Dare to Bleed (Emily Sullivan Series) (21 page)

We made it to the kitchen, and she placed the book on the counter and turned to the pantry. She opened the door and walked in. I grabbed the book and followed her. The pantry was amazing, filled with all kinds of different foods. It had to be twenty feet long. She grabbed a can of beets at the very back and pulled it forward. The pantry wall shifted and she turned to me and winked.

Sneaky little Brownie.

I shut the pantry door behind us and crept through the secret door. We entered a dirt tunnel that was about four feet tall. The tunnel was very dark, I could barely see in front of me.

“
Take my hand,” Nelly whispered. I jumped because I didn’t realize she was standing directly in front of me. I had to bend down in order to walk in the tunnel, very uncomfortable but it was my escape and my way to rescue Kimmy. We walked hand in hand for what seemed like forever. The floor was at a slight incline. I finally saw light at the end of the tunnel. Something inside told me to turn around and run, but thankfully I wasn’t dying so I didn’t need to fear the light. As we reached the outside, I felt like I wanted to do a celebratory dance. The tunnel ended in the forest. Trees and brush surrounded us. I didn’t care how far we would have to walk or run, I was just so happy that we had made it out of the house with the book. Kimmy was going to be saved.

“
We’re not out of the clear yet, honey. We need to hurry.” Nelly pulled a key out of her front pocket. This woman was my savior. We started walking through the forest stepping over roots and weeds. She moved with such grace and quickness, almost as though she knew the path well. We walked for a few minutes before we came to a thin clearing, wide enough to fit a tiny car. We turned left and kept walking. In the distance, I could see a vehicle but it was too far to make out what kind exactly. As we got closer, I could see it was a small silver car. We hopped in and took off.

Not one word was spoken for about an hour. My phone broke the silence.

“
Shit, it’s Ezra. Should I answer?” I asked her nervously. My hands were shaking.

“
Probably best to let it go to voicemail, I suppose.” She looked at my phone like it was a monster.

What would I even dare say to Ezra? I was thankful she suggested not answering it. I really didn’t want to speak to him. It would just upset me more. A few minutes later I received a call from an unknown number, I didn’t wait to hear what Nelly had to say, I knew it could be Damon and we desperately needed somewhere to meet.

“
Hello?” I answered.

“
Emily, are you ok?” Gavin replied, sounding upset.

I felt slightly disappointed. “Gavin, I’m fine. I’m sorry I had to go. I have to find Kimmy,” I replied, trying desperately to make him understand.

“
Em, even if you find her, how do you think you are going to save her? You are not as strong as us.” He sighed. I felt like a child being scolded for doing something silly.

“
I’m going to negotiate for her life. I don’t need to be as strong as you guys, I just have to be smarter.” I tried very hard not to lose my cool, but I was becoming annoyed.

“
That is not smart. What are you going to do, negotiate your life for hers?” He seemed just as annoyed. He made it sound like he would rather Damon have Kimmy than me. I guess since it was his job to protect me, if I gave myself up that would mean he failed. I didn’t want to get him fired, but Kimmy came first over all of these men.

“
What? My life? No, I am going to give him the book and say the spell in exchange for Kimmy.”

“
And how do you expect to give him a book that is locked away in Ezra’s house?” he asked.

I realized no one knew we had taken the book yet. I couldn’t help but smile. Not only had we escaped the prison we took a book that was protected by a bunch of supernatural creeps.

“
Please don’t tell me you stole the book.” Gavin took my silence as an answer.

“
Well, I didn’t exactly take it,” I told him with a hint of uncertainty in my voice.

“
But you have the book in your possession right now?” he asked, catching on.

“
Um, well yes actually.” It was nice to have something to smile about even if I felt guilty for having a little fun at a time like this.

“
You’re shitting me,” he replied, totally catching me off guard.

I started laughing. “I shit you not.”

“
Oh, little girl, you are going to be in so much trouble.” He didn’t even seem too upset about the situation.

“
Look, it’s not like I can even use the stupid book for Damon, so it’s pretty much useless to him,” I replied, getting to my point.

He sighed. “Emily, you have a lot to learn. Just promise me when you get to Damon you will call me before you meet up. I want to be closer to you.”

“
Why, Gavin, if we weren’t in hell right now I would think you were hitting on me,” I teased.

He laughed and disconnected the phone.

“
Well, the cat is out of the bag now, Nelly,” I informed her.

She continued to keep her eyes on the road. “What cat?”

“
Um, never mind it’s just a figure of speech. They know we have to book.”

She sighed and gripped the wheel harder. We arrived back in town at midnight and decided to hide out at a motel. We needed to get some shut eye, and I had a date to plan with Damon. I needed to let him know I had the book so I needed to sleep. We used cash to pay for the room just in case the guys tried to track us down. By the time we got to the room I was half asleep. I threw my bag on the floor and passed out on the couch, letting Nelly have the bed. I got the best sleep of my life. No dreams whatsoever.

I woke up, pissed off, to the smell of coffee.

“
Dammit.” Sunlight was peeking through the curtains.

“
What’s the matter, dear?” Nelly asked, handing me a cup of coffee. It tasted amazing, usually motel coffee taste like dirt.

“
The one time I needed to dream and I didn’t. I can’t understand why,” I answered angry. How was I supposed to know if Kimmy was still alive if I couldn’t find her? The one time needed to dream and I couldn’t even get that right. I couldn’t save her life. I was a nobody. It would be my fault that I couldn’t save her.

Nelly must have known I was beating myself up. She took my cup and pulled me into a motherly embrace. “Now, don’t feel sorry for yourself. We will find her. He won’t kill her, knowing that’s his only weapon against you.” She comforted me. I felt close to Nelly. We had a connection, we were both rebels. My phone started ringing.

“
It’s probably Ezra trying to find us,” I said as I answered my phone.

“
Hello,” I sighed into the phone, not ready for the conversation we were about to have. The good thing was that I could just hang up if it got too heavy.

“
Do you have what I need?” a raspy voice asked. I immediately grabbed my chest, it was Damon.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“
Damon, yes yes yes! I have the book. Please just give me Kimmy and you can have it,” I shrieked. I was so relieved that he had called me.

“
Whoa, slow down. I’ll give you directions where you can meet me. You will bring the book and nothing else. You come alone or I’ll kill the girl,” he threatened. The way he said it made me believe he wasn’t bluffing.

“
Damon, I’ll do whatever you want just… please don’t hurt her anymore,” I begged, holding back my tears. I didn’t feel too tough any longer. I was so close to getting Kimmy back. I didn’t want to get her killed because of my pride.

“
Meet me at 735 Elmore Avenue, and I’m being dead serious if I even think you are bringing your little side show I’ll kill her and then everyone you know.” He hung up.

“
Geez, he’s grumpy,” I stated out loud.

“
You know you can’t go alone.” Nelly looked worried.

“
I have to, Nelly, if I don’t he will kill Kimmy.” I knew she was right, Damon could kill me without even trying. But I was stuck.

“
Ok, I have an idea. I can drop you off. Then I’ll wait a few minutes and call Gavin. I can give him the address,” she explained, smiling.

I returned the smile, this could work. I called Gavin to let him know of the plan.

He answered on the first ring. “Hey, are you guys still in town?” I needed as much protection as close as possible.

“
Yes, we stayed at my apartment last night. Can I ask you where you are?” he asked.

I laughed nervously. “Yeah right, good try though. Look we have a plan. Damon gave me an address to meet him at. I’m going to show up alone and then have Nelly call you guys with the address so you can save my ass.” It sounded so easy surely this had to work.

“
I don’t know, Emily, I really don’t like this. It doesn’t feel right. I need to at least call Robert and Ezra,” he replied.

I didn’t have time to wait for him to decide if he was in or not. I had an opportunity to save my best friend.

“
Gavin, I don’t have time for all of this. I am doing this with or without your help. If you think you and Axle can’t protect me from the big bad vampire without Ezra then call him and show up when he gets here.” I was probably hard on him but I was grumpy and stressed.

“
That’s not what I meant at all. I just don’t feel comfortable letting you walk in there alone. I would feel responsible if anything were to happen to you.” It was almost a sweet gesture, but I didn’t know if he really cared about me or was trying to cover his own cute butt. Maybe he did feel something for me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think about it.

“
Well, sorry you feel that way but I have to do what I have to do. Now, I have a date with death so just wait for a call from Nelly to give you directions. Stay around your apartment and you will be close.”

“
God, Emily. You are so stubborn. Please be careful,” he answered with sincerity in his voice. I rolled my eyes and hung up. Me? Be careful, yeah right. I knew I was going to die. I got dressed and ate a plain bagel. Well, really I forced myself to swallow a few bites. I was more nervous than I had ever been. I plugged the address into my phone. We closed up the room and checked out. We took the directions that my phone called out in silence. Every turn we took made me even more nervous. We pulled unto a tiny dirt road. I could see an abandoned building down the road.

“
Ok, this is it. Gavin’s number is added in my phone. Um, if you need to call Ezra or Axle they are saved as “Blood Sucking Bastard’ and ‘Dumb Dog.’ Long story, anyways I guess I had better start walking. Give me fifteen minutes before you call them.” I handed her my phone and grabbed the book from the back seat. I opened my door and felt her hand on my arm.

“
Be careful, Emily. Just do exactly what he tells you.”

I nodded and hopped out of the car. I shut the door and started walking. Each step felt like I was walking in quick sand. I finally snapped out of it.

“
Come on, Emily. You will be fine. Keep focused on saving Kimmy,” I reassured myself. I got closer and noticed Damon standing at the front door. I picked my head up and no longer felt fear. I felt enraged. This guy had ruined my life. I only wanted to kill him slowly. I didn’t know if that was possible for a vampire but I wanted to try.

He must have felt my anger, because he smiled in response. I had to keep in mind that Gavin and Axle would come to my rescue soon. In a few minutes Nelly would be calling them.

“
I see you brought the book, alone, as I asked. That’s a good start,” Damon greeted me.

I wanted to tell him where he could shove the book, but thought against it.

“
I want to see Kimmy,” I answered.

He turned around and walked inside the building. I followed into the creepy rat shack. It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. It was a small open building. There was a counter at the front and a jail cell in the back. It looked as though no one had used the place in years. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs. The light shining in from a few broken windows illuminated every dust particle flying around. The jail cell caught my attention. Kimmy was no longer there. In fact I couldn’t see her anywhere.

“
Where is Kimmy? We had a deal.”

He laughed. “You have only one chance to save her. This was a test.”

I was confused, I was trying to save her, but she wasn’t in the building.

“
I am trying to save her, asshole, where is she?” I cried out. A sick feeling crept over me. Had he already killed her and this was only a set up to kill me too? We continued to walk to the cell. The room still held the chair from my dream but empty this time. The ropes that were used on Kimmy were loosely draped around the back rest.

“
You want to save her? Go ahead,” he said, gesturing into the cell.

“
You really think I’m going to go in there so you can lock me up?” I answered, crossing my arms over my chest. I was really worried about Kimmy, I was hoping maybe he had let her go.

“
You’re wasting time, and I don’t know how long you can hold your breath but I hope Kimmy can hold hers for longer.” He pointed into the cell. That’s when I noticed the shovel in the far corner of the room. The floor was made of dirt and looked like it had been dug up recently. That’s when it came together, he had buried Kimmy alive.