Yikes! In the last couple of chapters I forgot to mention that I don't own the Night World series. I mean I'm pretty sure you all knew that but copyright infringement and all that yada yada.
Also I am sorry for the later update then you guys are used too. I had a competition on Sunday and I took Monday as my recoup day, since I sprained my ankle a week before and it needed some love (by love I mean sticking it in a bucket of ice that hurts like hell ) Without further ado here is the next chapter of Caught in the Heart!
"That thing, the werewolf, how long have you been tracking it?" I asked seriously.
"Two weeks. Today was the second time we have been able to catch up with him. Why?" Roy wanted to know.
"It's been here, in this city, for longer than two weeks."
"How do you know?" Haden questioned.
"This isn't the first time I've seen it…" I trailed off and looked at the ground. Memories were starting to come back and now was not the time to be reliving them. I took a deep breath and cleared my head.
"If you have spotted him twice here, then that could mean that this is his base of operations! We are so close Roy!" Tamara spouted excitedly.
Roy on the other hand didn't look so happy.
"This isn't good. If the rogue has seen you twice then you are a witness, which means that he will want to eliminate you. We can't watch you and track him at the same time! What are we supposed to do?" Roy said angrily.
I stood up to my full height (which wasn't extremely impressive since I was only 5'6) and announced, "I have a solution. You guys take me with you."
Roy shook his head fervently and told me, "Dusty that's not going to happen. We can't possibly drag you into this."
I held up a hand to stop him.
"Wait. I wasn't finished speaking. I have another reason."
I grabbed the edge of my shirt and slowly pulled it so that my entire midsection was showing. All three of their eyes landed upon my right side. Tamara gasped, Haden looked away, and Roy grimaced. On my right side there were five scars, all diagonally set across my torso, that were still healing.
"Now do you see why I want to go with you people? When I saw that werewolf for the first time, he attacked me. My memory's still fuzzy, but the archery range manager said she scared him off of me and took me to the hospital. The reason I want to help bring that thing down is so it can't hurt anyone else like me."
When I said this I made direct eye contact with Roy, which may not have been such a good idea. With his blue eyes looking into my brown ones I felt slightly unsteady. It seemed he was trying to look past my skin and into my soul. It wasn't a particularly nice feeling. However I wasn't going to back down, not when it was something this important. Even if it did feel vaguely like I was going to fall off a cliff. He furrowed his brow and for a second I wondered if he felt like I did. Then he blinked and whatever it was was over.
"Fine," He said quietly.
"What?" exclaimed both Roy and Tamara incredulously, not believing Roy would agree so easily.
"She can go with us," Roy stated.
"Yes!" I fist pumped.
"But only on these conditions. You stay with one of us at all times. You always obey our orders. You don't do anything stupid and you don't try to be a hero."
I nodded, "I can live with that."
I looked over at Tamara and Haden and it looked like they were involved in a conversation without words. Then I had a scary thought.
Are vampires telepathic? If so, what if he has been reading my thoughts? CRAAAAAP!
Haden looked at me, "Relax Dusty."
"So you can read my thoughts?" I screeched.
"Only when you broadcast them this loud. While vampires do have telepathic abilities I won't pry into your thoughts. Those are private and for you alone. Now could you please stop yelling? It's hurting my head."
"Oh uh yeah," I stuttered, trying to process this information.
How does one quiet their thoughts? I wondered.
Just like that, Haden answered in my head.
When did you get in here? I thought you said you would stay out! I thought frantically.
Easy! I just came because I thought you might need some help, but it looks like you are doing just fine. You have impressive control for a human.
"What does that mean?" I asked out loud.
"Most humans have rather easy to penetrate minds. You on the other hand have a good grip on your thoughts. You are already able to partially block you thoughts. If you want I can teach you how to fully block them," Haden explained.
"Would that make it so people can't read my thought?" I inquired.
"Yeah, for the most part. If you were up against an extremely powerful telepath then it might not but for most cases you'd be fine."
"Then I would really like it if you taught me," I said with a smile.
So far after all I've heard today, that was the best news so far.
I asked, "Is there any other important things I need to know?"
"You make delicious roast beef sandwiches!" Tamara complimented.
I didn't know whether to faceplant or to thank her so in the end I just settled on a snort.
Beep!
I looked down at my phone and saw I had a text from my mom:
Hey honey. Just wanted to say goodnight to you before you went to bed.
I texted back:
Night, Mom. I love you
She replied:
I love you too.
"Who's that?" Roy asked.
"My mom. She was texting me goodnight… Speaking of nights I should probably get some sleep. It's been a long, reality warping day. I don't know about you people, but I am not nocturnal."
"Fair enough," Roy agreed, "Do you have a place for us to sleep?"
"Uh huh. We have a guest bedroom and two futons."
"Dibs on the guest bedroom!" Tamara called.
The two boys rolled their eyes but didn't argue with her.
After I got out blankets for everyone, I snatched up Rossco so he wouldn't wake anyone up and stuck him on my bed. Then I picked "Eyes Open" by Taylor Swift on my iPod and drifted off to sleep.
A quick thing regarding the song Dusty is listening to. I picked not because I am a Taylor Swift fan (though I do like her music) but because it represents Dusty's situation. I just thought I would throw that out there. Also reviews are much appreciated it lets me know how I am doing! If you put Llama somewhere in your review I will give you a cookie!