Never Bite a Boy on the First Date (19 page)

I
t was midnight, and I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to deal with Zach’s smugness, and I did not want to discuss my feelings about my “death issues” with Olympia or Crystal, and I most definitely did not want to give Wilhelm an update on my murder investigation, which was supposed to be solved by Wednesday. At least now I had only one suspect left.

So I went to the cemetery. It was actually kind of cool and spooky in the storm, with thunder rumbling and lightning flashing overhead. This particular cemetery is huge, with lots of big, fancy tombstones and crypts and things, but the main reason I like it is that there’s never anyone here, at least at night, so I don’t have to worry about pretending that I’m a normal girl.

I found a gravestone that was like a big stone
box sticking out of the ground. I lifted myself onto the top of it and lay down on my back, closing my eyes and letting the rain pour over my face. I could feel the crackle and energy of the lightning and the rumble of the thunder shaking the sky. The raindrops pounded into my skin, and I made myself stop breathing so I wouldn’t drown, although I’m pretty sure vampires can’t drown. I just lay there, as still as the grave I was lying on, trying not to think about Milo or Rowan or mysterious vampire attacks.

A hand touched my face, then moved to my forehead, pushing back my wet hair and feeling for my temperature. I opened my eyes.

Daniel was standing over me, looking concerned. He put his hands on either side of my face and stared into my eyes. Have I mentioned before what great eyes he has? I figured I wouldn’t mind just lying there, gazing into them for a while. It was better than moping about Milo, that’s for sure.

“Kira,” he said, moving his hands to my shoulders. He pulled me up into a sitting position and sat on the stone facing me. His hands felt my arms, and then he took my hands and
started rubbing them. “Kira, you’re freezing.”

“That’s okay,” I said numbly.

“It’s not okay,” he said. He glanced around and stood up. With a single graceful movement, he put one arm under my knees and one arm around my back, and lifted me up.

Wow
, I thought.
This is kind of cool
. He started walking as if I weighed nothing at all.

“I can walk,” I said to him. “I mean, this is thrilling, but kind of unnecessary.”

“Shush,” Daniel said. “We’re having a moment.”

“Oh,” I said. “Okay.” I realized he was heading for a crypt up ahead where we could go inside and get dry. I put my arms around his neck and leaned against his chest. His white shirt was soaking wet, so it didn’t matter that it was buttoned up. Casually, I slid one hand to the side of his neck.

Daniel stepped inside the semidarkness of the crypt, which was lined with silky-smooth white marble. No coffins in the middle of the floor here; the denizens of this burial place were neatly stored behind engraved labels on the wall. A green-and-black star pattern was embedded
in the marble floor, and a large bronze urn full of flowers stood opposite the door.

The sound of the storm subsided as we moved under the roof. Lightning lit up Daniel’s face as he smiled at me.

“That is much better,” he said. Just then he noticed where my hand was. He looked at it sideways. “Er—what are you doing?” He set me down on my feet abruptly and stepped back.

“I knew it!” I said. “You have no pulse! I knew it! Well, except for the part where I just figured it out, but it makes sense!” I pushed my wet hair back, wishing I looked a little more commanding and a little less wet. “You’re a vampire!”

“So are you!” he said indignantly.

“Yeah,” I said, “well, but I’m the good kind. Wait, you knew that?”

“Of course I knew that,” he said. “Why do you think I’ve been watching you?”

“Because I’m irresistible?” I said. “And you’re totally falling for me?”

He ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well…that, too.”

“Really?” I said, crossing my arms. “Or have
you just been messing with me?”

“Look,” he said, “all right, yes, at first I was just investigating you because I thought you were Tex’s murderer, but then once I spent some time with you, I really started to like—”

“What?” I exploded. “No, no,
no
!
I
am investigating
you
because
you’re
Tex’s murderer! I can’t believe you thought it was me!”

“It’s not you?” he said.

“It’s not
you
?” I said.

Lightning flashed again. We stared at each other.

“It has to be you,” I said. “You’re a vampire.”

“So are you,” he said again. “And my family has a strict no-biting rule.”

“So does mine!” I protested.

“That’s why they sent me to solve the murder,” Daniel said, taking a step closer to me. “I could fit in the best, although I haven’t attended high school in decades. I’m afraid it hasn’t gotten more interesting. Except for you being there, of course.”

“Don’t go off topic,” I said. “Well, okay, you can get a little off-topic. Really? Me?”

He reached toward my face and then dropped his hand again. “You are by far the most interesting thing at that school, Kira,” he said. “Not least because of your violent history.”

I winced. “If you’re talking about Zach, that wasn’t my idea.”

“We figured that out,” Daniel said, “from the newspaper accounts and our private sources. That’s why you’re still alive. Otherwise one of my family would probably have staked you by now.”

“Yikes,” I said, with a shudder I tried to hide. “They sound friendly. I can’t wait to meet them.”

“We have to execute dangerous vampires,” Daniel said. “It’s the only way to protect the rest of us.” He looked down at his hands. “It happened to one of my sisters—she went too far, and if we hadn’t stopped her, she would have kept killing. The one death she caused brought too much attention to us as it is.” His eyes met mine again. “Some of us think there are vampire hunters in town already, searching for us.”

I didn’t tell him about Milo. I couldn’t. I didn’t know what he would do with that information,
and even if Milo was on a lifelong mission to exterminate my kind, I still didn’t want anything to happen to him.

“Oh?” I said instead.

“That’s why we had to solve this murder,” Daniel said. “We prefer to deal with such things ourselves.”

“Well, it wasn’t me,” I said. “I don’t know why you would think it was. Okay, apart from the whole being-at-the-murder-scene thing. And the breaking-into-Tex’s-house thing. But you did all that, too, by the way.” I rubbed my arms, feeling cold and wet. “I was just trying to solve the stupid murder. My family thinks I did it, which is, like, totally unfair, by the way, because I so totally did not. I have to figure out who did it by tomorrow, or else I’ll be in big trouble. So if it’s not you, either, then I’m kind of screwed.”

I gave him a hopeful look. “Any chance you’ve got some helpful clues? You know, that don’t point to me?”

Daniel took my hand and drew me closer to him, smoothing back my wet hair with his free hand.

“Kira,” he said. “You’re not going to like this.”

“What?”

“I was near the school when the murder happened,” he said softly. “I heard the glass break and the body fall. But by the time I got there, the killer was gone. He must have heard me coming—that’s why he didn’t finish feeding. Tex’s corpse was lying there bleeding and abandoned. But I could smell the fresh blood…enough to follow the vampire’s trail.”

“You followed him?” I asked, tilting my head to look into his eyes.

“I followed the trail,” Daniel said, “all the way back to your house.”

“
T
hat’s impossible,” I said. I tried to pull away from him, but he held my hand firmly.

“It’s not,” he said. “That’s why I suspected you. You seemed like the most likely option.”

“Well, I
am
the most likely option,” I admitted, “but it wasn’t me, so it can’t have been anyone else in my family, either.”

“Are you sure?” he said. “Do you know them so well? Couldn’t one of them be hiding a secret?”

“Why would they do that?” I said. “Why would any of them? Zach and Bert were out of town on a blood run, Crystal would never hurt anyone, and my parents are way too smart to leave their evidence lying around. It’s totally impossible.”

“Give them another look,” Daniel said intently.
“See if you can find anything. I want to help you, Kira. I want to go back to my family and tell them that they don’t have to worry about this. I want to keep you safe.”

It seemed like lots of boys were offering to keep me safe tonight, all while making my life way too complicated and difficult.

I sat down on the marble floor and put my head in my hands. Daniel knelt beside me and rubbed my back gently.

Don’t cry
, I ordered myself fiercely.
You’ve had enough crying for one night. For one immortal lifetime, in fact
.

“It’ll be all right,” Daniel said.

“Easy for you to say,” I said. “Are you
sure
it wasn’t you?”

“If you’d like to meet my sisters, you can hear my alibi,” he said.

I shivered again. “No thanks.” I sighed and slid down until I could rest my head in his lap. “I’ve had kind of a rough night.”

He took one of my hands. “Tell me about it.”

I wanted to. But I didn’t tell him anything about Milo. I told him about Rowan instead,
how I’d thought he was the vampire and then found out instead that he was the guy who killed me.

“Good Lord,” Daniel said, running his fingers through my hair. “I can see how that would be a little traumatizing.”

I closed my eyes. I liked the feeling of his strong, elegant hands. This was what I had wanted—a dashing, handsome vampire to date. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Milo. I’d been so comfortable with him. I’d wanted him to know me, and now I knew that would never be possible.

“What about that swimmer?” Daniel asked, almost as if he’d read my mind, but I knew he couldn’t do that or he’d have stopped suspecting me long ago. “The one I’ve seen you with a few times. Are you…dating him?”

“No,” I said, with a stab of sadness. “I was investigating him, too. But it turns out he’s got nothing to do with any of this.” Well, at least in the not-being-a-murderer sense. “Wait—were you the one watching us at the pool?”

Daniel nodded. “I thought—I was afraid that
you might be planning to bite him, too.”

“If I weren’t so tired, I would smack you,” I said, poking his knee. “I am not that kind of girl, okay? Evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.”

“All right, all right,” Daniel said with a small laugh. “Anyway, I’m glad. That you’re not dating him, I mean.”

I didn’t say anything. I closed my eyes again, and despite the fact that it was the middle of the night, I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

The next thing I knew, Daniel was shaking my shoulder. “Kira, wake up,” he whispered. “We should get out of the cemetery before the sun’s up.”

I sat up groggily. I felt clammy and chilled, and my damp clothes still clung to me. I was sure my hair had dried in some outrageously silly way while I’d slept.

“Oh, this is glamorous,” I said, flattening my hair. “I’m sorry I fell asleep.”

“It’s all right,” Daniel said. He stood up and helped me to my feet. “I didn’t mind.” He put his arms around my waist and looked into my
eyes. “Everything will be okay, Kira. Maybe I should come over after school, and we can finally solve this.”

“No,” I said. “I mean—give me a little time. I need to do this myself.” I wasn’t sure what “this” was, though. Accuse my family members? Invade their privacy to search for clues? Where would I even begin?

I started out of the crypt, but Daniel caught my hand and pulled me back. He kissed me, long and seriously. I’ll admit, it made me feel better.

“You see?” he said as he let me go. “I wasn’t messing with you. That part was real.”

“See you at school,” I said, returning his smile as I ducked out the door.

The storm had passed, and the air was really cold and bright and sharp. The sky was lightening slowly from blue to pale orange. Wet grass soaked my sneakers and the hem of my jeans as I ran through the cemetery and swung out the gates toward home.

Was it true? Was it someone in my house? I didn’t know what to think about that. If so,
it was bad enough that he or she had killed Tex, but then to let me take the blame? Without saying a word to defend me? I couldn’t believe any of them would do that.

When I came in the back door, Crystal and Bert were at the kitchen counter. Only instead of sitting next to each other and cuddling like they usually do, they were sitting on opposite sides. Crystal was eating her blood-and-cheese omelet in pointed, cranky silence. Bert had his nose buried in the paper and didn’t seem to notice.

“Hey, Bert,” I said, kicking off my shoes. I hoped neither of them could hear the tension in my voice. “Where did you guys go to get the blood last week? It tastes marginally less gross than usual.”

“Lexington,” Bert said curtly. He didn’t look up from the paper. “It was a long drive.”

“Yeah?” I said. “Good thing you had Zach for company.”

“He’s a strong guy,” Bert said. “Very helpful.”

“You saw them leave?” I asked Crystal. I
opened the fridge and poured myself a glass of blood, trying to behave like this was any ordinary morning.

“I sure did,” Crystal said. She stared at Bert the whole time she talked, waiting for a reaction, but he still didn’t look up. “Bert kissed me goodbye, and I went out on the porch to wave to him and Zach as they pulled out. Then when they got back I helped them carry it in. And then Bert gave me a back rub before we went to bed. That was back when he still loved me, though.”

I glanced at Bert. He didn’t respond.

“What?” I said. “When he still—”

Crystal burst into tears and ran out of the room.

Bert finally looked up, blinking slowly, with a bewildered expression. “Where did she go?” he asked.

“Seriously?” I said. “Did you just miss all that?”

“Our stocks are trending down,” he said, frowning at the paper again. “I’d better go take care of it.” He got up and wandered blankly out of the kitchen.

So…
that
was weird.

I saw Olympia in the den as I was heading up the stairs to shower. “Hey,” I said, leaning over the banister. “Can I ask you something?”

“Certainly, dear,” she said, putting down her book.

“Where were you and Wilhelm last Tuesday night? While I was out walking around, I mean?”

“Let me see,” Olympia said, tapping her chin. “I did some work on our finances, and then we watched a movie, and then he turned into a bat and flew around the yard catching insects for a while, and then we had dinner, and then you came home and I drove you to school. I think that’s it.”

“Where was Crystal?” I asked.

“She went for a bike ride,” Olympia said thoughtfully, “and then I think she lay out on the back roof for a while, getting some moonlight. Oh, and I’m pretty sure she did some online shopping. Packages keep arriving full of clothes that
I
certainly would never order.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “That Crystal. With all the shopping. Hoo, boy.” No need to admit that
most of that was mine. I didn’t want to add
compulsive shopper
next to
murderer
on Olympia’s list of my crimes and misdemeanors.

I couldn’t tell if Olympia was lying about any of that. In my house everyone minds their own business, for the most part. It would be fairly easy to sneak off, throw a football player out a window, drink his blood, and sneak home again, all without anyone noticing you were gone. Wilhelm could have done it while Olympia thought he was flapping around in bat form. Crystal could have done it while she was out on her bike ride. It could have been any of them.

Zach appeared from his room as I got to the top of the stairs.

“You look terrible,” he said, raising his eyebrows.

“Good morning to you, too,” I said. “Hey, Zach, where did you and Bert go to get the blood last week?”

“Lexington,” he said. “Man, it was really far.”

So, no differing stories there. Very unhelpful. “You didn’t, like, get back early and just drive
around town for a while or anything, huh?”

Zach looked at me funny. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” I said, rubbing my face. “I’m going to shower.”

I did not want to go to school. I did not want to face Milo or Rowan, and I didn’t want to think about math, and I certainly did not want to take a history test. But I had to do all of that because even though I’m a vampire, I still have to graduate from high school. Which I think is wicked lame, but do I have a choice? No.

This was not a day for hot miniskirts. It was a day for my most comfortable jeans and a long-sleeved hunter green top with a black T-shirt on top of it, plus a dark green hoodie. I put the hood up and rested my head on the kitchen island while everyone else finished their mega-gross breakfasts (which for most of them is really dinner, before they head off to sleep away the day).

Zach did that horrible lip-smacking thing he does whenever he finishes one of his “energy shakes.” “What’s the matter with you?” he said, lifting my hood and peering at me. “Solve Tex’s murder yet?”

Olympia turned around from the stove to watch me with her big, dark eyes. I shrugged. “I’m working on it.”

“Don’t you have to solve it by tomorrow?” Zach said, enjoying himself immensely. “Or else admit you did it, right? Hey, Olympia, you got that padded coffin ready?”

“Did you see Tex last Tuesday?” I asked Zach, resting my head on my arm.

“Yeah, in school,” Zach said with a shrug. “We walked out together. Remember, Olympia, you saw him when you picked me up. He came over and said hi.”

“Was that him?” Olympia said. “All teenage boys look alike to me. Come on, it’s time to go.”

I picked up my book bag and followed her out to the car. Cars had mirrors. What if I was all wrong about the locker-room-mirror theory? What if Tex had noticed that Olympia had no reflection in one of the rearview mirrors? Would she have taken drastic measures to protect us? I didn’t think she was like that…but how well did I know her, after all?

The one piece of good news about the day was that Rowan wasn’t at school. I couldn’t
ask anyone where he was, because he had no friends. Most people probably didn’t even notice that he wasn’t there. But he’d had a tough night, too—with any luck, he wouldn’t be coming back to school for a long time.

Milo, on the other hand, was waiting for me on the front steps. I ducked out of sight and went in through a side entrance instead. What could I say to him?
It’s not you, it’s your life mission to kill my kind? I’m just not that into your trunk full of stakes?

I hid in the library during lunch, but I still had to go to Art class, and there was no avoiding him there. He jumped up when he saw me. The expression on his face made me want to cry. He looked so happy to see me.

I slid reluctantly onto the stool beside him.

“Hey,” he said, sitting down again. “How are you? Are you okay? I tried to call you last night, but your mom said you were still out—in the storm and everything—I was worried.”

“I’m okay,” I said, pulling out my sketch pad. “I just needed to think.”

“About me?” he said anxiously. “Did I do something wrong?”

“It’s been a weird week,” I said. Yeah. Wild understatement. “You know, starting with the murder and all…I guess I was sort of spooked by the whole ‘vampire hunter’ thing.” I dropped my voice to a whisper at the end. And “spooked” didn’t actually begin to cover it.

Milo rubbed his temples, looking heartsick. “I shouldn’t have told you. I should have waited.”

“No, I’m glad you did,” I said. Really,
really
glad, considering I had been about to show him my fangs and all. “You kind of had to. Don’t feel bad. But Milo—”

“Oh, no,” he said.

“Well, remember I was going to talk to you about something, too?” I had to do this. Hard and fast, like ripping off a Band-Aid.

He nodded. I took a deep breath.

“There’s someone else,” I said.

Milo looked stricken. “There is? But I thought we—”

“I know,” I said. “I’m sorry. I really like you. But I have a boyfriend now, and I wanted to be honest with you. It just worked out that way.” I didn’t think Daniel would mind this
characterization of him, not that he’d be getting a full description of this conversation or anything. I turned back to my sketch pad and drew for a moment while Milo sat there in stunned silence. I wanted to be nicer. I wanted to give him a hug and tell him how much I wanted to be with him, but obviously I couldn’t do any of that.

I looked at him sideways. “I am really sorry.”

“No, that’s—that’s okay,” he said in a subdued voice. “We can still be friends, right?”

I smiled awkwardly. “I hope so.”
This feeling can’t be my heart breaking…vampire hearts don’t even beat, so how could they break?

It was the biggest relief when the end of the day finally came, and I managed to get away and walk home by myself without any boys at all.

I wandered through the cemetery for a while, trying to organize my thoughts. I needed new clue sheets. Ones that said
Wilhelm, Olympia
, and
Crystal
. And maybe
Bert
and
Zach
, too, although there was no doubt they’d gone out and come back with blood, so I didn’t know how else to explain that. Really, I didn’t know
how to explain any of this.

In the end I went home to drop some more casual, inquisitive questions on them. When I came in, Zach was, as usual, in the process of eating just about everything in our kitchen. He had made himself a giant bowl of nachos, mixing blood in with the salsa.