Bloodlust (15 page)

“Yeah,” Jason murmured, pulling out of the lot.

“Kristy and I are going to this barbecue tomorrow—Alexa Vassard is throwing it. Apparently Alexa’s parents have the biggest hot tub in Malibu,” Dani said.

“Uh-huh.” Jason tuned out while Dani talked about her plans. He was just happy to hear her back in social mode. Maybe she would like it in California after all. He let her chatter on while he thought about what to say to Sienna.

He knew it would be a little weird to just show up at her house like nothing had happened. Still, they hadn’t exactly had a fight….

“Is that Scott Challon’s brother?” Dani asked.

The mention of Scott’s name caught Jason’s attention. “Huh?” he queried, looking around. He’d stopped at a red light, but he hadn’t noticed the car that had pulled up beside him. Dani nodded toward it, trying to be subtle. “You know, Scott, the guy the cops thought—”

“Yeah, I know Scott,” Jason interrupted. He leaned forward so he could see past Dani into the vintage Mustang next to them. Luke Archer sat at the wheel, lost in his own world, as usual. He didn’t even glance in their direction.

The light changed, and Jason hit the gas. “That was Luke Archer,” he told Dani. “He’s not Scott’s brother.”

“Are they cousins or something?”

“No.” Jason squinted at his sister. “Why?”

“They look so much alike,” Dani commented as she pulled her bag onto her lap and began digging through it for something. Obviously she was done with the conversation. But Jason was stuck on the Scott and Luke thing.

“They don’t look anything alike,” he said. “Scott’s a jock, and Luke’s a…I don’t know, a loner.”

Dani rolled her eyes. “That has nothing to do with what they look like.”

“I know, it’s just that they’re really different. Luke’s thin and pale and stuff.”

“They have the same hair,” Dani said. “Same basic chin and cheekbones.”

“If you say so,” Jason replied doubtfully. “Obviously you spend way more time looking at guys than I do.”

Dani swatted at him and he laughed.

After he’d dropped her off at home, Jason headed straight over to Sienna’s house. He wanted to get there before he chickened out. If he was going to see her, he had to do it now. He had to know what was up between them. Did she feel anything for him? Did he pull at her heart the way she did at his? And did that even matter? Did anything matter other than the harsh fact that she used his kind for food?

Jason leaped out of the car, strode to the door, and rang the bell. He hoped Sienna would answer, but he figured he could deal with her mom again if he had to.

He wasn’t expecting Zach Lafrenière.

“Freeman,” Zach said, sounding less than thrilled. He looked Jason up and down with his cool dark eyes, radiating a faint air of disapproval. Even so, Jason wanted Zach on his side. Something about him demanded attention. He was all coiled energy, like a snake ready to strike.

“Hey, Zach,” Jason said. “I’m looking for Sienna.”

Zach didn’t move. He held Jason’s gaze for a moment, his dark eyes boring into Jason as if he could read his mind.
He knows,
Jason realized.
He knows Sienna told me about them.
But he didn’t break eye contact. Even though his heart had begun to race, he didn’t want Zach to know he was on edge.

This guy is a vampire,
Jason thought. But the idea was still too Sci-Fi Channel to feel real.

“Sienna!” Zach called suddenly. Then he nodded briefly to Jason, turned, and walked away, leaving the door open. Not exactly an invitation, but not a get-the-hell-out-of-here, either. Jason stepped inside and followed Zach toward the backyard.

Sienna was just getting up from her chaise when Jason reached the glass doors. His heart sank as he took in the scene: not just Zach, but Brad, Van Dyke, Belle, Dominic, and Erin. They all sat around the pool, just hanging out like normal people. Except that they were all vampires. Sienna hadn’t confirmed his suspicions about Belle and Dominic, but Jason was pretty sure that this group had more in common than just money and social status.

Jason was alone in a house full of blood-drinkers, and something primal inside urged him to run. But Sienna came walking toward him, a smile playing on her lips, her dark eyes as intoxicating as ever. Jason could feel that she wasn’t evil.

He forced himself to act normally as he stood by the doors, waiting for Sienna to reach him.

“Jason,” Sienna said. “Hi. Do you want to join us?”

He took a deep breath. “Maybe. What are you doing?”

Belle and Zach exchanged a look. Van Dyke suddenly got up and jumped into the pool, swimming furiously.

“Nothing,” Sienna said. “Just hanging.”

But everyone was quiet and tense. Clearly, Jason had interrupted something. He glanced at Zach again, who didn’t look away. “No thanks,” Jason said. “I just wanted to drop by and say hello. So, hello, and now I’ll let you get back to…hanging.”

He turned back into the house, and Sienna followed him to the front door.

“What was that all about?” he asked her quietly.

She sighed. “Look—”

“Did I interrupt some big vampire conference?”

“We’re trying to figure out what happened to Carrie,” Sienna murmured, glancing over her shoulder. “I told you, Zach wants to take care of it.”

“Well, good luck.” Jason reached for the doorknob.

“Wait,” Sienna said, stepping closer to him. “I’m glad you came. I didn’t expect to see you here again.”

The closeness of her made his head swim. “I didn’t expect to be here again,” he admitted, smiling in spite of himself. “But I had to see you.”

Sienna smiled back and took another step toward him, and immediately Jason felt himself swept away—by her apple-vanilla scent that reminded him of the ocean, the wild, vivid beauty of her face, and the incredible sweetness of her smile. If he didn’t touch her, he thought he might go crazy. Without thinking, Jason reached out and slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. Before he could stop himself, his mouth was on hers.

He felt Sienna’s body tense in surprise, but then slowly her arms moved up around his neck. She opened her lips, inviting him in, deepening the kiss, her tongue, briefly, meeting his.

Then, abruptly, she pulled away. Her dark eyes troubled now, confused.

Jason smiled, turned, and left the house. He felt Sienna watching him as he walked to his VW and got in. And he couldn’t stop himself from grinning; it was nice to know that he could confuse Sienna that way.

Too wired to head home, he went for a drive. He loved living in a state where he could actually make use of having a convertible even in the fall. The sun sparkled on the ocean as he sped along the Pacific Coast Highway. In the water, he could see a few surfers making the most of the late-afternoon sunshine.

Jason breathed in the salty ocean air and felt himself begin to unwind. There’d been a weird vibe over at Sienna’s, no doubt, but no one had threatened him. No fangs had made an appearance. It was probably just like Sienna said: The vampires were talking about their rogue member, whoever he was. Trying to figure out what to do. Trying to help. But they clearly didn’t want an outsider like him getting involved.

By the time Jason turned back toward DeVere Heights, the last rays of the sun were turning the sea to gold. Jason’s cell rang. He glanced at the number: Adam.

“How’s it going?” Jason asked as soon as he hit talk.

“We’ve got a problem.” Adam sounded freaked.

“What?”

“It’s Scott. He just went into The Dreamhouse.”

“Where?” Jason asked.

“It’s a club in town. But that’s not the problem. Jason, he had a girl with him. What if he’s going to kill her?”

J
ason pulled over to the side of the road. He needed to concentrate. “Calm down,” he told Adam. “How do you know she’s not some friend of his—another vampire, even?”

“I’ve never seen her before,” Adam said. “And, besides, he just picked her up on Santa Monica Pier. That’s where he went after school. He met her there, they started flirting, then they went to The Dreamhouse together.”

Jason’s throat felt tight. “If he wanted to kill her, why wouldn’t he just take her to an alley or something?” he asked.

“I don’t know, maybe he likes the thrill,” Adam spat. “He didn’t kill Carrie in some dark alley.”

“Good point,” Jason acknowledged. He figured The Dreamhouse was probably pretty dark and crowded, just like Belle’s yacht had been. Nobody had noticed Carrie’s death there, and nobody would notice another girl’s death at the club. “All right, look, we don’t know for sure that Scott is the rogue vampire,” he said, as much to reassure himself as Adam. “I’ll meet you at the club and we’ll watch him together. If it seems like he’s going to bite anyone, we’ll stop him.”

“How are we going to get in?” Adam asked. “We’re not legal.”

“Don’t worry, neither is he,” Jason reminded him. “Just wait for me.”

He hung up and pulled the VW back out onto the road. He didn’t plan to drink tonight, but he figured he’d better leave the car home, just in case. Luckily, his parents were out at a business dinner for the evening, so he didn’t have to explain where he was going in such a rush.

“Dani!” he yelled as he tossed the car keys onto the counter.

No answer.

“Danielle?” He glanced around and spotted a giant pink Post-it on the fridge. He grabbed it and read, “Gone to Kristy’s to study. May sleep over. Dani, XOXO.”

“Huh. That better be the truth,” Jason muttered. He didn’t want to think about her out at some party, being a nice snack for a vampire. At least he knew she’d be nowhere near Scott Challon. He called a cab, changed into jeans and a black T-shirt, and ran back outside just as the cab arrived.

It took ten minutes to get to The Dreamhouse. Adam was waiting out front. “How are we going to get in? I don’t have a fake ID,” he said anxiously.

“I’m not sure. Let’s just go check it out.” Jason strode confidently to the door. At every club he’d ever been to, he’d found that if you just looked like you knew what you were doing, they’d let you in. Hopefully it would work the same here. “Hey,” he said to the bouncer, his eyes already roaming the inside of the club to show that he wasn’t nervous about being carded. “Two of us. What’s the cover?”

“Hey, Freeman. Ten bucks each.” Jason looked up, surprised. The bouncer was Luke Archer.

“Luke, thank God,” Adam said. “I was worried we wouldn’t get in.”

Luke cracked a smile and glanced around. “No worries,” he said. “You do still have to pay, though.”

Jason handed over a twenty, taking in Luke’s muscular arms. He’d never noticed before how built the guy was. Luke wasn’t on any sports teams, so Jason just assumed he wasn’t athletic. But obviously he worked out—maybe so he could keep this job. After all, you couldn’t be a bouncer unless you were big enough to be intimidating.

“Thanks, man,” he said. Luke nodded.

The club was packed, but with a different crowd from the parties in DeVere Heights. Mostly college-age kids. The lights were dim. House music pulsed through huge speakers on the walls, and writhing bodies crowded the tiny dance floor. Deep booths lined the sides of the place, big enough for six or seven people to sit. In the back room there was a pool table—though nothing close to the museum piece at Brad’s—and a few dartboards.

Jason pushed his way through the crowd, scanning the faces for Scott Challon. Adam followed, peering at the people in the deep booths. At the back of the room, Jason spotted a wide double door. It led out onto a huge deck over the beach. People hung around in little clumps out here, smoking and talking away from the loud music inside. He did a quick check for Scott, but saw no sign of him.

“Let’s go back inside,” Adam said. “Scott’s not out here.”

“Yeah.” Jason went back in and led the way over to the other side of the room.

“There he is,” Adam murmured.

Jason followed his friend’s gaze and spotted Scott. He sat in a corner booth, all the way at the back, his arm around a pretty, red-haired girl. A few other guys sat toward the front of the booth, playing some drinking game. Jason thought he recognized them from school, but it was hard to see them clearly in the dark of the club.

“Grab that table,” he told Adam, pointing to a small table about fifteen feet from Scott’s booth. “We’ll hang here and keep an eye on him.”

“What are we going to do if he attacks her?” Adam asked. “He’s got friends with him. We can’t take them all.”

“Buffalo, buffalo, buffalo!” the guys at Scott’s table began to chant.

“Hopefully he won’t attack her,” Jason said, raising his voice to be heard over the buffalo boys. “If he does, we make a scene, get everybody looking in his direction. He won’t do anything public.”

Adam nodded. “I wish I had my camera,” he said. “Then I could get proof.”

Jason laughed. “I don’t think the club owners would appreciate you filming a high school kid hanging out in their place.” He stood up. “I’m going to get some beers so they don’t come kick us out.” He made his way back through the crowd to the long wooden bar near the entrance. He glanced over at Luke to nod hello. But Luke didn’t notice—his attention was focused somewhere toward the back of the place. Jason turned to follow his line of sight and noted, to his surprise, that Luke was watching Scott Challon.

“Help you?” the girl behind the bar yelled over the music.

Jason turned, taking in her platinum-blond pigtails and her pierced eyebrow. “Yeah, uh, two Super Bocks.”

She grabbed a couple bottles, opened them, and handed them over. Jason dropped some cash on the bar and picked up the beers. He glanced back at Luke, but some other beefy dude now stood guard at the door.
Must be Luke’s break time,
Jason decided as he elbowed his way through the crowd. But at the edge of the dance floor, he spotted Luke again. Not dancing, not even talking to anyone, just standing there—and still watching Scott Challon.

“Check it,” Jason said, setting the beers on the table. He nodded over his shoulder to Luke.

“What?” Adam asked.