“How do you know they’re blood bitches?” I hissed, glancing around to make sure nobody was listening in, which was dumb because the club was ear-splittingly loud.
“I can smell the vampire blood in their systems,” Katie explained. “Plus, I’m pretty sure I recognize one of them. I can’t place her, but I’m thinking I must have seen her during a raid or something.”
“Oh, God,” I moaned. “So what do we do?”
“I don’t know,” Katie said. “Maybe we should call Lucas?”
I pressed my lips together. I really didn’t want to do that. He’d be so mad that we’d gone out, and it wasn’t like he could help us from two hours away. “No,” I said. “I’ll handle this. Just—stay with Derek.”
She nodded and sat beside him as I headed off toward the bathroom. I didn’t know exactly what I planned on doing, but Heather was my friend—sort of—and I couldn’t let her go down this path. Maybe she’d listen to me.
I entered into the yellow light of the bathroom. The brick walls gave the room a rusty odor that mingled unpleasantly with the scent of bleach and toilet bowl cleaner. As Katie had said, Heather was there, sitting on the counter and talking with four other girls, all of whom looked over when I entered.
Three of the girls were close to identical. Dull brown hair pooled around their shoulders, skanky clothing covered their anorexic bodies, and a glazed look hung in their eyes. The fourth girl looked very different. She had reddish-brown hair and gorgeous jade-green eyes that pierced into mine, indicating that she wasn’t high on drugs or large quantities of vampire blood. She wore a brown leather jacket and red heels, both of which I liked very much. Had this meeting been under different circumstances, I would have asked her where she’d gotten them. But as it was, I fixed the girls with my best I’m-a-badass stare and went up to them.
“Heather, I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” I said pointedly.
She seemed unconcerned and just giggled.
“We’re ready to get out of here,” I went on. I waited for her to jump off the sink and come toward me. But she just smiled dazedly. She was high, but whether she was vamped or on drugs was beyond me. Nor did I care. I just wanted out of there, and Heather, too. “Come on,” I said, holding out my hand for her to take.
“She doesn’t want to go,” said the girl with reddish hair.
I rounded on her. “And you would be?”
A grin spread on the girl’s strawberry-kissed lips. “Danni,” she supplied. “And who says you get to decide when she leaves?”
“I do. I’m her friend.”
“Some friend,” Heather grumbled.
“What?” I turned back to her, seeing that her freckled face had gone sour.
“You’re a crappy friend,” she said. “You never call me, and I practically had to drag you out tonight. And then you totally left me with Pete and Paula!”
She was right, but regardless of how sucky I’d been to her, I still cared about her and I didn’t want her anywhere near these people. “Look—I’m sorry, but I’ve been going through some ... things. Can we please just leave now and we can talk about it in private?”
“No,” she said. “I’m happy right here.” She folded her arms over her chest.
“Why don’t you stay?” Danni said to me. She gestured to the grimy bathroom as if she was asking me to stay in some posh penthouse.
I had to repress the urge to laugh. “No thanks,” I said. “I don’t do drugs.”
“Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?” she asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I must have left it in my dorm room. Along with my brain.” What, did she think I was an idiot? That I would actually take drugs from some chick I just met?
“But it’s awesome!” Heather suddenly exclaimed. “Danni says it’s called getting vamped.”
I froze and locked eyes with Danni’s cunning stare. The ghost of a smile played in the curl of her lips. She’d actually told Heather that the drug was vampire blood? Or had she merely said it was a drug? I didn’t know, but something about the way she was looking at me, made me think she knew something she wasn’t telling.
Instantly, I reached out with my power to feel her vibe. It was strangely faint, but I’d been drinking, so maybe that affected my power. What little I got from her was laid-back and bored.
“Take a hit,” she offered. She reached over with one hand and held the charm bracelet hanging on her wrist. Among the colorful baubles was a slim vial in the shape of a fang. It was blood-red. She gave the vial a small twist and the body came off, leaving the top attached to her bracelet. The vial had to contain a tiny amount of vampire blood.
Cute.
Instead of immediately declining, I decided to probe a little into this business. Part of me was extremely curious—not that I wanted any. God, no. But I did want to know how the others did it, what they were willing to do for it and, most importantly, if they knew where the vampires were. It seemed likely if they were in contact with them.
“How much do I need to take?” I asked. “To get vamped?” I felt like such a dork saying it, but I was trying to use the lingo.
“A drop will enhance your senses; two gives you strength and speed. And three makes your brain work faster. Any more than that and you get all of the above, plus a serious high. It’s euphoric.”
I was thrown by her casual tone. It was almost apathetic. As if she was reciting the symptoms of the chickenpox out of a textbook.
“I’ve never heard of a drug that made you stronger,” I said. “Or smarter, for that matter.”
“I know about a lot you’ve never heard of,” Danni said, flicking her auburn hair away from her neck.
Wanna bet?
“Where’d you get it?” I asked.
“A dealer,” she said. “Just like everybody else.”
Something in the overt nonchalance of her tone made me believe that Danni knew exactly what she had in that little bottle. “But that’s not a regular drug. It looks like blood.” Don’t give too much away, Faith.
Danni examined the tiny bottle between her fingers. “It’s dyed to make it more appealing. Like Gatorade.”
I smiled despite myself. “Yeah, except Gatorade doesn’t make you high.”
Danni closed her finger over the end of the bottle and turned it over. She held her finger out to me. A bead of red liquid shone on the tip. A drop of poison. “Take it,” she said, eyes never leaving mine.
“You first,” I challenged.
Danni’s mouth quirked. “Nah,” she said. “I don’t use. I just supply.”
My smile hardened. “Then you’ll have to excuse me. I don’t think I’ll be doing any drugs that even the supplier won’t use.”
This didn’t seem to bother Danni at all. She held her finger out to Heather instead and said, “It’s yours, babe.”
Heather took Danni’s wrist in an instant and stuck her finger into her mouth.
“Heather!” I exclaimed. “Come on, you’re already high. Let’s just get out of here.” Forget this. Three of these blood bitches looked like they were going to go into a drug coma, and Danni was either too smart or too ignorant to tell me anything useful. It was time to go.
But Heather wasn’t going anywhere.
“You can never be too thin or too high!” she said, eyes going in and out of focus.
I threw my hands onto my hips. “We’re not going to wait all night for you,” I warned, even though I would have if it meant her getting home safe.
“Okay,” she said dreamily.
I stared her down as she turned the water faucet on and off, giggling inanely. I looked around at the dazed blood bitches and Danni smiling coyly. “Fine!” I burst out. “Come find me when you’re done being completely idiotic!”
“’Kay.”
I stormed out, cursing under my breath. This was the most ridiculous and frustrating night I’d ever had, and suddenly, I was sick of it—sick of all the supernatural bullshit. Of being paranoid all the time and a
lways, always being the responsible one. Katie had gone and gotten drunk off her ass; Heather had just taken the first step to becoming a blood bitch; and Derek . . . he was too busy being an assbag to do anything dumb, but he hadn’t listened to me about Paula and I was pissed.
I wanted to let loose, too. I wanted to forget about all the awful things that were going on around me—the things I had no power to change. That was the whole reason I’d gone out tonight. I wanted ... I wanted to dance.
I went to our table and found Derek and Katie deep in conversation. They both turned when I came up. “Heather’s not coming,” I snapped. I tossed back one of the remaining shots and winced as it burned my throat. “I’m going to dance.”
“But I thought we were leaving?” Katie said.
“Leave if you want.” I stalked off to the dance floor.
I danced alone for a while, only semi-enjoying myself amidst my anger. Then some random dude came up and started dancing with me. I tried my best to be nice, but when his hand wandered to my butt cheek, I slapped it off, totally appalled and repulsed at his forwardness.
“Hey,” he said. “What was that for?”
I started walking away and didn’t even bother to turn around. Why is everything a pain?
I felt a hand on my shoulder and it spun me around. Random Dude was looming over me. “Why’d you hit my hand away?” he asked, slurring.
I pushed his hand off of my shoulder and said, “Because I don’t appreciate you grabbing my ass when you don’t even know my name.”
“So tell me your name,” he said, guffawing.
“No,” I said with a sneer. “Go dance with someone else. I’m leaving.”
I started to turn around but Random Dude grabbed my wrist. Hard. I tried to yank it away and ended up wrenching it, which hurt like hell.
“Let me go, jerk!”
That’s when a wall of white flew at us with the speed of an aerial missile. Derek. He drew back and punched Random Dude so hard he went flying through the air and crashing into the bar. His back splintered the wood and he was knocked unconscious.
For a moment I could only stare at Random Dude lying in a pile under the bar. I was unable to completely stave off the rush of vindication upon seeing him drooling uselessly on the floor. Then I realized that everyone else was staring—not at Random Dude—but at Derek.
Oh, fudge.
I grabbed Derek’s hand and quickly towed him away from the stunned crowd.
“What the hell was that?” I screeched. “What were you thinking!”
“He was hurting you!” Derek said defensively. “You’re my responsibility tonight. I wasn’t about to let that guy break your wrist off.”
“I’m not your responsibility; I’m Katie’s. She’s the one that’s supposed to protect me if anything happens. And nothing was happening. You completely overreacted.”
“I just defended you and you’re yelling at me?”
I sputtered for a moment. “Couldn’t you have at least tried to act like a normal person?”
“That was me trying. If I’d had it my way I would have changed right there and ripped his slimy skull off.”
I gaped up at him.
“Sorry,” Derek said, seeing my reaction. “I guess I should have been more subtle.” He looked around, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Do you think anyone noticed?”
“Um, yeah!” I looked over at the exit and saw the bouncer on his cell phone. “We have to leave,” I said. “Now. I think the bouncer is calling the police.”
Suddenly Katie was at Derek’s side. “What is wrong with you?” she all but shrieked.
Derek rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah I know. I lost it, all right? Like it never happened to you?”
“I never did it in the middle of a human club!”
“Where were you anyway?” I shot at her. “You’re supposed to be controlling him.”
Katie held her hands up helplessly. “He was gone before I could even react! How am I supposed to know he can move that fast?”
Derek looked a little too happy about that.
“Don’t even start,” I warned him, stabbing a finger in his face. I turned to Katie. “We can’t leave Heather here, but I can’t get her out of the bathroom.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Katie said at once. She seemed to be trying to redeem herself for letting Derek slip through her guard. “You guys get out of here—quick. I hear sirens.”
“Okay, but make sure Heather goes home with you. Haul her over your shoulder if you have to.”
“Got it.” Katie started to leave and then stopped short, giving Derek a worried look. “Maybe I should walk you to the car.”
Derek looked ready to protest, but I nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
Katie waved us toward the back of the club. “This way.”
Derek and I followed her, slipping in between the crowds like eels. People were freaking out all around us. I heard phrases like, He came out of nowhere, and, Threw him across the room and then vanished! As we reached the side door I saw a bouncer the size of a grizzly bear standing guard over it.
“Damn,” I muttered.
“Come on,” Derek said, striding forward.
The bouncer put his beefy hand on Derek’s chest. He was at least three times as big as Derek and threw his weight out like a puffed-up gorilla. “Nobody in or out,” he thundered. Derek grabbed the guy’s hand and twisted it away, slamming him into the doorframe.
“Go,” Derek said to us, and I scurried through the door followed by Katie. Derek trailed after us, leaving the bouncer staring after us in wonderment and rubbing his hand.
We entered into a slim, dank alley beside the club that smelled faintly of vomit. Katie began walking briskly toward the street, Derek and I keeping pace behind her, when suddenly she stopped. She turned to face us, and her eyes were like flashlights in the dark alley—iridescent yellow.
“Get back inside,” she said.
“Why?” Derek asked, looking around.
Katie’s body shook violently.
“Vampires.”
13
HUMAN SHIELD
Derek pinned me to the wall in an instant. His arms braced agaisnt the side of the building like steel bars, his hard body pressed flush against mine.
He cursed as a rush of wind hit the side of my face and Katie yelled, “Derek, get her inside!”
I peered around Derek’s waist and saw that three people had appeared at the mouth of the alley—all tall, beautiful, and distinctly vampire.
Derek’s hand clasped to my arm so tightly I felt sure it would leave bruises as he hauled me toward the side door of the club. I ran and just barely caught sight of Katie angling herself between us and the vampires. In her hand was a wooden stake, much like the one Lucas had given me when we’d hunted together, but fancier and without the silver end. She crouched low, shaking and ready to fight or change—whichever came first. I’d never seen this side of her before, fierce and fearless. She was completely focused on the vampires, body tensed for the slightest sign of attack. I was in awe of her. She was ready to die right there defending us.
One of the vampires, a tall, dark guy with greasy hair, pounced on Katie and sunk his teeth into her arm. She grunted and raked the point of the stake across his face. He withdrew and she swept her leg out to knock his feet out from under him. He was too quick, though, and hopped her kick, only to make a fatal lunge for her throat.
“Katie!” I screamed, terrified. But she was amazing. She dodged the attack with impossible speed and rebounded off the wall to leap on top of the vampire like a lioness. She dug into his abdomen with her stake, and his angry hiss filled the night air. He shook her off, and she rolled away, coming to her feet in an ultrafast movement. Immediately, the vampire flew at her again.
Just then, Derek stopped dead, and I stumbled to a halt, hitting my head on his arm. I looked around and saw that the side door to the club was now blocked.
By Paula.
“Yo
u,” Derek started, gaping at her.
Paula propped her hands on her tiny hips. “How observant,” she said. “I thought I’d find you fleeing the scene.”
“Get away from the door,” Derek demanded.
“I can’t do that.” She pointed a silken finger at the vampires fighting Katie. The other two had joined in now and were helping to force Katie back toward us. We were going to be cornered. “They need to have a word,” Paula said primly.
“Too bad. Move!” Derek swatted Paula away like a paper doll, and she fell to the ground. Katie tripped over her, almost falling, too.
Derek shoved me toward the door when one of the vampires—a slim dude with tawny hair—dove forward to snatch Paula out of the way. At the same moment, Katie spun around on him, taking the miniscule moment of opportunity as the vampire reached for Paula, and plunged her stake at his chest.
In a blink, the vampire picked Paula up by her arms and held her in front of his chest like a shield. The stake squelched into Paula’s heart, and she let out a ragged groan. Blood gushed from the wound, and we all froze for an instant.
Was it vampire blood ... or human?
The vampire eyes around us all blackened with the crave—even Derek’s eyes were like inky pools.
Shit. Human blood.
But still, nobody moved. Derek was holding his breath—completely motionless and staring away from the body as though in pain. I could feel his vibe lashing at him like barbed wire—urging him to drink the blood in front of him. He only kept it at bay by thinking of me. How he wouldn’t bite me. How he loved me.
It lasted only a breath of time.
And then the female vampire dashed for the bleeding corpse. Katie pried the stake from the body and whirled around on her with a vicious growl. The female stopped, eyes still locked hungrily on the dead body. Her vibe was ten times stronger than Derek’s. She was insane with bloodlust—she could think of nothing else.
The tan-haired vampire who was holding Paula seemed more controlled. He released the dead body with a flourish and smacked his gloved hands together as if dusting them off. “Go on,” he said to the female. “Take her.”
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