“Who is this?” I asked.
“It’s Heather.”
“Heather?” For a moment my brain couldn’t grasp the concept. Heather seemed like such an alien word after weeks of werewolves and full moons and blood. Why did she sound so upset? Why was she even calling me? We hadn’t spoken in almost a month. I’d assumed she hated me for being the worst friend in the history of the world. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Sorry it’s so early,” she said thickly. “I didn’t know who else to call. I don’t have many friends.”
“I’m your friend,” I said. At least, I wanted to be. Heather and my other friends were yet another thing I’d sacrificed to be with Lucas. Something I intended to get back this semester. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Heather broke into sobs.
I watched Katie give me the stink eye and pad into the bathroom. I guess she was a light sleeper, too. Ashley was out on the bed next to us. A bomb could’ve gone off, and she wouldn’t have noticed.
I shushed Heather. “Just tell me what happened. Is it the murders? Are you scared?” We’d all received notifications on our doors the other day that there was to be a curfew from now on, meaning nobody could be out past eleven p.m. It was a testament to how seriously the human community was taking this “serial killer,” and it had everybody on edge.
“No, it’s not that,” Heather grumbled. “Pete broke up with me for some girl. Paula or something.”
After everything those two had been through last semester, I couldn’t believe Pete would just dump her that way. Then again, he was a scumbag as far as I was concerned. I still hadn’t forgotten his manipulation of Heather for sex. I tried to sound genuine when I spoke, but was secretly glad he was out of the picture.
“Aw . . . I’m so sorry, Heather. That really sucks.”
Heather cried harder.
Okay, not the right thing to say.
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked helplessly.
Suddenly Heather stopped crying and said, “Yes. Yes there is. That’s why I called you. I want to go out tonight. I want to go out with someone really cute and really smart and funny that’ll just crush the life out of Pete.”
I stared across the room at my desk. “Ah . . . I’m flattered that you thought of me, but I’m not really into girls.”
Heather laughed a little. “No, dummy. I meant that guy you used to date. Vincent Stone? Would you mind terribly if I went out with him, just for one night? Just to make Pete jealous?”
I groped for an excuse that didn’t involve decapitation via werewolf. “He moved away,” I said lamely. “Sorry.”
“Oh . . .”
Katie came out of the bathroom and sat on my bed. “Offer her Derek,” she whispered.
I put my hand over the receiver and turned to Katie. “You heard Heather all the way in the bathroom?”
“Dog ears.” She grinned toothily.
I removed my hand from the receiver. I want superhearing. . . .
“What about Derek?” I asked Heather.
It was a good idea after all. Derek could use a night out with a nice girl to distract himself, and Heather needed someone hot to make Pete jealous. Heather was definitely a nice girl, and Derek was definitely hot even considering his creepy paleness.
“Oh, no,” Heather said. “I couldn’t. I know you and Derek . . .”
“Derek and I nothing,” I said, glancing nervously at Katie, who was pretending not to listen. “We’re just friends.”
“Still, Derek is Pete’s friend. He might not want to.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I assured her. “Derek would love to go out with you. Really. I’ll set it up.”
“Okay,” Heather said. “But you have to come, too. Come to Zydeco’s with us and keep me company in case something goes wrong.”
I wrinkled my nose. I hated Zydeco’s. And as eager as I was to get Derek involved with someone besides me, I didn’t want to actually witness it. “I don’t know, Heather. It might be weird.”
“No.” Heather’s voice was firm. “I need you. You have to come. Bring Ashley if you want so it’s not so weird, but I want you to come with. Please.”
“You really should go,” Katie put in. “I know Derek seems in control, but he’s still young. I should definitely go, anyway.”
“Okay,” I whispered, hand on the receiver again. “But we’re not bringing her.” I jerked my head at Ashley. I liked Ashley and everything, but I didn’t want her getting involved in werewolf-vampire drama. As it was, I felt a crush of nerves at getting Heather into it. I consoled myself with the fact that Heather—hopefully—wasn’t going to find out about our underworld and that she would take tonight’s outing at face value, never knowing what she was really dealing with. The same went for Ashley, theoretically, but I didn’t want to take chances. Better to keep the human involvement to a minimum.
“All right, I’ll come,” I said to Heather. “I’ll bring my friend Katie. See you tonight at nightfa—I mean, at eight. That okay?” God, I was getting weird. See you at nightfall. . . . Sheesh.
“Thanks, Faith. I owe you big time.”
No, I owed her after the way I’d treated her lately. Which is exactly why I’d agreed to this. And the fact that I missed having her around to talk to. She’d always been a loyal friend to me, and I’d dumped her. Not anymore. I said good-bye to her and hung up, hoping that tonight would help fix things between us.
“So . . . ,” Katie said. “You and Derek were together, I take it?”
“In high school,” I said. “Why? Does it matter?”
“No,” Katie said quickly. She looked away, fidgeting with the nose on my stuffed panda.
“I’m going back to sleep,” I yawned. I gave Katie a piercing look. “Don’t tell Lucas what we’re doing.”
She threw a look at me, one that said plainly, we’ll talk about this later, and settled back down on her makeshift bed.
I lay back too, pulling the covers over my head.
Yeah, I knew somewhere inside that what I was doing was reckless and immature, but the larger part of me didn’t care. I wanted to get out. To have fun like a normal college kid. And that’s exactly what I intended to do tonight—without Lucas’s knowledge.
12
PUNCH-DRUNK
Just after eight thirty, Heather and Derek, followed closely by Katie and me, walked along the cobblestoned streets of Old Town toward Zydeco’s. The usual crowd of people angling to get inside blocked the sidewalk and our group joined the fray.
Getting to this point had been a marathon of manipulation and lies. First, there was convincing Katie not to tell Lucas. Not only did I fail to see the point in it—besides pissing him off and starting a fight—but I also sort of resented the notion that I had to ask permission to go out. Lucas wasn’t my dad (thank God), and I didn’t have to ask him permission to do anything—least of all hang out with my friends. And as long as Katie was there to guard Derek, there was no reason we couldn’t go. That was what she was there for, after all. I spewed all of this to Katie, and she’d backed down, consenting only to call Lucas if something bad happened.
Next there was the issue of coercing Derek to go on a date with Heather.
Derek was not into it.
I had to use every ounce of cunning in my body to cajole him. In the end I owed him one steak dinner, doing his homework for a week, and one marathon movie sleepover night, which was to be relinquished after Zydeco’s tonight. A small price to pay to get Derek out on a date with someone besides me.
And then there was Heather. She noticed Derek’s change of appearance immediately. Her mouth hit the floor and her eyes went all soft, like she’d just seen Ryan Reynolds or something. She turned to me when Derek wasn’t looking and mouthed the words, “Oh my God!”
The line outside of Zydeco’s was exceptionally long tonight, not because there were more people, but because of the new security measures in effect to keep weirdoes out. Since the murders had yet to abate, i
t seemed the whole town was on high alert. Nobody out late, doors locked, shop owners applying new alarm systems to their buildings, not to mention CSU’s annoying new curfew. Zydeco’s was in on it, too, meaning we all had to empty our pockets before entering, and submit our purses for inspection by two beefy bouncers with tattooed arms.
After we’d been deemed safe—which I thought was hilariously ironic—we were allowed to pass. A sexy lady in Mardi Gras attire threw beads over our heads by as we walked through the door and into the loud, colorful, and slightly cheesy atmosphere that was Zydeco’s. Instantly, Heather rose onto her tiptoes and peered around over the tops of people’s heads, probably trying to look for Pete. Katie and I followed Heather and Derek to the back where the tables were.
We sat down, submerged in total awkwardness. Heather bit at her nails as she looked around the club. Derek on the other hand was expressionless and completely motionless. Why did I agree to this again? I’d never felt more out of place. Watching Derek on a date with Heather? Talk about uncomfortable. Thankfully, Katie dashed away and showed up again with a platter full of shots.
Forgetting all about my former conviction to abstain from alcohol consumption, I knocked one back. Derek made a grab for one, but I caught his wrist and leaned in to whisper in his ear, “Are you allowed to drink? You know ... with the blood crave?” Derek’s vibe rang with exasperation and then knocked his shot back. “We’ll see,” he said.
“That was dumb,” I said. I grabbed another glass and downed it.
“Oh, my God!” Heather suddenly gasped and spun around to look at me. “Pete and Paula are right there!” She pointed discreetly at a couple sitting in the back corner.
Sure enough, it was Pete with some other girl who must have been Paula.
Paula looked like a sex goddess. She had siren-red hair and big pouty lips to match. Her body was shaped like an overly exaggerated hourglass, and I swear I saw her thong through her black leather dress.
There was no way this chick was in college. She looked like a Playboy bunny. I found it utterly laughable that she was with Pete, who looked more like Goofy than anything else.
“I have to go over there,” Heather said.
“What?” I hissed. “Are you crazy?” Heather’s face drained, and she coughed down a shot.
“Come with me, Faith,” she said. “I need support.”
Heather took hold of Derek’s hand and dragged him to Pete and the sexpot’s table. I glanced back at Katie helplessly and shuffled along reluctantly.
“Hi,” Heather said loudly to Pete.
Pete about jumped out of his freckly skin when he saw Heather—and Derek clasping her hand. “Derek?” he asked, slightly aghast. “Dude, what happened to you?”
“Flu,” he said shortly.
“You might wanna get that checked.”
“He’s fine,” Heather said. “We’re fine.” She hugged herself closer to Derek, and I saw her shiver. I bit my lip, hoping she was too upset to notice Derek’s frosty, marbled body.
Pete’s face fell. “We?”
“Yes,” Heather said triumphantly. “We. Me and Derek. We’re on a date.”
Pete gawked, but his girlfriend spoke up. “What a coincidence,” she said. “So are we.” She smiled and put her hand on Pete’s gangly thigh. She had an oily voice that matched her oily vibe.
I was instantly suspicious. I thought maybe if I got closer I could pick up more about her, so I leaned in and said, “Hi. I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Faith.” I extended my hand.
Paula turned to me. “Paula Tourmaline,” she said. She touched her fingers to my hand and shook it lightly. I immediately felt a wave of crazy hit me—that same crazy, snarled-up energy I felt from all supernatural beings I’d ever come in contact with.
Then something else registered as Paula slid her hand from mine: she was wearing long, black, silken gloves.
Oh crap.
“Tourmaline?” I asked, trying to sound normal. “Is that French?”
“No,” she said shortly. She returned her big brown eyes to Heather. “It was nice to meet you, Hannah.”
“Heather,” I corrected loudly.
I tugged Derek’s sleeve and steered him away from the table, leaving Heather to fend for herself. She gave me a narrow look, but rounded on Pete saying something that looked snide.
Derek let me tow him to the hallway near the bathrooms, but then snatched his arm away.
“You need help going to the bathroom?” he asked. I heard the fury in his tone, but now was not the time for fighting.
“That chick is a vampire!” I all but screamed.
“Shut up,” he said, though he must have seen the urgency in my gaze because he straightened and inhaled deeply. His pupils dilated, and he rolled his head back, staggering into the wall. “Jesus,” he gasped. “Don’t let me breathe again.”
“Why’d you even do it at all?” I asked, voice high.
“I was trying to see if I could smell her ... but damn.” He opened his eyes, and I saw that his pupils had filled his entire eye, his mouth was parted, and I could see the tips of his elongated incisors.
Suddenly, he looked terrifying.
“Close your eyes!” I squeaked, glancing around anxiously.
Derek did so and reached out to hold my hand. I took it and squeezed as hard as I could.
He groaned and slammed his fist against the wall, making a little depression in the brick.
Great. This was going so well.
Some girl with too-big hair gave us a frightened look, and I wrapped myself around Derek, pretending to make out with him. People usually averted their eyes from such a sight.
“It’s okay,” I said in his ear. I ran my hand over the back of his neck and then had a horrible thought. “Am I making it worse?”
“Yes,” Derek said. “But don’t stop.”
“Masochist,” I teased.
Derek laughed shakily. “Guess I didn’t realize how bad I wanted it.”
“You haven’t been breathing this whole time?”
He shook his head. “One of the benefits of being dead.”
“Derek, I’m pretty sure Paula is a vampire.”
“How do you know?”
I didn’t want to tell him that I felt her vibe. Derek knew that I felt people’s energies, but he’d never actually believed it. I barely ever talked about it with him. But that was before he’d become a viran. Still, now didn’t seem like the time to go into it. Instead, I asserted my next-best reason, which was infinitely less convincing. “She was wearing gloves,” I said lamely.
Derek pulled back and opened his eyes, which were back to normal. “Faith, lots of people wear gloves. It’s winter.”
“But I felt this freaky vibe coming off of her!” I protested.
Derek put his hands on his hips. “Are you still on about that? Seriously?”
“What? So you can believe in vampires and werewolves, but you can’t believe that I felt something weird about her?”
“I don’t think there’d be a vampire in Zydeco’s.”
“This is where I met Vincent,” I said.
“She’s not a vampire,” he said firmly. “You’re being paranoid.”
“No, you’re being a jerk!” I yelled, halfway into hysterics. “Pete—your friend—is in danger!”
Derek’s jaw clamped shut and his pupils widened a smidge. “You’re crazy,” he spat. “I gotta get back to my date.”
But when he turned, Heather was gone.
“Where’d she—,” Derek started, looking around.
“Maybe she went back to the table,” I suggested, heading there. But when we returned Katie was sitting alone, looking bored. “Where’s Heather?” I asked.
“No clue,” she said with a shrug. She slurred her words a little, and I realized five of the shots were gone.
Awesome.
“Go check the bar,” I instructed Derek and closed in on Katie. “Are you drunk?”
“Only a little,” she
said. “Why? Who cares?”
“Because you’re supposed to be our guardian tonight!” I said, sounding more than a little hysterical. “What if Derek loses control? And did you know that Paula is a vampire?”
Katie’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”
I faltered. “I’m pretty sure.”
Katie cursed, seemingly angry with herself now. Well, good, I thought vindictively. She’s being totally irresponsible.
“Should I go check and see?” Katie asked. “I can smell it if she’s a vampire, but I have to get closer. All these humans are obscuring the scent.”
“I don’t know, I think we should—”
Just then, Derek returned without Heather, and I broke off. “I didn’t see her,” he said curtly.
“This is a disaster,” I muttered, running my hand through my hair. “We need to leave.”
“I’ll check the bathroom for Heather,” Katie said and took off, stumbling.
Derek sat at the table and downed another shot.
“Will you stop that, please?” I said as I sat next to him and put my head in my hand.
“What’s your problem?” he asked. “You’re acting completely insane.”
I just stared at him. How could he not see the danger here? Was I the only one left with any sense? Or maybe I was just the only one who’d been repeatedly attacked by a vampire and a pack of werewolves in the last month. Maybe Derek was right—maybe I was being paranoid.
I sighed, trying to release the tension squeezing me from the inside out. “I guess I’m just on edge. I’m not used to being out like this. With a werewolf and a newborn viran.” I smiled ruefully at him.
He didn’t return it.
A hand touched my shoulder and I jumped, turning around. It was Katie.
“I found her,” she said. “She’s in the bathroom.”
“Oh good,” I said. “Get her and we’ll go.”
“Ah . . . that might be a problem.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s in there with a bunch of blood bitches.”
“What!” I shrieked.
Derek turned. “What’s a blood bitch?”
“Humans who drink vampire blood,” Katie said. “They do favors for the vampires in return for small amounts of blood. They’re like drug addicts. It’s disgusting.”
Blood Crave Page 12
