Immortals And Melodies (Blood And Guitars #2) (32 page)

Chapter 42

Trey

I DIDN’T KNOW IF Aurora could hear me, but I talked to her anyway. It was the only thing I could think to do that would keep me from losing my mind as I waited impatiently for the next part of Mark’s plan, whatever it was. Eventually, I heard the front door open, and three sets of footsteps coming inside. Mark and Beck were back, and they weren’t alone.

 
“Mark,” I called, getting to my feet. He opened the bedroom door almost immediately. Another vampire stepped up behind Mark, peering into the room over his shoulder. I was speechless when I realized I was looking at Damir
Vidic
. Damir’s eyes glowed in true vampire fashion, unlike the last time we’d met. He looked even more conceited for it somehow. Damir took another step, pushing past Mark to walk into the bedroom. He gazed at Aurora, but I couldn’t read his expression. I glared at Mark, incredulous. “This guy is your plan?” Mark ignored me and watched Damir instead.

“There is no rogue fledgling,” Damir said. “You lied to me.” Anger flashed in his eyes.

“I had to get you here,” Mark said, unflinching.

“I could have you brought before the Elders for this,” Damir added, but the anger in his gaze was already dissipating as he stared at Aurora. “Who did this to her?” he asked after a moment.

I hesitated. It went against everything in me to share anything with Damir, but Mark nodded for me to respond. “Her name is Malena,” I stated. “Maybe you’ve heard of her. She is obsessed with you, after all.” I wasn’t sure what Mark’s motivation was for bringing the head of the Emissary here, but I had to trust that he had a plan and that it was a good one.

The series of beeps sounded from the monitor again, and Mark stepped forward in response. He touched Aurora’s forehead again, and after a moment, the monitor’s alarm quieted. The relief I felt was short-lived, however, knowing that everything Mark could do was only a temporary solution for her.

“Whatever your plan is, we have to hurry. We’re losing her,” I said, feeling the icy truth grip my heart like an iron fist.

Damir cursed under his breath, and although he looked at me, I knew his words were meant for Mark when he spoke. “I can’t guarantee that he’ll help you, but I’ll make a phone call.” Mark nodded, and Damir pulled his phone from his pocket and left the room.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“I’ll explain on the way,” Mark said. “We have to get Aurora in the car. Now.” I did as he said, gently lifting Aurora, along with a blanket, into my arms and following him out of the room. Damir
Vidic
was nowhere to be seen, but I heard the sound of a car speeding away. “We’ll take my car,” Mark said. “There are supplies in back.” I nodded. “I’ll call you,” Mark said to Hana. “Get somewhere safe. This storm is getting worse.”

“Good luck,” she said, holding the front door open for us. The storm had gone from bad to worse. The palm trees were no longer swaying, but leaning, their fronds reaching out like fingers in a desperate attempt to survive the gusts of wind coming off the ocean. The waves were tall and colorless, crashing to the shore like slaves of the storm, forced to do the bidding of Mother Nature. The sky had turned a roiling shade of grey that seemed to dare us to come out in the elements.

Beck opened the doors, and I slid into the backseat of Mark’s car, cradling Aurora on my lap. Mark and Beck transferred some more medical supplies from the house to the trunk. When they were done, Beck got behind the wheel and started the engine, flipping on the headlights. Mark climbed in the passenger side, and Beck put the car in reverse, backing out of the parking spot. I forced myself to wait until we’d been on the road for a few minutes before I started with the questions.

“Where are we taking her?”

“
Vidic
Vineyards,” Mark stated.

That definitely wasn’t the answer I’d expected. “Is there a special bottle of blood-laced wine that can heal her?” I asked doubtfully.

“No. There is an Elder of the Synod.
Stanislav
Vidic
is the most powerful vampire around.”

That explained why Mark had called Damir. Aurora mentioned once that one of the Elders was Damir’s great-great-grandfather or something like that. “You think he’ll help us?”

Mark’s jaw clenched. “I don’t know, but he’s our only chance.” I held Aurora to me gently, resting her head against my chest and running my fingers over her long, black hair. “It’s risky, you know,” Mark added after a moment. “Even if he’s willing to help.”

“What do you mean risky?” I asked. “If we do nothing she’s going to die. Where’s the risk in going for help?” I thought he’d realize by now that I would do anything that meant the difference between Aurora’s survival and having to bury her. Beck met my eyes through the rearview mirror for an instant before he turned on the windshield wipers to clear the glass of the big, fat drops of rain that had begun to fall.

“Don’t take the causeway,” Mark said to Beck. “The storm will make that a joke.” Then he turned on the radio and scanned the stations until he reached one he wanted. A woman’s voice came through the car speakers, announcing that the storm we were experiencing had just been upgraded to a level two storm.

“That’s all we need,” he said, exasperated. He turned the radio off again and directed Beck to turn at the next intersection. Within five minutes, the rain had morphed into a torrential downpour. It sounded like metal bb’s pinging off the roof of the car. I wasn’t sure if my super sensitive vampire hearing was exaggerating it or what, but it was torture to listen to. “How’s she doing?” Mark called out to me over his shoulder. “I can’t make out her heartbeat over the sound of this storm.”

“She’s still with us,” I called back. I couldn’t hear any better than he could, but I was keeping my fingers on the side of her neck where I could still feel a pulse, even if it was a weak one. I tried again to glimpse a thought from Aurora, but the fog I met there was unyielding and all-encompassing and did little to calm my fears.

“Take a right here,” Mark said to Beck, gesturing with his hand to the next intersection. Beck did as he was told and turned, but it became clear once we’d pulled through the intersection that we’d hit a dead end. A traffic jam had blocked the entire intersection in front of us.

“It’s the middle of the night,” Beck said. “What are all these people doing out?”

“I don’t know,” Mark said, rubbing his face anxiously. “It’s the storm. People lose their minds. Some of them are probably trying to get out of town. We’ll have to find another way.”

Beck nodded resolutely and made a U-turn. I stared out the back window at the sheets of water that were coming down all around us as Mark instructed Beck to another route. Every car that passed us on the road pitched another wall of water onto the car, disrupting the visibility through the windshield until the wipers could catch up. Knowing Beck was a vampire and had the reflexes to go with it, gave me some comfort as we navigated through town in a storm that seemed determined to keep us here. Fifteen minutes later, I felt Aurora’s pulse grow weaker under my fingers. I moved my hand to her chest where I could feel her heartbeat. It had become erratic and slow, skipping beats again like it had done at the beach house.

“Mark,” I said. “She’s not doing so good back here. Her heart is-” But I didn’t have to finish my statement before Mark was leaning over the seat. He put a hand over her heart and closed his eyes. Even the storm couldn’t distract from the hum of power I felt as Mark sent another healing burst into Aurora’s limp body. I felt her neck again, relieved to find that her pulse had leveled out again. It was clear that using so much of his moon-given ability in one night was taking a major toll on Mark. I regretted that we hadn’t grabbed some of the blood stash from the fridge in our rush to get out the door. He looked like he could use another drink already.

We encountered two more dead ends, one another traffic jam and the other a flooded intersection. We were on our way to the last feasible way of reaching the highway without having to backtrack and loose valuable time. I stared at Aurora’s face, willing her to hear my thoughts of encouragement and determination. Just then, Beck took another turn and hit the brakes on the car, sending us skidding to a stop on the wet road. I didn’t have to ask why we’d stopped. A giant oak tree had fallen on the road, completely blocking it off. The tree had to be at least fifty feet long and was bigger around than two grown men could wrap their arms around.

“Now what?” Beck asked. “Should I turn around?”

Chapter 43

Trey

BEFORE WE COULD WORK out the details of how that was going to happen, two more vehicles pulled around the corner behind us and stopped nearby.

“First things first,” Mark said. “We have to get rid of the witnesses. We can’t have people running around talking about how some guys moved an oak tree when the storm dies down.”

“I can convince them to turn around. There’s no reason for them to stay with the road blocked.”

“Let’s just hope they aren’t planning on siting out the storm right here,” Mark said. The rain showed no sign of stopping. I couldn’t imagine just sitting here through it. Hopefully the humans behind us had a plan B. Mark looked at me over the seat. “You stay put,” he said. “Keep an eye on Aurora. Moving this tree out of the way won’t matter, if she dies while we’re doing it.”

I nodded and watched as Mark and Beck opened the car doors and went out into the storm. Beck went behind me, headed toward our visitors. I just hoped he was fast at convincing them to turn around and go another direction. Mark went to the tree. Even with my incredible new vision, I could barely make out more than a blurry shape of him through the rain-battered windshield. He seemed to be trying to figure out the best way to move the tree, or maybe the best place to put it to get it out of the way. It took a few minutes, but Beck eventually jogged past the car again on his way to meet up with Mark. I turned my head enough to watch the other vehicles out the back window. Their blurry headlights were the most distinguishable parts in the rain. They seemed to hesitate, probably having the same problem we were about reaching the highway, but in the end they realized the tree in the road would win out and turned to go.

Once the coast was clear, Mark and Beck joined forces at the top of the tree. I couldn’t see how they grabbed hold of it, but the tree rose in the air far enough that I could distinguish space below it. That was when Aurora’s pulse went wacky again. I almost froze, torn between my desire to let Mark move the tree now and the knowledge that her heart could be giving out this very second. I felt her chest again to determine if that was really the case and found her heart throbbing feebly, without a distinguishable rhythm. I couldn’t reach the steering wheel of the car to honk the horn, at least, not without moving Aurora, which seemed like a really bad idea just then. I used every ounce of mental gusto I could muster and threw a cry for help to Mark’s mind, praying that he’d hear me.

I hadn’t much practice at projecting, but the empty space below the tree vanished again and Mark sped back to the car. He threw open the back door on the passenger side and stuck his head in.

“It’s happening again,” I said, unable to disguise the panic in my voice. Mark reacted quickly, giving Aurora another moon-given burst of healing. I thought I could see the color drain from his face with the surge of power this time, which seemed to be greater than the time before. He was getting desperate, and I didn’t know how many healing bursts he was capable of dishing out before he’d start needing them himself.

He checked her pulse and then nodded at me, slamming the door shut as he ran back off in the direction of the tree. This time he and Beck managed to move the tree far enough for a car to sneak past the one end. They were both completely drenched when they climbed back inside car, and Beck threw it into gear. Water sprayed out from the sides of the car as Beck hit the gas and sped around through the opening at the top of the tree. Ten minutes later, we finally reached the freeway, and it seemed we might actually stand a chance. The rain continued to pound down on the car as we travelled inland. After about an hour, it was obvious we’d gotten out of the worst of it. The rain gave up on being solid sheets of water and settled for big, fat rain drops again.