Dead of Night (22 page)

“He can't do anything but stand there.” Trick spared me a glance. “He doesn't remember how to.”

A few seconds later Julian Hargraves collapsed, his body little more than a skin-covered skeleton, and he didn't move again.

I forced myself to walk over and take the keys from his jacket pocket, turning my head so I didn't have to look at his face. I went to the edge of the tunnel, and looked down to see Jesse standing in a beam of light.

“Jesse, no.”

He looked up at me. The sun didn't make his skin burn or smoke. He looked at his hand, touched it to his heart, and then held it up to me before he disappeared.

I hardly knew what to think as I climbed down the stairs. The sunlight hadn't hurt him. It wasn't possible.

Trick didn't say anything as he followed me back down and helped me free the girls. I watched while he held their hands and spoke quietly to them, but I didn't object or interfere as he erased their memories of what Julian had done to them and what they'd witnessed. In a way, making them forget their ordeal was almost a blessing.

When we left the chamber I glanced toward the room where Julian had intended to kill me.

“He's gone, Cat,” Trick said.

Sheriff Yamah stood waiting at the shrine when we led the girls up to the surface, and he and his deputies ushered them away. I looked down at the empty spot on the ground where Julian's body had fallen.

“How did you know where we were?” I asked, and then I saw Gray standing a short distance away. “I don't understand.”

“We're only half-human,” Trick said. “Drugs don't work very well on us.”

So he knew what I'd done. “I'm not going to apologize.”

He met my gaze. “I could have sent that boy up here along with Julian. I can go now with Gray, and hunt him down, and make him forget that sunlight will kill him, and this will be over once and for all.”

“Then you'll kill me, too, Patrick,” I said quietly. “I love Jesse, and I'm not going to live without him.”

Twenty-Two

C
at?”

Sunny Johnson's voice brought me out from behind the book shelves, and I smiled as I went up to unlock the front door and let her in. “Hey, survivor girl.” I glanced at the woman standing behind her. “Oh. Hi, Mrs. Johnson.”

Sunny's mom held up her hands. “Don't be afraid, Cat. I'm not armed or dangerous.”

“You were never any such thing.” I was glad she looked so happy, though. “Everything all right?”

“Yes. All right, wonderful, amazing and miraculous.” She beamed at her daughter before she added, “Sunny told me that it was you and your brothers who found her and Melissa and Becca. I just wanted to thank you personally. I'm sure the other mothers will, too.”

“It's okay.” By this time tomorrow none of them would even remember their daughters had been kidnapped, I thought, my heart turning into a lead weight. “We were just in the wrong place at the right time.”

Sunny nudged her mother. “Mom, could you give us a sec?”

“Sure, honey.” Mrs. Johnson took my hand in hers as she looked into my eyes. “If you ever need anything, Catlyn, anything at all, please make me the first person you ask.”

Sunny waited until the door to the shop closed before she rolled her eyes. “She means that, too. You could even need a kidney, and she'd be first in line to donate one of hers.”

“She was really worried about you.” I glanced past her shoulder at the Junktique. “How's your dad?”

“He let Nicky drive me home from the hospital. I could hardly believe it, but I guess they talked a lot while I was gone.” She bit her bottom lip before she said, “Cat, about that boy who came in after the old man made me hit you.”

“His name is Jesse, and … .” I trailed off as I stared at her. “Sunny, you remember that?”

She nodded. “I know your brother tried to make me forget everything like the other girls, but it didn't stick. I think I know why. One time, when the old man was biting me, I kind of bit him back. I got his blood in my mouth, and I spit it out, but I felt different after that.” She gave me a desperate look. “Will I grow fangs now?”

“I think if you were going to,” I said honestly, “you'd already have them.”

“That's what I thought.” She sighed. “I wasn't going to tell anyone, but … well, I can't stop thinking about Jesse. His eyes, I mean. They were all black.” She hesitated. “The old man's turned that way whenever he shifted.”

“They're not the same,” I said carefully. “Julian was insane. Jesse is … almost as normal as we are.”

Sunny took in a quick breath. “So he is a vampire?”

“No. Not all the way.” I could see her mom looking in the window at us. “He's very fast and strong, and he doesn't age, but he doesn't drink human blood, and he would never hurt anyone.” I saw her mother peering in. “I think your mom is getting anxious, and my brother will be here to pick me up any minute.”

“She doesn't even want me to go to bathroom by myself,” Sunny complained, and then her expression grew serious. “I thought we were gonna die down there. Thank you for giving me my life back.”

I hugged her, and then sent her off with her mom before I went back to dusting the shelves. When I finished that final task, I looked around the shop one last time. If books could talk, I'd be in very hot water, but Mrs. Frost would never know I'd done anything here but the job she'd hired me to do. Assuming my brother let her remember that.

Instead of going out the front door and waiting for Trick, I let myself out through the back. From there I walked slowly down the street to the public docks. I didn't look at the boathouse when I stepped over the chain with the CLOSED sign; instead I went to the very end of the pier.

Lost Lake had gotten lost again. A fine white mist hovered, concealing the dark water and stretching out from the banks and growing denser around the distant blur of Raven Island.

I couldn't see the mansion, but lights from its windows glittered along the farthest edge of the mist. I decided the brightest was coming from his room, and focused on it.

No matter what happens here today, some part of me will always love you
,
I thought.

“You shouldn't be down here by yourself, young lady.”

I turned my head as Jim Yamah came to stand beside me. “I'm not going to do anything stupid, Sheriff. I just wanted to say good-bye.”

He braced his arms against the railing. “I don't think even Jesse can hear you from here.”

“He's not the one I'm saying good-bye to.” The sound of Trick's Harley made me glance back at the street, where he was parking it. The panic I didn't want to feel set its teeth in me. “If I punched you, sir, really hard, would you arrest me and put me in jail and not let me have any visitors?”

“No,” he admitted. “But I'd probably have you pick up trash for a month. Two if you broke anything.” He eyed me. “Keeping secrets is what started this whole mess, Miss Youngblood. Maybe it's time you and your brothers got better acquainted with the truth.”

Jim Yamah gave my shoulder an awkward pat before he left me there. All I heard him say as he passed my brother on the pier was “Evening, Patrick.”

“Jim.” Trick kept walking steadily toward me.

I wanted to jump in the water. I wasn't a great swimmer, but I could probably make it to one of the boats at the marina. And steal it, and go out to the island, and try to speak to Jesse again … or maybe I'd get hypothermia in the freezing cold water, lose consciousness and drown. And then all my problems would be solved. I wondered if my brother could hear me thinking that. I hoped so.

By then Trick was standing just behind me. “Cat, what are you doing here? You were supposed to wait at the shop for me.”

“I know.” My legs felt weak, and I dropped down to perch on the pier's edge, folding my legs under me so my shoes wouldn't get wet. “I can't seem to do anything right.”

Trick gripped the railing as he sat down beside me. “Me, either.”

“Are you going to take my memories here, or wait until we get home?”

“It doesn't work that way. The memories are still there; I just plant new ones that cover them up.” He looked down at the mist swirling around the pylons. “That's why I'm responsible for what happened to Julian Hargraves.”

I stared at him. “You're blaming yourself for what that crazy old man did? What about me? What about Jesse? I was the girl he wanted to kidnap. He used Jesse's blood to change into … whatever he was. You were never a part of this.” And because I wanted to hurt him, I added, “I made sure of it.”

“I could have stopped it before anything happened,” my brother said slowly. “But I didn't know that Julian had witnessed the attack on you and Jesse on Halloween night. Jim told me the old man was a recluse who never left his mansion, so I didn't bother to check on him or give him new memories.”

“And the next day everyone thought he was dead.”

Trick nodded. “If I'd been more careful, more thorough, none of this would have happened.”

If he was looking for sympathy, he'd come to the wrong pier. “Look on the bright side. You'll be the only one who remembers that you screwed up.”

“He's not going to tamper with your memories again, Catlyn,” Jesse's voice said, as clearly as if he were sitting next to me.

Trick stood and pulled me to my feet at the same time. A loop of rope lassoed the top of one mooring post, and out of the mist a small dark boat floated up beside the pier. After he tied off another line, Jesse stepped up and faced my brother.

Trick looked as if he'd been kicked in the gut. “We made an agreement.”

“Another agreement?” I looked from Jesse to Trick. “Patrick, what did you do?”

“He offered me his blood to give my parents,” Jesse said. “Not all of it, of course; just enough to make them resistant to sunlight, as I am now. He asked only one thing in return: that I never try to see you again.”

Of course Trick knew how much Jesse loved his mother and father, and what it would mean for the Ravens to be more human. He'd used that desperation against them, and I'd probably never forgive him for it.

I kept my game face on as I watched Jesse. “Then why are you here?”

“They don't need it anymore, do they?” Trick asked, and when Jesse shook his head, he turned to look out at Raven Island. “I didn't think you'd figure it out.”

“When Julian attacked me, he took from me enough blood to enable him to finish making the change.” Jesse tugged his collar back to reveal the slash on his neck. “When you sent him above ground, the sunlight should have set him on fire. But taking my blood made him more human.”

I reached up and touched the scar on my shoulder. “Because you took mine that night, and it changed yours.”

“He's still not human,” Trick said abruptly.

Jesse nodded. “But neither am I vampire.”

“I told your parents the truth,” my brother said, a note of warning in his voice. “Our blood is not a cure. You can never change back completely.”

“But you neglected to mention that my blood would help them just as much as yours.” Jesse studied his face. “You used our ignorance to extract my promise never to see Catlyn again.”

My brother didn't look the least bit ashamed. “If you had a fifteen-year-old sister, you'd do the same.”

“So we're right back where we started.” I faced my brother. “I'd call you a horse's ass, but that would be an insult to horses.” I turned to my dark boy. “You are just as bad as him.”

“I know,” Jesse said. “I am sorry.”

My brother folded his arms. “I'm not.”

“Both of you say you love me, and then you do all these terrible things to me.” I turned to my brother. “I'll be sixteen in a few weeks. That's old enough to go court and ask to be emancipated. I'll have to drop out of school and work full-time while I rent a room somewhere. Then, once I've saved enough of my earnings, I'll leave Lost Lake for good.”

Trick moved his shoulders. “If you remember to do all that.”

“I don't have to.” I took out the letter in my pocket and handed it to him. “I wrote everything that's happened to me in this letter, and I gave a copy of it to someone you don't know. Every week I will check in with that person. If I don't, the letter goes public.”

He read the address on the envelope, which was for an Orlando newspaper. “I can give new memories to nosy newspaper reporters as well as reckless sisters.”

“Oh, my letter won't be mailed to a newspaper,” I told him. “My check-in person will post it on the Internet.”

He crumpled the envelope in his fist. “You're bluffing.”

I smiled. “Brainwash me and find out.”

“Am I mentioned in this letter?” Jesse asked.

I nodded. “You, your parents, Julian Hargraves, everyone and everything.”

“You cannot expose us,” Jesse said.

“You chose your parents over me, so why shouldn't I choose to do what I want?” Seeing the genuine-looking hurt in his eyes tore at me, but I had to finish this. “There are private islands all over the world, and you have tons of money. Just go buy another one.”

“You've made your point,” my brother said. “What do you want?”

“From now on? Leave my brain alone, let me and Jesse date like normal kids, and stop trying to run my life.” I regarded Jesse. “And you. You will not lie to me, or make deals with my brother behind my back. You will start acting like a boyfriend instead of a bodyguard.”

“Is that all?” Trick asked.

“There's one more condition.” I gestured at both of them. “This idiot feud between our families is over. Finished. Forever.”

Jesse looked at Trick. “I will speak to my parents and tell them they must end the feud or face exposure. Under the circumstances, I'm certain they will agree to your terms.”

Trick looked like he was ready to explode. “I should have let the Van Helsings have you.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” I said in my sweetest voice. “I'm sure even Grandma and Grandpa have Internet access.”

“Catlyn.” My brother heaved a sigh. “All right. I'll talk to Grayson. But if you're going to date Jesse, then there will be some rules.” When I started to tell him what I thought of that, he added, “You want to be treated like a normal teenager, then you have to behave like one.” He turned to Jesse. “You have your car around here?” When he nodded, my brother said, “You can take her home. In the mood I'm in, I might shove her off the bike.”

Trick walked off, leaving me with Jesse. As soon as I found my jaw and put in back where it was supposed to be, I felt oddly miffed. “I should have gotten all the dating rules up front. Assuming you still want to see me.”

“I don't know.” Jesse waited until my brother roared off on his Harley before he smiled slowly. “You were most convincing.”

“Yes, I was.” I threw my arms around his neck as he twirled me around. “We did it. Don't fall in the water. I love you.”

Jesse didn't put me back on my feet until he kissed me breathless. Then I was the one who didn't want to let go.

“My very clever Cat,” he murmured as he wrapped his arms around me. “You didn't tell me you were going to bring the letter.”

“I wouldn't call it a letter exactly.” I pulled the crumpled ball out of my pocket and grinned up at him. “This is more like a blank sheet of paper I folded up and sealed in this envelope.”

“You took a great risk.” He made a chiding sound. “What if he had tried to read it?”

“As soon as I told him what was—or actually wasn't—in it, I knew he wouldn't bother.” I started to toss my bluff into the lake, and then thought better of it. “I think I'd better burn the evidence, just to be sure.”