Sire (18 page)

She wanted him all for herself.

Chapter Eleven

Alexis was sitting on the couch with Evan when Caitlin got home.

"Hey guys," Caitlin said, "anything good on?"

Evan looked over at her, his face scrunched up. "You ever heard of
The Gilmore Girls?
"

"Oh my God, I love that show!" Caitlin said.

"Finally, someone with taste." Alexis had been trying to expand Evan's horizons, but he seemed way more interested in Monday Night Football than anything like
characters
or
plot.
Oh well, at least he didn't want to watch wrestling or anything.

"How do you watch this?" Evan asked. "They never stop talking.
Ever.
It's exhausting."

"It's fantastic," Alexis said. "People should take notes when they watch this show, and learn how to write proper dialog."

Evan shook his head. "I would never watch television again."

Philistine. "So how are you, babe?" Alexis asked.

Caitlin raised her eyebrows. "I'm good. Just a little ... overwhelmed?"

"Why?"

"Michael showed me some of his drawings." Great, she'd been spending more time with the fanger. Which Alexis kind of expected, but still. "They were very ... artistic."

"Wait, you mean," Alexis grabbed her chest, "
artistic?
"

"Yeah," Caitlin said.

"Did you pose for him?" Alexis asked. She meant it as a joke, but Caitlin's face turned bright red. "Wait,
did
you pose for him? Did you get naked for a vampire?"

"No!" Caitlin said. "Well, yes. He drew me. But no! I wasn't naked. I had all of my clothes on. Mostly."

"Should I go somewhere ..." Evan said, but the girls ignored him.

"Wait wait wait," Alexis said. "Now look, normally I'm all for a little extra-curricular nudity, but are you sure that's safe? I mean, how do you know he isn't going to eat you? And not in a good way?"

Caitlin blushed again. "He's not like that. He doesn't drink human blood."

"He's a vegetarian?" Evan interjected.

"
Thank
you," Caitlin said. "At least someone gets that. And yeah, he's strictly an animal-blood guy."

"Really," Evan said, leaning forward. "That's interesting. How does that work? Does it taste the same? Is it as nutritious?"

"Seriously?" Alexis asked.

"I ... didn't exactly think to ask him about how tasty it is. But no, it's not as nutritious. He says there's a lot of things he can't do, because he isn't drinking human blood."

"Like what?" Evan asked.

"Get it up?" Alexis shot in.

Caitlin shot her a dirty look. "Well, he can't compel me, like Liam did."

"That's something," Alexis muttered.

"And he's not as strong. That's one of the reasons Liam is so much tougher than Michael. And he doesn't heal as fast." She thought for a moment. "Actually, I don't think he heals at all, until the next time he feeds. That's how it looked when I saw him fight, anyway."

Evan sat back and stared off into the distance, his mind churning over all this new information.

"Oh, and I picked this up for you," Caitlin said, and handed him the book of spells.

"Oh, great, thank you," Evan said.

"Did you get him a wizard's hat, too?" Alexis asked.

"You're on your own for that," Caitlin said. "And I have a ton of studying to do, so I'll talk to you guys later."

"Later, babe," Alexis said.

"Thanks again," Evan said.

Caitlin disappeared into her room, and Evan started flipping through the book.
 

God, everything was so messed up. Sure, the whole vampire thing is a big turn on—in the movies. But in real life? Alexis was having a hard time believing that Caitlin was so ... dumb. That she'd trust a vampire—a freaking
vampire
—with her safety. She better not get knocked up with some mutant vampire spawn.

And then there was Evan, who was probably the only guy on campus that wouldn't use being on the football team to get laid. That boy would die a virgin if he lived in a whore house. Alexis was almost done trying. Almost.

"So," Alexis asked, "is it true that you have to do magic naked?"

"Huh?"

"Magic. Naked. It's supposed to be a thing. Sky-clad or some crap."

"Um ... I don't know. Honestly I kind of doubt it. That's a Wiccan thing, and Wicca wasn't founded until the fifties. Some guy in England. I'm pretty sure that was just a scam to get girls out of their clothes."

"Huh. Founding a religion seems like an awfully long way to go to see some boobs. Hasn't he ever heard of buying a girl a shot?"

Evan was still looking through the book. "I guess not."

"So," Alexis said, moving a little closer. "Wanna practice some magic?"

"Say again?"

"Practice some magic. You know, go out in the woods, take off our clothes, maybe play with your magic wand?"

Evan turned to a different page. "Yeah, that sounds great," he said without looking up.

"Okay, that's it," Alexis said, and snatched the book out of his hands. "What's up with you?"

Evan was staring at her, open mouthed. He tried to grab the book, but Alexis hid it behind her back. "Um," Evan said, "I just found out that vampires are real, and that one of them kinda wants to kill everyone on this floor, and I was just handed a book of spells that are apparently also real, and one of them might just save our lives?"

"Great, fantastic. Doesn't that make you want to celebrate life or enjoy your few remaining days or something?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how you blow off every double entendre, innuendo laced comment, and open invitation I give you." Evan started to stutter out a reply, but Alexis kept on going. "We're young, we're attractive, it
seems
like we're attracted to each other, since we seem to spend damn near every waking moment together, and I've given you everything short of a written invitation and an illustrated instruction manual." She pointed to the row of closed doors at the back of the suite. "Bethany and Garret are going at it like rabbits, Michael is probably poking Caitlin with his fangs—

"He doesn't drink human blood," Evan said.

"—and Olivia is probably sleeping with the entire football team. Meanwhile, the only action
I'm
getting is battery-powered! So what's the deal? Did I do something wrong? Did I trip and fall into the friend zone somehow? Are my boobs too small?"

Evan was staring at her with wide eyes. He took a deep breath and let it out. "Whoa. Okay." He ran his hand through his hair, and sighed again. "So, first, no, your boobs are fine. And, no, you aren't stuck in the friend zone.

"I ... I like you, Alexis. I like you a lot. But we've only known each other for a few days." Alexis started to interrupt, but Evan stopped her. "No, let me get this out. We've known each other a few days, and I'm glad that Garret and Bethany are having fun, and Caitlin is ... I don't even know, she's pretty much living what's been every girl's dream for the last couple of years, but I ... I'm just not like that."

"What, you're a good little Catholic boy?"

"Well, yeah, actually."

"Oh Jesus. So what, you're saving yourself for marriage or something?"

Evan laughed. "No, I'm saving myself for when I'm sure it'll mean something. And besides, I don't want to pressure you into anything."

"Wait, what?
You're
worried about pressuring
me?
Are you kidding?"

"Hey, you know how guys can be. Especially college guys. They're just in it for the chase. They make all kinds of promises, and then they dump you the next morning."

Alexis cocked her head to the side. "Evan, did some boy break your heart?"

"Very funny. And no, no one broke my heart. But I don't want to break yours, either. Is that so hard to believe? Is it so bad to want to be one of the good guys? I mean, I'd love to ... practice magic with you, but more than that, I want to do right by you."

Alexis just looked at him for a bit. "Really? You're just worried about hurting me?" Evan nodded. "And if you weren't worried about hurting me, you'd be into it?" He nodded again. "And if I told you that I was into it too, and promised that you wouldn't be stealing my virtue or taking advantage of my naïveté ...?"

"I think we could come to some kind of ... mutually satisfying arrangement."

Alexis clambered into his lap and grabbed the front of his shirt. "Mutually satisfying? I like the sound of that."

She leaned in. Evan hesitated, and then kissed her. He was shy at first, like he still wasn't sure that he was supposed to be doing this. So Alexis kissed him in a way that wasn't going to leave any doubt in his mind.

"So, good little Catholic boy, huh?" she asked.

"Confirmed and everything."

"I am going to corrupt the hell out of you." Alexis hopped out of his lap and grabbed him by the hand. "Do they even have thongs in Iowa?"

"I'm not entirely sure."

"Boy, are you in for a surprise." She dragged him out of the living room. Evan wrapped his arms around her, and they bumped into the wall. Still kissing, they shimmied sideways until they found the door, and stumbled into her room. Alexis kicked the door closed.

***

Caitlin sat down and started rummaging through her book bag. She had a ton of work to do, but none of it seemed important. Or at least not interesting enough to bother with. She still had butterflies in her stomach and fog in her brain.

She could still feel Michael's eyes on her, lingering over her, studying her. Her skin flushed at the thought, and her stomach rolled.

Something banged in the hallway, and Caitlin jumped. But she heard Alexis' laugh immediately after, and relaxed.

There was another thump on the wall between Alexis' room and Caitlin's, and then something crashed to the floor. Then more laughter. She heard both Alexis' and Evan's voices.

Caitlin smiled and reached for her iPod.

***

Watching a horror movie, what with everything they'd been through in the last couple of days, seemed like a really stupid idea.

At least Caitlin thought so. Evan and Garret seemed to think it was a great idea, especially when their RA, Jess, told them that she was buying pizza. Bethany was guaranteed to show up wherever Garret was, so she voted yes, too. And Alexis said that they should at least show up to her events; Jess had been assigned to their dorm at the last minute, when the real RA didn't show up for the semester, and Jess was in just a little bit over her head. So...

They all wandered down to the common lounge. The pizzas were already there, five of them, and one of the other students, a guy named Raj, had made curry, which smelled delicious. Caitlin grudgingly admitted that good food might just be a fair trade for a dumb movie. The only other guy there, Caitlin wasn't sure what his name was, had brought a six pack of beer, but Jessica made him take it back to his room.

And honestly? The movie wasn't all that bad. It was scary, but ... kind of empowering, too. Like, she was watching people get cut into pieces, but at the same time, she knew that the heroine was going to make it, and that the bad guy was going to get what was coming to him. That kind of clarity was a nice change.

Jess threw some popcorn in the microwave and sat down. On the screen, a big-breasted sorority chick was talking to someone who was obviously a serial killer.

Then the lights went out.

Not on the screen, in the lounge.

A chill ran up Caitlin's spine, and every muscle in her body tensed up. She felt Alexis go still next to her. Evan's shoulders drew back, and he looked around the room with narrow eyes. Garret came half way out of his chair. The only light in the room was the little bit that managed to come through the window blinds.

"God," Jess said. "For the money we pay to go here, you'd think they could at least keep the lights on." She picked up a phone off one of the end tables. "How sad is it that I know maintenance's number by heart?" She squinted, then mashed the hang-up button a few times. "Huh. Phone's dead, too."

Caitlin's lip started to tremble, and they all looked at each other nervously. Everyone that knew there was a good reason to
be
nervous anyway. Raj and whatever-his-name-was just looked annoyed.

"You guys hang tight," Jess said. "I'm going to see if my phone is working. If not," she sighed, like she was being martyred, "I'll go talk to the facilities people myself. God, I don't want to walk all the way across campus."

"Why don't you use my cell phone," Evan said, but Jess was already gone. The door slammed shut behind her.

"Open the curtains," Alexis said.

Evan got off the couch and started toward the window, his hand reaching for the cord.

"Wait," Caitlin said. "What if there's something out there?"

Evan's hand fell back to his side, and he stared at the window, uncertain.

"Oh, come on," Raj said. "I thought you were some big football hero. You can't tell me you're honestly scared of some dumb movie?"

He grabbed the cord and yanked. "No—" Caitlin started, but the blinds flew open, revealing ...

Nothing, except the street lights outside, and a few raindrops. "Really, you guys need to calm down," Raj said. He grabbed a Styrofoam bowl and ladled some curry into it. "Come on."

They heard footsteps coming down the hall, and everyone's head—everyone except Raj, of course—turned toward the door. It was frosted glass, and they couldn't quite see what was on the other side. Evan walked around the couch, standing between his friends and the door. Alexis put a hand on his arm.

The handle rattled, but the door didn't open. Evan tensed visibly, and Alexis' knuckles turned white. Caitlin was surprised she wasn't drawing blood, she was squeezing his arm so hard.

Someone pounded on the door, and they all jumped. Raj snorted, and ate more curry. Then the handle rattled one more time ...

The door swung open, and Jess stalked back into the room. "Power's out in the whole building. I called maintenance on my cell, they said the microwave probably blew a fuse, and they should have it back on in a minute or two." She fiddled with the door handle. "I should have them replace this thing, too. Stupid thing always sticks."