A Killer First Date (3 page)

Nicholas and I made our way back to the whirling lights of the carnival. Adrenaline was still buzzing through me, making the colors look brighter and sharper. The rides all seemed to be going too fast, people’s faces spinning and spinning.

“You know, I see a flaw in our carnival plan,” Nicholas whispered in my ear as a group jostled past us.

“What’s that?” Shivers tickled my neck when his tongue gently touched my earlobe.

“Too many damn people.” His words were husky, smoky.

I glanced at him. He’d just taken out a
Hel-Blar
and had smelled fresh human blood. His pupils were dilated and his fangs were lengthening slightly but not enough for anyone else to notice. “Are you speaking as a vampire?”

“No, just as a guy who wants to kiss his girlfriend without an audience.” His gaze roamed the edges of the midway. “This one’s empty,” he said finally, tugging me behind the Tilt-A-Whirl to a stationary merry-go-around. We snuck around the Under Repair sign and climbed onto the circular platform, wandering between painted horses, unicorns, and a red dragon. Two prancing white horses pulled a purple carriage. Gray eyes flaring, Nicholas pulled me inside.

Adrenaline and desire made me feel as if I were on fire, and that was before Nicholas even kissed me. Or I kissed him. It didn’t matter who closed the distance between us first; it only mattered that his mouth was on mine, that my hands were running over the muscles of his arms, that his cool fingers dug into my waist. His tongue stroked mine and I made a tiny sound that had him yanking me even tighter against his chest. I couldn’t get close enough. I shifted so that I was sitting in his lap. His teeth grazed my lower lip.

The carousel lurched into motion but we didn’t even pause. It didn’t matter, nothing mattered, not even whatever strange force was pushing us in circles. His hand tangled in my hair and he pulled my head back to trail his mouth along my neck. I shivered and pulled his face back up, kissing him deeply. I felt reckless, like a Roman candle burning in a dry field. He moved against me, responding just as quickly, just as desperately.

His fangs elongated so suddenly, one of them scratched my lip. A drop of blood welled, tasting coppery on my tongue. He jerked back, his hands still clamped around my arms but holding me away from him as if I were dangerous. My breath was loud and ragged. His chest was moving too, as if his body had forgotten he didn’t need to breathe.

He licked the tiniest of drops of my blood off his lip, slowly, so slowly I couldn’t look at anything else.

And then the carousel sped up, dislodging me. I fell against the side of the chariot, fighting the momentum of the spinning horses.

Nicholas frowned, also struggling to get to his feet. “Something’s wrong.”

I didn’t even ask Quinn where he found the rowboat. It was small and painted white, with a flat bench in the middle. After I made a quick sweep to make sure there weren’t any other
Hel-Blar
in the woods, Quinn rowed us out until we were floating in the soft darkness, the lights glittering on the water. He slid the oars back into the boat.

“I’m biting the next person who interrupts us,” he said as a cool, soft breeze drifted over.

It was quiet here, the sounds of music and laughter thin and distant. The stars seemed really close. I could feel the mountain looming protectively in the darkness. Quinn sat across from me, leaning his arms on his knees. His hair fell around his pale face, lifting slightly when the wind picked up. It was a soft moment, romantic and slow, as if time were trickling to a stop just for us.

And then a blue hand grabbed the side of the rowboat.

A snarling
Hel-Blar
tried to haul himself out of the lake, right into my lap. The stink of rot and mildew slapped at us. The water churned, and the boat heaved violently.

“Son of a bitch!” Quinn kicked him in the face and he snarled, blood trickling from his broken nose. But he didn’t let go.

And he wasn’t alone.

Another
Hel-Blar
was scrabbling at the other side of the boat. I shot Hypnos powder into his snarling face, emptying the casing in my cuff. “Drop!” I ordered. His fingers, with their blood-encrusted nails, loosened and he dropped into the lake, the water closing over his head. Quinn wasn’t able to reach the first
Hel-Blar
’s chest with his stake without being in danger of infected saliva and savage biting. So he grabbed an oar and smashed him in the head until he floated away, bleeding.

“Looks like I just chummed the waters,” he said darkly.

“I’d better call this in,” I said, cell phone in one hand and flashlight in the other. I swung the beam of light over the dark lake until it caught the gleam of unnatural eyes. “There! Another one, swimming to shore!”

Quinn groaned, his head falling back in frustration. “Let’s move to Spain,” he finally said.

“Why Spain?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, paddling the boat back to shore. “It’s really sunny there, probably not a lot of vampires. We might actually get to have a date that doesn’t end in mayhem and blood.”

I snorted. “Is that possible with a Drake?”

“Probably not,” he admitted. He swung the oar and there was a wet thud. “Incoming!”

I steadied myself against a unicorn with garish lime-green eyes, his golden horn painted with glitter. It was difficult to focus on the carnival. We were moving too fast and everyone else seemed to be moving too slowly. The lights trailed, like smeared paint. They made me dizzy. Nicholas put his hand on my lower back, steadying me.

“They’re frozen,” he said tightly.

“Who is?”

“Everyone.”

I stared at him, then at the fair speeding past. I had to concentrate really hard, trying to pick out certain people and booths, like a ballet dancer spotting during pirouettes. I chose the Whac-A-Mole booth because of the hideous red-and-yellow glowing gopher on the roof. After a few rotations I noticed that none of the people in front of the game had moved. A little girl crying over dropped ice cream was in the exact same position, her mother leaning down toward her. The Ferris wheel had stopped, as had the spinning cups and the flying swings. One of the swings was still in midair, one girl’s hair tangling around her laughing face.

“Okay, this is seriously freaky,” I said. “Even for Violet Hill. We need Isabeau for this kind of magic.”

“She’s at the caves. Not exactly good cell reception there.”

Even the pigeons eating popcorn off the boardwalk were still as statues. “Everyone’s stuck.” I goggled at Nicholas. “Except for us.”

“And her.” He nodded grimly toward the fairground. I followed his gaze but it took another dizzying turn before I saw her. She looked about our age, had long brown hair, and stood in front of Brent as if she’d been kissing him. When she stepped back, letting go of his shoulders, Brent’s knees buckled and he dropped bonelessly to the ground.

“Okay, that can’t be good,” I muttered.

“She’s draining them,” Nicholas said softly.

“Is she a vampire?” I asked.

“No.” Nicholas frowned. “I don’t think so.”

The carousel creaked alarmingly, turning too fast for its engine. “I thought this thing was broken,” I said, momentarily distracted. “Also, it’s making me want to throw up.”

Nicholas slipped his arms around me. He didn’t give me a warning. It was probably for the best, since I’m pretty sure I would have screamed my head off. One moment we were spinning with the horses and the next we were in midair, still spinning. We landed in the dirt, Nicholas rolling so that he took the brunt of the fall. Dust billowed up around us.

“You can open your eyes now,” he murmured.

They were scrunched so tightly my face hurt. I opened one eye cautiously, then the other. “Am I broken?”

“No.”

“Good. I guess I’m the bait. Let’s go save the day.” I kissed him quickly. “Again.”

His fangs gleamed in the carnival lights. “Last time I checked, you don’t so much save the day as throw a whole lot of chaos at it.”

I pinched him. “Hey.” I scrambled off him, reaching for a stake and my Hypnos powder. We didn’t really have a plan. We had a vampire, and a girl with a wicked right hook. And whatever the hell that other girl was. Hunter would not approve of our battle strategy.

I moved between frozen students. They were creepy and glass-eyed, like wax statues. The wind fluttered their hair and their clothes, but no one moved. I stopped, recognizing Nathan.

“Oh, crap,” I said, rushing to his side. I waved my hand in front of his face. He didn’t blink, didn’t slide me his patented disgusted glare. I hadn’t expected him to, but one can hope. “We’ll fix this,” I promised him quietly. “You are
not
going to spend eternity with that look on your face.”

I swallowed, walking toward the girl as she darted in and out of the crowd. Even though I couldn’t see Nicholas, I knew he was nearby.

“Hey!” I called out.

The girl spun around, her hair obscuring her features. Nicholas was a blur, circling around behind her. He’d knocked her out before she’d even turned to face me completely. He caught her before she hit the ground with her face.

“Shouldn’t everyone unfreeze now?” I said when nothing changed. “She’s unconscious, right?” Nicholas nodded. “Stake her?” I suggested.

“She’s not a vampire,” he reminded me.

I paused, staring at him, bewildered. “Shit.” I didn’t know what to do when the bad guy wasn’t a vampire. “So what now?”

He lowered her to the ground and pushed the hair off her face, frowning. “This is the girl from the woods. The one who grabbed Quinn.”

I crouched next to him, holding my stake at the ready. I’d seen too many horror movies to ever trust an unconscious villain. “I know her,” I said, astounded. “Her name’s Vanessa.”

“Evil?” Nicholas asked.

“No, just perky.” I frowned, more confused than ever. “I don’t get it.”

She stirred and I lowered the point of my stake over her heart.

“You can’t stake her, remember?” Nicholas hissed.

“Well,
she
doesn’t know that.”

Her eyes fluttered open. “What happened?”

“That’s what we’d like to know,” Nicholas said drily.

Vanessa sat up slowly, then squeaked when she saw the stake. “Lucy?” she asked uncertainly. “What are you doing?”

“What am
I
doing? What the hell are
you
doing?” I pointed to the creepy tableau of creepy people around us. “Also? Undo it!”

She looked around, openmouthed. “Wow. I’ve never frozen that many people before!”

“Gee, congratulations,” I said sarcastically.

“Thanks!”

I shook my head, glanced at Nicholas. “If I can’t stake her, can I at least
poke
her with the sharp end? Just a little?” I turned back to Vanessa, talking to her through gritted teeth. “What,” I asked, enunciating very slowly and very clearly, “did you do?”

“I’m not sure,” she said. “I was getting tired.”

“
That’s
why you’re so perky?” I asked. “Because you suck it out of other people? Rude much?” I leaned back out of reach, just to be safe.

“I can’t help it.” Tears glimmered prettily on the edge of her lashes as she looked up at Nicholas.

I made a sound of disgust. “Stop flirting with my boyfriend. Not only are you embarrassing yourself and all of womankind, but he’s way too smart to fall for it.”

She pouted. I rolled my eyes. I was used to a little more villain in my villain. Lady Natasha, vain and crazy as she was, had made me want to pee my pants. She’d actually eaten a raw deer heart, thinking it was Solange’s. That was commitment. This was just pathetic.

“I just took a little,” she insisted.

“Brent’s out cold and kind of green,” I corrected her. “That was more than a little. What did you do to him?”

“I just kissed him. I miss him.”

“Uh-huh. And the others?”

“They won’t remember. No one ever does.” She smiled again. “So, it’s okay! See? No worries!”

“So you
are
a vampire,” I insisted.

“I don’t drink blood! Gross!”

“Psychic vampire,” I elaborated. “You take their energy.”

“And you were drunk in the woods less than ten minutes ago,” Nicholas said.

“I wasn’t drunk.” She sounded offended. “I was just really tired and I tripped and fell. And then that monster came. What was she? Did I imagine her? Do I have a concussion?”

“Sure, we’ll go with that,” I said. “Now, undo whatever you did or I
will
punch you in the face.” Before the entire carnival became a vampire buffet. “So talk.”

She whimpered again. I just folded my arms and waited. After a moment she wiped her eyes and sighed. “Look, I really don’t know how this happened,” she said.

“Walk us through it,” I insisted, glancing around for unnatural shadows. Nicholas was already patrolling in a slow circle around us, painfully alert. “Every single thing you did.” I noticed car headlights moving up the side of the mountain. At least Vanessa hadn’t frozen the entire town, and Quinn and Hunter should be safe out in the middle of the lake. Of course, if anyone drove up to the carnival right now, they’d be traumatized for life. “Quickly.”

“I went by the booths there because someone was complaining that the Frog Prince game was rigged.” She pointed.

We walked around frozen people, my math teacher included. She was laughing, her mouth so wide I could almost see her tonsils. Two guys were pouring contraband liquor into a soda bottle. The merry-go-round was still spinning madly. We went down the midway and back up around to the spot where we’d found her. Since she was running the event for the prom committee, she’d been everywhere. I didn’t have a clue what had set off the big magic freeze, if she was even telling the truth about not knowing how it had happened.

“And then what?” I asked. “What made you go off into the woods?”

“I . . . saw Brent.”

“And?”

“And I was upset.” She looked away, shifted uncomfortably. “So I went to the woods so no one would see me cry.”