The Vampire...In My Dreams (13 page)

“A trip to Disney World,” Marissa explained, her hand stroking my arm.

My heart already beat out of control, and my body reacting to her touch would soon embarrass me. “That’s not very far. A few hours to fly at the most.”

She smiled. “He’s walking.”

I was momentarily speechless. She got the vampire to walk there? Bravo!

She read my thoughts and her lips curved up. “And when he arrives, he’s going to ride Space Mountain two hundred times.”

I laughed out loud. “You sure know how to punish a guy.”

“Yeah, so just remember that and don’t get on my bad side.” She teasingly poked me in the ribs with one finger.

Kate stared at Marissa as if she’d sprouted bat’s wings.

Marissa frowned at her. “What’s wrong, Kate?”

“I thought you just wiped his mind of his thoughts, like I did. We haven’t learned any spell that’ll control a person’s mind and make them do what you did. In fact, I don’t believe we can do any such thing.”

Kate didn’t know the whole story and was bound to be angry when she heard it. Again, I felt compelled to let Marissa do the explaining on her own.

Marissa cleared her throat and took Kate’s hand. “We hadn’t meant for it to go this far…well, not yet, anyway. But when we kissed, Dominic had bitten his tongue and—”

Kate pulled her hand free and collapsed on the sofa, her face pale. “You’re one of them now?”

“Some of his abilities transferred to me. I can read his thoughts, and he can read mine.”

Kate glanced back at me as if seeking confirmation. I nodded.

“I…I, well…” Marissa straightened her spine. “…I can turn invisible without a potion. But I didn’t know about it until it just happened.” She gave me a scathing look.

How would I know she’d have that ability, too?

Kate rubbed her temple. “Is that how you stayed so long in the boys’ locker room without getting caught?”

Marissa glanced at me—this time her face definitely had a guilty look. “Yes.”

“Did you see anyone? I mean, naked?” Kate looked totally intrigued, even hopeful.

Still trying to curb my annoyance that Marissa didn’t believe I could control my primal urges to knock Joshua’s block off, I said, “If she had, she’d have probably lost her concentration and become visible again. As it was, Joshua and a couple of other guys heard her run out of the room. I’m sure they figured she was a witch who’d used the invisibility potion to sneak into the locker room for a peek.”

Kate laughed.

Marissa’s cheeks colored beautifully. I reached over and gave her a hug.

“What else can you do, Marissa?” Kate asked. Her voice had changed from one of horror to awe. I wondered if she wished she could have switched places with Marissa in the locker room.

Marissa wrinkled her forehead at me.

I chuckled inwardly, forgetting for an instant that she could read my mind. In fact, I often forgot she could read my thoughts and wasn’t sure I’d ever get the hang of keeping them cloaked from her.

Tilting her chin up, she shook her head at me. We exchanged knowing smiles, then she turned and answered Kate. “Well, I can control a human’s mind. But not a witch’s or warlock’s. I can’t seem to disappear and reappear in other places like Dominic can. When I saw Matthew wearing only a towel in the locker room, I had to run out of there. Vanishing like Dominic does would have been preferable, but I can’t seem to do it.”

Kate’s green eyes were wide with excitement. “Wow. Awesome. Will you let me know if you suddenly have more abilities?”

Marissa regarded her with amusement. “Sure thing, Kate.”

Kate turned her attention to me. “You don’t happen to have a brother lurking about, do you?”

I knew then, she truly was part of our team. “I have an older brother, eighteen, James, really bright and is in his freshmen year at Baylor University, but he’s just a plain old human. I’m sure you wouldn’t be interested in him.”

“Oh.” Disappointment reflected in her voice.

A human wasn’t an acceptable boyfriend for a witch, nor would a human wish to date a witch. The two would never in a million light years be interested in each other. Then again, unwritten rules were made to be broken.

“There are plenty of warlocks who are interested in you at school, Kate,” Marissa said, her voice cheerful.

Kate eyed me. “Yeah, but none are as fun to be with as Dominic.”

Liking the boost to my ego, I smiled at her.

Marissa plunked herself down on the sofa. “She’s the adventurous one of the two of us, Dominic, if you hadn’t guessed it already. If she found an old oil lamp, she’d clean it until it sparkled to find the genie in it, or kiss a frog to find her prince. She’d even climb down that rabbit’s hole to join Alice on her adventures in Wonderland.”

“Well, Kate,” I said, grabbing up the portable phone, “when things start getting really rough, you may wish you didn’t sign onto this little adventure.” I punched the numbers for my favorite pizza place, Pizzas Out of this World. “What does everyone want on their pizza?”

After deciding the kind of crust and the toppings, Kate called her parents to tell them she was having lunch with Marissa and asked if she could stay the evening. Marissa called her Aunt Betsy and told her how her day at school went, and that Kate was spending the night. I relayed to my family that I would be staying safely with a friend for a couple of more nights.

Of course, I was hoping that by Friday evening, I could give them the really good news—I was liberated from Lynetta forever. Every time I spoke to my mother, I could hear the tears in her voice, and I couldn’t help but feel awful for what I was putting her through. But as much as I could, I attempted to reassure her that my new friends were going to help me, and that seemed to relieve her anxiety somewhat.

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Our pizza had arrived. But when Kate opened the door, both Marissa and I sensed something was wrong right away. It wasn’t the uniform the pizza boy wore, though the one-size-fits-all red vest seemed two sizes too small. It wasn’t the ancient vehicle he drove that carried the pizza parlor’s logo lopsided on the passenger’s door. Nor was it the well-worn, warming mitt colored orange instead of red that covered the large pizza box that really aroused our suspicions.

His dark brown eyes focused on Marissa with a vengeance, a glint of pure malevolence sparking in their depths. But even more than that, we both smelled the scent of fresh blood on him as if he’d just had an afternoon snack.

Kate motioned for him to come inside. Before she could utter a word, Marissa and I lunged for her.

Chapter 12

MARISSA

I was certain this was one adventure even my poor friend Kate wasn’t ready for. My heart pounding, I slapped my hand over Kate’s mouth to keep her from inviting the pizza delivery boy into my home, while Dominic slammed the door in the imposter’s face.

Poor Kate. Her eyes couldn’t have gotten any wider, nor could her skin have turned any whiter. She’d taken everything so well until Dominic and I reacted so violently to the pizza delivery. The thought that the vampire could have gained entry into my house and let Lynetta or any other vampire in, sent chills cascading down my spine.

“That was too close for comfort,” Dominic said, eyeing both of us to ensure we weren’t too shaken by the ordeal.

“Lynetta’s going to keep sending them, isn’t she?” I asked, hoping he’d say no and settle the disquiet forming in the pit of my stomach. In my heart I knew she’d come for him, her chosen. And she’d destroy me, too, for trying to steal him away from her.

“Uhm, guys,” Kate said, peering out the front picture window, her brow furrowed, “what do we do with the pizza delivery dude?”

To my surprise, Dominic suddenly vanished from the house and materialized next to the delivery boy. The guy nodded, climbed into his car and drove off.

This time Dominic returned to the house via the front door. “He remembered the pizza belonged to a John Smith in San Francisco, California.”

Kate chuckled. “I imagine the pizza will be ice cold by the time it gets there.”

Not wanting Kate to hear my question, I spoke to Dominic telepathically, the worry imprinted on my brain.
“Why did he smell of blood?”

“He had just eaten a rat.”

My head began to spin. I’m sure my face was paler than pale. “I’ll be right back.” I hurried for the bathroom.

Seconds later, I held my head over the toilet, grateful I made it in time and didn’t have to clean up a mess in the living room. Someone rapped on the door.

“Marissa?” Dominic half-whispered, his voice threaded with concern. “Marissa, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you.”

I wiped the tears from my cheeks and pulled the bathroom door open. “Is that what we’re destined to do?”

Would I end up killing mammals, feasting on their blood, siphoning the life force from their shuddering bodies? Again, I felt the urge to return to the toilet.

“Not if we can kill Lynetta.”

It all came back to that. “Just how are we to accomplish such a feat?”

Dominic sighed a ragged breath and ran his hand over my arm. “We’ll find a way. We have to.”

Clanging resounded in the kitchen. I raised my brows in question.

Dominic jerked his thumb in the direction of the noise. “Kate is looking for something else for us to eat.”

I ran for the kitchen, the nausea in my stomach instantly subsiding as my mind focused on a new concern. “She has a chef’s heart, but she burns everything she cooks.” I turned to Dominic who followed close on my heels. “Inattention to the task. Easily distracted.”

“I heard that!” Kate yelled out, laughter in her voice.

I sighed heavily when I saw her stirring mayonnaise and tuna fish in a mixing bowl.
Tuna fish sandwiches.
She couldn’t go wrong with that.

Kate looked up from her work. “Exactly how can we kill a vampire? I’ve read the fictional books on it—stake to the heart, cut off their head, expose them to sunlight—anything else I’ve missed?”

We both looked at Dominic to hear what the authority on the subject had to say about it.

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Kate’s voice rose an octave while she slathered the tuna fish-mayonnaise mixture on slices of white bread.

“Just that. I’ve never seen one killed. So I don’t know if the fictional tales have any truth to them or not.” He walked in front of the oven door sporting reflective black glass.

We could see Dominic’s reflection in the glass, and I felt a bit of relief that he was still pretty human.

“See? Not all the tales are accurate.”

“Ah, but what if that’s because you’re only partially turned?” I asked.

“Might be.” He carried his plate and a glass of milk to the table. “I don’t have any idea if a full-fledged vampire would have an image in a mirror or not.”

I glanced at my own reflection. “What about garlic?”

“No reaction to that. My mother is a big believer in spicing food up. Unless it’s a dessert dish, she adds garlic to it. I ate both her grilled chicken and lasagna last week, no problem.”

“Crosses?” I asked.

He shook his head and took a drink of his milk. “Not that either. I even went to church with my brother’s friend’s family and experimented with holy water. No effect.”

Kate cut her sandwich into quarters. “What about carrying around the dirt of your birthplace?”

“Old wives’ tales,” Dominic and I said at the same time.

I was really glad for that. I could just imagine trying to get a coffin-load of dirt from my birthplace in Minnesota to Texas by express mail.

Dominic lifted half of his sandwich, then paused. “I wonder if Lynetta can still control my mind now that I have some warlock abilities.”

My heartbeat quickened. “Do you think she won’t have control over you now?” Hope surged through me.

His eyes shimmered. “I’m going to face her on my own without involving you.”

My stomach twisted. I wasn’t the bravest witch on earth, but I wasn’t a real scaredy cat either. Plus what if Dominic wasn’t right? What if Lynetta could still control him, even though he had gained some warlock abilities? We really had no idea what she was capable of. I couldn’t let him try to tackle her on his own. Didn’t he say I was his savior? That it was written in the stars? Yet the stubborn look on his face indicated he’d made up his mind.

“I have made up my mind, Marissa. I don’t want your help in this.”

I knew he was trying to protect me, so I curbed my irritation with him for dismissing me like that, but I couldn’t let him fight Lynetta on his own. I could be stubborn, very stubborn, too. “Sorry, when you took my blood we became blood partners,” I said with resolve. I fingered my uneaten sandwich, my appetite instantly crushed.

I tried to read his feelings, his thoughts, but the stone wall rose in place again. The connection I had with him instantly severed.

Yet he didn’t have to tell me what he was thinking. I knew it anyway in the hard set of his jaw, the determination in his dark brown eyes. Did he plan on leaving before the cloud-veiled sun disappeared to the other side of the earth? Did he intend to face the vamp on his own?

He avoided my eyes, and I realized he was reading all of my thoughts. I wished I could erect my own wall to keep him out.

He looked up at me. I smiled. He didn’t want me to shut him out. I held my glass of milk to him in a salute. I didn’t want him shutting me out, either.

“It’s for the best,” he said softly.

“We don’t know that, Dominic. And you can’t risk it.”

Up until now, Kate had reserved comment, quietly listening, mulling over the conversation. She finally said, “Let him go, Marissa. It’s a guy thing. It’s to prove how macho he is. Let him do what he thinks he has to do.”

I couldn’t believe Kate could be so…so unbelievably heartless. She had no idea how evil, how cruel Lynetta could be. No way did I want him facing the vamp on his own. I started to object. “But—”

Kate gave me one of her looks—the kind of look that said, “We’ll discuss this later, when Dominic isn’t around.”

I wanted to argue with her, with him, to tell him to give up this foolish and dangerous plan. But I conceded. I knew in my heart he was wrong and I could lose him forever. I also recognized he stubbornly resisted the idea that I help him now that he had his new warlock abilities and was determined to protect me at all costs.