Taking Talon (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles 2) Read online

  “Just come with me and I’ll take you home.” Drew’s voice sounded exasperated. He was probably tired of babysitting some little girl who threw a fit every time she didn’t get her way.

  I stopped and spun. “Fine! Lead the way!” I flung my arm and attempted a mock bow, thinking it looked like a grand flourish. I didn’t want to look at him, but I caught his eyes on accident and wished I hadn’t. His eyes weren’t glimmering like usual, and they weren’t cold, like when he was mad at me. They were flat and defeated. I did that to him.

  “I’m sorry,” I told him as we walked. “I shouldn’t have gone to Zander’s.” I stumbled over the curb.

  Drew reached out to steady me. “You still have a lot of alcohol in your system. We can talk about it tomorrow.”

  ~~~***~~~

  My head was throbbing so badly it woke me up.

  “Oh my God,” I mumbled, covering my eyes with my hands to block out the light streaming through the curtains. I rolled over and peeked through my fingers at the clock. “Ugh!” I was late for school. The numbers read 9:42 am. “Wonderful.”

  I spotted a giant glass of water and a couple of pills beside my clock. Sitting up felt like someone had filled my body with lead, but I did it anyway. I took the pills and downed the water, which I immediately regretted. The moment the fluid hit my stomach it was rejected.

  I flung back the covers and flew to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet.

  Afterward, I sat on the freezing cold tile beside the toilet and leaned against the bathtub. For the first time since waking up I realized that I was only in my bra and panties. So someone had taken my clothes off, but didn’t want to mess with me enough to put anything else on me.

  I sighed, pressing my face against the cool porcelain of the tub. What the heck was wrong with me? One minute I felt fine about everything and the next I was throwing a fit like a two year old.

  I ruined everything.

  After a few moments of waiting to puke again, I stripped off my undergarments and braced myself on the tub so that I could stand. Turning the water to a super-hot setting, I pulled the knob to start the shower. Oh, how I hoped the hot water and steam would clear away the cobwebs … and the headache.

  No such luck. I felt better because I was clean, but the fatigue, nausea, and headache still plagued me. Why in the world would anyone drink if this is how they felt the next day?

  With my towel wrapped around me and my hair still soaking wet, I crept back to my bed and fell into it, throwing the comforter over my entire body, even my head.

  Three hours later I woke up still feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. As much as I wanted to stay in bed, I knew that I had to get up. I’d already missed school, but everyone was going to worry if I didn’t start moving around.

  “Never again,” I grumbled, throwing my blankets aside and sitting up. “Never. Again.”

  I dressed in sweatpants and my biggest, comfiest sweatshirt and headed down the stairs. The house was quiet, too quiet. Where the heck was everyone? It was a rare occurrence that everyone who lived in this house happened to be gone at the same time.

  I checked the kitchen; it was empty and immaculate. The living room was the same. After checking the entire house, I circled back to the kitchen and found some more aspirin in one of the cupboards, filled a glass of water, and took three of them with the hope that they would stay down. Then, I put on my sunglasses and my jacket and headed out the door.

  My mother was buried in the cemetery of the Hunters. She had a modest headstone marking her presence. In my opinion, it wasn’t nearly enough for what my mother had contributed to life, but she was a modest person so I suppose it was appropriate.

  Snow and ice still covered most of the plots, freezing them into one solid blanket of snow with only the headstones marking their existence.

  I stood in front of her grave in silence for a long time before speaking.

  “Hi Mom. I never know what to say when I’m here. I just wanted to be with you for a while.” I looked around as if I expected a giant recliner to pop out of thin air. “I don’t feel right lately, all of my feelings are all over the place and I’m constantly fighting with Drew. I know that it’s me, I know that if I were a less emotional person, we wouldn’t fight so much. Since you left, Drew and Luke are the only constants I have in my life. Whenever we have a fight or a disagreement I feel like he is slipping away and I might lose him forever. You were killed by vampires, he is a Hunter, and it could happen to him, too.”

  I hung my head. “I love him, and I’m afraid to love too hard because if you care too much then a piece of yourself is gone when you lose them.” I felt hot tears burning against the cold skin on my cheeks. “I only have so many pieces of myself left to give.”

  Sniffling, I wiped my wet cheeks with my sleeve. “There are so many girl things I need to talk with you about. I just don’t know what to do, or who else to talk to. It seems like every time I let my emotions out, that everything goes to crap. It’s making me afraid to let anyone know how I really feel.

  “I love Drew. I chose him, and I know that he loves me back. Why, I couldn’t tell ya, but I can’t deny that I have a connection with Gavin either. So, it’s completely understandable why Drew gets upset about it, plus their history. I … I just don’t know what to do about it, we need as many people as we can get for taking the Talon Building.”

  I drew in a deep breath, knowing I was rambling. “I just wish you were here to help me.”

  After that, I just sat there for a long time, letting tears fall and wishing life was how it used to be, before she died.

  I heard the snow crunching before he even came through the cemetery gates. Even though he bore the soft steps of a Hunter, I would know the sound of those boots on any type of terrain.

  He said nothing when he stepped up beside me.

  “Hey,” I offered, tucking some hair behind my ear, but unable to look him in the eye just yet.

  “It’s cold out here. You should come home before you get sick.” Always so worried about me. He’d been like that since the day he picked me up and carried me into this new life.

  I stood. “Okay.” I turned away from him and began walking toward the exit. In two strides he was beside me, reaching for my hand to stop me.

  “You’re freezing,” he claimed, pulling my hand into both of his. I looked up into his eyes and saw the same defeat I’d seen the night before.

  “Chloe—” he started, but I cut him off.

  “It’s all right, Drew.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not all right, really, it’s not.” He reached for my other hand and I let him have it.

  This was it, he was breaking up with me.

  “Drew, please.”

  “Let me talk this time.” Steam puffed out from between his lips when he spoke. “I know you feel like this is your fault, but it’s mine. I have trust issues, yeah … I can’t help it and it’s probably always going to be that way.”

  “Drew.”

  “Shh, I’m not done.” He brought my hands up in between his and blew warmth into them. “I am telling you right now that those issues will never go away, but we have to make a pact, here and now, both of us, that we are going to stop letting our insecurities get the best of us.”

  Oh, thank God! He didn’t want to break up.

  Then I felt the damn tears start up again. “Drew, I just … I can’t handle you always being so controlling and jealous. This has to stop. Gavin is just my friend and I would like to continue being friends with him. I can tolerate being around Christina and now we even have some kind of strange friendship. You would think you could do the same.”

  He lowered his head so that he was staring at the ground. “I’ll try. How about this, I won’t complain about him being on the mission, I won’t complain about you guys being friends, but I don’t get any flak from you about snide comments directed at him or about him.”

  Well, I had to take what I could get, Rome wasn’t buil
t in a day. I sighed. “I guess that is enough for now. But you have to promise that there won’t be any complaining about the mission, or me talking or visiting with him.”

  He crinkled his brow. “Visiting?”

  I nodded. “Yes, visiting. You have to trust me and you act like you don’t. So, I will see Gavin whenever I feel like it.”

  “Chloe, I’m so sorry. I never meant to come off like a jealous asshole. I trust you, I do. I just don’t know how to be in a relationship. Besides Luke, everyone who has ever supposed to have loved me has slipped from my grasp. I just … I can’t lose you.”

  I tilted my head. “I love you, but acting crazy like that is what will push me away. Just trust me and know that I’m a big girl now. I should be the only one who decides who my friends are and who they aren’t.”

  “I promise.” He pulled me in close. “I promise to try harder and to trust you more.”

  I looked up into his eyes. “So … we’re all right then?”

  “When have you ever known me to run away from a challenge?”

  I sniffled and laughed. “Yeah, that’s my job.”

  His arms tightened around me and I felt whole again.

  “And about that other stuff.” His voice was a whisper in my ear. “Don’t you ever, for even one minute, think that I don’t want you like that. You don’t have a clue how hard it is to wait.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him that maybe we didn’t have to wait.

  “But, we will wait. I’m going to do this right with you.”

  I shut my mouth, not wanting to ruin our make-up talk.

  The walk home was slow because neither of us wanted to be very far away from the other.

  ~~~***~~~

  Back at home, everyone had returned from where they had gone and the making of dinner was in progress.

  We hung up our coats and wandered into the kitchen to find Luke chopping what looked like chicken. Alice had on her cute little kitchen apron with the polka dots and was prepping something for dessert while Oscar sat at the table ripping husks off of corn cobs.

  Luke looked up from his project when we entered and pointed his knife at me. “Set the table.”

  Oh crap, he was pissed.

  He slammed the knife down onto the meat. “The hard part here is that I can’t ground you because you don’t do anything besides go to school and train.” He rolled his eyes up toward the ceiling. “I can’t with good conscience tell you to stay away from your brother because he is your family and that would be morally wrong.” He raised the knife. “But, don’t for one minute think that I won’t forbid it if he keeps allowing you to drink. You are still a child.” Slam, the knife hit the cutting board again. “No matter how grown up you are.”

  I cringed and held back tears. I’d never seen my grandfather so angry. “I’m sorry, Luke.” I let go of Drew’s hand and reached for a stack of plates.

  “Chloe, you have no idea how dangerous you can be to yourself and other people. Drinking is the last thing that you should be doing. Do not ever pull a stunt like this again.”

  “I’m sorry,” I repeated in a whisper, trying desperately not to burst into tears in front of everyone in the kitchen.

  Alice and Oscar both had their heads down, concentrating on their tasks as if not looking at the scene playing out before them would make it go away.

  “And you!” Luke wielded his chopping knife at Drew.

  “Me?” Drew pointed at his chest in surprise.

  “Yes, you. We are asking Gavin if he wants to take part in this. I thought it might be a good idea to have Chloe convince you, but that idea apparently wasn’t one of my better ones. I understand your issues, but the mission comes first.”

  “Yes sir,” Drew responded softly. “Whatever you think is best.”

  “I do think it is best. If Gavin wants to help then he could be a valuable asset, we can’t overlook that.”

  “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

  Luke shook his head. “Best we all speak with him.”

  I finished laying out the plates and utensils just as Alice was finishing the dessert. It looked like some kind of crumble and smelled delicious. I caught her eye and she shrugged. No one wanted to say anything after Luke’s uncharacteristic explosion, so we finished making dinner in silence and ate that way, too.

  Wonderful, another reason to be depressed.

  ~~~***~~~

  “Thanks for coming by, Gavin.” Luke shut the door after Gavin had stepped inside. “Please come sit with us in the kitchen.”

  “It’s my pleasure, Luke.” Gavin turned toward me as he made his last remark.

  I rolled my eyes and looked away. Why did he have to be so hot? With his dark hair and green eyes that mirrored Drew’s he could probably talk his way into anything. Not to mention that he was just a genuinely good guy. Those factors created a hotness that made him entirely too hard to ignore.

  Drew squeezed my hand. I don’t know if he was reassuring me or himself, but it was nice to feel the physical contact.

  We wandered into the kitchen behind Luke and Gavin. Alice, Oscar, and Nicholas were already in there, sitting at the table with steaming mugs of coffee. We didn’t invite Christina because she would probably be more of a distraction during a conversation like the one we were about to have. Luke gestured to one of the chairs. “Please, have a seat.”

  Alice, ever the hostess, jumped up. “Would you like some coffee or juice, or something?”

  Drew made a strange noise that sounded like he had something in his throat and was trying to clear it out. “For God’s sake, people, he’s not the president of the United States, quit waiting on him.”

  Luke gave Drew the evil eye. “Ignore him, Gavin, you are our guest and will be treated as such.”

  Gavin pulled out a chair and nodded at Luke and then Alice. “No problem. Thank you for being so kind, but I’ll pass on the drinks.” He sat down. “Well, let’s toss the formalities and you can just let me know what’s going on. I know you all didn’t call me here to have coffee and talk about our fond memories of the past.”

  Alice sat back down and I pulled out a chair across from him. We had all decided that since Gavin was apparently so sweet on me, it would be better if I was the one who asked him. “Hey Gavin.” I sat down and scooted my chair in. Immediately, I felt Drew take the chair beside mine. Most likely so he could shoot warning looks across the table at Gavin.

  “Hi Chloe, it’s good to see you.”

  I smiled, but decided to get straight to the point. “Gavin, before I go on, we need you to swear that what we say in this room will remain a secret, no matter what the outcome.”

  That really got his attention. He raised his eyebrows and curiosity twinkled in his green eyes. He leaned forward, resting his chin on his fist. “That right there tells me that you all are up to something that the board wouldn’t be happy about.”

  “Do you agree or not?”

  He leaned back and smacked the table with the palm of his hand. “Yes, I agree. This sounds too good to pass up.”

  Relieved, I let out a breath. Gavin was usually a follow the rules kind of guy, but I knew he was also a man of his word. He would keep our secret.

  “We want you to join us in our plans to take down the Talon Building.” I waited for his reaction.

  “Why do you want to do that?”

  Drew rolled his eyes. “Because it’s a building full of vampires and we are vampire hunters.”

  Oh, for crying out loud. “Knock it off, Drew.” I slapped his leg under the table and turned my attention back to Gavin. “Because a war with the vampires is coming, we know that it’s coming, but we can’t risk the community by sitting around waiting for them to attack us. We have to strike first.”

  “You mean, you want to start the war?”

  I nodded. “We have to.”

  Gavin smirked, “Well, how could I possibly say no.”

  Drew leaned toward him and lowered his voice. “It’s easy, just say no and
go home.”

  I think everyone in the room sighed with exasperation. Drew and Gavin would be at war forever. The only time I’d ever seen them get along was during my rescue. When it came to hunting or fighting the enemy, they were synched and worked together like a well-oiled machine. Otherwise, the deep rooted animosity Drew held for Gavin was never going to go away.

  Gavin finally met Drew’s eye. “Sorry, bro, everyone else wants me to help. I’m in.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Then let it go, man. I didn’t ruin your life, I didn’t ask to be born. So get over it.”

  Oh crap.

  The look on Drew’s face pretty much bypassed ‘If looks could kill’ and went right on to ‘Someone is going to be murdered’. I tried to squeeze his hand to calm him, but he stood up before I could grasp it.

  “Drew, calm down.” Oscar rose from his spot at the table and circled around us until he was beside Drew. “Look at me.”

  Drew turned his head toward Oscar, meeting his eyes.

  “Now, calm down.”

  “I don’t feel calm.”

  Oscar nodded as if he understood. “You will. Take a deep breath, sit down, and let’s discuss the mission.”

  Without another word, Drew dropped down into his chair. As Oscar’s hold on him released, Drew snapped out of the fog of compulsion. His eyes moved from person to person in the room and finally settled on Oscar. “Dude, don’t use your siren crap on me.”

  “It was for the best,” Oscar told him, sinking back down into his chair.

  “You suck.”

  “So do you.”

  Luke cleared his throat, obviously relieved that Oscar had intervened and intercepted what could have been a really bad fight. “Let’s get back to business.”

  I leaned forward on the table and rested on my elbows. “We have blueprints for the Talon Building. We have everyone in this room, plus Christina and my brother, and we are thinking we will move in about three days.”

  Surprised, his eyebrows shot up. “Wait, back up a minute. When did you get a brother? I thought you were an only child.”