Vampires Rule (22 page)

The sight of her stuff flying out the window
spurred her into action. She grabbed her hamster cage first. Her
eyes continued to pick out things in the room, things she didn’t
want to lose. It was like she was silently saying goodbye to her
life. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

Jack threw more clothes out the window. With
a burst of speed, he flew around the room, dumping her drawers
outside in less than a half-a-second, clearing off her dresser and
desk, and gathering various items from various places.

Silver’s voice returned. “You have your
powers.”

He yanked a sheet from her bed. Tying one end
around her waist, he pushed her to the window. “I’ll lower you
down.”

Her jaw dropped. “Can’t we just use the
door?”

“No time. Do you trust me?”

Her head slowly moved up and down. He
reassured her with a smile before pushing her out the window. She
was light as a kitten to him. He lowered her easily. In seconds her
feet touched the ground, and she waved up at him. He returned to
her room, clearing out her belongings in a flash. The thought of
Silver losing a single possession was not acceptable.

Jack used his vampire speed to get to the
back door, and Silver met him on the side of the house. She grabbed
onto his arms with both hands. Worry drew her brows together.
“Where are my parents?”

Good question. Jack had warned them about the
fire before going to her bedroom. They should have been outside
already. Then he remembered her father talking about saving the
diary and her mother refusing to leave him. Jack sighed. “Stay
here. I’ll be right back.”

Silver tried to stop him, but he was gone
before a single syllable left her lips. In a flash he was on the
second floor. He found Andrew on his knees in the study, trying
desperately to open a hidden safe in the floor, and Vanessa in a
heap near the door. Her face turned beet red as she struggled to
breathe. A round of unceasing coughing began. Her body went into
uncontrollable spasms.

“Take her,” Andrew shouted. “I’ll be right
behind you.”

Jack lifted the woman and tossed her over his
left shoulder. In the blink of an eye, they were outside. Vanessa’s
surprised gasp reached his ears. He set her on her feet next to her
daughter. She started to cough again.

“Mom, are you okay?” Silver wound her arms
around Vanessa’s waist.

Vanessa coughed into her hand several times
while nodding.

“Where’s daddy?” Silver asked.

Jack’s eyes went to the back door. The man
had told him he would be right behind him, but there was no sign of
Andrew Reign anywhere. The fire had reached parts of the roof. It
wouldn’t hold for much longer. Jack raced into the burning house a
third and final time. Andrew had collapsed on the stairs. Jack
grabbed the man’s hand and pulled him to his feet. He wasn’t going
to try to carry Silver’s father. He had a feeling Andrew would
rather burn to death than be tossed over Jack’s shoulder like a
sack of dry cement.

It was hard for Jack to walk; he gritted his
teeth against the urge to run. It took a lot longer to get outside
this time, but once they did the women met them practically at the
door. Vanessa took her husband. He leaned on her as they made their
way to the street. Jack and Silver followed.

A fire engine and ambulance arrived when they
were halfway across the lawn. Paramedics gave the parents a dose of
oxygen. Both of them refused to go to the hospital. They were
worried about Silver, but she told them Jack had gotten her out
safely before she’d inhaled any smoke.

Andrew looked upon him with a sense of
overwhelming gratitude. He walked over to Jack and put an arm
around his shoulders. Carefully, he steered Jack away from the
others. “You saved our lives tonight.” His voice sounded raw,
strangled by smoke. “I was wrong about you and when I’m wrong, I
admit I’m wrong.” He shook Jack’s hand. “However, I will still kill
you if you touch my daughter in any way I deem inappropriate.
Understood?”

Jack nodded. He restrained the smile itching
to stretch his lips. Silver’s father had practically given them his
blessing. He hadn’t totally put the mental shotgun away yet, but
he’d set it aside. Good enough for now.

Andrew held a book in front of Jack’s face,
showing it to him. It was small, bound in dark brown leather with a
name engraved in gold. “This is Lovely’s diary. I wouldn’t have it
if it wasn’t for you.” He pushed it at Jack. “Take it. Read it. You
deserve to have the answers you want.”

Jack wiped his hands on his jeans before
accepting the book. There was something sacred about it. The
leather felt rough beneath his fingers. He held it tight and stared
down at it with awe, his newfound treasure. Within these pages was
the story of the girl he loved.

And he did love her, although he wasn’t ready
to admit it just yet. He had to be sure of her feelings first and
at least close to sure they were meant to be together. No need to
rush things.

Jack couldn’t wait to read every single word
in the diary. He wanted to read everything Lovely had to say about
Silver along with everything she’d written about him. The fire
raged behind them, lighting up Andrew’s dirty face. Silver and
Vanessa huddled together, tears in their eyes as they watched their
home burn.

Jack’s joy turned to sadness. He wished there
was something he could do for them. Maybe he should have tried to
put the fire out instead of running up the stairs to warn the
occupants. It was possible he could have saved Silver’s home.

Jack looked for Cowboy, but his former friend
was long gone.

****

“You invited people to move in with us
without asking me?” Billy stood in the doorway of Jack’s bedroom,
arms folded.

Jack was on the bed, legs crossed at the
ankles. He rested the open diary on his chest and looked up at his
annoyed brother. “I didn’t think you’d mind. You like the Reigns.
Besides, didn’t they let you live with them for a few years?”

“That isn’t the point. You still should have
asked me.” Billy walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. He
picked up the diary but didn’t handle it with the same care Jack
did. Instead of awe, Billy’s expression held faint disdain. “So
this is it. Vanessa told me about the fire, and Andrew mentioned he
gave you the diary. Blew my mind. Anything interesting in it?”

“Loads.” Jack’s hands itched to grab the
diary. He couldn’t stand the sight of Billy holding it. Giving into
the illogical urge to grab it, he took the book back. Once he had
it safely between his hands, he relaxed. “I haven’t gotten very
far. Lovely just wrote about how she came to this world and how she
fell in love with two guys at once. There hasn’t been any talk of
Silver yet.”

“Well, keep reading. You’ll find
something.”

“I wish she would talk about the lead
werewolf, give me his name.”

“Life is never that easy. Anyway, Vanessa
told me about the English teacher. Why didn’t you tell me about
him? According to Silver, you are fighting tooth and nail to clear
the guy. He’s a werewolf, for pete’s sake, and you were a vampire.
Don’t you have to hate him? Isn’t there an unwritten law or
something?”

Jack’s eyes went to the book. The pages were
calling to him, and he desperately wanted answers. He wanted to
soak the words into his brain, every single one until he found
satisfaction.

Billy waited for an explanation.

Jack refused to give it to him.

With an exaggerated sigh, Billy left. He
didn’t say anything else. His amused expression said it all. He was
going to leave so Jack could return to the precious diary.
Sometimes his little brother wasn’t as dumb as he looked.

****

Later that night, Jack woke to a strange
sensation. He could feel his vampire friends, minus one, waiting
outside for him. They were linked again, forever bound by the
vampire in him. Jack automatically reached for the diary. He had
placed it beside him before falling asleep. Now he picked it up and
moved it to the nightstand drawer where it would be safe, at least
for the moment.

Going to the window, he stared into the
darkness. It only took him a second to spot them, Cowboy and
Summer, standing by the fence. Two sets of piercing eyes watched
him. Without saying a word, they summoned him, and he couldn’t
refuse. He hoped for their sakes that they hadn’t come to start
trouble because he had a house full of hunters.

He decided not to involve the others just
yet. Despite their recent behavior, he didn’t want to see Cowboy or
Summer hurt. For ten years they’d been family to him. That strong
bond was hard to break; although, Cowboy had come close when he’d
set the house on fire.

Jack glanced at the clock while struggling
into his coat. He could smell the oncoming sun. His friends were
cutting it close. If they gave him any trouble, the hunters only
had to keep them outside long enough for the sun to finish them
off.

He went down the stairs on quiet feet and
eased the front door open. After crossing the threshold, he ran
across the yard to meet his friends. Hopefully the others would
sleep while he took care of them.

Cowboy approached first, jabbing the air with
his finger. “She’s dead! Thanks to you Lily is dead. It’s your
fault. You killed her.”

The bottom dropped out of Jack’s world. His
insides turned to ice. Cowboy had to be lying. He was just about
twisted enough to make up a horrible lie to hurt Jack because he
knew how much Jack loved Lily.

Jack shook his head. “I don’t believe
you.”

Summer drew closer, her eyes flooded with
tears. “He’s telling the truth!”

“How did it happen?”

“Werewolf,” Cowboy said with a harsh laugh.
“She got it into her head it would be great to be human again. She
left us a note saying she wanted to feel the sun on her face. She
got that crap from you, didn’t she? Before we could stop her, she
went out and got herself attacked by a werewolf. It tore her to
shreds!”

Summer sobbed before yelling, “We were too
late to stop it! Her dying words were all about you. She still
thought it was going to work, never gave up hope. She talked about
joining you at school, all this meaningless junk about being study
buddies and having lunch together. She was such an idiot.”

Lily was
dead.

In his mind, he could picture Lily on her
mission to find a werewolf. She must have suffered horrible pain.
The two times he’d been attacked by a werewolf had hurt like hell.
Poor Lily. They were right. Her death was on his head.

Cowboy hit him in the jaw.

Jack didn’t see it coming. He fell to the
ground, a hand on his aching face. He opened and closed his mouth a
few times, testing to make sure his jaw wasn’t broken. Other than
being sore, it seemed okay.

The front door burst open. Andrew and Billy
raced outside with rifles in hand. They pointed them at Cowboy and
Summer, fingers on the triggers, eager to start shooting.

Jack jumped to his feet, intentionally
blocking the vampires. “Don’t shoot. It won’t do you any good
anyway. They’re vampires, you know, and they were just
leaving.”

Andrew said, “We were just going to blast
them to get their attention. We have stakes too.”

“I saw him hit you,” Billy said with a little
growl tagged onto the end.

“They came to deliver some bad news.” Jack’s
shoulders slumped. “Let them go.”

Before the last syllable left his mouth, they
were already gone. Cowboy and Summer vanished into thin air.
Sometimes he forgot how fast they appeared to human eyes.

He went back to the house without another
word, the horror of what had happened resting uncomfortably on his
shoulders. He didn’t stop when Billy asked if he was okay. He
didn’t stop to talk to Silver when she asked the same thing seconds
later. There was a huge hole in his heart. The only thing he could
think about was losing Lily. Even though he’d known they wouldn’t
be able to hang out like they used to, he had believed they would
find a way to stay in touch.

And she had died because of him. He should
have noticed the way her eyes had lit up when he was describing the
sun. He should have listened to the wistful way she’d talked about
missing sunlight. If he’d been paying attention, she’d still be
alive.

Jack went straight to his bedroom and fell
back on the bed, coat still on. He stared at the ceiling. Hot tears
spilled from the corners his eyes. It was useless crying over her;
she was gone. Tears wouldn’t bring her back, and Lily wouldn’t want
him acting like a baby over her. She’d want him to laugh over the
crazy stunts she’d pulled.

Since he was wide awake, he figured he may as
well read the diary some more. He jerked the drawer open and pulled
the book out. The book opened to a blank page. Letters began to
form as if written by an invisible hand.

Jack stared at it, stunned. He wondered if
the Reigns knew the book could do this. He read the new page three
times, unsure of the meaning.
I see Silver and the boy, and I
see them with a shared power. When they touch possessions, they
will have visions of their own. This power will be the proof of
what I see. This is just the beginning. No one will ever be able to
do what they can do together.

He lay back on his pillow and closed his
eyes. Did Silver know about the ‘shared’ power? If so, why hadn’t
she told him?

Maybe she had doubts about him.

Maybe there was a chance he wasn’t the boy
Lovely had envisioned.

That would mean there was another boy. Jack’s
eyes popped open, and he scowled. No way was he going to let
another guy sweep in and steal Silver away from him. He hadn’t been
happy to have his future already planned out for him, but now he’d
rather have a clear destiny than to lose her.