chapter ELEVEN
Our school held a volunteer convention on the main lawn of the campus. It was surrounded by brick buildings and a few ponds on three sides. Statues were displayed randomly over the lawn, but I knew it wasn’t by accident when the crisis hotline booth was placed next to the angel statue. She was in gray stone, her two eyes watched wherever you went, and her tight curls were in dire need of a new perm. The wings had been sculpted to arch upwards as if she were about to push into the air and fly away.
She freaked me out.
I dropped into one of the vacant seats behind our table and announced when someone sat beside me, “I named her Eileen.”
“Uh… okay.”
Did my ears detect? I looked and was rewarded. Emily had sweetened the pot with Adam, but I hadn’t let myself hope. Now, I did.
Adam looked refreshing in a soft blue sweater and a pair of tan corduroys. Both molded to his tall form while his chestnut curls accentuated his yummy almond eyes. I almost wanted to eat him. If I’d been a vampire, I might’ve ignored the decree.
“You named her Eileen?” He smiled and ducked his head. “Uh… oh… kay. Um, where’s Emily? I’m not complaining or anything, but I thought I had the afternoon block with her.”
“Emily’s sick.” I turned and stared at Eileen for a moment. Was it my imagination or did she seem to grow before me?
“Oh. Okay. So… um… you and that guy, huh?”
Just like that, Eileen lost her appeal. I closed my eyes and cleared my throat. I knew I had damage control to do, but I hadn’t known it would start this soon. The need to deceive was itching and so I itched it. “He has a girlfriend that was there. They had a tiff and he wanted to make her jealous. I didn’t want to… I wanted to tell you, but then all of the sudden she was in front of the club and I kissed him. I know, I know. It wasn’t smart of me or anything, but when a friend asks for a favor who am I to say no?” I held my breath. When I saw the instant relief flash in those adorable almond eyes, I expelled it.
“Oh so… you and him aren’t…?”
“No. God no! No.” I couldn’t emphasize that enough.
“That’s um… that’s good to hear because…”
I watched in disbelief as Adam opened those perfectly formed lips and spoke in slow motion. It took a moment before the sound hit my ears, but I heard, “…go on a date? Maybe tonight?”
“Yes!” I shouted and instantly cowered back in my chair. Never appear too eager. Kates hadn’t taught me that lesson. I’d learned it on my own, but sometimes I couldn’t control myself.
Adam looked taken aback. He paused a second before he nodded. “That sounds great. I was thinking of the Alexander Restaurant. It’s supposed to have good food.”
I hoped my drool was kept in check. I had no idea where the Alexander Restaurant was and I didn’t care about good food. We could go to the Shoilster for all I cared. A date with Adam! I’d die happy when I told Shelly Witless.
“Are you guys from the hotline? Do you have any pamphlets?”
Adam immediately started his perfect volunteer thing. I was content to sit back and daydream about our perfect date, listening to his voice drone on until the guy was done with his questions. A few more people came over and Adam was eager to answer questions. I was eager not to. I considered us a good team.
“…that girl died, right? Wasn’t someone there?”
My chair tipped forward and I almost went flying into the table. My eyes shot open to see whoever was talking with Adam. The guy looked like an average student. He could’ve been Adam’s twin dressed in Abercrombie, but it wasn’t the sight of him that sent my alarms buzzing. I felt him. He was a vampire. In fact, the girl who had stopped before him and the first guy had been vampires too. I just hadn’t really noticed or cared. I cared now and I sat up straighter in my chair to scan the lawn. Six out of ten students were vampires. Those were not good odds. A normal statistic should’ve been one out of ten.
“Why are you asking questions like that?” I glared at the vampire. “If someone was there or not is none of your business. A girl died. You should be considerate.”
Of course, he wasn’t.
“Hey, hey, I meant no disrespect.” The guy held his hands up in mock surrender and made a show of backing up two steps. He grinned charmingly towards me, but I shot out of my seat and leaned closer to him. “A person died that night. I don’t care that you’re not a person… of virtue. A human being died that night. It makes me wonder why she did. She was only human after all… maybe she was pushed into it. Maybe someone who isn’t human did it?”
“Davina.” Adam stood and touched my shoulder.
I ignored him and held the vampire’s gaze steadfast. I wanted to make sure he heard my real meaning. “I know enough about humans and those who like to think they are. I know which category you fit in.”
“That’s enough, Davina.”
“You should go… you and your friends.”
The vampire hated it. He caught every nuance of my threat and probably more, but I didn’t care. I was trembling so hard. Slowly, too slow for me, he turned and walked away, but he looked over his shoulder and met my gaze. Then he smiled. Damn vampires.
“Davina! What was that? You can’t talk to customers like that! He might’ve joined up as a volunteer.”
“Trust me,” I muttered underneath my breath. “You don’t want him answering that phone.”
Adam said something, but I didn’t hear it. A figure was weaving lithely through the crowd. Roane. My eyes narrowed when I noticed that he looked like he was on the prowl.
“I’ll be right back,” I said briefly and pushed off through the crowd.
When Roane stalked his prey, he did it well. I lost him eight times before I finally saw him at the corner of our admissions building. I sprang forward and would’ve lost him again if I hadn’t jumped over two bushes and thrust my way through four groups of students. I stepped on toes and banged against private parts, but I didn’t care. I landed with a huff at Roane’s feet and bent over gasping. “We need to talk about the Immortal and all of these vampires here.”
Roane wrapped a firm hand around my arm and yanked me behind him. I didn’t have time to blink before I found myself pushed up against a building wall as Roane glared at me.
“Huh?” I was still focused on breathing.
“You better think long and hard before you start throwing out words like that to me.” Roane glared at me with deadly intent.
Oh. Whoa. I blinked as I took in the sight of him again. The shadow from the building hit his face to accentuate his angular cheekbones. His tight shirt molded against his form, highlighting his lean muscles that would’ve had any A-List actor drooling in envy. Then there was the air surrounding him. He looked capable of killing. He might’ve been a forceful dick, but I’ll admit he was hot. He even smelled of danger. My eyes shifted to see his teeth showing. I knew that his fangs could elongate out from their gums and he could jump nine feet at times. That’s how far the other hunters had jumped on Craig. Their fangs had been bared to the flames before they sunk them into his flesh.
“Davy!” He hissed and clamped his other hand to my arm. He had me trapped in place now.
“Wha—huh?”
“What are you talking about?”
I shrugged out of his hold. “Kates told me about your fairytale. Whatever. But there are way too many vampires at this convention for it to be a coincidence. What is going on?”
He relaxed slightly—which unnerved me. “They’re harmless.”
“I don’t want them here. This is my world. I go to college here. I’d like all the vampires to just leave!”
He laughed.
He laughed.
The lethal Hunter that scared me the most laughed at me. “Hey!” I hit his shoulder, but vampire bodies are sculpted and hardened to withstand anything. My hand literally bounced off of his shoulder and I was the one that gasped from the pain.
“What?”
I cradled my hand to myself and gritted my teeth when it started to throb. “Don’t laugh at me.”
“I’m not. Yes, the Immortal is in town. They’re here for her. It’s like when humans flock to wherever the pope shows up. I can’t make them leave so you’re going to have to deal with their presence.”
“They hurt people.”
“That’s my problem. Trust me, I can handle my job.” Roane turned and gestured towards the hotline booth with his head. “I thought you quit that place.”
“What? Huh?” I looked over and sure enough, I could see the booth through a line of pine trees that blocked us from the convention. There he was, hard at work. My Adam. My hero. And he was currently answering some more vampires’ questions. His hand didn’t tremble. He didn’t sweat. He had no idea those things were vampires. I saw how eager he was. He thought he was recruiting future volunteers. Unlike those vampires, his heart was in the right place.
“I saw you over there. I thought you quit.”
Roane pulled me back to our conversation. I felt off balance from my Adam daydreams and then Roane’s presence was a world in itself. The force that came from him was sweltering and it seemed to suck a person in. I shook my head again and tried to get past a little dizziness.
Oh… no… no. I realized with horror that the dizziness wasn’t going anywhere. In fact, the world was starting to circle around me at breakneck speed. I felt myself falling and I shot out a hand for balance. The building in front of me felt sturdy as I leaned my head against it. It was really nice to touch.
And then… double crap. Everything went black.