Part 14 (1/2)

'c.r.a.p! They're inside,' Sienna whispered.

'But did it print?' Adam asked.

'Not yet.'

'Sienna-' Jason began.

But the line went dead.

Sixteen.

JASON STARED AT the cell phone as if he could will it to bring back Sienna.

Adam reached over, picked up the phone, and hit END. 'I'll get her back,' he said, starting to re-dial.

'No!' Jason s.n.a.t.c.hed the phone away from him. 'If she's hiding in her father's study and the phone rings, it could give her away. We don't want her to get caught.'

'Right. Sorry. Let's just hope she hasn't been caught already,' Adam said darkly.

'I don't think there's anything we can do now except wait to hear from her.' Jason ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. He hated not knowing whether Sienna had managed to get away with it or not.

'Out with it,' Adam said.

'Huh?'

'Why do you care so much about the transformer whoosie-whatsit?'

'Transformation sickness.'

'Yeah, that. Are you planning something I should know about? Like, oh, transforming into a vampire?' Adam demanded.

'My Aunt Bianca caught me with Sienna the other day,' Jason explained. 'She gave me a choice: become a vampire, or she tells Sienna's parents about us.'

'And Sienna gets sent away,' Adam said thoughtfully. 'Got it. But you're not actually considering transforming, are you?'

'Wouldn't you?'

Adam thought about it. 'Would I want to become a vampire and have looks, money, power, and long life? Seems like a no-brainer.'

'But?' Jason prompted.

'But if I were a vampire, then I wouldn't be . . . human,' Adam said. 'I'm not sure that's a good thing. Plus, there's the having-to-drink-blood issue.'

'You see my problem,' Jason said, shaking his head. 'I keep going over and over it in my mind, but I can't decide.'

'And then there's some kind of sickness?' Adam asked.

'Transformation sickness is what happens to some humans when they transform into vampires,' Jason explained. 'Basically there are three possibilities: you're totally fine, you die instantly, or you slowly go insane.'

Adam whistled. 'Seems like pretty bad odds. Two of those possibilities bite. Hard. No pun intended.'

'That's probably why their scientists suggested developing a test for it. The vampires aren't thrilled when one of them dies or goes crazy, either.'

'So that's what the test is about,' Adam said thoughtfully. 'If you could find out in advance that you would be OK not, you know, dead or crazy at least you'd know what you were getting into.'

'Exactly,' Jason agreed.

'Then your course of action is clear,' Adam declared. 'If that test exists, you have to take it!'

The next morning, Jason got to school so early that he was the first car into the parking lot. He'd left Dani to fend for herself he was so eager to find out if Sienna was OK that he didn't have the patience to wait for his sister.

Adam pulled in on his Vespa half a minute later. 'Is she here yet?' he asked.

'Nope.' Jason peered at the line of cars waiting to get into the school. He shaded his eyes against the suns.h.i.+ne. 'There she is!' he cried, relieved. Sienna's Spider was almost hidden between Van d.y.k.e's huge Hummer and Erin Henry's Escalade. Jason's heartbeat slowed and he relaxed a little. He'd been afraid he would show up at school only to find out that Sienna had already been packed off to France.

He and Adam jogged over to her as she parked. 'What happened?' Jason called.

Sienna rolled her eyes. 'I felt like Sydney on Alias,' she joked. 'Doing computer espionage . . .'

'Lookin' hot,' Adam joked along, leering. Sienna gave him a light vampire light shove and he almost fell over.

'Anyway, I got what we needed. It finished printing about two seconds before my father walked through the door,' Sienna told them.

'Well?' Jason asked.

'He funded the research,' Sienna said. 'They were supposed to have a prototype of the test ready by Christmas.'

'So it will definitely be ready by now,' Adam said. 'What are we going to do about it?'

'We?' Sienna asked.

'Yeah. I'm in.' Adam frowned. 'What, you think I'm only good for the go-between mushy romance stuff?'

'I want to take the test,' Jason told Sienna. 'I want to know if I can become a vampire.'

'Even if you can, that doesn't mean you should,' Sienna said quietly.

'But at least I'll have all the facts.'

Sienna nodded. 'So what do we do?'

'We need recon,' Adam said. 'Can you get into the lab?'