Diary of An Unnatural (BOOK #2)

Dammit Jane

William

"William!" Angelina came barreling downstairs, lacking the natural grace of a vampire. Her eyes sat wide, expression panicked. "Have you seen Jane?"

I shook my head. "I thought she was up in her room or maybe with Luke."

"I just looked all upstairs and couldn't find her." Angelina struggled to level her voice. "Luke's gone, too. You don't think...?"

My thoughts stumbled up each other as pieces started clicking into place. How Jane asked if I would go after Ava. Jane's odd interest in the human boy. There was only one answer to Angelina's question. There was only one place Jane would have the guts to go.

"Dammit Jane."

"She must've left with him last night. I can't believe no one noticed." Angelina sunk down to the bottom step of the staircase. "How do you think she did it? You don't think she bit him do you? Or killed him, even. With her blood in his system... God, the last thing we need is another Newborn on our hands..."

"No." I stood up from the couch. "You know Jane. She hates what we are. Jane appreciates humanity too much to force such on him. She must have taken him back to Newberry."

"But why—"

"It's Jane we're talking about. Who knows why she does half of what she does. You were right by saying that she and Ava are alike. They have their own plans in mind. Nothing we have to say can stop them."

I walked over to the kitchen where my cell phone sat on the counter. Angelina hopped up and followed me.

"What are you going to do?" she asked. "Go to Newberry? With the hunter on the loose?"

I picked up my phone and dialed the number. "First, I'm going to call Jane. Hopefully she's not stupid enough to leave her phone here or on silent while she's in Hunter's territory."

The line rang four times before Jane picked up.

"William, I can't explain right now," her voice muffled on the other end. "I couldn't stay there and let Bernard take away Luke's memories. With the compulsion he suffered, he's had a vampire in his mind for long enough. And anyway, there's something bigger at hand."

I could hear more voices in the background. A female sounding similar to Ava, but her voice held a different tone—something far more serious. And then there was Luke's voice, stronger than it had been the minute he walked through our door.

"Where are you right now?" I asked Jane.

Jane covered the phone for a second to say something to the others.

"With Ava's sister and Luke," she said. "Something is happening with the Hunters, William. They took her."

The earth stopped spinning and my thoughts stopped circulating all at once. They took her. The Hunters. I pressed the phone closer to my ear as if the action would aid my hearing.

"What do you mean 'they took her'? Jane, tell me what's going on."

Her end muffled against as she moved around to a quieter area. "Before I left the house, I called Ava's sister. I told her that if she could give me any information about the Hunters, I would bring Luke back in one piece. When I got to her house, she told me that the Hunters were excluding her from everything. But eventually, she talked to someone there. They said Ava had been captured only miles away from our house."

My breath caught in my throat. So it was true. Ava hadn't run off. She hadn't reconsidered her life with us. She'd been taken, captured by the people who hated our kind the most. Out of all of us out there, why her? She was the Newborn of our group. She didn't know how to fight off Hunters.

"I'm coming over there Jane. Don't you dare move. Don't step a foot out of that house," I told her. "Don't make yourself known. The last thing we need is another one of us on their radar."

Angelina stood with her arms crossed, hearing and assessing everything I had heard on Jane's end.

"I'll be there by tomorrow. Just...don't do anything stupid."

"Of course," Jane breathed. "I'll stay right here and keep an eye on the humans."

I hung up, turning to Angelina.

"You know you can't go alone," she reminded me. "We've already seen how that works out. Victor and I will go with you."

I ran a hand through my hair. "I just can't believe it. We were right here, steps away when they took her. And the last thing I said to her..."

Angelina placed a hand on my shoulder. "William, she's not dead. And being what she is, who she is...I don't think they intend to kill her. We will find them and take them out and bring her back here where it's safe. Or maybe you two can go across the country, travel the world, I don't know. But I promise, we'll get her back."

I couldn't think that far ahead right now. I wanted to back in Newberry taking down those bastards. Maybe then Ava would see just how much I cared. How much, in the end, it didn't matter that her feelings weren't as strong. That in the end, whatever was going on in her head didn't make my feelings any less.

"I sure hope you and Victor know how to fight vampire Hunters."

/