Breathless (9 page)

“Can I get you girls a drink?” he asked.

“We’ll get our own, thanks,” Cali replied. She smiled and put her arm through his. “You can take us to the bar, though.”

The guy grinned back, then led them through the crowd into what seemed to be a dining room near the rear of the house. Three BPDs were busily mixing drinks behind a row of portable tables. A large plastic cooler contained cans of soda and bottles of water, while a second cooler held cans of Red Bull and Monster. It was quieter back here, but not much, with a steady stream of kids coming and going from the makeshift bar. A bit of cool air filtered in from an open doorway in the back of the room, but it was still plenty warm. Leesa decided cold water would be just the thing and grabbed a bottle.

Cali pulled a Red Bull from the cooler and handed it to their escort. “I’ll have a Jagar Bomb,” she said.

The guy grinned, clearly pleased by her choice. “You got it.”

He took a plastic cup from a stack atop the table and grabbed a dark green bottle of Jagermeister. He said something to one of his frat brothers behind the table, who handed him a shot glass. Leesa watched as he poured a full shot of the dark brown liquor, then filled the plastic cup half full with Red Bull. He held the cup in his left hand and the shot in his right. With a dramatic flourish, he dropped the shot glass directly into the Red Bull, and then gave the cup to Cali. Leesa grimaced as Cali swallowed the mixture in one long series of gulps.

“Want another?” the guy asked, his face a picture of friendly innocence.

“You wish,” Cali said, grinning. She held out her hand. “I’m Cali.”

“Nice to meet you, Cali.” He shook her hand. “I’m Andy.”

“And this is Leesa,” Cali said.

Leesa and Andy shook hands, then he led them into a third room, still crowded, but less busy with people coming and going. What started as a three-way conversation quickly morphed into an animated chat between Cali and Andy, leaving Leesa feeling a bit like a third wheel. Baby steps, she told herself. At least she was here.

She spent a few minutes gazing out at the crowd, watching how the other kids interacted and studying what the girls were wearing. She noticed how many seemed drunk already—maybe that was the secret to their social ease. She hoped she wasn’t going to have to resort to drinking to feel comfortable in these kinds of situations. With that happy thought, she nudged Cali on the shoulder.

“I’m hot,” she said. “I’m going out back for some air.”

“Want me to go with you?” Cali asked.

Leesa shook her head. “No, stay here.” She winked. “You look like you’re having fun.”

Cali grinned. “You sure?”

Leesa nodded.

“Okay. Be careful, though.” Cali ruffled Andy’s thick hair. “You gotta watch out for these frat boys.”

Leesa laughed as she began edging her way through the crowd to the door and out into the night. Please, someone come talk to me, she thought as she stood looking out into the clumps of kids gathered in the backyard. And not some drunk jerk on the make, either. Someone cool. And interesting. And as long as she was wishing, cute certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Never in a million years could she have guessed what her wish would bring.

11.  STRANGE MEETINGS

I
t was an odd-looking vine. Large, striated leaves clung to the corner of the building, inches from Stefan’s face, their shadows hiding his dark, motionless form from the noisy students milling about in the nearby yard. He watched them idly, not hunting now, for he had been given no permission to do so. It would be awhile before he was allowed to take a human again, but there was nothing to stop him from observing or even mingling with them if he chose. So far, no one in the yard was of much interest to him—until a new arrival caught his eye. Tall and blond, she stood by herself a few feet from the back steps. Not beautiful, but near enough. Something about her tugged at him, made him want to get closer. A lust and a hunger, yes, but different in some way. The pull was thrilling, but disconcerting. Different was intriguing. But different could also be dangerous.

Backing farther into the shadows, he let his eyes sweep the yard and surrounding grounds, alert to anything amiss, anything out of place. Sensing nothing, he circled the yard slowly, keeping to the shadows and pausing every few steps to peer into the darkness, listening intently and sniffing the air for danger. All seemed as it should be. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the girl and studied her more closely.

She was still alone, standing with one arm held against her waist, sipping a bottle of water with the other. Her face was tan, her skin smooth, her eyes startlingly blue. She rotated her head from side to side, taking in the other kids, but not looking all that interested in joining any of them. She looked uncomfortable, like she knew she didn’t quite fit in here. She was right, he thought. She didn’t fit in. He wanted to find out why.

He eased out of the shadows and headed casually in her direction, avoiding any move or look that might attract her notice or be regarded as threatening—just another partier wandering outside, someone who would notice her only when he got closer. She would think it was chance that brought him to her, not a purposeful act.

He had approached within a few paces when she sensed his presence and turned toward him, her face tightening into a guarded, but inquisitive look. He flashed a friendly smile. At a party like this, she would be expecting guys to hit on her, but his easy manner, practiced over the centuries, was natural, unthreatening.

“Hi,” he said. “You having any fun?”

Leesa studied him for a moment before replying. This guy was different from the other guys here, she sensed immediately. He spoke with a hint of an accent—exotic, perhaps European. He wore his long-sleeve black button shirt untucked over black jeans, but the loose shirt couldn’t hide the slender, athletic form of his body. His hair was even blacker than his clothes, if that were possible, pulled back into a tight ponytail. His clothes and hair made his unusually pale face seem almost to float in the moonlight, and a bristly soul patch appeared so dark against his pallid skin it looked like a tunnel into his chin. Handsome, she thought, and sexy, too—in a more raw, sensual way than the Maston guy.

“Not really,” she said guardedly.

“Me neither.” He grinned. “I’m Stefan. How about you and me not have fun together for a couple of minutes?”

Leesa laughed, her unease diminishing. “Sure, why not? I’m Leesa.” Stefan made no move to shake hands, so she kept hers at her side.

“So, Leesa, what brings you to this not-so-fun party? This doesn’t really look like your kind of thing.”

“It’s not,” she admitted. “My friend brought me. I’m trying to learn how to fit in. She’s inside, chatting up some guy.”

Stefan pursed his thick lips. Sensual lips, she thought.

“Why do you care about fitting in?” he asked. “Fitting in is overrated, if you ask me.”

Leesa swept her eyes up and down his black-clad form. “I can see that,” she teased. “Tell me, do you have something against color?”

He smiled. “Not at all. I’m especially fond of red. But black helps me disappear into the night, if necessary,” he added in a low, flirtatious tone.

“Why would you need to disappear?” Leesa made a show of looking about the yard. “Got a girlfriend around somewhere?”

He laughed. “No, no girlfriend. Not for a very long time, I promise.”

There was something strange about the way he said it, some seriousness in his tone despite the laugh. She believed him, but felt like he had told her something far deeper than she’d asked. Maybe she just wasn’t used to talking to sexy guys. God knows she’d had little enough practice at it.

“You from around here?” he asked.

“No. San Diego.”

“You’re a long way from home. You miss it?”

“Nope. I’m happy to get away, actually.”

He stared at her, his gaze strangely penetrating. His dark eyes took on the look of bottomless pools—pools she suddenly found herself wanting to sink into. Dangerous, yet inviting. Flustered, she took a drink from her bottle, breaking eye contact.

He seemed to realize he was looking too hard. His gaze softened and he rubbed his hand on his pale cheek. “I bet I’d burn to a crisp in California, with skin like this,” he said.

“Ha! Probably. You from Connecticut?”

“For the most part, yeah.”

There it was again—the sense that he was telling her more than he was saying. Before she could respond, he suddenly stiffened. He lifted his head and moved it slowly from side to side, his eyes flicking back and forth. He reminded her of a jungle cat now. Feral, powerful, alert. She thought he could even be sniffing the air for danger, if such a thing were possible.

He seemed almost to have forgotten her presence. What was going on? One moment he was totally focused on her, almost mesmerizing her, and now it was as if she didn’t exist. What could have drawn his attention so completely? Glancing around
the yard, she saw nothing out of
the ordinary.

“What is it?” she asked. “Is something wrong?”

Stefan knew better than to ignore his instincts. Danger was near—not immediate, but close.

“I have to go,” he said. He took two quick steps away, then stopped and looked back. “I will see you again,” he promised.

Leesa wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that promise. He was certainly attractive—she was sure Cali would say “hot”—and his manner seemed friendly enough. But there was something unsettling about him as well, beyond even that brief moment when she almost lost herself in his eyes. She watched him cross the yard, moving quickly without seeming to hurry, gliding across the lawn with a smooth grace that once again reminded her of a jungle cat. His black clothes seemed to draw the shadows into them, making him difficult to follow. In just a few seconds, he vanished into the darkness beyond the yard. A sense of déjà vu passed over her. What was it about her that kept causing hot guys to disappear so abruptly?

Across the street from the BPD house, hidden by the dark shadow of the ancient maple against which he leaned, Rave watched Leesa limp up the steps with her friend and disappear into the house. He’d been watching her frequently the last few weeks. A couple of times he thought she might have detected his presence, but he was skilled at disappearing and had managed to remain unseen.

He still wasn’t sure why he was following her. Perhaps it was a sense that she needed his protection, but he knew there was more to it. Something about her pulled at him, and the feeling was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. A warm tingling, so like the first hint of prey, yet so completely different. It was an ignition, surely—but of what? He glanced down at his fingers, expecting to see the faint flicker of blue flame, yet somehow not surprised to see nothing. None of it made sense. 

What was it about her? Sure, she was pretty, extremely so, but he had seen lots of pretty women in his long life. Unlike some of his kind, Rave did not mind humans. He mingled with them now and then, and had even called one a friend many years ago. He knew human women were drawn to him. Over the years, he’d grown skilled at keeping them away without distressing them. But he had never felt the pull in return. Not until now. He was finding it more and more difficult to stay away.

And so here he was, watching her yet again. For a little while, he could see her through one of the windows, standing with her friend, but then they moved deeper into the house, gone from his sight, and the night seemed to darken a notch. He was tempted to go inside, but he didn’t like crowded spaces, so he remained where he was, always the patient hunter, enjoying the music and watching the students come and go through the front door.

Eventually, he grew tired of his vigil and decided to move around to the back of the house for a while. He circled the block and crept behind the row of frat houses. As he drew closer to the party house, he saw lots of kids milling about in the spacious backyard, so he melted farther into the shadows. When he was certain he was effectively invisible, he hoisted himself effortlessly into a leafy tree and found a comfortable perch from which to watch.

He spotted Leesa near the stairs by the back door. She was talking to someone, but he couldn’t see who. He guessed it must be her friend, but despite the elevation of his vantage point, his view was blocked by a group of tall young men. He hoped they didn’t move and block his view of Leesa as well.

He loved watching her—the shy downward tilt of her jaw, her bright smile, the way her fingers twirled in her hair when she was nervous. Even from this distance, he still felt the pull. 

He watched contentedly for a few minutes, until the group of kids blocking his view edged away, allowing him to see the person she was talking to. The guy was tall and slender, dressed in black. Rave began to grow warm. Vampire? He was surprised he hadn’t sensed the creature sooner. The girl was more distracting than he’d thought.

Blue fire began to glow unbidden from his fingertips. He curled his hands into fists to hide the telltale glow and willed the heat down, forcing himself to be patient. There was no need to rush. If the guy
was
vampire, he would do nothing in so public a place. But what was he doing here? And why had he singled out Leesa? Was it mere chance, or something else?