Forever Night (Darkness Falls Book 3)

Chapter Two

My nerves didn't last long. Once Riley had bounded in, exclaiming with delight over every single part of my little house and proclaiming her abject jealousy that it wasn't hers, and after Samuel and Elena had both enveloped me in a warm hug, I forgot that I'd ever been nervous about inviting them around.

Samuel had brought us a bunch of flowers, and I passed them to Luke to take care of – he promptly stuck them in an old milk bottle – while Riley thrust a messily wrapped present into my hands which turned out to be a beautifully carved photo-frame.

"Save it for something really special," she said, looking suggestively from me to Luke.

I assumed she was hinting at a possible future wedding photograph, and that made me feel nervous and excited all over again. Marriage wasn't something Luke and I had discussed. Even if it happened, it wouldn't be a traditional wedding as it would have to take place at night, but I couldn't help wondering about the possibility. Maybe it wasn't necessary. Luke and I loved each other, and we didn't need a ceremony and a piece of paper to confirm that.

All the same, even someone like me who didn't bother with dresses or makeup, could see a certain romantic appeal in donning a white gown and walking down the aisle to the boy I loved.

Maybe one day.

The evening trickled past, the people I loved sharing stories and jokes, filling my small kitchen with the warm sound of their laughter. Luke sat next to me, one hand on my knee, shooting me constant little looks as if he couldn't bear to go too long without looking at me.

And yet in spite of everything, there was a tiny knot of disappointment just under my ribcage. My eyes kept drifting to the door, hoping to hear another knock.

In the last few weeks, I hadn't seen much of Ava. Admittedly I'd been busy lately, but even so, she hadn't made as much effort as I'd hoped to try and see me. When she'd used all her money to buy Luke and me this house, I'd thought that we'd finally made a real breakthrough, crossed a huge hurdle in our attempts to build a relationship. But nothing was ever that simple. Ava and I still had sixteen years of bad blood to work through, and things like that really did take time – on both our parts.

And though she'd never admit it, I knew that Ava was still awkward around the people that had become my family. She was the woman who'd given birth to me, but Elena was the woman who'd taken me in. Samuel was more a father to me than my own had ever been. Even though we both wanted to make our relationship work, Ava never seemed quite sure that she fit in with the vampires.

Even so, I had really thought she'd come tonight.

I was less surprised that there was no sign of Clara. Since Rachel's disappearance, Clara had waged a one-woman retrieval mission on the murderous vampire and her scattered followers, determined to hunt them all down. But after three weeks with no success, even Clara's determination was waning.

Truth be told, I wasn't sure she'd have come anyway. This wasn't exactly her sort of scene, and I didn't hold that against her.

Someone knocked on the front door and my heart skipped a beat.

Ava?

I jumped to my feet then hesitated, suddenly uncertain. The lack of communication lately had been a bit of a setback in my relationship with my mum, and now I felt awkward all over again, like we were still two strangers trying to find stable ground.

"I'll get it," said Elena, noticing my discomfort.

As she went to answer the door, I mentally berated myself. So things with Ava had been a bit strained lately; that didn't mean our burgeoning relationship had crumbled. We'd both been busy – she hadn't been able to come here as I wanted to get the house spick and span before we invited anyone over, and I couldn't go and see her as she still lived with my father. That relationship had been in tatters for years, and I wasn't setting foot in that house as long as Noah still lived there.

If I was honest with myself, part of me felt guilty about living in the house that Ava had bought. She'd saved that money for years, hoping that one day it would give our family the chance to move on from vampire hunting. After the family fractured beyond repair and I went to live with a vampire clan, Ava had planned to use the money to leave Noah and start a new life. Instead she'd spent the whole lot on me. By giving me a future, she'd given up her own chance at one, and I was afraid that, now she was stuck back in that horrible house with the horrible man who had spawned me, she resented her generosity. Worse, I was afraid that she resented me. I was probably being paranoid, but a little seed of fear had rooted in my brain and I couldn't seem to dislodge it.

Elena came back into the kitchen, carrying a large box wrapped in silvery paper. "It looks like someone sent you a housewarming present."

She smiled at me, but there was sympathy in her eyes. She thought it was from Ava, and she knew how much it would hurt me that Ava had dumped the present on the doorstep and not bothered to come inside.

Weary disappointment flared through me. It was hard to believe that after everything we'd gone through together, she still couldn't get over her issues with the vampires in my life. Riley had told me once to cut Ava some slack, pointing out that she had spent her entire life hating vampires, and she couldn't be expected to shrug off that kind of ingrained conditioning overnight. I agreed with that, but when Ava's issues put strain on our own relationship, then I veered more towards thinking that she just needed to get over it already.

Elena put the box down on the table, and despite my earlier disappointment, I couldn't help a tingle of excitement. My parents had never believed in birthdays or Christmases, so presents had been in short supply when I was a kid. Now I was nearly seventeen, but the mystery of a wrapped present still ignited a childlike sense of excitement in me.

I studied the box, trying to guess what Ava had bought me. Unless I was completely wrong and this wasn't from Ava. There was always the slim chance it was from Leon, the vampire hunter that I'd managed to bring over to our side a few weeks ago. He was the son of one of my most terrible former enemies, and, at one point, had sworn to kill Luke and his parents, but we were past all that now.

I hadn't invited him tonight though, because the housewarming was something I'd wanted to share with close friends and family. Leon didn't fit into either of those categories – not yet anyway. But that didn't mean he hadn't dropped off a present for us.

"Do you want to open it?" I said to Luke.

He shook his head, smiling. "You go ahead."

I attacked the wrapping paper with gusto, ripping it off the box and using my thumbnail to peel away the tape that that bound the cardboard flaps. I cleared away a few layers of dark tissue paper and –

My legs buckled and I grabbed the edge of the table for support.

"Kiara?" Concern filled Luke's voice. "What's wrong?"

I couldn't speak; I could only stare down into the box that I'd thought was a housewarming present.

Leon's severed head stared up at me.