How to Date a Dead Guy Page 7

  “Is this why I’m here?” she asked, her eyes searching mine. How do I tell her the truth without terrifying her?

  “Because of your bloodline –”

  “No,” she stepped forward, her hand wrapping around mine as I clutched the necklace. “This.” Her eyes searched mine for a moment before I hissed, sucking in a breath and pulling from her touch. It was overwhelming, and as oblivious as Nova had seemed, she was a quick learner.

  “I’m sorry,” I breathed, my voice hoarse like sandpaper against my throat. “I’ll fix all of this for you.”

  Rule 8: Don’t Fear Death

  Nova

  “YOUR FATHER MADE SURE you were safe, even when he couldn’t be there for you.”

  “Safe? From who?”

  “Someone like you is very rare. You’re the only vampire/human offspring I’ve met in my entire life.”

  “And how long has that been?” I asked, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

  “I was turned when I was nineteen. I was able to live among people until what would have been my twenty-fourth birthday. Then I ended the façade of my human life with a drowning and disappeared for a few years until those who knew me were long gone.”

  “That must have been hard.”

  “I did what I could for my brother when he was little. He was on the spectrum, and our mother wasn’t really the maternal type.”

  “That can be tough on a mother,” I mumbled, thinking of how hard it was for my own mother to raise me. I’d been diagnosed with Asperger’s when I was only eleven. She did the best she could as a single mother, but sometimes it felt like it took everything just to hold herself together. “Why didn’t you change him? Make him like you?”

  “Because he deserved to live a normal life. Not hiding in the shadows. At least until he turned eighteen and wouldn’t be considered a missing child.”

  “So, what happened?”

  “Two weeks before his birthday, he found our mother’s sleep medication. He overdosed and was gone before I’d ever known.”

  “And your mother?”

  “She ended her life seven days later. She had no one left, so she gave up. I couldn’t even go to her and comfort her because of what I am...”

  I felt tears prick my eyes, and Lucas furrowed his brow before shaking his head. “I was turned eighteen years ago. But some here have been around for hundreds of years. Your father’s lineage traces back to the very first vampire.”

  “Y-you mean, like, Vlad the Impaler?”

  “No. Vampires date back about one hundred years before him. Most believe the first of our kind was created from a genetic mutation that prevented the plague from killing him. He seemed to be immune to everything. So they took him and used him to conduct experiments on until they eventually were able to stop the spread of the disease. But soon after, those that were saved by his blood rallied to break him free, creating our first faction. He was never heard from again. Some have another theory.”

  “Another theory? Like what?”

  He smirked. “The legend of William, son of Nicholas and his beloved immortal. They say a witch was so desperate not to lose the man she loved during the black plague, that she cast a powerful spell on him that prevented him from dying. They managed to keep his condition a secret, for the most part, because of all the death around them, but eventually, he was found out and tortured until he gave up the secret of his condition. They burned his bride-to-be at the stake in front of him, but not before she cast an incantation of reincarnation upon herself so she could return to her beloved. In turn, he vowed to populate the Earth with others like him until he could take out all of the savages; the humans, until one day, the only creature left with a beating heart would be his beloved immortal. That’s the Hans Christian Andersen version of the story, anyway. That was before we learned how to control ourselves and adapt; to drink from donated blood. We come back to Briarwick Academy for a few months every decade to learn what is new in the human world, what has changed. The better we blend in, the easier our existence is, for both of us.”

  “What happened to him? To William?”

  “Some say he made it about a century without her before he couldn’t take the pain of being alone, and he ended his existence. Others believe because he is the first of our kind, he can’t be killed, and still walks among us to this day. And because his heart will forever be broken, but still beating, he made sure everyone after him would not have to suffer through the same torment.”

  “That’s why your heart doesn’t beat. Where do I fit into all of this?”

  “You’re mostly human as far as I can tell. You can move among them undetected. But you have gifts of your own. You just have to discover them.”

  “Gifts? Like what?”

  Lucas took my hand in his and tugged me down on the bed, so we were sitting facing each other. “All I know is the stories we’ve been told.”

  I nodded, encouraging him to continue.

  “They say hybrids are usually hunters.”

  “Hunters? Like vampire hunters? How is that possible?”

  “Vampires can mostly hide amongst humans but not from hunters. Not if you know what to look for.”

  “Like what?” I asked, leaning in closer to him. “Like when we touch,” I held up my hand, and he placed his palm against mine. “It makes me feel –”

  “Alive,” Lucas finished, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face as we let our hands fall. “I feel it too. I don’t think that is a hunter thing. I think that is just us.”

  Us. A blush crept across my skin. I liked the sound of that. Even though I hadn’t known Lucas long, we had some sort of special connection. It felt like he’d always been in my life. Maybe things like fate and destiny were real. And if I was born to be a hunter, perhaps I was born to be with him too.

  “You’re smiling,” he whispered as he reached up and ran his thumb across my lower lip.

  “Rule number three, right?”

  “This is a lot to take in for one day. Maybe we should let you get some rest and work on it more tomorrow.”

  “Oh, ok.”

  Lucas pushed to his feet, and I did the same, trying not to look forlorn at the thought of him leaving.

  The sound of rain began to pelt the window, and both of us turned our attention toward the curtain.

  “You don’t want me to go.”

  “Um, no, not really,” I muttered, tucking my hair behind my ear that had fallen from my messy updo.

  “Does that happen often?”

  “The rain?” I asked, my nose scrunching up. “You tell me, I’m not from around here.”

  He chuckled, shaking his head. “I think we may discover that you’re more special than anyone could have guessed. Go get changed for bed. I’ll stay if you want me to.”

  “Okay.” I pulled myself from his gaze and grabbed a pair of shorts and a tank top from my drawers before slipping into the bathroom to change. My hair was a mess, and the little bit of mascara I’d applied was now smeared under my eyes like a raccoon. I washed my face, careful to clean the small scrape on my neck, and ran my brush through my hair quickly before slipping back into the bedroom.

  Lucas had put our show on and had used the blanket I’d brought with me to make himself a place to lay on the rug.

  I slipped into my bed, pulling my covers over me as I fought to slow my mind enough to get some rest.

  “Lucas,” I whispered his name and waited for his face to angle up toward me from his spot on the floor. “Why are you helping me if my job is to kill vampires?”

  His brow furrowed, and I watched his throat bob as he swallowed. “Because immortality isn’t a gift, it’s a curse. And maybe if I do this for you, one day, you can return the favor.”

  “Return the favor?” I asked before I felt a chill rippled through me. “You want me to kill you?” The words came out in a rushed whisper.

  “An eternity alone is worse than any death.”

  “What if you’re not a
lone?” I asked.

  “Hybrids aren’t immortal, Nova. No matter what, I will always end up alone in the end.”

  “But what if – ”

  “I promise you that won’t be what you want. And even if it was, we can’t be sure it would be safe. I would never take that chance unless there was no other option.” He turned back toward the television, and I let my head fall on my pillow with a soft thud as I thought that over.

  It only took a single episode of Vamp Camp before I’d drifted off, locked in the memory of the night Wyatt died.

  I could see headlights barreling toward us. I was now behind the wheel, with Wyatt replaced by Lucas. I screamed out to warn him of the imminent collision, but just before impact, his hand gripped mine. All of my fears washed away with that simple touch. The headlights blowing by us and fading off into the distance. I clutched his hand in mine, half-awake as I rolled to my side.

  “Thank you,” I mumbled, lacing my fingers with his.

  “Rule number eight – Don’t fear death.” His hand gripped mine tighter, and I fell into a peaceful sleep, wondering if he meant the nightmares of Wyatt dying or not to fear him.

  Lucas

  I waited until her breathing deepened, her brow no longer furrowed as if in pain before I slipped from her room. I needed to feed.

  The night air was crisp and refreshing against my flesh. Fog hung thick in the air, coating my skin in a thin sheen of vapor. The campus was alive, with the undead.

  How do I tell Nova that everything that is happening to her now is my fault? That when all of this is over, she will hate me. It was inevitable.

  All I could do now is keep her safe and keep Fellows from destroying us all. He was playing a dangerous game, and I just wasn’t exactly sure what his angle was yet.

  Regardless, Nova had a lot of time to make up for. She’d need to learn to protect herself. She’d need to know what exactly she was up against. Sylvi was the least of her concerns.

  Contrary to how vamps were portrayed in the movies, we weren’t very different from our former selves. But some of us started off as bad people. If you held a lot of anger and couldn’t be trusted before, those personality traits were only amplified when we were turned.

  I slipped into Carson’s Corner, the eatery overflowing in the dead of night. I glared at Lachlan, who once was on track to become a pro football player, as I passed him and made my way to the counter I’d been at with Nova.

  “B-positive,” I called out to the man behind the counter, tapping my fingers against the glass. He grunted before grabbing a bag from the back and dipping it into the warmer.

  “I heard you created a little stir over at the library.”

  I glanced up to Lachlan at my side as his lips twisted up in a wide smile. “You weren’t there? I’m shocked Fellows didn’t send you to punish me again.”

  “Nah, I was training,” he replied. Lachlan lived as if his life never ended. He still held out hope that one day, vampires would be accepted among the humans, and he could still live out his dream. “You know, I didn’t want to be his enforcer. We all have our part to play,” he added with a cringe. “I always liked you, Lucas, even if you were a wild card. That’s why I took it so easy on you.”

  “Glad to know that breaking half of my bones was you taking it easy on me, Lennie,” I joked, referencing the character from Of Mice and Men. I took my blood bag, nodding thanks to the man behind the counter before sauntering off to a table in the corner. Last time I’d run into Lachlan, I’d been locked up and tortured for three days as punishment for breaking the rules. The real agony was not being able to keep an eye on Nova, worrying that she could need my help, and I wouldn’t be there to protect her.

  Lachlan followed after me like a lost puppy, not getting the hint that I didn’t want to hang out with him. “You know if something happens to her, it’s only going to set us back further,” He continued.

  Her. Nova. It was all anyone could focus on, and I was desperate to clear my head, even for a few minutes while I drank my blood like the animal I was. “I can keep her safe.”

  Lachlan snorted, running his fingers over his buzzed blonde hair. He looked enormous in the tiny chairs of the eatery. “Not without my help.”

  “Why would you want to help me?”

  He shrugged, leaning back in his seat. “I want to help myself. If that girl can live with us and not be harmed, maybe –”

  “They’re never going to accept us, Lachlan.” I shook my head, draining the remainder of the contents of my dinner. It wasn’t enough to satiate my hunger. Not even close.

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I do know that,” I shot back, slamming my palm against the table as my fangs ran out. “We were like them once, remember? They fear anything they don’t understand, anyone who is different.”

  “Not all of them. Look at Nova. She’s still here, right?”

  “They don’t even accept their own kind,” I dismissed him.

  “But Nova –”

  “Nova isn’t here to save you.”

  “Then why is she here, huh?” He snarled, his own fangs dropping as he struggled to keep himself under control. “Why would Fellows let a human in here if there wasn’t a good reason.”

  He was right. There had to be more of a reason than just to punish me for breaking the rules. I just had no idea what it was yet. He claimed we needed to keep her safe, that if someone from Edgewood found out she existed, they’d destroy her. But Nova could have walked amongst them her entire life undetected. She never had to know who she really was. “That’s what I need to find out.”

  “Let me help you. Let me help us.”

  “It could be dangerous.”

  Lachlan relaxed again with an easy smile playing on his lips. “I think I can handle it.”

  Rule 9: Live, and Die, with No Regrets

  Nova

  I AWOKE FROM MY FIRST full night of sleep since the accident, Lucas’ fingers still tangled in mine. I blinked, my eyes focusing on his, wide and alert. “Did you sleep?” I asked, pulling my hand free and stretching.

  “No rest for the wicked,” he replied, pushing to his feet. I sat up. My legs were dangling off the edge of the bed. “But I hope you did because today we start your training.”

  “Training? For what?”

  “You need to be able to defend yourself, and while we’re at it, we might be able to figure out some of your talents.”

  I snorted. “The only talent I have is the ability to trip over my own feet and singing off-key when I forget I’m wearing earbuds.” My eyes went to the television, frozen on the menu screen for Vamp Camp. “I guess this makes me an idiot.” I looked up at him, searching his face as I thought about what he’d said about the human character not running from the vampire when she found out what he really was.

  “It makes you fearless.”

  Lucas pulled the necklace he’d given me from his pocket, the chain no longer broken. I pushed from my bed and turned around, letting him drape it around my throat and latch it behind my neck.

  “You have too much faith in me,” I muttered, rolling the pendant between my fingers.

  “Maybe you don’t have enough faith in yourself.”

  TWENTY MINUTES LATER, Lucas was leading me across campus. Every face we passed seemed to be angled toward us, watching our every move behind dark lenses.

  “I think it’s safe to say that word of your run-in with Sylvi has spread.”

  “They think I’m stupid,” I groaned. “And they’re right. What kind of person moves into a vampire haven and doesn’t even realize it? Huh?”

  Lucas let out a small laugh, shaking his head before gripping my hand in his. “It doesn’t matter what they think. All that matters is that we are ready to fight if necessary.”

  I pulled him to a stop, turning to face him. “I can’t save anyone, Lucas.”

  “That’s because you don’t understand how special you are.” He tucked a wayward strand of hair, that had falle
n free from my ponytail, behind my ear. “Besides, the only person you need to keep safe is yourself.”

  I scoffed, shaking my head. “Special or not, I can’t beat up vampires.”

  “You are far more powerful than any being on this campus. You just don’t know how to use it yet. I’m going to teach you.”

  I nodded once, still doubting if there was any way I’d ever be able to help them. “You still haven’t told me who I need protecting from.”

  “Briarwick is a clan. We have three academies across the US so that we can rotate locations. There are hundreds of more clans across this country alone. Most work together, but there are some who keep themselves outside of the network.”

  “Is Edgewood a clan?”

  “No. It’s a coven.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked before leaning closer, to whisper, “Like witches? I thought that was just some story. They’re real?”

  “They don’t call it Edgewood Academy of the Gifted for nothing.”

  I stopped walking, my eyes searching his face. “My mom went to Edgewood.”

  “I know.”

  “Does that mean – Is she –”

  “No,” he replied. “Not anymore.”

  “Lucas, none of this makes any sense.”

  “Come on,” he motioned toward the path, and we continued on. “Your mother broke the rules. She was warned to stay away from your father.” He stopped in front of the old library. I looked up over the stone structure. It was gorgeous in the daytime, like it had been pulled from another century. “Vampires commit to each other – they couple – and create their own factions, like families. They protect each other. But vampires aren’t supposed to be able to love. Not really. Once the heart dies, so does any love it possessed inside of it. But your parents were different.”

  “What do you mean? How?”

  “That’s what we need to find out.”

  “What are we doing here?”

  “Don’t worry. It’s empty during the day. I just want to show you the books.”