SURPRISE

Life comes at you hard and fast, it doesn’t slow for anybody. It weathers you, destroys you. It breaks down your mind, body, and soul until there’s nothing left. Then what? I wasn’t always like this—bitter and alone, I mean. I once had a loving mother and stepdad. I once had friends and someone—a guardian angel—that I had fallen head over heels for, but then I had to leave to protect them. As much as I wanted to be normal, I wasn’t.

“Service, please?” came a nearby voice, pulling me from my thoughts.

It was a quiet night at The Turquoise Bar and I was wasting time by cleaning the same cup over and over again. I turned to face the man who had asked to be served and my heart dropped into my shoes. It took all of my strength not to say his name out of shock. Hunter.

I hadn’t seen him since the night of my escape at Gerald Harbor. Not since he saved Eli’s life… yet here he was at the small, smoky bar I worked at. He wore a black button-up shirt and a dark leather jacket. He wore his black hair in its usual unkempt style. I glanced awkwardly around the room. So many emotions coursed through me—fear. Sorrow. Anger. Helplessness. My heart raced, hammering hard against my ribcage. He glanced at my chest—he could hear it. I leaned on the bar. If there was a time to test out this charmed necklace, it would be now. He regarded me curiously, sensing my unease.

I swallowed hard. “What will it be?” I asked, forcing confidence into my voice.

“You smell familiar.” He glanced at my name tag. “Amy.”

Suddenly, going under a fake name didn’t sound so stupid.

“That’s a creepy thing to say.” I faked a smile. “What will it be?”

He chuckled under his breath. “Just a beer.”

I turned my back to him and bent down to get a beer from the fridge. I found the fear and shock transform into anger. My hands began shaking. They were shaking so much that I had difficulty pulling the cap off the beer bottle. When I managed to get it off, I turned back to his analyzing face and striking blue eyes. I slid his beer along the bar and he caught it in his hand. I rubbed my hands on my jeans. I was nervous and who could blame me? I hadn’t seen or heard from Hunter or Lucian in a year.

“You’re a goddess?” he asked. Hunter kept his eyes fixated on me as he sipped his beer.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “And you’re vampire.”

His lips turned upwards into a calculating smirk and I pulled a green lighter from the back pocket of my skinny jeans and struck it. The small orange and blue flame danced on top of the metal and I leaned across the bar.

“Try anything and I will turn you to dust.”

Amusement flashed in the dark depths of his eyes. “You’re brave. I like that.”

“I’m not interested and I have work to do, so, is there anything else I can get you?”

I needed to get out of here. I needed to get as far away from this town as possible. Mr. Aleksandrov and Aaron had dropped me off in Gerald, the small town twenty minutes from Gerald Harbor. I was supposed to go find a nice secluded town and hide out but I figured this was the safest place for me to be. I had killed the resident vampires. There were no vampires that I knew of in this town anymore, that was, until tonight. Hunter and Lucian had come back to Gerald in search of me. My guess is that they couldn’t find another Heelian and they had reason to believe I’m here. It was time to move on and quickly.

“That’s all, thank you.”

Quickly, I wiped down the bar and left Sandy, our new girl, in charge. Sandy was a cute, short blonde who wore her hair in high pigtails too often. I glanced over my shoulder as I stepped away from the bar and headed toward the staff room. As I expected, Sandy made her way toward Hunter, wrapping her hair around her index finger in a flirtatious gesture. Hopefully she would keep him occupied long enough to—

“Unh.” I grunted as I was slammed against a wall and the wind was knocked out of me.

“It’s been a while. You look different, Ruby.” Hunter purred into my ear.

I felt the tremor of his breath on my neck and a nauseating feeling twisted my stomach. I gasped, trying to force air into my lungs.

“I-I’m sorry, but you have the wrong person.”

He brushed the tip of his nose along my jawline, inhaling as he went. I gritted my teeth.

“I could never mistake you for someone else, even with the charm.” His hand slid up the contour of my body, over my left breast, and then he tugged at my necklace until it snapped. “There you are.”

I shoved Hunter backwards, reclaiming my personal space. He stumbled and I snatched my necklace back, squeezing it tightly in my hand. As long as it touched my skin I could hide my real appearance.

“How did you find me?”

“Oh, we’ve been searching everywhere for you. How long has it been?” He tapped his chin in sarcastic thought. “About a year now, so you can imagine how pissed Lucian is.”

“Speaking of the devil, where is he?”

“A few streets down, sniffing out some goddesses. He’s hungry.” Hunter paused. “I don’t believe you’re here alone. Where is De Luca?”

I glanced down at my shoes and then back into his blue eyes. I sure as hell wasn’t going to admit I was here alone or that I hadn’t spoken to Eli in over a year.

“None of your business,” I growled. I scowled at Hunter as he fought off a smile.

“You are all alone here, aren’t you?”

I swallowed as Hunter stepped closer. His body came into contact with mine and he pressed my back hard against the wall. I used all of my strength to push him away but he wouldn’t budge.

“Hunter, stop playing games. We have things to do, let’s go.”

I froze. Everything froze—my breathing, my thoughts, and my heart. Everything. The cold voice floated through me, chilling my organs and my bones as it went. I couldn’t kill them, not here. There were at least eight people in the bar, they might get hurt. Lucian looked right at me—right into me. For a moment, I thought he could see through my charm, but when he turned on his heels and went out the door, I knew it had worked.

“Ooh, that was close.” Hunter chuckled.

“What are you playing at?”

Hunter had every chance to turn me in to Lucian, but he didn’t … why?

“You and I have history.” He ran the back of his hand down the side of my face and I tried hard not to recoil. “I want to have a little fun before I turn you over to Lucian.”

His cold lips touched mine and then he was gone. I wiped the back of my hand across my lips and peered around the corner of the wall. Sandy was absentmindedly wiping down the bar, in the same spot, round and round.

I strolled over to her and waved my hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her daze. She blinked, her big blue eyes met mine, and then she glanced awkwardly around the room in search of Hunter. He had used lure on her.

“Can you cover for me? I’m not feeling well and it’s quiet in here, anyway.” I asked. I needed to get out of here. If I could get home, it would be safer for me. I hoped.

“Sure.”

My studio apartment, on top of the local grocery store, was a mess. It was littered with dirty laundry, open books, and empty wine bottles. I never was a big alcohol drinker, but since I left my friends behind, I had developed the taste for a delicious blend of red wine. I hurried over to the storage cupboard that was tucked subtly away in the laundry. There I found a small backpack big enough for only a few important items.

“Okay, clothes…” I exhaled, tucking my unruly hair behind my ears as I hunched over a pile of clothes on my bed. I shoved a few tops and pants into my bag, followed by clean underwear, a hairbrush, and my new cell phone. Then I was ready. As soon as daylight came, I would get as far away from Lucian and Hunter as I could. Getting out of Gerald was the easy part, finding a place to go—not so easy.

I crossed over to the kitchen. On the bench was a small netbook that my boss had given me. She was throwing it out because she got a new Book Mac or whatever she called it.

“C’mon, c’mon,” I urged the small machine. “The sooner I figure out where I’m going, the better.”

Sure enough, that was easier said than done. When I made it to the Google search page, I had no idea where to start. I couldn’t exactly type in ‘best vampire-free states to live in’ or ‘goddess safe towns’. I tapped my keyboard and sighed in frustration. After a few minutes I clicked on the email icon and logged into the email account that I hadn’t used I years.

“What the…?” I gasped.

Why would he be emailing me? I didn’t know whether to be scared, nervous or excited. I resisted the urge to rub my screen in case the name I saw was dust. I knew it wasn’t. I clicked on the name that appeared in big bold letters in my inbox—Ivan Aleksandrov.

From: Ivan Aleksandrov

Subject: Invitation

Date: December 9th 10:36pm

To: Ruby Moore

Dear Ruby Moore,

I cordially invite you to celebrate a special event at Sage Sanctum this weekend.

Don’t worry about our safety if you return. Sage Sanctum is heavily protected — even more-so than before.

Please reply with your phone number. I cannot give you the directions but I can arrange for you to be picked up.

Warmly,

Mr. Ivan Aleksandrov

I stared at the screen, re-reading it over and over. Even if I wanted to go back, I couldn’t. I couldn’t face Eli or the other guardians, and Mila would be upset that I had ceased contact with her. It would be easier on everyone if I didn’t go anywhere near Sage.

“Going somewhere?”

I slammed my laptop shut and turned abruptly. Hunter’s tall, lean body leaned against the windowsill.

“H-how’d you get in?” I stammered.

Hunter walked over to my bed, pulling a pair of black underwear from my bag. I stormed over to him and snatched my underwear back, placing it back in the bag and zipping it quickly. I grabbed my bag off my bed and set it on my kitchen stool, away from Hunter’s prying eyes.

“Your window was open.”

I stared at him blankly. His gaze met my chest and he bit his lip, exposing a small portion of one of his fangs—he could hear my heartbeat increase.

“My window was open and you took it as an invitation?”

He laughed and my palms began to glow. I could kill him now. There were no innocents around. Hunter would die and no one would get hurt. He watched me intently, waiting for me to kill him… so why couldn’t I? I exhaled and placed my hands on my hips.

“You still can’t bring yourself to kill me, huh? How sweet.”

I gritted my teeth. “It’s not without great difficulty. Unfortunately, I feel responsible for your death and I owe you for saving Eli’s life.”

He walked toward me. My apartment wasn’t big, so within a few steps he’d be within arm’s distance. After a vampire-free year, I wasn’t ready to be in close quarters with one.

Driven by desperation and a trickle of fear, I sprinted for the door. I grasped the round handle and yanked it open, but before I could step out, the door was slammed shut in my face, my hand still lingering on the cool metal. We were alone, no one was around to hear our conversation, nor would they hear him kill me. Hunter smiled smugly and pressed his back against the door.

“You don’t want to spend some quality time with me? Well, that hurts my feelings. Do you really think I would ever hurt you intentionally?”

“You’re not serious?” I scoffed. “The last time I saw you, you were going to bite me!”

“That was over a year ago. I’ve changed.”

A nervous chuckle escaped my lips. He straightened and took a step towards me, but I turned and headed toward the kitchen. He zipped in front of me, blocking my path and grasping my shoulders. He pressed himself against me for the second time tonight and I shivered. Even through my clothes I could feel the coolness of his skin. His eyes softened, and for a split second, he looked like his old self. Hunter lowered his lips closer to my ear as if he was afraid someone would overhear him. His breath blew coolly on my neck.

“I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want Lucian to hurt you, but I…I can’t fight him. He owns me.”

“You may be a vampire, but you still have your own brain, Hunter. You can make your own decisions. I know you can because I’ve seen you do it. You saved Eli’s life! I know you’re capable of good.”

He ran the back of his cool index finger down my face and I stepped away from it. His fingers were ice-cold. His eyebrows rose slightly and I saw the corners of his mouth twitch with the beginning of an amused smirk, but he stopped it and his lips returned to an impassive line.

“It doesn’t matter if I go against Lucian or not. I’ll never be what you want, I’ll never be him.”

“I don’t want you to be him. I want you to be you, not this cold, calculating monster.”

His breath hitched and he took a step away from me. He ran his fingers through his hair, appearing frustrated by what I’d said.

“You think I’m a monster?”

“You’ve killed people, you drink blood, and you tried to bite me,” I reminded him.

“Don’t act so god damn high and mighty, Ruby. You’ve killed people for blood, too. If I’m a monster, then you’re a monster.”

I felt my chin drop and my mouth open in astonishment, but no sound came out. I closed it again. I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose.

“I’m sor—” I looked up and he was gone. I ran over to the window and peered into the street. The only indication that he’d left was the purple curtain that blew outside the window frame. A brown owl was the only thing I could see in the narrow street. He was gone. I pulled my curtain back into my house and shut the window, making sure it was locked. I ran over to my kitchen drawer and pulled a few stakes out. They were dodgy, makeshift stakes from an old oak tree by the Gerald playground, but they’d work just fine. I opened my laptop, and suddenly, going back to Sage didn’t seem as scary as waiting in the dark for Lucian to find me.