Chapter 129: Conspiring With A Vampire
The kitchen was vacant and for a moment I wished Mom was there to talk to. But reality rushed in and I felt grateful she wasn't around. As much as I loved my mother and knew she just wanted the best for me, I didn't need to go over what happened with her.
That I would save for Alison.
I heard voices downstairs as I passed the basement door. Mom and Dad. Good, they were occupied. That meant sneaking upstairs without being stopped would be much more likely. They'd been spending a lot of their time down there lately. I figured they were trying to come up with a way to get Dad home safe and sound. Ever since Demetrius, the insane leader of the Chosen of the Light, shattered Dad's statue, he'd been stuck here on the mortal plane with us instead of his own realm of Demonicon. Without his effigy, he was as vulnerable as the rest of us and had no way to go back.
I felt bad for him. As much as I loved having Dad around, I knew he had to be missing Demonicon. I'd catch sadness on his face sometimes. At least when I was paying attention to anyone but myself. As I rustled my frilly way up the stairs to my room, I wasn't too proud to admit I was being selfish.
Of all people, Dad would know how I felt. But even though his power was diminished from being mortal, at least he still had power.
So maybe not. Back to the sulking, then.
The second I closed my door behind me, I heard something start to buzz. I dove for my desk and fumbled my cell phone, almost dropping it in my haste to check the text. Not that I was super popular or anything, quite the opposite as my not so subtle dumping proved. But maybe it was Alison asking where I was.
Surely she gave a crap?
It was from Quaid. I wasn't expecting one from him. My heart did a little leap. Until I read the message.
Sunny. Park. Hush.
I so sucked at text speak, but the message was pretty obvious. Somehow Quaid managed to track Sunny and get her to agree to a meet. The park, now. And don't tell anyone. Fair enough.
Except I was still draped in soaked satin with really horrendous hair. I jumped back a little when I caught my reflection. The hairspray had collapsed under the rain. I looked like someone sprayed me down with a fire hose.
Now, how was I going to get out of this mess? I tried reaching around me to undo the zipper, but the bodice was so tight and now so heavy it was practically impossible to reach around. There was a time when a little magic would have done the trick, but instead I was left grunting and panting, fighting the heavy monstrosity until I wanted to scream in frustration.
"Syd?" Mom stood at my door, concern on her face. "What happened?"
I'm sure I must have looked pretty upset, but not for the reason she thought. Still, I figured I'd use it. Maybe get some sympathy worked up so she wouldn't have a cow when I told her I was going out again.
I dropped my arms to my sides and shrugged.
"Brad dumped me." It didn't hurt as much to say it. In fact, I felt pretty good about it. But it had the desired effect. Mom rushed to my side and hugged me.
"Honey, I'm sorry." She winced at the look of me before forcing a sympathetic smile. "Are you okay?"
"I just want to get out of this." I looked down at myself. "Sorry about the dress. It was raining and I walked home."
Mom looked shocked. "Why?"
Against my previous judgment, I quickly filled her in on the Brad drama as she unzipped me. She spun me around and hugged me again, embarrassing considering I was just in my bra and underwear.
"I'm very proud of you," she said. "You did the right thing, not going with him."
"Thanks, Mom." I glanced at my phone as it buzzed again. "There is one silver lining in this whole thing. Quaid and I... well, he wants to talk. Is it okay if I go meet him?"
Any other time I know she would have said no and made me stay home or him come to us. But she was still smiling when she stroked my cheek.
"I'm so happy you and Quaid are giving things a chance," she said. "Have fun, honey."
She stopped at my door and glanced back. "You might want to wash your face first."
No kidding.
Five minutes of serious scrubbing had most of the crap off. My hair was a disaster of wilted curls and bobby pins. I managed to get most of them out and shoved the remainder up into a low ponytail. Not the most attractive, but I felt more myself.
At least as much myself as I could under the circumstances.
The only part I took my time with was the necklace. While it didn't have magical properties, at least that I knew of, it demanded I slow down and unclasp it, sliding it into an empty drawer in my jewelry box. It made me wonder if any of the previous owners had gone through as much trouble as I faced.
Who was I kidding? We were Hayles, weren't we? Of course they had.
My raincoat was on the rack at the back door, but I didn't need it. The sudden downpour ended as quickly as it started. The ground was still wet enough my sneakers and the hem of my jeans soaked through by the time I ran across our yard in a short cut to the park.
It was dark, and I no longer had the benefit of my demon vision. But there was just enough light along the main path so I spotted Quaid and Sunny as I drew near them.
I hugged myself as I approached. The beautiful blonde vampire's face looked grim, but she offered me a smile, the same loving smile I'd grown up with. Now I remembered why I'd stopped spending time with her like I used to. I was so accustomed to the power of the undead as a witch I forgot what an impact their perfection had on normals. And I was one of those now. I had to force myself to look away from her eyes after a moment.
At least she wasn't Sebastian. In his present incarnation, I'd be a quivering, begging mass of need for him to bite me. Quaid may have been yummy, but the now angel of death, former leader of the DeWinter Blood Clan, Sebastian DeWinter was positively delicious on the worst of days.
"Syd." Sunny embraced me, body warm, which meant she'd fed in the last hour or so. Creepy. As usual, I tried not to hold it against her since I knew her blood clan only drank donated blood. But still.
Ew.
"Hi." I hugged her back, feeling awkward about the whole thing for the first time in my life and stepped away. "Any news?"
Sunny exchanged a look with Quaid before shaking her head. "Nothing concrete. Not yet." She looked so guilty. Probably because she blamed herself. Part of me wanted to tell her it was okay, it wasn't her fault she let Sebastian's psycho twin brother ruin my life when she should have killed him herself a long time ago. But the rest of me had a hard time not placing blame.
If Nicholas hadn't been under the influence of the Chosen of the Light, none of this would have happened. Though of course Demetrius, their leader, probably would have found another vampire clan to do his bidding. It was only my demon's sacrifice that defeated the Chosen leader and sent him running, but with her in his possession, leaving Sebastian and Sunny to eliminate Nicholas's rogue vampire clan.
"Your mother asked me to keep you out of this." Sunny's voice rang full of regret. "But I owe you, Syd. For trusting me. And loving me all these years. You've always been there for me, the one I could count on. My little sister."
Tears welled for the relationship I felt I'd lost with her, but I shoved them down. So like Mom to cut me out of anything that might help. "Thanks," I said. "But I don't believe there's no news. It's been six weeks. Something has to have happened."
Again she and Quaid exchanged a look.
"What?" This was getting old. "I need to know."
It had to be bad. Worse than I thought. Was my demon gone for good?
What Sunny told me made me understand just how self-absorbed I'd really been the last month and a half.
"We've been a little busy," she said. "Not that finding your demon isn't important. It's only..." She sighed. "It's about your Fay visitor. And the warning he left you with last fall."
What was she talking about? The Fay weren't our worry. They locked themselves inside the earth years ago.
Then it hit me in a wave of remembered images. A dark haired man with a great smile who morphed into the gigantic form of a shaggy black dog.
"Jared," I said, so stunned I used his human name at first. "Galleytrot."
Sunny nodded. "The very same," she said.
"Did he contact Mom?" He couldn't have. He went back to the...
Oh no.
"It's the Wild Hunt," Quaid said softly. "Back when the Moromonds tried to kill you, the night they attacked, Galleytrot told us they were stirring. And now, the Wild is awakening."
The sudden storm. The lightning. Mom and Dad spending so much time in the basement. They'd known all along and kept it from me. They all did, the whole coven.
Panic slammed into my heart and made me gasp. "We have to find my demon." There was no way I was sitting this one out. The family would need all hands on deck. Of all the times for me to be useless! The Wild Hunt was coming and I had no power.
"I've tasked Anastasia with maintaining the alliance with your family," Sunny said, "while I focus on finding Demetrius Strong."
I didn't know if I should be mad to find out they hadn't been looking or grateful she was doing so now.
"What if we can't find the Chosen? Or my demon?" That terror was so real. It had been six weeks. Demetrius could be anywhere by now. Or worse, he could have destroyed the crystal and my demon with it.
I couldn't bear the thought.
"I don't know." At least Sunny was honest. She never tried to smother me in half-truths, but her voice was full of compassion. "I really don't. I'm so sorry, Syd."
Uncle Frank's face flashed in my mind. He had been born into our family of witches as a latent with no luck accessing his power. I remembered him telling me when he found Sunny, she helped him unlock his magic by making him a vampire.
It was stupid and desperate, but it was a plan. If push came to shove and my family needed me, I had to know Sunny would help me out like she did my uncle.
"There's another way," I said, fighting to keep my voice steady as my mind screamed at me for what I was about to ask. "I have power, we know that. It's just locked away for some reason."
Sunny nodded, a frown on her lovely face. "Yes, most peculiar."
"You could unlock it."
Quaid lurched forward, scowling as he clearly understood what I was about to say.
"You could bring me over," I said. "You could make me a vampire."
***
