Page 33 of Cuddling Sucks in Coffins
My stomach rolled. I bit down hard on my back teeth to keep from screaming and dropped my gaze to the blue mats. Sawyer had said I would need to become a monster to defeat a monster, and that transformation was about to begin. It was either that or certain death. And right now, I had more to live for than I’d ever imagined. Friends, lovers, family—all combined into three beautiful vampires who would move mountains for my mind, body, and soul.
“What’s ready?” Jacek asked. “What’s going on?”
I couldn’t even screw up the courage to look at him, let alone tell him the parts I could. So I crossed the distance between us and threw my arms around him, threading my fingers through his short hair and crushing him to me.
He squeezed me right back, his lips nuzzling my ear. “Not that I mind, but what’s this all about?”
Without a word, I released him and turned to Sawyer, who stood by the door with his amber eyes squinted as if to read my intent. They would know everything soon enough.
“The light’s on the right side of the door,” Sawyer said.
On my way outside, I shrugged on my jacket, shouldered my duffel bag full of sharpened stakes, and headed into the night. The chilly wind snagged my breaths and shivered through my thinMy Little PonyT-shirt and my new Kevlar vest, courtesy of Jacek, but I hardly noticed as I passed the sidewalk that led to the cemetery and stayed on the narrow path that wound around the house. One good thing about having zero slayer powers was that the usual stomach cramps and itchy feet that urged me to the graveyard were no longer an issue. But I would still be going to the cemetery, just later than usual, so really the lack of cramps and itches was just something I happened to notice. Like the gate that led to the backyard. And the woodshed at the far end of the lawn.
My heartbeat crashed against my ribs at the sight of the dark, squat building. A tremor ripped down my limbs as I lifted the bar on the door and opened it. Pitch dark crowded the inside. Cool, damp air rolled out, as well as the sound of streaming water. I could already tell it was perfect, in the darkest, most sickening sense of the word.
I walked inside, leaving it dark for a moment, and followed the sound of the water. With my nerves pulled as tight as they were, the sound made me have to pee. It was a reminder of when I’d been in my own cell, terrified and alone. I touched the walls to guide me, and when my fingers came away wet, I knew I was standing in exactly the right place.
Now or never. It was time to call Ronick to come get Jacek.
Chapter Ten
Dragging in a shakybreath, I touched my hand to the cut on my wrist. “Night’s Fall.”
The cut flared white light, brightening my surroundings for a split second. Water raining down walls. A heavy door with a lock and a window. Then the light dimmed, and darkness pressed in again.
“Slayer.” The voice came out of nowhere but also right next to me.
I yelped, even though I’d been expecting it. “Ronick?” I said into the darkness, my voice breaking.
“Is Jacek here? Did you find him?”
I needed to think speedy thoughts. Blind in the dark, I lunged for his sword and scabbard. My fingertips connected with the hilt. So did his a moment later as I yanked the sword free of the scabbard. He tore it out of one of my hands, but then he shouted in pain. His grip loosened, and I wrenched the sword away. Then I shuffled backward, through the heavy door that also dripped with water. I shut it. Locked it with a loud click. Inhaled as I backed away, my eyes bugging out of my head. I’d done it. But I flicked the light switch to be sure.
A buttery glow lit the space from above, confirming that I had in fact done it.
Ronick stood in the back half of the woodshed, confined to a three-by-three space, between four dripping walls of holy water, locked up tight with no way out to hunt down and kill Jacek. The holy water collected into a basin on the floor and was pumped back up to the top to rain some more. Ronick looked at his surroundings, his mouth gaped open, and realization seemed to hit him right between the eyes as soon as he met my gaze through the wet glass window in the door.
