Chapter Three: I should probably learn some self-control before I attack someone who can’t heal.
Two days before my birthday, Hayden arrived. He walked into the hacienda and smiled like he’d just won a bet. Most of us came to the estate just as we started changing, so Hayden didn’t know much about his abilities yet.
“He’s a Charlotte,” Rachel said from the upper hall. I shook my head.
“He’s worse.”
“Worse than a Charlotte?”
“Let’s just hope he’s not an Ellie,” Charlotte interrupted. When Hayden looked up, Charlotte took the opportunity to show off. She did a flip over the railing and landed a foot in front of Hayden. He raised his eyebrows.
“That all you got, love?” Hayden asked.
I appeared farther down the hall and climbed onto the railing. I jumped and grabbed onto the iron chandelier. I smirked as I spun and dropped, cross-legged, onto the ottoman in the living room. It wasn’t that I wanted to impress Hayden specifically. I was more interested in proving that he didn’t know as much about us as he thought.
“Much better,” Hayden said, clapping. “Who’s this?” he asked as Fletcher came in the room.
“Fletcher,” I said when I saw the look on Fletcher’s face. His mouth was a straight line and his jaw clenched. Since Fletcher had been a vampire for a year his sense of people was more acute than ours. All I could sense was that something was off with Hayden.
“So where am I staying? Somewhere close to you beautiful ladies, I hope,” Hayden said. Charlotte and Rachel rolled their eyes.
“You can have my room,” Fletcher replied firmly. “This way.”
“Whoa, warm welcome huh?” Hayden whispered to me as we followed Fletcher.
“He doesn’t like you.”
“Ouch. I guess I’ll have to get by.”
I don’t like you either, I thought. Hayden seemed like just the kind of guy to get us spotted. Charlotte might be reckless sometimes, but she knows her limits.
Hayden whistled when Fletcher opened the doors to his room. I noticed that the easel and canvases were missing; Fletcher must have known Hayden was coming.
“You guys have a pool? Sweet!”
“That’s not all we have,” Charlotte said when she appeared by Hayden’s side. “Come see the garage.” The rest of us made it to the large garage in seconds. Hayden didn’t realize, at first, how fast he could run. I leaned against the wall with Fletcher while Hayden took in the ten different cars.
“Can we take them out?” Hayden asked, running his hand along the Maserati.
“Knock yourself out,” Fletcher said and tossed Hayden the keys. I think Fletcher meant it literally, though. Hayden jumped in the car and started the ignition. He nodded as the engine purred.
“You want to join me?” Hayden asked Charlotte and patted the passenger seat.
“No thanks,” Charlotte replied, extending her wings. “I prefer to fly.”
* * * * * * * *
“Huh!” I grunted as I served a tennis ball over the net. Charlotte shot it back and I returned.
“Out!” she shouted. I grabbed another ball and threw it into the air. Charlotte watched the ball as it came down and my racket hit it across the court. I dashed across my side and hit the ball back. Charlotte jumped in the air to spike the ball down. I had just moved to get the ball when I collided with something that should not have been there.
“Ow!” Hayden exclaimed, trying to disentangle himself. I stopped myself from hitting him over the head with my racquet.
“What are you doing here?” I yelled at him when we stood up.
“Aren’t you even a little impressed I found you? I mean, there are a lot of tennis courts in Valencia.”
“When you have super-speed it doesn’t take that long,” Charlotte replied for me and leapt over the net. I tossed my racquet toward the bag of tennis balls. Charlotte picked up her stuff and moved to leave.
“Aw, come on,” Hayden said. “Stay and at least play a set with me.”
“No,” Charlotte and I said at the same time. Everything slowed down as I sensed Hayden’s hand approaching my shoulder. I knew that I could duck, run, or do any number of things to evade his grasp. Instead I saw the wrist and knew how much force I would need to break it. Time went back to normal as my hand whipped around and gave Hayden’s wrist a hard twist. He probably didn’t have much time to register the pain at first. Afterword he dropped to the ground holding his arm.
“Nice,” Charlotte congratulated me as we left the park.
“Wait!” Hayden called and jumped up after us. He pulled a key out of his pocket and held it out to us. “One of you needs to drive me back.” I groaned and realized what else the broken wrist meant. He had probably taken the stick-shift Maserati and wouldn’t be able to change gears.
“You’d better take him,” Charlotte said with a smile. “I’d be too tempted to drive off a cliff or just fly away.”
I snatched the key from Hayden and followed him to where he’d parked. As I thought, he’d brought the Maserati.
“What’s your problem with me?” Hayden asked when we got in the car. I thought a minute, choosing my words carefully.
“I don’t know,” I said, deciding on the truth. It wasn't something I could put into words. I just had a feeling that Hayden was bad news. And with vampires, feelings are usually right. "You have no reservations about being a vampire," I finally replied.
“Reservations!” Hayden laughed. “We have unlimited power—what reservations do we need?”
I shook my head. “We’re not immortal. And we don’t have unlimited power. If you expose the vampires, they will kill you.”
“They? Who are ‘they’?” I did a double-take and looked at Hayden.
“They are the ruling class. Los Reyes—the monarchs.” I flipped my head back to the road and continued, “I don’t know how long they’ve been in power or how they began, but supposedly they are a ruling family who make and enforce the laws. Usually the only law is secrecy.” Hayden frowned like he was doing very serious thinking. Then, all of a sudden, he broke out in laughter.
“Los Reyes,” he said in a fake-eerie voice. “What are they, like the mafia?”
“I guess you could say that,” I muttered.
“Aw, look. Now I’ve made her angry.” I snapped my head over to shoot daggers at Hayden before slamming on the brakes and sharply turning the wheel. The car spun off the road but I kept my gaze on Hayden as his expression went from boredom to excitement to fear. “What the hell are you doing?!” he shouted. I let go off the wheel and the car stopped, facing straight but now twenty feet from the highway. This time of night, the highways only had a few passing cars. I opened my car door and got out.
“Wait!” Hayden shouted at me as he got out too.
“Your wrist is fine now,” I called over my shoulder. Hayden glanced down at his hand that was holding the door. He smiled and tested bending his healed wrist. “I’m going to run the rest of the way.”
It didn’t take long to cover the 20-some miles to the hacienda. When I had a few miles left, I nearly collapsed. My stomach cramped but not from the run. I was hungry like I’d never felt before. I sat on the ground and took deep breaths. Suddenly, a smell caught my attention. I turned and took off in the direction of the smell. A small rabbit sat by a bush. I grabbed it before it even realized I was there. Its neck snapped under my grip and I put my mouth to its throat.
“Mierda,” I whispered when I saw what I’d done. I dropped the rabbit and turned to run again.
“Anna,” someone said behind me. I whipped around, but it was only Fletcher. “It’s okay.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled. “It’s just good I wasn’t in Valencia.”
“You have more self-control than that.” I looked down, not wanting Fletcher to know that I didn’t believe him. “I’m serious.” He knew, of course.
“Did ever you kill anyone?” I asked, finally asking the question that had been perched on my lips for days. I’d wanted to ask someone ever since the cravings started.
“No, but I came close a few times.” Fletcher glanced around, and I could almost see him picking through words in his head. “Just don’t worry about it. Stay home for a few days. At least until your birthday.” I didn’t tell Fletcher that the estate wasn’t home. Everything there was stifling. Like they gave us just enough freedom to satisfy, but not enough to please.
Fletcher pulled off his jacket and I saw the two holes in the back of his shirt. He extended his leathery bat-wings and reached out a hand. I came closer and Fletcher wrapped his arms around my waist and took off. I couldn’t wait until I could fly myself; the view from the air was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. The trees were all a vibrant green. There was a patchwork design of farms and When we got far enough, the hacienda came into view over the trees. It was a gorgeous display of Spanish architecture but, like its inhabitants, it was far darker beneath the surface. The beautiful face and house were just tools of the trade.
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