End Game (Vampire Hunter Book 6) (11 page)

“Get in,” Emmett said, scowling.

“Thanks for doing this,” I said in a rush.

“You know I have a job, right? I have classes to teach,” Emmett replied
irritably.

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize you were missing a class to take
me,” I said.

“My classes don’t start on Monday until after lunch,” Emmett admitted.
“But I feel bad, helping you skip school.”

“Priorities, right?” I said lightly.

“I suppose. Did anything else happen yesterday?” Emmett asked. “Please
tell me your encounter with Senara was the only excitement of the day.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess I forgot to mention that I also killed the King of
Hell,” I said with a grin.

“Aurora, that’s wonderful!” Emmett exclaimed, his foul mood dissipating.
“Tell me everything.”

After I had finished, he said, “Is that why you wanted to see Henry so
badly? To tell him about Senara and Leon? You could have called him instead of
skipping school to make the long trek to Jet’s house,” he pointed out.

“I know, but I guess I’m still worried about him,” I said slowly. “I
mean, he’s my oldest friend, he’s the first person I found after I crawled out
of my grave. And now he’s a vampire. Life just isn’t making sense anymore.”

“Life hasn’t made sense for a long time,” Emmett said. “Do you feel
guilty about Henry?”

“How, uh, how did you know?” I replied.

“I’ve known for a long time you were struggling with your feelings,”
Emmett said. “But you can’t force something that isn’t there.”

“So you know I want to be with Lucas?” I asked, surprised.

“I’ve suspected it,” Emmett said, smiling. “But I wouldn’t ask, wouldn’t
really think about it, to be honest. It’s your business, whatever you decide.”

“I’ve decided,” I said quietly. “I think Henry and I knew it all along,
even if we didn’t admit it.”

“That’s usually how those things work,” Emmett agreed.

“Hey, Emmett?” I said.

“Yes?”

“The girl you liked, before Rachel, how long did it take you to get over
her?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t too personal of a question.

“Hmm.” Emmett paused. “It’s clichéd, but time really does help. As does
distraction. I threw myself into my studies. And by the time I met Rachel, I
barely even remembered that Becky existed.” Emmett laughed.

“Kind of like what Henry is doing,” I whispered, thinking about him, holed
up, reading his spell books, planning his career in the vampire realm.

“Exactly.”

We didn’t speak the rest of the way. When we pulled up outside Jet’s
house, I walked to the gate and rang the buzzer.

“Aurora? Emmett?” Jet asked, seeing us through the video surveillance
attached to the gate. “What are you doing here?”

“I had a run-in with Senara,” I said. “And I killed Leon. Thought I’d
come here in person and tell you guys about it.”

“Be right out,” Jet replied.

He came outside and ushered us through the gates. I looked around
nervously. “Lassie’s inside,” Jet assured us.

“Where’s Henry?” I asked when we walked into the house.

Jet shrugged. “In his room, I guess.”

“So, is he living here now? Permanently?” I couldn’t help but wonder.

“Hey.”

We all turned to see where the voice came from. There was Henry, at the
bottom of the staircase.

He walked towards us. “Yeah, I’m staying here for awhile.”

“What on earth do your parents think?” I demanded.

“Well, Dad knows the truth. I feel bad about my mother, but what can you
do? She would never believe Dad or me, if we told her the truth. Dad’s going to
cover for me, say I’m staying at a friend’s house. I’m sure I’ll see her
again…eventually.” He paused. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“I should, but I wanted to see you. And tell you what happened with
Senara. And Leon.”

When I had finished recounting the events of yesterday, minus any mention
of Mark, Henry let out a low whistle. “That’s amazing, Rory, about Leon. At
least we’ve got one good piece of news.” He smiled, but there was a sadness
behind his eyes.

Jet was shaking his head. “As thrilled as I am that you’ve not only
killed a demon, but one of
the
strongest demons, I’m extremely worried
about Senara. You know she isn’t going to respect that protective order on your
family, right? I’m not trying to scare you, but it’s just a matter of time.”

“I know,” I said uncomfortably. I shrugged helplessly. “But what can I
do, Jet?” I turned to Henry. “Do you have any type of spell that could help?”

“I think she’s too powerful,” Henry replied. “Immune to anything I could
try.”

“Just great,” I said morosely.

“You’ve got to have confidence,” Jet said, “that your powers will be
strong enough. But one thing I would suggest. I would find Senara before she
finds you.”

“She already knows where I live,” I admitted. I had left out the part
about Mark coming to my house, so I went ahead and told them the abbreviated
version, carefully leaving out any mention that I had kissed him.

“I’m not surprised,” Jet said. “But don’t be discouraged. She’s obviously
waiting to make her move. You just need to make yours quicker. And as always,
if I can help, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Same here,” Henry echoed.

“I guess we should go,” I said reluctantly.

“You can stay as long as you like,” Jet replied.

“I have to get to the university soon,” Emmett said apologetically.

“I understand. I just want to talk to Henry for a minute. In private,” I
said.

“Sure. We can go to my room.” Henry got up and I followed him up the
winding staircase, down another sinister looking hallway, into a bedroom on the
right. “How many rooms are in this place?” I asked.

Henry laughed. “Too many to count.”

“Don’t you feel uneasy here?” I asked. “Like something could be lurking
around a corner at any moment?”

“I like it,” Henry responded. “And if something is lurking, I’ll kill
it.” I could tell by his tone that Henry wasn’t joking. I remembered what Jet
told me when we got the wendigo tooth, about being a hunter before he was head
vampire. I couldn’t help but wonder if he would lead Henry down that path as
well. Even though Henry was a warlock, Jet would want him to be strong. Want him
to know how to kill when necessary. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask Henry if
that was something he’d already discussed with Jet.
He probably wouldn’t
even tell me the truth, if it was,
I thought sadly.

I stood there awkwardly in his bedroom, my arms folded across my chest.
“I thought we already said everything the other day,” Henry said lightly.

“I guess,” I said slowly, “that I’m just still worried about you. I
haven’t gotten over the shock that Jet turned you, and I can’t bear the thought
of school without you there.”

“Come on, Rory. We all knew that change was inevitable. I don’t know how
to make you understand that
this
is what I want.”

“Okay,” I said skeptically.

“I assume, after all this is over, you’re going to be a hunter?” he
asked.

“I think so,” I said. “It just feels so surreal.”

“You got that right,” Henry agreed. “I can help, you know, with spells
and stuff. No matter where you are, you’ll always be able to find me. Jet
mentioned traveling some, so I probably won’t be here for too long. I didn’t
realize there were so many politics in the vampire world! But I’m going to be a
part of it, and I’m excited.”

I forced a smile. “I’m glad you’re happy.”

“And I hope you’re happy, too,” Henry responded.

“I’ll be happy when Senara’s dead,” I said.

Henry laughed. “I think we all will.”

We went back downstairs. Henry hugged me goodbye, just like the old days,
and I felt a wave of nostalgia. Then I hugged Jet, and we left.

“Do you want to be dropped back off at school?” Emmett asked me.

“Ugh, I can’t go back there,” I whined.

“Lucas’ apartment then?” Emmett suggested.

I hadn’t decided if I wanted to tell Lucas about going to see Jet and
Henry, so that wasn’t going to work. “He might be asleep, or working,” I
hedged. “I don’t want to disturb him.”

“Sure, Aurora,” Emmett said, placating me. “I guess you could stay at my
house for the day? But won’t your mother be waiting at the school when it lets
out?”

“Shit. I hadn’t thought about that.” I paused. “I’ll make up something
about getting a ride home. What’s one more lie?”

“Suit yourself,” Emmett said.

“It’s really nice of you to let me stay at your house, Emmett,” I said
sincerely. The more I got to know Emmett, the more I liked him, understood him,
and he was becoming less and less paranoid the more he got to know me.

I spent the rest of the morning sprawled out on Emmett’s couch. There was
nothing to do except watch TV, and I was still wrought with worry, but it was
better than the alternative: school.

I was a little disappointed that Lucas hadn’t contacted me, but in all
fairness, he thought I was busy at school. I was sure I’d talk to him that
evening. The thought brought a smile to my face.

I still had my two phones – the secure one from Lucas, and the one
my family knew about. I pulled the unsecure one out of my purse to text my mom
so she didn’t turn up at the school in a couple of hours. I cringed when I saw
I had
five
missed calls from her. And a text. This couldn’t be good.

The school called to find out if you were sick. Where in the world are
you, Aurora? I thought I could trust you.

Yikes, Mom sounded
pissed
. And hurt. I hurriedly typed back a
message.

I’m sorry. I’m fine and I’ll explain tonight.

That would buy me some time…maybe.

But when Emmett got back just as the sun was setting, I knew it was bad
with no signs of getting better.

“Your mother called me,” he said accusatorily, coming through the door.

“What?” I asked in disbelief.

“While I was driving home from the university. She said that you had
ditched school, and she was concerned you and Lucas had planned this together.”
Emmett paused. “I told her I was sure my son wouldn’t do such a thing,” he said
sarcastically.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this,” I said, “but you know as well as
I do that I can’t go back to school. Not after everything that’s happened.”

“Well, your mom sure doesn’t seem to know,” Emmett countered. “And I’m
tired of the lies. I’m an honest person. I don’t like being forced to fabricate
ridiculous stories.”

“Fair enough,” I conceded. “So what ended up happening?”

“Nothing. I told Audrey I’d be in touch if I had any info on your
whereabouts.”

“Well, I texted her that I’d be home soon and explain it all, so you
don’t have to make up any lies,” I said.

“I can’t be your cover anymore, Aurora,” Emmett said quietly. “Whatever
is going on with your parents, it’s down to you to figure it out. And deal with
it.”

“Okay,” I whispered, feeling like the absolute worst, most selfish person
in the entire world.

“I’ll take you home now.”

I followed Emmett out to his truck and got in the passenger seat.

“Do you want me to come in?” he asked when we got to my house. “Try and
do some damage control?”

“No, it’s a nice offer but I understand why you’re sick of the lying. I’m
pretty fucking tired of it, too, to be honest,” I said. “I’ll deal with my
parents. Thanks for everything, Emmett.”

He smiled but didn’t answer. I hopped out of the truck and trudged up
towards my house, my mind reeling.
Maybe I should just come clean. Tell Mom
everything. She and Dad accepted that I wasn’t human.
But to lay
everything
on them at once…well, it wasn’t fair, not to my parents, and not to Kayla,
either.

I hesitated outside my house, not sure what I should say or do. Finally,
I decided I would just fabricate one more story, and then be done with all the
lies. I’d say that my dear friend Henry was sick and I went to spend the day
with him.

I unlocked the door and walked into my house. I fully expected my mom to
be sitting on the couch, arms crossed, ready to lay into me about my latest
fuck-up. But there was no one there.

That’s weird.

The lights were off in the room. I flicked them on. “Hello?” I called
out. For the first time in my life, my house felt creepy.

I walked through the living room and into the kitchen. And that’s when I
saw it. When I saw
them.
Mom, Dad and Kayla, each bound to a chair
around the kitchen table, cloth stuffed into all of their mouths. I heard their
squealing through the gags, vaguely registered that it sounded like pigs at a
slaughter, before something connected with my head and everything went black.

When I came to, it took me a minute to realize where I was. First I saw
linoleum. It looked like the kitchen of my house, but that didn’t make sense. I
tried to push myself up to a sitting position, but my arm wouldn’t move. I
tried again. Nothing. And then I felt the scraping of something hard and rough
against my wrists. And my ankles.

I blinked, the room finally coming into focus. I was staring up at the
smiling, smug face of Senara Grai. And what was worse, my arms were bound
behind my back and my legs were tied together.

“About time you woke up,” she sneered.

I managed to pull myself into a sitting position, despite the fact that
my arms were rendered useless. I turned my head slowly, almost afraid at what I
might see. Senara was capable of anything. Relief washed over me as my mom, dad
and Kayla came into view. They were still bound to the kitchen chairs, but they
were
alive
, and given the current situation, that seemed the best I
could have hoped for.

“What do you want?” I tried to sound menacing as I stared at Senara
defiantly.

“You really don’t know?” she sneered. “I want what Tobias wanted, except
I’m a little more
practical
about the situation. I know world domination
takes more than getting supernatural brutes to succumb to mind control. No, I
plan to slowly, carefully, take every soul I encounter until I’m so strong that
no one will ever challenge my power.”

So that was it. Senara intended to take over earth. To rule. The same as
Tobias. But instead of controlling the supernatural creatures, she was going to
steal the souls of the living, innocent people, until she was so powerful that
no one could stop her.

I struggled to break free from the ropes that were binding my arms,
silently cursing my ridiculous power that rarely seemed to activate when I
needed it to.

“Oh, little girl. How sad,” Senara said with a fake pout. “Maybe I can’t
kill you – I heard about your run-in with Tobias; I know he’s dead
– and all I can say is, good riddance. But just because you did me a
favor by killing Tobias, doesn’t mean you’re off the hook so easily.”

“What do you mean?” I spat out. “I’ve done nothing to you. Just let my
family go. You said it. You can’t kill me. There’s nothing more for you here.”

“I warned you to stay away from Lucas and you didn’t,” she said, her eyes
wild with rage. “Maybe I would have spared your family if you’d listened to me,
but you blew it, and now you have to pay the price.”

Senara walked purposefully over to my father. She turned to me, revealing
a small knife in her right hand, and, before I could try to react, she jammed
it into his abdomen, twisting the blade as she did it.

I heard myself screaming. Blood curdling screams, desperate screams. But
Senara ignored me. I briefly looked to Mom and Kayla. Mom had tears rolling out
of her eyes, her face laced with beads of sweat. Kayla was pitched forward as
much as the ropes would allow, her body wracked with sobs.

And now Senara was going in for the kill. She had her hand over Dad’s
chest, just like when I saw her take a soul the other day.

It can’t end this way.
The heat overtook me faster this time. I
broke free of the ropes with ease and tackled Senara with a ferocious growl.

“You’re dead, you fucking bitch,” I heard myself scream, wondering if the
words had really come from my mouth. I started punching her as hard as I could.

“Nice try,” Senara retorted. She reached one hand out to stop me.

I was thrown back against the cabinet with such force that the photo that
was sitting on the counter of my mom, Kayla and me crashed to the floor, along
with a container of flour. And then it hit me.

This is what Emmett saw.
His premonition wasn’t of me fighting
Senara in her apartment. It was of us, in
my
house, with my family’s
possessions broken on the floor.

I lunged forward, tackling Senara just as she was raising her hand to Dad’s
chest, again preparing to take his soul.

“Is this how you want to play? Then fine!” Senara kicked me, square in
the head. I stumbled back into the cabinets again, this time knocking off a set
of knives, sending them spilling onto the floor.

Senara picked one up and held it in front of my face, taunting me.
“Little girl wants to see me use a knife?” she asked. She twirled it in her
hand. I tried to move forward to grab it, but something was wrong. I wasn’t
moving.

My body was paralyzed. From head to toe, I couldn’t move a muscle. Senara
threw her back, laughing. “Just where I want you,” she said smugly. “I know
you’re struggling to move; don’t bother. All of the souls I’ve collected have
given me superhuman strength. I could keep you paralyzed forever, if I wanted
to.” She paused. “And I may not be able to kill you, but I can sure have fun trying.”
And then, Senara dug the knife deep into my chest, where my heart would have
been, if I had one.

I still couldn’t move. The pain was excruciating as it traveled down my
legs and up my arms. I tried to cry out, but even my mouth was paralyzed. And
then I realized the terrifying truth. It didn’t matter if I couldn’t be killed;
I could still be tortured. And my body, as fast as it healed, couldn’t keep up
with the likes of Senara.

Senara turned back to my father.
This is it,
I thought.
I’m
going to watch her take the souls from my family, one by one.
And there
wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop it. I felt the heat of my power coursing
through my body, but it wasn’t helping. I still couldn’t move an inch.

I closed my eyes, too much of a coward to watch Senara take my family’s
souls. And then I heard screaming. At first I still wouldn’t open my eyes, petrified
by what I might see. But the screaming didn’t sound like any of my family. I
opened one eye tentatively, cautiously. And there was Lucas, on top of Senara,
struggling to restrain her.

Lucas must have tackled her and broken whatever hold she had over me. My
body was no longer frozen. Ignoring the searing pain in my stomach, I sprung
into action, immediately by Luca’s side, hitting and punching Senara over and
over.

I heard my father groan from behind us.

“You have to help him!” Lucas said frantically. “If you don’t heal him
now, he’s going to die.”

 I hesitated, scared to leave Lucas to fight Senara on his own. “Go!”
Lucas screamed, and I made my decision. I rushed back to my dad, putting my
hand over the wound that Senara had inflicted. At first nothing happened. I
pressed harder into my dad’s chest, and he winced in pain.

And then, just like with Jet, his wound started to close. Dad’s breathing,
which had been shallow and faint, suddenly got stronger. As soon as I knew he
was healed, I turned my attention back to Senara and Lucas. He still had her
pinned to the ground, but as I watched in horror she pushed him away, sending
Lucas crashing against the wall, as she climbed to her feet.

Senara stood in front of me, a wide smile on her face. “You can’t stop
me,” she said. “I’m too strong.”

Before, my body would get hot. Now it felt like it was boiling. I threw
myself into Senara, sending us both to the ground. I dug my nails deep into her
face, surprised when a hunk of flesh peeled off.

Senara was screaming, swatting at me. And then I knew: I had the upper
hand. I was in control.

Once the realization hit me, I was completely oblivious to everything
else. I pressed my hand against her throat, hoping to choke her. But Senara
reached up and pulled my arm away before I could inflict any real damage.

I looked around frantically for anything that resembled a stake. I
grabbed the picture frame that had fallen and smashed it into the ground,
splintering it into multiple pieces.

The fragment of wood was small, but maybe it would work. I knew how to
kill a vampire, but not a fairy, so all I could do was hope that the vampire
method would do the trick.

I drove it into Senara’s heart – at least where her heart should be
– and shielded my eyes, ready for a repeat of the gruesome bloodbath when
I killed Thomas and Bartholomew. But nothing happened.

She pulled the stake out of her chest and pushed me off of her in one
movement. She was back on her feet before I could react. “I don’t know how to
kill her!” I screamed at Lucas.

“Use your power!” he said.

I knew he was right. None of the objects in the room were going to work.
Which meant I had to get my hands on her. I lunged forward, pushing her against
the cabinets, my hands wrapped around her neck in a vise-like grip. Senara
tried to pull them away, but I was stronger. She kicked her legs out at me,
bashing her foot into my right knee; I kept my balance. The pain from the knife
wound was completely gone now. It had fully healed in a matter of minutes. The
only thing I could feel was the red-hot heat of my power coursing through my
body.

And then I knew how I could kill her. By freeing all of the souls she was
holding prisoner.

Removing my hands from Senara’s neck, I held them over her chest, praying
it would work. At first nothing happened. But then I noticed that Senara had
stopped struggling.
That’s odd.
It took me a minute to realize that she
couldn’t
move. Just like I had been, she was now paralyzed.

The heat seemed to gather into the hand I was holding over her chest,
until it felt like my arm was on fire. But, strangely, it wasn’t painful in the
least. No, it felt right,
empowering
. Senara’s eyes started to roll back
in her head as the boiling heat flowed from my hand into her chest.

And then I saw it. The lights coming out from her chest. Dim at first,
but quickly growing stronger. “It’s all of the souls she’s stolen,” Lucas said.

We stood there, mesmerized, as the souls she had been collecting, the
only thing that gave her any real power, were freed from her body. I don’t know
how long it lasted, but when the light stopped coming out, I finally moved my
hand away from her chest. Senara slumped to the ground.

“Is she still alive?” I asked Lucas.

But we both knew the answer by her pitiful moans. “Stop,” she was saying.
“You’ve taken everything from me. Please, just let me go.”

Senara was so weak that she couldn’t even climb to her feet. “This should
work now,” Lucas said in a low voice. He reached down and handed me the piece
of wood I had tried to stake her with before.

“Don’t you want to do the honors?” I asked him.

“You’re a hunter now, Aurora. I think you deserve to finish the job,” he
replied.

I took the stake from him and bent down over Senara. “Just let me go,”
she begged. “I can’t do anything to you. I’m powerless.”

I laughed. “You think I’d let you go? After you tried to kill my family?
Besides, you’d just return to your old ways.”

Senara was speaking again, but I’d heard enough. I raised my hand up high
over my head and then drove the stake deep into her heart. Surprisingly, no
blood came pouring out. Instead, as soon as the stake connected with her heart,
her body was replaced by a flash of light – her soul – which
immediately dimmed.

I stood up shakily. Lucas was untying my family and I sprang into action,
rushing over to help him. When all the ropes were off, I was pulled in for a
huge group hug. Everyone was talking all at once, crying, asking if what they
just saw really happened.

“It’s a long story,” I said.

We walked into the family room and sat down. Lucas sat next to me and
reached out to take my hand in his.

“I don’t know where to begin,” I said slowly. “That woman I killed
– she was evil. She was going to murder everyone I love.” I couldn’t help
but look at Lucas out of the corner of my eye. 

“How did you do that?” Kayla whispered, her eyes wide.

“Aurora’s special,” Lucas said. “She was the only one who could kill the,
uh, person who was trying to hurt you.”

Even though they had just witnessed me kill Senara, I knew they still
wouldn’t understand everything. And so I told them that the important part was that
they were no longer in danger. My family looked confused, but seemed to accept
our vague explanation for what had just happened. I was sure more questions
would come later, after some of the shock had worn off.

“How did you know Senara was here?” I asked Lucas.

“Emmett called me,” Lucas said. “He got a terrible feeling something was
wrong after he dropped you off.”

“Your father?” my mom asked, looking confused.

Lucas and I exchanged a glance but didn’t answer. Lucas stood up. “I have
to go.” He turned to me. “I need to tell Nic what’s going on – can you
get in touch with the others?”

“Yes,” I said, “but I’m going with you.”

Lucas looked nervously at my parents, who were still sitting down, still
looking dazed and confused.

I turned to them. “I love you all deeply, but I have to go with Lucas.
I’m sorry.”

My mom hesitated.

“I’m not asking your permission,” I said gently.

“She wants to leave, Mom,” Kayla interjected. “Let her.”

I gave my sister a grateful smile. She returned it, stood up and hugged
me.

And with that, I walked out of my family’s home.