“Goodbye, Nathan,” called Celeste, as he pushed me through the doorway. “Don’t forget about tomorrow night. Call me!”
Nathan glanced back and shook his head as we left the house. “I don’t like the way that asshole was looking at you. With our luck, he’ll be trying to pick up where Ethan left off.”
“Oh, crap,” I said. “I hope not.”
“I wish these vampires would just leave our family alone,” he mumbled.
“Even Celeste?” I asked as we reached the car.
He scowled at me over the roof of his Mustang. “Yeah, even her.”
“Um, so, what did she mean about tomorrow night?”
“I told you we were going to Club Nightshade Friday night. But, I doubt I’ll be going back after all of this bullshit.”
“I don’t blame you,” I said. “Stay away from her, Nathan.”
“Wait up!” called Duncan from the top of the porch. A fraction of a second later, he was standing next to us by the car wearing his sunglasses.
“Dude,” cried Nathan. “How in the hell did you do that?”
Duncan shrugged. “I guess I don’t really know.”
I looked at my watch; it was getting close to three. “We have to get back to the cabin. I told Rosie I’d be back at the diner at four.”
“Chill out, we’ll make it,” said Nathan.
“Can you drop me off at the marina?” asked Duncan as we pulled away from the mansion.
“No problem, bro.”
I sat in the back and stared out the window, thinking about everything that had happened in the last couple of days. Duncan had turned into a vampire, I’d lost my virginity to one, and tomorrow, my mother was going to Vegas and would surely return as one of them. It was a living nightmare.
“What are we going to do about mom?” I asked, biting my thumbnail.
“I’ve been thinking,” said Nathan. “That she needs to know the truth, and now that Duncan’s a vampire, he can back us up.”
“I’ll help as much as I can,” he said.
“What if she really has cancer?” I asked.
“If she does, then mom can decide what she wants to do. Not give the choice to some creature of the night, no offense, Duncan.”
He smiled and shook his head. “None taken.”
Nathan turned on his iPod and cranked up a recent song he’d downloaded by “Train.” I closed my eyes and listened to the lyrics, wishing I could escape the mess we were in. “You know,” I hollered after a while. “I think Caleb really loves her.”
Nathan turned down the music. “Yeah, well, so do we, and our intentions are good. I’m not so sure about Caleb’s.”
Chapter Twenty
We dropped Duncan off at the marina first.
“I’ll see you tonight,” he said, as I got out of the car to hop into the front seat. “I think we should talk, too.”
I sighed. “Duncan, you know, I really need some time to think about everything. My head is spinning right now.”
He grabbed my hand and I noticed his was getting cool again. “I don’t expect anything from you,” he said. “I just have a few things that I’d like to get off my chest.”
I stared at his face, which seemed much paler than earlier. “Duncan, your skin, it’s getting cold.”
He frowned and he released my hand. “Yeah, I know.”
I sighed. The thought of him having to drink blood to stay alive for the rest of his life made me physically ill. Not to mention how he’d actually acquired it the previous night. “What are you going to do?”
He licked his lips and looked away. “It’s not your problem.”
“Duncan,” I whispered.
He shook his head and stepped back. “I’ll see you later.” Then, before I could say anything more, he was gone in a flash.
“Jesus,” said Nathan as I got in next to him. “That speed of light shit is really unnerving.”
“Actually, he’s getting weaker and needs to feed again,” I mumbled.
Nathan swore under his breath.
“We have to help him,” I said. “There’s got to be some other way. Duncan is so sweet, I’m sure this whole thing must be driving him insane.”
“I tell you one thing,” said Nathan. “I’m not going near Celeste anymore. The hell if she’s biting me two more times. I don’t care how hot she is.”
“Thank God. I’m so glad you finally believe me.”
“Yeah. I feel like an asshole now, giving you so much shit before.”
“Hey, you said it, not me.”
When we arrived, home, I quickly changed into my uniform and grabbed the car keys.
“You sure you don’t want a ride?” asked Nathan. He was in the kitchen eating a big bowl of ice cream.
“No, I’m sure I’ll be fine,” I said. As I watched him eat, I knew he’d never make it as a vampire. He’d drive a stake through his own heart if he couldn’t eat pizza or cookie dough ice cream anymore.
“I wonder…” I murmured.
“What?”
“I wonder if piercing a wooden stake through a Roamer’s heart would even kill them. They don’t appear to be afraid of crosses, holy water, or garlic. Celeste told me that those were all bogus assumptions.”