Dahlia (Blood Crave Series) (25 page)

“The only element that’s really left…” Meg’s voice trailed off as her eyes flicked to her left.

“Fire.” Dahlia answered, following the girl’s gaze to look at the silent figure standing next to her. His eyes were a fiery orange as he stared across at Dahlia in raw hatred. His entire body started to crackle with flames as heat radiated from his core.

“Taylor,” she breathed in terror as she took a few steps back, realization sinking in as the back of her legs hit the couch.

She had nowhere left to go. 

Chapter 22

“There’s nowhere to go.” Meg taunted, staring back at Dahlia in revulsion. Then she swiftly turned to her left as she yelled. “Taylor, now!”

As soon as he spoke, a ball of flame shot out from his body and aimed straight at Dahlia. Dahlia, unable to move, saw a blaze of orange and red take over her entire vision.

This is it.

She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the heat getting closer, getting ready for impact. A tear leaked from the corner of her eye as she realized she’d never see Greyson again.

“Get down!” A voice suddenly came out of nowhere as it yelled fiercely at Dahlia.

She was shocked to see Ava rush quickly over to her, grabbing her firmly by the arm as she roughly yanked her down to the ground. Painfully dropping to her knees, Ava covered Dahlia’s body with her own but, Dahlia still felt the harsh heat surrounding them, permeating into her skin.

“Damn you,” Meg screamed as the ball of flames hit the opposite wall, looking angrily down at Ava. She ignored the gaping hole in the wall and glanced over at Deacon and Lee. “Do something!”

Both Deacon and Lee looked at one another, then rushed toward Ava to attack. But a gust of energy suddenly charged at them both, their bodies instantly crashing against the glass door as it splintered into pieces.

They remained motionless.

“Pathetic,” Ava stated as she stood up and moved her sunglasses away from her eyes so it perched on the top of her dark head. Dahlia lifted her head to see Ava eyeing Meg up and down. Her amber eyes gleamed brightly as the wind pulsated around her, raven hair floating against the strong breeze that she created. “You want to try something else, sweetie?”

Meg’s own eyes lit up brightly as she summoned a ball of wind and directed it at Ava. Ava, with a snap of a finger, caused the wind to disappear completely between Meg’s hands as Meg looked on in shock, seeing her powers evaporate.

Ava flicked her hair as she stared at Meg, unimpressed. “You, Dahlia and I share the same element, sweetie. It’s too bad I have the upper hand being stronger. And I thought you were oh-so powerful. How will you ever defeat me?” she mocked with a smirk on her face.

Dahlia knew she’d never seen anyone more livid than Meg as she glared back at Ava, then shot Taylor a look, commanding, “Do it again. Kill them both this time.”

Taylor’s eyes lit up once more, emitting another ball of fire directed at both girls now. Dahlia once again braced herself for the impact, squeezing her eyes tightly as she still crouched on the floor, knowing there was nowhere to run.

But as quickly as it started it was over.

Dahlia’s head was down on the ground, her body in prayer position as she breathed heavily through her mouth. As she inhaled deeply, she started to cough uncontrollably but she gradually moved to her feet, the back of her hand pressed against her mouth.

It was quiet.

“What happened?”

She was facing away from the others and as she attempted to turn to see what had occurred, Ava stopped her quickly. It wasn’t fast enough as Dahlia gasped in shock, her eyes witnessing a horrible image forever imprinted in her mind.

Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of four charred bodies lying on the ground before her.

“What did you do?” Dahlia whispered in shock at Ava.

Ava looked down at the bodies in indifference, then at her perfectly manicured nails as she inspected them for chips. She glanced up and then flicked her dark hair over her shoulders. “I just deflected some wind their way. They could have stopped it if they were fast enough.”

Although Dahlia was shocked that four lives were instantly gone, she was grateful for her life. She looked over at Ava appreciably who was back to wearing her signature sunglasses back on her face, ruby red lips pressed together. “Thank you. They would have killed me.”

“Well, you’re not supposed to die
now
.”

Dahlia looked over at Ava with a start at the emphasis on the last word. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You dying doesn’t really solve anything. They were just sad that their poor mommies and daddies were killed by yours.” She paused as she tapped her fingernail against her chin as if deep in thought. “Or was it grandmas and grandpas? At any rate, don’t feel bad about it, D. They got what they deserved.”

Dahlia’s gratitude quickly changed to that of frustration as she replied, “You don’t even like me.”

“Oh, I knew someone was listening in on my conversation with Maddox.” Ava face started to form a smile. “Aww, don’t be so sad about that, D. It’s just the way the cookie crumbled. I’ve gotten over the fact that daddy dearest wanted to have another child. It’s not like he loved you. He just wanted your tainted blood to guarantee our future.”

Dahlia instantly felt a stab of anger as she heard herself, again, referred to as tainted. The word struck a chord in her, although she knew that Ava was just testing her. She looked into Ava’s face as she said calmly, “You’re not going to get away with this.”

Ava chuckled loudly as she lightly touched a hand to her stomach to contain her laughter. Then she lowered her sunglasses from her eyes as she looked over at Dahlia with glowing amber eyes and winked.

“Watch me.”

Then her body shifted as she simply vanished without a trace.

***

Sam drove as quickly as possible as he sped away from Meg’s, desperate to get home.

There was a lot of strangeness going on lately and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. But for some reason he felt as if Dahlia was involved. No, he knew she was involved. She had been even more closed-off than usual. She appeared exhausted beyond belief, had emotional breakdowns, and became very accident-prone, like that night when she fell in the forest or that water incident at Meg’s.

Speaking of that night in the forest, Sam may not be a medical doctor, but he’d watched enough television in the past to figure out that the amount of blood he saw on Dahlia was from no simple blood wound. There was something going on, but he didn’t want to draw any crazy conclusions.

He wouldn’t go there.

And that night when he found her crying in her bedroom was just downright suspicious. Every time he thought about their conversation, he got a killer of a headache and couldn’t remember anything. It was like he was being blocked from his memories.

Something was definitely up.

Plus that guy he saw in Dahlia’s bedroom? Although Sam kept his cool, there was something about him. He was definitely older and Sam wondered where Dahlia met him, considering she was either at home or at school. As far as he was concerned, the guy was no English teacher.

Sam had refused to admit it to her but he had seen on more than a few occasions certain marks on her back. While she sat in the kitchen as he passed her from behind, he’d noticed her shirt riding up without her knowledge and he would see the beginnings of two scars at the base of her back as they traveled up and disappeared underneath her shirt. Or when he had startled her in her bedroom a few weeks ago. Dahlia was quick, but not quick enough, for him not to notice the strange glowing scars on her upper back. He knew she was self-conscious, the reason why he never said anything about it, but still, they looked unusual.

They glowed, for Christ’s sake.

He cared about her. Not romantic by any means, but there was something inside of him that wanted to make sure she was okay.

Like how he was feeling at this moment. Only now, he wanted to make sure his parents were okay.

Pulling up into the driveway, he put the car in park and quickly darted toward the front entrance, leaving the car door unlocked and keys still in the ignition. Realizing that, he turned to go back to retrieve them, but the front door suddenly opened slowly, as if waiting for his arrival.

Freezing in front of the doorway, he cautiously stepped inside as he pushed open the door further, walking into the house. He looked around his home, finding nothing out of the ordinary but still felt unsettled in the darkness. He flicked on the lights, finding everything in its usual place, silence surrounding him from all directions.

Taking his phone out of his pocket, Sam looked at the text message sent to him when he had been at Meg’s, the reason for his abrupt departure.

Come straight home, Sam. Your parents need you. Don’t tell Dahlia anything—we don’t want to worry her.

He frowned at the puzzling message from his parents and
wondered if they and Dahlia were involved in some huge prank to screw with his mind. It was especially strange why the message was sent from an unknown number and they hadn’t just called him. He knew from experience that they hated texting with those “tiny devil buttons,” as his mother liked to call them.

“Mom? Dad?” Sam cautiously called out as he walked down the hallway.

No one responded as his shoes echoed on the hardwood floors. It was bizarre, but Sam was beginning to find his own house a little bit creepy as he walked further inside. The kitchen had a doorway so he opened the swinging door with his hand, expecting to find his parents.

“Mo—” Sam didn’t finish the word, his voice trailing off at the sight before him. Instead of his parents, an extremely attractive girl sat on top of the kitchen counter, her crossed legs dangling as she eyed Sam playfully with a sinful grin on her face.

“Hello, Sam. You’re cute.” She reached out a hand toward an apple that was sitting on the counter as she took a bite of the fruit, slowly taking her time in devouring her meal.

“Who are you?” Sam managed to find his voice as he uttered the words. In any other situation, he would probably want to get to know her a bit more intimately. But the sight of her in his house freaked him out.

The girl smirked as she took another bite and dropped the remaining part of the apple onto the ground. Sliding herself off the counter, she peered up at him as the smirk never left her face.

“That’s not the question you should be asking, Sam. How about, ‘Where are my parents?’” She asked the last part with a mocking tone in her voice.

Sam drew himself up as he frowned down at the girl, her face becoming less and less appealing. He spoke slowly and low, not trying to show his fear, as his heart hammered in his chest.

“What did you do to them?”

The girl paused at the seriousness of his voice as she contemplated what to say. “Let’s just say you won’t be seeing them in this lifetime. Too bad they weren’t actually on a cruise. Wouldn’t mind being there myself,” she ended as she distractedly sighed.

Is this girl crazy? What the hell did she do to my parents?

Sam was about to take a step forward, frustrated that she kept dodging his questions, but was blocked by a larger figure, instantly stopping him in his tracks. Sam stepped back in alarm as he saw a guy staring down at him with an evil glint in his eyes.

“Can I do it now?” The guy asked the girl, but stared directly at Sam as he continued to eye him like a bird stalking its prey.

“I wanted to play with him more, but sure. Go ahead, Maddox,” she replied with a flick of a finger.

As the words left her lips, Maddox’s brown eyes gleamed alarmingly bright. Sam, unable to look away, felt his mind literally dragged into the dark holes that were Maddox’s eyes. A band-like pressure surrounded his head, like a vice, before he screamed out in pain.

Then there was nothing.

Chapter 23

Dahlia arrived home to an empty house feeling unsettled. She walked over and looked at the phone, seeing there no were messages left on the answering machine. Sitting down on the couch, she buried her head in her hands, still not believing that Meg and the boys were all dead.

Dead.

A tear slowly rolled down her face at the finality of the word. She realized that even though they wanted nothing more than to kill her, she had lost what she had considered friends. People she was beginning to have feelings for.

Now they were gone, extinguished and left as dust.

She shivered at the memory, sighed deeply as she tried to shake the emotions away. She left Meg’s place exactly as it was; not knowing what she should have done. It wasn’t as if she could call the police. She couldn’t imagine how that conversation would have gone.

After Ava’s dramatic departure to God knows where, Dahlia stood staring at the charred bodies in shock, eyes stinging from the fumes. The smell of burnt flesh eventually drew her away from the destroyed house where she took Meg’s car to drive herself back home. She should have contacted Greyson immediately but had wanted to be alone with her thoughts while she drove. She was miserable, and as much as she would enjoy having Greyson’s arms around her, she knew he’d be happy that they were all dead.