Revealers (6 page)

I stare at the snake’s head, my heart pounding wildly. “What else did it say?”

“Not much, just something like it was—uh, well, demon in origin, and—”

“Well, that’s not a huge surprise,” I say bitterly, “seeing as we got it off a demon! We had to cut its finger off to get the ring, you know.”

I wince thinking about the sound of Margo’s knife sawing through the bone-—the blackish-blue demon blood sizzling on the pavement. I remember Dani saying she saw the ring move, but we all thought she was crazy.

I guess I owe her an apology.

I touch the ring and when it doesn’t move, try to pull it off. It hisses and I let it go, not wanting it to strangle my finger again.

“It’s stuck and when I try to pull it off, it just hangs on tighter!” I throw my head back onto the back of the couch feeling exhausted. “For future reference, Connor, jewelry forged in hell is not on my top ten list of gifts I’m hoping for.” I take a deep breath and will my heartbeats to return to normal.

“I’m so, so sorry, Jules, I didn’t think it mattered where it’d come from, and I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t ask.” He closes his eyes and sighs. “I guess I didn’t think beyond the fact that this would let you know I was telling you the truth. So you’d know I was really sorry. That I do love you.”

The Ouroboros’s eyes glow stronger, and its mouth moves, releasing a bit of the tail and loosening its tight grasp.

“Look at that! See,” he says, pointing at the ring.

I hold my hand in front of my face and shake my head. “Oh, well, I guess this makes wearing a demonic ring okay then. Who cares that the snake came to life and swallowed its tail to magically attach itself to my hand, and the only way to remove it may be by hacking it off? I’m sure Margo is just itching to try amputating another finger.”

“This isn’t exactly going the way I’d planned.”

“You think?”

“Jules, look at me.” Connor gently places his hand on my face and turns it toward him. His touch sends a jolt of electricity coursing down my spine. “I got scared after talking to my mom—

really scared—and I was a complete jerk for not telling you right away, but I really am sorry.”

The snake’s eyes pulse with red light, and despite the fact that my heart is still beating a mile a minute, I can’t help but feel relieved.

“I guess there’s probably some spell to get rings off,” I say. “I can go through some of my mom’s books.” I look at Connor. “So what all did your mother say to you?” I ask, leaning my shoulder into his. “The girls need to wait until the right time—it’s all got to be coordinated—we can’t have any unexpected pregnancies, blah, blah, blah.”

“Yeah,” he says, “the same old stuff, but she was harping on and on about the coven’s mission, and how fooling around with you could mess that up and stuff.”

The snake’s eyes pulse. “Well, that’s nothing to get all freaked out about—we’ve been fed that line forever, right?”

Connor doesn’t say anything, and we sit in silence. The candle in the center pumpkin starts to sputter and burns out. I watch a thin trail of smoke leak out of the heart. I point my hand toward the hole. “Relight. ” A new wick appears and bursts into a tall flame that licks the top of the pumpkin. I smell the burning flesh and whisper, “Lower.” The flame settles down to a tiny flicker and I look up at Connor. “Did she say anything else?”

“She was just really freaked out that you aren’t taking things as seriously as you should,” he finally says, “and she said dating would only make things worse.”

“Why did she single me out? What about Dani? What about Sascha? It’s not like they’re all gung-ho like Margo and Z.”

“I wasn’t fooling around with Dani or Sascha, I was with you. Look, bottom line is my mom takes this way seriously.”

“Ha, tell me about it!”

“And, in a way, she’s right.”

“What?” I sit up, eyebrows raised.

“It’s just that people need you, and what you do. Just think of what the world would be like if you weren’t—”

“What? Slicing and dicing nightmares? God, you sound like a greeting card—or one of our mothers!”

“Come on, Jules, don’t you feel a little bit, you know, proud of what you do?”

“I don’t know—maybe. But I’m beginning to wonder if your mother cast a spell to brainwash you into buying into the coven crap.”

Connor pulls me close and buries his face into my neck leaving a trail of kisses until he reaches my mouth. He lingers there, and I kiss him back until he pulls away. “Would I be doing this if I was buying into it all?” he whispers.

“No.” I smile and kiss him again. “But where does this leave us—sneaking around?” I stand up and walk to the pumpkins. I want him to tell me he got scared, but now he’s ready to fight—but I know that’s not how this is going down. He wouldn’t have brought the ring if he were ready to battle. This ring is to placate me for the time being.

“Just for a little while. Until everything settles down— until my mom cools off. Don’t you think it’s better than the alternative?”

“I guess,” I lie, wanting him to stand up to his mother for me. I wave my hand in front of the pumpkins. “Out,” I say, and the candles extinguish at the same time. I turn toward the table and point to the small candle on the table. “You, too.” A small puff of air blows by, snuffing out the candle. I stand there in the dark, my back to Connor, breathing in the smoke. What do I do?

Concede things aren’t easy to change? Now isn’t the right time to change the way the coven’s been doing things the last couple of hundred years?

But if we continue—what’s to keep his mom, or my mom for that matter, from finding out?

I’m sure Helena’s put my mom on alert.

“Are you willing to risk pissing off your mom to be with me?” I hold my right hand out and wait.

“We just need to be smart about this, plan things out. Like tonight she’ll be too wrapped up in Margo’s initiation to worry about me. And as long as you’re pretending to be the coven’s number one hunter, she won’t be worrying about you, either.”

“What if I don’t want to pretend? What if I want us to be together where everyone will see us?”

Connor comes up behind me, brushes my hair aside, and kisses the nape of my neck. He presses his hips into me, and my heart quickens. “It’s just for a little while, Jules, and after your birthday you’ll have more say about how things are run.” He wraps his arms around me, pulling me close, and then slides one hand under my shirt. His cool hand runs across my stomach, and then skims down just under my waistband, making my knees weak. “I promise we will find a way to work this out.”

The red eyes glow bright and steady in the dark, and I exhale. “Okay, we’ll play it your way—for a little while, but only because I don’t think I can stand being away from you again.

Promise me you’ll come to me next time. Promise me you won’t leave me hanging like that.”

I face Connor, his features muted in the dark.

“I promise,” he says, leaning in to kiss me.

I hold my right hand up behind him and watch the red eyes glow, and then I close my own eyes and let myself go.

I lift my head up at the sound of “Danse Macabre.” Dani and I thought it would be a funny ring tone, but right now it’s a definite mood killer. “Oh, shit, I better get that,” I say, pushing off of Connor.

Breathless, I fish my phone out of my cape pocket. I look at the caller ID and just about die.

“It’s your mother!” I grab my shirt from the table and pull it over my head before I answer.

“Hi, Mrs. Keyes,” I say, trying very hard to make my voice sound normal. “Vamp? Okay.

The meeting is for eleven thirty— yeah, I can be there before then. Do you need me to call anyone? Do they have binders? Okay, I’ll head right over!”

I click the phone off. “Well, here’s my chance to be the best darn slayer this coven has ever seen. Did you hear me asking about binders? Did I sound enthusiastic enough?” I raise my hands to the witch balls. “Light.”

Connor sits up on the couch and brushes his hair out of his eyes. “Did I say you should be the coven’s number one hunter?” He reaches out and pulls me down on top of him. “I changed my mind!”

I giggle as he starts tugging my shirt up. “Hey, out-slaying Margo and Z was your brilliant plan.” I give him a quick kiss, and then get up and look around on the floor for my bra.

“Fine,” he says, sitting up. “But who knows when we’ll be able to sneak away again?”

“That’s no longer my concern, because until this particular member of the undead tastes the pointed wrath of the Revealers, I have no time for earthly pleasures!” I pull my arms out of my shirt and slide my bra on.

Connor laughs. “Yeah, better take that act down a notch, or they’ll know something’s up for sure. But since it’s a vamp, I’m off the hook for tonight.” He buttons his shirt and sighs.

“Although, if I had to be on cleanup crew I could at least steal another good-night kiss. I guess I’ll have to steal one now.”

He grabs me and kisses me hard. “And let me help you with this.” He hooks the back of my bra while nibbling on the base of my neck. I run my hands across his bare shoulders, and I’m tempted to blow off the whole hunt, but then I think about impressing his mom.

“Enough!” I say, and push him away. “I have evil to vanquish!” I laugh as I stick my arms back through my sleeves, and grab my cape off the arm of the sofa.

Connor raises his eyebrows and shakes his head.

“Yeah, I know—bring it down a notch.”

Connor runs his hands through his hair again and then adjusts his pants. “I guess I’ll go home and take a cold shower. If I’m lucky I can get in bed before my mom gets home.”

I look at the disheveled couch cushions, the candle stub on the table, and the pumpkins—

hating what I’m about to say. “Hey, I really don’t like the thought of zapping the cute pumpkins you carved into oblivion with a spell. Do you think you could maybe clean up a little so my mom doesn’t know we were out here? I’d do it, but the new me shouldn’t be the last one to arrive.”

“Sure, cleanup crew is my middle name.”

He smiles, but I can’t help feeling guilty. “Forget it, I’ll do it when I get back—I’ll have time to go out in the morning before she gets to work—she always sleeps in.”

Connor walks over and kisses me. “I’m just yanking your chain. I don’t mind, and the less evidence we leave behind, the better. Now get going!” He slaps me on the ass and I head out.

I take my broom and run over to the mudroom door by the kitchen. Nuisance comes trotting out, and I quickly rub the top of his head. “Gotta go, baby,” I coo, heading in. I walk over to the old chest and flip open the top. I check out a couple stakes, choose pine, and slip it in my cloak. I grab a maple one for backup, and plunge it in the air as I run back outside. “Hasta la vista, vamp.”

I slip the stake in my other pocket and mount my broom.

“I fly in darkness for the good of all, let me pass unseen till I land again.” The electric tingle of the cloaking spell rushes over me and I head up over the trees toward the high school, hoping the vamp goes down quickly so I can go back home and dream about Connor.

I land behind the baseball dugout, and wonder if I’m the first one. Dragging my broom through the dirt, I walk to the front and see Zahara, Sascha, and Dani sitting silently on the bench—a small fluorescent lightbulb crackles on and off above them.

“No Margo yet? Where is she?” I ask, pleased she’ll be the last to arrive for a change.

“I’m not sure. She was at the meetinghouse when they got the call, so she should be here soon,” Zahara says quietly.

“Well, after the crap she gave me about my mom not seeing the stupid cauldron she should—”

“Jules,” Dani interrupts, “it’s Kelsey DeFelice. That’s who we’re after tonight.”

I bite my lip, hating myself for joking about tonight’s kill with Connor earlier. I didn’t think it’d be someone I know— someone my age. We haven’t hunted anyone we knew in years, and just the thought of staking Kelsey makes my stomach turn. “I thought she’d just dropped out of school.

When did they get her?”

“Apparently she wanted to take the goth stuff to the next level and got herself turned on purpose,” Zahara says. “At least that’s what Mrs. Keyes told my mom.”

“Why would anyone do that? That’s crazy—that’s a …”

“A death wish,” Sascha says. “God, this sucks—I like Kelsey. She was one of the few girls at school who actually talked to me. She was my partner for the pig dissection in ninth grade. We named our pig Lucifer, and I did all of the cutting because, ironically, she was too grossed out.

We used to drink peppermint schnapps in the locker room showers before gym class last year.”

Sascha laughs quietly. “She always said we had to be minty-fresh and buzzed so we could deal with the jock girls and floor hockey.”

Zahara lowers her chin and shakes her head. “My mom said she’s turned a bunch of guys since she got bit. We have to do it—she’s a killing machine—like all the rest of them. And if she got herself turned she knew the risks. It’s not like vamps think they’re untouchable—they know people are out hunting them. We need to treat her like any other vampire—toast!”

“I heard it’s like crack,” Dani whispers.

“Crack?” Zahara asks. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Dani fidgets with her broom handle. “Online—there’s this, like, message board, and well, I don’t know if the people on it are really vamps or not, but from what they’re saying, getting bit is like— orgasmic.”

“Oh, my freaking God!” Zahara says. “Little Miss Innocent is trolling vamp-wannabe message boards reading about orgasms! You didn’t believe that bull, did you? Even if they were real vamps on there, they’d just be feeding people what they want to hear so they can sink their fangs in them. Crack!” she laughs. “Wait until Margo hears this.”

“I—I, uh, was just doing research,” Dani sputters. “I knew it was all made up—I was just telling you what I read. But shouldn’t we be getting ready for Kelsey?”

“Yeah, it’s almost time,” I say, trying to help Dani change the subject. I finger the tip of my stake in my pocket. “Who’s gonna bind her?”

“I’ll do it,” Sascha says. “I’ve got one in my hand already, but I don’t want to dust her.”