Breathless (29 page)

They sat opposite each other in a booth in the back corner of the restaurant. The burgundy vinyl benches were worn and lumpy, but neither of them cared. Cali’s dark gray Abercrombie hoodie was unzipped, and the stylish purple, gray and white Burberry scarf she’d contrarily paired with the casual sweatshirt rested on the end of the table. The varnished wood bore the scratched markings of decades of young revelers, the modern-day equivalent of ancient cave paintings. Leesa had taken off her fleece-lined beige suede jacket—no overcoat for her, thank you—leaving her in a dark brown cotton turtleneck.

The place was jammed with Weston students. Their raucous chatter provided plenty of privacy for the two best friends, and Leesa had spent the last twenty minutes recounting her entire strange story, from her mom being bitten by the
grafhym
to her fears about Bradley. What started out as a casual jaunt for lunch and distraction had turned into full-blown disclosure. Leesa hadn’t planned to unload on Cali—it just seemed to happen. She held back only about Rave’s being a volkaane, for it was not her place to reveal his secret. She felt better having let it all out, but now that she’d finished, she worried how Cali would react. Cali probably thought she was crazy. Leesa shifted her gaze away from Cali’s face and stared instead into the flickering red glass candle jar on the table.

“Wow,” Cali said, putting down a half-eaten slice of pizza and leaning back against the cushioned booth. “And here I thought I was the strange one in this relationship. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me sooner. Rule ten: share your problems with your best friend.”

Leesa took a bite of her pizza. It was barely warm, but still tasted great—confession worked up an appetite. “I was afraid you’d think I was crazy. ‘My mom was bitten by a one-fanged vampire’ or ‘by the way, I think I met a vampire at the frat party tonight’ isn’t the best way to start off a friendship.”

Cali laughed. “Are you kidding? I would have been
so
into that. It’s the coolest story I ever heard.” Her expression turned serious. “Except for the part about your brother. What are you going to do?”

Leesa was so relieved Cali was taking her story seriously. “I don’t know. I need to talk to Stefan, but I don’t know how to find him.”

“Kinda like Rave, huh? Vampires probably don’t use cell phones, either.” Cali sipped her soda, then looked back at Leesa. “So this Stefan guy is really a vampire, huh?”

Leesa nodded. “He all but admitted it. And there’s other stuff that points to it, too.” She couldn’t tell Cali that Rave had told her Stefan was a vampire without revealing more than she wanted to about Rave. And she couldn’t tell her she’d seen his fangs without telling her about the fight she’d stopped, which she was most definitely not about to do.

“And he hasn’t tried to, you know, bite your neck or anything?”

“Ha! No, he’s always been nice. A bit strange, for sure, but nice.”

Cali grinned. “Of course he’s a bit strange—he’s a freaking vampire!” She toyed with a thick piece of crust she’d left on her plate. “Who would have thought my shy little friend from California would be dating a Maston
and
have a vampire hitting on her? Andy can get a little crazy, for sure, but he’s seeming kinda boring right about now. I think I need to reevaluate my love life. Maybe find a vampire of my own.”

Leesa almost choked on her soda. “Yeah, sure. Maybe next time I see Stefan, I’ll ask if he has a friend for you.”

“Cool,” Cali said, laughing. “We could double-date in a graveyard or something.”

They both laughed. Leesa was so glad she’d gone out with Cali. She hadn’t planned on talking about all this and certainly couldn’t have imagined laughing about it. But she was. And she felt so much better. Cali was the best. She was so lucky to have her as a friend. Now if Rave would just get complete control of his fire, and if Stefan would agree to help Bradley and want nothing in return, and what the heck, as long as she was dreaming, if physics would come a bit easier…

“I wish I could tell somebody about all this,” Cali said. “You are the coolest best friend ever, Leesa. But don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul.” She swallowed the last bite of crust and wiped her hands and mouth with her napkin. “How can I help?”

Leesa grabbed another slice of pizza. The more she talked about this, the hungrier she seemed to get. “You already are,” she said between bites. “Just by listening—and believing me.”

“Hey, no problem. How could I not believe you? Nobody could make this kinda stuff up.”

Leesa smiled and took another bite, thinking how much more amazed Cali would be if she knew Rave was more than a hundred years old and possessed an inner fire that could burn Leesa to a pile of ash if he lost control during a simple kiss. Knowing Cali, she’d think that was the coolest thing of all—and would probably want to try a kiss herself.

“Seriously,” Cali repeated, “is there anything I can do?”

“Yeah. You can keep an eye out around the dorm, in case Stefan comes by when I’m not there.”

“Great. Does he look more like Lestat or Edward?” Cali asked. She flashed Leesa a wink. “I’m hoping for something a bit edgier than Edward. He’s too pretty.”

Leesa laughed. “Definitely not Edward. More mature, less clean-cut. Good-looking, though, and pretty sexy. Black hair, pale skin. Always wears black.”

“Sexy works for me,” Cali said, grinning. “I’m always happy to keep an eye out for sexy.”

“If you do see him, tell him I need to talk to him as soon as possible. If you know where I am, tell him.” Leesa swallowed the last bite of her pizza and chased it with a drink of soda. “But do
not
go anywhere alone with him.”

Cali feigned a frown. “Killjoy.”

Leesa smiled. “I’m serious, Cali. Stefan is very dangerous. He’s a vampire, remember? Promise me.”

Cali sighed. “Fine. I’ll try to keep my amorous side in check.”

“Don’t look now,” Cali said as she and Leesa strolled up the sidewalk toward their dorm, “but there’s a guy over there who looks a lot like a vampire.”

Leesa followed Cali’s gaze and saw Stefan leaning casually against the side of the building, protected from the sunlight by the shadow of the wall. As usual, he was dressed in black—black boots, black jeans, and a black hooded sweatshirt. The hood was thrown back over his shoulders now, but Leesa was pretty sure on a day as bright as today he’d use the hood to protect his face when he was not in the shadows. Even so, she was surprised to see him on such a sunny afternoon.

“That’s Stefan,” she said.

“Really?” Cali checked him out more closely. “I thought vampires came out only at night. Don’t they burn up in the daylight?”

“That’s just stuff some writer made up,” Leesa said. She waved to Stefan, who acknowledged her with a slight nod of his head. “But they don’t like the sun—it hurts their skin. So I’m gonna go talk to him over there.”

“And I’m guessing you don’t want me tagging along, right?” Cali feigned a pout. “You have all the fun.” She put her hand on Leesa’s forearm. “Be careful, Lees.”

“I will. I’ll see you inside, okay?”

Cali nodded and continued up the sidewalk, while Leesa angled across the grass toward Stefan. She walked slowly, trying to think about what she wanted to say to him.

Stefan detached himself from the wall and glided a few steps toward her, careful to remain in the shadow. “Hi, Leesa.”

Leesa stopped a few feet away, and then chided herself for her caution. If Stefan meant to harm her, five feet or ten would provide no safety. She moved another step closer, hoping he wouldn’t notice her hesitation.

“Hi, Stefan. I’m glad to see you.”

Stefan smiled. “I’m certainly happy to hear that.”

“I was hoping you’d come around. I need to talk to you.”

“Me, too. We didn’t get a chance to finish our conversation the other night.”

“No, we didn’t.” Leesa glanced up at the blue sky. “I’m surprised to see you out on a day like this, though.”

Stefan followed her gaze upward and smiled. “Normally, I wouldn’t be. But it’s getting more difficult for me to come out alone. The Council has already forbidden most of our coven to do so. Soon I won’t be allowed to, either.”

Leesa had never considered there might be someone telling a vampire what it could and couldn’t do. “Why not?”

“As our hunger grows, our control lessens. My kind prefer to remain in the shadows, figuratively as well as literally. Taking too many victims draws unwanted attention.”

Leesa remembered Rave saying something similar about hunger and control. She glanced around, suddenly afraid he might show up and interrupt them again. They needed to go somewhere he’d be less likely to find them, just in case. But where? The bright sunshine argued against anywhere outside or too far away. Which left her dorm. Not her room, though. Rave could show up there. “Let’s go inside,” she said. “It’ll be easier to talk there.”

A half smile appeared on Stefan’s lips. Leesa thought he’d probably guessed why she wanted to go somewhere else, but he didn’t say anything about it, for which she was grateful. She didn’t want to talk about Rave, and she certainly didn’t want to have to explain her relationship with him.

Stefan pulled his hood up and donned dark sunglasses. Now he looked like a dozen other guys Leesa had seen around campus today. She led him through her dorm to a small lounge at the far end of the building. Sunlight streamed in through a large west-facing window, so she circled away from the light, passing up a pair of leather couches and sitting instead at a small wooden table near the opposite wall. Nothing wrong with keeping a table between her and a vampire, she reasoned as Stefan slipped into the chair opposite her.

The lounge was quiet, empty except for a dark-haired girl wearing earphones who was pecking away at her laptop at another table. Obviously engrossed in whatever she was doing, she didn’t even glance up at their arrival.

Leesa looked at Stefan, unsure how to begin. He sat comfortably against the back of his chair, waiting, his eyes locked onto her face. As she’d told Cali, he was definitely sexy, both in looks and the way he carried himself. It was his eyes more than anything, she thought. They were impossibly dark and deep, inviting you in, yet full of mysterious depths. His mouth was pretty sexy as well, his full lips accentuated by the paleness of his smooth skin. If it weren’t for the minor problem that he was a vampire, he’d be just Cali’s type. And she would have been more than happy to fix her up with him.

“I’m curious,” Stefan said. “How is it you know about Edwina?”

Leesa relaxed a smidgen. Stefan had just produced the opening she needed to talk to him about Bradley and Edwina, so she decided to get right to the point. “Edwina was my brother’s girlfriend.”

Stefan raised his dark eyebrows. “His girlfriend, huh?” The smallest of smiles played upon his sensuous lips. “Edwina always did like to play with her humans.”

Leesa suddenly felt very cold. She didn’t like the way that sounded. “What do you mean ‘play with’?” she asked tremulously.

“Vampires don’t usually take human boyfriends or girlfriends. We kill them, or turn them vampire, sometimes make one a feeder.” Stefan leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. His black eyes bored into Leesa’s. “If there’s a human we are especially drawn to, we turn them and make them our consort.”

Leesa’s chill deepened. Edwina had spent a lot of time with Bradley before he disappeared. Did that mean she liked her brother enough to turn him? That was what Leesa feared most, for it meant there would be no rescue for Bradley, no hope of ever bringing him back. She prayed it wasn’t true, that Edwina was only, as Stefan had said, playing with him.

She was almost afraid to ask, but what choice did she have? She forced the words from her throat. “Do you know if Bradley is with Edwina?”

Stefan leaned back, his face blank. “I know no one by that name.”

For a moment, Leesa’s hopes soared. Stefan had never heard of Bradley! Maybe Edwina had nothing to do with her brother’s going away. Maybe he left for some other reason, one having nothing to do with vampires. Maybe he got hooked on drugs and didn’t want Leesa to know, or joined a cult, or ran away with a married woman. There were all kinds of possibilities. She didn’t care what the reason was, as long as it didn’t involve vampires.

But reality closed its grip on her quickly. She was fooling herself. Grasping at straws, trying to deny the probable truth. Stefan did not know Bradley. More accurately, he’d simply said he didn’t know anyone by that name. Did feeders even have names? Did vampires choose a new name when they were turned? She needed better answers, which meant she had to ask better questions.

She edged forward on her chair. “Does Edwina have a partner? What did you call it…a consort?”

Stefan shook his head. “No, she doesn’t. Taking a consort is a very rare thing.”

Something in the way he said it struck her. “Do you?” she asked, not really certain where the question came from.

Stefan hesitated for an instant before replying. “No. Not yet.”

Leesa didn’t notice his hesitation. She was too busy building up the courage to ask the question she knew she must ask next. “Does Edwina have a feeder?”

Once again, surprise lifted Stefan’s eyebrows. “What do you know about feeders?”