Chapter 11
Autumn
“Little love,” Will says from behind me.
Lying in his bed, I twist around to take in the sight of him. He’s unbelievably handsome in a black linen shirt with a French collar, and gray slacks. His deep blue eyes are the only pop of color on him, and right now, they are raking over me.
“You didn’t go to the library today,” he says with a frown. “You won’t stay in bed all night, will you?”
I shrug and pull the blanket closer around me. “I might.”
The library didn’t hold any appeal today.
Probably because I’m sulking too much. I hate that he’s going to this stupid banquet without me.
I know I don’t have much claim on him or what he does, and I know that in his mind this is a safety issue, but it still really sucks that he’s leaving me behind.
“I made fettuccine with Alfredo sauce.” He steps into the room and sits on the edge of the bed. The mattress bends under his weight, pulling me toward him. “I know it won’t make you happy, but at least you’ll be fed. And I got you this.”
He holds out a phone.
“I have a phone,” I say, puzzled.
“This is a burner. You can use it to call your friend. It can’t be traced, although we may want to throw it out once you’ve used it.”
Sitting up, I take the phone from him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, love.”
He looks so sexy, so austere and distinguished, it’s hard to breathe. I want to rub myself all over his expensive clothes, breathe him in, kiss him until the ache in my chest goes away.
“Are you sure I can’t come with you?” I say. “I don’t have a good feeling about not going. Won’t my absence piss off Gaius?”
“We’ve talked about this, Autumn.” He rakes a hand through his hair and takes a deep breath.
I’m trying his patience, I know I am, but I can’t help it.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, looking away.
“Listen.” He takes my chin in his fingers and tilts me so I’m facing him once again. “I’ll make an appearance. I’ll return here as soon as possible. He might be angry that you’re not there. But I think it’s better. I hope it’s the right call.”
There’s doubt in his eyes.
I want to push at that doubt. I want to mold it into something stronger, make him change his mind. But he has decided, and even if I disagree, this is vampire politics…and I’m not a vampire.
He leans over, presses his lips to mine, soft and sweet and sad.
After he leaves, I wait until the sound of the door closing reaches my ears, then I sigh and look at the phone in my hand. Should I call Clarissa?
In college, she and I made it a point to memorize each other’s phone numbers in case we ever got lost or our phone batteries died. So I know her number by heart. I could easily call.
I’m not sure why I’m hesitating, though. Fear, mostly. Not just because of Dale, but because it will crush me if she doesn’t believe my side of things.
I’ve missed her. She’s the last connection to Altera and my old life.
And I’m genuinely worried if she’s tangled herself up with Dale, so I can’t ignore this opportunity to talk some sense into her.
Taking a deep breath, I dial and wait. She answers, her voice suspicious like it always is when she doesn’t recognize a number. “Hello?”
“Clarissa. It’s me.”
She gasps. “Autumn! Are you okay? Where are you?”
“I’m okay. I—I got your email.”
She’s quiet for a long moment. “Please tell me you’re happy for us.”
Fuck. How can I be honest without completely alienating her? Telling her it’s disgusting because Dale is a pile of shit…that will only cause her to push me away.
But I can’t lie.
“I’m not happy,” I say. “Not because of anything you’ve done, but because…Clarissa, I think you’re in danger.”
“Danger? No. Come back home,” she urges. “Please? We can get help. I’ll go with you to the hospital, we’ll get it all figured out for you. Dale and I can make sure you feel safe. You’ll be happy again.”
She truly believes what Dale has been saying about my mental state.
“You’re not listening,” I say. “You need to get away from him. I saw him—”
I break off. If I tell her exactly what I saw happen by the pool that night, and Dale finds out she knows, he might hurt her like he hurt Marcus Patrick…like he hurt my mother.
“You saw him what?” Clarissa asks.
“Clarissa, please. Please believe me, and…and get away from there. Leave Altera. I can find somewhere for you to hide, to be safe, and—”
“So far you’re giving me a whole lot of nothing.” There’s a new hardness to her voice. “You want to separate me and Dale. Why? Are you jealous over our love, over his love for me? He still wants to be your dad, Autumn. None of that is changing.”
“Did he—” I want to ask if he groomed her, but that won’t go over well. “How long has this been going on?”
She sounds both irritated and sad as she says, “We got a lot closer after you disappeared. We’ve been so worried about you. He’s been my rock through this, and I’ve been his. Autumn, please come home.”
I open my mouth to respond, but a male voice speaks in the background. “Who are you talking to, babe?”
My gut twists and I shut my eyes tight, burrowing under the blanket. It’s the voice of a monster, the voice of the man who will kill me as soon as he finds me.
“Please, Clarissa,” I whisper into the phone. “If you’re my friend at all, you won’t tell him it’s me. Lie. Say it’s a college ex. Please.”
Probably only half a second passes, but it feels like a full minute, and then Clarissa says, “Look, Greg, I’m in a relationship now. It’s too late for us.”
The line goes dead. She hung up.
She thinks I’m mentally unwell, she’s worried, she’s dating my stepdad and she thinks I could be jealous…and yet there’s a part of her deep inside that still believes in me. My friend is still there.
I use a knuckle to get the extra moisture away from my eyes. Somehow, I’ll need to call her back and tell her the truth. But not tonight, not while Dale is with her.
The phone in my hand rings and I nearly drop it in surprise. The number isn’t Clarissa’s, but I recognize it.
It’s Dale.
Xander
I can’t believe I’m going to die in this urine-soaked alley. There’s no escaping Mullet’s grasp. He’s stronger than I am, and much bigger. I kick out with my legs in an attempt to shove the slender guy away. He dodges and advances.
Fuck, I don’t want to go like this. The worst thing about it will be Autumn and Will thinking I just fucking abandoned them.
The slender man jabs the stake forward.
Furious and unable to move, I face my death.
His thrust stops in mid-air before the wood connects with my chest.
“Dub?” Mullet asks.
The slender man—Dub, I guess—doesn’t speak. His lips part, but no sound comes out. He tilts to the side and falls.
I see it, then, as he crashes to the ground—a long wooden arrow protruding from his back, which must have pierced his heart.
“Down!” a loud voice growls.
Mullet’s grasp has gone slack during his shock over seeing his friend shot. I take advantage of that and yank his arms away from my neck and shoulders, slithering down his height to crumple on the ground next to Dub.
With a strangled gasp, Mullet falls next to me, his eyes open and unblinking. An arrow pierces his chest, too.
I remain where I am, breathing hard. What the hell just happened? For a long moment, I stay low in case the danger hasn’t passed. Then I lift my head a fraction to peer around and listen hard.
There’s no sounds other than what I’d expect: traffic from the streets beyond the alley, the laughter and conversations of humans, and twangy guitar music coming from a nearby bar.
After another thirty seconds pass and nothing happens, I sit up and slowly stand.
My guard is up, but no one is around. Who shot the arrows?
I look up at the tall brick buildings around me, searching the fire escapes for a shooter, but there’s nothing.
No one waits at either end of the alley, either.
The two attackers are turning to dust before my very eyes. All that will remain of them, and of Maxim, is their clothing and belongings.
The guy who saved me, whoever he is—it’s like he was never here.
I check my phone. Shit. I’m covered in alley garbage. I reek. I’m going to be late to Gaius’s banquet, and I have to shower and change my fucking clothes.
Autumn
No way will I answer the phone when Dale is calling. Is he trying to make sure this is Clarissa’s ex-boyfriend, Greg? Because obviously it isn’t. Lucky for me, there’s no voicemail recording, no way for Dale to figure out that Clarissa was lying to him.
If she even still is lying. She could’ve changed her mind after hanging up and told him the entire truth.
My insides twist and turn, my gut churning.
The rear door bangs open and I jump up with a yelp. “Will?”
No answer. My lungs seize up and I can’t breathe. It has to be Will. It can’t be anyone else, can it?
Move, Autumn…
I dive to the floor next to the bed, my fingers digging into the pile of the carpet. If the intruder is a vampire, they’ll know exactly where I am, there’s no hiding—
“Autumn. There you are.” Xander’s voice.
I pop up to peer over the top of the bed.
Xander drops a duffel bag on the floor and strides toward me with another bag slung over his shoulder. His clothes are smudged with dirt or grease, and there’s a tear in the knee of his jeans that doesn’t look like it was meant to be there.
“Why are you on the floor?” he asks.
“I—” I don’t know how to answer without sounding like a scaredy cat. A little mouse. So I just shake my head. “Never mind.”
He looks me over with those dark brown eyes. “You’re all right.”
“Yes. Um, what’s going on? Aren’t you going to the blood banquet with Will?”
“I am. And so are you.”
I can’t have heard him correctly. “What?”
“I need to show Gaius we’re not afraid,” he says, pulling me up so I stand in front of him. “I brought you a dress to wear.”
“You—what? You really want me to go to the banquet?”
“Yes.” He throws a garment bag on the bed, turns around and leaves Will’s room, already pulling his shirt over his head and picking up the duffel he dropped. “I’m going to shower and put on clean clothes. Be ready in ten minutes.”
Ten minutes? To get dressed for a banquet?
“Where did you get the dress?” I ask after him.
No answer.
I unzip the bag and gasp. It’s a full black skirt with a tight bodice, which is hot pink with a black lace overlay. Leather strips crisscross the bodice, looking complicated and sensual. Seriously, where did he get this thing? I love it. It’s sexy and girly, but mostly sexy.
I yank off my clothes and bra, then pull the dress over my head. The leather straps trap me, tangling over my head and arms.
Xander comes in a minute later wearing black slacks and a button-down shirt the color of midnight. He looks just as hot as Will did, even though he’s frowning in disapproval. “You aren’t ready.”
I peer at him through the straps crisscrossing my face. The large skirt and bodice are almost in place, so I’m mostly decent. “Getting through this obstacle course of a gown takes more than ten minutes, mister. Help me?”
I spin around so I don’t have to see his disapproving frowny face. Here I am about to go to the party in a beautiful gown, and he’s trying to kill my joy.
The burner phone rings, buzzing in the comforter where I dropped it.
“Do you need to get that?” Xander asks, straightening the leather straps so they fall into place.
“No. What will I do for shoes?”
“I didn’t know your size, so I bought a few pairs in different sizes. The boxes are next to the door.”
With a deft, sure movement, he zips up the dress. He steps away immediately, as if I’ve burned him.
Without looking in my direction he asks, “Ready to go?”
I guess I have to be. Will was doing everything in his power to keep me from going to this banquet, but Xander looks as if he’ll haul me over his shoulder and drag me there.
My hair is a mess, I haven’t done my make-up, and mentally, I am unprepared for this. Still, I’m certain this is what is meant to happen. I was always meant to attend this banquet. “Yes. I’m ready.”