"But it's not gonna take al of us to deal with you. These two wil take care of the other evidence of your unfortunate survival. Little what's-her-name."
My body felt icy, frozen solid. I tried to shake it off so I could fight my best. Not that it would have made a difference. And then I felt something else, something total y unexpected - a wave of revulsion so overpowering that I couldn't hold my crouch. I crumpled to the floor, gasping with horror. I was not the only one to react. I heard disgusted snarls and retching sounds from every corner of the basement. A few people retreated to the edges of the room, where I could see them. They strained against the wal, stretching their necks away as if they could escape the horrible feeling. At least one of these was a member of Raoul's gang.
I heard Raoul's distinctive growl, and then heard it fade as he took off up the stairs. He wasn't the only one to make a break for it. About half of the vampires in the basement cleared out.
I didn't have that choice. I could barely move. And then I realized this had to be because I was so close to Freaky Fred. He was responsible for what was happening. And as horrible as I felt, I was stil able to realize that he'd probably just saved my life.
Why?
The sensation of disgust faded slowly. As soon as I could, I crept to the edge of the couch and took in the aftermath. Al of Raoul's gang was gone, but Diego was stil there, on the far end of the big room by the TVs. The vampires who remained were slowly relaxing, though everybody looked a little shaken. Most of them were shooting cautious glances in Fred's direction. I peeked at the back of his head, too, though I couldn't see anything. I looked away quickly. Looking at Fred brought back some of the nausea.
"Keep it down."
The deep voice came from Fred. I'd never heard him speak before. Everyone stared and then looked away immediately as the revulsion returned.
So Fred just wanted his peace and quiet. Wel, whatever. I was alive because of it. Most likely Raoul would get distracted by some other irritant before dawn and take out his anger on somebody close by. And Riley always came back at the end of the night. He would hear that Diego had been in his cave rather than outside and destroyed by the sun, and Raoul wouldn't have an excuse to attack him or me.
At least, that was the best-case scenario. In the meantime, maybe Diego and I could come up with some plan to steer clear of Raoul.
Again, I had a fleeting sense that I was missing an obvious solution. Before I could figure it out, my thoughts were interrupted.
"Sorry."
The deep, almost silent mutter could only have come from Fred. It looked like I was the only one close enough to real y hear. Was he talking to me?
I looked at him again and felt nothing. I couldn't see his face - he had his back to me stil . He had thick, wavy blond hair. I'd never noticed that before, not with al the days I'd sat hiding in his shadow. Riley wasn't kidding when he'd said that Fred was special. Gross, but real y special. Did Riley have any idea that Fred was so... so powerful? He was able to overwhelm a whole room of us in a second.
Though I couldn't see his expression, I had the sense that Fred was waiting for an answer.
"Um, don't apologize," I breathed almost silently. "Thank you.
"
Fred shrugged.
And then I found I couldn't look at him anymore. The hours passed slower than usual as I waited for Raoul to come back. From time to time I tried to look at Fred again - to see past the protection he'd created for himself - but I always found myself repel ed. If I tried too hard, I ended up gagging. Thinking about Fred was a good distraction from thinking about Diego. I tried to pretend I didn't care where he was in the room. I didn't look at him but focused on the sound of his breathing - his distinct rhythm - to keep tabs. He sat on the other side of the room from me, listening to his CDs on a laptop. Or maybe pretending to listen, the way I was pretending to read the books from the damp backpack on my shoulders. I flipped pages at my usual rate, but I didn't take anything in. I was waiting for Raoul.
Luckily, Riley came first. Raoul and his cohorts were right behind him, but not as loud and obnoxious as usual. Maybe Fred had taught them a little respect.
Probably not, though. More likely Fred had just angered them. I real y hoped Fred never let his guard slip. Riley went to Diego right away; I listened with my back to them, eyes on my book. In my peripheral vision, I saw some of Raoul's idiots wandering, looking for their favorite games or whatever they'd been doing before Fred had driven them out. Kevin was one of them, but he seemed to be looking for something more specific than entertainment. Several times his eyes tried to focus on where I was sitting, but Fred's aura kept him at bay. He gave up after a few minutes, looking a little sick.
"I heard you made it back," Riley said, sounding genuinely pleased. "I can always count on you, Diego."
"No problem," Diego said in a relaxed voice. "Unless you count holding my breath al day as a negative."