Darkness & Discovery (The Bespelled Trilogy #2) Read online

  “You too. Nice meeting you, Alastair,” he said before turning and heading down the street.

  I sighed and watched him go. And Alastair asked quietly, “Do you want to go after him?”

  “No. But I do need to talk to him sometime soon. I feel terrible that he got hurt because of me. And I’m not sure compelling him to forget was the right thing to do.” I turned to look at Alastair, and was surprised by his sad expression. “Allie, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing really. I just…I wonder if I’ll ever know you as well as he does. You two share such an obvious bond.”

  “I’ve known Ted since I was twelve, he’s had five years to accumulate useless Lu trivia. But in time, you too will know all kinds of inane facts about me.”

  Alastair flashed his radiant smile, and it made my heart flip over in my chest. “I look forward to that,” he said before kissing me gently. “Now hurry up, let’s get our tickets, because I have it on good authority you don’t like to walk into a theater once the previews begin. And on the way, you can tell me what a Joss Whedon is.”

  “He’s a who, not a what. And you’re about to experience his brilliance first-hand,” I grinned, linking arms with him and leading him to the ticket booth.

  After the movie, Alastair drove us home and walked me to the front door. “Well, here’s where it gets a bit unconventional,” he said as he took my hand and I turned and faced him. “Normally, as a gentleman, I’d kiss you goodnight and be on my way.”

  “But since we’re roommates, you won’t actually be doing that,” I said with a grin. “So what will you be doing?”

  He ran his hand around the back of my neck and rested his forehead against mine. “Firstly,” he said, his British accent really coming through, “I intend to kiss you quite thoroughly. And secondly, I plan to take you inside and deposit you in front of the fireplace and make you a cup of tea. Because you’re still half-frozen.”

  “That’s actually very romantic,” I said.

  He smiled at me. “You’re the only girl I know who’d find tea romantic.”

  “Actually, you can just cut that sentence in half. I’m the only girl you know,” I teased.

  “Ok, that might technically be true, seeing as I can’t remember anyone from my past. But I assume it’s still an odd characteristic.”

  “You’re not wrong. Now please hurry up and ‘kiss me quite thoroughly,’ because I am, in fact, freezing out here.”

  “With pleasure, Luna,” he murmured, and then he pulled me into his arms, his lips brushing mine gently before the kiss deepened, my lips parting under his, my knees threatening to give out. And when he finally pulled back a couple inches, Alastair smiled at me and asked, “Thorough enough for you?”

  “Almost,” I grinned, and he playfully pushed me up against the front door and kissed me again.

  When we finally quit making out and went inside, Alastair headed to the kitchen to put the kettle on, while I tossed my coat on a chair and arranged a few logs on the embers in the fireplace. Then I dragged the couch in front of the hearth and settled comfortably onto it.

  He returned a couple minutes later, carrying a tray with two mugs of tea and honey and a little plate of cookies, and said, “We’re going to have a visitor. There’s an unfamiliar car coming up the road.” He set the tray on the wide hearth. “Joey’s not here, or I’d send him to scout out who’s in the car. I could go take a look, though I’d prefer not to leave you unattended.”

  “There’s no reason to assume the worst. From what I’ve seen of your enemies so far, they’re not likely to let you see them coming.”

  “That’s true.”

  I picked up a mug and leaned back against the couch. But Alastair remained tense, staring out at the night through the bank of windows, waiting, listening.

  It was a good two or three minutes before I, too, heard the engine, and by then the car’s headlights were visible through the trees. I got up and walked over to the front door, and immediately recognized the big white Cadillac as it pulled into the clearing in front of my house.

  I turned to Alastair. “Please tell me you remember how to compel someone, or could figure it out in a pinch if you had to.”

  “I don’t have a clue how to do that.”

  And I sighed and said, “That’s really too bad. Because the crap’s totally about to hit the fan.”

  Chapter Two

  “Why? Who’s coming?” Alastair asked, putting himself between me and the front door.

  “It’s my ex-boyfriend.”

  “Ted?”

  “Yeah. I only have the one ex.”

  “Why do you want me to compel him?”

  “Because,” I said, “he’s about to ask a whole bunch of questions that I really can’t answer.”

  The Caddy had stopped at the base of my circular driveway, and Ted had gotten out of the car. But he wasn’t coming inside, and I knew why. I took a deep breath, then pulled my coat on and went out to talk to him. Alastair trailed behind me, but hung back on the porch.

  Ted was in my driveway, backlit by the car’s headlights, the motor still running. He stood stock still, staring at a point over my right shoulder. I knew what he was looking at. “Lu,” he said after a moment, “why is my truck here?”

  My mind raced to cobble together a lie, some even remotely plausible reason why the truck he’d thought was stolen in San Francisco now sat beside my house. But I was actually a terrible liar, and I couldn’t begin to come up with anything that didn’t sound completely insane. So I sighed and said truthfully, “Because it died, and my attempt at towing it down the mountain almost ended in disaster.”

  “But why is it here? I don’t understand.” Ted looked so lost that once again I was overcome with guilt.

  “Teddy, turn off your dad’s car and come inside, ok? I’ll try to explain this.”

  He glanced at Alastair, and seemed to be having another déjà vu moment. This was probably because the three of us had been in this same position the last time Ted came to my house. “I didn’t expect you to still be on your date,” he said. “I wanted to come talk to you after seeing you tonight. But I didn’t mean to intrude.”

  I walked past him to the Cadillac and turned off the motor, then shut the car door. I handed Ted his keys and gently took him by the arm. “Come on, Teddy. Come inside.”

  He went without protest, which was very unlike him. And when he was settled on my couch, he looked up at me and said, “These past several days have been so weird. I keep feeling like there’s something I need to remember, something important. But the harder I try to focus on it, the more it eludes me. And now, coming here and seeing my truck, it just compounds that feeling that I’ve forgotten something big, something vital. Something having to do with you, Lulu.”

  I’d been trying to figure out how to tell him as much of the truth as possible, while leaving the words vampire and werewolf out of it. The reason I’d asked Joey to compel Ted in the first place was because I really didn’t want his whole world knocked out of alignment. I didn’t want him to feel unsafe, expecting monsters around every corner. I wanted him to keep living in blissful ignorance…but from where I was standing, not knowing didn’t look very blissful.

  “Teddy,” I began, “you came here several days ago, and you and I had an argument. You saw that Alastair was staying here, and that made you angry, so you went speeding off. The next day, you came back so we could talk. But I wasn’t here. Some bad people were watching the house, and they took you hostage and brought you to San Francisco. My friend Joey and I found you there. We got you out, and sent you to your cousin’s apartment in a cab. You…forgot all of that. And that’s how your truck ended up here.”

  “I forgot?”

  “Um…you were made to forget.”

  “How is that possible?”

  I sighed and said, “It’s complicated.”

  Ted frowned and said, “You were in danger. Right? Is that the thing I can’t remember? I keep having nightmares t
hat something bad is happening to you, and I’m trying to get to you but I can’t. Something really did happen, didn’t it?”

  “Oh God, Teddy,” I murmured.

  “It has to do with him, doesn’t it?” Ted asked, standing now and squaring his shoulders as he faced Alastair. “Is she in danger because of you?”

  “Yes,” Alastair said quietly.

  “Then what are you doing here, with her? If you’re endangering her, why the hell are you here?” Ted demanded, his confusion giving way to anger.

  Before Alastair could answer, Joey burst in the front door and exclaimed, “Ted’s here? Well dang, that can’t be good.”

  He was dragging a girl with curly red hair into the living room by her arm. I knew her. She went to my high school and was a grade behind me, so she’d be a senior this year. “Carrie, what are you doing here?” I exclaimed.

  “Hi, Lu. Oh, hey Ted. Could you please tell this bloodsucker to let go of me? Because it’s about to get real ugly if he doesn’t,” Carrie said, trying to shake Joey’s hand off her arm. He growled and tightened his grip.

  “Bring it on, wolf girl,” he snarled.

  I exclaimed, “Joey, let go of her!”

  “No can do. She’s a were, Lu. And she was snooping around outside,” Joey said.

  “If by snooping around you mean walking right up the center of the road to come and see Lu, then yeah, I was snooping around,” Carrie said, and brought the heel of her boot down hard on the top of Joey’s foot. All that did was make him growl again.

  “Come on Joey, knock it off,” I told him.

  We had a stare fight for a long moment, and he finally backed down. “Fine. But she makes one move toward you, and she’s puppy chow.” He released Carrie’s arm and stepped back from her.

  “Is that a dog joke?” she wanted to know, getting up in his face. “What, you think you’re better than me, dead boy? Maybe we should take this outside, then we’ll see who’s better.” Despite the high heeled boots, Carrie was a good five inches shorter than Joey, and he probably had sixty pounds on her. But she looked ready to rip his head off.

  “What’s going on?” Ted wanted to know, but we all ignored him as Joey started to lunge at Carrie.

  In a move so fast I could barely see it, Alastair leapt over the couch, grabbed Joey, and transported him to the far side of the living room. “Calm down. Now,” Alastair said menacingly.

  “Dude, the boss-of-me voice doesn’t work anymore. Not since our maker bond got severed,” Joey said.

  “Regardless, you need to get hold of yourself before someone gets hurt,” Alastair told him sternly.

  “Fine.” Joey took a deep breath, which I always found odd since he didn’t actually need to breathe. “She says she knows Lu, and has important information that could save her life,” Joey said. “That’s the only reason I brought her to the house, even though it’s a well-known fact that weres are not to be trusted.”

  “That comment just shows your prejudice and ignorance, dead boy,” Carrie told him.

  “Come and sit down, Carrie,” I said, leading her over to the couch as Joey tensed at my proximity to her. Once we were seated I asked, “I hope this isn’t a rude question, but is Joey right about the fact that you’re a werewolf?”

  “Are you freaking kidding me?” Ted exclaimed, but I ignored him for now, the situation with Joey and Carrie far more critical at the moment.

  “I am,” she told me. “And since when do you hang around with vampires?”

  “That’s kind of a new development,” I said. “So, what did you want to tell me?”

  “There were some people at my house this evening. I don’t really know what they were, but they weren’t human. My brother is our pack leader, and they were asking him a bunch of questions about some work the pack did for a vampire recently, about some house they were watching. Ty didn’t know who the house belonged to, but he described it and it sounded just like this place. I remembered it from that time your Aunt Claire helped me with a sewing project when we were in junior high. Anyway, whatever these guys are, I think they’re coming for you. And I wanted to warn you.”

  “Why would you do that? Coming here had to put you in danger, and you barely know me.”

  “I’d seen your aunt’s obituary in the Daily Tidings a few months ago, and was worried that you were alone up here. You were always nice to me when we were in school, so I wanted to help you.”

  I said sincerely, “Thank you for warning me.”

  And Alastair asked, “Carrie, can you describe these people?”

  “There are five men that all appear to be in their early twenties. They’re all incredibly good looking, but there’s a coldness to them, like they have no emotions. And it feels like…like there’s power radiating from them. Kind of the way you feel,” she said to Alastair. “They’re all dressed in black leather, and they each have two long swords crossed over their backs. Not exactly a subtle look.”

  “The Order,” Joey said as his entire body tensed. “Has to be.”

  “The group of nephilim that want me dead? How did they track me to Ashland?” Alastair asked.

  “Don’t know, don’t care. We gotta go. And I mean now,” Joey exclaimed. He came up to me and tugged me to my feet. “Come on, Lu. You and Alastair head for the Impala.” He turned to Ted. “Dude, I have no clue what you’re doing here, but you need to go home. Now. Take her with you,” he said, gesturing at Carrie.

  “Wait! Why wouldn’t we stay and fight?” I wanted to know.

  “It won’t be a fight,” Joey said, running his hands over his short hair in frustration. “The Order has a habit of burning things to the ground, and this house in the woods is practically made to burn. They’ll surround this place, hit it with angel fire, and we’ll all be toast.”

  “If we’re going somewhere, I need to pack,” I stammered.

  Joey was herding Ted and Carrie out the door. I was surprised that she was letting him. “Ninety seconds, Lu. Ted’s car is boxing ours in, and he needs to move it. So you have ninety seconds.” Joey paused just a moment to look at me. “If I were you, I’d just grab a couple things that have sentimental value. The rest you probably can’t save, not if they find this place,” he said. And then he, Carrie and Ted were out the door.

  Alastair and I locked eyes. “God I’m sorry,” he said, anguish in his eyes. “I’m going to go upstairs and pack some clothes for you. Grab whatever you want to keep.” And then he was gone. I heard him tossing things around upstairs a second later.

  I looked around frantically. My whole life was in here. I grabbed the photo of my Aunt Claire that was on the Christmas tree, and my favorite quilt that she’d made, which was over the back of the sofa. I was already wearing the bracelet she’d given me and the necklace from Alastair, I wanted to save both those things as well.

  And then I made a decision. I didn’t try to grab anything else. I let the rest go, and rushed out of the house.

  Alastair was beside me on the porch a moment later, having shut off every light in the house and doused the fire with the tea on his way out. “If it looks uninhabited, they have less reason to burn it down,” he explained.

  I shut and, for whatever reason, locked the door behind us (as if that would keep out a band of murderous half-angels). We hurried to the Impala, where Joey had the engine running. He had pulled a couple big swords from the secret compartment in the trunk and was putting them in the back seat. Alastair tossed in the four bags he held (I recognized his and Joey’s among them), and I set the quilt and framed photo carefully in with them before slamming the trunk.

  I dove into the passenger seat as Joey climbed behind the wheel. The Cadillac was idling off to the side of the driveway, Ted’s concerned face peering out the window at us. “Why haven’t they gone yet? What are they waiting for?” I exclaimed.

  “I told them to follow us down, because we can drive much faster than they can. We’d all be sitting ducks if we were stuck behind them on that one lane road
when the Order found us,” Joey said. Then he looked past me and yelled, “Allie, what are you doing? Get in the car. We’ve got to go!”

  “No,” Alastair said, shaking his head. “I’m going to wait for the Order and defend Lu’s home. I’ll catch up to you when this place is secure.”

  “Like hell you are!” I yelled. “Allie, get in the car!”

  “But –”

  “But nothing. I don’t need you to defend my house. I need you to stay alive! So get in now or I’m getting out with you!”

  He hesitated before jumping in beside me and slamming the door. And then Joey took off like a drag racer, the Impala’s big engine gunning as he hurtled toward the dirt road leading into the forest. I had only a moment to verify that Ted’s car was following us before I lost sight of them.

  Joey drove like an absolute maniac, flying down the narrow, rutted road. He’d been turned at the age of fifteen, which probably meant he’d never actually gotten his driver’s license. And why I had to have that super comforting thought right then, I didn’t know. He took the turns so quickly that I was knocked around like a pinball, until Alastair pulled me onto his lap and fastened the seat belt over both of us. I pressed my eyes shut and muttered, “Tell me when we’re off the mountain,” as I buried my face in my hands.

  In only a couple minutes the car slowed. I peeked out from behind my palms and saw that we were calmly cutting through a residential area. “How on earth did you get us down here so fast?” I asked Joey.

  “By having mad driving skills. And also awesome vampire reflexes. Admit it,” he said, shooting me a grin. “You’re impressed.”

  “I almost threw up,” I told him. “And if I had, it would totally have been your fault.”

  “You know, I’m underappreciated,” Joey said, pulling up to the stoplight on Siskiyou Boulevard. “Here I am, saving your bacon, and what do I get instead of thanks? Vomit blame.”

  “Sorry,” I said, unfastening the seatbelt and sliding off Allie’s lap, because that probably looked really strange to the other motorists. “Thank you for saving us. But maybe next time, remember there’s a human in the car. And unlike you, I’m actually breakable.” I glanced around and added, “Where are you going?”