End Game (Vampire Hunter Book 6) (3 page)

“Before you interrupted, what I was
going
to say was that what you
really need to do is work on honing your ability,” Lucas said. “I think you’ve
proven that you can take care of yourself.”

“Oh. Sorry,” I said, feeling like a colossal jackass. “I don’t know how
to control my power,” I said morosely. “It only happens when I’m in danger, and
even when Jet overpowered me I couldn’t figure out how to activate it!”

“You’ve got to keep trying, and
believe
in yourself. We haven’t
got a lot of time on our side,” Lucas said.

“Okay,” I replied. “I’ll try tonight.” The truth was, whenever I was home
alone, my mind was so consumed with worry that I hadn’t put much effort towards
understanding – or attempting to control – my abilities.

“Want a lift home?” Henry asked. “I’ve got to get going.”

“Sure,” I said, even though I’d have rather stayed with Lucas than be
stuck in my room trying to figure out how to make my body heat up with
superhuman strength.

“Tomorrow we’ll figure out how to handle the wendigo,” Lucas said as we
were leaving. “One step at a time. I want to wrap up getting the rest of the
stuff Nic and I are responsible for. Then we’ll deal with the wendigo.”

Henry and Lucas shook hands and Lucas briefly touched my back as we
walked towards the door. It was funny, since Henry had almost died and Lucas
saved him, they had been a lot more cordial towards one another. They weren’t
exactly friends, but there was a mutual respect and trust that hadn’t been
there before.

Lucky for me, Mom wasn’t peeping out the window when Henry dropped me
off. The last thing I needed was her wanting to know why I’d started the day at
Lucas’ house and ended it with Henry.

But she was sitting on the couch. She muted the TV when I walked in. “I
didn’t expect you back so soon,” she commented.

“Lucas had to help his dad with something,” I lied.

“Oh, alright.” Mom didn’t ask what. “It was nice to meet Emmett today,
but I have to admit I was surprised by how…
different
he and Lucas are.
And he barely looks old enough to be Lucas’ father!”

Uh-oh. Here it comes. Mom’s going to call bullshit.

“He favors his mom much more than his dad,” I said quickly.

“Really?” Mom had an odd expression on her face. “Wasn’t that Emmett and
Lucas’ mother in the picture on the bookshelf?”

Crap.
Rachel had blond hair and looked even less like Lucas than
Emmett did.

“Actually, what I
meant
was, Lucas looks more like
her
side
of the family. If you see old pictures, her dad looks exactly like Lucas at his
age!” That sounded plausible. Genetics could skip a generation, right?

“Okay,” my mom said. I couldn’t tell if she was still suspicious or not,
but she let it drop.

As I trudged up to my room, assuring my Mom I’d
love
to help her
cook dinner in an hour, I tried to come up with ways I could strengthen my
power, like Lucas had suggested. But the problem was, I had nothing. It was
either there, or it wasn’t.

When my secure phone rang, I was thankful for the distraction. It had to
be Lucas, Henry, or maybe Emmett. But no, it was Jet. For the second time
today.

“Jet? What’s going on?” I asked as I answered the call.

“How do you feel about a date? Tonight? With a wendigo,” Jet replied.

Chapter 4

“So soon?” My voice sounded shrill. I had just heard about the wendigo
this morning! Didn’t I at least get a few days to process this new piece of
information?

“Sorry for the short notice,” Jet said apologetically. “With the
wendigos, it’s all about timing, and tonight happens to be our only window of
opportunity.”

“What do you mean?” I demanded.

“I told you wendigos are nocturnal. They need to feed every few days. There’s
a pair nearby that just feasted two nights ago. That means they basically
become sloths…until the hunger sets in again,” Jet said.

“I don’t follow…” My voice trailed off.

“They’ve been hanging out in their lair, bellies full, not a thought of
hunger or their next meal, for
two days
. This is our only opportunity to
take advantage of this…lull,” Jet explained. “It’s too dangerous to go after
them when they’re hunting for food.”

“I guess you found out it has to be me?” I asked wearily.

“It has to be you,” Jet confirmed. “But don’t worry. Like I said, a full
wendigo is a slow, bored wendigo. And there are only two of them. I can take
them,” he said confidently.

Lucas said he would go with me,
I reminded myself.
He’ll be
furious if I arrange this behind his back. But then again, he’s busy tonight
with Nicholas.

“Aurora?”

I realized Jet was saying my name.

“I asked if you could come tonight,” he said. “Honestly, if we don’t do
it now…I just don’t think there will be a better opportunity before Saturday.”

Sure, Lucas had explicitly said he wanted to go with me. But what Lucas
didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him…right? Besides, I rationalized, Lucas was
completely tied up with Nic tonight. If what Jet said was true – and this
was the only opportunity I had to get the wendigo tooth before next Saturday
– then I’d better fucking take it.

“What time?” I asked, making my decision.

“Midnight,” Jet replied.

“That won’t work,” I said immediately. “You vampires seem to forget I
have a set of parents watching my every move. I’ll have to go when the sun sets
and get
back
by midnight, at the latest.” I paused. “And even
that
will
require some creative lying.”

“Sunset is when the wendigos are first waking up,” Jet argued. “I want to
catch them when they’re the most vulnerable.”

“Then why not go during the day, when they’re sleeping?” I shot back.

“Because
I
am at my strongest when the sun has completely left the
sky,” Jet replied. “And believe me when I tell you, you
want
me at my
strongest when we meet a wendigo.”

Jet’s words hung in the air ominously; I was silent, weighing my options.
I could nix the whole thing and get Lucas to go with me later in the week. But
unless Jet was lying – and what purpose would he have in doing so?
– that was just going to make the mission a ton harder.

Sure, Lucas would be pissed, but he’d forgive me. He always did.

“Okay,” I said to Jet.

“Are you coming here then? Or should I pick you up?”

If my mom saw a
third
guy come to the house, she’d probably have a
heart attack. And Jet looked older than Lucas and Henry, which would spell even
more trouble. No, she couldn’t see Jet, ever.
She can’t see anyone picking
me up at midnight, though,
I reminded myself.

“I don’t drive yet,” I admitted. “Let me think about it and text you
later.” Jet agreed and we got off the phone.

Now there was just the pesky problem of getting out of my house unnoticed.
Mom used to sleep like a log, but lately she seemed to hear if I so much as
opened my door while she was sleeping.

There’s just no way I can risk it.
But, it
was
Saturday
night. I could pretend I was staying over at my fake friend Kelly’s house.
Trouble was, my mom was being a real pill about wanting to meet Kelly. I
groaned. It had been bad enough staging the meeting with Emmett and Lucas to
appease her. Who the hell was I going to get to play Kelly? Bunny’s annoying
face and poufy hair popped into my mind.
Not in a million years,
I
thought with a snort
.
Why did my mother keep complicating things?

You’ll technically be 18 in less than a year,
I reminded myself.
But the thought just brought sadness. Here I was, wishing away what little
precious time I’d have to spend with my parents. Assuming Tobias didn’t kill
me, of course, considering he claimed to be the only one to know how.

I shook my head, trying to focus on the issue at hand. I certainly wasn’t
going to ask Jet to stay at his haunted mansion for the night. That really only
left one person: Emmett.

Needless to say, when I called to cajole him into agreeing to my stellar
plan, Emmett was slightly less than receptive.

“Look, Emmett,” I said, trying to take the direct approach. “You and
Nicholas are the only two who seem to get it – I’ve got to take risks,
put myself in harm’s way sometimes. You
know
I can’t ask Lucas to
condone this, and Henry’s got to focus on being prepared for next Saturday.
You’re my single hope.”

“Your parents would be appalled if they thought you were spending the
night at my house,” Emmett argued.

“So they won’t find out! Just pick me up at 8; I’ll tell them you’re
taking me to a party and I’m going to my friend’s house after. Mom’s met you
now so she’ll be cool.”

“I don’t like lying to your parents,” Emmett said.

“Neither do I! You got a better idea, though?”

“See you at 8 then,” Emmett said tersely before hanging up the phone.

I decided that I’d ask my mom for permission while I helped her cook
dinner.

I plopped back down on my bed, giving up on trying to hone my mystery
power. It wasn’t going to happen tonight, that was for sure.

Now I just had to wait.

Chapter 5

Emmett arrived early. I’d told my parents that Lucas was already at the
party, and Emmett was going to drop me off. Since mom had met him, and now had
his phone number, she agreed. And, after reminding me that she wanted to meet
Kelly
ASAP
, she’d said I could stay over at her house tonight as well.

My parents walked outside so my dad could meet Emmett, who waved
awkwardly from his truck.

“Thanks for giving Aurora a ride,” Mom said with a smile.

“Oh, you don’t have to thank me,” Emmett said with a strained expression.

I hopped into his truck and told my parents I’d see them tomorrow.

“But be sure you text us tonight,” Dad reminded me.

I nodded vigorously.

“Thanks again, Emmett,” I said sincerely as he pulled away from the
house.

“Don’t thank me until this harebrained plan is over with,” he said. “How
would I explain to your mom if…something were to happen?”

“Well, it’s not!” I snapped. I lowered my voice. “Sorry, just on edge.
I’m sure it will be fine. It always is.”
Until the time it isn’t,
I
added silently.

I assured Emmett that he didn’t need to stay up and keep me company until
Jet arrived, but Emmett said he wanted to meet Jet and he couldn’t sleep
anyway. I knew he was lying – at least about not being able to sleep
– when I noticed him drifting off on the couch around 11.

I sat, tense, waiting on Jet. As the clock ticked closer and closer to
midnight, I stood by the window. I knew it had to be him when a dark blue car
pulled up at midnight on the dot.
I wonder what the salary is for head
vampire,
I mused. I was no car aficionado, but I could tell, even from a
distance, that the two-door sports car must have cost a pretty penny.

“Emmett, wake up!” I hissed. “Jet’s here.” Jet was getting out of the
car, walking towards the house now.

Emmett sat up, pushing his disheveled hair off his forehead, and went to
answer the door. “I can’t believe I fell asleep,” he mumbled.

“Come in,” he said, opening the door for Jet.

I stifled a laugh. Somehow I never got used to someone inviting a vampire
in. It reminded me of all the cheesy movies I’d seen as a kid. I couldn’t
believe the legend was real. I was also surprised Emmett had his guard down. He
was usually so…paranoid.
Maybe he just doesn’t care if he lives or dies
anymore.
I pushed the disturbing thought out of my head.

“So you’re the psychic?” Jet asked, but it wasn’t really a question.
“It’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” Emmett replied. “Where exactly are you going tonight?” he
asked nervously.

“The woods. Outside of town,” Jet answered. “We’ll be back before
sun-up.”

I gulped. I sure hoped so! How the hell long was this going to take,
anyway? But I daren’t ask.

“Don’t know what I can say, except good luck and be careful,” Emmett told
us.

We walked outside and Jet opened the car door for me. It was then that I
noticed he drove a Mercedes. The car had tinted windows and a black leather
interior. It was gorgeous.

“Nice ride,” I commented. “I’m surprised you would bring it to something,
uh, like
this
.”

“Why? I don’t plan to get anything on it.” Jet grinned. “If I have my
way, we’re getting out of there without a scratch. Which, even with our
superior healing ability, would still hurt like a bitch. A wendigo’s nails are
razor sharp.”

I shuddered, picturing an even scarier-looking Freddy Kreuger. “So what’s
the plan?”

Jet nodded to the glove box. “The pliers are in there. Go ahead, have a
look at them if you want.”

I nervously clicked the glove box open and pulled out a tool that looked like
a massive pair of tweezers. I practiced clamping them together in my hand.
“Lovely,” I said sarcastically. “So have you used these on a wendigo before?
And you still haven’t told me the plan! In fact, come to think of it, why would
you
risk coming here with me? Couldn’t you have just sent one of your
vampires?” I asked suspiciously.

Jet laughed. “Well, let me answer your last question first. I
did
consider
getting someone else to come do this. But would
you
have gone on this
expedition with anyone but me? Or Lucas?” he added as an afterthought.

Before I could answer, Jet continued, “I was actually surprised you
agreed to come with me at all. And besides, even though I have several vampires
I completely trust, you can never be too cautious.”

“That makes me feel better,” I muttered. “You keep saying I can trust
you
.
Now you’re making me doubt it.”

“Ah, that wasn’t my intent. And you
can
trust me. Now back to the
plan. There’s two of them. I’ll kill one, then you can pull the tooth on the
other while I restrain it.”

“I’d feel better if you killed it first!” I said.

“Not possible, I’m afraid,” Jet replied. “I’ve seen a few wendigos in my
lifetime. And killed a few,” he added with a grin. “They disintegrate into a pile
of dirt. You’ve got to get the tooth while the creature is alive. After you
have it, I’ll kill the wendigo, of course.”

“Okay,” I whispered. “What if something goes wrong? How do you kill it?
Just so I’ll know.”

“Nothing will go wrong,” Jet said, sounding completely confident. I
couldn’t help but wonder if he really believed it. “Killing a wendigo is pretty
easy. There’s a point, right in the middle of the chest – hunter’s call
it the life center – that you have to knife through,” Jet explained. “You
know, I’ve hunted, off and on, over my lifetime.”

“Really?” I asked in surprise.

“Not as consistently – or diligently – as Lucas and Nicholas,
but yes, before the vampire community bonded together, before I was the head
vampire, I used to take hunting assignments.”

“That makes me feel better,” I said, trying to muster a smile. At least
Jet knew what the fuck he was doing.

When we arrived at the wooded area, Jet parked his car on the outskirts.
“Just stay close behind me,” he said in a low voice. “And hang on to those
pliers.”

I got out of the car, trying to shut the door as quietly as possible.

Jet started walking and I did as he had instructed, shuffling forward so
close to him that I was almost touching his back. I didn’t look around, instead
just focusing on keeping my steps light. I didn’t want to disturb a wendigo
– or anything else, for that matter – by making too much noise.

Suddenly Jet stopped and I lurched forward, smacking into his back with a
low “oomph.” Jet turned to look at me, holding out his arm to help me regain my
balance.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

“This is where we enter their lair,” Jet whispered back.

I looked around in confusion. There were trees in every direction. Were
the wendigos hiding among them?

“No,” Jet said. “Down
here
.” He kicked with his right foot. I
leaned over, squinting, to see what he was pointing out. And then I saw it. A
tiny opening at the base of a tree.

“That’s the entrance?” I asked incredulously.

“It’s a tunnel to an underground cave,” Jet said in a low voice. “Trust
me, if I can fit through it, so can you.”

Without waiting for me to answer, Jet lowered himself flat on the ground
on his stomach. He slid his head, then the rest of his torso through the hole
as I watched in disbelief. How was I going to follow him? I hated small spaces!
I had a sudden, terrible flashback of being surrounded by dirt when I crawled
out of my grave. Why hadn’t Jet told me about this part before I agreed to go
with him?

Because you wouldn’t have agreed. Come on, Aurora. You can do this.
You don’t even need air! It’s not like you can suffocate.

Jet’s feet disappeared from view and I scrambled to the ground. The
thought of getting stuck in the middle of the woods by myself was
almost
as
bad as pulling myself through a tunnel.

I could tell Jet had a flashlight by the faint beam I could see in the
distance. It barely offered enough light for me to see the backs of his shoes.
I tried not to think about the bugs that were probably crawling all over us.
But bugs weren’t the real danger.

Jet had better be right about the wendigos being settled in their
lair, because if we meet one right now, we’re toast.

Just when I was afraid the tunnel was going to go on forever, it abruptly
ended. Jet pulled himself to his feet and helped me to mine. He shined the
light around the cave. I half expected to see some creatures lurking in the
corner, but there was nothing.

“Let’s get this over with,” Jet said grimly. There were two narrow
hallways off the main cave.

“Do you know which way to go?” I hissed.

“Nope.” Without any further explanation, Jet headed towards the hallway
on the left.

It was a short passage that opened up into another wide cave. Jet stopped
at the end of it and pressed himself against the wall, motioning for me to do
the same.

I stood against the wall next to Jet, trying to make my body as flat as
possible. “They’re in there,” Jet whispered. “Both of them. On the ground to
the left when you walk through. Have a look so you know what to expect.”

I peeped around him. At first I didn’t see them in the almost pitch
black. But then my eyes focused, and I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to
keep myself from making any noise. They were on the ground, leaning against
rocks jutting out from the wall of the cave. The wendigos were the same gray
color as the rock. Their bodies had the basic shape of a human, apart from
being incredibly thin and wiry looking, but their faces – if you could
call them that – had no features at all. It was like a blank canvas.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. Above where they were sitting were
shackles on the wall, and hanging from one of them, was a bloodied, decaying
human arm.
The remains of their last meal.

I pressed myself back against the wall next to Jet, not wanting to see
any more, thankful I couldn’t vomit.

“You ready?” Jet practically mouthed the words, they were so low.

I nodded, too terrified to speak.

And then, before I knew what was happening, before I could try to
prepare, Jet was tackling the first one. I stood there, watching, paralyzed.
But Jet had the element of surprise on his side – not to mention his
incredible speed. He easily jabbed the knife through what must have been the
life center, as he called it, because the wendigo crumbled to dust before my
very eyes.

It all seemed to happen within seconds.
One down, one to go.

But the second one was up now. And really pissed off. It was then I could
see that the wendigo towered high above Jet – it must have easily been
ten feet tall. I cowered in the entrance of the cave, not wanting the thing to
get near me. But it’s beady eyes, which I could barely make out, were trained
on Jet.

With a noise that sounded like a cross between a hiss and a growl, the
wendigo lunged at Jet. He ducked down and rolled his body away from the long,
sharp claws that were swiping at him. With another ferocious sound, the wendigo
tried again.

I watched Jet, mesmerized, as he dodged another attack. His eyes were
wild and his teeth were out. Jet had gone into full vampire mode.

Jet circled back around the creature. The wendigo spun wildly, lashing
out at him.
It can’t see very well.
That was the only explanation for
why it seemed to swipe at the air around Jet, never quite focused on an attack
point.

Jet kicked out with his foot, knocking the wendigo to the ground. He
tackled it, sitting on top of the creature, pinning its arms down. “Come on!”
he shouted at me.

I sprung into action. As I approached, the wendigo tried to lunge up
towards me. Drool and foam pooled from its mouth, which was snapping open and
closed.

“I don’t have a third hand,” Jet yelled. He was out of breath from the
struggle. “You’re going to have to get the pliers in there and yank as hard as
possible.”

With shaking hands, I brought the pliers near its mouth. It turned its
head to the side, snapping and spitting. “I don’t know how!” I said in a
panicked voice.

“I can’t restrain him forever! Come on, you have to do this,” Jet
bellowed.

I leaned in closer and jammed the pliers into the wendigo’s mouth.
Ignoring the spit and drool and horrible sounds it was making, I methodically
clamped and unclamped the pliers, trying to grasp onto something that felt like
a tooth.

“I think I’ve got it!” I exclaimed, feeling the scrape of something hard
against metal.

“Pull!”

But I didn’t need Jet to tell me. With both hands, I pulled back, yanking
and tugging as hard as possible until the tooth broke free. I was thrown back
and the pliers – along with the tooth – flew out of my hands.

“I’ve lost it!” I said, panicked.

“We’ll find it in a minute! Hand me my knife!” Jet yelled.

 My eyes searched the cave floor frantically. “By the other one
– the dead one,” he directed.

I picked up the knife by the pile of ash and held it out for Jet. In one
effortless movement he swiped it from my hands and plunged it into the wendigo’s
life center. Like the one before, it crumbled into a pile of unrecognizable
dust.

Jet climbed to his feet, panting. His eyes were less wild now but his
teeth were still out. “Haven’t seen these before, huh?” he asked, noticing me
staring at him.

“I – I have,” I said, picturing Lucas.

“Let’s get the hell out of here after we find that tooth.” Jet shined the
light on the cave floor. I picked up the metal pliers and put them in my
pocket. “Surely it’s near here,” I said. We searched for what felt like an eternity
– but was probably only two or three minutes at most – until Jet
finally located the tooth. He held it up, roots still attached.

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