End Game (Vampire Hunter Book 6) (7 page)

David and I locked eyes. Neither of us spoke.
Why is he here? Can
Henry see him from where he’s doing the spell?

“He’s just stunned,” Mr. Matthews finally said. “You need to leave before
he wakes up.”

“I – I can’t,” I stuttered. Henry still had to shut the Gates, and
I had to find out what had happened to Lucas and Nic!

“Help me!” I said. I rushed towards Tobias’ crumpled body. “Let’s send
him to Hell,” I instructed, vaguely aware that I had no choice at the moment
but to trust the enemy.

We each grabbed a foot and started dragging him. But the blow that Mr.
Matthews inflicted didn’t keep Tobias knocked out for long. He twisted his feet
out of our grasp and kicked at David’s ankles, making him lose his balance, sending
him hurtling to the ground.

“You betrayed me!” Tobias screamed at David. “After everything I’ve done
for you, this is how you repay me? Help the living dead bitch throw me into
Hell?” He was hitting David over and over. At first, David tried to fight back,
but now he was still, lifeless.

I sprung into action, diving towards Tobias and knocking him away from
David.

“Oh, you want your turn?” he asked. “By all means.”

For some reason, my stupid superhuman strength was still not kicking in.
Tobias easily gained the upper hand, and for such a small man, he was
incredibly powerful.

“Remember how I told you I could
kill
you?” he asked, easily
holding me against the ground. “Well, you’re about to find out
how
.”

Tobias took his fingers and pressed them, hard, into the side of my neck,
where I used to be able to feel my pulse, when I was alive.

“I killed the last person who was brought back to life,” Tobias said, his
slimy fingers digging deeper into my neck. “I never should have entertained
working with you. I will be the only resurrected person – no, the only resurrected
God
– to walk the Earth.”

I’m really about to die. Everything has gone horribly wrong, and now
I’m going to cease to exist.

I expected to feel like I was fading away as whatever life force had been
keeping me alive finally left my body. The universe was against me. I couldn’t
activate my power when I needed it, and now I was going to die.

But as Tobias kept pushing on my neck, cursing, looking more and more
angry, it hit me:
It’s not working.
Whatever Tobias did to kill the last
person brought back by the spell – well, it was having no effect on me.

The realization gave me renewed strength – and determination.
Finally, the
heat,
the fire I needed to feel burning inside of me,
starting to ignite. I slapped Tobias’ hands away from my neck and sprung up from
the ground in one effortless movement.

“You can’t kill me,” I hissed, “but I can sure as hell kill you!” I had
Tobias restrained now, easily holding him down with one hand. I took the other
and placed it on his neck, in the same exact spot where he’d pressed on mine.

“Stop, stop.” Tobias’ bravado was gone; he was a weak, pitiful excuse of
a creature. And he was going to die. I pressed harder, watching in fascination
as Tobias’ face went completely white. His frenzied kicking and flailing slowly
stopped as his body became eerily still. Next, his eyes glazed over. His mouth
opened slightly, revealing a disgusting, bloated purple tongue. I kept pushing
on his neck, just for good measure, even though I could tell it was over. That
was it. Tobias was dead. I don’t know how I knew with such certainty, but I
did. Deep down in my gut. I had just killed him.

I stood up and walked over to David Matthews. His breathing was shallow.
His eyes were open, trying to focus on me, but just like Tobias’, they looked
glassy and lifeless.

He’s dying.

I reached my hand out and placed it over David’s face, watching as the
horrible gashes Tobias had inflicted healed before my very eyes. As the glassy
eyeballs started to focus, as his pale face began to return to a normal color.

David gasped and sat up. “How?” he sputtered. “I – I was dying. I
could see the light. I knew I was about to walk through it.”

“Because I can.” I stood up and David got to his feet as well.

I looked back towards Henry and our eyes locked. He had seen his father.
All these months of hiding, and Henry now knew.

There was a rumble from the fiery pit and David and I both jumped. I
returned my gaze to Henry. He was staring down now, focused on the spell. The
crack in the ground spewed out flames as it started shrinking, closing in on
itself.

He’s doing it! Henry’s closing the Gates!
I couldn’t tear my eyes
away from Henry, paralyzed, watching him add item after item to a bubbling pot.
And then he took a knife and ran the sharp blade down his arm. Blood flowed out
as I watched in horror, unable to stop myself from screaming out. The Gates
were closing, the Earth sealing back up, but at what cost? Why had Henry hurt
himself for the spell? After cutting his own arm, he was now slouched over,
passed out, his head resting on his knees.

David and I ran towards him. “What’s going on?” I screamed over the roar
of the Gates closing.

“I don’t know!” David said frantically. He crouched down next to Henry
and lifted his head up. I gasped. Blood was pouring out of Henry’s nose.

“The spell! The spell!” I yelled frantically. “What if it’s killed him?”

“Aurora!” It took me a minute to realize someone was saying my name.
Lucas! He was okay!

“Your friends are fine,” David said, still cradling Henry. “When Tobias
told me about tonight, I thought it might be a trap. So I got here early and
drew circles and markings all along the edge of the woods. I covered them with
leaves so no one could see. No supernatural creature can cross the line if
they’ve been trapped inside one.”

“Then I can’t either!” I said frantically. “Please, help!”

Looking torn, David stood up and gently let Henry’s head drop back down
on his chest. We rushed over to where Lucas and Nicholas were trapped by the
drawings David had made. He kicked up the leaves and scooted his foot over the
chalk, smudging the line. Nicholas and Lucas were free.

We all hurried back to Henry’s side. “Is he going to be okay?” I asked
frantically. “The spells – they’re killing him!”

“He’s going to be fine,” Nicholas assured me.

“How do you know?” I sounded hysterical, but I couldn’t control it.

“We need to get the fuck out of here,” Lucas swore. “But Nic is right,
Henry will be fine. Let’s get to my apartment,
now
!”

“I’m coming with you,” David said.

“Haven’t you done enough already?” I asked angrily as Nicholas and Lucas each
grabbed one of Henry’s arms and lifted him up.

“I’m not leaving my son!” David replied.

“Well, come on, then,” Lucas growled. We headed back to where Lucas had
parked his car, away from the Gates.

“I’ll take Henry’s car to your apartment,” Nicholas said. They put Henry
in the backseat and David got in next to him.

“Here are his keys.” David fished them out of Henry’s jeans pocket and
handed them to Nicholas.

I climbed in the front seat and pulled the door closed as hard as
possible, wanting to punch something, wanting to scream, but not knowing who or
what to take my frustration out on.

“Start talking,” Lucas said to Mr. Matthews, cranking the car and peeling
away.

“I guess you know I’ve been working with Tobias,” David said. “I realized
he was crazy right away, but I had to stay on his good side; I was too
terrified of what he’d do to me – and my family – if he thought I
would ever cross him.”

“Don’t paint yourself out to be the victim here,” Lucas said harshly. “We
know you were supporting Leon, trying to send Aurora back to the grave.”

“Yes,” David said. “I won’t deny it. But I swear I had nothing to do with
Aurora’s murder – the first time, at least. I’d never heard of Leon;
sure, I had been practicing magic for a long time, but I stayed away from
demons, mostly took on small jobs where I could lay low.”

“But Henry said you wouldn’t help look for me,” I said suspiciously. “The
night I was murdered, when I disappeared from that party.”

“It’s true,” Mr. Matthews confirmed. “There was talk that something big
was coming; I had been hired – by whom, I didn’t know – to sit at
home and wait for instructions. No one called, though. I didn’t find out until
later on that Leon was the one behind it. He was scared, after what the prophet
said, that his plan to kill you might not work without, um, magical
intervention.”

David paused. “Henry’s mother was originally supposed to pick him up, but
she was ill and went to bed early, so I was trying to get Henry home as quickly
as possible in case I needed to do a spell. That’s why I brushed him off when
he insisted that we go look for Aurora.”

“That’s all fine and good,” I said angrily, “but what’s your excuse for
working with Leon
after
you figured out I was the one in the prophecy?”

David sighed. “When Leon approached me about ways to send you back to the
grave, I admit I
did
agree to it. He was offering a lot of money for my
services, and I had a family to support. Henry’s Ivy League bound, and that
doesn’t come cheap.”

“But you’ve known me since I was a little kid,” I sputtered. “How could
you do that to me? To
Henry
?”

“Henry had already dealt with your death,” David argued. “He’d been
through the long, painful grieving process. And frankly, I didn’t want him to
know that you were back. He was just moving on, starting to do normal things
again. I thought if Leon and I could quietly, discreetly reverse the spell that
brought you back in the first place that I would be helping Henry in the long
run. I’m not saying what I did was
right
; I’m just telling you my
reasoning.”

Henry moaned in the seat next to his father. “I had no idea he was going
to be here tonight,” David continued. “Tobias told me you had promised to show
him your demon killing ability, Aurora. I immediately suspected something was
fishy; no one in their right mind would help Tobias. But I didn’t have a clue
that my son was involved,” David said in a strained voice. “In retrospect, I should
have suspected something. I was a fool to think if I hid my true identity that
Henry would never figure out that he was a warlock, too. I didn’t want this
life for him, not now, not ever.”

“Being a warlock doesn’t automatically mean you have to use your ability
for evil, to support the bad guys,” Lucas said angrily from the driver’s seat.
David didn’t answer and we all fell silent.

“How do you know he’s going to be okay?” I asked finally. “I feel like I
keep asking that question, and no one is giving me any real answers.” We were
almost at Lucas’ apartment now.

“Let’s go inside and talk,” Lucas said, once again dodging my question.

When he pulled Henry from the backseat, Henry’s eyes flickered open
briefly. He was starting to wake up! Henry half-walked, half let Lucas carry
him into the apartment. Nicholas was right behind us.

Lucas placed Henry on the couch, and I was reminded of the last time
Henry was passed out at Lucas’ place, poisoned from the vampire bite Bartholomew
had inflicted. But this time, Henry didn’t look close to death. He didn’t even
look sick. No, he looked as alive as I’d ever seen him. His breathing was
regular, strong. And his coloring was normal.

“I guess he’s really going to be fine,” I said in relief. “But – ”
I turned to look at Lucas and Nicholas, who were both hovering by the door. “It
doesn’t make sense. Why were you so sure?”

They exchanged glances. “Why?” I asked again; my voice sounded shrill,
even to my own ears.

Lucas’ face was hard and he was methodically clenching and unclenching
his fists. Nicholas looked nervous.
This can’t be good.

“Because,” Lucas finally said, “Henry isn’t human anymore. There’s no
good way to break it to you, so I’ll just say it. He’s a vampire.”

“What?” I jumped up from the armrest of the couch, where I had been
sitting, watching Henry. “You’re wrong!” I said, panic setting in. “Why would
you even say something so stupid?” I spat out at Lucas.

David remained eerily quiet, his mouth hanging open in shock and
disbelief.

“It’s true, Aurora,” Nicholas said in a low voice.

I spun towards him. “You, too?” I screamed. “What is
wrong
with
you guys?”

“We realized it as soon as we got to the Gates,” Nicholas said. “Vampires
sense human blood, and we both immediately knew that Henry had been turned.
That’s probably why Henry insisted on driving himself there. He didn’t want us
to find out until after everything was over.”

“Oh God, what have I done? I could have been there for him, could have
stopped this!” David Matthews buried his face in his hands as his body shook
uncontrollably. I almost,
almost
, felt sorry for him. But I was in too
much shock. And really, Mr. Matthews didn’t deserve any sympathy.

“That’s ridiculous!” I tried again. “It’s illegal to turn a human. And
neither of
you
would do it! So who?
Who
?” I screamed, my voice
reaching a fever pitch.

“There’s only one vampire I can think of,” Lucas said grimly. “Jet.”

“The
head
vampire?” Mr. Matthews asked incredulously. “You’re
telling me my son was turned by the head vampire?”

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” Lucas replied. “And yeah, at this point,
that’s my best guess. I knew I didn’t like the guy.”

“Well I’m going over there
right now
,” I seethed.

“I’ll go with you,” Lucas replied.

“No!” Nicholas said firmly. “Lucas, with all due respect, brother, your
head’s not screwed on straight about this. I get that Jet owes us answers
– if in fact he is Henry’s maker – but
I’ll
go with Aurora.”

“I want to give him a piece of my mind,” Lucas argued.

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. You can’t kill Jet.” Lucas started to
protest but Nicholas held up his hand. “You can deny it all you want, but I
know
you, I know your thought process. And, fuck, I get it. But you can’t stake
him. You’d have a target on your back so big that you might as well just commit
suicide before they got to you. You’re not thinking clearly. Which is why
I
am
going with Aurora to get some answers. And besides, someone needs to stay with
Henry. He should be waking up soon,” Nicholas said.

“I can stay with my son,” David countered.

“Uh, you do realize you’re still
human
, right?” Nic asked. “I’m
not sure hanging out alone with a newly turned vamp is the smartest thing to
do. It takes some practice in self-restraint to resist human blood. You want
Henry to wake up and decide he needs a snack?”

David didn’t answer.

“Fine,” Lucas said angrily. “Just go, before I change my mind.” I had
never heard Lucas so furious before.

Nicholas grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door. “We’re taking Henry’s
car,” he said as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

“How come you’re not angrier about this?” I demanded, getting into the
passenger seat.

At first Nicholas didn’t answer, and I could tell he was weighing his
next words carefully. “It’s just…ultimately, it’s Henry’s life. If he made the
decision on his own – without Jet forcing him – then I’m not sure
what there is to be angry about.” He paused. “You’ve got to remember, I turned
Lucas without his permission. Sure, it was a different time and a different
place, but I just can’t judge the situation until we have all the facts.”

“I guess,” I grumbled.

“Lucas doesn’t believe that vampires should ever turn humans, but I know
it’s not that black and white,” Nicholas continued. “Nothing ever truly is.”
His words hung in the air as I fell silent, brooding, watching out the window,
until we left the residential streets and turned onto the deserted road that
led to Jet’s isolated house.

I had managed to calm down a little during the drive, but when his
ominous lair came into view, I could feel myself bubbling with renewed anger.
It had to be Jet who did this to Henry. There was no one else. And Nicholas was
wrong; there would never have been a good enough reason.

Nicholas had barely stopped the car when I jumped out, stormed up to the
tall gate that surrounded the front garden and rang the buzzer. A moment later,
Jet’s voice came through the intercom. “Aurora! I didn’t expect you tonight. I
hope everything is okay. I’ll be right out.”

I stood impatiently tapping my foot while we waited on Jet.

“Lassie, stay,” Jet instructed as he stepped out into the yard and came
to unlock the gate.

“You must be Nicholas Winchester?” he asked as we followed him towards
the house.

“The one and only,” Nicholas quipped. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Jet opened the front door of the house and we followed him
inside, where he led us to the room that Henry and I had been in during my last
visit.

“What happened tonight?” Jet asked, looking worried. “Did it go as
according to plan?”

 Nicholas sat down on the couch but I remained standing. “Did you do
it?” I asked angrily, ready to lunge at Jet if he admitted he had.

Jet’s face registered what looked like genuine surprise. “You mean did I
turn Henry? Yes, I did, but why in the world are you so furious?”

Unable to stop myself, I started punching Jet, over and over in the
chest. He barely flinched. After a minute, he reached out and grabbed each of my
fists with his hands, stopping my assault. “Aurora, what’s gotten into you?”

I half expected for Nicholas to try and intervene, but he didn’t.

With a frustrated moan, I wrenched my arms out of Jet’s grasp and slumped
down on the couch next to Nicholas.

“Why would you turn him? Why? I know he didn’t want this. And isn’t it
illegal anyway?” I demanded.

Jet gave me an odd look. “Well, yeah, it’s illegal. But that’s why I won’t
get caught.” He paused. “I thought Henry would have told you what he was planning?”

“What do you mean?” Nicholas asked.

“Henry came to see me Wednesday night,” Jet explained, sitting down
across from us and raking his hands through his dark hair. “He asked me to turn
him into a vampire. I have to admit I was intrigued by his request; it was more
than tempting, to be the maker of the world’s most powerful warlock.”

“I don’t believe Henry asked you that!” I sputtered. “He would never, not
in a million years…” My voice trailed off.

Jet held up his hands in surrender. “Look, you’re going to have to talk
to Henry about the how and why – I’m just telling you what happened. I initially
said that I wouldn’t do it, not unless he was
absolutely
100% certain. I
asked him if he was prepared to spend eternity trying to avoid sunlight,
craving human blood but being forced to drink the synthetic kind instead,
having to learn to control the rage and sheer power when your teeth come out. I
didn’t sugar coat it. I said that for all the pros, there were three times as
many cons.”

“And?” I demanded.

“Henry revealed the real reason he’d gotten the idea in the first place.
The spell to close the Gates required blood from a newly turned vampire,” Jet
said.

“So that was why he cut his arm, at the very end of the spell,” I
whispered.

“Even then,” Jet continued, “I said there was no reason it
had
to
be him. I offered to turn another human and get the blood he needed. But Henry
was adamant.”

My anger with Jet was starting to fade but quickly being replaced by
another feeling: intense hurt. How could Henry make a decision like that
without so much as asking my opinion?

“But he was at school Thursday and Friday,” I said. “In broad daylight.”

Jet nodded. “He had to be turned within 24 hours of the spell. I advised
Henry to think about it, and come back and see me Friday night if he was certain
that was what he wanted.”

Nicholas, who had been silent for most of this, finally spoke. “It sounds
like Henry has chosen his destiny,” he said quietly. I knew what he was really
saying: I had no right to be mad about this.

“Why are you so upset?” Jet asked me pointedly. “Honestly, I thought you
and Lucas were together. I know Henry is a close friend, but is there something
more?”

“No, of course not,” I said, a little too defensively.

Jet shrugged. “I assumed, since the four of you were working together,
that Henry would tell you what he’d become. He wouldn’t have a choice, really, because
Lucas and Nicholas would sense that he has vampire blood coursing through his
veins, not human blood.”

“He didn’t tell me anything,” I said, my voice flat.

“That’s all I know. I promise. You’ll have to direct any other questions
towards Henry. Speaking of which, why did you storm over here to confront me?
Is he hurt? Can someone enlighten me as to what went down tonight?” Jet asked.

“It didn’t exactly go according to plan,” Nicholas said, shaking his
head. “But it wasn’t a total failure either.” I let Nic tell Jet what had
happened, elaborating on the parts that he and Lucas couldn’t quite see because
they were trapped by the markings Mr. Matthews had drawn.

“That’s amazing!” Jet said when we had finished. “If you ask me, this
went better than you could have hoped. Tobias is dead, which means that we
won’t have to deal with him ever again.”

“The spell is supposed to seal the Gates forever,” I reminded Jet.

“Right, but even forever has an expiration date,” he replied. “We’re
immortal. Don’t get me wrong, there’s no imminent danger of the Gates being
thrown back open tomorrow, but there’s also no guarantee that someone –
or some
thing
– won’t figure out how to open them in another
thousand years.”

“He’s right,” Nicholas said. “Tobias dead is even better than him going
to Hell. At least Magnus, although he’s pure evil, isn’t a
crazy
evil.”

“What about Leon?” Jet asked. “Is he locked in Hell, too?”

“Everything was so, uh, chaotic when we got back to Lucas’ place that I
didn’t get a chance to ask Matthews about Leon,” Nicholas said. “But I have a
sinking suspicion that David warned him to get out of Hell. His true loyalties
have always been with Leon, not Tobias, and he suspected something big was
happening tonight.”

“You killed Tobias – if Leon’s on the surface, you’ll kill him,
too,” Jet said confidently.

“We need to get back,” Nicholas said.

“I’m surprised you came here instead of Lucas,” Jet commented. “He must
be even more furious than you, Aurora. I know how Lucas feels about breaking
the rules – especially when it comes to turning humans that weren’t
selected by the lottery. I don’t even think he approves of the lottery, to be
honest.”

Nicholas shrugged, unwilling to give Jet any further information.

After we were back on the road, Nicholas asked if anyone had contacted
Emmett. “You know he’s got to be worried sick,” he said.

I picked up my phone and sent a text message to Lucas asking if they’d been
in touch with Emmett. He immediately responded that Emmett was at his
apartment.

“Apparently, Emmett is there now,” I told Nicholas. “This ought to be one
big fun party.”

Nicholas laughed. “Now why do I have the feeling you don’t really mean
that?”