Dead and Beyond (2 page)

“Because she wants you to think you’re alone. She wants you to trust them,” Gael said.

She moistened her lips, her voice quivering with emotion as she tried to understand the magnitude of her situation. “I’ve been thinking about your words. If you’re my brother, why didn’t we grow up together? And how did you find me?”

“I told you, I’ve been searching for you my entire life. Several times I lost hope, but I never gave up. When I found out you were here, captured by the Shadows, and that your life was at stake, I had to come to your rescue. That’s why I’m here, but you have to leave before it’s too late.”

A tear slid down her cheek. “How could they lie to me that I have no family when they knew I so desperately wished for one?”

“I know you have a lot of questions, and I promise I’ll answer them all later,” Gael said. “But right now we’re in great danger,” Gael said, slowly losing his patience. He knew the girl would start asking questions. He just never figured she wouldn’t know when to stop.

Angel shook her head. “Of course. I understand. I want to learn more about my past, but I can’t leave. If I leave, I’ll die.

“That’s another lie. You’ve been fed their crap long enough.” He grabbed her hands and forced her to look at him. “I won’t let anything happen to you, but you’ve got to trust me. You don’t know the Shadows like I do. They’re capable of anything.” He could see her resolve slowly crumbling, her little mind sucking in every word of familial love and bonding that came out of his mouth. She had been abandoned at birth; it was only natural that she craved what she never had. It made her trusting, putty in his hands. “You’re not dying without them. It’s just a spell they put on you, making you feel faint and weak when you’re away. Once the spell’s broken, so are their powers over you.”

Angel took a deep breath. “And you know how to break the spell?”

“Yes.” This part wasn’t even a lie. He had researched his kind. No Shadow spell could keep someone like Angel imprisoned for life. But their mind games could. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow night after Brendan’s turning. Twenty-four hours should give me enough time to come up with a plan to get you out of here.”

He could see a flicker of hope in her young eyes, as though her life had just received new meaning. She bobbed her head in agreement, and smiled. He smiled back as he whispered, “Promise me you won’t tell anyone, otherwise we’re both dead.”

“I promise,” she said, touching her index finger against her lips, as though to seal her words.

“I’m Gael, by the way,” he said, pulling his hood deep over his face. “Come on. We’ve got to get you back before anyone starts missing you.”

“Gael,” she repeated quietly, and he knew in that instant he was about to change her life.

Three days later

Okay, so here’s the deal. When I was turned into a vampire—imagine a ritual and me, half-dying Amber Reed, dressed in my best jeans so I’d look skinny even in death; a hot vampire aka my boyfriend of a few weeks, Aidan, drinking my blood so my soul could travel to the Otherworld to find an ancient, meaning horribly old and smelly, spell book—I had no idea how much being a vampire would suck.

I won’t sugar coat it. My dreadful turning probably set the foundation for my entire existence as a bloodsucker and my complete disregard of it. Of course I wished it happened on a drunken night out with the usual stranger following me home, his long coat swaying in the wind, his East European accent making me wonder whether he said ‘my pretty’ or maybe ‘such a pity’ a moment before his fangs pierced my fragile skin. And then imagine the feast—his, not mine—so graceful, so noble, so out-of-a-Dracula-movie, of which I’ve always been a fan. Now, that would’ve taught me a bit more respect of what I was because I wouldn’t have heard Aidan’s growling and slurping like that of a wild, starving animal. I didn’t mind that he turn into an animal, in the figurative sense, when we made out.

But when my life’s on the line? Uh, not so much. Aidan didn’t turn me; it was his brother, but it still took me a while to push that darn slurping sound out of my head when he kissed me.

So here’s how I envisioned my new life as a vampire:

I turn from okayish in the looks department to stunningly beautiful like my best friend, Clare. Think porcelain skin, glossy hair, sparkling eyes, you know, the whole shebang.

Miraculously, maybe even over night, I shed ten pounds, preferably from my thighs. And I’m toned in all the right places.

My brain starts to use up its entire capacity rather than a meager ten percent so I can finally beat my brother at Trivial Pursuit. Given that he’s actually an idiot and the moron who pushed me into this situation, that I still can’t beat him isn’t exactly confidence boosting.

My body finally develops some much needed gracefulness and my feet stop tripping over imaginary obstacles.

My four points weren’t really too much to ask for. Sadly, I was still the same chubby klutz Amber, albeit a klutz with the ability to punch a hole into a tree.

Aidan said I’d get a few more abilities as I grew stronger, but I couldn’t be sure he wasn’t just saying that to make me feel better.

An initial lack of supernatural talents isn’t the only reason why becoming a vampire shouldn’t be advertised as being all candy and fluffy, white clouds. It had been weeks since Aidan’s ex, vampire Rebecca, bit me in a lunatic revenge attack and almost drained me to death. I survived Rebecca’s attack, but she marked me, binding me to her in the process. I could feel her presence around me when I paid attention to it. At times, it almost felt as though she was standing next to me, watching me, waiting for something to happen. But what? Initially, I thought she was spying on me to see how my relationship with Aidan was turning out. Now I wasn’t so sure since I felt her presence strongest in Aidan’s absence. I would’ve given almost anything to find out what that was all about. Knowing could’ve helped me prepare for the events that were about to unfold because I was sick and tired of bad surprises. I might have an advantage over Rebecca in that I didn’t need blood to survive, but she was the stronger one. The maker was always the most powerful in a group with her blood gradually weakening as it was passed on from generation to generation. Rebecca had turned my boyfriend’s brother, Kieran, and Kieran had turned me. I didn’t harbor the delusion I’d win a battle, but maybe I could outsmart her. At least I could give it a try.

Apart from the constant feeling of being watched, something else was wrong. In the first two weeks after my turning, I felt no hunger or thirst. However, since entering Hell and seeing Rebecca gorge on a pour soul, a strange sense of yearning had been nagging at me, making me have all sorts of weird thoughts. Like starting to like the color red a lot when I was more the black type. Or wondering whether my mortal brother’s blood might just taste as good as it smelled. I knew I should’ve told one of the other vampires about the sudden change going on inside me. But we had so much on our plate right now that I didn’t really find the right time—or the right words. My bloodlust mortified me, so I vowed I’d talk to someone right after Cass’s birthday party, which was a huge deal for her. Not only was she turning eighteen, she was finally getting her fallen angel powers, whatever those might be. And it was her last day of freedom. At the stroke of midnight, she’d be forever bound to Hell. Or until my brother married her. Knowing Dallas and his commitment phobia, I was ready to bet my meager wages on the ‘forever bound to Hell’ part.

So, you see, that’s why being a vampire sucks. After a short period of no hunger or pain, I was slowly starting to morph into a blood-crazed lunatic, who might decide to wipe out a whole town. And if that ever happened, Aidan could just stake me in the heart because I’d never be able to live with myself knowing I had sucked dry innocent people.

I had been inspecting myself in the mirror for the last half an hour, changing in and out of clothes to find something that would suit my new paleness. And by ‘paleness’ I’m not talking about the usual lack of tan in winter. I mean a full blown, white as a ghost look that apparently comes with being a vampire. For a girl who likes a bit of a tan, it’s kind of hard to adjust, so I applied another layer of bronzer.

“You know what you look like, right?” my boyfriend, Aidan, said from the bed.

I made a pirouette in my skimpy black dress that made my waist appear at least two inches smaller—or so I hoped. “A fashion model?”

“Uh—” Aidan hesitated “—yeah, that’s exactly what I thought.”

I rolled my eyes and slapped his arm at his unspoken comparison with a clown. Aidan didn’t like me wearing a lot of a makeup. In fact, he didn’t like me wearing anything at all. I knew because he was my bonded mate and, after a few weeks of dating, we were already so close I could sense his thoughts. The good, the bad, and the naughty.

“You’re lucky you’re tall, dark, and handsome. Otherwise, I just might be tempted to throw you out the window with my newfound strength. I’ve been dying to test it out,” I said.

Aidan laughed. “I’m not just dating a hot chick but a dangerous one as well. Aren’t I a lucky sod?”

He sure knew how to make a girl feel special. I grinned and jumped into his arms, burying my heavily painted face into his neck.

“Whoa, what are you doing?” Aidan asked, pushing me away.

“What?”

“I lost my very best housekeeper—” he coughed trying to hide his laughter “—recently. Remember?”

I didn’t work for him very long, but he still poked fun at my housekeeping skills. “So?”

“So, who’s going to wash my clothes now? That makeup stuff’s even harder to remove than blood.”

“And how exactly do you know that?” I cocked a brow and regarded him amused. He turned a very attractive shade of red.

“Let’s just say, feeding from a bag of Type O blood from The Red Cross can be a bit messy when you turn into a ravenous monster.”

“I wondered what that ravenous monster used to do before he went vegetarian.”

“Lucky for us, the Shadow spell worked and you’ll never know,” Aidan muttered.

I fidgeted. I really hoped he was right because I never wanted to find out what drinking from a bag of blood feels like, let alone right from the living source.

I patted his back. “I used to think someone needed a dribble bib,” I said, trying to lighten up his mood. “But don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”

I patted his back. “I used to think someone needed a dribble bib,” I said, trying to lighten up his mood. “But don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”

“What secret’s safe with you?” Kieran asked from the door. Aidan’s gaze snapped in his brother’s direction. I was still amazed how much they looked alike.

If it weren’t for Kieran’s bulkier physique and his eyes being a slightly paler shade of blue, they could’ve been twins. Now, personality wise they couldn’t be more different. Aidan was the responsible one while Kieran couldn’t stop hitting on anything wearing a skirt—or sponging off his brother’s money. Still, I liked him a lot.

He was fun to be around because he understood my sense of humor. Or so he pretended. You could never be sure with Kieran.

I opened my mouth to speak when Aidan shot me a warning glare. “Don’t you dare!”

“What?” I shrugged and walked over to Kieran, pretending to push him out of the room as I whispered, “Your brother knows a lot about makeup.”

“You’re so mean.” Aidan’s arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back toward the bed. I tumbled into the sheets in a fit of giggles with Aidan on top of me. His fingers reached the ticklish spot under my armpits. I burst out in laughter. Two tears rolled down my cheeks as I draped my legs around him to stop the attack.

“Get a room!” I heard Kieran say.

“We have one. It’s right here,” Aidan said, nibbling my ear.

“When you come up for air, I’ll be downstairs wrapping She-devil’s birthday present. She won’t be pleased to hear you missed her big day because you couldn’t stop making out.”

Aidan’s tongue began to swirl up and down my neck, sending shivers down my spine. “Kieran, seriously, go to hell!” I said.

“Without you? I thought we were all going together. Don’t worry, I’ll wait. Just don’t spend another hour putting on your makeup. Remember it’s going to melt off in the 120 degrees heat.”

“Come on, bro. Get out!” Aidan growled.

Kieran shook his head, grinning. “So much love’s just gross. I hope it’s not contagious.” And then the door slammed shut and I was alone with Aidan and his hot lips searching mine. I let him draw me into a tight embrace and surrendered to his mouth. The thought that I’d indeed need to apply my makeup all over again crossed my mind, but a canoodle with Aidan was well worth going the extra mile and risking Cass’s wrath in case we arrived late.

*

A half hour later we were finally ready to leave. Thrain, a demon and shape shifter we had grown close to in the last few weeks, picked us up in his SUV

and drove us to the nearest portal through which we’d leave this world behind. We went off-road speeding over uneven terrain and into the woods with timber and rock crunching under the tires. The vehicle turned left and my head bumped into Aidan, giving me whiplash like I never experienced before. I blinked as Thrain plowed right into a shallow river. The water splashed on the windows, reminding me of a tidal wave. And I thought Kieran was a horrible driver.

Although this wasn’t the first time I entered Hell, I still marveled at how fast one could move up through the different dimensions of the living, the dead, and the trapped. I wasn’t sure I liked how easy it was to leave the relative safety of the physical world behind.

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Thrain said, probably reading my thoughts.

I slumped into Aidan’s arms, ignoring the shape shifter. Hell was ‘home, sweet home’ for him. My first experience in Cass’s world was anything but nice, what with Rebecca attacking an innocent soul and my brother dying in there.

Eventually, the air crackled from the telltale charged particles, the earth trembled beneath the tires, and then we drove through the portal. I swear my heart skipped a beat, that is, if it was still beating since I was a vampire, meaning dead and all.