“I’d feel better if they came with us,” I said, unable to keep the slight quiver out of my voice. Judith gave me a concerned look and I hoped she wasn’t going to hug me again because I was afraid I might get weepy this time. I’d cried enough tonight.

Judith smiled in understanding and I thought for the thousandth time how lucky Roland was to have her for a mom. “Okay. Roland you can drive.”

Roland reached out and squeezed my hand as we headed for the door. “Later,” he mouthed to me, tilting his head towards his mother. I gave him a small nod back. When we used to have sleepovers, he’d wait until his mother went to bed then come get me. All we did was hang out in his room and watch movies or talk until one of us started to fall asleep, but it was always the best part of my stay.

I suddenly longed for those days when the monsters were still faceless things I’d only heard about. Thanks to Eli, I’d probably never feel safe again and I fervently hoped that Nikolas and his friend had tracked the vampire down and sent him straight to hell where he belonged.

Chapter 6

“Remy, please stop glaring at me like that. You’re scarier than the vampires when you make that face.”

“This not funny,” he scolded, pacing the mouth of the small cave we had claimed as ours years ago. His tone was angry but I could see the worry in his eyes. “You almost die. Why you not tell me you going to city?”

I turned away from him to stare at the waves crashing against the rocks below. We both knew why I hadn’t told him. He would have fussed and made me promise not to go and it’s hard to say no to a troll when he sets his mind to something.

Trolls don’t fear vampires or much else for that matter, but Remy worried about me a lot. I had some amazing supe friends and the power to heal things, but I was still just a human. I had never felt more mortal than when I thought I was going to die in that alley.

I’d been tempted to not tell Remy what happened because I knew exactly how he would react. I forgot that my troll friend had the nose of a bloodhound and he smelled the vampire on me as soon as he got within a few feet of me. The knowledge that after three days, I still carried any scent of that monster made me want to jump into the ocean and scrub it away.

But the ocean couldn’t clean the images from my mind or the memory of those cold claws pressed against my throat. I saw them whenever I closed my eyes and at least once a night I woke in a cold sweat, still seeing Eli’s snarling face and hearing his parting words, I will have you!

Other times I dreamed of falling, only to be caught by a dark haired man with granite eyes. He never smiled and his eyes were cold but I felt safe in his arms. I woke from those dreams feeling oddly bereft, but they were infinitely better than the nightmares.

The hardest part was hiding everything from Nate. I stayed upstairs most of the weekend, coming down to eat and do my usual housework chores. I felt Nate’s questioning stares when we ate together but thankfully he didn’t bring it up. Roland texted me a few times to see if I wanted to do something but I just wanted to hide in my room and lick my wounds. The animals seemed to sense my distress and made it their mission to keep me company. The cat, who I’d named Oscar, took every opportunity to snuggle up next to me, purring like a little motor boat. Daisy left Nate alone and spent the weekend sleeping at the foot of my bed. Even the imps were oddly subdued. Usually I could hear them shuffling behind the walls, but for the last two days they had been quiet except for an occasional chirrup.

After so much time alone with my thoughts, I had looked forward to getting back to school today but I found it almost impossible to focus on classes. School seemed trivial compared to what I’d been through and I didn’t feel like the same person who had walked out of school on Friday. How do you go to back to everyday life after experiencing something so life altering?

“You know city not safe. Best to stay here with uncle.”

Remy hated the idea of me leaving New Hastings, but someday I’d have to if I ever wanted to go to college or see the world. Or find the truth about my father.

“I had to go. If there’s a chance of learning more about my dad, I have to take it.” I still didn’t know why NightWatcher hadn’t shown up at the Attic and he hadn’t been online since then either. Wulfman said it didn’t sound like his friend and he’d see what he could find out. I did tell Wulfman that two vampires had been seen at the Attic so he could warn others but I asked him not to quote me as his source. His post had shown up last night and caused quite the stir. PixieGirl was not mentioned.

“Knowledge not bring father back. It not make you less sad.”

I picked up a pebble and tossed it into the waves. “I need to know, Remy. He was everything to me.” I looked up at him. “What would you do if it had been your mother or father?”

Remy came over to sit beside me, his longer legs dangling beside mine. “I not lose anyone yet so I not know how you feel,” he admitted. “It different with us. Humans alone but trolls always stay together. If one killed, all trolls rise up and find killer. Protect our own.”

The thought of a horde of angry trolls made me quail inside. There is a good reason why everyone fears trolls. It all started about five hundred years ago. Trolls and vampires hated each other because trolls mined silver and silver can kill vampires. One day a vampire hunting party came upon four troll children unprotected in the woods and they slaughtered all but one who escaped. The trolls went on a bloody rampage and literally destroyed every vampire within two hundred miles. Since then no vampire will mess with a troll.