4-Ever Hidden: Vampire Hunter (4-Ever Hunted Book 3), page 26
“Trick let himself get turned into a vampire to save your sorry butt!” Scarlet shouted.
Dani yelled back. “I wouldn’t have needed saving from the shadow faerie if Trick hadn’t brought it into our lives!”
A loud piercing whistle cut them off, and every eye in the room turned to the open arch between that room and the foyer. Cowboy stood there, two fingers in his mouth so he could whistle. He folded his arms. “I used to have a nice, quiet existence before meeting Trick. People didn’t yell loud enough to wake the dead at all hours of the day. Now shut up and let me get some sleep.”
Dani pushed past him. “Don’t worry. I’m out of here.”
Trick gave Scarlet an apologetic look before chasing Dani to the front door. “You aren’t going home alone,” he said. “I’ll take you, but I think you should leave the dog behind. Oberon can use him to spy on you.”
“I am not leaving Carter.”
He started to argue, but her lower lip quivered. Her shoulders shook as she began to sob again. He couldn’t handle another bout of grief from her. “Okay,” he said. “We’ll take the dog.”
While Dani went in search of Carter, Scarlet and Cowboy went at it. They traded barbs like two prizefighters trading jabs. Trick sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Their catty remarks floated over his head. He blocked them both out in an effort to keep his sanity. What was it going to take to get them to play nice?
Since Scarlet was already upset with him, he didn’t figure it could get worse. He went upstairs after Dani. They met in the hallway between her guest room and the staircase. Not wanting to waste another second he grabbed her arm and the dog’s leash. They teleported to her backyard.
Dani staggered as if dizzy from the trip.
He caught her before she could fall and helped her to the swing. She sat on it without hesitation. Hovering nearby, he decided to stay upright. He was on edge, and the dog could feel it. Carter growled. Trick hunched down and ran his hand down the dog’s back to calm him.
“It’s okay, boy.” He looked up at the house. The dark windows confirmed the fact no one was inside, but that didn’t mean Oberon couldn’t appear at any second. Trick asked Dani, “Are you sure you want to do this? I’m willing to go in alone.”
Dani pushed to her feet, walked past him without saying a word, and went into the house. He entered behind her with Carter at his side. The dog went straight to his food dish, and Dani went up to her bedroom. He followed. Oddly enough he hadn’t been inside her bedroom before, not even when they were dating.
The room reflected her personality with bright colors, candid photos of her friends stuck to the dresser mirror, and a poster board with a ten-year plan written in detail. Seeing the things she had crossed out, stuff she had given up on like having her father walk her down the aisle tugged at his emotions. Another brick of guilt joined the others to form a bigger wall, one he wouldn’t be able to knock down without a bulldozer. It was his fault she’d lost her father, her stepmother, and her home, his fault she had to move to another state.
Why hadn’t he left her alone?
She threw a suitcase on the bed and filled it in record time. Then she did a second suitcase. After that, she grabbed an empty box. Apparently, she wanted to take everything. Watching her pack, Trick had the sad feeling he wouldn’t see her again. At some point she’d decided to never return to Reno.
“I have too much stuff,” she said. “How am I going to pack it all?”
“You don’t have to,” he said. “I can teleport things to you later. Just grab what you need for now.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she sank onto the bed. “I can’t believe I have to say goodbye to my home, my friends, my school.”
She grabbed her ten-year plan poster board and tore it in half. Then she ripped it into several more pieces. Those pieces fell on the floor around her feet. He wanted to comfort her, but how could he when it was his fault?
“I am so sorry, Dani.”
“Why? You didn’t kill my father.” She crossed the room to stand next to him. “You didn’t invent monsters. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
He wished he could agree with that.
She tilted her head, resting it on his shoulder. “If you want to blame someone, maybe you should blame me. I ripped the necklace off your neck. That’s when it started, didn’t it? You told me your memories of using magic returned then, and that’s when we started to like each other.”
“I don’t regret liking you,” Trick said.
“My stepmother used to say first love is complicated.”
“Hey, if you ever need help of a supernatural variety, call me. Don’t forget I can teleport and be there in half a second.”
Dani squeezed his arm once before returning to her packing. She didn’t look straight at him after that, but he caught a glimpse of her damp face. He wished there was something he could do to ease her pain. Maybe he shouldn’t have used the dollhouse to rescue her.
“I didn’t think to ask,” she said. “How many boxes can you teleport?”
That was a good question. He looked around at everything she was packing and sighed. “I guess we can take whatever I’m touching and whatever you’re touching. We can make more than one trip.”
“At least my aunt will be at work. We can pop boxes into the backyard, and I’ll tell her later that my friend rented a car for us. She won’t ask questions. She’s not what you’d call a curious person.”
“Don’t forget Carter,” Trick said.
“I didn’t forget him.” Her voice sounded far away and sad. “He’s all I have left now.”
Trick wanted to tell her that wasn’t true, that she still had him. But in truth she didn’t. He was with Scarlet, and Dani needed to start a new life in another state. If she was ever going to be happy, she had to forget him. Because of Oberon she had lost everything. Trick vowed to make the faerie king pay even if it got him killed. He owed it to Dani.
♪
Trick assembled his group of misfits in the mansion’s living room a few days later so he could lay his new plan out for them. It was dangerous, but he couldn’t think of another way. He stood in front of the large fireplace to deliver a memorized speech that would hopefully lift morale and convince everyone to join.
Summer and Matt shared a corner of the couch without enough space between them for air. Cowboy came in at the last second and dropped into an over-sized chair. He put his feet on the ottoman. The two vampires and his brother didn’t interest Trick. His eyes were pinned to the fourth person waiting to hear his plan.
Scarlet sat on the opposite corner of the couch with a whole unused cushion between her and the two lovebirds on the other end. He still couldn’t believe she’d agreed to come to the meeting considering how she felt about him bringing Dani back.
Although it was difficult to concentrate on his speech with Scarlet staring holes through him, he did. They needed to hear the plan. It wouldn’t work unless they were all willing to participate.
“The dollhouse is the key,” he said.
“We know that already,” Cowboy complained. “Didn’t you say you had new information for us?”
Trick grinned. “I know how it can help us defeat Oberon.”
“How?” they all four asked in unison.
“If we can get him to step into the office with the dollhouse, we can trap him between realms.”
They gaped at him as if he’d lost his mind.
Cowboy grunted. “I like crazy, but you take it to a whole new level.”
Summer nodded in agreement.
“Don’t worry,” Trick said. “I think I’ve got it worked out. Jack will convince Jersey to set the trap. He’ll tell Jersey the dollhouse is a powerful weapon. You know our unfriendly alpha werewolf won’t be able to resist. He wants more power. I say we give it to him.”
Cowboy rubbed the back of his neck while asking, “How did you get Jackpot to agree to help?”
“He’s my brother.” Jack had wanted to help them. He knew how dangerous Oberon was and what would happen if they didn’t stop him. “Jack has a family. His kid will live in the same world we do. He wants his them safe.”
“Tell us this wonderful plan already,” Cowboy said. “What do we have to do?”
Trick looked at Scarlet and found her staring at the wall instead of him. She sat quietly, probably wishing she was somewhere else. Somehow he needed to get her alone after his speech. Until then, he would continue on as if nothing was wrong.
“After Jack offers Jersey bait he can’t resist, Jersey will go to Oberon and give him information. He’ll tell the faerie king that we have a secret weapon from the faerie realm that we can use against him. He’ll want to see it. The two of them will go to the house in Indiana where we’ll be waiting. Summer, we need you across the street with binoculars. You’ll need to find a place where you can clearly see into the office. When Jersey opens the dollhouse, you’ll tell us.”
Summer rolled her eyes. “How exciting.”
“Hold it!” Cowboy got in Trick’s face. “How is the werewolf going to open the dollhouse?”
“Jack will give him the key,” Trick said.
Cowboy bit his lower lip for a moment, and his eyes closed. When he opened them again, it was to glare at Trick with white-hot intensity. “I take it back. You aren’t crazy. You’re stupid.”
“I hate to agree with him,” Scarlet said, “but Cowboy is right. You can’t give the dollhouse key to Jersey. What if he steals the dollhouse instead of taking Oberon to it? Or what if he uses it to do something terrible?”
“Listen to the bushy-haired girl,” Cowboy said. “That dollhouse is creepy, and we may not know everything it does yet.”
Trick stepped away from the other vampire. It was true he didn’t know everything there was to know about the dollhouse, but he was sure he knew enough. His plan would work. He was sure of it. It would work if he could get everyone to follow the plan. “Cowboy, you and I need to remove the door as soon as Summer tells us the dollhouse is open. That way they won’t be able to escape. They’ll be trapped between realms forever.”
“Why not just open the door so they can’t return?” Cowboy asked.
“Someone might close it someday,” Trick said. “But they’ll never get out if we remove the door completely.”
Matt raised his hand, a frown on his face. “What about me? Where do I fit into your plan?”
“We,” Scarlet said, finally joining the conversation. “He means where do we fit into your master plan?” She got off the couch, and her hands went to her slender hips. “And don’t you dare say you’re leaving us out. Matt and I are part of this. What can we do to help?”
Her reaction to almost being left out gave Trick hope. The girl obviously still cared. As soon as they trapped Oberon and Jersey he would come up with a second plan, a plan to get his girlfriend back. Problem was he didn’t have anything for them to do. It was a three-person job.
Scarlet’s glare intensified. “Maybe I should be the look-out and let you know when they open the dollhouse. Summer can go into the house with you and Cowboy. She has supernatural-speed so she can get out of there if she needs to.”
No one could argue with her logic. Facts were facts. When it came to dangerous missions, vampires trumped mortals any day of the week.
Trick nodded. “Sounds good.”
He smiled at Scarlet, but she turned her face the other way.
They talked a bit more. Everyone seemed to have a question, but it was stuff he’d already gone over. He repeated the plan a second time. During the rehearsed speech Scarlet left. He tried to follow, but Cowboy stopped him with a hand on the arm and another question. It sailed over his head. All he cared about was getting to Scarlet. Unfortunately, she was gone when he reached the front door.
He stared into the empty night, alone again.
♪
Jack hesitated halfway down the hallway of Trick’s high school. He spun on one foot and headed in the opposite direction. Silver was right. Getting involved in the whole supernatural mess Trick was caught up in was a bad idea. What was he doing in Reno? He’d promised Silver he would stay out of it. Yet, here he was in the same building as Jersey Clifford, ready to talk to the werewolf on Trick’s behalf. Bad idea.
On the other hand, he only had one brother left, and he’d like to get to know him. He reversed direction again. Billy was gone. There wasn’t anything he could do about that, but he could have a simple conversation with Jersey that might end up saving Trick’s life.
Determined to help Trick regardless of what it cost him, he squared his shoulders and set his eyes on Jersey’s classroom door. The last bell had rung fifteen minutes ago, and most of the students had left already.
Although he had been on the sidelines for a while, he still remembered the element of surprise was a great advantage. With that in mind, he shoved the classroom door open without knocking and entered.
Jersey, sitting at his desk correcting papers, dropped his red pen and his jaw.
Jack gave the werewolf a second to pull it together.
“You are the last person I expected to see today,” Jersey said.
Recovering quickly, Jersey stood and motioned for Jack to take a seat in the front row. That would be too much like old times, teacher and student playing out the roles fate had dealt them. Things had changed, at least for Jack.
Feet planted firmly on the floor near the door, Jack spoke. “I wanted to thank you for taking me to save my brother. I had no idea Ian Carver had another son until you told me. If it wasn’t for you, I probably never would have known. He would have died in the Faerie Realm. Alone.”
Surprise registered in Jersey’s eyes once again. A slow grin spread across his face. The trap was set, and he was about to walk straight into it. Clueless. Jersey hadn’t changed a bit. The werewolf loved it when somebody acknowledged his brilliant handling of any given situation.
And that was what Jack was counting on.
He intended to out-manipulate the puppet master.
Jersey raised an eyebrow. “What else is on your mind? I am quite certain you didn’t travel all this way to express gratitude.”
“It’s been a long time since we talked.” Jack moved further into the room. “When you appeared on my front porch and told me about my brother, I realized I miss this.” He gestured from Jersey to himself and back again. “No one in my circle reads anything longer than a tweet, not even Silver.”
Taken aback by the comment, Jersey looked shocked. “I keep telling your brother that being illiterate is not a virtue. We’ve had several debates on the subject, but his stubborn streak runs deep.”
Jack shook his head, feigning disgust. “Hard to believe we had the same father. Different mothers though. That must be it. Mine thought education was important, and she stressed reading from the time I was a toddler.”
“Speaking of infants.” Jersey grinned. “Please read to your child every night so he will grow up with a love for literature.”
“Already on it.” At Jersey’s confused expression Jack added, “Some people say babies can hear you before they’re born. I read to him... or her.”
“Grand idea.”
Jack drew closer to his old... teacher? Friend? Nemesis? He wasn’t sure how to think of Jersey at this point. The one word that came to mind was dangerous. Jersey was unpredictable to the extreme. During their time together he had bounced back and forth between good and evil. Sometimes he had helped Jack, even saved his life. But he couldn’t be trusted.
The fact Jersey had found a way to become a werewolf again underscored his greed for power. Jersey hadn’t changed a bit. Jack kept that in mind while inwardly preparing his speech. His brother was counting on him, so he needed to do it right. There wouldn’t be a second chance.
“I came to talk to you about the king of faeries.” Jack stepped closer to the werewolf and kept his voice low enough so no one would overhear if they happened to be standing outside the door. “Cowboy found a way to destroy the guy, a weapon not even Oberon can escape.”
Jersey leaned forward an inch. “Weapon?”
“Well, it’s more of a powerful object, I guess. Cowboy found it by accident years ago and then forgot to tell anyone. He recently trusted me with the information. I’m supposed to keep it a secret, but I think you would be a better choice to wield the weapon than Cowboy... or Trick.”
Jersey’s smug smile came into play. “Agreed. Tell me more about this weapon.”
Jack sat at a desk along the front row, and Jersey sat at the desk next to his, startling him. It was the first time he’d seen Jersey use a student’s desk. The werewolf enjoyed hovering over people. At the very least he would perch on the edge of the teacher’s desk provided by the school. Seeing his tall, lanky body in a small desk meant for students made him appear less lethal, but Jack wasn’t fooled. Jersey was still the most dangerous creature on the planet.
Jack acted like he was having second thoughts on the matter. He traced a finger along the desk’s edge and glanced at the door. Shaking his head, he said, “Maybe I should just go.”
“No.” Jersey looked worried. “If there’s a weapon out there that can defeat Oberon, I need to know. I need to use it. You can trust me, Jack. We all want the same thing. Oberon dead.”
“If the weapon falls into the wrong hands...”
“It won’t. I swear I will only use it against Oberon. Then you can do with it whatever you wish.”
Jack made a fist and lightly thumped it against the desk. “Oh, they are going to hate me for this.”
“They’ll get over it,” Jersey said. “Once Oberon is dead everyone will rejoice, and no one will hold it against you. They’ll probably throw you a party.”
Jack turned sideways as if he was torn on what to do next. After emitting a heavy sigh, he said, “There’s a house in Indiana with a magical dollhouse in one of the rooms.”
Jersey’s eyes narrowed. “A dollhouse?”
“It’s no ordinary dollhouse. The thing is a relic from the Faerie Realm, something long lost and forgotten.” It was a guess, but he thought it sounded right. Jack went on. “The dollhouse opens a magical room and there is a weapon inside that can wipe out anyone no matter how powerful.”
