Book One: The Girl (The Sanctum) (21 page)

Ryker rose after
only a couple of hours of sleep. He sat up in bed and looked around his room, sensing something was off. The early morning light crept in under his curtains as it did every morning, his clothes were in the same pile on the floor, his books still stacked on his desk and his weapons scattered about, just as he had left them a couple of hours ago. Nothing was amiss and yet, Ryker felt ill at ease.

Jools.

He picked up his phone and texted her, knowing his effort was futile as she wouldn’t be awake for hours. Ryker threw off the covers and got out of bed, pulled on some shorts and a T-shirt, laced up his sneakers and headed for the Clayworths’ wing, stopping only to make himself a cup of coffee.

He started to check his watch before knocking on their door, but heard some movement inside and gave it a shot. Sam opened the door mid-yawn.

“Ryker,” she noted with surprise, “is everything okay? It’s so early.”

“I think so,” he hesitated.

“What?” Sam asked.

Ryker shook his head, feeling like a complete fool.

“I’m sorry, Sam,” he stated and turned to walk away.

Sam grabbed his hand and stopped him.

“Ryker Morrison, you are a highly-trained, Class A Warrior, a creature of pure instinct. If you think something is wrong...”

“It’s just a feeling,” he interrupted her, “it’s stupid.”

Sam stepped back and crossed her arms, casting Ryker a stern glance.

“Tell me. Now. You woke up at this ungodly hour and walked all the way over here to do something. Now tell me what.”

She waited, tapping her foot impatiently.

Ryker towered over her, but right now she was making him feel very small.

“I wanted to check on Jools, make sure she’s okay.”

Sam instantly relaxed, knowing Jools was dead to the world in her bedroom, having just checked on her herself. She stepped aside so Ryker could come into their suite.

“That’s all you have to say, sweetheart. Be my guest.”

Ryker remained in the hallway.

“If you know she’s all right, that’s enough for me.”

“Uh-uh,” Sam shook her head, “go back there and look with your own eyes. Then go back to your own bed and get some sleep.”

Ryker walked down the long hallway, past the master bedroom and towards the back staircase. He turned around to glance at Sam, who gestured for him to keep it moving. He headed up the stairs, walked down another hallway, all the way to the back of the suite. Ryker opened Jools’ bedroom door and peeked inside. She was in bed, deep under the covers. He considered leaving with just that, but the bad feeling remained so he crept into the room, just needing to touch her and make sure. Jools rolled over and opened her eyes as he neared her bedside.

For a minute, her face expressed nothing but shock, but very quickly shock turned to a big, beautiful smile. She reached for him and pulled him close.

“What a welcome surprise,” she said in a deep, sexy, morning voice.

Ryker pushed her hair away from her face and smiled down at her sleepy face, so beautiful in the morning light. He leaned down and softly kissed her.

“I have to go, your mom is waiting.”

Jools closed her eyes and smiled.

“Why is my mom waiting?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he kissed her again, “just go back to sleep.”

She grabbed him before he was completely out of reach and pulled him down on top of her, wrapping her legs around him so he could not move.

“My mom,” Jools kissed him deeply, “is so onto you.”

Ryker grinned and unwrapped himself from her embrace.

“I don’t know about your mom,” he leaned down and kissed her again, lingering for a minute longer, “but your dad is definitely suspicious. Lucky for me, he didn’t answer the door when I knocked.”

Jools just smiled. She was too sleepy to do much else.

“One more kiss,” she requested.

“No,” Ryker laughed, “go back to sleep. I’ll see you later.”

He closed her door and hurried back downstairs. Sam was in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and her laptop. She looked up as Ryker passed by on his way out.

“Everything all right?” Sam asked with a sly smile.

“Oh, yeah,” Ryker stammered, feeling suddenly very busted, “totally fine. See you later, Sam.”

Ryker rushed out before Sam could say another word. He knew she knew he was up in Jools’ room too long just to be checking on her. The last thing Ryker wanted to do was have a conversation with Sam after just kissing her daughter. He closed the Clayworths’ front door with a sigh of relief and headed back towards his room.

Strangely though, he still felt ill at ease. Ryker stopped in front of a mirror in the hallway and stared at himself for a moment, making sure he looked okay. Two eyes, one nose, a set of lips, a pair of ears, everything was where it should be. But something wasn’t. He knew it, he could feel it. He just could not pinpoint it. Not yet.

As he neared the turn for his wing, Ryker changed course and instead headed for the front door, figuring an early morning run up to the park and around the reservoir might do his mind some good. He checked his laces and stepped out the door, tripping over what could only be a drunk Magical passed out on the doorstep of The Academy.

Ryker righted himself and looking down, saw the blood on his sneaker. He turned back to the body and immediately knew who it was. She was the bad feeling he had all morning. She was haunting his thoughts.

Darby.

He hadn’t moved an inch towards her body, her so very small, very bloody, burned body, but he knew it was she.

Ryker told himself to move, but his feet refused to obey. He also wasn’t glamoured and was getting some very strange stares from people passing him on the sidewalk. He made himself invisible and then slowly stepped towards Darby’s prone figure. Her back was to him with her long, blonde curls splayed out behind her, streaked red with what Ryker assumed could only be her blood. He touched her shoulder, hoping she would move but when she didn’t, Ryker proceeded to gently roll her over. Her entire body was carved up, so much so that Ryker could barely hold her together. And nailed to her chest was a note with one, simple sentence meant to send a message to the Clayworths.

Ryker checked Darby’s eyes, looking for any sign of life, but they were dead and non-responsive. Her mouth gaped open, exposing the gaps in her teeth where her fangs had been removed, leaving bloody holes in their place. Ryker gently closed her mouth as tears streamed down his face; he was in such a state of shock, he didn’t even realize he was crying.

He placed his arms under her and picked her up, holding her together the best he could as he kicked on the front door of The Academy, hoping someone would hear him. Ryker called out for help, quietly at first, in conjunction with his kicks on the door, but soon he was bellowing as he tried to touch his hand to the door and make it swing open on its own. Finally he hit the right spot and the doors slowly parted; Ryker stepped inside and continued yelling for help, incapable of doing much else. He looked down at Darby’s lifeless body in his arms and cried out desperately, falling to the floor with her in his arms, holding her close to his body as if to protect her from whatever else may come.

Wyatt suddenly sat up in bed, throwing the sheets off of him and Dev, searching the room for something out of place. His eyes quickly scanned the room, making sure everything was as it was supposed to be.

“What is it?” Dev touched his arm.

Wyatt glanced at her and then jumped out of bed, a dangerous expression in his eyes.

“Wyatt, what’s going on?” Dev asked again, sitting up and watching him.

“Ryker,” Wyatt said as he pulled on a T-shirt, “it’s Ryker.”

Wyatt took off down his hallway and was out his door in seconds, checking Ryker’s door to find it locked. Wyatt banged on it and yelled his friend’s name, knowing he was a light sleeper and would hear him right away.

Dev stood in the entrance to Wyatt’s suite, rubbing her eyes, trying to wake up.

“Wyatt,” she asked as he started running down the hallway towards the center of The Academy.

“Dev,” Wyatt yelled back to her, “reach out to Ryker and read him.”

Wyatt kept running down the hallway, cursing the size of The Academy, wishing he could teleport. That’s when he heard it. Wyatt stopped in his tracks, so shocked by the sound, completely foreign and yet unmistakably Ryker, crying out frantically for help.

Wyatt flew down the hallway, turned the corner and headed towards his best friend’s voice, wondering what could cause Ryker to sound so panicked and distraught. Charging into the entryway of The Academy, Wyatt came to a horrified stop, finding Ryker on the floor, holding something horribly mutilated in his arms. Josiah and Jools came running from the opposite direction, their eyes wide with concern. Wyatt waved them off as he slowly moved towards Ryker. Dev joined them but stayed mostly hidden in the hallway, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Ryker,” Wyatt calmly called to his friend.

Ryker heard Wyatt call his name and held Darby closer, a wary look in his eyes. Wyatt had no idea who was in Ryker’s arms, only that it was a child, she was covered in blood and Ryker wasn’t going to let her go.

“Ryker,” Wyatt got down on his knees so he was eye-to-eye with his friend, “what’s going on? You’ve got to tell me what’s going on.”

Ryker just stared at Wyatt with a strange look in his eyes.

Wyatt started to panic, having never seen his friend in such a state, but knew it was neither the time nor the place. Instead, he calmly reached out to Ryker and slowly and gently loosened his friend’s grip on the body in his arms.

“It’s okay, Ry,” Wyatt called him by his childhood nickname, “I can get her some help. You’ve just got to let me see her, okay?”

Wyatt glanced up at Ryker, fully aware Ryker heard nothing he said, but confident his mere presence had calmed his friend. Wyatt inched closer to Ryker’s chest so he could try to unfold his friend’s arms and get a better view of the child. Ryker was built like a rock and moving him an inch took quite a bit of effort on Wyatt’s part, but slowly he managed the feat.

“It’s Darby,” Ryker whispered, so low Wyatt could not understand him.

“What’d you say?” Wyatt asked.

“It’s Darby,” Ryker repeated, as quietly as before but clearer.

Wyatt stopped moving, knowing what he heard, but hoping he was mistaken. He sat back on his knees, trying to make his head stop spinning.

“It’s Darby,” Ryker said loud and clear, staring straight at Wyatt, “and she has a message for you, Wyatt.”

Ryker then gently laid the tiny vampire on the floor, in front of everyone, doing his best to keep her in one piece, exposing her chest and its message for the room to see.

The note was four tiny, horrible words: I want the hybrid.

Dev drew back
in horror upon reading the message nailed to Darby’s chest. Whoever tortured Darby did so because of her. Just as they killed her parents because of her. Dev watched the chaos unfold in front of her with just one thought: if she stayed around these people any longer, they would also be dead. She slunk back into the hallway, desperate to disappear once and for all.

“Dev!” Wyatt yelled frantically, “Dev, please!”

Jools ran around the corner and grabbed her arms, shaking Dev from her stupor.

“Dev,” Jools implored, “don’t. I see what you’re doing. Don’t even go there. You cannot leave. I won’t let you leave. You belong right here, right next to my brother.”

Dev stared at Jools strangely, as if seeing her in an entirely new light.

“How?” she wondered.

“It’s what I do,” Jools explained, “I know things. I read them, people’s energy, that kind of thing. And yes, sometimes I can even read you. And let me tell you, the only way anyone in this room is going to die because of you is if you take off because what’s going to happen then is that my brother is going to go after you and will die trying to find you. So stop thinking like that. You’re here and you’re staying.

“Now get out there and do whatever healing stuff you do and fix Darby. You have to fix Darby,” Jools pleaded, then quietly added, “I don’t think Ryker will recover if Darby dies.”

“It might be too late,” Dev replied, not wanting to get Jools’ hopes up.

“Please,” Jools grabbed her hands and held them tightly, allowing Dev to read all of her thoughts, fears, emotions. Everything.

Dev studied the younger Clayworth for a moment before speaking.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it. I just said it might not work.”

Dev stepped into the room, Jools close behind her, and kneeled down next to Ryker and Wyatt, to better examine Darby.

“Ryker, I’m going to have to touch her,” Dev informed him.

“No,” Ryker shook his head, not wanting Dev anywhere near Darby, “absolutely not. You already tried to kill her once. You are the last thing I want near her.”

“Ease up, Ryker,” Wyatt suggested.

“Shut up, Wyatt,” Ryker replied with a sneer.

Dev touched Wyatt’s arm, drawing his attention to her and away from Ryker. She shot him a look and he immediately relaxed; Wyatt knew Ryker didn’t mean Dev any ill will, he was simply devastated.

Dev sat back on her knees and studied Darby. As much as she hated vampires, if she was going to hold a soft spot for any, it would be Darby. The tiny blonde with a killer bite, Dev thought to herself with a slight smile. Sadly, her injuries seemed even beyond Dev’s care, but she didn’t dare give up just yet. She could not do that to Ryker. Or Jools.

“Ryker,” Dev spoke in a soothing tone, touching his arm, hoping she could calm him a little, “you have to let me examine Darby. I swear to you, I will not hurt her and if at any point, you think I’m doing something wrong, just tell me and I’ll stop. I promise.

“I am her only chance,” Dev stated the blunt truth of the matter.

“Ryker, please,” Wyatt begged.

Ryker didn’t say another word, but he sat back, away from Darby and silently gave Dev permission to help the vampire.

“Jools,” Dev instructed, “go to Ryker’s room and grab his bag that contains all his herbs and potions. And a sheet. Hurry. I also need blood. Is there any blood here? And we’re going to need to move her to the infirmary.”

“I’ll get everything set up for her,” Sam called as she ran down the hallway and headed to the infirmary.

“Don’t you have any healers here?” Dev asked Wyatt as she instructed him to sit across from her and hold Darby’s side.

Jools ran back into the entry room with Ryker’s bag and a sheet.

“Jools, double up the sheet and place it over here so Wyatt can move Darby onto it. Wyatt,” Dev instructed, “please be careful. Just pick her up a little and I’ll move the sheet under her, then we’ll wrap her up.”

Wyatt did as he was told and placing his hands carefully under Darby’s neck and legs, gently lifted her a few inches off the ground as Dev slid the sheet underneath her.

“We have two healers,” Wyatt explained as he set Darby down and shot his father a disgruntled look, “who have fallen in love with each other and gone on vacation together, with my parents’ blessing, despite the fact that both Ryker and I said allowing them to leave was a really bad idea.

“I seem to recall being told I would have my chance to one day run The Academy and make the decisions but until then, I should keep my opinions to myself. Mom and dad apparently love a good office romance.”

Josiah ignored Wyatt as he helped wrap Darby tightly in the sheet. Dev ignored both of them and instructed Josiah to step away and Ryker to help Wyatt carry Darby to the infirmary. Walking ahead, she went to set up everything she would need to work on Darby.

“She’s dead,” Ryker noted as the boys slowly walked down the hallway.

“She died a long time ago, Ryker,” Wyatt replied.

“Not like this.”

Wyatt stopped walking, forcing Ryker to do the same.

“Get a grip, right now, Ryker,” Wyatt hissed at his best friend. “You know as well as I do, Darby has no intentions of leaving this world any time soon. If there is an iota of life left in her, Dev will find it and fix her. You also know Darby will crawl backwards out of hell to make it back to you. She will not leave this world until she knows you are dead and gone. So snap out of it.”

Wyatt continued down the hall with Ryker and entered the infirmary. Dev and Sam set up a corner for Darby and the boys carefully placed the vampire on the bed and then stepped away so Dev could get to work. She set up the packets of blood and searched for a vein on Darby’s arm that hadn’t been severed in her attack.

“She’s not bleeding,” Ryker observed as he watched Dev work.

“She doesn’t bleed,” Dev explained as she continued searching Darby’s arm.

Ryker disagreed.

“I’ve seen her bleed,” he replied.

The tone of his voice caught Dev’s attention and she looked up at him for a moment before responding.

“You’ve seen her bleed because she had recently fed. From her current state,” Dev explained, “I would say she hasn’t fed in at least thirty, maybe even forty hours, so there is no blood pumping through her anymore. What blood was in her system was lost during her attack.”

Dev went back to searching Darby’s arms and finally finding a vein she could use, inserted the needle and started a transfusion.

“I’m hoping that by pumping this blood through her system, her body will start healing itself,” Dev explained to Ryker, “and then the rest is easy.”

“She’s dead,” he said quietly.

Dev reached across the table and gently lifted Ryker’s chin so he had to make eye contact with her.

“She’s been dead for hundreds of years, this is nothing.”

Ryker’s eyes filled with tears but he smiled nonetheless.

“You and Wyatt are one and the same.”

Dev didn’t know what he was talking about but she was pleased to have made him smile and get him talking. After adding a new blood bag to the transfusion, Dev set about studying Darby’s wounds. They were deep and cauterized, which explained all the burnt skin around the slashes. Slowly and painstakingly, Dev went through each wound with ichen, a compound she had seen her mother use often on vampires when checking for werewolf venom. Finding none, Dev sat down and waited, hoping within the next hour or two Darby would start healing herself.

“Can I tell you something?” Dev asked Ryker.

He didn’t respond, but sat down on the other side of Darby’s body and waited.

“I hate vampires.”

Again Ryker remained silent, but his eyes darkened.

“My mom loved them. She called them her children of the night. She was a healer of great renown and Magicals from all over would crowd our house at all times of the day and night, sometimes for help but I suspect most often just to be around her. I was so busy training with my dad, learning thousands of ways to kill someone, that I never took the time to learn all the many ways to heal someone. I’ll regret that until the day I die. She had all this love and peaceful energy and I just took it for granted. I assumed it would always be there for me.

“But the vampires knew. God, did they know. They would come from hundreds of thousands of miles away to spend the evening with her. And I hated them. Initially, it was because they scared me with their otherworldly beauty and terrible ferocity, I was always so worried for her, but later I think I was just jealous of them. They were so open and receptive to what she had to offer but for me, it was just so much work. I couldn’t sit still long enough to learn a potion or memorize the thousands of herbs she wanted to pass along to me. I just wanted to learn the ways of the warrior. I’m such a fighter; she used to call me her fierce princess. She would tell them about me, the vamps that would visit. I would hear her late into the night talking about her warrior daughter, but I would never join them, no matter how often she asked.

“That was a huge mistake on my part,” Dev said with tears in her eyes, “hating the vampires so much I lost out on precious time with my mom.”

Everyone sitting in the room was listening to Dev’s story, but she was really only focused on Ryker. For some reason, it was easy to tell him about her mom.

“She would probably be proud of you right now,” Ryker offered.

Dev laughed quietly, not sure she believed Ryker.

“She would be pleased to see me laying hands on Darby, however my limited knowledge of the ways of the healer would draw mountains of criticism and probably a curse word or two,” she smiled, recalling the few times her mom cursed within her earshot.

“Darby will be pleased you laid your hands on her as well,” Ryker smiled slightly, “she thinks you’re insanely hot. She says you smell like heaven.”

Dev inwardly recoiled then stopped herself and grinned, remembering Darby smelling her in her sleep.

“So what’s the story with the two of you?” Dev asked.

Ryker sat quietly for a second, playing with Darby’s hair, moving it off her forehead, wishing he could wash the blood out of it.

“I was supposed to kill her, that was our mission. She had gone rogue, killing anyone who crossed her path, even a couple of Sanctum sent after her, so of course, the home office sends out the dynamic duo here,” Ryker pointed to himself and Wyatt, “and she attacked us as well, but I couldn’t do it. I saw her eyes and they were so full of pain and I just couldn’t bring myself to kill her.

“Your boy was all set to off her, but that was his way back then. Whatever Breslin ordered, he did. At least until you,” Ryker smiled, “but I wouldn’t let him kill Darby. She attacked me, she bit me all over, nasty stuff, but I still wouldn’t let Wyatt kill her and finally, I think when he realized she was going to wind up killing me unless he agreed not hurt her, he gave in.

“For the next couple of months, she and I were inseparable. I think we found each other at some really desperate points in our lives. I was headed down a reckless path with these Sanctum clowns and she pulled me back from that, kind of set me straight and made me stick around a bit longer. She always says I saved her life, but she saved mine as well.”

As she and Ryker continued chatting, Dev checked Darby’s wounds again, wondering why the tiny vampire was not healing. She checked her watch, noting that about three hours had elapsed since she had begun the transfusions. Darby was full of blood and yet, the state of her wounds was not improving.

“What?” Ryker asked, noting the concern in Dev’s eyes.

She considered lying to him, but decided against it.

“She’s not healing like I expected she would,” Dev explained as she checked Darby’s eyes for any signs of life. “I thought by now some of her wounds, or at least the burns, would look a little better. The only thing really toxic for vamps is werewolf saliva but there is none in her system. All I can think is that she’s been without blood for much longer than I suspected. That coupled with the other aspects of the attack might be too much for her. I just don’t know.”

“I can’t do this again, Dev,” Ryker pleaded quietly with her, “I just got done spending two weeks wondering whether Wyatt was going to come out of that coma and now Darby. I can’t. Not again. Not with her.”

Ryker stood up and exited the room. Dev turned back to Wyatt, knowing he was in the back of the room in case she needed his help, but otherwise staying out of her way.

“You should go after him,” she suggested.

“Is he all right?” Wyatt asked, touching her back as he passed her on his way out.

Dev shook her head.

“I don’t think so.”

“Jools,” Wyatt called to his sister, “come on.”

Sam and Josiah remained in the room, watching Dev work on Darby, both transfixed by her, feeling as if they were watching Maya all over again. Dev sensed their thoughts and smiled; it was comforting to know she reminded someone of her mom.

“How is she?” Sam finally asked as she studied a few of Darby’s wounds.

“Bad,” Dev replied, no longer needing to temper her answer with Ryker gone from the room.

“How bad?” Sam asked, her worry lines seeming to deepen as they spoke.

“Honestly,” Dev sat down dejectedly, “I can fix her but it could take years. If she was going to recover quickly, it would have happened much earlier. She endured such extreme trauma and for so long, it’s as if her body just shut down and I couldn’t begin to tell you when it will wake up. She’s a vampire so she can stay in this state way beyond any of your life times.”

Sam brushed aside Darby’s hair and studied her face.

“Poor thing. When I find who did this to her, I am going to kill them myself.”

“What happened to the note that was on her?” Josiah asked.

Dev reached over to the tray by the bed and picked up the note, hoping she might pick up something from holding it for a minute, but nothing registered. She handed the paper to Josiah.

“I’m going to head down to the lab and see what I can get from this,” Josiah walked out of the room studying the note, his mind already miles away and focused on a million theories floating around in his head about Darby’s attacker.