Hunted (26 page)

“You just will,” Kyle stated.  “No one can know about Frederik.  It’s safer that way.”

“But—“

“I’ll be out there looking for him, Lanie.  That’s all that can be done,” Kyle told her seriously.  “He’s a vicious killer.  He has no soul, no thought for another person.  He’s as close to the devil as a thing can be.  All you can hope for is that I finally nail him or that he decides to move on quickly.”

That seemed like a very shallow hope. 

“I have to go,” Kyle suddenly said to her. 

Lanie didn’t want him to go so soon.  “Do you have to go now?”

“Yes.  I can’t stop looking for him,” Kyle said, sounding as if he wished he could. 

“I’ll see you again, right?” she asked, hating her little girl voice.

Kyle’s sparkling green eyes went soft.  “You will.  I promise.”

Kyle started to turn to go, but a thought struck Lanie.  “Wait.  You left your coat.”

“I’ll come back for it.  There are too many people in there,” Kyle told her.

“Go to the front door.  I’ll give it to you,” she said, spinning and going back into the house.

Gretchen looked up from the sink and Lanie held a finger up to her, letting her know to hold on a minute.  She hurried into the entryway, making sure no one was coming out of the living room and then pulled Kyle’s coat out of the closet and slipped out the front door.

Kyle was standing by the porch railing.  “Here you go,” she said, handing it to him.

Kyle took it and slipped it on, effectively covering his crossbow and the pouch of stakes strapped to his body.  “I’ll be close by,” he told her again, suddenly reaching out and taking hold of her hand.  He held it in his for a minute and then let go, turned away from her and then was off the porch and hitting the front walk at a dead run, his long coat flaring out behind him.  And then he was…gone.

Lanie stared after him, her heart thudding slightly harder than it should have been.  Partly because she’d seen something in Kyle Vincent’s eyes that she’d never seen directed at her before.  And partly because the hand that had held hers for those few seconds felt as cold as ice.  There hadn’t been a measure of warmth in the flesh touching hers.  It had been like touching…a corpse.  She remembered that cold, lifeless feeling.  She’d touched her mother at the funeral.

With that thought pushing her along, Lanie turned and hurried back into the house.

Back in the kitchen, she found Gretchen rinsing dishes and Lanie fell into helping the woman.  There was an odd, almost heavy silence that stretched on between them, the only sound to be heard was the running water and clinking dishes and the low murmur of voices from out in the living room. 

Lanie, feeling awkward and stiff and all tensed up inside, was barely breathing as she waited for her aunt to speak, which seemed to be taking forever!

“I’m letting Kyle stay at my house,” Gretchen finally spoke up, the sound of her voice surprising Lanie so that she flinched.

“What?  Why?” Lanie asked, stunned by her aunt’s admission.

“Because he’s sleeping in his car and I have an extra room.  And because the only place that Sheriff Bancroft won’t look for him is at my house,” Gretchen stated, shooting Lanie a quick glance.

Another silence dropped onto the room and again Lanie felt her insides tense up.  She didn’t like this sort of uncomfortable tension between herself and Gretchen.  It made her feel as if she’d done something so horribly wrong that her aunt just couldn’t bring herself to speak of it. 

Lanie cleared her throat, unable to withstand the tension any longer.  “Do you think I should tell my dad?” she wondered quietly, keeping her gaze on the dishes she was loading into the dishwasher.

“I don’t, Lanie.  Not unless it comes to a point where there’s absolutely no choice,” answered Gretchen.

“What made you decide that?” Lanie asked.

“Kyle explained things to me and I honestly don’t believe there’s anything Sam can do about this,” Gretchen stated, also keeping her focus on the dishes she was rinsing.

“But, more people are probably going to die,” Lanie pointed out, her throat closing up as a little wave of helplessness washed over her.

She’d half expected Gretchen to insist on telling her dad and take that responsibility off of her shoulders.

Gretchen shrugged.  “You’ve already lost your mom, squirt.  I don’t want you to lose your dad, too.  And in this case, it can actually be helped.  Not telling him what’s happening will keep him safe.”

“But, people—“

“You shouldn’t worry about the people in this town, Lanie, because I guarantee they aren’t worried about you or your father,” Gretchen stated rather vehemently.  “They’d feed him to lions if it meant keeping themselves and their precious town safe.”

Lanie knew that statement was true, but did that make it right to return that same sort of thinking?

“I want you to watch out for yourself, Lanie,” Gretchen said seriously, finally bringing her gaze up to her niece.  The look in her large blue eyes sent a ripple of shock tearing outward from Lanie’s stomach.  Gretchen was…afraid.  “Listen to what Kyle tells you.  I-I want you to…just listen to him.”

Lanie nodded, unable to come to terms with the fear in her aunt’s eyes.  This woman had assaulted a man armed with a crossbow without even batting an eyelash.  And now she was afraid? 

“I-I wish I could just keep you locked in the house until whatever the hell is going on around here is over, but I know that’s impossible,” Gretchen said to her, trying to smile and failing.

Lanie didn’t want to stay locked in the house.  She had a life.  She knew what was lurking out there, but was she willing to give up her life and cower in the house until it went away?  Was it even fair that she be allowed to hide behind what she’d been told was the safety of her walls while everyone else in Fells Pointe was walking around unaware?

“Kyle says this…this Frederik will eventually move onto some other place.  Maybe it’ll be soon, especially since everyone in town is going to be hiding their children away for a while,” Gretchen said. 

Lanie felt hope sprout within her.  Gretchen was right.  Everyone in town thought there was a serial killer on the loose.  They would be making sure their kids were safe at home.  People would be on the lookout for anything unusual, thinking maybe their own friends or neighbors might be responsible for the murders.  If everyone was locked inside their houses, if the monster roaming Fells Pointe couldn’t get his hands on anyone…he would have to leave.

“Kyle said he told you everything you wanted to know,” Lanie stated.  “What did he tell you?”

“He told me all about his life,” Gretchen said quietly.  “It’s not pretty, Lanie.  And I’m not sure I should tell you.”

“Why not?” Lanie wondered, bewildered. 

“Because,” Gretchen answered.

“Because why?” Lanie persisted. 

It didn’t sit well with her that Gretchen knew all about Kyle Vincent and she knew absolutely nothing.  Not that she had a right to know anything at all about him, but still, it didn’t seem quite right somehow.  It…bothered her.

Gretchen let out a sigh.  “Because there’s clearly…something between the two of you.”

Lanie flinched and then gasped and then flinched again.  “No there’s not!  There’s nothing!  I-I’ve barely even talked to him!” 

She was completely thrown off by that allegation!  Had Gretchen lost her mind! 

“Like that matters!” Gretchen scoffed at her.  “I have eyes, Lanie.  There’s something between you.  And if I tell you about that boy, you’re going to find him even more fascinating and I…I don’t want to encourage you.”

Lanie’s mouth fell open and she found herself at a loss for words.  She had no idea what her aunt was getting at!

“Lanie, he’s not…completely human.  Do you think I want my sister’s only daughter, my only niece, getting involved with someone who’s…half…” Gretchen didn’t seem to want to say it.

“Vampire?” Lanie finished for her.

“Right,” Gretchen said on a sharp breath.  “I don’t want you involved in…all that.”

“I am not going to get involved with him,” Lanie denied, wondering where on earth Gretchen was coming up with this.  “He-he’ll be leaving town when…Frederik goes, won’t he?”

“Maybe that’s what I’m worried about,” Gretchen said soberly.

Lanie could not follow her aunt’s logic.  Why in the name of Pete would she run off with a complete stranger, who just happened to be half vampire, so they could go off chasing after another vampire?  Not to mention the fact that Kyle lived in his car and couldn’t even buy food!  She did not want that for herself! 

Clearly, her aunt had been joining Johnna in watching some of those awful teen movies!

“I will not run off with Kyle Vincent.  I promise,” she avowed.

“I know you believe that, kiddo.  Right now,” said Gretchen.

Oh for the love of gravy!  “Aunt Gretchen, just tell me.  I’m not going to run off with him!”

Gretchen let out a sigh.  “Fine!  But, if you do, I’m going to be pissed, Lanie.  And you can bet that I will hunt you down and drag you back here kicking and screaming!” the woman warned.

“I know you will,” she told her aunt, meaning it. 

“Just remember that, girlie!” Gretchen said to her.  “I’m telling you this under protest and
only
because Kyle Vincent will probably tell you himself at some point and I want to make sure you understand that it’s not as romantic as it sounds.” 

Lanie really doubted she would find anything involving the monster she’d seen in the woods
romantic
!  Terrifying, appalling, ghastly, perhaps, but definitely not
romantic
!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Lanie sat in the overstuffed chair, staring out into the darkness and listening to the silence of the house all around her.  She’d given up trying to sleep long ago, unlike Johnna and Devyn, who were both sleeping soundly, and had been sitting at her window ever since, her mind going over and over the things her aunt had told her about Kyle Vincent.

She couldn’t get those things out of her head and she found herself wanting to see Kyle.  She just wanted to tell him…that she was sorry.  She knew what it was to lose someone.  True, she’d never lost a loved one to a bloodthirsty creature of the night, but she did know the pain of loss.  She wanted to let Kyle Vincent know that about her.  She wanted him to know that she understood why he was doing what he was doing.  If she could have placed the blame for losing her mother on a specific person, she would have gone after them, too.

So, she sat in her chair by the window, waiting.  But, she hadn’t seen a sign of Kyle.  Nor anything else.  The world was still, not so much as a shadow was moving along the street outside.  Maybe Kyle was at Gretchen’s house, sleeping.  A part of her hoped so.  He looked so weary and worn.  But, a part of her wanted to see him, to tell him what was on her mind.  She thought that might help him somehow.

A flash of movement from below the window suddenly caught Lanie’s attention and her body stiffened, her heart leaping up into her throat as she turned her full attention to the shadowy world outside.  The glimmer of motion had come from somewhere off to the left of the yard and as she looked in that direction, she saw it again.  It was just a quick flash, perhaps the sway of a shadow or the flicker of something blown on the wind.  Only, something inside Lanie knew it wasn’t the movement of a shadow she was seeing.  Someone was out there, in the night.  Approaching her house.  And she wanted to see that someone, to tell him that she was sorry and that she understood.

Getting to her feet, she tightened the belt of her robe and slipped out of the room and down the stairway, being extra quiet because her dad had been asleep for several hours and any noise might wake him up.  With him roaming about the house, like he usually did, there would be no middle of the night conversation with a very handsome young man who’d saved her from a vampire.

Hitting the bottom of the stairs, Lanie hurried across the entryway and over to the front door, sliding the deadbolt back and pulling the door open, only to find the front porch empty.  A little stab of disappointment hit her.  She’d been sure she’d seen something moving outside.  She’d been sure it was Kyle.