chapter TWO
I called my empath sponsor and planned to meet her for coffee. When I pushed through the glass doors of Coffee Java, I inhaled the freshly brewed aroma and felt like I’d just touched a piece of heaven.
Blue looked up and waved an arm from a back booth tucked into the corner with bookcases and empty tables surrounding it. I liked how private it was. Blue got her name for her graying hair that she dyed with blue highlights. She liked that it gave her an out-of-this-world quality although she was very much an earthly woman. Every one of the bracelets jangling on her wrist stood for a cause – pollution, cancer, save the forests, happiness from an orgasm.
I smiled widely as I weaved my way through the book cases. “Blue-cheese, how are you?”
She laughed with her raspy deep-throated voice. “That never gets old.” Nudging forward a coffee, she added, “Take it. You know it’s for you.”
I nabbed it and closed my eyes when the liquid touched my lips. It was so good, so yummy, and I knew I really was in heaven.
She closed the novel she’d been reading and pushed it to the side. She wasn’t one for idle talk. “Okay, girl. Out with it.”
“I have a problem.”
She arched a perfectly outlined eyebrow and rested her chin on her hand.
“I have vamp problems,” I said further.
Understanding dawned in her grey eyes. All empaths understood that statement. Sometimes we felt too much, but when we felt a vampire our senses went haywire from what they felt. “Are you still practicing your blocks?”
I nodded. I’d upped my level since I joined the hotline.
“That’s good. Keep at it. Now, tell me about the vamp problem.”
What could I say? “It’s nothing really, but a feeling. He saw me in the library today with my roommate. I asked her about him and he heard the whole thing.”
Blue frowned. Her purple lips rubbed together. “What’s the problem? Vamps are used to that.”
“I was watching him when I asked her about him. I didn’t realize that he’d been watching the entire time.”
“What do you mean ‘watching’?” She narrowed her eyes.
“He knew that I knew what he was. It was like a challenge or something. I didn’t like it.”
“Oh, girl.” Blue frowned deeply this time. “What’d you do?”
I took a sip of my coffee, but the flavor didn’t taste heavenly anymore.
“Girl.”
“I might’ve said something like ‘I know what you are’ …or something.”
She pursed those purple lips together and reached for her coffee. I felt her disapproval coming at me in waves. “You did what?”
“I couldn’t help it, alright? It was like he was challenging me or something.”
Blue sat her coffee down and leaned forward in a matronly way. “You know better, Davina. You have issues with vampires. We all do, but you’ve got more. You gotta fight that. Now what’s gonna happen? You know vampires. They love challenges. He’s going to be all over you now. Then what? How are you going to get away?”
In a small voice, I murmured, “I could always do what I did before.”
Blue let out a disgusted sound and rolled her eyes. “I would not recommend lighting a vampire on fire. It didn’t help you back home. It won’t help you this time. Learn from your mistakes, child.”
My back stiffened at that. I hated being called Davina and I really hated being called ‘child’. “You know, maybe moving here and having you so close isn’t all that great.”
“I’m being your sponsor. You know the steps. If you’ve got vamp problems, you’ve done step one. You’ve told me. Good job, but you need to be held accountable for the next step. Which is?”
She knew I knew it, but I cringed when I had to say it. “I have to attend an empath meeting.”
“And?”
“And...,” This was so freaking hard. “…I have to tell the group.”
“About?”
I growled deep in my throat. “I have to tell them about Craig and how I lit him on fire because he was stalking me.”
Pride gleamed from Blue and she smiled blindingly. “That’s my girl. You know the deal. Vampires have their twisted thing for us. The good ones avoid us out of respect and the bad ones—you know more than most.”
I swallowed tightly. Craig had reveled in my torment. He’d become obsessed with me. He stalked me and he loved that I couldn’t block him. Vampires were overpowering, much more so than humans. An empath could easily block humans at a level four, but it wasn’t until level six that we could easily block vampires. Craig met me when I was on level five. Luckily, the night that I’d snapped and lit him on fire was the night that I broke to level six. I remembered that night. I saw him on fire and I remembered the pain that engulfed him while I stood back to watch.
“Girl.” Blue’s calming voice brought me back. She had opened herself up and I could feel some of the pain taken from me.
“Don’t do that,” I murmured huskily. I didn’t want her to feel my pain. No one should be burdened with that.
She reached over and placed a hand on mine. It instantly calmed me and I turned my palm upwards to link our fingers. Blue smiled gently. “There’s a reason why we’re empaths, Davy. You know that. I like to help a little bit, every now and then.”
‘Every now and then’ was the empath community’s motto. We all learned that we could help every now and then, but not too much to kill ourselves. Too many had died because they tried to help too much.
“Now,” Blue squeezed my hand. “What are you going to do with your current vampire?”
“Oh…” I took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I’ll have to see what kind of vampire he is. He might be one of the good ones.”
Blue twisted her lips in disbelief.
“I mean, he seems to be one of the student vampires.” The chances were fifty-fifty. The bad ones pretended to be college students to hunt.
“There’s a meeting next week. You should go.”
I’d have to go — it’d be good for me.
“So, tell me about your crazy uptight roommate.” Blue’s eyes rekindled with gentleness. She knew I needed a lighter topic. The ‘Craig topic’ was deep enough for me. So I sat back and entertained her with Emily stories. By the end of our meeting, I hadn’t said a word about the suicidal girl. I knew I should have, but I was still uneasy thinking about it. Some things were too hard or too scary to put into words.
When I returned to campus that evening, I faltered as I got out of my car. The air was chilled, but there was something else, something supernatural in it. Looking over my shoulder I only saw a parking lot full of cars. There was a clump of trees at the north end of the lot, but I’d go south to my dorm. I held my breath as I walked underneath two tall oaks and an arched overhang that led into the quad of my dorm.
Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I marched forward. No shadows moved and none seemed to watch me in return. I breathed easier when I neared the main doors. Once inside, excited voices came from the television room.
We were allowed boy visitors, but a lot of girls used the lounges for their study groups. It wasn’t unusual to look inside to see books and papers sprawled across the beige carpeting right alongside sleeping students. This is what I saw as I peeked inside, but I wasn’t ready for the sight of my roommate in a corner chair with a wistful smile on her face. She glowed.
I was floored. There was no Roane. There was no professor. There were no school books and yet, Emily glowed. Her straight blonde hair fell freely over her shoulders and she even had a tint of lip gloss on.
Had we all gone to hell and I missed the bus?
Then I felt the cold flare inside again. I felt him behind me before I looked, but when I did I found myself staring into the blackest coal eyes that I’d ever seen. Craig had looked at me with those same eyes the night he died. I shivered at the memory.
Luke Roane saw the tremor. His eyes raked me up and down and it was like we were caught in a heated debate, but there were no words. It wasn’t my first vampire face-off, but this was different than the others.
I should’ve been able to easily block this vamp, but I felt the curtain slowly lift and I couldn’t do anything about it. I always felt their cold, but usually it was just a tickle. This time I felt the full blast of his darkness. It worked its way up my feet to my legs, past my knees, and over my waist. I fought it off, but it kept coming. The evil started to wrap itself around me. I felt its tentacles grasp my arms and start to squeeze me tight.
All the while, he watched me with no emotion.
Not me. I couldn’t hide my struggle. My teeth started chattering. When I felt the first poke in my chest, I shoved past him and hurried to my room. After I burst through the door to my room, the spell lessened immediately, but I was panting to catch my breath.
I heard my phone start to ring and knew it was Blue. She’d be the first to feel my panic. At that moment, I hated the lack of privacy with empaths.
I ignored the phone and slid down the door to breathe in and out.
I’d felt evil before. I’d felt it from Craig many times, but not to this extent. I’d never felt like it wanted to squeeze the life out of me, have it wrapped around my heart. It felt like it wanted my soul.
I shuddered again. I needed warmth. I needed a distraction. Hell, I could use this to my advantage.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Adam’s number since I’d programmed it in the first day when we’d gotten the Hotline Volunteer Directory.
Adam picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”
I purposely didn’t fight the slight tremor in my voice. “Adam?”
“Davina? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I mean—I think—”
“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Do you need to talk?”
“I…” I sighed to myself. I needed to be honest. It was Blue’s motto. I was about to use this boy, but I liked him. He was normal. He was human. My hands tightened around the phone. “Can you come over?”
His answer was swift. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Thanks, Adam.” I hung up and fell back against the door. And the strange thing, I really was thankful.
When I heard a knock at the door, I screamed and shot to my feet. I knew who was on the other side, although I couldn’t feel him. “Go away.” I flinched when I heard my voice. It was raw and vulnerable. I was raw and vulnerable.
He knocked again, but slower this time. I snorted. Really?! Did he think it would be more dramatic that way?
“Go away!” I yelled this time. I wasn’t scared of vamps. I was just scared of this vamp. The door seemed large and luminous. I watched as it seemed to grow before me. It was like it was just waiting for me to answer it.
I don’t know how long I stood there.
“Davina? It’s me.” I jumped when I heard another abrupt knock, but relaxed instantly. It was Adam. A whole host of relief, warm fuzzies, and other feelings rushed through me at the sound of his voice. Nice and normal.
Flinging open the door, I launched myself at him. He even smelled normal. If I knew I wouldn’t scare him away, I would’ve wrapped my legs around his waist. “I am so glad you’re here,” I jumbled out with my nose pressed into his masculine-smelling sweater.
Adam laughed, caught off guard, and held me up. “I’m glad that you’re glad.”
Right. Human. I needed to act human. I unglued myself and pulled back. “Sorry. I…uh…sorry. I’m just…” I felt stupid.
“Emotional,” Adam offered.
He was awesome.
“That’s okay. Mr. Moser said it’s good to let yourself feel. Let it flow naturally, Davina. Really. That’s the only way you can start healing.” Adam enfolded me tighter and tucked his chin in the crook of my neck. “Let it out, Davina. Let it out.”
His blue sweater felt warm against my skin. He smelled of pine trees and musk. I inhaled deeper and smelled a little vanilla in there too. This is what it would be like if we were boyfriend and girlfriend. I might need him. He’d come to hug me and the world would melt away.
“Ahem.”
We turned to see Emily glaring at us with her arms crossed and annoyed.
“What?” I was having a moment.
She rolled her eyes. “You have a visitor downstairs.”
“Who?”
Emily shrugged impatiently and pushed past us to her closet. She flung open the door and grabbed a brush. As she combed her hair and reached for some lipstick, she remarked, “Some girl who looks like a stripper.”
That could have been anyone according to Emily’s standards. “She didn’t give a name?”
“What am I–your receptionist?” Emily gave me a disgusted look, slammed her closet door shut, and stormed past me. Adam whistled underneath his breath.
I didn’t know why Emily was so pissed, and at that moment I didn’t care. She’d go back down, make crooning noises with the vampire, and be her oddly gushing self in a moment. I had three things on my mind: visitor, vampire, and Adam.
“I guess the news got out, huh?” Adam stuffed his hands into his front pockets, which made him look leaner and taller. The soft shadow from our poorly lit dorm room seemed to soften his features and his blue eyes looked adorable. My tongue might’ve just fallen out.
Then I heard what he said. “Wait. What news?”
“The girl that jumped – it’s all over the news.”
That didn’t bode well with me. “Uh…” I ran a hand through my hair and cringed. My hair must’ve looked like a bird’s nest.
“You look fine,” Adam reassured me.
“Thanks.” I still turned and found a mirror. Not bad. My normally frizzy hair actually looked shiny and healthy. Wonders never ceased.
“So I guess…your visitor, huh?”
“Want to walk down with me? Make sure it’s not someone creepy?”
Adam looked relieved and concerned at the same time. I chose to think he was concerned for my benefit. When we reached the stairway, I was surprised when I felt Adam grab my hand. He looked embarrassed. “Just in case it’s someone you don’t want around.”
“You’re going to play my protective boyfriend?” I teased.
His cheeks turned pink. Adorable. I squeezed his hand and said in all honesty,
“Thanks, Adam. It means a lot.”
When we moved through the bottom doorway, I stopped dead in my tracks. My focus zoomed in on the petite blonde who had wrapped herself around Emily’s vampire. One of her leather clad legs rubbed up and down against his calf and her cleavage was barely hidden underneath a tight black lace tank top poised perfectly for his viewing pleasure. Her crystal blue eyes snapped up and latched onto mine.
I knew why Emily was so furious.
Kates Heath, a childhood nostalge— another one of my words that I used to describe childhood friends that you remained friends with because of nostalgic memories and nothing else — was the epitome of every man and boy’s fantasy of a bad girl. Vampires ate girls like her for breakfast or they would if they could.
“Heya, celebrity,” Kates drawled in her husky voice and whipped her dusky blonde hair around.
“Kates.” I refused to look the vampire in the eyes.
Slowly, with hypnotizing grace, Kates unwrapped herself from him and stood to cross the room towards me. I felt the tension in the air. The entire room had been watching and now everyone held their breaths at our next move.
I flicked my gaze to Emily. She looked like a bomb ready to explode so I latched onto Kates’ arm and yanked her behind me. Dragging her outside, we circled around the corner and through an alcove of trees in the far corner before I whirled and snapped, “What are you doing here?”
Kates looked taken aback, but her smoky laugh rang out. “I can’t believe you. Look at you. You’re all…College Barbie.”
“What are you doing here, Kates? You’re not supposed to be here.”
Kates chuckled. “You’re too much sometimes, Davy. Get over it. You know exactly why I’m here.”
“No. I don’t.”
She groaned and placed her hands on her hips. “Steven saw you on the news. He called me and I headed here. You’re on the freaking news, Davy. You know how bad that is…for you.”
“Nine o’clock news. That was a half hour ago. There is no way that you drove from home in thirty minutes.” We lived five hours away.
“It was on the five o’clock news, Barbie Doll.”
Did it even matter? “You can’t be here,” I hissed.
Kates smiled smugly and shifted comfortably back on her heels. “You’ve got me, whether you want me or not. Who’s the hottie vampire, by the way? He’s delicious.”
I grimaced, but warned, “Stay away from him.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean ‘why’? He’s a vampire.”
Kates shrugged. “He’s hot. I caught a peek at his marking. He’s a Hunter.”
“Kates.” I shook my head, and sighed. Nothing was going how it was supposed to… I didn’t even know what to think about him being a Hunter.
“What?” Kates piped up, dumbfounded. “Look. I’m just here to watch your back. When I think you’re covered, I’ll head out. Promise.”
“I don’t need this. I can’t… ”
“You were on the news. They talked about that suicidal girl and that someone from the hotline was there. They didn’t say your name, but it won’t matter. They’re going to get calls from people wanting their five minutes of fame. It’s only a matter of time before you’re hunted down. Let’s hope that no one finds out about your special gifts.”
Kates was right. Things were going to get bad, really bad. Here I was, concerned about Emily’s vampire and Shelly Witless. This reminded me— “Adam is mine.”
“Ooh—who’s Adam?”
“None of your business.” I was adamant.
“It might become my business. I’m bunking with you until it all blows over.”
Oh no.