Shifters Rule (Rule Series) (6 page)

“Not if I get to him first!”

“I wish you meant that.”

Part of him did.
 
At the moment, trying to breathe using lungs filled with blood, he meant every word of it.
 
Picturing Billy lying in this position, groaning, made Jack feel a little better.
 
Thinking about burying Billy in
his
grave and refusing to change the name on the tombstone almost made him chuckle.

Billy certainly wouldn’t rest in peace then.

After several humiliating screams, the job was done.
 
His limbs were straight and they were healing.
 
His lungs were clear of fluid.
 
He could finely take an easy breath.
 
It didn’t take long for him to heal after that.
 
In surprisingly few minutes he was able to sit up.
 
Soon he would be able to stand.
 
He looked at his uncle, ready to thank him for his assistance, but the words stuck in his throat.

Ian’s expression was guarded, dark.
 
There was a murderous glint in his eyes.
 
To him, Jack was a monster, no better than Billy or
Jersey
.
 
It didn’t matter to Ian if Jack was mortal.
 
It would only make him easier to kill.
 
Without another word Ian went back inside.
 
He didn’t even stick around to make sure Jack totally healed.

.

*****

Chapter Four:

LOST

.

.

It was an obscene day for a funeral.

Bright sunlight rested on the casket.
 
A hesitant breeze wafted over the mourners, bringing the scent of flowers and freshly cut grass to their nostrils.
 
Jack shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable to the point of screaming.
 
He wanted to tug on the strangling tie around his neck, but it didn’t seem right for him to worry about his own misery when such a good person was dead.
 
Nothing about today seemed right.

Silver’s fingers jerked in his hand when the casket was lowered into the ground.
 
He turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse of her tear-stained face.
 
A steady stream rolled down her cheeks.
 
Her bottom lip quivered.
 
There was nothing he could say.
 
Although he’d lost his father, he hadn’t been forced to attend the funeral, so he couldn’t say he knew exactly what she was going through.

It was partly his fault Andrew Reign was dead.

Two weeks ago Billy threw Jack out his bedroom window.
 
Since then he had been living in a tension-filled house.
 
Uncle
Ian didn’t want to protect him anymore.
 
Jack suspected Ian secretly hoped something would kill Jack, saving him the trouble of doing it himself at a later time.
 
Jack walked on a thin tightrope around the man.
 
Every once in a while Jack would turn and catch Ian scowling at him, murderous intent in his eyes.

Jack slept with his bedroom door locked.

Instead of avoiding each other, the two of them should have been working together.
 
Too many werewolves were running loose now, most of them in huge packs.
 
Andrew got in over his head.
 
Not his fault.
 
Before Vanessa could get to him, save him, he was torn to pieces.

Silver didn’t have a father anymore.

At least she hadn’t been there to witness the horrific death.
 
If Jack lived to be a thousand, he’d never get the image of his father’s mangled body out of his head, not to mention his mother’s.
 
Seeing your parents die stuck with you for a lifetime, or several lifetimes if you happened to be a vampire.

The funeral came to a close.

Vanessa took three steps forward; dark sunglasses veiled her bloodshot eyes.
 
She dropped a single white rose into the open grave.
 
Whispered words meant as a private goodbye between husband and wife reached Jack’s super-sensitive ears.
 
He cringed.
 
The words stayed with him, refusing to budge.
 
He expected they would always be there somewhere in the back of his mind, haunting him.

How
could you leave me like this
?

Would Silver repeat those words over his casket someday?

The crowd slowly dispersed.
 
Sobs of grief faded as people walked away from the gravesite.
 
Jack didn’t budge.
 
He stayed by Silver’s side, waiting on her.
 
She didn’t give any indication that she noticed people were leaving.
 
Statue still, she didn’t move a muscle.
 
Her mother wandered off with a few visiting relatives, oblivious to the fact her daughter wasn’t with her.

“Do you want to be alone for a few minutes?” Jack asked in a soft voice.
 
When Silver didn’t immediately answer, he tried again.
 
“Do you want me to go?”

Her voice trembled like ripples in a pond.
 
“I d-don’t ever w-want you to go.”

“Then I won’t.”
 
He squeezed her hand tight for reassurance.
 
“I’m right here.
 
Not going anywhere.”

“What d-do I do now?”

“Uh… I think we’re supposed to go back to your house.”
 
He tugged at his collar again.
 
“People are bringing over food.
 
I don’t know why they do that.
 
Why bring food to people who have no appetite?”

“No.
 
I mean, what do I do without a father?
 
Who do I turn to when I’m in trouble?
 
Who will protect me and guide me and… l-love me?”

Jack wanted to volunteer, but he knew she didn’t want or expect an answer to her question.
 
Black, suffocating grief took up residence in her heart.
 
There wasn’t room for any positive emotions.
 
He just wished there was something he could do or say to make the pain lessen.

Her liquid eyes gazed up at him.
 
“Will you come to the house with me?
 
Will you stay with me for as long as I want?
 
Even if it means all night?”

He nodded.
 
She turned and walked to the car, slow steps.
 
Vanessa waited for them next to the limo.
 
Jack considered the ring in his pocket.
 
He carried it with him everywhere he went, hoping the right moment would present itself.
 
It was beginning to look like the right moment only existed in fantasies.

A shadow lurked in the corner of his mind, content to throw doubts at him like sharp darts.
 
Something bad was going to happen to them before he could give her the ring.
 
He wasn’t a fortune-teller by nature, but he knew he was right on this one.
 
An old phrase went through him, icy cold like a shiver.
 

Something wicked this way comes
.

.

*****

.

Hours slipped by.
 
A blur of sympathetic faces passed through the Reign home.
 
Jack sat next to Silver on the sofa while well-meaning people leaned down to kiss her cheek and give her a quick hug.
 
Whispered platitudes fell on deaf ears.
 
Silver’s mouth remained tight, her eyes vacant.
 
She didn’t say a word to anyone, not even to Jack.
 

Her mother played the gracious hostess, greeting visitors with a quiet strength worthy of admiration.
 
And by her side the whole day: Uncle Ian.
 
He helped her find a place for the food and directed people to the spare bedroom where they could toss their coats on the bed.
 
He stood close to Vanessa, his eyes constantly on her as if he feared she might break at any second.

Somehow she managed to hold it together.

As the last guest left, Silver stood on wobbly legs.
 
She motioned for Jack to follow her to the front porch.
 
Once they were outside, she collapsed on the porch swing.
 
It creaked as she mindlessly rocked while sobbing.
 
Jack didn’t know what to do for her.
 
He hovered, frozen like a useless block of ice.
 
Her eyes flooded with tears.
 
She looked up and said, “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

“I know.”
 
He felt the same way about Billy.

“Could you talk to me for a while?
 
I need to hear the sound of your voice.”

“What do you want me to talk about?”

“I don’t know.”
 
She shrugged careless shoulders.
 
“Tell me what it was like when you were in school the first time around.
 
I can’t believe I never asked you that before.
 
I never even thought about it, how strange it must have been to return to Jefferson Memorial after so many years.”

He plopped down next to her on the swing.
 
“I guess.”

“Did you have a girlfriend?”
 
A slight smile tilted her lips, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
 
Instead, they were filled with a quiet desperation, begging him to talk to her until she could make sense of the world again.
 
She added, “Was there someone special, or did you have a million girls trying to get your attention?”

“There was a girl when I was a sophomore.
 
We dated for about six months.
 
It didn’t work out.
 
After that I dated a new girl every week.
 
I didn’t want to get dumped again.”

Silver’s eyes widened.
 
“She dumped you?
 
What was her name?”

“Mary Sue
Treckner
.”

“What!”
 
Silver almost jumped off the swing in her excitement.
 
The elusive spark of life she’d been missing returned to her eyes.
 
“You dated Mary Sue?
 
You dated Miss
Nebraska
?
 
Why didn’t you tell me?”

“She wasn’t Miss
Nebraska
when I dated her.
 
I think she was something like Miss Dairy Cow at the time.
 
I don’t know.
 
I really don’t remember.”

“I know her!
 
I mean, I used to know her before she moved away.
 
She was my babysitter.
 
Wow.
 
You must have been in high school when I was in the first grade.”

Now he felt incredibly old and weird.
 
He shifted in his seat and tugged on his collar.
 
It was quickly becoming a habit.
 
“Do we have to talk about this?”

Her expression changed in an instant, crumbling.
 
He could see her thoughts darken, returning to the fact her father wasn’t coming home.
 
“No,” she mumbled.
 
“I can’t believe I forgot my dad was dead for a second.”

She should be able to forget for a minute or two, maybe even laugh once in a while.
 
He reluctantly went into a long explanation on what transpired between him and the pretty little Mary Sue.
 
It was embarrassing but not painful.
 
Not anymore.

“Mary Sue wanted to be famous even back then.
 
That’s why she split up with me.
 
She was afraid we were getting too serious.
 
I remember her pulling me to the side in the hallway at school and blurting the words out.
 
Before I could decipher what she meant, she was running off to class.
 
It didn’t sink in until I was sitting in Algebra, working on this really long math problem.
 
It hit me like a freight train.
 
Mary Sue had dumped me.
 
She didn’t want to be with me, and here I’d been secretly thinking she was going to be my girl forever.”

“Did she break your heart?”

“Yes.”
 
He smiled and shrugged at the same time.
 
“I got over it.
 
I found something a lot better than Miss
Nebraska
.”
 
He brushed honey blond hair from her face with a tender touch.
 
Even now Silver’s eyes sparkled with vital energy.
 
He added, “Dumping me was the smartest thing Mary Sue ever did.”

“I think so, too.”
 
Silver’s smile turned genuine for a brief moment before collapsing.

Wanting to keep her from dissolving into a tearful mess, he launched into another story.
 
“I saw her again, you know.
 
Mary Sue.
 
It was when I was a vampire.
 
We were at the same party in
Texas
one night.”
 
He chuckled.
 
“Can you believe it?
 
Sometimes this world is just way too small.
 
She was working for a local television station.
 
Our eyes met across a crowded room like in a morbid fairy tale.”

“Did you talk to her?”

“Of course not.”
 
He sighed and leaned back against the swing.
 
Memories pulled him to the past.
 
The expression on Mary Sue’s face returned.
 
His voice grew softer.
 
“You have to remember Mary Sue thought I was dead.
 
I had been killed in the infamous Creed massacre.
 
I recognized her almost right off.
 
It took her a few seconds to place me because she was buzzed on her way to getting full-on drunk.
 
Then this look of horror came to her face.
 
Her mouth opened in slow motion, and she screamed like a banshee.

“Lucky for me someone passed between us at that precise moment.
 
I used my vampire-speed to get out of there before she could take a closer look.
 
Everyone around me was too drunk to notice.
 
I stood outside a window and watched her.
 
Some of her friends started asking what was wrong.
 
She laughed and told them she thought she’d seen the ghost of an ex-boyfriend.”

He left out the part about wanting to die... for real this time.
 
Pain had nearly ripped through his soul.
 
He’d returned to the shack he and his friends were staying in, a load of regret and remorse riding piggyback.
 
Seeing Mary Sue made him miss his family more than ever.

Jack waited for Silver’s reaction to his story.
 
He rested his arm on the back of the swing, fingers close to her hair.
 
The urge to touch the silky strands was almost palpable.
 
Now that he knew what love truly felt like he had trouble believing he’d ever grieved over losing Mary Sue.