last night, and to the young man who claimed to have found her, sir.”

Something about the officer bothered me. His skin was pale, as if he’d suffered blood loss. And a bandage hid a wound on his neck.

My dad said, “Come right—”

“No!” both Dominic and I shouted at once and raced for the door.

Chapter 21

DOMINIC

Marissa’s father stared at us as we stopped him from inviting the policeman into their house. I could see then the realization still hadn’t sunk in with her parents that vampires could exist.

“We’ll speak to him on the front porch. It wouldn’t be a good idea to invite him in, with Mom so ill with the flu.” Marissa glanced back at her mom who immediately began to cough.

I loved her mom at once.

“I understand, Marissa,” her father said, finally getting the picture. “I’ll join you.” He pulled the door closed behind us.

The cop stood on one foot then the other, his black, beady eyes shifting from Marissa’s father to Marissa, then to me. He seemed at a loss as to what to do. I assumed his job was to get into the house. After that, it didn’t matter. He could let Lynetta in anytime.

But he’d been thwarted and seemed unsure how to proceed next.

Marissa and I had the same thought at once. Both of us wiped the policeman’s mind of Lynetta’s instructions. Then I commanded him through telepathy:
“Return to your police station and tell them you quit. Tell your chief how much of a dog he is, and how you couldn’t stomach another minute looking at the sight of his ugly face. Tell him you’d rather work in a sewer for a living. Now go!”

Marissa smiled when the man stormed toward his patrol car, a new mission in mind. Marissa’s father touched her arm. “What happened? I was ready to strike him down if he showed his fangs or—”

“We used the mind wipe to clear his thoughts. But Dominic telepathically ordered him to return to work and quit his job. At least for the time being, he won’t be parading around town as one of the good guys.”

“Good job. The human may still be salvageable.” Marissa’s dad tugged at his beard again, his green eyes studying the porch. Then he shifted his focus to me. “I need to get a hold of the witches’ and warlocks’ council at once and alert them of this trouble. We can’t have vampires turning our people. Our powers are too great and could inflict devastation on the population.”

Marissa thought of Joshua and said his name softly.

Her father hugged her to his chest. “You did what you had to do. We’ll tell his family. As for the two of you, you’ll stay with us until we’ve decided on a plan. With our powers, we should be able to defeat this Lynetta and her minions.”

I tentatively relaxed my stiff body. I hadn’t realized how tense I was with concern over what we had to do with the policeman. And I couldn’t believe our good fortune that Marissa’s parents would take me in.

“Can we see Kate at the hospital?” Marissa asked, hopeful.

Her father seemed distracted as he stared off at the neighborhood and didn’t respond.

“Dad? Can we drop by the hospital and see Kate?”

“Yes, yes, do that. Then return here. The council will meet at once, but I might need you and Dominic to speak briefly before the members to explain what happened to you—to convince them of the seriousness of the situation.”

“Of course.” She hugged her father, and he embraced her warmly. He turned to me and shook my hand again, but this time, the shake was not quite so firm, not so dominating, more of a welcome to the family.

Yet, I knew not all would be well. Not in the coming hours, maybe not even in the next few days. The plague that had descended on our fair city would have to be eradicated, and all of us—humans and magic users—would have to work together to find the solution.

***

When we arrived at Warlock Iverson’s Hospital, the pungent odor of disinfectant permeated the air. Muffled voices spoke from hospital rooms, but the nurse’s station was unmanned. Calls for doctors or staff blasted over loudspeakers, echoing the commands through the halls.

We quickened our pace to Kate’s room.

A bag of blood dangled from a hook high above the bed, the red liquid dripping down a clear plastic tube to the body buried beneath the covers.

“Kate,” Marissa said, her voice hushed, worried she’d wake her friend.

We approached the bed, our tennis shoes barely making a sound against the polished floor. “Kate,” Marissa said again, then touched her friend’s shoulder through the thin white blanket.

The body stirred and Marissa smiled.

Suddenly, the blanket whipped away.

We both gasped when we saw Lynetta and the bloody tube tucked between her teeth as she drained the liquid, her eyes darker than a moonless night, her canines fully extended. She wore the same sexy low-cut top and high-cut miniskirt, both black as a raven’s wing, that she’d worn the night she’d ensnared me at the Hamburger Spot.

She tossed the tube aside. “So good of you to come see me,” she hissed through clenched teeth, her lips stained with fresh blood.

Before either of us could react, she grabbed Marissa’s throat. Just a little more pressure, and she could crush her windpipe. Marissa’s frightened eyes begged me to save her, but I knew if I took one step toward Lynetta, she’d kill Marissa instantly. My heart hammered against my ribs and my fisted hands grew clammy with sweat.

“You know where we’ll be,” Lynetta said, almost with compassion. “Join us tonight, at midnight. No sooner…or she’s dead.” The last sentence was spoken with a savage menace.

With a wave of her hand, she vanished with Marissa in tow, and I felt like my heart had been torn out of my chest.

Chapter 22

MARISSA

Completely disoriented, I tried to fathom what had happened. An elusive memory tugged at my brain. Where had I felt such a strange sensation before?

Then I had it. When I’d dreamed Dominic’s first meeting with Lynetta at the Hamburger Spot. One minute we were in the restaurant and in a blink of an eye, we were standing in the smelly alley. Lynetta had transported me?

I closed my eyes. When Lynetta had taken me to her house, cursing the fact I was a witch the whole time, I tried to clear her mind in a last feeble attempt to protect myself. Maybe because she was an ancient vampire, or maybe due to the fact she’d been turning Dominic and his vampiric blood had partially turned me, I was unable to thwart her.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying prone on a carpeted floor in a large bedroom. I’m not certain what she had done to me, but my head throbbed, and shooting pains darted about my body in a never-ending relay race. I touched my neck where the hurt originated and groaned at the tenderness. My fingers were smeared with my blood. Had she fed off me, or did she have someone else do it? I didn’t remember, and I wasn’t sure how long I’d been in this bedroom.

When I tried to lift myself from the floor, my stomach revolted. I sank to my knees, attempting to keep my insides from churning too much or from spilling out on the floor. Could the situation get any worse?

I took in my surroundings—one queen-sized bed covered in a frilly pink comforter, its canopy dressed in matching pink eyelet, a sweet kind of young girl’s fantasy dream. Pink, silky drapes clung to a rod around the edge of the canopy, cloaking the bed in darkness. I imagined this was where Lynetta slept during the day, though black would be more appropriate for her wicked nature. Then again, maybe it was a guest bedroom and not her room at all.

Glancing at the lone window, the shades drawn, I could sense the day was gone. I was so groggy, every thought seemed to take forever to sink in. The day had disappeared.