Witches & Werewolves: A Sacred Oath (25 page)

I study the pattern on the wall. I gaze at the statues that seem to stare back at me. Occasionally I stand before the mirror and just stare myself. Trying to see what, if anything has changed. I’m quite surprised that I can see my reflection at all.

My skin seems tighter. My hair seems fuller. My eye color more vivid. It’s nothing that anyone else could point their finger at and say for sure. But in a way, I look like a photograph that is been lightly retouched.
 
A slightly better version of the normal me.

 
I bide my time, fumbling about the room until nightfall. I open the curtains and peer out the window across the lawn. I can see into the night just as if it were daylight. It’s quite remarkable. I unlatch the window and push the panes open. A cool gust of air rushes into the room. Part of me wants to leap from the window and disappear into the night.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” says Lucas. His muffled voice rumbles through the door.

“Why not?”

“Because the stairs work perfectly well.”

I stride to the door, twist the key, unlocking the bolt. I pull the door open.

“May I come in?” he asks.

 
I motion for him to enter.

“I’m going stir crazy in this room.”

“Try sleeping in a coffin sometime,” he chuckles.

“You do that?”

“No. I’m kidding.”

“I need to see Ethan,” I say.

Lucas frowns. “Do what you want, but I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Why? Because you’re jealous?”

Lucas chuckles. “No. I’m not jealous. But in case you hadn’t noticed, the werewolves are trying to kill you.”

“I noticed,” I say. “I still don’t see how I am a threat to them.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you are a threat to them or not. What matters is that they believe you are a threat.”

“Right. Superstitious.” I pause a moment. “What do you think?”

“I think you haven’t fully come to terms with how things have changed. It’s understandable. It’s going to take some time. You are still clinging onto the idea of your old life. But that life is gone.”

 
I feel that lump in my throat coming back. My eyes begin to well with tears. “I was starting to like my life again. I want it back.”
 

I collapse on the edge of the bed and break down in sobs. Lucas sits next to me.
 

“For the first time in a long time, I felt like I could be happy,” I say.

“You’ve got a lot of time to find happiness again,” Lucas says. “Give us a chance. I think you’ll fit in here.”

“I want to go home,” I say, through sobs.

“Do you want to put your family in jeopardy?”

“I would never hurt them.”

“Think of an addict who will do anything for a fix,” Lucas says. “If you go without blood for long enough, you will lose all sense of rational thought. You will do anything to get blood. You will kill anyone.”

“How do you control it?”

“Years of practice.” Lucas smiles. “Look, when you are ready, come down and I’ll introduce you to the rest of the coven.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

“You are going to have to decide if you are joining us or not. Might as well find out who we are,” Lucas says.

“What if they all hate me, like Scarlett?”

“You’re just going to have to win them over with your charming personality.”

I think I detect a note of sarcasm in his voice. “What’s wrong with my personality?”

“I like your personality,” he says. “But, you should cultivate a more positive outlook.”

I arch an eyebrow at him. “Have you been paying attention to all the craziness in my life lately?”

Lucas chuckles. “I’m just saying. A good attitude is infectious. And you’re going to need all the help you can get with this crowd.”

“Thanks, that’s encouraging,” I say.
 

 
“You can go it alone. But without us, you have no protection. Just think about it.” Lucas leaves, pulling the door shut behind him.

The moment he leaves, Ethan leaps into the open window, startling me. I leap forward, embracing him. “Ethan, what are you doing here?”
 

“Come with me.”

I stare at him hesitantly and bite my lip. “Where will we go?”

“I don’t know. Anywhere. Away from here.”

“I don’t know. So much has changed.”

“Has the way you feel about me changed?” Ethan asks.

“No. Of course not.”

“Then come with me. Now.”

“I don’t know the first thing about being a vampire. Maybe I should stay here and be with my own kind.”

“The thought of you in this place drives me crazy. Being away from you drives me crazy.”

“I’m not sure how sane you were to begin with,” I say, with a slight grin.

“I’m certifiably crazy. Crazy about you,” Ethan says.

 
My heart flutters. I feel my cheeks flush.

“We’ll go. We’ll get in my car and drive all night. We’ll stay in some seedy motel on the highway. Then drive as far as we can the next night. We’ll do that night after night until were far enough away from here that none of this will matter.”

I stare into his mesmerizing eyes for a moment. Then I nod in agreement. Ethan clasps my arm, pulling me to the window. I peer over the window sill at the ground below. It’s a long way down.

“Jump,” Ethan says.

I look at him, terrified.
 

“Jump. You can handle it.”

I climb onto the window sill. The wind gusts through my hair. I almost feel a twinge of vertigo.
 

Suddenly, the door bursts open. Scarlett lurches in, hissing like a cat with her back hunched up. Scarlett brandishes her fangs. She dashes toward Ethan. The two collide with fury.
 

CHAPTER 35

ETHAN TRANSFORMS INTO a towering werewolf. He slashes and snaps at Scarlett. Despite his strength and speed, he is outmatched by Scarlett. She’s faster and stronger.
 

She dodges and weaves, evading his brawling style. Scarlett grabs his fur and slings him across the room, smashing the pillars on the four post bed. The canopy crashes on top of Ethan.
 

Ethan springs to his feet, brushing the debris aside. He charges her like a bull, but Scarlett sidesteps. Ethan crashes into the wall, destroying the sheetrock. Candlesticks topple.

 
Ethan lunges, tackling her to the ground. Scarlett kicks him off, launching him upward, slamming Ethan into the ceiling. He crashes back down to the ground, along with bits of plaster.
 

Scarlett pounces on top of Ethan, pinning him down.
 

I smell smoke, then see the plush velvet curtains erupt in flames.
 

Scarlett looms ready to strike. “There’s nothing sweeter than werewolf blood!”
 

Scarlett lunges for Ethan’s jugular.

I rush to her, yanking Scarlett from Ethan before she can bite him. I react instinctually, tossing her aside. I expected to just brush her away. Instead, she flies through the air, crashing down on the bed. The broken wooden post spikes into her back, stabbing through her heart, puncturing her chest.
 

Scarlett’s lifeless body slides down the bloody post, skewered. I stare for a moment, eyes wide, slack-jawed. I didn’t mean to kill her. I’ve never killed anyone before.

 
By this time, the room is engulfed in flames. Ethan grabs me by the arm and pulls me to the window. We leap to the ground below as a coven of vampires descend upon the room. The raging fire keeps them from entering.

 
Ethan and I sprint across the lawn, racing toward the giant wall that encloses the property. I’ve never run this fast in my entire life. My body is like a finely tuned machine. The speed and agility are amazing. I could out run the fastest sports car.
 

I glance back to the front door of the gothic mansion. Vampires swarm out like angry wasps from a hive that has been rattled. The flames are spreading.

The perimeter wall is easily a thousand yards from the front door, yet we reach it in seconds. The landscape blurs by. Ethan and I scale the wall effortlessly, and disappear into the forest.

 
We run full speed for almost an hour, until we are certain that we have lost anyone who might be following. Despite the massive effort, I am not winded. My legs don’t burn. I feel as fresh as I did before we ran.

I lean against a tree. The dappled rays of moonlight beam down upon us. The cool night air is filled with the sound of chirping crickets.

“Are you okay,” Ethan asks.

I nod. “Are you?”

“I think so,” he says, looking himself over. Werewolf bites are fatal to vampires, but Ethan seems unscathed.

“I didn’t mean to kill her,” I say.

“One less vampire to worry about.”

“Is that what you’ll say when I die?”

“Of course not,” Ethan says. “Besides, you’re not going to die.”
 

“But you will someday.”

“Someday is not today,” he says, taking me in his arms. “I never want to be away from you. As long as I live, nothing will keep us apart.”

I stare into his deep eyes. “Promise?”

“Promise,” he says.
 

His full lips meet mine, and he kisses me passionately. His hand against the small of my back, pulling me into him. My whole body is alive with excitement. His touch is electric. My knees wobble. My stomach flutters.
 
I’m a quivering ball of nerves.
 

We devour each other. I want to say the words, but I’m afraid if I do, it will ruin it. I love him, there’s no doubt about it. But I keep that to myself. I find that I don’t have to say it—he says it first.
Score
.

“I love you,” Ethan says.

I grin and say, “I know.”

We embrace each other lovingly.
 

As a vampire, everything tastes sweeter. Feels better. Ethan’s lips are like fireworks. My skin is alive with his touch. The moon glows above, and the night cradles us. This is better than blood. And for a vampire, that’s saying a lot.

Ethan gently takes me to the ground, and we lie in each others arms underneath the stars. I can’t get enough of his luscious lips. But a wolf, howling in the distance, ruins the moment. A painful reminder that we are being hunted.
 

“We should stay on the move,” Ethan says.

I nod. “The entire coven is going to be after us.”

“Well, you did kill one of them. And you burned down the house.”

“That was Vincent’s daughter. And technically, you burned down the house.”

The wolf howls again, this time the howl sounds closer. After a moment, another wolf answers.

“We need to go,” Ethan says.

 
We make our way back to Ethan’s car and take the highway out of town. We stop at a dingy little motel about an hour from Haven Hill. A tiny strip of rooms just off the highway.

 
Ethan parks in front of the office. The glowing neon vacancy sign casts a red-orange tint on Ethan’s face. “Go in and get us a room,” he says.

I’ve never rented a hotel room before. “Don’t you have to be eighteen to rent a room?”

“We’re not renting,” Ethan says. “Go in and compel us a room.”

“How do I do that?”

“You’re a vampire. It’s what vampire’s do.”

“Well, excuse me. It’s not like being a vampire comes with a handbook.”

“Go in there, smile, and put a friendly suggestion in the desk clerk’s head to give us a room,” Ethan says.
 

I step out of the car and stroll to the office. Inside, it smells like a mixture of stale cigarettes, mildew, and cheese puffs. The desk clerk is a woman with straight, stringy hair. It looks like she hasn’t showered in days. She sits behind the desk watching a small, portable TV. I stand there waiting patiently for a few minutes.
 

I clear my throat and make a few noises, trying to get her attention, but she doesn’t look up at me. Finally, I ring the little silver bell on the countertop.

She looks up at me, annoyed. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, I’d like to rent a room.”

“I’ll need to see a drivers license and credit card.”

I slide my drivers license across the counter. “I don’t have a credit card.”

“No credit card no room,” she says. She turns her attention back to the TV.

“Do you think you could make an exception? I can pay cash,” I say.

“$99 for the room.”

“But the sign out front says $39?”

“$99 is the cash price,” she says.

“I don’t have that much on me.”