Thorn was polishing her dagger. “Queen Tansy doesn’t like to be called queen.”
Whenever someone used that word about me, my body felt as though I’d guzzled about a thousand cups of coffee.
“Not for long,” I hissed. “And, Thorn, put that away.” I wasn’t a hundred percent certain that the sisters were friend or foe, but at least they’d shared some information about the shadowy organization they worked for.
Rose and Thorn were identical twins who at first glance, looked nothing alike. Rose’s hair was pink, and Thorn’s was black. Rose dressed in floral dresses and looked like woodland creatures would do her laundry while Thorn looked like she’d hunt and kill those woodland creatures and preferred leggings and leather jackets. Rose’s weapon of choice was poison and Thorn’s was her pointy dagger.
“Why are you here?” I asked them.
“In English Literature?” Rose asked, sounding confused.
“Why are you at my school?” I said. “Aren’t you too old for high school?” I wasn’t actually sure how old they were, but I thought they were around twenty or so.
“We go where you go,” Thorn said. “Until further notice.” Given Rose’s love of deadly nightshade and Thorn’s fondness for her dagger, they were probably more than bodyguards.
“You can’t kill anybody,” I said, then amended it. “Unless you have to.”
They didn’t work for me, they worked for the Paranormal Activities Committee, aka PAC, which from what I’d learned had oversight in supernatural busines in every realm, including mine. I hadn’t wanted to be queen, but I didn’t get a vote. I’d killed the king of the California vampires and now I had to suck it up and learn to be a good ruler.
They’d also cleaned up after me when I’d killed The Drainers’ drummer with his own drumstick, but none of that explained what they’d been doing in my class.
“We were bored,” Thorn said. She gave me a long look. “We’ll start your training this weekend.”
“My training?”
Thorn nodded as if it were decided and turned her attention to the teacher at the front of the room.
“Don’t you have PAC business to attend to?” I asked. I was pretty sure the twins were a couple of years older than me and had already graduated from high school. Or assassin school. Whichever.
“We’re…on vacation.”
I exchanged a look with my best friend. Doubtful.
Skyler and I met Vaughn for lunch. We were seniors so we could go off campus. I held my parasol over my head, feeling kind of foolish, but most of the student body was eager to leave so nobody seemed to be paying me any attention.
Vaughn drove, but I noticed something different about his car.
“You got your windows tinted,” I said.
He glanced at me and smiled. “I thought it might help with the whole sun issue.”
I wondered how much it cost and if I could do the same for the Deathtrap.
“That reminds me,” I said. “Time for my tonic.” I dug the thermos out of my bag and took a sip before recapping it.
“Did you know that Rose and Thorn have enrolled here?”
“What?” he replied. “They never said a word.”
“You were hanging out with them for a whole month,” Skyler replied.
“We weren’t exactly hanging out,” he said. “We spent twelve-hour days training. Most nights, I was so tired I laid on the bed and groaned. I thought I was in shape until I trained with those two.”
“Where’d you stay?” Skyler asked curiously. I knew because Vaughn, tired or not, had video called or texted almost every night.
“This big house in Austin,” Vaughn said. “Rose said one of the P.A.C. members owned it. I can’t believe they’re attending school here. How many classes do you have with them?”
“They’re in our Lit class,” I replied. “But who knows? They’ll probably just show up whenever they feel like it.”
“We never decided where we’re eating,” Vaughn said.
“Anywhere but Chicken Clucks,” Skyler replied.
“Understood,” Vaughn said. “How about Diamonds? They have a drive-through.”
…
After a quick lunch, we headed back to school. Vaughn had a meeting with his adviser that he couldn’t miss.
When the final bell rang, Rose and Thorn trailed Skyler and me from our lockers to the big double doors at the entrance of the school. We were prepared to make our escape, but Ashley stepped in front of us, her toned frame vibrating with curiosity. Her brown hair had perfect highlights from the sun or perhaps an excellent stylist and she was dressed in an expensive but understated cream dress.
I lived in band tees, faded jeans and sunscreen and during our sixth-grade beach trip, I’d stayed in the sun too long and fried my skin. My classmates had called me Rock Lobster for six months. Christian C. even did the song’s choreography from Just Dance every time he saw me.
“Who’re your friends?”
“None of your business,” Skyler drawled.
I felt Ashley’s eyes on me as we swept past her. Rose and Thorn stayed on our heels as we walked to Skyler’s car.
In the parking lot, there were a bunch of guys crowded around a souped-up Challenger. I caught the scent of Axe body spray and underneath that, something like wet dog.
Rose and Thorn stopped and sniffed the air, but before they said anything, the boys piled into the Challenger and took off.
My best friend and I had carpooled to school. She lived a few houses down from me and Vaughn lived two streets over.
“Want to come over and raid Gertie’s going to Goodwill bag?”
“Who am I to turn down free clothes?” I replied.
Gertie, Sky’s stepmother, had a credit card with no limit and a serious shopping addiction, which was a bad combination. But since Gertie was a former Vegas showgirl with showgirl curves, her hand-me-downs didn’t fit Skyler’s slimmer build.
I had what Granny Mariotti described as bounty. Or maybe she meant booty. Either way, I had it. I plopped said booty on Skyler’s king-sized bed while she rummaged through a bag of discarded clothing.
“This would look great on you,” Skyler said, throwing me a jade colored top. I held it against me and looked in the mirror. That shade of green did something wonderful for my eyes.
I also snagged a pair of expensive, downy soft jean shorts with the tag still on them. I narrowed my eyes at Skyler. “It almost seems as if someone went out and bought these especially for me.”
She held her hands up. “Gertie bought them, I swear.”
I was still suspicious. The one good thing that had happened after the whole Drainers’ fiasco was that we found out that Gertie was nicer than we’d given her credit for. She and Sky were getting along much better now that Sky didn’t see her as merely a gold digger looking for a sugar daddy and no prenup.
“Thanks, Skyler,” I said. Then silence. She hated when I asked, but I had to. “How are you doing?”
“Not craving human blood, if that’s what you’re asking,” she said. “Also not hooking up with vampire musicians.”
“All good, then,” I replied, but there was a look on her face I didn’t like. “What?”
“You never talk about it,” she said.
“It?” I repeated, but I knew what she was talking about.
“It happened to you, too,” she said.
“I know,” I replied. “I was there. I’m just not ready to talk about it.”
Skyler wrapped an arm around me. “Okay.” She paused and then added, “I thought I saw Connor the other day.”
“Fuck Connor,” I said, fury boiling out of me suddenly. If her ex hadn’t bailed on her, she’d never have hooked up with Travis, the vampire d-bag musician.
“Tansy,” she said. “I just worry about him, you know.
”
“Vaughn told me Connor’s been back for months,” I spit out. “And no one’s seen him, not even Vaughn. They text sometimes and that’s it.”
“That’s not like Connor,” she said.
“Neither was dumping you without a word and taking off to another country for a year,” I said.
“True,” she said. “I honestly thought he loved me.” Connor’s callousness toward Skyler had set off a chain reaction, one that had left me with fang marks on my neck.
“I know,” I replied, trying not to sound bitter, but I was. Bitter was the new black.
Acknowledgments
The seed of this book was planted when Melissa Wyatt, Mary Pearson, and I had a discussion about vampires and consent. Thank you, my friends! Also, whatever you do, don’t google your favorite band’s name and groupies. Reality is worse than fiction.
Many thanks to my agent Stephen Barbara, who never even blinks when I tell him story ideas, even the outlandish ones.
I’m so grateful for the amazing welcome I’ve received from everyone at Entangled. Heather, Meredith, and Riki let me join in on The Masked Singer chats, even though I always got it wrong. I still say Morris Day was a solid guess. And big thanks to Lydia, Stacy, and Liz, who managed to make it all come together.
My husband and kids make me smile even when I’m deadlining. (It’s a word. I’m gonna make deadlining happen.)
About the Author
Marlene Perez is an author of paranormal and urban fantasy books, including the bestselling Dead Is series for teens. The first book in the series, Dead Is the New Black, was named an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers as well as an ALA Popular Paperback. Her novels have been featured in Girls’ Life, Seventeen, and Cosmopolitan. She grew up in Story City, Iowa, and is the youngest of twelve children. She now lives in Orange County, California, with her husband and children.
Visit her online at marleneperez.com.
Sink your teeth into the smash-hit
series from New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff
My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods…or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.
Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.
Which could spell death for us all.
Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally—as the bait.
Let’s be friends!
@ EntangledTeen
@ EntangledTeen
@ EntangledTeen
bit.ly/TeenNewsletter
The Afterlife of the Party Page 27