Chapter 14
Fourteen
VAUGHN
Ipark in front of Isadora’s house and text her to say I’m in position. She replies that she’s leaving in five minutes, but she won’t acknowledge my presence in case Niko is watching from the house. Man, who is this kid who makes the most powerful witch in Salem walk around her on tiptoes?
Like clockwork, Isadora’s garage door opens exactly five minutes later, and she backs out the driveway. I stay put and wait. The lights inside the house are on, which means Niko is still awake. It’s half past ten, but I don’t know any teenager who goes to bed before midnight.
It occurs to me that Isadora is only worried about Niko getting in trouble if she goes out, but there are plenty of shenanigans to be had without leaving the house, especially with a boyfriend in the picture. I can attest that teen boys are the fucking worst.
Ten minutes after Isadora left, a black truck pulls up the driveway, and a tall dude with dark blond hair steps out. I tense. If he goes in, there’s nothing I can do. But Niko walks out of the house and meets him halfway. They greet with a quick peck on the lips, then both hop into his truck.
I let out a breath of relief. Now I can fulfill my promise to keep an eye on the girl.
I follow the truck at a safe distance to avoid getting spotted.
It’s not until we’ve been driving for about ten minutes that I can guess where they’re going—Bloodstone Institute. There’s nothing else in this area.
What could they possibly want at the school for vampires?
Troy drives past the main gate and veers for the back of the building.
I remember coming here to pick up Vivi and Aurora before we went to rescue Rikkon from Larsson’s clutches.
That feels like a million years ago. There’s an old cemetery at the back of the institute and a secret entrance through one of the mausoleums. The place was creepy as fuck during the day.
I can only imagine what it must look like now in the dead of the night.
And according to Vivi, the place is totally haunted.
“What the hell are you doing, Niko?” I mutter.
Since the road is completely deserted, I can’t keep following them or they’ll see me.
I park at the east wall of the institute and continue the rest of the way on foot.
With my new supersonic vampire speed, I reach the cemetery in less than a minute.
Troy and Niko are already making their way to the secret entrance.
They brought flashlights with them. They aren’t talking, though, so I have no idea why they want to sneak in.
I wait until they disappear inside the mausoleum to follow them. Shivers run down my spine as I cross the deserted cemetery, even though I’m no longer night prey. It doesn’t matter, though. Ghosts are real and fucking terrifying.
The smell of decay is even stronger to my enhanced senses. I have to breathe through my mouth or risk gagging. Inside the mausoleum, I hear the echoes of Niko’s and Troy’s footsteps. I wait a bit to avoid them hearing me before I come down the stairs after them. I can follow their scent anyway.
As I descend into complete darkness, my pulse accelerates.
I wait for my eyesight to adjust to the gloom, but there’s literally no light coming through anywhere, so the improvement is almost nonexistent.
I suppose I need to resort to the flashlight app on my phone.
I don’t hear Niko and Troy anymore. They must have already made it out of the catacombs.
Just as I shove my hand into my pocket to grab my phone, a cold gust of wind licks the back of my neck, giving my goose bumps.
I shiver, and in my hurry to get the hell out of Dodge, I lose the grip on my phone, and it falls.
The distinct crack of glass breaking tells me it shattered against the stony ground.
“Fuck a duck.”
I bend over to try to find the damn thing when a cackle echoes against the walls, making my heart jump up to my throat. “Who’s there?”
“You’re a pretty thing,” a disembodied female voice replies right before a phantom hand touches my face.
I jerk back and end up falling on my ass. Holy shit. That was definitely a ghost. Why the hell did I say yes to the High Witch?
“Stay the fuck away from me!” I try to get up, but the same phantom hands wrap around my ankles and yank me forward so fast that my back and head hit the ground as I’m dragged to I-don’t-know-where. Probably my doom.
“Let go of me!” I yell, trying to break free from her hold to no avail.
Damn everything to hell. I can’t believe my second life will end like this, at the hands of Casperella.
The ghost finally releases me, and I come to a stop. My pulse is pounding in my ears, and my back is on fire, but I don’t waste any time. I jump to my feet and prepare to book it out of here like a bat straight from hell when a bright light shines on my face, blinding me.
“What the fuck!” I lift my arm to block the glare.
“You!” a female voice blurts out.
The bright light is lowered, allowing me to see it’s Sophie standing in front of me.
My first reaction is relief that my mystery vampire girl is here with me and not some scary ghost. I don’t come to my second reaction, which is to be leery about her presence, until she hits the side of my head with something hard, and then I don’t see anything at all.