by Serena Robar
The big guy effectively slashed his partner to ribbons as Colby dodged his slicing and dicing action. I was whimpering when I realized she had nothing left to use as a shield, and then Colby slipped on the oozy mess and went down on one knee, hard. I heard the crack her kneecap made from my hiding place.
Her face was contorted with pain and she was defenseless. The big guy brought up his sword and a power that I couldn’t begin to describe filled me. I leapt forward, stake in hand, poised for action when I heard the man say to Colby, “It’s time to go.”
With a force I didn’t know I possessed, I rammed the pointed wood into his back, between the ribs and into his heart. “After you,” I gasped.
The stench of spoiled milk filled the air as he sank to the ground, a white mist pouring from his back.
As the attacker sank between us, Colby’s expression was one of amazement and shock. Did she really think I would leave her to die? Gee, thanks a lot.
“You saved me,” she whispered, clearly flabbergasted at the turn of events.
“Duh,” I rallied with sarcasm after Colby stated the obvious.
Her expression changed from one of shock to new respect and not a little bit of awe. I felt like an all-avenging angel with my slimy stake and bubbly bad guy decomposing at my feet. The adrenaline rush quickly left me as the overwhelming stench of spoiled dairy products invaded my senses. I dropped the stake to cover my mouth. I felt the corndog rise in my throat as a sexy, deep voice asked, “Are you okay? Can I help?”
My hottie from the mall had arrived just in time to wear my mustard-laden dinner on his biker boots.
Three
COLBY
“Piper, you’re amazing!” I praised, completely ignoring my would-be stalker. He wasn’t a vampire and hadn’t jumped in to finish us off. At this point he wasn’t an immediate threat.
“I’m so sorry.” Piper moaned, wiping her mouth with the torn sleeve of her shirt.
“Uh, that’s okay. Are you sick? What happened?” the guy asked her, shaking the vomit from his boots, one foot at a time.
I took that moment to attempt some damage control. It was time to determine what he saw and what he knew.
“What do you think happened here?” I asked shrewdly. “Some punk kids threw spoiled dairy products everywhere, making my friend ill and causing me to fall and hurt myself in the process.” It was the lamest, sorriest tale I had ever told and seriously, I’d told some whoppers in my day.
“Ri-ght.” He nodded slowly, looking around at the chaos and sounding not a little unlike Dr. Evil in his skepticism.
I decided lying might not fly so I turned into an invalid. People rarely demanded answers right away from an injured girl.
“A little help here?” I ventured, going from agitated liar to weak-kneed female.
“Oh, Colby. Are you okay?” Piper rushed to my side and I rolled my eyes at her. She of all people couldn’t be falling for my act, could she?
“I’ve been better. And what happened to the plan, Piper?” I accepted the offer of help and leaned against her, trying to flex my leg. I winced in pain (only slightly exaggerating) as it made a popping noise when I straightened it.
“Is your kneecap broken?” he asked incredulously.
I waved his concern aside. “No, no. Old cheerleading injury. I’m double-jointed and the knee pops out sometimes.”
I smiled brightly in his direction, looking directly into his eyes, and saw his body relax. I channeled all my Undead mojo into the stare and could practically hear him thinking, Of course. That’s it. Nothing to worry about there. She must have tripped. But now she is perfectly fine.
“Stop it, Colby,” Piper demanded, glaring at me. The guy broke eye contact and looked back toward her, visibly tensing once he was no longer caught by the power of my gaze. Damn it, Piper!
“She slipped on this goo and went down hard. Can you help me get her to my car?” And then Piper actually fluttered her eyelashes at him. She wouldn’t let me use my hypnotic powers but it was fine and dandy to use her feminine wiles? And since when did Piper use feminine wiles anyway? This evening was getting weirder and weirder.
I looked at him and asked bluntly, “Where did you come from?”
He swept me up into his arms in one motion. “I noticed you on the floor when I was walking to my bike and thought you were hurt. My name’s Hunter, by the way.”
He carried me easily; I had to admit it was impressive how Piper barfing on his boots hadn’t fazed him and how carrying a total stranger to her car was no big deal. And really, what gal isn’t a little enthralled when a man can sweep her up in his arms so effortlessly? That’s why firefighters are such popular fantasy fodder. This guy was definitely hot on so many levels, but I sensed he could be dangerous as well.
“I’m Colby and this is Piper.”
He smiled at Piper, flashing a dimple in his left cheek, and I could practically hear her purr. It was disgusting. And sadly, I felt a little purr coming on myself when I felt his chest muscles ripple as he carefully lowered me to the ground so I could get in the backseat of Piper’s car.
I love my boyfriend, who is one fine specimen of manliness, but this Hunter was built like a linebacker. He would probably give Carl a run for his money. Thomas was all packed energy in a wiry soccer body. This expanse of warm flesh was a tantalizing experience.
I curbed such thoughts when I looked at Piper. She was shooting daggers at me. I was no poker player. Very bad at hiding my emotions. I smiled at her weakly as I slid in the backseat and she retaliated by slamming the door a little harder than necessary.
Piper quickly slipped into the car. I couldn’t help but wonder how many words were exchanged before she got in. We couldn’t possibly see this guy again, surely Piper knew that?
Once we exited the garage I ventured the topic.
“You know Piper, about this Hunter guy—”
“Don’t. Stop right there,” she cut me off.
I sighed deeply. “You know you can’t see him—”
She cranked up the CD player to drown out my voice and I leaned back in the seat to stew. She could be such a brat sometimes.
By the time we reached Psi Phi House, my knee had knitted itself together nicely. One perk about being a vampire was that we heal quickly. Even half-bloods.
“How’s the knee feeling?” Piper inquired from the front seat as though nothing happened.
“Is that the way we’re going to play it?” I asked. It was obvious she wasn’t taking any advice or orders on this one.
“How’s the knee feeling?” she parroted back, so I dropped the subject for now. Of course I knew the issue was far from resolved, but no one was as stubborn as Piper.
“Better. Man, I can’t believe I shattered my kneecap. I’m so stupid. Drop and roll, drop and roll,” I muttered to myself as I pushed open the door. Piper rushed around to help me out.
“It’s not like you meant to,” she reminded me sarcastically. I leaned heavily against her, hobbling up to the house.
She opened the back door and helped me inside. Sorority houses, as a rule, were brimming with activity. That many women in close proximity, all with classes, studying and extracurricular activities would keep any house jumping. We see all our action at night. Girls waking up and getting ready to start their day, so to speak.
Many of us can be up and out during the day, if we take precaution with a level billion SPF sunscreen; but then again, some of us can’t. You can never tell with a half-blood. Those of us who are so many generations removed from the original vampires can possess many or just a few vampire traits. Full-bloods consider us undesirable. Until last year, we would not have been permitted to exist. That is, until I became a half-blood.
“I have to use the little girls’ room, can you make it to the living room without me?” Piper asked, doing a little antsy dance.
“Yeah,” I assured her as she zipped past me. I noticed Angie in the library as I made my way toward the couches.
&nbs
p; “Hurry up!” Angie, one of our original girls, shouted from the library down the hidden staircase to the dormitory. “Nordstrom is gonna close soon and I won’t be able to get my stuff.”
She looked up and caught my eye, complaining, “I get that Lizzie can’t go in the sun, but why does it still take her a good hour after sundown to get ready?”
I shrugged as I hobbled beyond the library but I could still hear Angie say, “Did you get attacked and hurt your knee again? Drop and roll, Colby.”
“Drop and roll, Colby,” I muttered to myself, mimicking Angie’s well-intended advice. “Yeah, like I didn’t think after I was punched—You should try to drop and roll when someone is swinging a sword at you and generally trying to pound you into the ground.”
I continued to mutter to myself as I entered the living room and plopped down on one of the oversize couches. I arranged a pillow under my knee and leaned back against the armrest with a sigh.
“I heard you forgot to drop and roll.” My aunt came up behind me and peered over the back of the couch.
“Piper?” I asked wearily.
“No, Angie. Piper seemed to be in a mood. Did you two have a fight?”
I watched her as she examined my knee; then, with a satisfied hmmph, she sat down on the coffee table next to me instead of choosing one of the fluffy chairs. Aunt Chloe hated fluffy furniture.
“A difference in taste, or maybe not,” I said mysteriously.
My aunt chuckled appreciatively. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say a boy was involved.”
I gaped at her in surprise. “How could you know that?”
“Really, Colby, what else is there for two young women to argue about? It’s not like you borrow each other’s clothes or something.”
“It’s not like that. See, we were cornered in the shopping center parking garage and some vamps attacked us. Except they were different than regular vampires. They were sort of falling apart and smelled horrendous.”
I wrinkled my nose at the memory of the sour-milk odor. “They were out to eliminate us and when I staked them, they dissolved into this toxic goo. I was on my last guy when I slipped on his buddy and went down hard. Piper saved the day and staked him.”
Aunt Chloe’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“Yeah, I know. Anyway, when the fight was all over, some big, hunky biker dude showed up to help me off the ground.” I paused a moment for dramatic effect.
“What happened then?” Aunt Chloe insisted.
I answered triumphantly:
“Piper threw up on his boots.” I smiled at the memory. That should impress the guy.
“Shame on you, Colby Blanchard,” she scolded. “You know how hard that must have been for poor Piper. Now about this boy—did he see the fight?”
I shook my head. “No. At least I’m pretty sure he didn’t. I mean, if you saw a vampire brawl in a secluded garage, I doubt you would hang around to help the winner. No matter how strong you were.”
“So he was strong?” Aunt Chloe said shrewdly.
I squirmed a bit. “Yeah, pretty strong. He carried me to the backseat of Piper’s car.”
“Sounds like he was a very nice biker dude,” she commented.
“Well, okay, I’ll give you that but I think he was following me all day. I mean, everywhere I looked, he seemed to be there.”
“You don’t see many biker dudes hanging out at Westlake Center. At least, not in the stores,” she conceded.
“Well, he might not be a biker dude, per se. He’s just really tall and broad, like a linebacker. Long, dark hair, about shoulder length. He wore a black duster and biker boots.” I remembered the feel of his chest when he held me. “Very solidly built.”
“I see,” Aunt Chloe murmured, a twinkle in her eye.
“No, you don’t see anything,” I said, correctly interpreting the look. “He’s trouble, Aunt Chloe, I mean it.”
“Vampire?” she asked seriously.
“No, just a guy. Smelled like oatmeal raisin cookies, but I’m sure he’s trouble.”
“Of course he is, dear. Just seems like he might be the kind of trouble Piper wouldn’t mind getting into?” she suggested as she stood up. “And maybe her best friend should be a little more supportive.”
“Over some guy she’ll never see again? They didn’t exchange digits or anything. They don’t even know each other’s last name. Why do I always have to take the high road and apologize?” I struggled to sit upright and watch my aunt walk toward the kitchen.
“Why, because you’re the Protector, my dear. And you’re usually wrong,” she added before disappearing from my sight.
I threw myself back down against the sofa and folded my arms petulantly across my chest.
“I am not usually wrong,” I muttered to myself, stewing in resentment. I took a moment to rethink the evening and realized we would probably never see the mysterious Hunter again so it wouldn’t kill me to let Piper believe she had a shot. The guy had gallantly helped us out and hadn’t done anything remotely improper.
“Oh, crap,” I said to no one in particular.
“Talking to yourself again?” Piper surprised me by rounding the couch and plopping down on the fluffy chair.
“Always.” I smiled at her.
“What? No one will listen to you?” She smirked at me, halfway between being serious and joking.
I winced. “Okay, maybe he’s just a nice guy playing Good Samaritan. But he’s not all that he seems.”
“What do you mean? Just because he happened to be in the garage right after the attack, automatically he is an evil bloodsucker?”
“Well, no, he’s not a vampire. But he was following me all day when I was shopping. Even bought a pair of glasses from the Sunglass Hut when I stared at him.”
Piper raised her eyebrows in question. “He bought a pair of sunglasses and that makes him trouble?”
“No, of course not. What makes him trouble is that he was everywhere I was. In the same stores.”
“Downtown has exactly two main department stores next to a small mall. You’re bound to see the same people shopping in such close quarters,” she reasoned.
“But why shop where I was shopping? Why not spread out a little and go down one of the streets? There are tons of little shops up and down that area.”
“Why didn’t you?” she countered craftily.
“Because I was meeting you and everything I wanted to look at was right there.” She shot me a knowing look and I fortified my position. “That doesn’t mean he wasn’t following me!”
“Sure, Colby, the hot guy was following you. He couldn’t possibly have his own shopping to do. It was all about you.”
“Hey, that’s not fair!”
Piper stood up and towered over me, her dark eyes flashing. “No, it’s not fair, Colby. Not to Hunter and certainly not to me. It isn’t always about you, ya know. Not everything in the world revolves around this stupid Prophesy and vampire half-bloods and the whole Undead thing. Sometimes it’s just about a nice guy being in the wrong place at the right time.”
I looked at her incredulously. “Surely you’re not that naïve.”
Piper threw up her hands and marched out of the house, throwing open the front door with gusto, practically stomping over Thomas in her rage to leave.
Thomas stepped into the House and looked at me in surprise. “Trouble in paradise?” he guessed.
“Nothing I can’t handle. I think. We were attacked by some vampires tonight.”
“You okay?” he asked, without his usual tirade about being more careful.
“Yeah, I slipped and broke my kneecap but I think it’s healed now.” I stood up and put some weight on it experimentally. There was a dull ache, but it held so I was almost good as new.
He plopped himself down in the seat Piper had just vacated and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. “You forgot to drop and roll again?”
I glared at him. Thomas, at least the Thomas I knew, would normally have been
all over me for details about the vampires. How many? Where did they attack? What did they want? Et cetera. This guy practically falling asleep in a fluffy chair (chairs he hated, BTW) was someone I barely recognized.
First of all, he wasn’t driving me crazy with undue concern. Secondly, he looked terrible. My man was beautiful to look at. This guy was a mess. His clothes were rumpled like he’d slept in them, his hair was sticking up all over and he had dark circles under his usually clear green eyes. He obviously wasn’t sleeping well. Still.
“I took out four vampires tonight and even Piper got a piece of the action. She saved me from the last one.”
“Good to hear,” he mumbled.
My gaze narrowed. I hate being ignored. “Then this wicked-looking wizard summoned a fire-breathing dragon and it totally toasted the cars in the parking garage. I subdued it using my hypnotic gaze and chained it outside in the backyard. I’m keeping it for a pet. I’m calling it Snort.”
His lips twitched upward. “Snort is a fine name for a dragon.”
I threw my hands up in defeat. “What’s up with you?”
“I’m just tired, honey. That’s all. You remember Carl leaves for New York tomorrow, right? They have bands of rogue vampires roaming the streets at night. They need all the help they can get.” He shook his head.
I made a sympathetic clucking sound. I so didn’t care if New York City had some vampire issues. They were getting Carl, Thomas’s best friend and partner, but they weren’t getting Thomas because I needed him more.
I debated telling him the details about our encounter but he looked so tired I decided against it. There would be time later.
“Anything I can do to help?” I moved toward him and sat down on the chair’s armrest, running my fingers through his disheveled hair.
“Mmmm. That feels good. You could clear up this whole Prophesy nonsense?” he suggested unnecessarily. He knew it was my major focus morning and night. He wasn’t the only one tired of all the chaos. My house was growing by leaps and bounds with unlicensed half-bloods being created by rogues.
