Bizarre Life of Sydney Sedrick (30 page)

That was the last I saw of Liam at the party. It had been a long day, and it was past time to go home. Unfortunately, my luck ran out, and Aaron made an appearance before I was able to leave. He stood with his back against the wall in the main entrance hall. I wasn’t sure what he was waiting for, but when he saw me approach, it became clear. He was waiting for me.

Aaron pushed himself off the wall and escorted me out. He stood with his back ramrod straight, as if he had a giant pole inserted from the bottom up, making him appear inhumanly stiff. He waited until the men in black suits brought my car around.

“Miss Sydney, did you have an enjoyable evening tonight?”

“Uh, yeah. Thanks.”

What did he want? Did he expect me to thank him for being ordered to come to Kieran’s parties? His invitations weren’t exactly optional from what Aaron and Liam told me. It was more like, you attend my party voluntarily, or I’ll come and get your ass and make you come anyways. Oh, and here’s a really nice dress for you to wear because you can’t afford to buy the appropriate attire on the meager wages a store employee makes.

Aaron stood with his sunglasses on, hiding his glowing red eyes behind the dark lenses. The frigid air of the wintry night didn’t seem to bother him a bit.

“I wanted to let you know my men are looking into finding Lisa. Either Liam or myself will be in contact with you as soon as we find out what her intentions are.”

I gazed up into his face. Aaron’s complexion was a more ghostly pale than Kieran’s. “Okay, thanks for the update. I’m sure you guys will find her and all this will be cleared up. Hopefully, it’s just some silly misunderstanding.”

“Miss Sydney, make no mistake. This Lisa probably wants the opportunity to harm you and your family without repercussions from the wolf pack or her father’s pod. You are now a part of a very hostile world. Don’t give anyone the benefit of your human trusting tendency, not the vampires, not werewolves, and certainly not any of the many demon castes that are sure to come and find you.”

“What about Kieran? Clearly he can be trusted out of anyone?”

“Out of anyone, you can probably trust him the most. Miss Sydney, there is no one truly trustworthy, not even your precious Judith.”

My car pulled up, and Aaron bowed to me, then walked away. That was some seriously seasoned food for thought. It was odd that one of Kieran’s most trusted Knights would tell me not to trust the leader of his own coven. Aaron must be aware that he wasn’t my favorite vampire. Blake told me vampires can smell human emotions like a werewolf can smell a steak from a mile away. If that were true, Aaron could feel my hostility and distrust toward him.

Why was he being Mr. Helpful? He was right in one thing—one of the vampires were truly trustworthy. For some reason Aaron, despite probably being the biggest jerky vampire ever, was trying to tell me something, without actually spelling it out. That made me nervous. What could Aaron possibly want me to know, or be aware of, that Kieran wouldn’t tell me himself?

The streetlights were green the entire way home. Since it was before bars closed, the police were lined up every few blocks to try and catch the drivers who drank too much. Luckily, the wine had only made me a little tipsy. All the dancing we did helped wear off the effects from the alcohol. Thankfully, I didn’t have to ask a vampire for a ride home.

Blake’s text-message tone sounded on my cell phone. He texted me to meet him for a late night snack.

I grinned. Blake was checking up on me, seeing how long the vampires kept me out. It warmed my heart that he cared and that he was a bit jealous he couldn’t be with me when I was surrounded by strong immortal men all night. Men who are genetically enhanced to attract females with their inhuman sensuality and extraordinary good looks.

From spending time with both of them, even though the vampires and werewolves didn’t like each other, I detected that there was a certain degree of respect for each other’s strengths and healing capabilities. From what I could tell, the only thing keeping them from overcoming the other were limitations placed upon them by the sun and the moon.

I flipped the phone open, scrolled to his name, and punched the key. Blake picked up on the first ring.

“Are you checking up on me, mister?” I asked, keeping my voice playful.

Blake laughed. The sound of his lighthearted voice warmed me to my toes.

“Who, me? What makes you think I would do such an appalling thing?”

I giggled. Okay, so maybe he was growing on me, by the minute, but who could blame me? Blake was the most ruggedly handsome man I’d ever seen. He didn’t have the perfectly angled jaw line, high cheek bones, and red glowing eyes like vampires do, but he could definitely hold his own in the ‘melt all my resolve to not be with him by just looking at me’ department. There wasn’t a vampire I’ve met that could do the same.

“I’m almost home, so I’ll meet you there?” I said impulsively, wanting to continue this conversation in person.

“Sounds good. I’m about forty-five minutes away, heading there now.”

Aunt Judith was spending the night at her friend’s house, so it was dark when I pulled into the driveway. After throwing out my Selected senses to check for rogues, I locked the door behind me and went upstairs to change. Giddy anticipation ignited my lust just thinking about Blake. Dealing with Blake’s mild case of jealousy was one thing. I didn’t want to shove it in his face by letting him see me in the spectacular dress Kieran had sent to me for the party.

When I lifted the straightening iron above my head, nausea set in.

A rogue was nearby.

I crouched on the cool tile of the bathroom floor and pressed my face to it. The coolness soothed my burning skin. My temperature was rising fast. Sweat dripped down my back, and my head began to pound, worsening with each beat of my heart.

The rogue was coming closer, and the pain and nausea worsened. My body started to ache everywhere. Crawling toward the open bathroom door on my hands and knees, the room began to spin. Where was my cell phone? I needed to call Blake.

Realizing my idiocy in all the excitement of seeing Blake and hanging out, I remembered that I flung my purse on the couch in my haste. My cell phone was in it. Blake would be caught unaware when he arrived.

Downstairs, the front door opened and closed. The only one who could have let themselves in without forcing the door open was Aunt Judith. I had to tell her to call Blake.

“Aunt Judith!”

I barely got the words out loud enough to reach downstairs. Stomach bile rose in my chest. I had to warn Aunt Judith.

Tears formed at the corners of my eyes. I didn’t want anything to happen to her.

I slowly crawled down the hallway toward the top of the staircase. I froze. Heavy footsteps sounded on the carpeted stairs. My body slumped down on the hallway carpet. I didn’t have the energy to move another inch. The skin on my cheek burned where it landed on the carpet. I stayed there on the floor, waiting for the consuming pain to subside. It didn’t. The pain intensified with every step on the stairs, bringing whoever was in the house closer.

My vision was at foot level. Whoever stood before me was wearing a really great pair of dark-green high heels half covered by bell-bottom jeans. My aunt didn’t wear high-heeled shoes, or bell-bottom jeans.

Tapping those high heels on the carpet merely an inch away from my nose, the owner of those shoes said, “Hello, Sydney. You didn’t really think your aunt’s silly wards would keep me out, did you?”

Lisa.

She put the tip of her right shoe over the carotid artery in my neck and pressed down as she said, anger and hatred in her voice, “I mean, really, you should have taken me seriously and not put your nose into my business with the vampires. Maybe you didn’t hear me say there would be repercussions? Your mistake!” She pressed hard with her shoe, twisting the skin on my neck.

I couldn’t speak. The pain in my head triggered an urge to vomit. Lisa’s shoe on my neck made it worse. I groaned, sending a trickle of drool down my cheek for my effort.

“I don’t even care that you and Blake are becoming an item.” She didn’t wait for me to respond or try to argue the point. “You don’t have to play stupid with me. It was in his eyes the day we met. But that’s neither here nor there. We have some issues we need to take care of. We should have taken you out when you moved to our town, before you could start meddling in our affairs. Trevor wouldn’t listen!”

More footsteps sounded on the stairs. Lisa gave no sign of being worried, which meant she hadn’t come alone.

“You finally decided to show up! What took you so long?” Lisa took her foot off my neck and stomped her high-heeled shoes on the carpet like a little girl throwing a tantrum. She’d been cool, calculating, and very sure of herself at my store. Now, she was angry, agitated, and overly dramatic.

Two sets of footsteps topped the stairs and stalked toward me.

“Pick her up, and let’s go. Her lover-boy is sure to show up, and we don’t need to deal with him.”

I groaned again. Blake. Where were they taking me? If Blake found them at the house, it would be a battle zone. They’d probably jump him from behind. Lisa and her buddies didn’t seem like the type to fight fair.

My vision went dark as I felt rough hands on my body. I was being lifted up by one of Lisa’s men. Crushing pain pounded in my head, increasing with every step as they carried me down the stairs and out of the house. The second the freezing cold air hit the bare skin on my face and arms, my body finally gave into the pain, and I lost consciousness.