flashed. With a brisk nod, he disappeared into the night.
Chapter Six
I lay awake for hours wondering if I���d made the right decision, and trying to imagine how furious my father would be when he found out what I’d done. I didn’t know him very well, despite the blood relation, but I couldn’t think of a scenario where he’d be happy that I’d turned his trusted personal guard against him.
Yet, at the same time, the more I thought about the talisman being out there, unguarded and available for the other side to snatch up and use against us, the happier I was that I’d sent Elias to get it. After all, I’d just finished reading a chapter about the horrors of slavery. I sure as hell didn’t want to live it firsthand. Okay, so Elias was apparently the same guy that lost the artifact, but in his defense, it wasn’t like it had instantly fallen into the wrong hands. The talisman had stayed buried this whole time.
Though how secret was it if the Smithsonian had it?
I supposed it was like hiding in plain sight, except with museum-quality security to back you up.
Huh.
Suddenly, I could see my dad’s point of view.
I flipped over in the sheets again, pounding my pillow with my fists in an effort to get comfortable. But suddenly, the bedsheets felt too restricting and the mattress unyielding. A car passed down the street, its engine straining and thumping bass blasting on the stereo.
The break-in was bound to make the news, and unless Elias was smart enough to steal some other random items, everyone would wonder what was so damn special about—What was it he’d called it? “Snake-headed goddess figurine.” Even the dimmest bulbs in the True Witch community would be able to put two and two together.
Crap.
I sat up, wondering if there was some way to recall Elias from his mission. Surely, he wouldn’t go out right this minute and break into the museum, would he? Maybe I could talk this over with him tomorrow, let him convince me that he knew what he was doing and that this wouldn’t be a total disaster.
Dad was going to kill me—and, hopefully, not literally.
The only silver lining was that I wouldn’t have to worry about dear Papa showing up at school tomorrow, even with the sewer access Khan had used. Apparently, you got more sensitive to light the older you were, and Dad was mighty old. If he was going to kill me—either literally or figuratively—he’d have to wait until nighttime.
Cold comfort, honestly.
To distract myself from the thoughts zipping round and round in my head, I fumbled for my iPod. It was still set to loop “Teardrops,” which only made me remember all the awful with Nikolai earlier tonight. Why was I so stupid? Always blurting out the first thing that came into my head? I’d messed it up with Nik by saying something without thinking, and now I might have FUBARed vampire freedom forever.
Awesome.
After setting the player to random shuffle, I plopped back down on the bed. I stared at the shadow patterns the pine boughs made on the ceiling and concentrated on listening to the lyrics of the songs as they played.
Somehow I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up far too early, startled by the silence of an empty house.
My bedside clock showed an ungodly hour that began with a six. The tree outside my window, which was usually home to vampire knights, now seemed to be bursting with birds determined to wake me at dawn.
Despite all that, my brain much more keenly registered the absence of my mother’s presence. There were no dishes clinking in the kitchen, no muffled sighs of getting dressed, no weather radio in the bathroom murmuring about forecasted highs—nothing I’d come to associate with morning routines.
Had she left already?
Or had she never come home last night?
My mom had been a single parent my whole life, even though I found out belatedly that she was actually married to my vampire dad this whole time. I knew she was lonely sometimes. We both
Chapter Six
I lay awake for hours wondering if I���d made the right decision, and trying to imagine how furious my father would be when he found out what I’d done. I didn’t know him very well, despite the blood relation, but I couldn’t think of a scenario where he’d be happy that I’d turned his trusted personal guard against him.
Yet, at the same time, the more I thought about the talisman being out there, unguarded and available for the other side to snatch up and use against us, the happier I was that I’d sent Elias to get it. After all, I’d just finished reading a chapter about the horrors of slavery. I sure as hell didn’t want to live it firsthand. Okay, so Elias was apparently the same guy that lost the artifact, but in his defense, it wasn’t like it had instantly fallen into the wrong hands. The talisman had stayed buried this whole time.
Though how secret was it if the Smithsonian had it?
I supposed it was like hiding in plain sight, except with museum-quality security to back you up.
Huh.
Suddenly, I could see my dad’s point of view.
I flipped over in the sheets again, pounding my pillow with my fists in an effort to get comfortable. But suddenly, the bedsheets felt too restricting and the mattress unyielding. A car passed down the street, its engine straining and thumping bass blasting on the stereo.
The break-in was bound to make the news, and unless Elias was smart enough to steal some other random items, everyone would wonder what was so damn special about—What was it he’d called it? “Snake-headed goddess figurine.” Even the dimmest bulbs in the True Witch community would be able to put two and two together.
Crap.
I sat up, wondering if there was some way to recall Elias from his mission. Surely, he wouldn’t go out right this minute and break into the museum, would he? Maybe I could talk this over with him tomorrow, let him convince me that he knew what he was doing and that this wouldn’t be a total disaster.
Dad was going to kill me—and, hopefully, not literally.
The only silver lining was that I wouldn’t have to worry about dear Papa showing up at school tomorrow, even with the sewer access Khan had used. Apparently, you got more sensitive to light the older you were, and Dad was mighty old. If he was going to kill me—either literally or figuratively—he’d have to wait until nighttime.
Cold comfort, honestly.
To distract myself from the thoughts zipping round and round in my head, I fumbled for my iPod. It was still set to loop “Teardrops,” which only made me remember all the awful with Nikolai earlier tonight. Why was I so stupid? Always blurting out the first thing that came into my head? I’d messed it up with Nik by saying something without thinking, and now I might have FUBARed vampire freedom forever.
Awesome.
After setting the player to random shuffle, I plopped back down on the bed. I stared at the shadow patterns the pine boughs made on the ceiling and concentrated on listening to the lyrics of the songs as they played.
Somehow I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up far too early, startled by the silence of an empty house.
My bedside clock showed an ungodly hour that began with a six. The tree outside my window, which was usually home to vampire knights, now seemed to be bursting with birds determined to wake me at dawn.
Despite all that, my brain much more keenly registered the absence of my mother’s presence. There were no dishes clinking in the kitchen, no muffled sighs of getting dressed, no weather radio in the bathroom murmuring about forecasted highs—nothing I’d come to associate with morning routines.
Had she left already?
Or had she never come home last night?
My mom had been a single parent my whole life, even though I found out belatedly that she was actually married to my vampire dad this whole time. I knew she was lonely sometimes. We both
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