Fangs for Freaks

by Serena Robar

  “Where are you?” he asked and then I heard him say in a muffled voice, “Tribunal Security check-in.” At least Carl wasn’t going to rat me out to his boss. Aka my boyfriend.

  “I’m outside Psi Phi House. I want to sneak up to my room without Thomas seeing me.”

  “I see,” he answered. “That’s a good plan. It’s best to be safe under the circumstances.”

  “Ohh, aren’t you the covert James Bond? I’ll wait five minutes, and then I’ll come in through the front door.”

  I hung up and watched the digital clock on my cell phone turn. Talk about a hopping night. I was literally watching time go past on the face of my cell phone. My life didn’t suck, no siree.

  I opened the door slowly and peeked inside. The coast looked clear. I scurried across the floor toward the staircase and right when I thought I was home free, a voice from behind me said.

  “Do we have to go over the traits of vampires again? Such as strength, excellent eyesight and oh yeah, super hearing?”

  Thomas was lying on the couch, completely hidden from the view of the front door.

  Fifteen

  “Where’s Carl?” I asked.

  “Downstairs. In a time-out of sorts.” He sat up.

  “Ha ha. Well, I sure am bushed. Gonna run upstairs, take a shower and take a nap.” I turned to leave again.

  “Colby, we need to talk,” he started.

  “Nope, we really don’t. What I need is some rest and you need, well, you need to get a clue.” And with that, I stalked up the stairs with flourish. Ha, take that, Mr. Vampire Investigator Control Freak.

  I walked to my room and heard the lilting English tones of Sophie reading from Harry Potter. Oh give it a rest already, I thought grumpily.

  I skipped the shower and fell into bed. I’m sure I smelled gamey after my workout with Cyrus but I didn’t care. I just wanted to sleep and escape the responsibility of being Protector and the complexity of my relationship with Thomas.

  My cell phone rang and I checked the number. Grimacing, I turned the phone off again. Thomas was not giving up.

  Several hours later I awoke, not at all refreshed and even more tired than before. I dragged myself to the showers and hoped the hot spray would liven me up a bit. After a long scrubbing, I felt almost human and went to get dressed. Cutoff shorts and a halter top seemed to perk me up. I checked my e-mail and discovered Piper had sent not one, not two, but three missives, all with little red exclamation points next to them. I checked them in order.

  Colby—

  Something is way wrong with Ileana’s story, I’m checking out two other manors and another private library. Contact you when I know more.

  —Piper

  Well, that told me nothing. Hardly seemed worth an exclamation point, but then Piper always thought everything she said was interjection worthy. The next message was just as puzzling.

  C—

  Almost have it figured out. They all look the same. Freaky stuff here.

  —P

  Uh, okay.

  The final e-mail cleared everything up and had me sitting up at attention.

  Colby—

  Ileana is actually her ancestors. She has been posing as the most recent generation of each Romanav for the last 5 generations. She has masqueraded as her mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother. I have attached all their portraits. They are definitely the same person. They are Ileana. Check out the names. They are all hers.

  Also, I discovered a journal in the private library of Ileana’s father. He belonged to a secret society who worshipped ancient vampires. The purest bloods. Ileana is a vampire! She must be the one! Be careful!!

  —Piper

  I opened the attachments and sure enough, each portrait was Ileana. My Ileana. I couldn’t believe it.

  I rushed downstairs to find Thomas or Carl, but neither was around. I finally found Carl, Angie, Sage and Lucy watching a TiVo’d episode of The O.C. with Carl interrupting and asking questions.

  “So those two used to date but they don’t anymore? And she killed some guy?” He seemed confused.

  I interrupted them with style. “Ohmigod Ileana is the killer! Where’s Thomas? Where’s Thomas?”

  Yep, I’m one cool cucumber under pressure.

  They all started speaking at once.

  “What?”

  “Ileana is the killer?”

  “How do you know?”

  Carl took control and calmly asked me to share what information I knew. I told him about Piper’s e-mail and asked where Ileana was.

  “She went out to feed with Sophie,” Lucy said.

  “And Thomas escorted them,” Angie clarified.

  “Oh no!” I cried. “I’ve got to warn him.”

  “No,” Carl commanded. “Your job is to protect the half-bloods. You’re staying here. I’ll go to Thomas.”

  We all followed him upstairs to the front door. He tried to reach Thomas on his cell phone and I jumped when I heard it ring from the living room sofa. Sage rushed over and pulled it out from between the sofa cushions. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he was lying in wait for me.

  “Carl,” I said in anguish.

  “It’ll be all right, Colby. I’ll find him, I swear.” And he rushed out into the night.

  Sage started to cry and Lucy hurried to her side and gave her a comforting hug. They sat down on the couch and Lucy stroked her hair, saying everything was going to be just fine.

  I turned to go up the stairs and Angie followed.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “To reread Piper’s e-mail.”

  She followed me to my room and I read the e-mails to her. We sat in shock, coming to grips with the fact that Thomas had left to escort Ileana and she was the spy among us.

  “I can’t believe it was her,” Angie said. “I mean, she was snooty and all but she didn’t seem like a killer to me.”

  I nodded in silent agreement. She was such an obvious choice that I felt sure she was too obvious. She barely held her distaste for all of us in check but after talking to Mr. Holloway, I hadn’t really believed she wanted us dead or anything. I thought she was just a snob. And how stupid was it to put Tina in her own trunk anyway? Did she plan to cart it back to England with her? Ick.

  “You know how I feel about Tribunal Security but I have to say, I’m glad they’re here. Poor Thomas. Imagine if one of us had gone to feed with her,” Angie admitted.

  I remembered how the security force treated Angie upon her arrival and had to admit, I wouldn’t have warm and fuzzy thoughts about them either. I couldn’t think about Thomas alone with Ileana; it was too painful.

  “I imagine Lucy hates them more than you,” I offered, standing up, beginning to pace.

  Angie snorted. “Puh-lease. They handled her with kid gloves compared to how I was treated. All cops are the same.”

  “What do you mean? You both arrived tied up and gagged. She was in their care a lot longer than you were.”

  “They kept me locked up for two weeks! Those guys always treat Latinos the same. Smack us around just for the fun of it. When they took me into the van, they shoved me in so hard I thought I’d black out. When we stopped to pick her up, they gently placed her in the back, careful not to hurt her. She was never locked up with me. I bet they kept her at a Marriott or something.”

  I froze in place, looking at Angie in horror. Sure the beatings were a shock but you only had to spend a small amount of time in her company to realize she probably goaded them into it. There were times when I felt like smacking her myself and it was my job to protect her.

  Something she just said struck a chord with me. “You say she arrived after you. That you picked her up on the way to Psi Phi House?”

  Angie seemed oblivious to my frame of mind; she was too busy looking at herself in the full-length mirror and rearranging her abundant cleavage barely contained in a tiny tank top.

  “Yep.”

  I tried to rem
ember back to the night Angie and Lucy arrived at Psi Phi House.

  “I can’t explain it myself. After I was attacked and changed, I was taken away to a place I can only describe as a kind of prison. They fed me and let me watch TV and stuff but I was there all alone for months before Angie joined me and then we were transported here.”

  Lucy had said she was captured and placed in a holding cell until Angie joined her. Angie just told me they picked up Lucy on the way to Psi Phi House. What was going on here?

  I thought back to every conversation I had with Lucy. She told me she had no one and yet admitted to e-mailing friends just last night. When we were jumped by two vampires in the park, she conveniently disappeared. At the time I thought it was self-preservation, but what if she planned it all along? She was the one who came to me that night. She was the one who suggested feeding. Ohmigosh, I was an idiot!

  “Angie,” I said quietly, “get out of the house and go find Security. Don’t stop, no matter what, just go.”

  Sixteen

  She froze at the tone in my voice, eyes wide with surprise. I pulled open the door and made my way down the hallway. When Angie and I went upstairs, Lucy was consoling Sage.

  I stepped down onto the main floor and caught a glimpse of Lucy bending over Sage, pulling a throw blanket up to her chin. She appeared to be sleeping.

  Lucy must have heard us coming because she turned quickly, placed a finger to her lips and shushed us.

  “She’s worn out, poor thing. I’m going to get some more tea.” She straightened with a small smile and crossed our path on the way to the kitchen. I watched her warily and stepped down into the living room.

  Angie made for the door but slowed down as she passed the living room couch. I watched in dread as she crept closer to Sage and pulled back the blanket. Angie gasped, biting back a shriek when she saw the fang marks on Sage’s neck.

  “Angie, get out of here!” I hissed and ducked down the hall. If Lucy was in the kitchen I would surprise her by coming in the other way, giving Angie time to escape. I snuck as quickly as I could and crouched down to peek around the corner. I was greeted by a swift kick in the face.

  Down I went, flying backward into the entryway of the library. Note to self: Do not crouch when peeking into a room to spy on a half-blood assassin. Oh yeah, and getting kicked in the face by a person wearing pink bunny slippers hurts more than you’d think.

  Lucy stood in the kitchen doorway leaning against the jam.

  “I really should thank you, Colby, for all those little bull sessions getting to know each other in the recreation room.” She advanced toward me.

  “How else would I know the full extent of everyone’s abilities? You’re just too helpful.” She emphasized her last statement with another kick. This time to my stomach.

  “Ooof!” I grunted, scrambling back into the library to give myself room to get up. I tried to do a quick roll from my back to my feet but the pain in my gut made the move difficult. I ended up turning on my side and crawling to my knees to stand.

  She seemed in no hurry and not the least bit tired, which was more annoying than anything. She just wanted to chat while kicking my ass.

  “So you’re the spy,” I spat out, stating the obvious. Can I come up with the snappy one-liners in a crisis or what?

  Her voice tinkled like a musical bell when she laughed. How could evil sound so darn cute? “There is no spy, you idiot. There never was any full-blood vampire conspiracy to end the existence of half-bloods.” She smirked at the thought and I got a good look at crazy. Yep, she was sooo not sane.

  “Then why kill Tina?”

  “Tina? That little snoop was reading my e-mail! I wasn’t going to let her ruin everything I’d worked so hard to accomplish.”

  “Then why send your goons after us in the park?” I asked, backing up slowly to the hidden door.

  “My goons? Are you kidding? Those were actually a couple of vampires who were looking for a legitimate meal. They figured out what you were by your scent.”

  I knew it!! We did smell different.

  “And Colby.” I stopped at the tone in her voice. “Do you really think I don’t remember where the hidden staircase is?” She tipped her head to one side and gave me a pitying look. Well, duh, for a second I felt pretty stupid. Of course she knew what I was trying to do.

  I gave her a self-deprecating smile and launched myself straight at her, catching her off guard. If anyone asked, I meant to fool her with the door thing and attack her. You know, if anyone asked.

  We went flying backward into the hallway again and she neatly tossed me over her head and I crashed into the lower cabinets of the kitchen island. Man, she was strong. Way stronger than any half-blood …

  “Hey! You’re a vampire,” I accused, struggling to right myself and hide behind the island.

  “Gee,” she said, cocking her head to one side again, “look who just caught up.”

  I scrambled around, desperate for a weapon, but the best I could find were the kitchen knives on the counter. Sure, I had gourmet knives galore stocked in our kitchen to keep up appearances but what I really needed was a wooden stake.

  I eyed the set of Kyocera knives and grabbed the one with the largest handle. I was at the end of the island and stood up with the blade between my fingers. Lucy took one look at me and laughed again.

  “I can’t believe you, the Protector, the one who is foretold to bring upon the end of the world as we know it, is going to fight another vampire with a knife.”

  I backed away until I was in the dining room and she cleared the island.

  “Don’t come any closer,” I warned her and she put her hands on her hips, copping an attitude.

  “Or you’ll what?” she mocked.

  I threw the knife swiftly and it embedded in her chest. She looked down at the handle, sighing heavily. “Col-by, you already know I can’t be killed with a blade.”

  I leapt forward and spun around, kicking my leg out into the knife protruding from her chest with all the force I could muster. She flew back over the top of the island, a look of shock on her face when she saw the handle of the knife flush with her skin. No, the blade couldn’t kill her, but the wooden handle could.

  “Who said anything about the blade?” I panted softly.

  Yeah, I might have overlooked stocking the kitchen with old-fashioned stakes, but I had a boatload of wood-handled knives. Only the best for Psi Phi House.

  She slid to the floor, eyes wide with surprise. Even in death she couldn’t believe I’d beaten her. I turned around in time to see a bloodied and battered Thomas witness my triumph. He was being helped through the door by Angie and Sophie.

  “What happened?” I gasped, rushing to Thomas’s side.

  “I’m fine. I’m good. Never better,” he insisted, trying to stand on his own. Sophie quickly grabbed a dining room chair for him and he sank gratefully down.

  “Ileana did this?” I asked, more confused than anything else.

  “My lady could never do such a thing!” Sophie protested hotly.

  “They were jumped, by Lance and his buddies,” Angie clarified. So Tina’s rejected lover had stayed around to seek revenge after all. Well, he was nothing if not persistent.

  “Then where’s Ileana?” I wondered if she’d escaped the entire skirmish by hiding in the bushes, not willing to dirty her clothes and fight.

  “She kicked their asses, Colby!” Angie exclaimed, full of awe and pride. “You should have seen it. I never knew she could do all that martial arts stuff. For a skinny English chick she has some mad skills.”

  “Well, I would certainly hope that after one hundred years of existence, my lady would have picked up a thing or two,” Sophie announced stiffly, her back straight with indignation.

  “Thomas?” I prodded.

  “It seems Piper was half-right. Ileana Margaret Mary Mircea Romanav is her mother Ileana, her grandmother Margaret, her great-grandmother Mary and her great-great-grandmother Mircea all rolled
into one. But she’s still just a half-blood.”

  “I don’t understand. She’s been pretending all these years and switching identities after each generation? Why all the deceit? Why not just tell us?”

  “As if she could, mum.” Sophie rushed to Ileana’s defense. “Back home she’d have been tortured and ripped apart. It isn’t all civilized in England like it is here in America. She had no idea if she could trust you. And who could blame her? She’s been hiding her true identity going on five generations. But I knew the truth.” She puffed up with pride. “It’s my family’s legacy. Passed down from mother to daughter, to serve my lady and keep her secret. To protect her from harm.”

  That explained the dog-like devotion to her boss. Suddenly Ileana walked through the door, vainly attempting to brush off the grass stains from her capri pants.

  “Sophie, you’ll never be able to get these stains out! It’s a travesty. The Tribunal will just have to take us on another shopping trip. How many clothes have I ruined since arriving at this, this shoe box? Two, three pairs of trousers? Well, enough already …” She lost steam when she caught sight of Lucy across the kitchen.

  “Did she try to kill someone else?”

  I gasped.

  “Well really, who else could it be? Oh yes, you thought I was the mole.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Keeping you people from harm has simply exhausted me. Do you have any idea how hard it was making sure none of you were ever alone with her?”

  She walked to the kitchen faucet and clucked her tongue while filling a glass with tap water. “It’s a wonder I don’t look my age.” She took a sip.

  I stood with my mouth hanging open until a moan from the couch caught my attention.

  “Sage,” I said and rushed to her side.

  She was pale. Okay, she was always pale. I meant she was paler than normal and very weak but she was awake. Lucy simply didn’t have enough time to completely drain her.

  “You’re okay.” I showed my relief by pulling her into my arms for a hug.