Lucy
I never would have thought I could have so much fun in a sweaty gym, running combat drills until I wanted to throw up.
In a Helios-Ra school, no less.
I mean, these were the guys who had previously devoted themselves to taking out my best friend and her entire family. Plus, they kind of acted like they thought they were superheroes. Not that I wouldn’t love my own theme song and cape.
Still. It was a matter of principle. Drake family good. Vampire hunters bad.
Except that right now a vampire hunter from Helios-Ra Academy was not only dating my best friend’s brother, she was also teaching me how to take out vampires. Not the Drakes, of course—but the Hel-Blar, who attacked anything human or vampire, and the other vampires who either wanted the royal throne for themselves or just didn’t want Helena Drake to have it. Whatever. They were going down. Preferably on the end of my very pointy, steel-tipped staff.
Hunter’s boot nearly clipped my jaw. I stumbled back out of reach, impressed. “Dude. You’re bendy.” Which didn’t seem entirely fair since I was the one who did yoga. Mom and I had a new compromise: for every nonorganic, non-fair-trade, non-dark-cocoa chocolate bar I ate, I had to do a round of sun salutations.
After the kind of summer I’d had, I was doing a lot of sun salutations.
Hunter attacked again, moving slower so I could see what she was doing and choose a counterattack. Then she repeated it and sped it up. I blocked her blow, the force reverberating through my bones and practically into my teeth. I followed the momentum, pushing against her arm. She didn’t drop her stake, but I knew she would have if she were a normal girl and not the valedictorian of Vampire Hunter High. She hated it when I called it that. She said it made them sound like a bad B movie.
Duh.
“That’s good,” Hunter said, panting. “Keep grinning at your attacker like that and they’ll think you’re way creepy. And mental.”
I grinned wider. “I totally love this. Who can I punch next?”
She stopped and laughed. Her long blond hair was tied back, and I was gratified to see the collar of her shirt was damp with sweat too. I didn’t want to be an easy mark. Ever. “About that. I know you like punching people in the nose, but it’s much more effective if you aim for the throat or the eyeballs. Even vampires can’t see where you are if they have no eyeballs.”
“Cool. And gross.”
“And you should get contact lenses.”
I blinked behind my dark-rimmed glasses. “Why? I hate sticking my fingers in my eyes.”
Hunter didn’t say anything. She just reached out and gripped my elbow, spinning me around with one jerk so that my back was facing her. Then she used her other hand and quickly, casually flicked my glasses right off my face. They slid across the shiny wooden floor. Everything went blurry.
“Show off,” I grumbled. Then I had to crouch down and feel around for my glasses, which was totally embarrassing. “All right,” I said, shoving them back onto my nose. The walls of mirrors reflected three of me, all looking disgruntled. Then I leaned on my staff and I suddenly looked like I belonged in a fantasy novel. I wished Solange would answer her damn phone so I could tell her about it. “You proved your point. In fact, I’m going to get laser eye surgery as soon as possible.”
“That’s usually what we do too,” Hunter admitted. “It’s just safer.” She tossed me a towel and we wiped our faces. I hurt all over and my lungs burned. And I still loved it. Next thing you knew, I’d be lifting weights and drinking protein shakes. And I’d know the difference between my quads and my glutes.
Clearly, growing up with vampires had caused irreparable psychological damage.
The campus stretched out around us, visible through the one wall of windows. There was a pond, lots of grass, and several Victorian-style houses and barns doubling as dormitories, teacher lodgings, and training areas, all grouped under the watchful eye of the Violet Hill mountains. According to Kieran, Solange’s boyfriend, the garages are full of motorcycles. I wondered if I could get someone to teach me how to ride one. Then I wouldn’t have to rely on Nicholas to take me to all the good vampire hideouts and the royal courts.
If I was ever allowed back in, of course.
They all seem to think I’m way delicate. I really don’t know where they get that from. When my parents came back from their annual visit to the ashram with my cousin Christabel in tow, Solange and Nicholas’s parents had felt the need to tell them everything.
Even though that was obviously the worst idea ever.
Dad took one look at the little scar on the back of my neck from when Solange and I were attacked by Hel-Blar vampires and he freaked right out. He now has an ulcer, which, apparently, is all my fault. But really it’s Helena and Liam’s fault for telling him in the first place. I never would have done anything that dumb.
Add in my mother’s bonding with me over Nicholas being my first “official” boyfriend (no one counts Julian, not even Mom, because he was a jerk) and her chasing me around the house with safe-sex pamphlets and dress designs for the prom. It’s October. Prom’s not until May. And, really, how do you take a young vampire to the prom? Nicholas won’t even sit in the same car with me because the smell of warm human blood is still too tempting. He just turned a little over a year ago, and it takes time to get all those appetites under control. I think of it like a case of perpetual PMS, where you just feel inside your bones that if you don’t get a hot fudge sundae right away, you might actually kill someone.
Anyway, I distinctly remember my mother saying that prom was a Neanderthal throwback to debutante balls that signaled young ladies were eligible for marriage. Now all of a sudden she’s talking about growing orchids in the greenhouse so I can have a pesticide-free homemade corsage. I told her if I had to do sun salutations every time I eat chocolate, she has to do them every time she brings up the prom or anything lame like that.
Any wonder I’m having so much fun having the crap kicked out of me by a vampire hunter?
A girl in a red ponytail was jogging around the track below us, smiling. If I wasn’t careful, that would be me. I felt the sudden need for a chocolate bar.
The sun was starting to sink behind a line of pine trees, leaving streaks of lilac and fire. The shadows were so long, they looked like dark fingers reaching out to touch everyone and everything.
“I should get home,” I said regretfully.
God. I was regretting having to leave Helios-Ra.
I had to get my priorities back in line.
Which would be easier to do if I could go over to the Drakes’ and hang out with Solange. But I had a curfew now, which sucked, and Solange was acting weird, which sucked more. And one of the many new rules implemented since my parents’ return was that my cousin and I had to be home before dark, period. If we wanted to go out after sunset, one of them had to drop us off and pick us up.
Never mind that I totally knew more about fighting vampires than my peace-loving parents. Or that Logan’s girlfriend, Isabeau, had given us two full-grown, trained Rottweilers to protect us, plus the Drakes sent their human bodyguards by a couple of times a night. I named them Van Helsing and Gandhi. The dogs, not the bodyguards.
We told Christabel that Violet Hill wasn’t safe at night, that there was some kind of gang war. It was easier than telling her the truth: that there were still too many Hel-Blar vampires in the area who were getting closer and closer to town. They were attacking livestock and, sometimes, people. They even freaked me out, and I’d grown up with vampires. They were feral, had a mouthful of fangs, and stank of rotten mushrooms and stagnant pond water. They didn’t know any logic or master but the hunger. An ordinary vampire had to bite you, drain you, and feed you their blood to change you. A Hel-Blar just had to bite you. Rumor had it their saliva alone was contagious, not just to humans but to other vampires as well. Regular vampires didn’t bite other vampires; it was considered revolting and in bad taste. Literally. Once a vampire had ingested human blood, it had no nutritional value to another vampire. It was just rude, however you looked at it.
So the Hel-Blar were definitely the uninvited guests at the party. We avoided them as best as we could, but that was becoming difficult. There were more of them than ever before, thanks to vampire politics gone wrong. But at least they mostly came out at night, even the older ones who could theoretically survive sunlight.
Which is why Christabel and I had a curfew now. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I could have gone to the Drake farmhouse. My curfew didn’t exclude me from visiting them.
But Solange did.
And frankly I was getting sick of her emo suffering.
If she was sulking, she could damn well do it with me in the room. That’s what best friends were for. And if she was feeling guilty because I’d gotten a tiny cut to the back of the head, she could just get over it. As soon as I was able to drive over there and thump some sense into her, I would. Right now we did all of our arguing through texts and e-mails. Hardly satisfying.
I tossed my damp towel into a laundry basket, grabbed my bags, and followed Hunter down the stairs. A few younger students passed us on their way into the gym. They stared at me like I was a museum exhibit. I only barely resisted the urge to yell “Boo!”
“What’s with them?” I asked Hunter.
“Are you kidding? You’re famous.”
“I’m famous?” She must be joking. The Drakes were famous. Hunter was famous for stopping a Helios-Ra teacher who’d been poisoning students. I was just the mouthy best friend. “Give me a break. You’re the one who took down a teacher.”
“Yeah, but you’re in with the royals even though you’re human.” Hunter shrugged as we hurried down the path toward the parking lot. I was running a little later than I’d thought. Cue parental breakdown now.
“Please. The Drakes were banned from court for, what, a century? Two? All of a sudden they’re a big deal? You’re dating one of them—you have to know it’s not good for them to think that.”
She grinned. “Yeah, Quinn’s ego doesn’t need the boost.”
“They will be completely insufferable if humans start acting like groupies.” I raised my eyebrows. “I am not a groupie,” I pointed out fiercely.
“I know.” She held up her hands placatingly.
“Okay then.” I rummaged around for my keys.
“You are the first nonstudent ever to be allowed on campus for classes in over fifty years, though.”
“Go me.” I unlocked the door and slid into the driver’s seat. “Heard from your grandpa yet?”
“No,” she replied quietly. “He’s still not talking to me.” He was old-school Helios-Ra and he just couldn’t stomach the fact that his vampire-hunter granddaughter was dating a vampire, Drake or otherwise. I felt bad for her. He was the only family she had. She just shrugged and tried not to look like it was bothering her. “Be careful,” she said.
“Always am.”
She snorted so loudly I was surprised there wasn’t a small tornado. “Lucy, I’ve only known you for a few weeks, but careful is one thing you’re not.”
“Yeah, yeah. You all need to get a new speech.” The engine sputtered a little but eventually turned over. Frankly, it was a miracle every time it started. I should so use that on my dad to convince him to buy me a new car. You know, for safety’s sake.
I waved at Hunter and sped off down the driveway, stopping to punch in my number code so the security gate lifted. Despite the events of the last few weeks, the drive home was uneventful. I passed the usual farms and pumpkin patches and apple orchards. The mountains loomed impressively, the snowcaps looking almost purple at this time of night. Speaking of which, twilight was hitting fast and hard tonight. I dialed home on my cell phone. Christabel answered.
“I’m just down the street,” I told her. “Tell my parents not to freak out.”
“They just called,” she said. “They’re in town. Your mom’s making your dad go to some Buddhist relaxation meditation thing.”
“Did you tell them I was home?” I turned onto our street.
“I told them I saw your headlights in the driveway.”
“Thanks, Christa. Be there in five.” I switched off and counted to three out loud. “One … two … three.” The phone rang, right on cue. I answered it, rolling my eyes. “I’m in the driveway, Mom,” I said, pulling up to the garage. “Tell Dad to stop hyperventilating.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I learned how to punch someone’s jugular.”
“I’m so proud.” Her tone was as dry as stale crackers. “Look after your cousin.”
“Mom, she’s two years older than I am. She can take care of herself.”
“She’s going through a hard time, Lucky.” Even the phone crackled disapprovingly at her use of that hated nickname.
“I know,” I said quickly. “I only meant that I’m sure she’s fine.”
“Okay. We won’t be home too late. Don’t eat ice cream for dinner.”
“I won’t,” I promised. I meant it, too, but only because Mom bought us tofu ice cream. Yuck. Even more gross than drinking blood, if you asked me.
The porch light was on and I could see Christabel behind the living room curtain, curled up on the couch with a book. The girl read more than anyone I’d ever met. Even when we were little, she preferred the library to the beach. The slamming of the car door echoed, disturbing old man Jeffries’s incontinent poodle across the road. She barked at me through the window. Gandhi barked back once from inside our house; the poodle whined and fell silent.
I glanced around before heading toward the house. I hated that all of a sudden the night felt dangerous, suspicious. I used to love sitting out in the garden and watching the stars, but now I had to worry about being mauled to death by Hel-Blar. A shudder in one of the bushes made me pause. My heart hammered loudly, slowly. I sniffed but couldn’t smell mushrooms or mold. Still, maybe the Hel-Blar had learned to use cologne. I couldn’t smell that either, though. I reached for the vial of Hypnos Solange’s uncle Geoffrey had given me. It wasn’t inside my sleeve. It was in my bag. I’d forgotten to reattach it after my class with Hunter. Stupid.
I reached for another weapon. At least my purse was handy and well stocked.
I nearly staked a stray cat.
He hissed at me, back arching, fur like iron spikes. I stumbled back, swearing.
“Sorry!” I told him. “Life is probably hard enough, living out of garbage cans and hiding from dogs, without some girl waving a pointy stick at you. I promise I’ll leave you some milk, okay?” He hissed again, then sat back and licked his butt. Charming. “I don’t know if that means I’m forgiven, but could you do that somewhere else?”
I turned away, my palms damp from the adrenaline surge. All this fear was contagious and I didn’t like it one bit. I wiped my hands on my leggings.
“Were you just apologizing to a cat?”
I didn’t have time to recognize the voice. I only heard noise where there shouldn’t have been any. More adrenaline sparked through me and I felt like my insides had just been electrocuted. I leaped off the porch, somersaulted in the grass, and jumped to my feet, slightly dizzy.
Right in front of my smirking boyfriend.
I didn’t lower my stake. Instead I waved it menacingly. “You scared the crap out of me, Nicholas.”
“And that was your gut reaction?” he teased, arching an eyebrow. “Gymnastics?”
“Shut up,” I grumbled. He just grinned. He was wearing dark jeans and a black shirt with a black tie. He looked good, as always. The adrenaline turned into a much more interesting chemical reaction. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He closed the distance between us, avoiding the pointy end of the stake still clutched in my hand. “Are your parents home?”
“No.”
His grin turned seriously delicious. “Good.”
And then he leaned in to kiss me. I met him halfway, with a grin of my own. His lips were gentle, soft. His arms slid around me, one hand digging into my hair, the other resting on my hip. I leaned in closer, nibbling at his lower lip. He sucked in a breath that made me feel wild and beautiful even though I was still kind of flushed and sweaty from the gym. Vampires didn’t need to breathe; they just did it out of habit, especially young ones like Nicholas. Whenever he made that strangled sound, I knew I was doing something right.
And then I really couldn’t gloat anymore because the kiss went dark and deep and I couldn’t think at all. I felt the kiss everywhere—on my lips, in my belly, even in my toes. I tingled. I ached. There was nothing but his mouth and his hands. Suddenly the night felt infinitely more dangerous and infinitely more beautiful. It was all shooting stars and moonlight.
And then he pulled away and I had to struggle to find my breath again.
“Ready?” he asked, his voice a little rough.
“Huh?”
“Ready to go inside?” he explained, one corner of his mouth lifting up. It was surprisingly distracting.
“Inside?” I repeated dumbly.
“Movie night, remember?”
I swallowed. My knees felt weaker than they had after four laps around the evil jogging track at the Helios-Ra campus. “Right.”
“Lucy?”
“Yeah?”
“Your house is this way.” His pale eyes laughed at me.
I’d been heading for the garage door.
I shoved him, laughing. “Oh, shut up.”