by L. J. Smith
“This is the teaching room,” Thea said. “Grandma does spells here and lets the students hang out.”
“And the other part is a store,” Poppy said, cautiously because she didn’t know what she was supposed to know.
Thea didn’t look surprised. “Yes. I know you wouldn’t think there’d be enough witches around here to keep us in business, but actually they come from all over the country. Grandma’s famous. And her students buy a lot.”
Poppy nodded, looking properly impressed. She didn’t dare ask more questions, but her chilly heart had warmed just a tiny bit. All Night People weren’t harsh and evil. She had the feeling she could be friends with this girl if given the chance. Maybe she could make it in the Night World after all.
“Well, thanks again,” she murmured softly.
“Don’t mention it. But don’t let Ash get you run down like that, either. He’s so irresponsible.”
“You wound me, Thea. You really do,” Ash said. He was standing in the doorway, holding the bead curtain open with one hand. “But come to think of it, I’m feeling a little run down myself….” He raised his eyebrows insinuatingly.
“Go jump in Lake Mead, Ash,” Thea said sweetly.
Ash looked innocent and yearning. “Just a little bite. A nibble. A nip,” he said. “You have such a pretty white throat….”
“Who does?” Blaise said, pushing her way through the other half of the bead curtain. Poppy had the feeling she was only speaking to focus attention on herself. She stood in the center of the room and shook back her long black hair with the air of a girl used to attention.
“You both do,” Ash said gallantly. Then he seemed to remember Poppy. “And, of course, this little dreamer has a pretty white everything.”
Blaise, who had been smiling, now looked sour. She stared at Poppy long and hard. With dislike—and something else.
Suspicion. Dawning suspicion.
Poppy could feel it. Blaise’s thoughts were bright and sharp and malicious, like jagged glass.
Then suddenly Blaise smiled again. She looked at Ash, “I suppose you’ve come for the party,” she said.
“No. What party?”
Blaise sighed in a way that emphasized her low-cut blouse. “The Solstice party, of course. Thierry’s giving a big one. Everybody will be there.”
Ash looked tempted. In the dim light of the teaching room his eyes gleamed dark. Then he shook his head.
“No, can’t make it. Sorry. I’m going to show Poppy the town.”
“Well, you can do that and still come to the party later. It won’t really get going until after midnight.” Blaise was staring at Ash with an odd insistence. Ash bit his lip, then shook his head again, smiling.
“Well, maybe,” he said. “I’ll see how things go.”
Poppy knew he was saying more than that. Some unspoken message seemed to be passing between him and Blaise. But it wasn’t telepathic, and Poppy couldn’t pick it up.
“Well, have a good time,” Thea said, and gave Poppy a quick smile as Ash piloted her away.
Ash peered ahead at the Strip. “If we hurry we can watch the volcano erupting,” he said. Poppy gave him a look, but didn’t ask.
Instead, she said, “What’s a Solstice party?”
“Summer solstice. The longest day of the year. It’s a holiday for the Night People. Like Groundhog Day for humans.”
“Why?”
“Oh, it always has been. It’s very magical, you know. I’d take you to the party, but it would be too dangerous. Thierry’s a vampire Elder.” Then he said, “Here’s the volcano.”
It was a volcano. In front of a hotel. Waterfalls crashed down its sides, and red lights shone from the cone. Ash double-parked across the street.
“You see, we’ve got a great view right here,” he said. “All the comforts of home.”
The volcano was emitting rumbling sounds. As Poppy watched in disbelief, a pillar of fire shot out of the top. Real fire. Then the waterfalls caught fire. Red and gold flames spread down the sides of the black rock until the entire lake around the volcano was ablaze.
“Inspiring, isn’t it?” Ash asked, very close to her ear.
“Well—it’s…”
“Thrilling?” Ash inquired. “Stimulating? Rousing?” His arm was creeping around her, and his voice was sweetly hypnotic.
Poppy didn’t say anything.
“You know,” Ash murmured, “you can see a lot better if you get over here. I don’t mind crowding.” His arm was urging her gently but inevitably closer. His breath ruffled her hair.
Poppy slammed an elbow into his stomach.
“Hey!” Ash yelped—in genuine pain, Poppy thought. Good.
He’d dropped his arm and now he was looking at her with aggrieved brown eyes, “What did you do that for?”
“Because I felt like it,” Poppy said smartly. She was tingling with new blood and ready for a fight. “Look, Ash, I don’t know what gave you the idea that I’m your date here. But I’m telling you right now that I’m not.”
Ash tilted his head and smiled painfully. “You just don’t know me well enough,” he offered. “When we get to know each other—”
“No. Never. I’m not interested in other guys. If I can’t have James…” Poppy had to stop and steady her voice. “There’s nobody else I want,” she said finally, flatly. “Nobody.”
“Well, not now, maybe, but—”
“Never.” She didn’t know how to explain. Then she had an idea. “You know the soulmate principle?”
Ash opened his mouth and then shut it. Opened it again. “Oh, no. Not that garbage.”
“Yes. James is my soulmate. I’m sorry if it sounds stupid, but it’s true.”
Ash put a hand to his forehead. Then he started to laugh. “You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“And that’s your final word.”
“Yes.”
Ash laughed again, sighed, and cast his eyes upward. “Okay. Okay. I should have known.” He chuckled in what seemed like self-derision.
Poppy was relieved. She’d been afraid he’d be disgruntled and huffy—or mean. Despite his charm, she could always feel something cold running below the surface in Ash, like an icy river.
But now he seemed perfectly good-humored. “Okay,” he said. “So if romance isn’t on the menu, let’s go to the party.”
“I thought you said it was too dangerous.”
He waved a hand. “That was a little fib. To get you alone, you know.” He glanced sideways at her. “Sorry.”
Poppy hesitated. She didn’t care about a party. But she didn’t want to be alone with Ash, either.
“Maybe you should just take me back to your cousins’ place.”
“They won’t be there,” Ash said. “I’m sure they’ve gone to the party by now. Oh, come on, it’ll be fun. Give me a chance to make things up to you.”
Thin curls of uneasiness were roiling inside Poppy. But Ash looked so penitent and persuasive…and what other choice did she have?
“Okay,” she said finally. “For just a little while.”
Ash gave a dazzling smile. “Just a very little while,” he said.
“So they could be anywhere on the Strip,” James said.
Thea sighed. “I’m sorry. I should have known Ash was up to something. But hijacking your girlfriend…” She lifted her hands in a what-next gesture. “For what it’s worth, she didn’t seem very interested in him. If he’s planning to put the moves on her, he’s going to get a surprise.”
Yes, James thought, and so is she. Poppy was only useful to Ash as long as Ash thought he could play with her. Once he realized he couldn’t…
He didn’t want to think about what would happen then. A quick visit to the nearest Elder, he supposed.
His heart was pounding, and there was a ringing in his ears.
“Did Blaise go with them?” he asked.
“No, she went to the Solstice party. She tried to get Ash to go, but he said he wanted
to show Poppy the town.” Thea paused, raising a finger. “Wait—you might check at the party. Ash said he might stop in later.”
James spent a moment forcing himself to breathe. Then he said, very gently, “And just who is giving this party?”
“Thierry Descouedres. He always has a big one.”
“And he’s an Elder.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Never mind.” James backed out of the shop. “Thanks for the help. I’ll be in touch.”
“James…” She looked at him helplessly. “Do you want to come in and sit down? You don’t look very well….”
“I’m fine,” James said, already out the door.
In the car he said, “You can get up now.”
Phillip emerged from the floor of the backseat where he’d been hiding. “What’s happening? You were gone a long time.”
“I think I know where Poppy is.”
“You just think?”
“Shut up, Phil.” He didn’t have energy for exchanging insults. He was entirely focused on Poppy.
“Okay, so where is she?”
James spoke precisely. “She is either now, or she will be later, at a party. A very large party, filled with vampires. And at least one Elder. The perfect place to expose her.”
Phil gulped. “And you think that’s what Ash is going to do?”
“I know that’s what Ash is going to do.”
“Then we’ve got to stop him.”
“We may be too late.”
The party was strange. Poppy was amazed at how young most of the people were. There were a few scattered adults, but far more teenagers.
“Made vampires,” Ash explained obligingly. Poppy remembered what James had said—made vampires remained forever the age of their death, but lamia could stop aging anytime. She supposed that meant that James could get as old as he wanted, while she would be stuck at sixteen eternally. Not that it mattered. If she and James were going to be together, they could both stay young—but apart, maybe he’d want to age.
But it was odd to see a guy who looked about nineteen talking earnestly with a little kid who looked about four. The kid was cute, with shiny black hair and tilted eyes, but there was something at once innocent and cruel in his expression.
“Let’s see, now that’s Circe. A witch of renown. And that’s Sekhmet, a shapeshifter. You don’t want to get her mad,” Ash said genially. He and Poppy were standing in a little anteroom, looking down a level into the main room of the house. Of the mansion, rather. It was the most opulent private residence Poppy had ever seen—and she’d seen Bel Air and Beverly Hills.
“Okay,” Poppy said, looking in the general direction he was pointing. She saw two tall and lovely girls, but she had no idea which was which.
“And that’s Thierry, our host. He’s an Elder.”
An Elder? The guy Ash was indicating didn’t seem older than nineteen. He was beautiful, like all the vampires, tall and blond and pensive. Almost sad-looking.
“How old is he?”
“Oh, I forget. He got bitten by an ancestress of mine a long time ago. Back when people lived in caves.”
Poppy thought he was joking. But maybe not.
“What do the Elders do, exactly?”
“They just make rules. And see that people keep them.” An odd smile was playing around Ash’s lips. He turned to look directly at Poppy.
With the black eyes of a snake.
That was when Poppy knew.
She backed away rapidly. But Ash came after her, just as rapidly. She saw a door on the other side of the anteroom and headed for it. Got through it. Only to find herself on a balcony.
With her eyes, she measured the distance to the ground. But before she could make another move, Ash had her arm.
Don’t fight yet, her mind counseled desperately. He’s strong. Wait for an opportunity.
She made herself relax a fraction and met Ash’s dark gaze. “You brought me here.”
“Yes.”
“To hand me over.”
He smiled.
“But why?”
Ash threw back his head and laughed. It was lovely, melodious laughter, and it made Poppy sick.
“You’re a human,” he said. “Or you should be. James should never have done what he did.”
Poppy’s heart was racing, but heir mind was oddly clear. Maybe she’d known all along that this was what he was going to do. Maybe it was even the right thing to do. If she couldn’t be with James and she couldn’t be with her family, did the rest really matter? Did she want to live in the Night World if it was full of people like Blaise and Ash?
“So you don’t care about James, either,” she said. “You’re willing to put him in danger to get rid of me.”
Ash considered, then grinned, “James can take care of himself,” he said.
Which was obviously Ash’s entire philosophy. Everybody took care of themselves, and nobody helped anybody else.
“And Blaise knew, too,” Poppy said. “She knew what you were going to do and she didn’t care.”
“Not much gets past Blaise,” Ash said. He started to say something else—and Poppy saw her chance.
She kicked—hard. And twisted at the same time. Trying to get over the balcony rail.
“Stay here,” James said to Phil before the car had even stopped. They were in front of a huge white mansion fringed with palm trees. James threw the door open, but took the time to say again, “Stay here. No matter what happens, don’t go in that house. And if somebody besides me comes up to the car, drive away.”
“But—”
“Just do it, Phil! Unless you want to find out about death firsthand—tonight.”
James set out at a dead run for the mansion. He was too intent to really notice the sound of a car door opening behind him.
“And you looked like such a nice girl,” Ash gasped. He had both of Poppy’s arms behind her back and was trying to get out of the range of her feet. “No—no, quit that, now.”
He was too strong. There was nothing Poppy could do. Inch by inch he was dragging her back into the anteroom.
You might as well give up, Poppy’s mind told her. It’s useless. You’re done.
She could picture the whole thing: herself being dragged out in front of all of those sleek and handsome Night People and revealed. She could picture their pitiless eyes. That pensive-looking guy would walk up to her and his face would change and he wouldn’t look pensive anymore. He’d look savage. His teeth would grow. His eyes would go silvery. Then he’d snarl—and strike.
And that would be the end of Poppy.
Maybe that wasn’t the way they did it, maybe they executed criminals some other way in the Night World. But it wouldn’t be pleasant, whatever it was.
And I won’t make it easy for you! Poppy thought. She thought it directly at Ash, throwing all of her anger and grief and betrayal at him. Instinctively. Like a kid shouting in a temper tantrum.
Except it had an effect shouting usually didn’t.
Ash flinched. He almost lost his grip on her arms.
It was only a momentary weakening, but it was enough for Poppy’s eyes to widen.
I hurt him. I hurt him!
She stopped struggling physically in that same instant. She put all her concentration, all her energy, into a mental explosion. A thought-bomb.
LET GO OF ME, YOU ROTTEN VAMPIRE CREEP!
Ash staggered. Poppy did it again, this time making her thought a fire hose, a high-power Jetstream bombardment.
LET GOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Ash let go. Then, as Poppy ran out of steam, he tried in a fumbling way to reach her again.
“I don’t think so,” a voice as cold as steel said. Poppy looked into the anteroom and saw James.
Her heart lurched violently. And then, without consciously being aware of moving, she was in his arms.
Oh, James, how did you find me?
All he kept saying was, Are you all right?
“Yes,” Poppy said
finally, aloud. It was indescribably good to be with him again, to be held by him. Like waking up from a nightmare to see your mother smiling. She buried her face in his neck.
“You’re sure you’re all right?”
“Yes. Yes.”
“Good. Then just hang on a moment while I kill this guy and we’ll go.”
He was absolutely serious. Poppy could feel it in his thoughts, in every muscle and sinew of his body. He wanted to murder Ash.
She lifted her head at the sound of Ash’s laugh.
“Well, it ought to be a good fight, anyway,” Ash said.
No, Poppy thought. Ash was looking silky and dangerous and in a very bad mood. And even if James could beat him, James was going to get hurt. Even if she and James fought him together, there was going to be some damage.
“Let’s just go,” she said to James. “Quick.” She added silently, I think he wants to keep us around until somebody from the party gets here.
“No, no,” Ash said, in gloatingly enthusiastic tones. “Let’s settle this like vampires.”
“Let’s not,” said a breathless familiar voice. Poppy’s head jerked around. Climbing over the railing of the balcony, dusty but triumphant, was Phil.
“Don’t you ever listen?” James said to him.
“Well, well,” Ash said. “A human in an Elder’s house. What are we going to do about that?”
“Look, buddy,” Phil said, still breathless, brushing off his hands. “I don’t know who you are or what horse you rode in on. But that’s my sister there you’re messing with, and I figure I’ve got the first right to knock your head off.”
There was a pause while Poppy, James, and Ash all looked at him. The pause stretched. Poppy was aware of a sudden, completely inappropriate impulse to laugh. Then she realized that James was fighting desperately not to crack a smile.
Ash just looked Phil up and down, then looked at James sideways.
“Does this guy understand about vampires?” he said.
“Oh, yeah,” James said blandly.
“And he’s going to knock my head in?”
“Yeah,” Phil said, and cracked his knuckles. “What’s so surprising about that?”
There was another pause. Poppy could feel minute tremors going through James. Choked-back laughter. At last James said, admirably sober, “Phil really feels strongly about his sister.”