Davy Harwood (The Immortal Prophecy) Read online

  “With him?”

  Why was this so surprising?

  “Yes. That’s Adam. I told you he was mine.” My chest puffed up a little bit.

  “That’s Adam?” Why was Kates so incredulous?

  “Yes.” I felt like a broken record.

  A myriad of emotions flashed across her face. Shock, bafflement, disdain, and horror. I didn’t care about the others, not really, but the horror caught me. I zeroed in and felt inside of her. What I felt made my toes curl.

  Kates had a secret, a very shameful end-your-life type of secret. Bennett had told me that she was one of them, but I hadn’t given him credit. I did now. The Lu— that she was loyal to wasn’t Lucas. It was a vampire named Lucan. I remembered that two Families that had arrived in town, ready for a war. Lucan and Raitscliff. I highly doubted it was a coincidence. There were no coincidences when it came to the supernatural or to anything that regarded my life.

  “Kates.” It was all I could mutter. I was still dumbfounded by what was planned and I saw the veil fall over her eyes. She knew that I knew. She knew how I knew. That’s when she grabbed my arm and held tight. Each of her fingers tightened over my elbow, but I couldn’t look away.

  “What are you going to do?” The question choked me.

  “You weren’t supposed to be here. You weren’t supposed to be a part of this.”

  “But I am.”

  Her fingers tightened again. They would’ve hurt if they’d been from anyone except my best friend. “Don’t.”

  She hung her head, but her fingers still held my arm immobile. Then she made a decision and barked at Bennett, “Take him.”

  Bennett nodded with an eager look in his eyes and rushed around me. He grabbed Adam and hauled him out of the restaurant.

  “What’s going on…?” Emily started to run after Bennett, but stopped and looked at us. She looked confused as she saw Kates. “Davy? What’s going on… Kates?”

  “Don’t,” I pleaded with Kates. I knew what was happening. I knew that Emily had seen too much, but I still tried.

  Kates shook her head and strode forward. She clamped a hand on Emily and dragged both of us behind her. We burst into the cold air where a black van waited for us. The doors were open—beckoning and dark.

  “Oh my god. No!” Emily cried out and dug her heels in.

  She was no match for a vampire slayer. Kates tightened her hold and merely lifted Emily across the pavement and into the van. She let go of my arm in the process and I wasn’t sure if it was accidental or not. It didn’t matter. Kates started to climb into the van, but stopped and looked at me. I stood on the cold pavement, the chill bounced off my adrenaline, and I held my best friend’s gaze steadfastly.

  Emily cried behind her and Adam groaned in pain.

  I could bolt and I knew Kates wouldn’t chase after me. This was my best friend giving me a chance. I rubbed where she had held my elbow. It was a dull throb, but it didn’t matter.

  “Davy.” Kates wanted me to run. She didn’t want me to be a part of this—little did she know how much I was a part of it all.

  I made my mind up in that second and strode forward. Kates dropped into a chair and I crossed over her to drop into the chair beside her. Emily and Adam shrank back in their seats. The door slammed shut and the van shot off down the street.

  “We got him?” Bennett turned around from his front seat. I wasn’t surprised to see a handgun in his hand, but did vampires even need weapons? I thought they were a weapon in themselves.

  Kates reached to the floor and slammed a cartridge into her gun. “We got him, Benny.”

  “Alrighty tighty, man. That was fresh.” Bennett grinned wolfishly, caught my look of disdain, and winked. “Come on, babe. You know our race. You’ve gotta appreciate how tight that was run.”

  “How tight that was run? Your race? Babe?” I questioned dully and leaned forward. “You really want to ask my opinion?”

  Bennett cut an uneasy look towards Kates. “You hopped in all by yourself. No one made you come.”

  “Right, because when my friends are being kidnapped, I’d really appreciate the opportunity to run and hide. I’ll remember that next time.”

  “You don’t have to be such a bitch,” Bennett muttered underneath his breath and turned back to look out the front window.

  “What is going on? I don’t understand—my arm really hurts,” Emily moaned from the back.

  Bennett smiled wolfishly.

  “You like this, don’t you.” I was starting to really hate this vampire.

  “Davy,” Kates hushed me.

  I shook off her restraining hand and narrowed my eyes. “You’re like all the rest. You enjoy hurting people. You get off on it?”

  Bennett chuckled and shook his head. “You mean like your ex-boyfriend? I knew him, you know.”

  “He wasn’t my boyfriend,” I snarled.

  “That’s what Craig used to say too.” He didn’t believe me at all.

  “Bennett,” Kates tried to hush him. It hadn’t worked with me.

  “You have horrible taste in men. Craig was fun to hang out with, but he was off his radar.”

  Emily squeaked. “What are you talking about, Bennett? What is he talking about, Davy? Kates?”

  The only one not talking was Adam. I wondered why… and then I heard my answer from Kates as she turned to look at me. “We were sent to get the Immortal’s boyfriend.”

  Adam seemed to shrink underneath her gaze. His hair was messed and his shirt was wrinkled. Then I saw the guilt in his eyes, in those adorable pure-kindness almond eyes. The anchor dropped. “What is she talking about?”

  Bennett started to laugh.

  “Shut up, Bennett!” Kates swiftly punched him.

  Bennett seemed shocked and then he growled. It was an unearthly growl, a sound that only the undead could produce. The sound sent shivers down my back.

  Emily shrieked.

  I wanted Bennett dead, not silenced, but it didn’t matter in that moment. I turned around, placed a hand on my seat, and felt the cold plastic material underneath my fingers. “Boyfriend?”

  Adam flushed and hung his head in shame. “I… Shelly and I are dating.”

  Shelly and him—they were dating. The words met my ears, but I sat back, dazed, as I let them comprehend…. I liked Adam. I actually did, but… I didn’t too… and I was so confused. Was this remorse that I was feeling?

  “What’d I tell you? Bad taste in men. You should stick to my kind.”

  “Bennett, I swear that if you don’t shut up, I will slice your head off!” Kates grated out.

  “Your kind?” Emily moaned, tearful.

  My throat burned, but when didn’t it? I felt the first tingle in my stomach, deep inside, but I sucked in a ragged breath. Roane told me no Immortal stuff, certainly not with my current company. I wanted so badly to do something, to follow through with Kates’ threat.

  “You’re one of us, Kates. Don’t get all twisted and holy. You’re in this all the way. Just like the rest of us. It’s a tough break your buddy got brought along, but that’s what you get for living in two worlds. You can’t have it all, Katie.”

  “Do not call me Katie,” Kates warned. Lethal.

  Bennett laughed and turned back around.

  I glanced at the driver. He’d remained quiet the entire time. I couldn’t see his face at all, except a small side section. He was dressed in all black. A black baseball cap was pulled low over his eyes. It overshadowed the side of his face, but I caught a prominent cheekbone. Whoever he was, he had angular cheekbones. That was Kates’ type. She liked her men lean and with those hollow cheeks.

  “You said that you were sent for the Immortal’s boyfriend. That’s Adam?”

  “Yeah.” Kates frowned in sympathy. She raised a hand and I watched, immobile, as it descended in the air.

  That’s when I snapped. I gasped and caught her hand. “Don’t you dare have pity on me. Don’t you dare try to comfort me like a friend. You don’t
have that right. Don’t you dare….”

  Kates blanched.

  I gripped harder.

  I felt the pain slice through her arm. It flared in her sapphire eyes, but I didn’t care. I sunk my fingers tighter in her arm until she cried out, “Davy, stop. Please…” She whimpered the last word.

  Disgusted, I flung her arm away and sat back in my chair. I turned towards the window as I watched the scenery fly by.

  In the back, Emily whimpered right alongside my betrayer. “Have we been kidnapped?”

  “Yes, Emily,” I murmured dully. “We’ve been kidnapped.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  We drove through town and stopped once to put blindfolds on. I thought Emily was going to hyperventilate, but Bennett skimmed a kiss over her forehead and she quieted. Even as the ‘bad guy’, he still had power over her. Then Kates turned and handed me the blindfold. I looked at it dumbly for a moment, but saw the appeal in her eyes. If I fought it, I wasn’t sure if she would’ve overtaken me and put the blindfold on or if she would’ve allowed Bennett to do it. It didn’t matter either way. I tied it behind my head and waited for Bennett to finish tying Adam’s.

  Adam. What could I even say about him? I couldn’t think about him, not yet. I didn’t even know what I thought anymore. Kates. Adam. Myself. Emily—betrayal was running rampant in these parts of Benshire.

  After the blindfolds were checked a second time the van pulled ahead and we drove in silence the rest of the way. It slowed and turned upwards onto a gravel road. It wasn’t long until we stopped and not one word was spoken.

  The air felt heavy.

  Suddenly, the door was thrown open and the cold blasted us. I flinched once, but refused to do it again.

  “Come on, Davy,” Kates urged softly.

  I swallowed tightly and jumped out of the van. I felt Kates’ alien touch as she grasped my arm and aligned herself to walk beside me. Emily whimpered behind me. Bennett shushed her in a seductive voice and then a door opened ahead of us and classical melodies greeted us. It seemed like an odd contrast, but the music echoed around us as we stood there. The place was large. Then I felt another ominous feeling start to tingle in my gut. Murmurs of conversation stopped when we stepped further into the room and I heard people, vampires?, stand up.

  It was our entrance. Our hostage entrance—the thought struck me as amusing. I grinned, but I was instantly revolted at the idea that I might find something like this entertaining. Nothing was funny about the situation. Then I heard Emily’s sobs of terror and sobered completely.

  “Come on, Davy,” Kates’ restrained murmur hit my ears. Her request was unwelcome, but I couldn’t fight back. I wanted to do something, to use my powers in someway… and then suddenly I was.

  I gasped silently as I saw the room. My vision was slightly blurry with a dark reddish tint to it. I felt Kates look to her right and I saw that side of the room. That’s when I realized that I still had my blindfold on. I wasn’t seeing this through my eyes. I saw through Kates. I had slipped inside of her and was viewing the room through her eyes.

  I had been right. The room was full of vampires. All of them stood and watched our slow trek. I instantly knew these vampires weren’t from Benshire. They were dressed differently. Some wore leather vests. Some wore long flowing velvet red coats, fringed at the ends. Some dressed in feather tunics. Still others wore nothing except tight jeans. The one thing they had in common was a symbol that ran over the left arm and left shoulder. It was the letter L. That was the entire symbol, but it spoke volumes.

  This was Lucan’s Family.

  I counted thirty on that side of the room before Kates glanced to the left and there I was. My head was bent. The blindfold was perfectly placed. I had a sneer of anger on my face. I smiled and watched as my lips tried to curve upwards, but failed. It didn’t look pretty. I sighed and saw myself sigh. I wished Kates would look somewhere else.

  She didn’t and I felt remorse blast throughout Kates as we walked forward.

  I tripped when my foot hit against a step and I saw nothing anymore. I stumbled out of her and concentrated on the stairwell. It curved upwards for two flights of stairs. We went down a hallway and then climbed another set of stairs. It felt more like a mausoleum. There was a dull swish across the floor ahead of us and I knew it was the sound of a heavy door being opened.

  Kates led me inside and released my arm. A second later the door closed and I waited, holding my breath. When nothing else happened, I lifted my blindfold. I rapidly blinked as my eyes adjusted to our surroundings. The room was dark so I crossed to the wall and felt for a light switch. As my fingers ran across a cold plastic box, I felt the outline of a switch and flipped it up.

  Light surrounded us.

  We’d been put in a room that looked like a museum display. A huge king-sized bed stood in one corner with gold posts that led and hooked to a sheer canopy. It dipped halfway to the ground.

  I counted six chairs that looked like thrones. Each of them was upholstered with red velour material. It reminded me of medieval times and I almost expected a court jester to dance out from behind one.

  “What?” Emily gasped and whirled in a tight circle with her blindfold still on.

  I rolled my eyes and reached to remove it. She shrieked until she saw that I held the blindfold in my hand.

  “Oh.” She sounded a little disappointed.

  “You need to drop that guy, Em.” It wasn’t a suggestion. She flushed and hung her head. “I know, but I’m weak and I think I’m on a little something.”

  Think? She was.

  Adam groaned from the corner and I turned to see that he had sat on a chair. He gripped his blindfold tight in his hand and didn’t look at us. No one said anything for a moment. It was almost as if there was too much to say that we didn’t know where to start.

  Then Emily exclaimed, “We’ve been kidnapped! I can’t believe it. Why? Are they doing it for ransom? What’s going on? Why are you so calm, Davy?”

  I ignored Emily for the moment and stood in front of Adam. He saw the tips of my ballet slippers and gulped. His jaw clenched before he lifted his eyes to mine. There it was. I saw it in his eyes. I knew a cheater when I saw one.

  “You’re with Shelly?” I asked it quietly, but so damning.

  Guilt was all over him, but he rasped out, “I didn’t… I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Shelly was lonely and crying the other night when we went out with that guy. You kissed him and I… I got so jealous. I kissed Shelly. Your friend, Kates, saw us. She was going into the Shoilster and caught us.”

  I frowned. That explained… some of it.

  They’d said the Immortal and the Immortal’s boyfriend. Adam had looked guilty… none of this made sense. “Adam, they took us because of you. You know that, right? They grabbed you first.”

  “Because Kates is psychotic!” Emily laughed hysterically. She rounded to perch precariously on a dark purple velvet couch beside Adam’s throne. She shook her head and her hand lifted to pull at the ends of her hair. “She was probably so angry that he was two-timing you that she seduced Bennett. She persuaded him to kidnap us all. It’s all because of her.”

  My roommate was crazy, stupid, and under the influence of vampire lust.