“This is my girlfriend,” he replied. It sounded so right, him calling me his. “T—”
“Tiffany,” I interrupted him.
Travis flashed a bright white smile and stared into my eyes. “Tiffany and Travis. Our names go together, don’t they?”
A warm glow suffused my body. I never noticed how beautiful his eyes are.
But then I realized what was happening and forced myself to look away. Hypnosis wasn’t going to work on me.
“They do go together,” I said. “They sound like we could be siblings.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know,” I said. “I get that brotherly feeling from you.”
“Brotherly?” Travis said the word like I said black olives. In other words, like it was something loathsome and wrong.
“Are we going to play or what?” Vaughn asked.
A group of girls walked in, snagging Travis’s attention. “In a minute,” he said. “I just want to go say hi first.”
He called out something to one of the girls, who was almost as tall as he was with curly brown hair and amber eyes. She was stunning. At first, she tried to ignore him, but then he whispered in her ear, and her gaze snapped to his.
He stared into her eyes a long time and then took her hand. She gazed at him adoringly as they left the room.
I wondered if he’d replaced Skyler already, and anxiety and doubt crept into my thoughts. Maybe my magic hadn’t been strong enough to heal her, or maybe she’d relapsed.
While the guys were practicing, Skyler showed up. She was with one of the Bleeders who spent a lot of time with Armando, at least judging by the band’s Insta. They were giggling and swaying, arms wrapped around each other to keep upright.
My best friend was looking better than the last time I’d seen her. The healing spell had worked. I knew Vaughn had spotted her, too, when he missed a beat, but he tore his gaze away from Skyler and concentrated on the drums.
My heart pounded in time with Vaughn’s sticks. I wanted to rush over and hug her, but instead, I took a deep breath.
I’d been reading on my phone with earbuds I managed to hide with my hair, but I removed them quickly and put everything in the pocket of my purse.
I strolled over to the other girls, trying to act casual. “Hey,” I said. “I’m Tiffany.” I knew Skyler would know me anywhere, even with the wig, but I also didn’t want her to blurt out my real name in front of all the vampires.
“Alice,” the tall, silver-haired girl said. The platinum hair contrasted well with her dark skin and gray eyes.
“And this is Sky.” When Alice introduced her, Skyler’s eyes roamed over me without a hint of recognition. I tried to swallow down the rawness in my throat.
It turned out I didn’t need to worry that Skyler would greet me like her not-so-long-lost bestie. “Hey,” she said before staring at the band members without blinking. Her lips were chapped and swollen.
I was desperate to do something, anything, to help her. “Want to try on some of my jewelry?”
Alice rolled her eyes to Sky when she thought I wasn’t looking but agreed to try on a bangle. She probably thought I was the new girl looking to butter them up, but I had ulterior motives.
I gave Sky a necklace made of woven fabric that I’d soaked in rose petals and protection spells, and I gave them both bracelets decorated with some of Granny’s charms.
“This is so pretty, Tansy,” Skyler said. She touched the necklace. “You’re such a good friend.”
“Tansy?” Alice laughed. “You’ve got to stop letting Travis bite you so often. Your brains are leaking out along with the blood. Her name is Tiffany.”
It looked like Skyler was about to protest, but then her eyes went hazy. “Tiffany,” she said.
Alice changed the subject, and I “forgot” to get the charms back. While they chatted, I watched Skyler, noting the pallor of her skin and the deep violet rings under her eyes.
The band roadie yelled “dinner,” and Armando, Ozzie, and Vaughn joined us. I was pretty sure that Sky and Alice were the dinner Gary was talking about.
Travis came back with the girl, who now had a huge bite mark on her cleavage.
“What did I tell you about snacking before dinner?” Armando asked mockingly.
Travis sniffed the air like a coke fiend. “Something smells good.” His eyes landed on me. “Really good.” My stomach roiled, but I managed a tight smile.
Skyler tugged at his arm. “Come on, baby,” she said. “Aren’t you hungry?”
He turned his attention to her. “Famished. We’re on break, guys,” Travis said before she tugged him out of the room.
Armando and Alice left, too. I’d had all the interactions with The Drainers I could stand for a while. At least we’d made some progress. I’d seen Skyler, and she was alive, although it looked like she was in rough shape. I wanted to grab her and run but knew I had to break the hold Travis had on her first.
“Want to get out of here?” I asked Vaughn.
“Yeah,” he said. “We can talk while we eat.”
When we were walking to the nearest fast-food place, I told him, “I need to get some sort of vampire repellent. I think Travis almost recognized me by smell.”
The restaurant was empty, except for an employee mopping the floor. We ordered burgers and fries.
“I’ll just have to wear even more of that perfume,” I said.
“We’re running out of time, Tansy,” Vaughn said. “Skyler looked terrible.”
“I know,” I said. “But I can’t just walk up to Travis at practice and cut his hair.”
“The guys in the band aren’t in a hurry to leave Diablo,” Vaughn said.
“Why not?” I asked.
“They won’t tell me anything else.”
“Do you think they suspect you?”
“Nah,” he said. “I’m just not one of them, you know?”
“The good news is that I managed to slip Skyler one of Granny’s protection bracelets.”
He brightened. “Do you think it’ll work?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. Frustration made my voice tense. “I’ve been reading up on protection charms in the book I borrowed from Granny. And when I gave Skyler a necklace full of protection charms, it seemed like she recognized me, but then it was gone.”
“Do you think your necklace is why you can resist Travis and the music?” Vaughn asked.
“Not entirely,” I admitted. “I do think the charms amplify a human’s resistance to evil, which is why I’ve been handing them out, but some of the info in the file indicated Mariottis are resistant to vampire compulsion.”
“Maybe if Skyler wears her necklace long enough, she’ll see Travis for what he really is,” Vaughn said.
Our original necklaces had contained the memories of our friendship. I hoped the substitute necklace would be enough.
…
But the next time I saw her, the necklace was gone.
She seemed in a trance most of the time, and nothing I did broke the spell she was under. She was so thin that I could see her clavicles. Bite marks, old and new, marred her tan skin. It killed me to watch Travis with her, but I was even more worried about what would happen to her after he lost interest.
We’d been stuck in Diablo for nearly a week. Fortunately for us, Travis liked to throw money around and had given Vaughn cash, since he was practicing with the band every day, which meant we didn’t have to rely on his dad’s credit card for everything.
“You ready to party?” Armando asked Vaughn. I suppressed a yawn. Vaughn had been practicing with the band until almost three a.m. I’d watched the other guys carefully, but the girls who hung around seemed willing blood donors—no compulsion required. Not like Fang. But I remembered the dead girl from the cave. Maybe they’d decided to be more careful. I hop
ed so.
We were hanging out in the tour bus, and it smelled ripe. The space would have been luxurious if someone had bothered to clean it occasionally. There were dirty clothes, take-out boxes with half-eaten moldy food, and glasses containing suspicious-looking liquid drying on the rim.
“You guys need to clean this place up,” I said, then wished I hadn’t. Red eyes turned my way. “Or, I mean, hire someone.”
“Travis’s dad will pay for it.” Armando chuckled.
“Or we could just get a Bleeder to do it,” Travis suggested. “Dad’s already paying for the band to cut a demo.”
I pitied the sound engineer on that project. And anyone else who had to listen to an entire album of The Drainers’ songs.
I was sitting in Vaughn’s lap while Natasha was making out with Ozzie at the small table. A couple of girls I didn’t recognize sat on either side of Armando. He was feeding them appetizers from a take-out box like they were his pets.
Travis was alone for a change, but his knee jiggled impatiently.
“Travis, do you have a girlfriend?” I asked.
He glanced at me, and then his eyes narrowed. “No, I don’t,” he said. “Why do you want to know?”
I had hoped to ask about Skyler but didn’t want to be obvious about it. Fail. “I—I…”
“She wants to set you up with one of her friends,” Vaughn said, saving me.
Travis’s attention was diverted when two of the Bleeders got into a fistfight over Armando.
“Why don’t you guys quit it?” I asked. They ignored me, and I thought I was going to have to do things the hard way, but Travis stepped in between them, scooped them up, and threw them out the bus doors.
“Hey, I wasn’t done with that,” Armando said.
Travis lifted his head and inhaled. “There’s something familiar in the air tonight.”
I realized then I’d forgotten to reapply my perfume-slash-vampire-repellent. I needed to get out of there. Now.
“That’s our cue to leave,” I said. “Night, all.”
When we made our exit, the girls Travis had thrown out were rolling around on the asphalt.
“Should we do something?” Vaughn asked.
“They’re Travis’s problem,” I said. I was too tired to tell those girls they were wasting their time with The Drainers.
I yawned all the way back to the hotel. “These nights are killing me,” I said. “I can’t remember the last time I saw the sun.”
“Me either,” Vaughn said. “Maybe we should set an alarm for early. Aim for lunchtime?”
The last few days, we’d been getting up later and later. Yesterday, we didn’t stir from bed until almost sunset.
“Can I even go out in the sun?” I asked, finally voicing the thing neither of us had really been mentioning lately. I knew Vaughn had noticed the changes in me, but he hadn’t said anything. My stomach tightened, waiting to see what he’d say next.
“You’re not a vampire, Tansy. You’re a striga vie. A seriously badass striga vie.” His warm eyes crinkled at the corners, and he laced his fingers with mine. Some days, it was almost impossible to remember we were just pretending to be a couple. Like now.
I swallowed and whispered, “Thank you.”
Sensing the moment was getting tense for me, he changed the subject. “Did you come across any good intel?”
The other Bleeders gossiped a lot whenever Natasha wasn’t around. They had scary things to say about girls who followed the band. Girls who disappeared one day. The more hopeful Bleeders thought it meant the girls were finally turned, but I had my doubts.
“Not really. I just have more questions.”
“Like what?”
“Why have we never met a Sundowner? The file said they have yellow eyes, but I’ve never seen one,” I said. “I’ve never even seen a female vampire.” Except for Bobbie Jean, but I thought she was more like a half vamp. She’d had Travis’s blood but hadn’t been drained dry or killed anyone by drinking them dry. And I didn’t count myself; I wasn’t a vampire. And I would never take someone’s blood forcefully.
“Maybe we have seen one, and we just didn’t know it,” Vaughn answered.
I shook my head. “I’m getting really good at spotting vampires,” I said. “Even when I can’t smell them.” I’d identified a famous fashion photographer, an ex-president (not one of the good ones, so not exactly a surprise), and a couple of personality-deficient reality stars. “Maybe we’ll see a Sundowner at the show tonight.”
“The show. Tansy, I’m not sure I can do this,” he said. “Perform with The Drainers. The stage fright is better during rehearsals, thanks to your trick—” He cleared his throat. “But I don’t think I can do a live gig.”
“I know it’s risky to go on the road with a band of vampires—”
“No, I mean perform in public. The waiting is only making me more anxious.”
“How can I help?” I asked.
“Just stay close, okay?” Vaughn said. “I know you’re worried about Skyler, and so am I, but I don’t like the way the guys in the band eye you like you’re their next meal.”
“I don’t want to hang out with them, either,” I said. “They’re ridiculous yet still dangerous. But we have to.”
He nodded, then sighed. “Let’s go.”
I adjusted my black wig and grabbed his hand. Time to rock and roll.
…
Someone—probably Natasha—had posted that The Drainers would be introducing a special guest drummer while Fang continued to recuperate. When we got to the venue, it was another hole-in-the-wall bar with questionable ID policies, so the place was full of Bleeders.
Packs of girls went in, but I didn’t see anyone I knew.
“What are we waiting for?” Vaughn asked.
“Travis isn’t here yet,” I said.
“Something’s wrong,” he said. “Travis loves to perform.”
“Perform” was a stretch, but I didn’t think the band would appreciate me calling him “the guy who made my ears bleed.”
We watched the door for another hour, and then, at around one a.m., Natasha stormed in with Travis on her heels, right before the band was scheduled to go on.
“I won’t do it,” she shouted.
His face flushed with rage, and I thought he was going to hit her, but instead, he shrugged and went backstage.
“That’s my cue,” Vaughn said. He kissed me quickly. “Wish me luck.”
His expression was calm, but when he grabbed his drumsticks, his hands were shaking. I put my hand over his. “You’ve got this, Vaughn.”
The corner of his mouth tipped up, and then he strode onstage.
There was the shrill sound of Bleeders screaming when the band was announced, and then Vaughn started a slow beat.
“Is that a new song?” someone asked. “They sound different.”
Yes, they sounded almost decent with Vaughn keeping everyone in time. Travis’s lack of singing ability couldn’t be helped, but I was surprised to notice that Ozzie and Armando both could play. Travis dropped chords, strutted all over the stage in tight leather pants, and sounded like my neighbor Mrs. Garcia’s angry Pomeranian.
Their set consisted of a lot of semi-plagiarized lyrics about blood and death. I thought I recognized an Edgar Allan Poe poem in there somewhere.
And the whole time, I searched the crowd for Skyler, but I didn’t see her.
Afterward, the band relaxed in the greenroom with several Bleeders while Gary loaded up all the equipment.
“You should stay on the tour bus with us,” Armando said. “Take Fang’s bunk.”
“Yeah, he’s not gonna need it.” Ozzie snickered.
I flinched at the mention of Fang’s name, but I didn’t think anyone noticed. Except Vaughn, who rubbed my back comfortingly.
“Thanks, but my girl likes her privacy,” Vaughn said.
That provoked some knowing snickers, but then a couple of Bleeders caught their eyes and the subject was forgotten.
“Where you stashin’ that sweet little thing of yours, Trav?” Ozzie asked.
“She’s the perfect blend of sweet and tart,” Armando said. “Ah, Skyler.”
The Bleeder sitting on his lap stood up. “That’s what you said about me.”
The rest of the band laughed. “Busted, Armando,” Travis said. “You need to get some new lines.”
Armando ignored the pissed-off groupie. “Where you keeping her?” he continued. “I wouldn’t mind a bite of that.”
Travis showed his fangs. “Skyler’s off-limits.” He could remember her name after all. “I have plans for her.”
I didn’t like the sound of that at all.
Chapter Seventeen
Vaughn was right—The Drainers didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave Diablo.
Instead, they rented the top floor of a beachside luxury hotel and then threw a party.
“I tried to get out of this,” Vaughn insisted as we walked to the suite.
“Yet we’re still headed to the debauchery,” I replied. “Debauchery” was an understatement. “It’s okay,” I reassured Vaughn. “Maybe Skyler will be here.”
When we arrived, Gary was at his post guarding the door as a stream of Bleeders walked through, all dressed in skimpy white outfits.
I was in a crappy mood. A party had been the beginning of my problems, but I highly doubted it would be the end to them.
It had been harder than I’d expected to get Travis alone to steal his hair. He was always with someone: Bleeders, the guys in the band, even Gary. And I couldn’t just whip out a pair of scissors and aim them casually at a vampire. Turned out they weren’t exactly fond of long, pointy things.
Skyler wasn’t in the common area of the hotel suite. She was probably back in one of the bedrooms with Travis.
Armando was behind the bar, mixing drinks with a liberal hand. “What can I get you to drink, my lovely Tiffany?” he asked me, ignoring the three groupies who stood there waiting.
The Afterlife of the Party Page 14