"I can't be sure." His voice was uncertain. "Since I'm so new, they're not going to tell me much. But from what I understand..." He inclined his head toward Zane. "You're one of them."
"Really? No!" Madison's laugh twinkled across the room.
"Big surprise there," Natalie agreed. Even the sour werewolves were snickering.
Zane gave a smirk, one corner of his mouth jerking up. He turned his head to look directly at me as he spoke. "It seems that a bad reputation follows you around everywhere. I guess it doesn't help that I've been speaking to Roxanne about my theories."
"What?" Lukas roared, rage in his voice. The humorous atmosphere disappeared. "How could you be so stupid! Now she'll get us taken away and executed!"
"Don't jump to conclusions, Thomas," Zane snarled, walking up to the werewolf and flashing his fangs. "Do you really think I would be that stupid? I've approached Roxanne, yes... But not in a way that would give her enough evidence to say we're operating a conspiracy against the Hunters. Her followers would act like the little lapdogs they are, but the ones who actually have some sense... Well, they wouldn't let it happen. Besides, she's busy. She wouldn't mess with a small matter like this right now. As for me—it wouldn't exactly be the first time that I'm accused of something. And I always am able to get myself out of it." His eyes slid to Natalie as he said this, and a worried look flashed through her eyes. However, she composed herself quickly and nodded.
"The question is..." She smoothly walked over to Ty, leaning towards him. "Will you help us or not, Hunter?" A slow smile spread over her beautiful face.
"I'll help you," Ty answered, more quickly than I'd expected. "But if Alex is out, I am." He looked up at me expectantly.
"I've already told you," I said softly, looking away from everyone and feeling a faint blush touch my cheeks. "I'm going to be in this, whether you like or not."
"I don't," Ty replied shortly. "But someone has to take care of you." He was looking away from me, clearly embarrassed by having to say this in front of his enemies.
"How sweet," Shelly said sarcastically, stepping forward. "All right, then, so, we've got a Hunter, and that was the whole point of the meeting, wasn't it? No one else is coming, and I'm hungry, so can we just call it quits for the day?"
"Gladly," Zane agreed, looking relieved. "I have means of contacting Sanders and Alex, so no one else needs to worry. Meeting adjourned."
Exchanging a skeptical glance, the werewolves rushed out the door, both staying in their human form. As the door slammed behind them, I rolled my eyes.
"Sorry they had to be your first impression of werewolves," Flora apologized. "The Thomas's have never been known for their maturity or good personalities."
"They've never been known for anything." Madison gave a shrug. "Hot shots without a reason, both of them."
Ty stood, his face blank. He locked eyes with Zane for a moment, and it was as if some unspoken message flew between them. Then he took my hand, beginning to lead me away. "Come on, Alex. We have no reason to stay here."
I was worn out, and tired of business dealings for the day, so I didn't fight him on that. But I did turn my head and mumble, "Nice meeting you, Flora, Natalie."
Slowly, feeling a bit numb, I walked out back into the alley with Ty. I could feel the electricity charging between us, the sheer energy... Even though I felt so drained.
"Well," Ty said after a moment. "That was either incredibly smart, or very, very stupid."
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he slung an arm loosely around my shoulders, pulling me towards him. Laughing, I stumbled towards him, despite the fact that we were in public. I laid my hands against his chest, looking up at him. "My best friend, the vampire slayer," I whispered sarcastically.
"Yeah, well," he chuckled back, tilting my chin up. "I had to get a high from something besides drugs, so why not try going after the undead?"
I'm not sure exactly why we were acting like such happy idiots. After all, Ty had just put himself on the line, and I was, too. I guess he'd summed it up: it was a high. That high you get when you've done something you know is bad, something that could get you in serious trouble.
Then I realized how close I was to Ty. Our bodies touched slightly, and our face were inches away from each other. He seemed to get that, as well, for he suddenly took a couple steps back.
"Um..." I put my hands behind my back, clasping them together. "It's nice to see you acting a bit more like yourself."
Ty met my eyes. "It's nice to feel like myself again."
"I missed you." The words seemed to be stuck in my throat, like I had to cough them out. I was glad, at least, that we were still sort of in the alley, and Zane and company were still at Flora's.
"Hey." Ty tilted my chin up towards him. "I missed you, too."
"You know what?" I gave a small smile, my skin heating up at his touch. "The last time we tried to spend some quality time together, you ended up carrying me out over your shoulder. How about we try to repeat that? My parents are both working late tonight. Wanna come over?"
Surprise showed on Ty's face—but he was grinning. "Sure, no problem."
xxx
I've never been big on dating. I'm cute, I guess, but not so beautiful that I get tons of dates. Over my seventeen years, I think I've had two serious boyfriends, and only a few other non-serious ones. And I never got that far with them. Only one boyfriend ever came over to my house when my parents weren't there, and the visit wasn't even that long. We got to French kissing, and that was it.
Ty, on the other hand, has been to my house a million times, even at night. Before we turned ten, we would even spend the night at each others' houses. No, perverts out there, nothing went on. We were little kids!
Of course, once we both learned about the birds and the bees, we nixed that really quick. But still, Ty came regularly over to my house-at night-when my parents weren't there before he left. We'd talk about our troubles, and pointless things as well. Everything was casual. Very casual.
So why the heck was I so nervous this time?
Muttering wordlessly under my breath, I darted around the house, making sure that there was nothing that could embarrass me lying around. Like a bra, or something. That was just what I needed...
Darting over to a long mirror, I touched my hair, then stamped my foot. Why was I even worrying about this? The last time Ty had come over, the night before he left for Alaska, I hadn't even cared! (Of course, I was already puffy-eyed from bawling my head off, so the night was already screwed...)
Still! Why should I worry about him coming? I mean, he was my best friend and all, but he was FAR from Martha Stewart... How could he criticize my décor?
You're not worried about what he thinks of your home, a little inner voice whispered to me. You're worried about what he'll think of you.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up," I ordered it, but still checked out my outfit in the mirror. Maybe Ty had brought a friend. At least, that's what I was telling myself.
"Gah!" I gave a yelp as Ty rang the doorbell, and I ran up to meet him, probably looking like a neurotic schizo as I did.
"Hey," I managed as I opened the door, giving him my best smile. Shoot. I had to stop doing that! He was just Ty... wasn't he?
He was looking very nice, in a long-sleeved blue shirt and jeans. Just like he'd predicted, there was no sign of his gash anymore. In fact, I wouldn't have guessed anything bad had happened to him at all.
"Wow," he said, looking straight at me. "You look great."
"Really?" Looking down, I analyzed my ensemble again. White eyelet blouse, capris... Huh, if I hadn't known it had been me, I would have thought I looked very Valley Girl. However, this was me. Still, I'd put my hair in a ponytail just for hi-
Dangit!
"Thanks," I mumbled, shuffling my feet around. "I haven't really dressed up since you came here, and you would have thought I would for your homecoming, and everything..." Oh, great, I was babbling. That just helped me out a lot.
"Alex," Ty laughed as he walked into my house. "You don't have to dress up. I mean, it's just me."
That's right. It was just him. My best friend of eleven years, the guy I'd played basketball with, the one who'd complained about my endless baking of chocolate chip cookies...! (Third grade. A phase.) I'd seen his Spiderman pillows and made fun of them... He'd punched Donny when he tried to kiss me when I was twelve... I'd pulled Marcie's hair when Ty gave her a Valentine's Day card when I was fifteen...
Oh, gosh. Maybe that was it. Had I been jealous, then? If I'd been jealous, that would indicate that my friendly feelings towards Ty were... more than friendly. Just like everyone had been saying all these years.
But that couldn't be it. If that was it, our friendship would be messed up forever. Especially if we broke up. He's been brutally honest with me, and I with him. If we started dating, we could never have that kind of honesty with each other, could we? Call me a cynic, but don't a lot of couples fudge the truth to stay happy? At least every now and then?
"Alex..." Ty waved his hand in front of my house, pulling me through my thoughts. "Snap out of it."
"Sorry." I gave him an apologetic smile. "You know me. I kinda drift off now and then." Except most of the time, I don't drift off thinking of you.
Slowly, I began to lead him towards the living room. He seemed to be looking around a lot, as if everything was new to him.
"It's been a while since I've been here at a time when I can actually look around," he commented with a wan smile. "My last visit here wasn't exactly casual, was it?"
"No," I admitted. "But look, we don't have to ruin this visit by talking about the Supernaturals. Let's just talk, job-free."
"Then what do we talk about?" Ty gave a shrug as we paused in the room, standing face to face. "I don't go to your school anymore, and we don't really have any mutual friends, do we? I feel like there's this big thing looming right between us, but I don't know what it is."
Was he good at stating the obvious, or what? Either that, or he was a mind-reader. Hopefully the first. Please, please, please just the first.
"It's probably just because we were apart for so long," I murmured, walking into the kitchen. "Not to mention the whole Supernatural thing. I think we need to just chill out. You know, you reminded me of something when you said we didn't have any mutual friends."
"Which was?" Just as I blinked, Ty was right behind me, his hand on my arm.
"Don't do that!" I yelped, startled.
"Do what?" Hurt crossed briefly over his face. "Touch you?" His hand flew away from my arm.
"No," I said, my voice softening. "That's OK..." Our eyes met again, and I could feel that weird emotion coming up again. "Look, never mind what I said about mutual friends..." I was lacing my fingers through his, welcoming the warmth of his hand. It seemed as if I was still could from the touch of the vampires. "Let's just spend some time together."
Faint surprise-mixed with happiness-passed through Ty's eyes, and he nodded. "Yeah. We haven't been able to act like normal teenagers for a while, have we?"
Reluctantly, I let go of his hand. "Exactly. Especially not you." Turning around, I feigned nonchalance as I walked toward the pantry. "I was really worried about you today. Coming in, all cut up... Bleeding inside a room with three vampires."
"I was fine," Ty said quietly, following me. "Zane prefers female blood, like I said earlier. Madison is his Sireling, so they're very bonded to each other. She does almost whatever he asks."
"Is she like a slave?" I asked, unable to get the repulsion out of my voice.
"No, not at all," Ty assured me. "Zane probably knows how to make her one, and some Sires do... But I'll give him this: he has more honor than that. Madison is just very devoted to him, like many Sirelings are to good Sires. Out of loyalty to Zane, Madison wouldn't have attacked me. Or, at least, she'd try her best. But she has full freedom."
"Devotion... Is she in love with him, or something?" I filled a bowl full of chips.
Ty led me back into the living room, and we sat down on the floor, the chips between us, face to face. "From what I understand, no. They're just very, very good friends. Like brother and sister, almost. They love each other, in a way... But not romantically. Still, I think they'd give a lot for each other."
"Does Zane have any other Sirelings?" I questioned curiously, popping a chip into my mouth. I was craving to know more about the secret world of the Supernaturals.
"Not that the SCA knows of, but you can never be sure," Ty replied slowly. "I'm surprised we found out about Madison at all."
Pausing, I though about how Madison and Zane would have met. In the twenties', clearly... Maybe she'd been some showgirl, or something. Oh, I wished. He probably wouldn't have to pay for any girl. Even if he'd been ugly, those eyes would have done the work for him. Unfortunately, he had The Eyes, and was gorgeous.
"What about that other vampire, Natalie?" I asked, hungry for more information. "Know anything about her?"
"Nope," Ty answered. "She's a mystery to me. Maybe the other SCA members know who she is, but I certainly don't."
Suddenly, I found myself laughing. Clapping a hand over my mouth, I was shaking with snickers and giggles. A confused look on his face, Ty took my wrist, removing my hand. "Uh... Is everything OK?"
"Yeah, fine," I giggled, half-hysterical and half-sad. "It's just... The thing is, we said we'd act like normal teenagers. But we started talking about..."
"Vampires," he finished, a somber look on his face. "Yeah, sorry about that. It seems to be our favorite topic now, doesn't it?"
"M-hmm." I shrugged, trying to seem casual. He looked really nice tonight, I realized. Really, really nice.
"Alex, there's something I should tell you."
As Ty spoke, we were inexplicably leaning towards each other. I could feel my own eyelids lowering. Holy gosh, were we going to kiss? Was our first kiss going to be done while we were sitting on my freakin' living room floor, some chips between us. Oddly, I didn't care about that. I didn't even care that this would change our friendship...
"Hold your horses, hormonal teenagers. I'm right here, and frankly, I don't really need a show at the moment."
A low growl rumbled in Ty's throat, and we both looked around. Leaning against the frame of the kitchen doorway was Zane. He was smirking, and his dark eyes glittered with amusement. I could feel my jaw drop. How the heck did he get in? As if he could read my thoughts, Zane gave an explanation.
"Window."
Chapter 8
So Zane had ruined the moment. I wasn't sure whether to be mad at that or not. Maybe I should be grateful... I don't know. But really, when you have a vampire watching you-especially when that vampire's drop dead gorgeous-you can't go and kiss your best friend.
Anyway, there I was, now sitting on the arm of my sofa, watching as Ty argued with Zane about breaking and entering. Zane was saying that it was breaking and entering, it was just entering. Because my parents had really lax security. Huh, never looked at it that way...
Ty was saying that it was too breaking and entering, because Zane had not been given permission. (To this, Zane laughed, making me realize how ironic this was. Weren't vampire supposed to be asked into a place before they could come in? Apparently not.) In reply to that statement of Ty's, Zane informed him that he really had no care for the law, and did that really fit in with his personality? No.
And me? I was sitting this one out. Why? Um, well, I'd kind of done some breaking and entering myself recently, so I didn't think I was in the right place to tell Zane how bad it was. Plus, there was the fact that he didn't seem to care.
"Can we stop arguing about this and just cut to the chase?" he finally snapped, irritated. "I didn't hurt anyone, and the window's intact, so I don't see an issue. All I did was upset your romantic encounter." Upon this last sentence, he seemed to be holding back a laugh.
Blushing furiously, I began to stammer. "You-you didn't interrupt anything! N-nothing at all! Beside
s, I don't see how it's any of your business at all."
"It isn't," Ty said shortly. "You shouldn't even be here, vampire. Do you realize what could have happened? Who could have noticed-"
"You're probably the only Hunter who comes here," Zane interrupted, cutting him off. "And if a human saw me coming through a window-with superhuman speed-who would believe it? Nobody. Who would report it? Nobody. Not when they saw how fast I was going. Why do you think neither of you noticed until I was right here?"
"Look, all that's irrelevant now," Ty muttered, folding his arms over his chest. "Why the heck are you here at all?"
"Originally, I came here for Alex," Zane stated flatly, casual in his honesty. "To my own surprise as much as yours, I find her to be a much more enjoyable companion, despite the fact that she can get a bit annoying at times."
I scoffed, rolling my eyes to show that he wasn't the only one who got annoyed. In response, he smiled.
"You amuse me."
"Stop bothering her like that," Ty threatened, narrowing his eyes. "She wouldn't have anything to do with this if it wasn't for your insistence that she comes."
"Hey," I said, slipping off my perch. "It's my choice more than anybody's, Ty. Just calm down and let Zane get to the point. But Zane—can you be quick about it?"
"What, want to resume you're date?" he asked sharply, rolling his eyes. "You have a lot looser leash than I did when I was your age." He winced. "That just made me sound like somebody's grandfather..."
Um... You don't look like somebody's grandfather.
"For what you know, you could be somebody's grandfather," Ty muttered under his breath, his eyes glinting with mischief.
"In order for me to be a grandfather, I'd have to have-" Zane broke off, glaring at the Hunter. "You are insinuating something about my character, there. Shut up about it. Besides, as a vampire, it would be impossible for me to have children."
Meeting: Vampire Hunter Saga Book 1 Page 11
