Page 10 of Wanted 2

Or vampire. Ha!

Wanting to relieve every moment of the encounter, I dropped onto my bed, praying I’d dream of him all night.

I did dream all night,but not of the Count. This time, I had nightmares of Don and teddy bear cams that followed me around with glowing eyes recording and judging my every crime. I woke up with a sour taste in my mouth, as if even in my dreams I’d wanted to vomit.

I swung my legs out of bed, feeling like shit for so many reasons. Just who was I? The kind of girl who could make out with the Count and then set the stage so Don could rob him blind? Didn’t that make me the whore my father accused me of being?

I stood in the shower for a long time, wanting the hot water to wash my problems down the drain, but wrinkled, pruned skin was the only thing it deigned to give me.

After dressing, I decided to check on Jeremy, so I got my phone out of the drawer and headed to what was becoming my favorite spot in the garden outside. I idly wondered what would happen if I used my phone in the house. How would the Count know? I had a gut feeling he would. Somehow, he would.

When my phone finally turned on, I saw three missed calls flashing and voicemails from Jeremy's school.

My heart jumped into my throat and my knees shook as I hit the callback button. They never called unless there was a problem. And I had enough of those already.

“Mr. Prichard’s office.”

“I’m calling about Jeremy. This is Kassandra, his sister.”

“Oh, right.” There was a pause. “He’s with the school nurse—”

“Nurse? What happened?” I interrupted.

Already, I was pulling my keys out of my pocket and heading to my car.

I hardly heard her reply, "There was a…conflict, an…incident. He…”

The tiny voice jabbered on, but I didn’t need to hear more.

I knew what ‘incident’ meant. It was code for ‘beaten by bullies.’

They’d beaten Jeremy.

Again.

4

Swollen eye. Bloodied nose. Maybe even a hairline-cracked rib. Urgent care discharged us with prescription-strength Advil and instructions to rest. I helped Jeremy into the car, not because he couldn’t walk. He could, slowly. But because it felt like I was protecting him, even though I was obviously way too late on the protection front. Still, he needed mothering, and though I was a poor substitute, I had to do what I could.

“I tried ignoring them,” he said again as I slid into the driver’s seat.

“Yeah, sometimes ignoring doesn’t work,” I offered grimly. Ignoring Don hadn’t produced any magical results for me. How could I have thought it would for Jeremy?

I blinked back tears and turned the keys. I couldn’t just abandon Jeremy at the hotel. And I certainly couldn’t take him home, not in this condition. At home, he had to be swift and nimble on his feet.

Plus, the ER doc had made it clear he needed to be supervised in case of concussion. So, no school for a few days.

I pulled out of the parking lot, onto the road, and drove as I weighed my options. Well…truthfully, there was only one option, and it weighed a shit-ton.

I had to keep Jeremy safe.

And I had to work.

“Where are we going?” Jeremy asked.

The Count had said to keep my personal life out of his business. And showing up with my bloodied brother in tow was nothing if not personal.

Yet, did I have a choice?