Part 18 (1/2)

”She's a firecracker!” the vampire laughed, but it was that tired, blissed-out laugh people have when they're really high. ”You've got your hands full with that one, don't you?”

”I make do,” Jack told her, but looked severely at me. ”Alice...”

”I'm not leaving Milo here,” I insisted.

”Well, I'm not dragging you out on the d.a.m.n dance floor to look for him.” His pursed his lips when he glanced nervously out at the crowded dance floor. Going across the room wouldn't be so bad, but wading through there for any length of time, with all those people grabbing at me, it was liable to be serious trouble.

”I can keep an eye on her for you, if you need to me to,” the vampire next to us offered. ”I'm full, and if I get a little hungry, I've got a snack right here.” She patted the girl on her lap. ”And I know how hard it is to keep the flies away from the food.” Jack narrowed his eyes at her, debating.

”Just keep an eye on her, nothing else,” Jack warned her.

”Cross my heart and hope to die,” she promised him, crossing her heart with her long black fingernail as she did.

”I'll be right back.” He hesitated before leaving, and then placed his hands on my cheeks and quickly, he pressed his lips against mine but stopped before I could really even register that he had just kissed me. Keeping his face close to me, he whispered, ”Don't let anybody touch you.”

”I won't,” I nodded breathlessly.

”Good.” Reluctantly, he turned and almost instantly disappeared in the writhing bodies on the dance floor.

”What's your name?” my vampire baby-sitter asked me.

”Alice,” I told her timidly. I hugged myself tightly and tried to keep my eyes fixated on her and the girl on her lap, and not on the room full of leering vampires around me.

”Olivia,” she gestured to herself, and then to the girl on her lap. ”This is Hannah. She's mine.”

89.

”Congratulations,” I said lamely, unsure of what else to say.

”Thanks,” Olivia laughed. ”It's tricky what you have with him.” She nodded at the door after Jack.

”Why hasn't he turned you?”

”It's a complicated situation.” I rubbed my arms nervously. The girl on Olivia's lap stirred, and she stroked her hair gently to quiet her. ”Why haven't you turned Hannah?”

”I wouldn't have any reason to keep her if I did,” Olivia explained, but she looked at her with some affection. ”You've heard the saying 'why buy the cow if you get the milk for free?' Well, if I bought the cow, I wouldn't get any milk at all.” She wanted Hannah for her blood, and nothing else.

”So why do you think he should turn me?” I asked curiously.

”He loves you,” Olivia sounded surprised when she looked up at me. ”You must know that.” I s.h.i.+fted uneasily, but didn't answer her. ”And I'm betting that he's not getting any milk either.” She narrowed her bleary eyes at me, genuinely appraising me for the first time. ”I bet you're a virgin in every sense of the word.”

”Not entirely,” I raised my chin defiantly, like I had showed her in some way.

”He's never bitten you?” Olivia was still trying decipher what exactly was going on.

”He's tasted me.” When I told her that, her eyes widened. The first time we had kissed, I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood, which is what incited the kiss in the first place.

”And he hasn't bit you?” Olivia was stunned and unbelieving. ”If you taste even half as sweet as you smell... That boy has some restraint. If I were you, I'd get that boy back in here and make him turn me right here and now. You don't want to let that slip away. And it's only a matter of time before he slips, and with that much pent up, he'd probably go way too far, if you know what I mean.”

”We have... things under control,” I told her rather unconvincingly.

”Well, h.e.l.lo there,” a deep voice purred from behind me, and I whirled around to see the vampire that had touched me on the dance floor. His eyes were a bottomless black, but they were almost glowing at me. A strand of black hair came loose and slid onto his forehead, so he pushed it back with unpleasantly long nails, at least for a man. Other than that, he was almost blindingly attractive. The only person who could possibly out s.h.i.+ne him might be Peter, and even that was rather doubtful.

”That's Alice!” Violet announced with her shrill, sparkling laugh. She leapt off the couch and almost skipped over to us. She stopped so close to him that they were almost touching but not quite. ”Isn't she a treat?”

”Sweet as pie,” he purred with an exaggerated southern drawl, reminding me of when Hannibal Lector mocked Clarisse Starling in Silence of the Lambs. He breathed in deeply, leaning in closer to me, but I was in a dear in headlights and couldn't think enough to take a step back. ”Breathe, honey.”

With that, I gasped and filled my lungs with precious oxygen. Whatever he did to me, it was far worse than even what Peter could do. My mind was less of a fog, but my body completely lost the ability to do anything, like breathe or blink or move. Even though he had reminded me to breathe, the rest of my senses still remained locked away, and I just gaped at him.

90.

”You are precious!” he smiled maliciously, and Violet giggled next to him.

”Oh, leave her alone!” Olivia shouted from behind me. Her voice was gaining some strength and losing its bleary edge as she came to my aide. ”She's just a kid, and her boyfriend's out there in the other room.”

”What's it to you?” He looked past me at her, and I caught a glimpse of primal rage flas.h.i.+ng in his eyes that, thankfully, he directed at her. If it had been at me, that probably would've been it. I would've just collapsed to my knees and begged him to spare my life.

”He left her in charge,” Violet explained, leaning in close to him. Then she lowered her eyes at me, smirking hungrily. ”He left her alone.”

”What do you want?” When I finally found a voice, that's what I decided to ask, which was actually a total waste of a question. I knew exactly what they wanted, and I probably really didn't want to hear it said aloud.

”You're so scared!” This fact seemed to amuse him a little too much, and he made a sound that was a tad aroused. ”You have nothing to be afraid of. I'd just like us to be friends. Me, you, and Violet.” He spread his arms openly, as if he expected me to run into them. ”To put you at ease, I'll introduce myself. My name is Lucian, and I am a vampire.”

”His name's not really Lucian,” Violet confessed coyly. ”It's actually Hector, but that doesn't sound nearly as decedent.” He glared at her severely, and she recoiled a little, but then forced a smile at me. ”But trust me, sweetie, he's all vampire.”

”So am I,” Olivia interjected tiredly from the couch. ”Why don't you two cut the c.r.a.p and go prey on someone you actually stand a chance with? This girl isn't going anywhere with you.”

”You must be getting senile in you're old age, Olivia,” Lucian snarled at her. ”Because I didn't say anything about going anywhere. We're just having a friendly little chat. Isn't that right, Alice?”

”I'm not much for talking,” I mumbled quietly. Talking had somehow frightened me more, and my heart was beating erratically and much too fast. Both Violet and Lucian had that eye-fluttering pleasurable look, and I knew they were way too tuned into it.

”My G.o.d, that's beautiful,” Lucian murmured, almost inaudible. ”It's so delicate and frantic. Like a fly caught in a spider web, desperately beating it's tiny wings... but it's not going anywhere.”

”You guys are big into the insect metaphors,” I whispered, and I was finding it difficult to swallow.