Chapter 6 - Jericho #2
I clear my throat. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. I mean, I suspected I wasn’t the only one to fall for his… methods. There are others?”
Grant nods. “Do you have any idea how many people he’s hurt or killed, Jericho?”
I shake my head.
“To our knowledge, he’s turned twenty-seven people, and of those, only seven have survived, including you. He’s killed the others.”
“Twenty sev—” Evan mutters, pushing his chair back and walking away. His heart picks up speed, a rapid thump-thump in the otherwise silent room. “I’m going to be sick.”
Rowen quickly shoves an empty bowl toward him, but Evan doesn’t throw up. He just sucks in sharp breaths, hands fisted against his thighs.
Jasmine clears her throat. “Sasha was one of them.”
“Wait. He’s converting shifters?”
Forest and Grant both nod. “Trying to. We don’t know how many he’s successfully changed, but we know he’s killed at least six. The transition for shifters is extremely difficult.”
Jasmine balls her hands into fists. “Sasha survived, but he killed her afterwards.”
I stare at them, stunned. What benefit would he get in turning shifters? It doesn’t make sense. Not to mention, it makes them less in control of their bloodlust, driven mad by the death of their primality.
“How is he getting away with this?” Evan asks, gripping the back of his chair with both hands. “Why aren’t the police stepping in?”
“We suspect he’s compelling those around him, including the police. They’ve gone to the club multiple times, yet nothing has changed,” Forest explains, before turning his attention back to me. “You’re the first we’ve heard of who hasn’t joined his coven after the transition.”
I scoff. “I’ve been running ever since he turned me.”
“Has he tried to kill you… or capture you?” Grant asks.
I shrug. “What difference does it make? I’d rather be dead than go back to Foxx.”
Evan mutters a curse at my confession, but I don’t look at him. I meant what I said. I’ll die before I join Foxx’s coven.
Grant and Forest exchange a look before Grant continues. “It matters because we think Foxx is choosing his vampires for a reason. So if he hasn’t tried to kill you, there’s a reason for it.”
My gums ache. My throat burns. I shove the heat down and try to compose myself, but come up short. “What reason? What could he possibly want from me? He’s destroyed my life!”
Forest averts his eyes.
It’s a long moment before Grant breaks the silence. “Is there anything you can tell us about his coven? We know there are at least eight vampires, if you include Foxx. And we know two of them are female.”
I shrug, feeling more and more helpless by the minute. “You guys seem to know more about them than I do, honestly. I’ve been avoiding them, just trying to stay alive.”
He frowns. “You can’t tell us anything?”
I get the impression he’s testing me. Like he’s trying to see if I’m resisting. If he believes I am, he could consider me a threat. But the simple truth is, I don’t have any information.
“What about the one in the car?” Evan encourages, taking a seat next to me again. His knee bumps my thigh, yet he doesn’t pull away. “What do you know about him?”
“Rip,” I say. “He’s usually the one who tracks me. I think he’s one of Foxx’s main guys.”
Grant and Forest nod, like that name means something. “Ripley is extremely dangerous. If he’s tracking you, I’m surprised you’re alive. He has a twin brother, Breck. They were both dangerous before they were turned, but now they’re something more. Something evil.”
Grant scoffs. “Foxx treats them like royalty. Gives them anything they want.”
“Why, though?” I ask. “What does he gain?”
“Can you think of no reason?” Grant asks, raising his brows. “What makes vampires unique?”
It finally clicks, and I sit back in my chair. Of course. “Their gifts.”
He nods, stroking his blond beard. “Breck is a chameleon. He can change his appearance to look like someone else. We aren’t sure about Rip’s, but if I had to guess, it compliments Breck’s.”
Rowen leans in. “We think Foxx is curating his coven based on vampire gifts. We just aren’t sure how yet.”
Blood drains from my face. Foxx wants my gift. God. That day in the alley…
“I hate to ask, Jericho, but do you know what your gift is?”
I shake my head once, struggling to form words. “Not unless you consider surviving on the streets and living out of my van a supernatural ability?”
He turns to Forest, and the two men seem to have an entire conversation without words.
“Okay, what are you talking about? What gift?” Evan asks.
Rowen addresses him. “Every vampire has a ‘gift,’” he explains.
“A power that only comes around once they’ve transitioned.
Night vision, light speed, strength, you get the idea.
It’s usually something carried over from their human life, except magnified.
If they were strong in their human life, then they’re usually gifted with super strength.
Like, beyond normal vamp strength. If they had impeccable vision, they’ll probably have night vision. So on and so forth.”
Jasmine nods at her son and gives me an apologetic smile. “Every one of Foxx’s vampires, those we know about anyway, has a unique gift. Something we don’t see in other vampires often. Which leads us to believe…” She trails off as all eyes turn to me.
“He’s collecting them,” I finish.
Evan curses loudly. “So that’s it? Foxx wants Jericho’s gift? But how does he know what it is when Jericho…” He cuts himself off, his expression changing in an instant as he snaps his attention to me. His face crumples as the realization sets in. “Oh, fuck. That’s what he was doing, wasn’t it?”
My fangs descend, the need to defend myself burning deep and uncontrollable. “I think so.”
“What are you talking about?” Forest asks. “Doing what?”
I fist my hand against the table. “Two days after I was turned, Foxx cornered me in an alley. He grabbed my face to strangle me, but when he did, his expression changed. He seemed as if he’d found something priceless.
Right after that, Rip and another man tried to grab me, but I got away. I’ve been running ever since.”
Murmurs float around the room, but all I can do is picture Foxx’s sickening grin when he touched me. Like I was a new toy to be used.
Jasmine sighs. “Sasha was on the phone with us a few days after she was turned. She screamed when Foxx approached her. We heard the whole thing.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Taren turn into her mate, stifling a sob.
“If only we could have gotten to her,” Ivy mumbles.
“How do we figure out what your gift is?” Evan says. “It has to be something good, right, if he wants it? Something he can use in some way?”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Trust me, Ev, if I knew, I’d be using it. If there’s anything that can get that guy off my ass, I want to know about it.”
“How long does it take for a vampire’s gift to show up?”
I swallow hard. “Weeks, months, even years. There’s no way of knowing.”
His eyes widen. “Years?”
“Were there any talents you had as a human?” Rowen asks. “Or unique abilities, maybe? Something we can assume would become stronger?”
I shake my head. “Nothing special.”
Evan is still looking at me, an intensity in his eyes I’ve never seen before. “Jer is an amazing artist,” he says easily. “And he has an outstanding memory. Like, he hardly studied in college because he could remember pages from the textbooks after only reading them once. It was so unfair.”
I snort. “Is that why you buddied up with me? To pass the tests?”
He cracks a smile. “Maybe.”
“Wait, you went to college together?”
We both nod. “We both graduated from ComSci a year ago, in Comstead.”
Evan reaches out to squeeze my arm, his voice soft but determined. “I’m sure it’s something great. We’ll figure it out together, okay?”
I pull away. “You don’t know that. I could be running from him my entire life.” And still not even know why. What gift could Foxx possibly want from me? I’m nothing special.
“Then I’ll run with you,” he says as a matter-of-fact.
“You don’t need to run at all,” Forest cuts in. “I stand by what I said earlier. You can take refuge here, so long as you help us fight them. We want justice for our pack sister.”
Grant, Rowen, and Ivy all nod, though Grant seems less pleased about partnering up with a vampire. But even Neal and Taren seem more accepting of the idea. Still wary, but less so.
I hesitate, uncomfortable with spending even another minute with the wolves. It wasn’t even thirty minutes ago that one of them had their teeth around my throat ready to kill me. My arm still stings where the skin is stitching itself back together.
But if they can help free me from my sire…
I turn to Evan, who shrugs like he’s leaving the ball in my court.
“Can you give us time to talk about it?” I ask.
Forest nods. “Of course.”
When I push my seat back and head toward the front door, he says, “I suggest you stay close to my house for now, though. Just until I can talk to the surrounding packs. They’ll likely want to meet you.
I’m afraid we aren’t the only pack who has been hurt by Foxx recently, so they might not be kind to a rogue vampire. ”
I stiffen at the thought of meeting even more shifters, but nod, knowing I have no other choice but to trust them. Evan’s life depends on me. On a pack of wolves. “Thank you.”