“You up for a plane ride?” he asked.
My eyes widened. “I…I guess so.”
He returned to the call and, when he hung up, eyed the dash clock. “We have four hours to get to the airport. Christina will charter a plane to take us to New York.”
“Is that…is it smart to do an appearance if hunters are after you?” I asked.
He shrugged. “There’s almost no risk. It hasn’t been announced. I just drop in at the studio and borrow a guitar, sing a song, do a short interview, and then I’m gone.” He grinned. “Besides, I’m not sure hiding is such a great idea. They have no idea I’m onto them right now. If I stop showing up for shooting or cancel events, I lose that element of surprise.”
“What about the tracking chip? They’ll figure out you found it.”
“Not necessarily. The car was hit pretty hard. It’s just as likely that it was knocked loose and fell out on the road.”
I frowned. “Yet I still can’t go back to the dorm?”
Jared matched my scowl. “That would be a bad idea, Lacey. I can’t take the risk with you. I’ve already lost you once. I won’t let it happen again.”
“So…what? I hide in hotels or something? What about classes?”
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it, okay? It’s Saturday. We don’t have to worry until Monday. And you can always be sick for a day or two.”
“I told you I’m on a scholarship…”
“I haven’t forgotten. But Lacey…surely learning the truth about your past changes everything, doesn’t it?” He gave me a sidelong glance. “You aren’t who you thought you were.”
He was right, but acknowledging it threw me off balance. It was all overwhelming and too new, and I said as much. “I need some time to work through all this, Jared. I mean, I just learned you’re a vampire last night, and now I find out I was one…and that I’m reincarnated. Or something. It’s a lot to handle, you know?”
Jared nodded again and took my hand, and the soothing feeling that emanated from him surged through me and relaxed me almost instantly. I turned to him. “Are you doing that?”
“What?”
“The calming thing.”
He shook his head. “You feel calmer when you hold my hand? I think that just means I’m a good influence.”
I had to laugh. “No question.” A thought occurred to me. “Would you admit it if you were using some kind of Jedi mind trick on me?”
He smiled. “I’m not the all-powerful Oz, Lacey. I can hypnotize mortals for brief periods, and like I told you, I can sense some thoughts from people in emotional distress, but I’m not clairvoyant.”
I digested that. By the sound of his voice, I still wasn’t completely sure he was telling me everything, but it sounded like we would have enough time together that I could ferret out anything he was omitting.
“I was thinking about how they got on to you. The hunters. Something must have triggered them,” I said.
Jared nodded. “The only thing I can think of is they might have gotten word of the gathering that’s going to take place in two weeks.”
I didn’t understand. “Gathering?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Every two decades, my clan get together for a smaller version of the royal court.”
“Which means…what, exactly?”
“Well, we discuss any grievances anyone in the clan has, confirm that everyone is following the latest rules, and go over any points of contention. Think of it like a convention, or like the courts of old, where petitioners would approach the monarchs for favors and mediation of any disagreements.”
“How would that have tipped the hunters off?”
“It’s to be held on that island we sailed past on our boating date.”
I blinked twice. “Really? But…who knows about it?”
“That’s the thing. Nobody but us…special people.”
“You think there’s a leak or something?”
“I can’t imagine any other way for hunters to be drawn here. And don’t forget Carl. If they suspected me because I was high profile, they’d have no reason to go after anyone else – yet they did. So I don’t think this is about me. Or at least, not only me.”
“But how would they have found out?” I pressed. “You guys don’t publish the get-together on Craigslist or anything, do you?”
That drew a laugh from him. “That’s the question, isn’t it? That…and who’s doing the hunting.”
I nodded. “And why. Maybe when you figure out the why, the who will fall into place.”
Jared eyed me pensively. “You’ve got a point. Right now all I can do is speculate.”
We fell silent, and I mulled over the memories the session with Madame Véronique had brought to the surface. I was completely confused – was I me, or was I really the vampire who had been murdered by Jared’s rival? I felt schizophrenic, although the revelation had calmed me on one important front: I now understood why I had never bonded with anyone, why I’d always felt distant and detached from my peers, as well as somewhat of a spectator outside my own consciousness. I’d always assumed it was because I was as nutty as a Christmas fruitcake, but it turned out that wasn’t the case. I actually had a valid reason, even if my conscious mind hadn’t been aware of it. My prior existence completely explained my sense of being a misfit in any situation – it turns out I was.
But not because of a chemical imbalance or some faulty cerebral wiring.
I felt relieved – or as relieved as anyone could be after learning that the love of their life was a vampire, and that they had been one, too.
I squeezed Jared’s hand at the thought. What had seemed like an absurdly fast rush into an emotional storm also had a logical basis, now that
