Vampire Beach: Legacy (16 page)

‘No.’ Dani’s lower lip began to tremble and she swatted at a tear in her eye.

‘Are you crying?’ he asked, concerned.

‘No,’ she said again. She stuck a spoonful of Dulce de Leche in her mouth.

‘Yes you are,’ Jason told her. ‘Is it Ryan?’

‘No.’

‘Can you say anything but no?’ Jason teased gently.

She dropped the ice-cream carton onto the counter and turned to face him. ‘It’s not Ryan, it’s his parents. They suck.’

Ah, the vampire parents make their appearance
, Jason thought.
I knew it was only a matter of time.
‘They told Ryan he couldn’t date a non-vampire,’ he said aloud.

‘Yeah,’ Dani sniffled. ‘It’s so unfair! I’m not going to spill their secret.’

‘I know. But they don’t like human–vampire relationships,’ Jason told her.

Dani narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Wait a minute,’ she said. ‘Is that why you and Sienna—’ Her cell rang, singing out the theme from
Grey’s Anatomy.
Dani grabbed it and hit
TALK
. ‘Ryan? Oh, hey, Belle. It’s true. He told me at lunch today.’

She covered the phone with her hand and glanced at Jason. ‘Can you put the ice cream away for me?’

He nodded.
Belle has an even bigger project to keep her mind off Dom, now
, he thought as his sister headed out to the pool, detailing her conversation with Ryan.
A broken-hearted Dani.

Jason grabbed the ice cream and stuck it back in the freezer. He knew it was hypocritical of him, but he was relieved that Dani and Ryan had to break up. Sure, he was thinking of becoming a vampire himself, but somehow he still didn’t like to think of Dani getting involved with one.

Thank God I made Bianca promise not to talk to Dani about the possibility of transforming
, he thought. He knew his sister was impulsive enough to do it without thinking it through, if it meant she could stay with Ryan.

Jason headed upstairs, feeling like a jerk. He wasn’t sure why he had such a double standard for Danielle dating a vampire.
Once we figure out how to do the test, I’ll talk to Dani about the transformation situation
, he thought.
I just need to get all the information first.

By the time Friday came, Jason was exhausted. The weeks he’d had to sit out of swim practice while the crossbow wound had healed had taken it out of him, and he’d been training hard lately, trying to get back to optimum speed. But he knew that wasn’t why he was so tired. It was the waiting that was getting to him. Waiting for Sienna to find time to get to the DeVere Center. Waiting to find a few stolen moments with her when they could actually talk. Waiting to find out if he could become a vampire, if he could change his life forever without dying or going insane.

He came home from school and dropped facedown onto his bed. ‘Thank God it’s the weekend,’ he muttered to himself. He was definitely sleeping late tomorrow.

The phone rang. When Jason picked it up, he was shocked to hear Sienna’s voice on the other end of the line. ‘What are you doing?’ he cried. ‘You said we couldn’t use the phone!’

‘I couldn’t help it, I just had to talk to you,’ she said in a rush. ‘I’m on a pay phone, so I think it will be OK.’

‘All right, but hurry,’ Jason said nervously.

‘I went to the lab – it was no problem,’ Sienna said. ‘The guy showed me the whole thing, how to do the test and everything. It’s really simple. It tests DNA, so we need a strand of your hair or a mouth swab or something.’

‘OK,’ Jason said. ‘That’s easy enough.’

‘Yeah, but here’s the thing,’ Sienna said. ‘We need the equipment at the lab to do the test. We need to physically be there.’

Jason thought fast. ‘They’re closed for the weekend now, right? Is everybody out of the building?’

‘Everybody leaves by eight or eight-thirty,’ Sienna replied. ‘Why?’

‘We’ll go at eleven. That should give us enough of a buffer – all the workers will be gone by then.’

‘Eleven o’clock tonight?’ Sienna sounded surprised.

‘Sienna, if I have to wait for one more day to take this test, I’m going to explode,’ Jason said.

‘OK,’ Sienna began.

‘And besides,’ Jason rushed on, ‘it’s my life we’re talking about. It’s my future. I have to know what the possibilities are. Otherwise I’m just thinking about it over and over with no way to make a decision. It’s driving me crazy.’

‘Then we’ll do it tonight,’ she agreed. ‘But Jason, you know there are guards, right? There’s a whole security system.’

‘I know,’ Jason said. ‘We’ll just have to break in!’

JASON GRABBED HIS
keys from the dresser, jogged downstairs, and headed out the door. He had to see Adam. His friend’s father was the Chief of Police, which meant that Adam had read practically every police report ever filed. Who better to plan a break-in with?

When he got outside, Jason saw Bianca just getting out of her car. ‘Hi, Aunt Bianca,’ he called, pulling open the door of the Bug.

‘Jason, wait.’ Bianca strode over to him. ‘You haven’t given me an answer yet. Are you going to undergo the transformation?’

‘I’m still thinking,’ he said truthfully.

‘What’s to think about?’ Bianca replied quickly. ‘You know what you would gain: power, prestige!’

‘I don’t care about that,’ Jason told her.

Bianca gave a wry smile. ‘I forget how young you are. Of course you don’t care about that now. But you will. Trust me,’ she replied. ‘I’m your aunt. I just want what’s best for you. I want you to have health and long life. That’s something your mother would want for you too. Anyone who loves you would.’ She put her hand on his arm. ‘Accept the gift. There’s no end to the wonderful things you can have if you become one of us.’

Jason looked at her hand. The nails were bitten to the quick, and her red nail polish was chipped. He pulled away, startled. Aunt Bianca was all about appearances. Her nails were always perfectly manicured.

‘Aunt Bee . . . are you OK?’ he asked. ‘You seem really stressed out lately.’

‘I have a lot of things on my mind,’ she replied. ‘A lot of people to deal with.’

Jason frowned. Was she saying there were bad people to deal with? Or bad vampires? Jason had no real sense of just how many vampire communities there were in the world like DeVere Heights. Were there turf wars? Political differences? Had Bianca become involved in some sort of vampire struggle she couldn’t handle?

That’s unlikely
, Jason thought.
She’s too powerful.
‘Listen, I’m still thinking about transforming. I really am,’ he assured her. ‘But I have to go now.’

Bianca stared at him, her eyes suddenly cold. She pulled her hand away. ‘Don’t think for too long!’ she snapped. ‘I’m not going to keep your secret with Sienna forever.’

‘I won’t. Just . . . just keep this between us for a little longer,’ he said. ‘Please.’

‘Maybe I should talk to Danielle,’ Bianca said, her eyes narrowing. ‘She might be more willing to make a change than you are.’

‘No!’ Jason cried. ‘Just give me another day or two. I promise I’ll give you an answer then.’

‘Fine.’ Aunt Bianca sighed, and suddenly she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. ‘You know how much I love you, don’t you? You and Dani both.’

‘Of course,’ Jason said, surprised at her sudden warmth. ‘We love you too.’

Bianca released him and turned away abruptly. ‘See you later,’ she called, walking into the house.

Jason climbed into his Bug. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to Aunt Bianca’s sudden mood changes, but he was very relieved that he’d managed to convince her not to tell Dani about the transformation. Or at least he hoped he had. The way Bianca was acting lately, he was a little worried she might just change her mind and tell Dani all about it anyway.

‘Dani,’ he murmured thoughtfully. He was going to the lab tonight. He’d find out for sure whether he could become a vampire or not. Why not find out for his sister at the same time?

Jason jumped out of the car and ran back inside. Dani was still out by the pool, on her cell. But her bag sat on the table in the hall where she always left it. He grabbed it and began rummaging around inside.

‘What on earth are you doing?’ Bianca asked, peering at him from the kitchen table.

‘Oh. I, uh, forgot to get this DVD from Dani. She said I could lend it to Adam.’ Jason turned so that his body blocked the bag, then he pulled out Dani’s hairbrush and stuck it in the inside pocket of his jacket. ‘Bye, Aunt Bee!’ he called. Then he was out the door.

‘Let me get this right. You want me to help you break into a top-secret vampire laboratory monitored by security guards and a high-tech alarm system, so that you can use outrageously expensive scientific equipment to test your own DNA,’ Adam said an hour later.

‘Is that a problem?’ Jason asked.

‘No, not at all,’ Adam replied with a grin. He jumped up and grabbed a backpack from his closet. ‘Just wanted to be sure I had it straight. So, let’s see . . . we’ll need a couple of lock-picks, probably a smoke bomb or two, in case we get caught . . .’ He rummaged around in the messy closet, pulling things from boxes and shelves. ‘Flashlights for all of us, walkie-talkies. Ooh, a taser! We better bring that—’

‘Are you insane?’ Jason began to laugh. ‘We’re not infiltrating the C.I.A.’

‘But we could, my friend, as long as we had the proper tools.’

‘Where did you get all this stuff?’ Jason asked.

‘Shh. If I told you that, I’d have to kill you.’

‘From your dad’s office, huh?’ Jason guessed.

‘I never reveal my sources,’ Adam said, stuffing his equipment into the backpack. ‘How about a dog whistle? There are probably German shepherds. In the movies, whenever you break in somewhere, there are German shepherds. Or Dobermans. Do you think they’ll have Dobermans?’

‘I told Sienna we’d meet her at eleven,’ Jason said. ‘I’ll drive.’

‘OK.’ Adam followed him toward the door. ‘Maybe they’ll have pit bulls instead. Pit bulls are trendy . . .’

When they got to the DeVere Center, Sienna’s Spider was already parked along the street outside the ivy-covered wall of the property. Jason pulled up behind her and cut the engine. He got out of the Bug as Sienna climbed out of her Spider.

‘Hey there,’ Sienna called softly.

‘Hi. I brought Adam along to help.’ Jason gestured to his friend, who was wrangling the over-stuffed backpack out of the car.

‘I didn’t bring anything to deal with the gates,’ Adam called. ‘Should I go back and get some dynamite?’

‘Just ignore him,’ Jason told her. ‘He’s a little overexcited.’

‘But look at those gates,’ Adam said. ‘They’re huge!’

Jason glanced up at the wrought-iron gates. They stood at least twelve feet tall and had sharp spikes on the top. ‘How
are
we going to get through those?’

‘Relax, spy boys,’ Sienna said. ‘We don’t need the nitro and detonators tonight. I borrowed Dad’s key card. The gates are no problem.’ She led the way over to the edge of the stone wall that surrounded the Center. ‘We have to stay out of sight of the gates until the security guy goes by. Then I’ll open them.’

‘How did you get the key card without your dad noticing?’ Jason asked in a whisper.

‘Same way I always used to "borrow" his credit cards without him noticing,’ Sienna said with a wink. ‘I’m crafty.’

‘How often does the security dude go by?’ Adam asked, slipping into a camouflage jacket.

‘Every ten minutes. I’ve been watching him,’ Sienna replied. ‘We have to stay far away – he’s got a dog with him.’

‘I told you!’ Adam said, nudging Jason.

‘
Shh!
Here he comes,’ Sienna said. They all fell silent as the guard slowly walked up to the gates, his boots crunching on the gravel of the driveway. He came straight up to the gates and peered through the iron bars onto the street.

Did we park far enough away
? Jason wondered, suddenly paranoid. Their cars were to the side of the gates, so hopefully the guard couldn’t see them from where he stood. His dog gave a soft whine, and he said something to it. Then they heard him crunch away again. None of them spoke for a minute or two.

‘I think he’s far enough away now,’ Sienna whispered. ‘Let’s go.’ She pulled the key card from the pocket of her jeans and held it up to the electronic pad mounted on the stone wall. Her eyes met Jason’s. ‘Ready?’

He nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’

Sienna swiped the card through the slot. The gates gave a loud
clang
and began to swing outward.

‘That was loud,’ Adam whispered.

‘It only seemed loud to us,’ Jason assured him, hoping he was right.

Sienna led the way past the gates as soon as they had opened wide enough to squeeze through. On the other side was another electronic pad, and she swiped the card again. The gates halted, then began to swing closed. ‘No reason to let them open all the way,’ she whispered. ‘Someone might notice that.’

Jason nodded. ‘Where do we go now?’

Sienna pointed across a wide lawn. A two-story building loomed on the other side. Jason couldn’t tell how big the place was: all the windows were dark, and there was no real light but the moon.

‘There’s a door near those bottlebrush trees. You see it?’ Sienna asked.

Jason squinted into the darkness. He thought he could make out a faint blue light near the black blobs of the trees.

‘Is that a light over it?’ Adam asked. ‘A safety light or something?’

Sienna nodded. ‘Yes. It’s the closest entrance. We need to get in before the security guy comes around again.’

‘Come on,’ Jason said. He took off running for the blue light, moving as quietly as he could. The others followed. As he got closer, Jason could see that the blue light was just a dim bulb next to a plain door. No windows, no signs – just a door with a tiny nightlight illuminating the keypad next to it.

‘This is a back door,’ Sienna said breathlessly. She swiped her key card. ‘It has double security. I need to enter a code as well.’

‘Do you know the code?’ Jason asked.