The Lie (The Skyy Huntington Series) (26 page)

“My God Skyy, that could have been you tonight, laying on that couch. I could have lost you. I was so scared when he got his hands on you. Why didn’t you listen to me, when I screamed for you to get inside?” he asked.

I waved my hands to calm him down a notch. “I know Aiden, I didn’t mean to scare you. I saw them grab you and put the knife to you, the second vampire took me by surprise and scared me. I didn’t think, and I am so sorry.”

He hugged me once again, stroking my hair softly. “But, how bad ass did I look when I threw that silver glitter stuff out? Huh?” I said smiling.

Aiden's face looked alarmed, “Skyy! It’s not a joke, you could have died, or gotten one of us killed trying to protect you.” Ok so he didn’t think I looked as bad ass as I felt.

I whispered, embarrassed, “Aiden, I’m really sorry. I promise it won’t happen again. I’ll always listen to you guys from now on, I swear.”

He nodded at me, “I don’t want to come off as harsh or mean Skyy, I just care about your safety and that could have played out a hundred different ways tonight, and not all of them may have been great for you. You see what they will do to a human they don’t care about? Look what happened to Christian, they’d do way worse to you if they could.”

He kissed the top of my head again. “Look, there is nothing else to be done tonight, Lucius is back from the funeral home, and Fiona will sit watch all night with Christian. If anything happens she’ll call for us. Why don’t we just call it an early night for you?”

I was kind of tired actually. I was drained from all the terror and excitement from the evening’s events. I gave in and agreed with him. “Ok, let me go change into my PJ’s then. Are you staying with me tonight too?” I asked, hopeful.

“If you’ll have me, milady,” was his reply. I smiled and nodded at him, then went to change in the bathroom.

We crawled into my bed, like we had the night before, him under the covers with me, my head resting on his chest. It felt so right and perfect with him there beside me. I might have no idea what I was in store for, but this at least, for now, felt great.

“Hey, Aiden,” I said to him softly.

He mumbled out a soft, “Hmm?”

“If anything ever, you know, happens to me like it did tonight with Christian, I just want you to know I’d want to be turned. No questions asked. That’s my wish, and I figure I should tell one of you now in case something ever does happen.”

He moved his head a little to look down at me. “You’d willingly accept this life?” he asked. I nodded.

“Of course I would, I sure as hell don’t want to die, not at my age. I just met you after all, I have a lot to live for.” I wondered how I’d feel in another fifteen years or so when I appeared way older than Aiden.

He sat in silence twirling his fingers through my long hair. “Aiden, do vampires ever turn humans that aren’t hurt, like just because they’d want to be with them forever? That kind of thing?” I wasn’t trying to suggest we get married or anything even close to it at this stage in the game, but it’s a question I wanted to ponder over as a just in case option.

“Yes, it happens all the time.” He scooted over on his side to face me head on. Our faces just inches apart, I could feel his warm breath on my face. My God I just wanted him to kiss me already! I’d normally make the first move but I had the feeling that Aiden was a classic romance type of guy, and that he’d probably like to be the gentleman and make the move when the time was right.

“Why do you ask?” he said, startling me out of my fantasy of kissing him. He was still rubbing his fingers through my hair.

“Just curious. I like to ask a lot of questions in case you haven’t noticed. And I like to know all my options.” I smiled at him in the dim lighting. He smiled back with that perfect smile of his.

“By the way, I wondered what was up with vampires not being able to enter another vampire’s home?” I asked him.

“When we’re created, we each have a unique fingerprint if you will, but it’s magical, and it belongs only to us. We can use this magical energy to ward our homes, and to let other vampires know that a vampire lives there. Human eyes can’t see it, I have two of them though, one is outside the gates, and another one is attached to the house. No other vampire can break that seal or enter the house unless they are given verbal permission from the owner,” he explained.

It sounded complicated, but hey if magic existed and my grandpa could send me mail and vials through a breadbox, and appear through a portal, then I guess anything is possible.

“That’s pretty neat,” I said as I yawned and snuggled into his chest with my face and wrapped my arms around him. I drifted off to sleep soon after that, dreaming of Aiden’s soft lips kissing me. I think it’s a good thing he can’t enter my mind or read my mind. He’d probably have run for the hills by now.

With the metal shades down, I never had any idea what time it was, but Aiden woke me up informing me that Christian was waking up. I jolted up in the bed, excited and nervous at the same time to see him. What would he look like, I wondered?

He grabbed me lightly by the wrists just before I went out the door, “Skyy, I just want to warn you. He’ll be the same person you knew, nothing will change there, but in the first few hours or even days of a new vampire’s life, they don’t know how to control themselves. You remember my story I told you?” he said with the emphasis on story, meaning about how he attacked his mother after he was turned, almost killing her.

I nodded, showing him I remembered. “Just please keep your distance from him physically for the first few days, so he won’t be as tempted. You can talk to him, just don’t get too close or hug him or make body contact.” I gulped and nodded again. We opened the door and I bolted down the stairs to the living room to see Christian.

I could see he was already sitting up on the couch though his back was to me as I entered. “Christian!” I exclaimed as I walked in.

He stood up, back straight as an arrow, legs all fixed as if nothing ever happened. His throat didn’t show even the slightest sign of the attack. He smiled at me and then I saw his face. His eyes! They were breathtaking. When he was mortal they were a deep shade of brown but they were glowing now, that reflective glow that the other’s did, in a deep shade of amber, they looked like rich honey shining in the sun. He moved to come towards me and Fiona put her hand on his chest stopping him.

“Christian, it’s best for the first few hours if you don’t have physical contact with Skyy,” she said. He nodded and looked back at me.

“How do you feel? You look amazing, stud!” I said smiling so big my face felt like it was going to crack.

“I feel amazing too Skyy. It’s out of this world. I thought I was dreaming all of it last night when you told me but then I woke up and it’s just phenomenal. I can move faster than you can blink, I can hear everything! I can smell everything! I can see every single vivid color of the rainbow like never before, and I can see the smallest things in such detail now. Fiona said I will be able to see in the dark like its daylight outside!” He was so excited.

I was really happy for him. I hoped that he and Fiona would hit it off too. “Maybe we can go outside tonight and you can show me your moves,” I said to him.

“No, you guys won’t be going outside tonight,” Lucius chimed in, walking into the room. We all looked over at him.

“Why not? I thought the vampires were gone?” I asked him.

“
Those
vampires are gone. There is a new one outside we’ll have to deal with tonight, and after that, we’re all leaving.”

“Leaving? Where are we going?” I inquired. Aiden was the one who answered this time:

“We’re going to my castle in Scotland. We won’t ever be safe here with them outside, and more coming every day.”

Holy hell!! I was going to a castle in Scotland! I grinned and nodded. “I’ll go pack my bags.”

Stay up to date on future novels in The Skyy Huntington series by visiting
www.hollyhudspeth.com
for more information.

About The Author

The Lie is the first published novel from author Holly Hudspeth. Her passion for literature began from the first moment she learned how to read, and she has been writing short stories for the last 14 years. She enjoys writing fantasy, paranormal, romance, and horror stories, and has also created short stories based on avatars she played in online video games such as Everquest and World of Warcraft. The Skyy Huntington series had been an idea in Holly's head for many years, and she is excited to finally move forward with writing it.

In her spare time, Holly likes to play video games, collect comic books, go to renaissance fairs and comic cons, travel, cook, and spend time with her family and friends. She and her husband currently reside in Fort Worth, Texas with their 4 dogs which are spoiled rotten.

Holly loves to hear from her readers, so if you enjoyed The Lie, please feel free to give her your feedback! As always, if you enjoy a book, please support your favorite authors by leaving them a good review on Amazon!

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/SkyyHuntington

Blog:
www.hollyhudspeth.com/blog

Book Two in The Skyy Huntington Series – The Countess:

Life got real complicated, real quick for Skyy Huntington. A few months ago she was wandering around in a cemetery snapping photos looking for ghosts. Now she finds herself submerged headfirst into a world filled with vampires and magic.

Picking up right where The Lie leaves off, Skyy boards a private jet with her love interest Aiden Carrick and her friends headed for Scotland, trying to buy them some breathing room from Countess Elizabeth Bathory’s henchmen.

Soon after their arrival, Skyy finds out they weren’t as safe as they thought when she gets abducted and taken into the dark world of the Countess. She finds herself being tortured at the hands of the woman who has perfected the art over many centuries, getting an up close and personal account of just how crazy the woman really is.

Meanwhile, her vampire friends form an uneasy alliance with Skyy’s grandfather, Killian Huntington and his order of Divine Assassins, ancestors of the servants who took a book of dark and powerful magic forged with the souls of Bathory’s victims from her castle in the 1600s.

While captive in Bathory’s castle, Skyy finds out that there is still some light within the darkness, forming a new friendship that will help change the course of her future.

New friends, and new enemies will battle for survival as Bathory gets closer and closer to finding her book.