Her blue eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t answer me, just sat down on the couch.
She turned to vacantly watch the TV Vaughn had turned on.
“We’ll find her, I promise,” Vaughn said before he walked over and put his arms around me. “Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll keep an eye on Bobbie Jean.”
“Maybe I’ll just watch a little television, too,” I said. I went into the bedroom and stretched out on the bed. Vaughn stood in the doorway, so I patted the spot beside me and then found something to watch. “C’mon, how about some Friends?” It was the only show we watched without Skyler. She hated it, lately anyway, because of the whole “on a break” thing. At least Ross and Rachel talked about breaking up, she’d said. Right before bursting into tears.
Effing Connor. I missed my best friend something fierce. At the thought, tears welled in my eyes.
Vaughn put some water and a couple of sodas on the bedside table. He kicked off his shoes and then climbed in next to me before flinging an arm around me.
“For when we wake up,” he said. “I don’t know about you, but I’ll need something to get me moving.”
We watched television until my eyelids drifted shut in the middle of the episode. I felt Vaughn put a blanket over me.
When I woke up, I was draped all over him. The room was dark, except for the glow of the television. Someone had closed the curtains, but I could hear people on the beach.
Vaughn was still asleep, his feet dangling over the edge of the bed. They were bare, but his body was covered by a thin blanket. He smelled so good, like sun and sweat. And blood. My mouth was dry. I tried to slide off the bed, but the movement woke him.
“Feel better?” Vaughn asked huskily.
His body was warm, and he smelled so good. I couldn’t help it. I nuzzled into him a little. He bolted up.
“I’d sleep on the couch,” he said, “but Bobbie Jean’s on it.”
“Just stay here,” I said sleepily.
“Only if you promise to keep your hands to yourself,” he said. I looked up to see what he meant.
He was blushing. Vaughn was actually blushing.
And now I was blushing. I tossed him a pillow and a blanket, and he stretched out next to me. “Let’s get some sleep.”
“I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable, did I? I…I was just joking around,” Vaughn added.
“No,” I said. “It’s fine. I trust you, Vaughn.”
He leaned back, but his eyes remained on me.
“Just don’t hog the bed,” I said. “And try not to snore.”
He finally gave me a tiny smile and closed his eyes. “Get some sleep, Tansy. We have to be up in a few hours.”
At first, it was awkward to sleep in the same bed. I couldn’t get comfortable until finally, Vaughn reached over and tugged me close.
“That’s better,” he said and closed his eyes. He was right, but I had a hard time dozing off again. Tonight, the walls were closing in.
There was a dark voice in my head. I was half awake, half dreaming, so I couldn’t quite catch what it was saying. Something like I command you, or maybe it was I compel you. I sat up in the bed. I was sticky with sweat.
I got up and crossed to the French doors. Closer, the voice whispered.
“No more,” I said.
The voice stopped. My tongue felt stuck to the roof of my mouth.
The command, when it came, was stronger this time. Open the door. Invite me in. I opened the balcony door. It made a slight creak and I stopped, but Vaughn was still breathing evenly.
I stepped out, even though part of me resisted, tried to stop myself. A man hovered in the air in front of me. Travis. I told myself it was just a dream. We were on the fifth floor. It couldn’t be real. But I knew it was.
Something compelled me forward. Come to me, his voice commanded. I climbed the railing and stood mere feet from him. His eyes gleamed red in the dark.
“Tansy, what are you doing out here?” Vaughn stood in the doorway. He had something in his hand. “Jesus, get down from there.” Then he saw Travis. “Get away from him, Tansy. Now.”
I wanted to listen, but I couldn’t. Vaughn’s voice was drowned out by Travis’s. One foot slipped off the railing.
Vaughn grabbed me and yanked me back just as Travis lunged for me. There was a brief tug-of-war, and then Vaughn threw a soda can at him.
Travis swore when the soda hit him. It fell into the darkness without doing any real damage, but the blow must have spooked him. One minute he was there and the next, he was gone.
I stood trembling in Vaughn’s arms. He rubbed my back comfortingly. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
There was no way I’d be able to go back to sleep after that.
Back inside, I grabbed a bottle of water.
“Want a snack?” Vaughn asked. He stood there in all his shirtless glory, clad only in a pair of soft-looking gray lounge pants.
I shook my head. “I guess Travis knows we’re looking for him.”
I was so thirsty. I guzzled my cold beverage, keeping my eyes on Vaughn’s bare chest.
“I…like the way you’re looking at me,” Vaughn said huskily.
Surely Vaughn wasn’t flirting with me. I blushed and looked away, but not before noticing he was biting his lip, which made me want to bite his lip.
I stepped closer to him, but then fear got the best of me. “We should get some sleep.”
“What if I don’t want to sleep?” he asked.
I sucked in a breath. The smile on his face now was dangerous.
“It’s safer if we go back to bed,” I said.
His grin widened.
“Separately,” I clarified. I didn’t know if I would be able to resist Vaughn’s dimples the entire trip. But I was going to try.
Because of course the one guy I wanted to notice me seemed to finally be sending the right signals—just as I was turning into a creature of the night. Who might try to kill him.
The alarm rang at midnight, and when it beeped, Vaughn rolled over and smacked it. “I hate mornings,” he said. “Er, I mean, evenings. Damn vampires, my sleep patterns are getting screwed up.”
I liked the grumpy, sleep-rumpled Vaughn, but I didn’t have time to admire him.
We dressed quickly and headed out to where The Drainers were supposed to be playing, a restaurant that, from my research, was known more for fights than food.
There was no sign of their tour bus, and when we approached the restaurant, there were no lights on. There was a security guard standing nearby, who looked up from his phone when we approached.
“Restaurant’s closed,” he said. “Rat problem.”
I had a rat problem, too, and his name was Travis.
We drove around until two a.m., but we didn’t spot the tour bus. We headed back to our hotel and slid back into bed, but I couldn’t sleep.
“I wonder how The Drainers can afford to tour,” I said. “It’s not like they’re a big name nationally or anything.”
Vaughn was already starting to doze off, but he replied, “Maybe The Drainers make their money off merchandise, or maybe Travis is independently wealthy.” He was asleep before I could reply, and a few minutes later, my eyes closed, too.
…
I didn’t wake up until almost noon, but Vaughn was still asleep next to me. I snuck out to grab some food that was cheaper than room service. It was already oppressively hot, and the Deathtrap’s AC couldn’t keep up, but I didn’t mind. I drove around a few minutes, looking for any sign of The Drainers’ tour bus, but I didn’t see anything.
I bought three large meatball subs, French fries, and three extra-large slushies. Vaughn could drink them all day, and with this heat, a slushie sounded extra good.
When I got back, he was outside wai
ting for me. “Where’d you go?”
I held up our lunch. “I thought I’d provide sustenance.”
“You’re the best,” he said. “And you remembered my slushie. Here, let me carry some of that.” He took the bag of food from me. We went inside and took the elevator up to our room. As it rose, I watched Vaughn. Either he was cuter than yesterday or I was more infatuated.
A drop of sweat slid down Vaughn’s neck. The salty scent of his skin mesmerized me. I wanted to lean over and lick his neck, but I forced myself to lean against the elevator wall and keep my tongue to myself.
“Tansy? You okay?”
“Just hungry.” I looked away.
We went to the hotel room and set the food and drinks on the table. “Bobbie Jean, breakfast is here,” I said, but she didn’t answer me.
Bobbie Jean sat on the couch, entranced by the glow of the television. “She’s been like that for hours,” he said. “She’s barely even blinked. Ever since you told her to just watch TV.”
“I don’t remember doing that,” I said and swallowed. My stomach twisted, and suddenly I wasn’t hungry at all.
Had I forced her to sit here all night like this?
“You were tired,” he said.
What should I say to release her? Maybe simplest was best. “Bobbie Jean, you should do whatever you want now.”
She blinked and then stood. “I’m going to take a shower.”
I was worried I’d said something else I shouldn’t have. I talked in my sleep sometimes, but normally, Granny was the only one who ever heard me. Or Skyler when she stayed over.
“Did I say anything else?”
“Nothing important,” he replied. But he was grinning like a fiend. I gave him a suspicious look, but his smile grew even bigger. “Let’s eat.”
He put a plate in front of me with my meatball sub. Bobbie Jean was still in the shower and my appetite was returning, so I tucked in. It might be the last time real food tasted good if we didn’t track down Travis and get some answers.
Vaughn’s knee touched mine when he sat down next to me, and a zing went through my body. I scooted closer to him, and when he gave me a cocky smile, I reached for an orange slushie.
“I’m really thirsty,” I said.
His eyes gleamed. “Of course,” he replied. “I’m thirsty, too.”
We weren’t any closer to finding Travis or his band of merry murderers.
Plus, I was still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that I had some kind of hold over vampires. I needed more information.
When Bobbie Jean came out of the bathroom, she was wearing the same clothes as before, but her face was scrubbed clean.
“Bobbie Jean, please talk to me. Tell me everything you know about Travis,” I said. “But only what you want to talk about,” I added hastily.
The thought of taking away someone’s free will made me sick, and I resolved to be even more careful about my words in the future.
“I do want to tell you,” Bobbie Jean said. Words poured from her. “When The Drainers were in Austin, five girls went missing,” she said. “And three of them were found dead with bite marks on their bodies.”
Horrific stories of The Drainers and how they treated the girls who followed them came from Bobbie Jean.
“There was this one girl,” she said. “The sweetest little thing. She ended up there after following her sister. They never found her.”
When Bobbie Jean started to cry, I felt terrible for her. And my anxiety for Skyler was now tripled.
Finally, she finished and wiped her eyes. “And that’s all I know.”
“Next time I start to get bossy, do me a favor and put your hand over my mouth,” I told Vaughn.
Bobbie Jean stood. “I’ll see you guys at the gig,” she said. “I’m going to hit a few clubs first. See if I can figure out where The Drainers are staying.”
“We’ll go with you,” I offered.
“You should stay here,” she said. “Lay low. ”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I think he’s infatuated with you.”
With that, she left.
After she was gone, I turned to Vaughn. “Why would a vampire prince be infatuated with me?”
“Why wouldn’t he be?” Vaughn replied. “You’re pretty amazing.”
“You’re pretty amazing, too.”
He took a step toward me but then seemed to reconsider. “I’ve been doing some research of my own,” Vaughn said.
“What kind of research?” I asked.
“The kind that might help Skyler,” he said. “We need to figure out how to kill a vampire, just in case the separation spell doesn’t work.”
We spent the next hour on the internet, looking up ways to kill a mythical creature who wasn’t so mythical after all.
Chapter Twelve
The bedside telephone rang, and I shot Vaughn a look. Nobody but Granny knew we were here.
Vaughn answered it and had a short conversation. “There’s a package for you downstairs. Someone’s bringing it up.”
I jumped when the knock came, then handed the woman a small tip. “Thanks.”
After I closed the door, I looked at the return address. “It’s from Granny.”
I ripped open the box and found a neon-green gift bag.
He glanced over. “More protection?”
“I haven’t opened it yet.” I pushed the tissue paper aside and stared down at a box of condoms. My face flamed. “You could say that,” I wheezed out. I hastily stowed it by my luggage.
“Let’s see what’s making you blush,” he said. I made a mad scramble for the bag, but his arms were longer than mine.
He tore the tissue out of the bag and then stilled. “Open in case of emergency,” he read in a choked voice and then shook his head. “Only Granny Mariotti.”
We couldn’t look at each other.
After a long, embarrassed silence, I sat back and sighed. “I need to call her and check in.”
“While you do that, I’ll see if I can scrounge up some candy,” he said. “I think I saw some interesting choices in the gift shop.”
Vaughn and his sweet tooth. After he kissed my cheek and left the room, I FaceTimed my grandmother.
“Tansy, how is everything going?” she asked.
“Not good enough that I needed a box of condoms,” I said. “I’m looking for Skyler, not a hookup, Granny.”
“I know that,” she said gently. “But I also know that you and Vaughn have a lot of unresolved feelings. I want you to be protected in case you two decide to act on those feelings.”
It was embarrassing and touching. “Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate it. Now, quickly changing the subject—we still haven’t found Skyler. But we’re pretty sure she’s in Diablo.”
“With the vampires?”
I flinched at the word. “Yes.”
“Then we need to work on a few spells,” she said.
“I seem to be able to resist vampire compulsion,” I told her. “Not always, but I’m getting better at it.”
“Of course you are,” she replied. “You’re a Mariotti witch. But I’ve neglected your education.”
“Are the charms the reason?” I asked. “Skyler lost her necklace, and since then, she can’t seem to resist Travis.”
“That’s part of it,” she said. “It wouldn’t work with a really old vampire.”
“That’s why Travis threw it away.”
“Probably.”
Part of me wanted to tell her about the file with all our secrets in it, but the other part wanted to keep my mouth shut. I didn’t want her to tell me it was too dangerous and that I had to come home. Besides, she wasn’t the only one who could keep a secret.
“Okay, Granny,” I said. “Let’s do this.”
“T
he first thing you need to practice is visualization,” she said. Her face looked tiny on my screen, and I suddenly missed her fiercely. Her brown eyes seemed flat and tired, and she was paler than normal. I was still mad at her, but I loved her anyway.
“Close your eyes,” she continued. “And think about your intention. What you want to have happen. Now intent into action.”
“What should I think about?” I asked.
“That’s up to you,” she said.
“I want to see if I can move something with my mind.”
Granny laughed. “That’s not a power most witches can do.”
“Okay. Then what can they do?” I groaned. When I found Skyler and we were back home, Granny and I were going to have a long talk.
She sighed. “Tansy…that kind of magic is tricky.”
“Let me try,” I said. “I’ll be right back.” There were a few apples on the small table, and I went to get one. “Okay, let’s do this,” I said when I returned.
Granny’s lips were in a flat line. “Maybe we shouldn’t…” she said.
Maybe you shouldn’t lie to me, I thought.
And the apple exploded.
I sucked in a breath. Well, fang my life.
I had more power than I’d ever dreamed.
“Well, that was interesting.” Granny must have decided I’d had enough practice. “Oops, my break’s over,” she said. “I’m closing at the library tonight. Don’t try that again. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I said.
Vaughn came back with a bag of chocolate-covered peanuts and a couple of candy bars.
“I can’t stand to sit in this room one second longer,” I said.
Vaughn glanced around at the exploded apple bits. “Then let’s get out of here.”
I hesitated. “We can’t let their human roadie or any of their human superfans see us. We no longer have the element of surprise to rescue Skyler. I have a feeling he won’t let her go without a fight.”
“Why don’t we take a walk on the beach? Get some air?” Vaughn suggested.
I grabbed a couple of elastic ties and braided my hair into two tight plaits, then piled them on top of my head. I’d brought a hat because, hello, summer in California meant I didn’t go anywhere without one.
The Afterlife of the Party Page 10