Rotten Luck, page 12
“What are you doing here?” Van gripped my forearm, not hard enough to bruise but enough to stop me in my tracks.
“Nice to see you, too.” I glanced from his hand wrapped around my arm to his face and back again, hoping he’d take the hint. When he didn’t pick up on the subtle approach, I went for heavy-handed. “You want to let go of my arm?”
“You should be halfway to Ohio by now.” Van loosened his grip but didn’t let go. He all but growled when Collin honked the horn several times in rapid succession. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Out of the three of us, I’d say you’re the one who shouldn’t be here. You’re the one with vampire DNA.” A part of me recoiled when he winced at the insult I slung at him. He was reluctant to share that with me, embarrassed and burned before by his secret.
I threw it up in his face the first chance I got and that wasn’t like me.
I didn’t care for the person I was becoming, angry and bitter over Van’s deception. I’d had my share of disappointments over the years, of cruel people who did cruel things. Having a crazy mother and being poor wasn’t quite the same as being half-vampire, but I knew what it was like for someone to use the thing you hated most about yourself against you. But that didn’t stop me from treating Van the same way I’d been treated most of my life in Angler’s Cove. I don’t know why, but the cut Van left in my heart was deeper than the rest, and I didn’t think I could forgive him.
But I had to work with him— at least until we stopped Ivan.
“I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.” My apology was half-hearted, but it was the best I could do. “Nothing is going to change the way I feel about what you did, lying to me about what you are, but Ivan is as much to blame for taking my best friend, the one solid thing I had in my life away, as the vampire who killed her. So, I’m going to help you kill him.”
“And then you’re leaving?” He sounded disappointed rather than relieved and I didn’t know what to make of that nor did I have the energy to try and figure it out. I’d assumed after everything was said and done, he’d be happy to see me go. “If you’re alive when this is over, I mean.”
“Comforting thought.” My eyes rolled out of habit. It had become such a natural reaction for me I didn’t have to think about it. It just happened— like breathing. “I don’t see any reason to stay. If I’m alive, of course.”
I left him standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face and got in the van. “Shotgun,” I called out without looking back.
After rolling down the window, I rested my arm on the passenger door frame and nonchalantly watched Van come around and open the side door before climbing into the back. He buckled himself into the small fold-down seat that was attached to the interior van wall behind Collin’s seat and in front of the stretcher that had been cleaned and locked back into place after my rescue at the condo. I fastened my own seatbelt before dropping the visor down to use the little rectangular mirror so I could continue to watch Van brood without having to turn around. He looked up, meeting my gaze in the mirror for a moment before I flipped the visor up with a flick of my wrist and turned my attention to the scenery outside.
The local landscape was fascinating.
Why did I care what he thought of me or what he had been thinking about after the things I’d said? I told myself it didn’t matter, but my thoughts continued to turn to Van and our stolen moments during our brief time together. Which, in turn, shifted to his admission about what he was. My mind moved like a hamster on a wheel, running and running but getting nowhere. Always coming back around to the same thing. His betrayal of me became my betrayal of Joannie.
I’d slept with the enemy but, for the time being, the enemy of my enemy was my friend.
I needed to stop worrying about what happened between Van and me. It was a distraction I couldn’t afford. Not if I wanted to walk out of the meeting with Ivan alive.
Chapter Nineteen
Angler Cove came into view just as the sun set below the horizon, releasing the last tendrils of light from its grasp and succumbing to the night. Stars twinkled into existence. The same stars I’d wished upon almost every night for something, anything, to happen that would finally lead me away from the godforsaken dead-end town.
Be careful what you wish for. Sometimes it comes true.
Something happened to lead me away from the tourist trap I’d lived in all my life. The worst kind of thing. A vampire came to town and killed my best friend. That one incident led me out of Angler Cove and into the Benandanti.
And then into the arms of a vampire.
Of course, that last part couldn’t be blamed on Joannie’s death. That whopper of a mistake was all me. Me and my rotten ass luck. Leave it to me to fall for the one guy within a hundred miles who was half-vampire and half-human. But there was no walking away and never looking back. At least not for me.
Standing outside of Hole in the Wall was proof positive of that.
Ivan and his band of bloodsuckers weren’t due to arrive for at least another hour. According to Collin, they needed time to feed. He planned to use that time to our advantage. He pressed a key ring in my hand. Between the soft, purple fur of the faux rabbit’s foot and the bright pink dab of nail polish on one of the only two keys dangling from the ring, there was no denying whose they were.
Joannie’s.
She couldn’t bring herself to buy a real rabbit’s foot. It was cruel and unusual. Still, she wanted something to ensure my string of luck didn’t rub off. I didn’t blame her on either count. Van must have swiped her keys the night she died on the off chance he had to come back. Always be prepared. He’d said something along those lines once when my training began. It looked like that practice finally paid off.
With a deep breath, I slid the key into the lock, turning the tumbler to the left and pulled the door open. The smell of stale donuts and burnt coffee wrapped me up in the comforting embrace of lovers united after months of separation. I hadn’t realized how much I missed the old girl. Her worn and dated décor, the fine haze of powdered and granulated sugars that coated everything, including your lungs. There were permanent coffee stains splattered on the wall behind the counter. I was responsible for more than my fair share and Mr. Al had threatened to doc my pay on more than one occasion if I dropped one more coffee pot. Without waiting for Collin or Van to finish carrying their hardware in, I slipped past the front counter and into the back room, popping a jelly-filled donut hole in my mouth on the way. In keeping with Mr. Al’s traditions, the donut was too hard and the jelly too thick, but it was a close to heaven as I’d tasted in months.
My moan of satisfaction was muffled by another mouthful of raspberry jelly and raised doughnut. I hadn’t realized how much I missed junk food. There was so little of it back at the Benandanti house. Snacks consisted of carrots, celery sticks, and, on special occasions, trail mix. I asked Van once if our runs were really to scout out new locations or to forage for nuts and berries.
I was only half joking.
The toned muscles and flat tummy gained over the past weeks training with Van and even the traitorous Chelsey would be laid to waste if I spent another minute in the kitchen. After peeling back the plastic wrap covering a tray of chocolate frosted with rainbow sprinkles, I took two from the back row and resealed the cling wrap. With a doughnut in each hand, I used my right hip to nudge the swinging door open, only to find Van waiting for me on the other side.
“Collin said you should put this on.” Van held up the fifty’s throwback peach uniform, which was a piece of nostalgia according to Mr. Al. Or an itchy nightmare according to anyone forced to wear the polyester getup.
“What? Why?” Those were the questions I’d intended to ask, but with my jaws packed full like a squirrel preparing for winter, they came out as indistinguishable sounds rather than actual words. Without chewing, I swallowed hard, pounding my chest twice when the doughnut got stuck somewhere around my esophagus and tried again. “Why the uniform? And where did Collin run off to?”
“He’s finishing up the last of the UV traps on the roof.” He looked up, and I did the same as if the ceiling suddenly became transparent and we’d catch a glimpse of Collin at work. “The uniform? That’s a special request.”
“Of course it is.” I wiped my fingers on my pants, brushing off the last specs of granulated sugar still clinging to me after I raided the donut tray. I snatched the uniform out of Van’s hands and stormed off toward the bathroom to change, swallowing hard to force the last of the donut hole, and my emotions, past the lump in my throat.
Hole in the Wall was built before ADA requirements were mandatory which meant the employee bathroom was small. Changing from my street clothes into my old uniform could be compared to an audition to Cirque de Soleil with my usual grace and flair. Fortunately for me, the bucket we used for mopping the floor was smaller in diameter than my size eight shoe. Unfortunately for me, the mop handle came back and smacked me in the face hard enough to form a knot beneath my eye. I unhooked my shoelace from around the mop handle and stumbled toward the mirror to check for any signs of a bruise.
Apparently, completing a task as mundane as a wardrobe change unscathed was too much to ask.
After tying the white apron around my waist, I tucked a few stray strands of hair back behind my ears and came out of the bathroom. Van rested against one of the tall, metal shelving units used to hold stores of backing supplies. He appeared calm, relaxed, like setting a trap for a vampire clan inside an old donut shop in an old boating town was no big deal. For him and Collin, it probably wasn’t.
Just another day at the office.
Van smiled, shaking his head in amusement. “On the outside, exactly the same as the first time I saw you. But on the inside...” He pushed off the shelves and stepped closer, one hand reaching out toward my face and the bump under my eye. “Well, maybe there’s a little of the old Desmona Jones left in there somewhere.”
“I’ve had some upgrades.” I backed up a step, the bathroom door blocking my escape. “But the original features are still there.”
“Listen, Lucky, I...” Van hadn’t quite worked out what he wanted to say.
Collin came in, telling us it was time before he had a chance to figure it out. “They’re here.”
I left Van in the back room, following Collin through the swinging door to the front of the store. “I don’t see anyone.” Climbing into one of the booths, I shimmied on my knees and peered out the window. “Where?” Lamp posts were out in every direction for at least three blocks leaving the corner Hole in the Wall occupied shrouded in darkness.
Perfect for a vampire. Not so much for the average person— like myself.
“Collin, I don’t see anything.” My nerves began to get the better of me, a heady rush of fear and adrenaline. Joannie, slacked jaw and dying on the floor, flashed through my mind and my hatred for Ivan and his band of rogues intensified. “Where are they?”
“You in a hurry to run off with Ivan?” Van crossed the room without so much as a boot scrape on the floor. His close proximity, the warmth of his breath on the back of my neck, his body heat despite being cold-blooded, sent chills down my spine.
“No, I just want this to be over with. I want justice for Joannie.” The hint of disgust in my voice had as much to do with my reaction and attraction to Van as it did with Ivan.
“What you want is revenge.” Van backed away, cool air from the vent in the ceiling above the booth swirled in, replacing the heat that built up in the small space between our bodies. He didn’t need to make a sound when he moved. I noticed his absence immediately.
“We’re talking about vampires. Justice, revenge,” I turned in the direction of the booth in the back where Van had taken up position, “it’s the same thing.”
“It’s not the same at all.” Van pulled a stake from a modified ammo belt strapped across his chest and laid it down beside him. He leaned back, settling into the bench seat. “Justice isn’t blind. Revenge? Revenge is blinded by hate and fear.” There was a bitter edge in his tone and an underlying point to his story.
About us.
In particular, me and my prejudice against anything vampire or part vampire. Not that I cared. The only point worth making was at the end of a stake, and with any luck, I’d drive one right through Ivan’s heart.
Chapter Twenty
The bell above the door jingled as Ivan and his entourage breezed into Hole in the Wall. They appeared to be regular as the coffee served daily. I assure you they were anything but.
“Carpe Noctem.” Ivan’s enthusiastic greeting was unmatched by those of us representing the Benandanti. Arms outstretched, he appeared to be waiting for me to fall into his embrace.
The odds of that happening were slim to none. I preferred my blood to stay inside my body, thank you very much. We reviewed the plan several times on the drive into town. Collin did his best to convince me it was foolproof. A fool’s errand was more like it. We were outnumbered two to one and short on stakes.
“Even the best-laid plans go awry,” Collin muttered from my left.
“The phrase ‘going to hell in a handbasket’ comes to mind,” was my reply.
Ivan smiled, cool as a cucumber— and I wasn’t referring to his body temperature. “This is the part where I tell you to hand over your weapons. Not only pointless, but uncivilized when negotiating.” Gloating was even less attractive on the undead than it was on a human.
“Easy for him to say. They are weapons.” I followed Van’s lead— waiting for him to hand over the knives and stakes he’d stashed away on his person— and tossed out a small stake I’d hidden in the apron of my uniform.
The vampires were at an advantage. It wasn’t rocket science. It was a numbers game. And the numbers were in their favor. Chelsey no doubt told him there were only three members left in the Benandanti after her departure. Quite frankly, the number of vampires he brought with him was just overkill.
With a snap of his fingers, the band of vampires behind him parted, revealing Chelsey, the traitor. Crocodile tears welled up in her bright blue eyes, threatening to spill over onto her cheeks but I wasn’t fooled. From the looks on their faces, I guessed Collin and Van weren’t either.
“Van.” Chelsey rushed forward, pretending to flee from her captor. Like a childhood game of Red Rover, she hit a barricade of arms extended to hold her back. Except they were vampires, so it was effortless. “Just give him what he wants.”
“And if what he wants is a person? I’m not the human trafficking business, Chelsey.” Hands curled into fists at his side, Collin struggled to tamp down his anger.
Collin was supposed to be the level-headed member of the group. I’d never seen him so upset. Not when his serum failed to work, and he was stuck with me, not when I failed most of my training exercises in the beginning, or when I managed to get captured by Ivan. Not when I decided to split after learning the truth about Van or even when he discovered the truth about Chelsey. But coming face to face with her, however, proved too much for him. There was a slight tremor in his hands, a twitch in his jaw, and a reddish hue to his skin. Collin was close to losing it.
That was probably part of the plan— take us out one by one.
With Collin lost to his anger, ready to come to blows with any vampire within arm’s reach, he wasn’t focused on his tech toys or the traps he laid out in and around the building. Take Van down, and nothing is standing between Ivan and what he came for— me.
We were so screwed. Which of course, was just my luck.
Chelsey looked at me, doing her best to sound sincere. “I’m sorry, Lucky, really.” She spared half a second on me before turning her focus back to Collin. “Collin, please. I can’t stay with them. The things they’ve done, you don’t know. Please.”
It was interesting she hadn’t tried to plead her case with Van. Collin was in charge, and, unlike the vampire hunter, they must have pegged him as an easy mark.
“And you would condemn her to the same fate?” Collin’s voice grew louder, almost a shout before he reigned it back in. “To be tortured, Chelsey? That’s not what the Benandanti does.”
“Just give her to him, Collin. She’s useless, a walking accident. She wouldn’t have made it out of her first run alive if you and Van hadn’t come for her. It’s bound to happen again. Next time, she’ll get us all killed.”
And there it was. The moment Chelsey tipped her hand and admitted she knew more than she was letting on. Ivan wouldn’t have given a prisoner the blow by blow of events the night I all but burned down his condo. She couldn’t have known.
Unless she was working for him.
“Did you help them stuff me in the trunk, Chelsey?” I patted my apron and the silver dagger I’d slipped into the front pocket. “Were you at the condo that night? You must have been close enough to see me escape on my own.”
Chelsey gave up the ghost and dropped the good girl act. “You’re a walking disaster. How are you not dead yet?”
A wicked smile spread across my face. “Just lucky, I guess.” And for the first time, I actually meant it. I had it all wrong for so long. Bad things weren’t happening to me. They were happening around me, and I made it through them relatively unscathed every time.
That was right about the time the universe decided to test my new-found theory.
Fangs descended and, ready to drain every Benandanti in the room, Ivan’s thugs moved into action, going after Van and Collin first. Chelsey lunged for me in a move I saw coming a mile away thanks to having trained with her before.
"You need to learn some new moves." My arm wrapped around her midsection I pulled her toward my hip and used her momentum against her, tossing her to the ground.
She hit hard, a rush of air expelled from her lungs but not enough to slow her down. Hooking her hands around my heel, she tugged hard and pulled my foot out from under me. I landed on top of her in an awkward position that would have won any game of Twister. Things deteriorated quickly from there into an all-out catfight.
