13. 12

12

Serina

I had barely been able to dress and shower this morning without wincing or groaning, so taking my bike to Mickey’s didn’t seem like a good idea, but I had never been known for those anyway.

I pulled up into the diner parking lot and gawked at it as if it would catch on fire if I stared at it long enough.

I hadn’t been back in the diner since my birthday last year, and with my birthday coming up around the corner, it was also the one-year anniversary of my father’s death. The thought made me swallow down the lump in my throat and blink away the sting behind my eyes.

The loud truck I knew all too well to be Sam’s pulled into the parking lot, and she parked a few spots down from my bike that I had been leaning against waiting for her to get here.

She turned off the truck, and the driver’s side door creaked as she hopped out. We stared at each other for a few moments before a smile stretched over both of our faces.

“Long time no see, cousin,” she said happily, wrapping me close in her arms, and I stiffened from the pain. Sam tugged me back, holding my shoulders. “You look like shit,” she admitted, and I rolled my eyes.

“Thanks for the reminder.” I nudged her in the shoulder as her arms dropped to her sides.

“At least you’re alive. You had me worried on our call,” she said as we began walking to the cafe.

My steps slowed to a stop when we were a few strides from the front door. Sam was lost in chatter with herself trying to catch me up on some of her most recent hunts when she turned to me.

“And what have you been up to? Anymore leads—” Her words cut off when she noticed my hesitation. “Oh, Serina, I–I didn’t know you hadn’t been back to the diner yet. Why didn’t you tell me? We could have gone somewhere else.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I want to go here,” I said, and it was true. I had loved this place growing up; it held a special spot in my heart for myself and for my parents, and I wouldn’t stop coming here because of that. But coming here without them knowing I’ll never see my dad sitting in our booth with me drinking milkshakes or eating breakfast together hurt me in way even I couldn’t comprehend.

Sam held the door open for me, and I noticed she wasn’t wearing her vervain necklace; it had the same symbol and spell on it as my tattoo to keep her safe. She chose a necklace instead of a tattoo since she had always been terrified of needles.

“Where is your necklace?” I asked as I walked in holding my breath, not sure what to expect. But when I glanced over to our booth and it looked just like it did the last time I was here, something warmed in me.

“Shit, I must have forgot it at my hotel. I took it off when I showered this morning,” she said, her hand touching her bare chest before we moved to find a place to sit.

“Be careful, Sammy,” I warned.

“I know, I know, I’ll put it on as soon as I get back to my room.”

I nodded, looking around. I wasn’t strong enough to sit there, not yet, so Sam and I picked a booth in the opposite corner with good vantage points. We could see the entrance, and the only other doors in here led to the back kitchens and the bathrooms.

The waitress came quickly, but it wasn't Mickey, so I assumed she was busy in the back. Still, I couldn’t help but miss her.

I got a water and some eggs and toast, something light since my pain meds had been making me feel nauseous this morning, or maybe it was the fact that I was here.

Besides, I didn’t want my usual; I wanted to eat, not cry, and considering I was supposed to start my period tomorrow, I was surprised I had even made it into this building without having a breakdown. All the emotion only added more fuel to my fire.

“So, you never answered me before, anymore leads?” Sam asked over the rim of her sweet tea.

“Yes and no. I crashed another one of their group meetings a few days ago at an abandoned warehouse, but the only information I got was what I had already told you over the phone and that whoever is behind all this is a man.

“But on another note, I made a deal with a few Vampires that are willing to help me,” I admitted begrudgingly.

“Wait what? You? Accepted help? From Vampires? ” She reached across the table touching my forehead as if she wanted to be sure I wasn’t running a fever. “Yeah, just as I suspected, you’re burning up and hell must be freezing over; I was wondering why it was colder today,” she said, and I rolled my eyes at her. “Okay, but seriously, tell me more. How did this happen?”

I started from the beginning from the moment I got that lead in the alley from those Vampires that were leaving the club, to finding the Davorin brothers and about their deal, them saving me, and how they seemed to continue to help me even now.

I was expecting her to go off on me.

Obliterate me with words of betrayal to our people , working with the enemies, how could I?

But she didn’t. Instead, she leaned back in her booth and with a quirk of her brow, she said, “And what did they want in return?”

“Nothing.” I shrugged. “They want hunters to continue to balance out our world.”

She pursed her lips. “Then I say keep up your end of the bargain. Besides, they seem nice. Maybe you could get a little more out of it,” she said with a flirty wink, and I scowled.

My cousin had always been crazy, but I hadn’t realized she had gone that far off the deep end.

“Gods no, I—” I lost my words, and she gaped at me.

“Oooo, you think they’re attractive, don’t you? I mean, what Vampires aren't attractive? Oh, come on, Serina. How long has it been since you had some pleasure? And not from that little toy I bought you last Christmas,” she asked, and I thought a moment before my brow furrowed; I honestly couldn’t remember.

My last boyfriend, if you could even call him that, and I broke up a few months before my dad died, and I hadn’t even thought about sticking my toe into the dating pool since then.

I had been too worried about my retribution to give a damn about someone, let alone even indulge in a night for good company and simple pleasures. But that toy, oh, it had been well-used since I opened it last year.

“See? You can’t even remember, and besides, I don’t know what it is about it, but paranormal guys, they always do it better.”

“What?!” Now I was the one looking at her with my mouth gaped open.

“Do you remember Ronan?” she said, and I nodded.

“The guy you were hooking up with?”

“Yeah, well, he was a Werewolf, and when we started to get more serious, I left because, well…” She paused, her brow furrowing almost as if the memory hurt her to think about. “Look at the lives we live, you know.

“Plus, how do you think it would go over with my dad if I started dating someone who wasn’t human?” she asked, but there was a sadness to her eyes and tone. “Yeah… anyway, I decided to put an end to it, but sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I would have given us a chance. Like you’ve said before, some of the monsters we run into are simply existing, just like we are. They aren’t all bad.

“And it seems like the Davorin brothers might not be all bad,” she said as a coy smile spread across her face. I hadn’t said those words since before dad died.

He believed those things. And maybe somewhere deep down, I still did too.

I pushed my straw against the counter and put the open end in my mouth and shot the straw wrapper at her face to try and change the subject, but all she did was laugh.

“All I’m saying is keep an open mind. Maybe they’ll surprise you,” she said just as our waitress brought us our food.

“Yeah, yeah.” I began eating to get out of this conversation, and so did Sam.

I didn’t like the thoughts she put in my mind. Trusting Vampires, let alone sleeping with them, sounded like an awful idea to me, but I couldn’t ignore all the things they had done to help me in the short time I had known them.

Telling her about everything only heightened my thoughts on those facts. And that’s exactly what they were and that’s what made it harder to ignore. They hadn’t done anything to put my life in harm’s way.

Even when I was bleeding out in front of them, they had so much control over their cravings; I never saw their eyes shift to the darkness that came with bloodlust, never saw the veins that I knew stirred under their eyes. The only time I had seen them was when they were trying to be intimidating.

Cute, but that didn’t work on me.

Everything they had done seemed to be in the best interest of helping me, and although I still carried doubt in my heart, it made me feel a small semblance of hope that I would finally find who had been behind my father’s murder, who had been behind the hordes of new Vampires created recently.

“The jukebox is working!” Sam squealed, pulling me out of my thoughts as she scooted herself out of the booth to run over to it.

Last time we came here together, it was broken and we missed being able to play our favorite oldies. Music began filtering through the speakers.

I Want To Break Free by Queen played on the speakers as she made it back over to the table and for a moment, she looked at me expectantly, like she expected me to say something about the song choice.

We had always loved Queen. So did my dad, and the memory of him dancing in the kitchen last year surged in my mind.

Instead of making me cry, a smile grazed my features at the memory of him.

“You like it? It’s not our normal song,” she admitted.

Sam started singing along quietly to herself, her body language seeming more rigid with her fingers drumming against the table slightly off beat, but I didn’t pay much mind to it since it wasn’t one we played often.

“Of course I like it, and who cares if it’s not our normal song? It’s Queen,” is all I said, because it was plenty of an explanation. I smiled, and so did she, but it seemed forced as we finished the last of our food and readied to leave. Was something wrong?

I tossed money on the table, enough for a nice tip, and we both walked outside, the bell chiming above us as we left.

I made my way back to my motorcycle slowly; I felt a little queasy and lightheaded. My body had definitely had enough of being upright for today. I needed to get back to the motel and get some sleep.

“I’m glad you came, Serina,” Sam said with a sad smile. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah…” I replied, knowing the last time I saw her was at my dad’s funeral. I had been distant from everyone since he died, and I know it wasn’t their fault, it was mine, and it was because I knew I wouldn’t be able to live through it again…

The pain of losing someone I loved so dearly.

I pulled her into a hug, and she squeezed me so tight it almost took my breath away from the pain that radiated through my side, but I refused to let her go or show it.

When she finally released me, she gave me one last smile before climbing into her dad’s truck. The rumble of the engine was a distinct sound that I could recognize anywhere as she started it, and I leaned against my motorcycle and gave her one last wave as she drove out of the parking lot.

I leaned against my bike for far too long staring at the diner, imagining all of us sitting in our favorite booth with smiles on our faces on the other side of the glass.

Happy and alive. I held on to those memories as I slowly but carefully climbed onto my bike and headed back to my motel.