Free Talisman 2 - The Sapphire Talisman by Brenda Pandos Page A

back of his hand.
    The day she died replayed through my mind. We’d come to the park at dusk to pick up Nicholas, my mom’s newly adopted , troubled teen. I was only five at the time. The vampire appeared from nowhere and grabbed her before we could run. Nicholas—late because he’d gotten into a fight with his father about becoming too friendly with mortals—came right after, only in time to stop the vampire from taking my life.
    Nicholas and his father, needing to cover up the incident for fear of discovery, chose to ditch her car in the river and bury her body in this once desolate meadow. Nicholas anonymously returned me to my porch the next morning. I’d only just remembered the whole incident after another vampire tried to take my life this past f all, and Nicholas had no choice but to reveal himself to save me.
    It was then I discovered he’d been protecting me from vampires ever since. That was a good thing, because for some reason I was a vampire magnet. Hunting, fighting, and killing vampires was something he did to deal with his guilt. Being the only half-vampire in the world was a double edged sword. Blessed with super human strength and hearing, but yet he still retained a conscience unlike most vampires. He loathed the wanton murder his full-blooded kind did to humans on a daily basis. His actions forced him to always look over his shoulder looking out for vengeful immortals who wanted nothing but to take him to their leader as a trophy or torture those around him as punishment. He purposely remained alone to prevent putting others in danger.
    With the talisman, I was the only one allowed to break that rule.
    I pulled myself out of my memories and realized Nicholas no longer stood by her grave. He’d slipped away, and since I hid under my feelings’ shield I didn’t feel his absence—something I’d have to get used to.
    I spied him standing a little way off, leaning against a tree that overlooked a valley filled with clumps of sky scrapers interlocking like a puzzle all the way to the sea. I walked over and stood next to him.
    “Beautiful,” was all I could say, trying desperately to keep from losing it. More than anything I wanted to toughen up and stop being such a bawl baby.
    “Yes,” he said.
    He still oozed with guilt, so I remained within the folds of my barrier. I didn’t need to add to my pain.
    I hoped coming here would help me with closure—to accept the truth and say goodbye. But the reality left me bruised and broken. I missed my mom deeply and felt cheated of something I deserved: a loving, doting mother. I loathed vampires everywhere for doing this to me—to us.
    “I’m ready,” I said, wanting to leave.
    He nodded, took my hand, and we walked wordlessly to the car.

Chapter Eight
    “ I think I need to get another cell phone,” I said while trying to figure out what crops grew in the fields next to us as we cruised down the highway towards home.
    “Are you planning on losing the one you have?”
    “No,” I said with a slight smirk. “I want to get my own. I’m sick and tired of having to do cryptic texts all the time. I want my privacy but I’m not old enough to get one by myself.”
    “Ah,” Nicholas said, “I should just add you to my plan.”
    A shared phone plan.
    My heart flip-flopped. Something about hearing him suggest we share made me excited, like we were taking our relationship to the next level.
    “Could you?”
    “I don’t see why not.”
    “Oh wow,” I said, my mind suddenly drooling with the possibilities of cell phone freedom. “How about a miniature one, like this size.” I held up my fingers a few inches apart to demonstrate.
    “We should get you a watch phone. So you don’t get caught with it accidentally.”
    Oh! Even better.
    My mind started turning, partly in a bad direction. I imagined something sleek and James Bond secret-agent like.
    “You could help me with algebra,” I said, my words flowing incredibly fast in excitement. “I