Page 84 of Fighting for Her Heart

Mom asks Zuben to stop asking her to repeat information and let her concentrate on driving, and he begins to hum. Hedoesknow that I’m following. Zuben never hums. I focus on the low sound, underscored by his heartbeat.

The sun, behind overcast skies for most of the trip, breaks through just as we reach the city, and the traffic and lower speed limits slow the car enough so that I can walk, albeit at a fast pace, enjoying the feel of the light on my face.

“Why are you stopping here?” Zuben’s voice sounds in my head, but I can’t hear Mom’s response.

“If you knew there would be humans in the church during the day,” he says, “why did you insist on us leaving before nightfall?” I can sense tension in his voice.

Again, I can’t hear Mom’s response; I’m too focused on Zuben. If I extended my attention, I might be able to hear both sides of the conversation, but I’ve only tried that once and don’t want to take any chance of losing my ability to keep track of Zuben.

I can tell the car isn’t moving anymore, and turning a corner and spot it. In the passenger seat, Zuben is facing Nora. With them this close, the risk of losing Zuben is lower, so I expand my locus of attention.

Moving back around the corner, less than a block from where they’re parked, I lean against a brick wall and listen.

“I find it difficult to believe that you did not think this through more thoroughly,” Zuben says sharply.

“It was a panicked decision,” Mom responds. “Plus, I didn’t want Ember to come along. For her safety. Did you want to risk her life?”

Zuben doesn’t respond right away. “That is no excuse to leave hastily or without a firm plan. Or to mislead her about how soon we might return. You have little faith in your daughter’s judgment it seems.”

“I’ve started to wonder, after seeing her fall under the influence of vampires,” Mom says. “Her association with the three of you has made me second guess everything I taught her.”

Mom’s tone is sharp and it stabs me, even from the distance. Clearly her claiming to support my relationships was a lie.

“You are the one who has put her in danger,” Zuben says. “She knows where we are. You mentioned the name of the church. If we do not return, she will come after us at nightfall. We must act urgently.”

“Fine,” Mom snaps. “We can deal with the humans lurking about. I’ll cast a spell to rid the building of humans.”

“Good,” Zuben replies. “Is the gate we’re walking toward now always kept open?”

“It’s opennow,” Nora responds. “Why do you care if it’s always open?”

I smile to myself as I peek around the corner to see them going through an opening in the brick wall surrounding a large property. Zuben asked the question so I’d know where they went.

But instead of walking to the gate, I use my vampiric abilities to jump over the brick wall, landing softly, just as the other two are approaching the door of the church.

“There is only one human inside,” Zuben tells Mom. “I will use my venom to put him to sleep.”

Nora stops for a moment, her head tipping to the side as she clearly evaluates Zuben’s suggestion, versus the magic she’d planned to use as a distraction.

“That will work,” she says tightly.

Zuben and Mom go inside the church.

“We are very interested to learn about the history of this building,” Zuben says to someone, and then the blood rushing through his body accelerates as he feeds. He’s dug his fangs into the throat of whoever’s inside.

“How long will he sleep?” Mom asks Zuben.

“A few hours,” he replies. “Is that long enough? I could transfer more venom.”

“That will be sufficient,” Mom answers.

I dash to the side of the church and peer through one of the windows. Zuben’s head twitches. He senses that I’m here.

“What is it?” Mom asks him.

A big part of me wants to just burst through the doors and join them. Maybe this could be the time to surprise Mom with my ability to walk in the light, but Zuben gestures to me, his hand making sharp cutting motions behind his back.

Clearly the road trip did nothing to erase his newfound distrust of my mom. Once we rescue Ryker and Axe, I’ll sit down with the pair and get to the bottom of whatever issues have come up between them.