Crown of Glass Page 5

  Her hand ached at his absence.

  “My patron thinks you’re in danger,” he said finally. “You need to find someone to watch your back. It doesn’t have to be me. But someone.”

  That faerie monster can go fuck himself. It was on the tip of her tongue. But Jenna swallowed it down with effort. She’d pushed things far enough for a woman who could barely stand on her own.

  “I’ll take it under advisement.” She forced the words out, loathing each one.

  Gabe’s eyes flickered down toward her wrist. The bandaid there had come loose. He lifted her hand slowly, inspecting the dark bruise that had formed there. “Where’d you get this, Jen?” he asked quietly.

  Jenna closed her eyes. Her head swam with sudden fear. He won’t understand. He’ll go after Adrian. He’s crazy, who knows what he’ll do—

  “Go away,” she emphasized. “Or I swear to god, Gabe, I’ll make us both regret it.”

  Gabe hesitated one more time. She felt the struggle inside him. But finally, he settled her arm carefully back against her chest. “Don’t,” he said softly. “I’ll go.”

  Gabe headed for the door, slow and deliberate. She could tell he was dragging his feet a bit.

  Those pale green eyes flickered her way one last time, before he closed the door behind him.

  Marie insisted on calling a cab for Jenna and riding home with her. Normally, she would have fought back against the idea, but her body had yet to calm down, and her run-in with Gabe still had her rattled.

  “You feeling a little better?” Marie asked quietly, as the city lights swam by.

  Jenna closed her eyes. The Tylenol had lowered her fever, but it had yet to disappear completely. The heat made her head swim. “Yeah,” she said. “A little.”

  Marie was silent for a moment. “…I’m kind of glad your friend was there,” she admitted. “I was going to call an ambulance. He really freaked out for a second, after you fainted. But he calmed down super quick, started taking charge.”

  Jenna blinked. “That’s weird. Gabe’s known about my condition basically as long as I’ve had it. I’ve never seen him lose his cool over it.”

  It wasn’t the fever that knocked me out, though, Jenna remembered belatedly. She struggled through her haze to recount the sequence of events. I tried to attack him. It came back on me. That’s what did it.

  Gabe had expressed some sense of concern for her safety, however twisted he’d become. The idea that he’d accidentally hurt her might have thrown him for a loop. She hadn’t crafted her spell to cause permanent damage, but he probably hadn’t known that just from looking at it. For all he’d known at first, it might have killed her.

  Marie glanced toward Jenna curiously. “You’re not actually dating, right? I don’t, uh. Guess he’s single?”

  Jenna flinched, and Marie raised her hands quickly. “Oh. Never mind. Weird territory, got it.”

  Jenna rubbed at her arms. “…we grew up together,” she said. “Best friends. I mean… more than best friends. I don’t know if there’s even a word for it.” She stared out the window. “One day I kind of woke up and realized I had a huge crush on him, but it was so awkward I didn’t know what to do. I was such a terror to his girlfriends. I feel a little bad about it now.”

  Marie frowned. “You never said anything?” she asked.

  Jenna shook her head. “It’s… complicated. Ugh. I was worried he’d feel obligated to date me or something. We had that kind of relationship, you know?” She looked down at her lap. “Anyway, he’s kind of a genius. He’s got bigger things to do than to babysit me the rest of his life.”

  It wasn’t the whole truth. But it was part of it, at least. It was enough to assuage Marie’s curiosity, and she nodded in sympathy.

  “Hey,” she said, squeezing Jenna’s shoulder. “It might still be weird, but… he’s here now, right? Maybe that’s a sign.” She smiled ruefully. “He seems nice. And I like the way he looks at you a hell of a lot more than the way Adrian does.”

  Jenna’s heart gave a strange pang at that. Adrian, she thought. God, what I wouldn’t do to have him here right now. Her feelings toward Gabe were such an awful, complicated mess. But there was none of that confusion as she thought of Adrian. He was so simple, and comfortable, and reassuring.

  “Maybe I’ll talk to Gabe next time I see him,” Jenna lied to Marie. There wasn’t a chance in hell she would ever act on that old crush now. But if it kept Marie from getting tangled up with something dangerous, the lie might just be worth it.

  Marie beamed at her, pleased by the response. “And here I was starting to think romance was dead,” she sighed.

  Jenna suppressed a shiver at the choice of words. She forced a weak smile, though part of her just wanted to cry. “Yeah. Who knew, right?”

  The cab dropped her off at her apartment. Marie took the time to make sure Jenna made it to her door before he left — more for her own peace of mind than for Jenna’s, she suspected.

  Once she’d left, Jenna locked the door behind her, and slid slowly to the floor.

  She sat there for a long time in the darkness — head pounding, heart sick.

  God. Gabe found me. What do I do? I don’t know what to do.

  Tears gathered in her eyes again. She found herself staring down at her phone, sifting through the numbers.

  Adrian would help. The thought came to her instantly, unbidden. All she’d have to do is call him, explain the situation. He’d have some kind of calm, rational answer to offer. She could trust him.

  Jenna’s fingers landed on a different number though, and she stared down at her phone.

  She’d hit the call button on the name Elaine Halstead.

  The phone rang a few times, oddly loud in the empty apartment.

  “This is Elaine. I’m not here right now, but please leave a message.”

  Jenna’s throat closed up. She shook her head at herself, confused. “I just wanted to talk, Lainey. Um.” She wiped at the tears on her face, shaking. “Never mind. Don’t… don’t worry about it.”

  She ended the call abruptly, sliding up to a different number entirely.

  Adrian answered almost immediately. He often forced himself to sleep at night, but it was such a restless, unnatural time for him that the slightest distraction could wake him up instantly.

  “Jenna?” Adrian’s voice was sharp, concerned. “Is something wrong?”

  “I…” Jenna pressed her forehead to her knees with a sob. “I need help, Adrian.”

  The briefest pause came over the line. She heard him push out of bed. “I’ll be right there. What’s your address?”

  Chapter 4

  Voices filtered down the hallway, behind Jenna’s front door.

  “—can talk about this, if you want to,” Adrian was saying, in that calm voice he used with patients. “But Jenna is very scared and upset right now, and I’d like to make sure she’s okay first. Is that all right?”

  “I don’t particularly want you in her apartment,” Gabe’s voice replied coldly.

  Gabe. Jenna staggered to her feet, breathing quickly. Her vision still swam in front of her, dizzy. Why is he here? Oh god, he knows where I live?

  “I’m here because she asked for my help,” Adrian said, still perfectly unfazed. “I understand your concern, but gatekeeping her friends is not going to make her feel any safer. Your behavior has been frightening her. Has she told you that?”

  Jenna opened the door. Just a few steps down the hall, Gabe had interposed himself between Adrian and Jenna’s apartment. Adrian, still ruffled from sleep, currently had his hands out in front of him in a carefully nonthreatening posture. Gabe had his back to Jenna, his attention fixed fully on the vampire.

  “You’re a predator,” Gabe told Adrian shortly. “I can feel it off you a mile away.”

  “And you’re a warlock,” Adrian offered reasonably. “But I haven’t assumed that you’re dangerous or irrational just because of that. Can I ask you to offer me the same favor in return?�
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  Gabe… hesitated. Jenna knitted her brow. Was Adrian actually getting through to him?

  His posture hardened a moment later. “I am dangerous,” Gabe said finally. “And probably irrational. And I think she’s right to be scared of me, even if… even if I’m not going to hurt her.” He shook his head. “I’m not letting you in.”

  Adrian’s eyes flickered toward Jenna. He shook his head minutely at her, and returned his attention to Gabe. “What are you prepared to do if I decide to go in anyway?” he asked. “Just so I know. I want to be clear about what’s going on, is all.”

  Gabe hesitated again. Adrian’s calm, nonthreatening manner was confusing him. “I’ll stop you,” Gabe said slowly. “Maybe… I’ll send you to the Looking Glass for a bit.”

  Adrian frowned. “Do you know what I think, Gabriel?” he said. “I think you haven’t planned this out very far. You’re worried about Jenna. I understand that. I’m worried about her too. But if you were in my place, wouldn’t you find all this concerning? You’re here without her permission, threatening to steal me away to Arcadia. I have to admit, based entirely on that, I am starting to wonder if you might hurt her. I don’t want to think that, but you’re not giving me much choice.”

  Gabe stepped forward suddenly. Jenna felt something tighten in the air; the light around him rippled like a heat mirage. “I would never hurt Jen,” Gabe growled. “I don’t know if I can say the same for you.”

  That magical tension in the air ratcheted up like a piano wire, and Jenna knew he was about to attack Adrian.

  I can’t stop him with magic, she thought. It’ll just come back on me. What the hell am I going to do?

  A wild, stupid thought occurred to her.

  Jenna took a long, shuddering breath… and leapt onto Gabe’s back.

  Gabe staggered forward in surprise — but she’d far underestimated his strength. Though he still looked like the tall, wiry bookworm Jenna remembered, he didn’t so much as buckle beneath her weight. Gabe’s body pressed against her, a strange mixture of new and familiar. He used to carry me like this when I was sick. The surreal thought flickered across Jenna’s mind, even as she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, trying to squeeze out his breath. Gabe choked and pried at her arms, but she could tell he was trying not to hurt her, even now.

  “You’re invited inside, Adrian!” Jenna gasped, struggling to keep her grip. “Get behind the wards!”

  The vampire blinked in shock — but the hesitation lasted barely an instant. Adrian blurred with an inhuman speed that Jenna had never seen before. He plucked her neatly from Gabe’s back, hauling her with him just past the threshold of her apartment.

  Jenna stumbled against the wall of her apartment, as Adrian put her down. His eyes flashed red now from the exertion, and Gabe stared at him as he staggered toward the doorway.

  “What the hell are you?” Gabe whispered, looking at Adrian with those glass-green eyes. “You’re not a witch.”

  Adrian tilted his head, blinking slowly. “All that power,” he murmured, perplexed. “And your master didn’t bother to teach you anything? You’re like a child with a gun.”

  Gabe’s jaw hardened. Slowly, he reached out to test the wards in front of him, pressing his fingers against the open air that separated him from the apartment. Moonlight hissed and writhed around his fingers. This time, it didn’t reflect away from him. He jerked his hand back, blinking at the unexpected resistance.

  He really doesn’t understand a thing, Jenna realized. I attacked him before, and the Looking Glass protected him. But he’s the one trying to push past my wards this time. No faerie magic in the world is going to shield him if he’s uninvited.

  Gabe flicked his eyes back toward Adrian. “Let her go,” he gritted out. The glass in his eyes was getting oddly clearer, more transparent — as though lit from behind by a distant, eerie light.

  “Go where?” Adrian sighed. “With you? I doubt that’s going to happen.” He turned his head toward Jenna. “Is it?”

  Jenna leaned heavily against the wall. Her whole body was shaking now. Was it the fever? The adrenaline? She couldn’t tell. “No,” she croaked. “I’m never going with you, Gabe. I’d rather die.”

  The light in Gabe’s eyes dimmed abruptly. The color drained from his face. “You don’t mean that,” he whispered. For just a moment, there was a flash of such real, ghastly terror in his eyes that Jenna caught her breath. “You don’t mean that, Jen. You don’t want to die.”

  Jenna stared at him.

  Snatches of memory forced themselves to mind, unbidden. Gabe, standing in the doorway of her bedroom, lost and alone. Sobbing into her shoulder in the middle of the night, when he woke up and suddenly remembered he would never see his mother again.

  “Don’t leave me too,” he’d whispered once. “Promise you won’t leave me too.”

  Jenna closed her eyes, feeling sick. “You’re right,” she whispered reluctantly. “I don’t mean that, Gabe.”

  Adrian tucked his fingers beneath her chin. She glanced up at him, and saw his eyes burning red. That deep gravity tugged on her mind, dragging her down.

  “Just calm down, Jenna,” Adrian told her softly. “You don’t have to deal with any of this. Ignore us both, and think of nicer things. Things that make you happy.”

  Jenna blinked slowly, wavering on her feet.

  Adrian’s touch was so comforting. His hand on hers, his smile next to her when she was tired and feverish and aching. Wait… who had that been? Long fingers threaded through her hair, pushing it back out of her eyes, pressing a cool washcloth to her forehead. She craved that touch again, needed it, hated it, grieved for it—

  The talisman at her neck pressed back against the vampire’s power, seething against the intrusion. Jenna nearly slid to her knees, but Adrian caught her instead, tucking her against him with effortless strength.

  “I’ve got you, Jen. It’s okay.”

  “There,” said Adrian quietly, turning his attention back toward the doorway. “Let’s discuss this like adults, Gabriel.”

  Jenna’s mind sank deeper and deeper, searching for an escape into her daydreams. But the silver talisman at her neck twisted and bucked, resisting the hypnosis.

  Gabe slammed his palm into the wall next to the doorway. “If you hurt her, I swear—”

  “—I’m well aware,” Adrian said reasonably. “It has not escaped my notice that I am trapped behind these wards. I don’t intend to stay here until morning, staring you down. That would be… unhealthy, let’s say.” He smiled ironically, showing elongated teeth. “You have me backed into a corner, Gabriel. You’ve left me with only one card to play. And believe me when I say, I don’t relish having to play it.”

  Jenna closed her eyes, breathing in. Happier memories washed over her, from a time less complicated and less terrible.

  Saturday morning cartoons, cuddled up under a blanket in front of the television.

  That perfect, utterly serious face he wore when he was reading a book and he didn’t know she was watching him.

  That stupid grin of his when he made a terrible joke, and no one laughed but her.

  “What are you doing?” Gabe asked Adrian tensely.

  “Contemplating my immediate future,” Adrian informed him calmly. “I see that future playing out one of two ways.” Something sharp grazed Jenna’s neck. She blinked dazedly, but Adrian didn’t seem to notice. “In the first version of this story,” Adrian murmured against her skin, “I drain Jenna dry. A witch’s blood is particularly potent. It might just give me enough strength to put an end to you.”

  “No!” Gabe tried to surge through the doorway. Eldritch power flared around him, rippling like water. It pressed uselessly against Jenna’s wards, stymied by the simple lack of a polite invitation. There was a hideous desperation to that power — a panicked, useless strength. If Adrian had been on the other side of that doorway, it would have done something terrible to him, she was sure.

  “Well… we
’re basically family, aren’t we, Gabe?”

  A soft smile, as he tucked her into his arms. “Nah.” His warm brown eyes, nearly golden. “You’re my favorite person. That’s better than family.”

  Adrian raised his teeth from Jenna’s neck. “In the second version of this story,” he said conversationally. “I hand her over to you, safe and sound.”

  That eldritch power subsided, very slowly. The vampire smiled reasonably. “There, see? I like that option better, myself.” He tapped his forefinger against the long, shallow scratch on Jenna’s neck. “I’ll tell her to be nice and obedient. I can make her forget everything, Gabriel. You’ll be her favorite person again. Wouldn’t that be a relief?”

  This is wrong. All of this is wrong. Jenna blinked slowly, as the moonlight she’d trapped in her necklace wound its way steadily through her mind, loosening the vampire’s grip. This isn’t the sort of thing a friend does.

  Gabe’s glass-green eyes met hers, staring helplessly. “I don’t want that,” he whispered. His voice was soft, agonized. “Please, just… just let her go.”

  Marie was right. Jenna’s mind struggled against the concept, but she knew it, deep down. Adrian was smooth and sweet and practiced... but all her initial instincts about him had been right. He really was a predator, no matter how nicely he masked it. At the end of the day, she was just food to him.

  It had been so easy for Jenna to attach herself to Adrian — to pretend that he was all the things that she’d been missing for so long. But Gabe was the real thing. As awful as the real thing was, he was here, right in front of her.

  “Whatever you want,” Adrian said. “I just need a guarantee, Gabriel. I need to know that once I hand her over, you won’t just kill me or drag me off to Arcadia with you.”

  “I won’t,” Gabe pleaded. “I promise, I won’t hurt you if you let her go.”

  Adrian shook his head. “That’s not good enough,” he said. “I want you to swear it to me, on your true name.”

  A cold spike of fear shot through the slowly-clearing delirium in Jenna’s mind.