Vampires Rule (32 page)

That didn’t sound so bad. “I’ll be back in a
second.”

Jack sprinted out to the car and retrieved
the diary. Since it was still in his possession, he wanted to read
the part about sucking souls out again. Silver had read it enough
to know what page the information could be found on. He leaned in
through the open window, took the diary out of the glove
compartment. As he pulled it through the window, it slipped from
his fingers.

The diary opened on the ground to a brand new
page. Jack hunched over it and read it again and again. He
swallowed hard. Disbelief hardened his heart. No way. Someone was
messing with him. He grabbed the diary, slapped it shut, but it was
too late. The words were burned inside his brain.

Beware of Silver, Jack. Betrayal will lead
to your death.

It had to be a trick. Somehow Jersey had
planted the page, forged Lovely’s handwriting. Jack didn’t believe
for a second that Silver would betray him. She most certainly would
not lead him to his death. The sucking-out-souls passage forgotten,
he tossed the diary back through the open window.

With slow feet and a sinking spirit, he
returned to the secret mansion beneath the house. He didn’t say a
word to Silver about the new prophecy. When she asked why he’d
left, he told her he’d wanted to check the house above out again
because he had an idea.

“How would you like to live here?” he asked.
“Your parents need to build a new home anyway. Why not build it
over the mansion?”

Her eyes sparkled. “Great idea. My parents
will love it. Thank you.”

She hugged him again, and his arms went
around her. His hands tightened on her back, molding the soft
curves. His eyes closed, and he savored the moment.

“What do we do while we wait for my parents
to find Jersey?” She let him go, took a step back.

“We live a normal life.”

The words left his lips without emotion or
meaning, because at this point he knew there was no such thing as a
normal life for him.

Deep in his heart, he was still a
vampire.

###

Blood seeped through Jack’s tightly aligned
fingers. No matter how hard he pressed on the wound, it continued
to hemorrhage. He was beyond scared. During his time as a vampire
Jack had become unusually attuned to the workings of his body, so
he didn’t need a psychic to tell him something was wrong. The blood
should have stopped by now. He should have healed several minutes
ago.

Although he wasn’t a vampire anymore, Jack
still had some of the powers, including instantaneous healing. Too
bad it didn’t seem to be working at the moment.

He wanted to look down to measure the growing
red stain on his shirt, but he couldn’t risk drawing his brother’s
attention to it. He covertly stole a glance at Billy. Passing
streetlights illuminated Billy’s face in short rolls of light. His
profile was rigid, jaw tight. He stared straight ahead, hands tight
on the steering wheel as if he was trying to strangle somebody.

Billy was pissed!

Who could blame him after the night they’d
had?

Jack, still new to the art of hunting,
couldn’t believe the disaster a ‘simple’ werewolf chase had turned
into. A couple particularly nasty werewolves had nearly killed
them. At least Billy only got kicked and punched a few times. He
sported a puffy eye, maybe a couple bruised ribs, but one of the
werewolves had stabbed Jack with a knife.

A knife! Whoever heard of a stupid werewolf
using a blade? What happened to the good old days when they’d used
their claws?

Being stabbed hurt worse than getting slashed
by a hundred werewolf claws. The burning pain spread throughout his
middle, growing in intensity. Perspiration dotted his upper lip and
forehead. The car hit a bump. Jack gritted his teeth, holding back
a cry of agony. Exhaustion battled the pain to see which could take
him down first. His eyes drifted shut. Some rest might help him to
heal faster, the little voice in his head reasoned.

“Are you dying?” Billy asked. His odd,
toneless voice cut the silence, a bomb in a peaceful village. Jack
reluctantly forced his eyes open and turned his head against the
vinyl seat so he could reassure his brother. Billy added,
“Seriously. Do I need to take you to the hospital or what?”

“Course not.” Jack’s voice cracked under the
strain. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“I heal fast, remember?”

“Yeah, it’s like having Superman for a
brother.”

Sarcasm. Poor Billy hadn’t completely
adjusted to having a freak show living under his roof. Their
relationship remained strained even through the best of times.
Jack’s eyelids grew heavy. They closed of their own volition. He
mumbled, “Just need some sleep.”

He barely heard his brother’s warning.

“Yeah, well, if you see a bright light, stay
the hell away from it.”

“Mmm hmm.”

Jack began to drift, unattached thoughts
floating through his mind like confused cars heading in opposite
directions. He lost his grasp on reality. Sleep claimed him on a
temporary basis, and he went willingly into the comforting
darkness.

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