Long Live Dead Reckless Read online

  We shared a smile.

  “What he really means is that we also need humans to survive. The fact is you’re the only thing on our menu. We still bite the neck that feeds us, we just don’t rip it open,” Ash added.

  I didn’t want to be a little kid who just learned that Santa Claus was a vampire rock band named Dead Reckless and instead of delivering gifts, saved humans from zombie-status by supernatural hybrids. These were – at best – flawed heroes from what I could tell. Tom fiddled with the couch cloth for a moment.

  “Talor, you need to understand that Sage is…honestly, he’s irreplaceable. He’s the only siren. As in the only one in the world right now, understand?”

  I always knew he was one of a kind, but putting it that way, I felt myself shrinking rapidly. His singing was the secret weapon against the forces of darkness? No wonder he could be so picky with women.

  “Ok?” I said, not really understanding why Tom was pleading with me like I was holding a gun to Sage’s head.

  Ash paced with his spinning drumstick.

  “Moving on. Do you know what happens if the siren’s song is heard by a mortal?”

  “Don’t,” Sage snapped.

  “It’s just a question,” he replied.

  I nodded, remembering what happened in mythology when sailors somehow escaped the song of the sirens. The truth hit me so hard I gripped the top of the loveseat for support. Sage would die? I heard his beautiful voice during the show, but it wasn’t my choice. All this time, I was afraid of him leading me to my death…had I killed him instead? I couldn’t reconcile such a thought. My lip started to tremble. I wheeled around to Ash’s pointed drumstick my way. He tried to catch my eye, but I wouldn’t look directly at him.

  “What did our music sound like to you?”

  I gulped. I could lie, sure, but this was a room full of vampires. They could hear my heartbeat and sense my nerves. It wouldn’t be a great idea. I looked at Sage. Tom attempted to grab Ash’s shoulder.

  “Hey, we have to trust Sage on this.”

  Ash jerked away from him. His words cracked like a whip against my ear. They even made me flinch.

  “Henches have been infesting this area for a year. There’s a royal seal somewhere. Where’s the stamp from the door?”

  Sage shook his head and stood up from the couch, pulling me with him.

  “She doesn’t have to prove anything. That isn’t why she’s here.”

  “Why is she here?”

  “Let’s go, Talor.”

  Sage stared them all down before moving to the door. All at once, Ash snarled and tossed his drumsticks aside. It happened so fast it’s amazing I could see it. Ash’s skin became a scaly blue as a trail of smoke snaked out of his lips. His face began to change shape and fangs extended, his fingers evolving into menacing claws as he grew larger. I clutched my mother’s necklace on my throat, and when one of the claws came at me, I shut my eyes; certain when I opened them I would be with her again.

  22

  I felt the intense heat of fire before the room went silent around me. I curled up on the ground, my eyes squeezed as tight as they would go.

  “Take my hand,” Sage urged.

  When I opened my eyes, the stamp was vibrant under my skin. The light from my wrist was strange and bright and purposeful. It extended about two feet all around me almost like I was in a bubble. Everyone kept their distance from me except for Sage. He reached through the light and it suddenly dissipated. My ears were still ringing with confusion and distorted voices when he stood me up.

  Ash was hunched over a few feet away, his palms stabilizing against his knees. He was muttering, groaning, trembling. The noises he was making were ungodly, and my ears finally gave a pop, bringing me back into the room. Right about then, he pushed himself up and arched his back until it cracked. There was a faint smell of fire and the sound of sizzling.

  The roadie laughed hysterically in the corner of the room until he fell on the floor. He was the source of the fire smell. He was on fire, but he oddly knew to stop, drop, and roll. Dazed, I swiped at my purse on the floor, ignoring its scattered contents littering the path between the door and me. There was a tampon in there. Ok, enough! Sage gathered his fingers around my chin and turned my face side to side.

  “You ok?”

  I nodded.

  “She’s a princess,” Mika murmured.

  Ash’s eyes and fangs bulged as he aggressively extended a pointed finger at Sage. The veins in his neck were so large and swollen it looked like slender fingers were wrapped under the skin and choking him from the inside.

  “Are you going to tell us now that you didn’t know? You? Would you do your own brothers like that?”

  “Dios mio,” Tom groaned, nervously latching his hands together behind his head and pacing.

  Mika couldn’t stop staring. He was looking at me like I was going to pull his heart out and eat it.

  “Did Spencer know?” he asked.

  Spencer? How did they know Spencer? I gripped tight to Sage, feeling the billowing suspicion. I didn’t want them to know what happened the night of the gala. But I knew then that something bad happened to Spencer. Aside from Tom’s pacing, no one else was moving. Well, aside from the scorched roadie rocking himself back and forth on the floor. The shifting eyes all landed on my wrist.

  “How long have you had that?” Ash asked, boring a hole through my soul.

  “Since the door?”

  “Not the stamp, genius. The seal.”

  “Just sing again,” I said, turning to Sage.

  “Even a siren can’t save you, princess,” Ash said.

  I stared past him, eyes wide, fingers digging deep into Sage’s skin. Sage, who still hadn’t said or done anything. I did the only thing a panicking person could do: I looked down at the visible LLDR and tried to rub it off. It was beneath the skin like a tattoo now. So…not coming off. It began to glow so bright everyone in the room could see it.

  “No! Tell her not to do that. Don’t call him,” Ash cried, pointing at me.

  Sage caught my hand, stopping my frantic attempt. I blinked up at him.

  “Why can’t you take this one off? Isn’t that what you do? You and only you?”

  Sage bunched his brow together, trying to work out what to say. I could tell he wanted to make me feel better, but there was nothing good to say. Ash tried to cover his face with his hand, but it was shaking.

  “After everything we’ve been through, bràthair. When did you know?”

  “That doesn’t matter, Ash.”

  “It damn well does. You owe us that. Did you know before we came here?”

  “No.”

  Mika and Tom sighed in unison. Ash just stared.

  “So many Henches around makes sense now. I thought it was just us,” Tom said.

  “We need to haul ass,” Ash said, his brow releasing. “But it might already be too late.”

  My thoughts felt scrambled as every eye in the room fixated on my wrist like it was on fire, so I hid it behind my back.

  “I want to go, Sage.”

  Ash clapped at me sarcastically. Venomous words coiled in his throat, and he loosed them on me with one painful, well-placed strike.

  “Yes, you go. Leave now that you’ve ruined his life.”

  “She hasn’t ruined my life,” Sage warned.

  I took in a deep breath to defend myself, but I couldn’t figure out what to say. I had no idea how I got a Grigori’s seal. I had never been careless with men. I just glared at Ash, frustrated that the first time I met the people central to Sage’s life, it all went horribly wrong. I couldn’t say anything, despite the screaming in my head wishing to be cleared of any suspicion in Sage’s eyes. The truth was, I didn’t have any answers.

  “Soon your husband will come for –”

  “Husband? I’m not married. What are you talking about?”

  “And if you go with him, you’ll kill the only s
iren left in the world.”

  “I just want to go home,” I cried, letting Sage protectively take me into his arms.

  “What name is it?” Ash growled, his beady eyes glaring down.

  I felt Sage tense beside me. I wondered how long he would allow Ash’s tirade. Why wasn’t he getting me out of there? I didn’t dare try to leave without him. I thrust my shaking wrist towards him.

  “It’s j-just letters,” I stammered.

  “You do know. That is, unless you can’t count how many names have been between your legs.”

  “Apologize,” Sage said, stepping forward.

  Ash lowered his eyes, still indignant.

  “You’re too important for this. What we’re doing is bigger than just you and her–”

  “I know who I am and what I do. I don’t need you to remind me. I need you to apologize. That’s what I need and right now.”

  Sage’s tone was icy, but his words burned. He was pulling rank. Ash’s arms were stiff at his side, his fists all balled up. His shoulders slumped forward like a little kid forced to return a stolen piece of candy. His jaw was tight and grinding, and he didn’t look at me when he said it.

  “Sorry.”

  I reached forward and timidly took Sage’s hand, pulling on it until he eased back. Ash moved his head erratically and retreated, turning his back to us. Tom sighed.

  “The fact remains. It’s on her. So, what do we do?”

  “Do you remember anything?” Mika asked me, his fingers tapping like a pianist against his lower lip.

  “Too important for all this,” Ash mumbled.

  I ignored Ash and shook my head, weary of the heightened stress.

  “I wish I did. I don’t want this. I don’t,” I answered, dropping my head onto Sage’s chest.

  Ash looked hard at me one more time over his shoulder before he walked off, flipping over the couch with the flick of a few fingers.

  Tom and Mika reluctantly followed him outside – presumably to calm him down before he went full evo in the parking lot. There was muffled talking and thumping music from people outside our four walls, but it was quiet between us. Ash left such heaviness in the air that we were both trying to carry the weight of it.

  “Well, that’s – you know, I never should have come,” I whimpered, flinging the door open and dashing out.

  I got just outside it before Sage caught me. It was dimly lit, but I could see the reflection of the overhead lights in his eyes. It was like coming across an animal in the woods with a flashlight. I didn’t have time or the energy to freak out anymore than I already was, so I stood still, terrified that he actually believed Ash. I held up my wrist.

  “You knew.”

  Without a word, he tenderly brought my hand up to the light. I watched his eyes start to change as a dark truth was revealed. I didn’t know what was wrong, but he seemed overwhelmed. His next words were chilling.

  “I would have saved you, too.”

  My heart dropped. Was he saying I was going to die? I wondered how sick I was already. How much blood did it take? I was too far-gone for even a siren to heal, and healing is apparently all a siren does. Words stumbled through my lips before I could trip them.

  “Why can’t you?”

  Sage brushed back the hair from my face. Sliding his hand behind my ear, he cradled my head. I could tell his age now; no normal man could have perfected such a dashing move in only a couple of decades.

  “I’ll find a way,” he whispered, nodding.

  I nodded with him even though I had a feeling that I was doomed. It was his eyes that said it. They were swarming with pain. I knew he was holding onto something terrible. He leaned his forehead against mine. His words were a shivering quiet, as if we were standing in a tomb.

  “The seal on you. The name…it’s my father, Rami.”

  23

  “My father’s eyes are gray now. They used to be brown,” I said, handing Sage a photo.

  I wanted him to see what my dad was supposed to look like. Sage needed to know a different man raised me than the one he was about to meet. I stared down at my boots and pretended to fiddle with the buckle on the side while he looked at the photograph. It took every ounce of my courage to call Sage after meeting the band backstage two days before. After everything that happened, I considered just quitting work and school and finally running away. It wasn’t a new thought, but it had a new motive.

  The only thing that stopped me was the hope that I could make things right before being taken away by someone called Rami. Rah-me. The more I looked at the eerie stamp, the more I actually saw the name. It was backwards, but the letters were there and they got darker everyday. Soon people would think I’d gotten a tattoo. That wasn’t the worst part, really – explaining what it really was, well, that thought made me sick to my stomach. So I decided I had to use my time wisely. Maybe Sage couldn’t save mom and maybe he couldn’t save me, but he could save someone, and that was my dad. All I had to do was ask.

  Sage said nothing as he studied the photo, his eyes scanning over the smiling face of the wonderful man in it. I cut my eyes to look, wishing the father in the photo would be returned to me as soon as Sage did whatever he could do. Even now, those eyes still look at me with the same level of love and tenderness I grew up knowing. I had a better idea of what happened to him, but that didn’t make losing him at the same time as I lost mom any easier. Maybe I was technically an adult, but I still needed my parents, and I had a chance to get one of them back.

  “Talor?”

  Sage was holding the picture for me to take. I took it from him and stared at it until my eyes blurred. Clearing my throat, I stood quickly and forced it back in my pocket so hard it crinkled. As I straightened the wrinkles on my shirt from sitting, Sage rose slowly beside me. I looked up at him like an innocent child.

  “Are you sure it’s safe to do this?”

  “Yeah, but I need to say something first,” he replied.

  I shuffled uneasily. I was hoping we could talk about the argument with Ash and the whole ‘my dad wants to marry you’ thing, like, never, but I wasn’t going to deny him an apology if he was going to tack it with a selfless deed. His eyes shifted to watch a man meandering alone on the lawn. Once the mumbling man moved past us, Sage focused back on me.

  “I should never have allowed Ash to say those things to you,” he replied, stopping for a moment to check my reaction.

  I nodded, remembering the jab about my legs spreading and it being my fault if the whole world died and all. It made me blush even then, so I glanced away, scratching my head.

  “No one’s ever said anything like that to me before,” I admitted, my nose scrunching up.

  “That’s because no one ever should.”

  I rubbed my hands together to warm them. Sage was good at apologizing. It was weird because he was so perfect. How could he ever have done enough of anything wrong to master that skill?

  “You don’t think that I – what I mean is – that I have done that with anyone,” I sputtered, not sure what I was saying. I think I was trying to tell him I was a virgin, but I had no idea why it was important to say that right then. I grimaced. Couldn’t rewind the words now.

  “I know,” he answered thoughtfully.

  I almost asked how he knew, but I figured it would lead to a conversation I wouldn’t survive. I turned towards the entrance.

  “Well, ok. So, I know this is a weird way to do it, but I’m excited that you get to meet my dad.”

  I shrugged. He took in a deep breath.

  “Remember your friend Rose?”

  I nodded, a furrow building in my brow. I was worried he was going to tell me there was some side effect that I wouldn’t like. Instead, he looked insecure and shy all of a sudden. It was hard not to smile at him.

  “Did you ever wonder why I didn’t come here and help your dad when you first told me about him?” he asked, his head lowered.

  “I actu
ally just figured there was so much going on, you just…but maybe a little.”

  He shook his head and stepped closer as a chilly breeze blew around us.

  “It’s because I wanted you to introduce me. That kind of thing – it matters, you know?”

  I could see him swallow; it was like he was afraid I wasn’t going to like his answer. And some girls might not have. They would have been angry that their father was sitting in a loony bin while the guy they liked could have healed him in a snap and made everything all right. They might have been furious that the boy was being old-fashioned about something like that, but I wasn’t. It just cemented Sage’s character to the core in my mind.

  He was honorable, respectful, and above all, selfless. With mom gone, I only had one parent left. I wanted my dad to meet the man I had fallen hopelessly for – even if was afraid to admit that to myself. I didn’t realize it then, but that’s the first time Sage was really saying that he was in love with me. A vexed expression flashed over his face then, and I realized I hadn’t responded yet. I quickly sunk into his chest as my tears spilled onto his shirt.

  “I feel really stupid crying right now. I’m just so grateful,” I said through sniffles.

  “Crying is courageous,” he said, stroking my hair.

  I lifted my eyes. I felt like I should be embarrassed, but I really wasn’t. Sage was gracious, and he never looked at me the way anyone else did. If he thought I was just a silly girl with fickle emotions, it never showed. Even at the Halloween party, he didn’t judge me. It was peaceful being around someone like that.

  “How’s that?” I asked, wiping my eyes.

  “Crying is that hardness melting inside you. Every time you cry, you’re gaining strength and rapidly, too – so cry often, and cry hard. It keeps your soul polished like the diamond it is. Trust me on that, ok?”

  I nodded, less convinced than I wanted to be. Sage knew what words to say mostly, but that didn’t always mean I believed them. He took my hand and together we walked into the doors that held my father hostage. A kind older woman with wrinkle-guarded foggy blues sat at the desk. She eyed us as we moved; her interest piqued. She gazed at Sage and smiled through dentures.