Vampire Beach: Legacy (4 page)

Now
this
is dancing
, Jason thought. The moment was absolutely perfect. Except for the part where his
good
friend Adam was loudly clearing his throat from ten feet away. Reluctantly, Jason pulled away from Sienna.

‘Um, sorry to interrupt, but some guys on a speedboat are taking pictures of us,’ Adam explained.

‘They’re serious about it too,’ Belle said from behind him, her voice tinged with panic. ‘They’ve got paparazzi-worthy zoom lenses.’

‘Where?’ Jason asked.

‘Right side,’ Adam answered.

Jason immediately started for the railing, Sienna on his heels.

‘Why would they want pictures of us?’ Belle asked as she and Adam followed. She sounded freaked. Way too freaked for what was actually happening. Jason figured that after Dominic’s murder, Belle scared a lot more easily.

He put a reassuring hand on her arm. ‘I’m sure it’s no big deal,’ he said, trying to sound casual. ‘They probably just saw you and Sienna and mistook you for Cameron Diaz and Angelina Jolie.’

That got a little smile from Belle.

‘I’m confused,’ Sienna said. ‘Is that them?’

Jason looked where she was pointing. All he saw was a couple of college-age guys in a speedboat, sucking down some beers. He shot a questioning look at Adam.

‘That’s them. But they got their camera stuff stowed pretty quickly,’ Adam commented. ‘Maybe they realized we caught them in the act.’

‘Ahoy, me beauties!’ one of the guys, a redhead with a scruffy goatee, shouted to Belle and Sienna as his buddy powered the boat closer. ‘Care to board us?’ Goatee and his bud laughed like that was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.

‘You’re drunk!’ Sienna yelled back.

‘Not too drunk to show you girls a good time,’ Goatee answered, getting more laughs from his friend.

‘My analysis? Obnoxious, but not dangerous,’ Sienna said, turning her back on the speedboat. ‘But let’s lose them anyway.’ She led the way to the cockpit. ‘Captain Oz, how about we make the Wally run? We want to ditch that speedboat.’

Oz grinned. ‘"I feel the need . . . the need for speed,"’ he said.

‘Finally, somebody else who talks in movie quotes,’ Adam cheered. ‘
Top Gun
, baby!’

Oz gave him a thumbs-up and hit the throttle. The yacht shot forward, sprays of white foam in its wake. The wooden floor lurched beneath their feet. Jason instinctively grabbed Sienna by the waist and Belle by the arm, steadying them.

‘No, no, don’t worry about me,’ Adam muttered – from the floor. He’d face-planted when the Wally jumped forward. ‘I can take care of myself.’ Adam used both hands to shove himself back on his feet.

‘Sorry, guy – I only have two hands and I had to make a choice,’ Jason said. ‘Not that it was a difficult one,’ he added, grinning at Sienna and Belle.

‘You were like a rock,’ Belle said. ‘You didn’t even stumble.’

‘All that time on the surf board must have paid off,’ Jason answered.

‘Your boyfriend’s useful,’ Belle told her friend. ‘I think you should keep him.’

Sienna grinned and snuggled closer to Jason, but he was distracted by the speedboat. It had managed to catch up with them and was keeping pace. Goatee and his friend waved and smiled.

‘They must have done some serious tinkering with that engine,’ Oz commented, frowning. ‘But the Wally has a CODOG propulsion system, and we’re nowhere near full power.’ He let the clutch out. ‘I’m switching to the jet engines.’

The speedboat stayed with them. Goatee raised his beer can in a toast.

Oz’s lips tightened. ‘OK. Forget tinkering, they must have replaced the engine altogether! But they don’t know what they’re up against.’ He flicked a few switches.

The speedboat kept pace for a moment, then began to fall behind.

Jason and Sienna cheered. ‘Bye, losers!’ Belle yelled, even though there was no way the guys could hear her.

Oz grinned, satisfied.

‘I’m going to grab a soda,’ Adam said, unsmiling. ‘You want one, Jason?’ He shot Jason a look that Jason easily interpreted as Adam needing to talk to him – alone.

‘Uh, sure,’ Jason said. ‘We’ll serve you,’ he told Sienna and Belle.

He and Adam headed down to the lounge, where there was a refrigerator stocked with cold drinks. ‘What’s up?’ Jason asked.

Adam pulled a Coke out of the cooler and popped the top. He absently flicked the metal tab back and forth for a moment, trying to decide what to say.

‘Come on, what’s on your mind?’ Jason prompted.

‘That speedboat was really tricked out,’ Adam said.

‘And?’

‘And it would have taken some serious, serious bucks to do it. That boat shouldn’t have been able to keep up with the Wally at all. And the scopes and cameras they were using? I know you didn’t see them, but trust me – that stuff is not exactly standard issue,’ Adam went on. ‘I think that maybe those guys weren’t just . . . guys.’

‘You mean they were . . .
rich
guys?’ Jason joked, but he felt his belly go cold. He was pretty sure he knew where Adam was headed with this.

‘I didn’t want to say anything in front of Belle, but I think there’s a possibility that those guys are hunters. Tamburo-type hunters. The last time I searched "vampire hunter" on the web, there was this billionaire who was offering a two-million-dollar reward for anyone who bagged a vampire,’ Adam said.

‘Unbelievable,’ Jason muttered.

‘It could be total bull,’ Adam replied. ‘The net is full of trash. But . . .’

‘Yeah.’ Jason leaned close to the huge windows of the lounge and peered out at the stretch of ocean behind them. ‘They’re gone for now at least.’

‘But we—’

‘Hey, Adam, are we going to watch
Heathers
or not?’ Belle called from the cockpit.

‘On my way,’ he called back. He turned to Jason. ‘Like you said, they’re gone now. We’ll just have to keep our eyes open, see if they show up again.’ Jason nodded. ‘For now, the giant plasma – and Belle – are calling my name,’ Adam said. He took off for the stateroom. Belle went with him.

Sienna joined Jason in the lounge. ‘Weren’t we in the middle of something too?’ she asked in a throaty voice.

‘I think I was in the middle of my Snickers pie,’ Jason joked.

‘Well, if you’d rather eat than dance with—’ Sienna began.

‘No,’ Jason interrupted her. ‘No, no,
no.
’ He took her hand, and they walked back out on deck, pausing by the CD player for Sienna to get their song playing again. The Wally powered on as they began to dance, the ride smooth even though they were up to almost fifty knots. Glimmering blue-green water all around them. Hot sun on their shoulders. The teakwood deck rocking gently beneath their feet.
Nothing better
, Jason decided as he wrapped his arms around Sienna’s waist, pulling her closer, her silky hair brushing against his cheek, the curves of her body warm against him.
Absolutely nothing better.
He’d be happy to stay here, in this moment, for the entire next year.

But the yacht suddenly gave a sharp turn, ruining their dance. A moment later footsteps sounded on the stairs leading below decks. ‘Did we hit an iceberg or what?’ Adam asked as he and Belle emerged on deck.

Sienna frowned, looking around. ‘We turned back toward shore.’

‘We’re heading home?’ Belle asked. ‘Adam and I barely started the movie. I thought we were staying out for a few more hours.’

‘We are. I told Oz we wanted to be on the water for the sunset,’ Sienna said. ‘I’ll go check with him.’ She headed for the cockpit. Jason tagged along to see what the deal was.

‘Hey, Captain!’ Sienna called when they reached Oz. ‘What’s going on? The sun doesn’t go down for hours.’

Oz gave an apologetic shrug. ‘Your father just radioed me. He said I had to get you back.’

‘Why?’ Sienna demanded.

‘No explanation given,’ Oz told her. ‘He just said to return to the marina immediately. And he didn’t sound happy.’

‘Great. Just great!’ Sienna fumed, her dark eyes blazing. Jason got the feeling
she
wasn’t happy, either.

‘
WHAT
’
S THE DEAL
?’ Belle asked when Sienna and Jason returned to the deck.

‘My dad ordered us back in,’ Sienna explained, her voice filled with anger.

‘Why?’ Belle exclaimed.

‘He didn’t give Oz a reason, but . . .’ Sienna glanced at Jason.

‘Oh,’ Belle said.

‘Oh?’ Jason repeated. ‘What does that mean? Am I missing something?’

Sienna looked away, biting her lip.

‘Did he know who we were out here with?’ Belle asked.

‘I just told him you and a couple of other friends,’ Sienna admitted. ‘Which he should have no problem with. Brad and I used the yacht tons of times.’

‘Oh,’ Jason said again. He got it now. The difference between him and Brad? Brad was a vampire. Jason, not so much.

‘I thought it was supposed to be the other way around,’ Adam joked. ‘I thought the
human
parents were supposed to disapprove of their kids dating the undead.’

Sienna and Belle stared at him.

‘Is "undead" not the PC term?’ Adam asked. ‘I just meant . . . vampires. They don’t even usually have parents around. Angel – no parents. Dracula – no parents. Not that they didn’t have parents at some point, but their parents have usually all been dead for . . .’ Adam shoved his hands through his shaggy sand-colored hair. ‘I’m making it so much worse, right?’

‘Right,’ Jason told him.

‘I’ll shut up now,’ Adam volunteered.

Belle laughed and patted his arm. ‘I get the verbal diarrhea sometimes too.’

‘Who I’m with might not even be the issue,’ Sienna said. ‘Maybe Dad got his credit-card bill. I did spend a teensy bit more on that Balenciaga bag than my approved clothing allowance for the month.’

‘Would he really be so pissed about the bill that he’d have the captain turn the boat around?’ Jason asked dubiously.

‘I don’t know. But I’m going to find out,’ Sienna seethed. ‘My father’s spoiled everything!’

She hardly looked at Jason – or Belle or Adam – on the way back. As soon as the yacht pulled into the marina, she stormed down the gangplank onto the pier. Then she turned and blew Jason a kiss. ‘Sorry. I know I’ve been awful,’ she called. ‘I just need to get this straightened out.’

Sienna turned and headed down the boardwalk, her dark hair whipping in the breeze.

Belle rushed after her. ‘Bye, guys!’ she called over her shoulder.

Jason and Adam stared after them for a moment. Then Adam turned to Jason. ‘Thanks for inviting me. I had a lovely time,’ he said solemnly. They both cracked up as they walked down the gangplank.

‘I hope Sienna’s dad is ticked about the shopping, and not about my, you know, being a human,’ Jason said as they walked past a couple of more ordinary-looking yachts.

‘I believe the word you’re searching for is "humanity",’ Adam said. ‘Or possibly "humanosity". Or is it "humanaliciousness"?’

Jason just looked at him.

‘Oh. We’re being serious,’ Adam said. ‘OK, well, maybe he just found out Sienna was socializing with somebody from the wrong side of the DeVere Heights gates. You and Belle are acceptable company. But me?’

‘Yeah, the slums of Malibu, where you live, are known to produce some pretty dangerous characters,’ Jason said.

Adam grinned. ‘But seriously. Really seriously – your parents would probably not be so happy if they knew you were going out with a V, am I right?’

‘You mean after their parental heads exploded?’ Jason answered. ‘It’s not so much the going out part as the vampires-existing part that would, uh, agitate them.’

‘Good point,’ Adam agreed. They climbed down the pier steps and started across the beach. ‘When I first put the whole vampire situation together, I was freaked. Now I spend part of every day researching vampire hunters like it’s totally normal adolescent behavior. I mean, I hardly ever get time to even look at MySpace these days. I’m just too busy doing searches on vampire killers.’

‘It’s a good thing you are, though,’ Jason said. ‘You’re right about us needing to stay watchful. I wanted to think Tamburo was an aberration, but we can’t be sure of that.’

‘So I’ll keep doing the research, and we’ll both keep our eyes peeled for any weirdness. Any weirdness that isn’t our regular DeVere Heights weirdness, that is,’ Adam clarified.

‘Right.’ Jason pulled out his cell. ‘How long before I can call Sienna and find out what the deal is?’

‘Ten minutes for her to drive home – unless the Spider gets temperamental. Then a parental fight – mine usually last from two minutes to an hour and a half, and girls are more verbal than boys,’ Adam hesitated, calculating. ‘I’d say you need to give her at least two hours. More if you want to factor in some recovery time, which I would.’

‘OK, so what are we going to do for the next two hours or so? I need distracting,’ Jason told his friend.

‘Pool table? McGuire’s?’ Adam suggested. ‘I could whip your butt a few times?’

‘Pool table. McGuire’s,’ Jason agreed. ‘And maybe I’ll let you beat me once.’

Three games later – all lost by Jason – Adam replaced his cue in the rack at McGuire’s. ‘Call her already,’ he told Jason. ‘You’re at an hour fifty-four. And you suck so bad that winning has lost almost all meaning for me.’

Jason pulled out his cell and hit speed dial. After three rings Sienna’s voicemail picked up. ‘
Hi, this is Sienna. Do what you’ve got to do when you hear the beep.
’

‘Hey, it’s me,’ Jason said into the phone. ‘Just checking in to see if you’ve been nabbed by the shoe police. Call me.’

He tried Sienna again before dinner. Same deal.

And after dinner.

And before he went to bed. Same old, same old.

After he’d lain in bed for an hour, not being able to sleep, he tried her one more time. No Sienna. Just her voicemail message. What was going on?

‘What’s going on? What happened yesterday?’ Jason asked Sienna when he caught her at her locker between second and third period the next day. This semester they didn’t have any classes together except European History – last of the day.