Ritual

by Alex Duval

  “Well, you’re a jerk,” Dani said mildly. “Now I have to find my table on my own. I’ve totally lost Kristy and Billy in the crowd.”

  “I can help you find it,” said a tall guy with a mask that looked vaguely Egyptian. It covered his entire face. “It would be my pleasure.”

  Danielle gazed up at him for a moment. “Do I know you?”

  “Not yet,” the guy said. He offered her his arm, and Dani took it with a smile. They walked off together without a backward glance.

  “Okay, spill,” Adam said when she was gone. “What’s the deal with the psychic fair?”

  “No one knows I was there but Dani, Kristy, and you. But Tamburo’s joke implied that he knew too,” Jason said.

  “But if nobody told him, how can he know?” Adam asked.

  “There’s only one way,” Jason said grimly. “He found the ticket stubs—which were in my wallet when the crossbow killer took it!”

  “You mean …” Adam blanched.

  “Tamburo is the crossbow killer,” Jason said. “He’s the vampire hunter. And he’s going to kill Sienna.”

  SIXTEEN

  Jason practically flew out of the castle. “Keys,” he snapped at the closest valet. He fumbled in his pocket, pulled out the ticket, and thrust it at the guy in the white jacket. “Just the keys. I see my car. I’ll get it.” He shoved a twenty into the dude’s hand to get him motivated, and the guy quickly turned toward a board full of keys and started looking for Jason’s.

  The valet threw him his keys just as a hand clapped down on Jason’s shoulder. Instinctively, Jason wrenched himself away and spun around to see Brad, without the mask this time.

  “Freeman,” he said. “We need to talk. I—”

  “Later,” Jason interrupted, running for his car. He leaped into the Bug, slammed the key into the ignition, and powered out of the lot. At least there didn’t seem to be much traffic on the roads.

  Which way am I supposed to turn? Jason wondered when he reached the Pacific Coast Highway. Where is Tamburo taking her? One thing he was sure of was that they definitely weren’t heading for police headquarters. But that’s where Sienna thought she was going, so Jason decided to head toward the station. He was betting that Tamburo would at least start out in that direction so that he wouldn’t panic Sienna right off.

  He floored the gas, taking a yellow light and the very beginning of a red to a chorus of honks. Okay, okay, there it was: Tamburo’s anti-subtle, Vegas-baby 1967 Eldorado. The taillights were still quite a way ahead of him, but they were pretty distinctive. He was sure it was the right car. Jason let up on the speed and let the Bug slide in behind an SUV. He didn’t want Tamburo to spot him. He was going to need the element of surprise.

  Tamburo turned inland at Las Flores Canyon Road. It wasn’t exactly the way to get to the station—not the fastest way—but it wasn’t exactly the wrong way, either. Jason followed, losing his SUV cover. He slowed down a little more, letting a new-skool Bug in front of him.

  Then Tamburo turned east, into the canyon.

  Exactly the wrong way.

  Jason could feel adrenaline rushing through his body as he followed Tamburo around the sneaky curves, climbing up the canyon. Where exactly was he taking Sienna? How was she doing up there? She had to know something was very wrong by now. Jason sped up a little, hoping for just a glimpse of her.

  As he put on a little speed, the Eldorado put on a lot of speed.

  “Crap!” Jason muttered, realizing Tamburo had spotted him. There was only one thing to do. Jason pushed down on the gas as far as he dared with the tight turns taking them higher and higher. Just a little faster, he told himself. Just a little bit faster. The Bug was a good car for taking curves, but Tamburo’s boat of a car had a more powerful engine. The hills didn’t slow it down at all.

  Jason stamped down on the gas, silently urging the VW on, but it was no match for Tamburo’s car. On the uphill, Jason fell farther and farther behind. Luckily, they reached a crest a few seconds later.

  Now I can catch up, Jason thought.

  He sped downhill, getting right on Tamburo’s tail. There was no point in hiding now—it was clear Tamburo was onto him.

  Tamburo pulled into the left lane on the two-lane road, away from the edge of the cliff, and pushed the Eldorado even harder. Jason raced after him, determined not to lose the bigger car. Tamburo braked to take a curve, and the Bug slid up alongside. Jason shot a quick glance over at Sienna. She was gripping the dashboard with both hands and she was shouting something at the killer, but she was okay.

  A pair of headlights came around the corner, heading straight for Tamburo. It was an eighteen-wheeler and it was thundering right at him.

  Perfect, Jason thought. Tamburo will have to slow down now. Jason dropped back, allowing room for the Eldorado to pull back into the right lane in front of him. But Tamburo was too slow.

  The Eldorado’s brakes squealed as Tamburo braked and swerved at the last minute.

  The eighteen-wheeler’s horn let out a long, panicked blast.

  Then the Eldorado spun, slid, flipped—and disappeared over the edge of the canyon.

  SEVENTEEN

  The truck driver either didn’t see or didn’t care what had happened to the Eldorado, because he carried on down the road, barely even slowing down. But Jason’s hands shook on the wheel as he pulled the Bug over to the side of the road and stopped. He didn’t bother with the door. He vaulted out of the convertible, ignoring the pain in his chest, and dashed over to the edge of the cliff.

  His eyes went immediately to the Eldorado. It lay halfway down the hillside like a dead thing. The top had buckled, and smoke was snaking out from under the hood. Jason realized that he had to get Sienna out of there in case the whole thing blew.

  She’s going to be okay, Jason told himself as he half-slid, half-scrambled down the cliff. The hillside was covered in the scrubby little bushes that dotted all the cliffs around Malibu, and sharp branches scratched at Jason’s legs, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was Sienna. She has to be okay. She can survive anything but a stake through the heart, right? he reminded himself. She’s going to be fine.

  Jason skidded to a stop next to the Eldorado and crouched down to peer in through the passenger-side window. Sienna hung suspended by her seat belt, her long hair hiding her face. His gaze slid lower, and that’s when he saw the blood—so much blood! He couldn’t see where it was coming from, but the front of Sienna’s gown was soaked a deep crimson.

  He looked past her, trying to see Tamburo. Was he conscious? It was impossible to tell.

  “Hang on, Sienna!” Jason shouted, pounding on the window. “I’m getting you out of there!” He thought she might have moved a little at the sound of his voice, but he wasn’t sure.

  He grabbed the door handle and yanked, bolts of pain shooting out from his chest wound. Then he realized the door was locked. Of course it was locked. What was he thinking?

  “Sienna!” he yelled. “You’ve got to unlock the door!” Sienna didn’t move. Jason scanned the ground and grabbed the biggest rock he could find. He slammed it against Sienna’s window again and again and again.

  The acrid smell of something synthetic burning filled his nose and worked its way down to his lungs. He realized that he didn’t have much time. The car could go up like a torch at any second. “Sienna!” Jason yelled again. And, suddenly, Sienna turned her face toward him.

  “Unlock the door. I have to get you out of there!” Jason shouted. Her hand reached in the wrong direction. Jason tapped the spot where the lock was. “You’re flipped. It’s up here.”

  A few seconds later, Sienna had the door unlocked. Jason grabbed the handle and pulled. The door opened about a foot, then snagged in the dirt. Jason braced his foot against the car and pulled again. He felt the stitches in his chest rip open as he jerked the door inch by inch through the earth.

  Finally, he thought he’d pried the door open far enough. The fumes searing his lungs, Jason leaned
into the car. “I’ve got you,” he murmured as he carefully unbuckled Sienna’s seat belt. She slid into his arms, unconscious, and as carefully, and as quickly, as he could, Jason maneuvered her body out of the car.

  Sienna’s blood soaked into the front of his shirt as he carried her away from the smoldering wreck. When he was sure that she was a safe distance away, he gently put her down. He let himself look at her for a long moment, then he turned back to the car. Fingers of flame were reaching out from under the hood. If he wanted to get Tamburo out, Jason knew he didn’t have much time.

  He was moving toward the Eldorado before he’d consciously decided to save the man. Jason didn’t even know if Tamburo was alive to save, but actually it didn’t matter. He had to at least try. The thought of leaving anyone to be burned alive made his stomach heave. If Tamburo survived, Jason figured he’d let the cops deal with him.

  Jason had to crawl into the car himself to release the detective from his seat belt. The smoke was thick inside the car now. The fumes felt as if they had replaced every molecule of oxygen. Jason couldn’t tell if Tamburo was unconscious or dead as he dragged the man out of the car and away from the wreckage, and he didn’t stop to check. All he wanted was to get Tamburo clear and get himself back over to Sienna.

  He’d just about decided he’d got Tamburo far enough away from the car to be safe, when there was a whomp and a blast of searing air knocked Jason over as the car exploded. “You’re on your own,” Jason muttered to Tamburo, leaving the cop lying on the hillside behind a large boulder as he ran back to Sienna.

  “You’re going to be okay now,” Jason said as he dropped to his knees beside her. “I’m here.” He was worried by the sight of all the blood. It looked as though Sienna’s body had lost more blood than it could possibly have held! His eyes darted over her, looking for the source. Then he spotted a ragged cut on the inside of her right elbow. It had caught an artery, and she was losing blood so quickly that even the ability to heal super-fast, which Jason knew all vampires had, couldn’t save her. Sienna was bleeding out.

  Jason jerked off his shirt and used his teeth to start some tears in the fabric. Then he ripped off a few strips of the cloth. He could feel some of his own blood trickling down his chest from his wound, but he ignored it. He rested Sienna’s wrist against his shoulder to elevate her arm while he bandaged it.

  The bandage went red with blood almost instantly. Jason wrapped another strip of cloth over the first one. Then, remembering the first aid his old swim coach had taught the team, he wrapped a third strip of cloth around Sienna’s arm and pulled it tight, in an attempt to push the artery closed against the bone in her upper arm. He must have been at least partially successful, because the bleeding seemed to lessen considerably. Sienna’s eyelids fluttered, and she gave a soft moan, but she didn’t regain consciousness.

  Jason could see that Sienna needed help. Her face was drained of color, even her lips. And the second bandage was already turning red. He pulled his cell out of his pocket: zero bars—no service. He slid Sienna’s cell out of the tiny purse she wore over her shoulder: smashed.

  Jason stared at the top of the cliff. He could climb back up there, try to flag down a car. Maybe the driver of the 18-wheeler had even called for help. But he didn’t want to leave Sienna.

  What am I supposed to do? What in the hell am I supposed to do? Jason wondered desperately. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. And, suddenly, he realized that he had the answer: his heartbeat, his blood! Sienna needed blood, and she had a particularly effective way of getting it.

  Immediately, Jason brought his wrist to Sienna’s lips. She didn’t react.

  “Sienna, bite me. Drink my blood. I want you to drink it,” he pleaded. He nudged her lips with his wrist. Nothing. Was she too far gone? Was she going to die right there in front of him?

  Jason wasn’t about to let that happen. He pulled his car keys out of his pocket and reached for the little Swiss Army knife key chain. He flipped open the blade and used it to nick his wrist. A few droplets of blood sprang to the surface.

  Jason thrust his wrist in front of Sienna’s mouth again. This time, her lips twitched. Then she bit into him and began to feed, fast and hard, drawing the blood out of his veins.

  It was nothing like the time Erin Henry had fed on him. Jason hadn’t been aware of the blood leaving his body then. He’d just felt dizzy and drunk and … ecstatically oblivious. This time he was aware of the small sharp pain of Sienna’s teeth piercing his skin, of his blood racing through his veins at an accelerated speed. And it was slightly terrifying. She needs this, Jason reminded himself. She has almost nothing left.

  Sienna’s dark eyes snapped open. She stared up at Jason blankly and he wasn’t sure if she recognized him. Was it shock? Jason wondered whether, in her current condition, Sienna would be able to stop. Maybe she needed so much blood that she would have to keep drinking now. Would she be taken over by the bloodlust? Would she drain him completely?

  He thought about pulling away, but he didn’t know how to tell if she’d had enough. He had to trust her. She will stop, won’t she? he thought, starting to feel slightly light-headed himself.

  Sienna’s sharp teeth didn’t release his wrist.

  Jason tried to say her name, but a wave of dizziness spun him away. Blackness crept into the edges of his vision, and he felt himself sliding into unconsciousness….

  EIGHTEEN

  Jason felt Sienna jerk her head away from his wrist. Slowly his vision cleared and he struggled back to full consciousness. He looked anxiously down at Sienna and was relieved to see that pink had seeped back into her lips and cheeks. She brought her fingers to her mouth and held them up in front of her. They were stained with a few drops of his blood. “What did I do?” she whispered, sounding horrified.

  “What I wanted you to do,” he said quickly. “What you needed to do. You and Tamburo were in a car crash. Do you remember? You’d lost a lot of blood.”

  “But how much have I drunk?” Sienna asked. “It must have been a lot.”

  “I’ve still got plenty,” Jason told her. He thought it was true. His head felt like it was slowly bobbing up and down, but he was alive, and she was alive, and that was all that mattered.

  He tossed her his shirt. “You might need another bandage on your arm. I need to go check whether Tamburo’s still alive. Just rest, okay?”

  Jason pushed himself to his feet and cautiously crossed the few feet to the killer. He’d seen a lot of horror movies and he half-expected the man to suddenly leap to his feet and attack. But Tamburo lay motionless.

  “Hey!” Jason said, kneeling down and checking the side of Tamburo’s neck for a pulse.

  “Is he dead?” Sienna called. She was sitting up now, staring over at him, her face expressionless.

  Jason kept his fingers pressed to the detective’s neck for a few moments more, just to be sure. “Yeah,” he answered at last. “He’s dead.”

  Sienna let out a long, shuddering sigh as Jason walked back over to her. “Adam was right about the crossbow killer being a vampire hunter,” she said. “But even he didn’t figure out that the killer was the detective who was supposedly looking for the killer.”

  “How did you figure it out?” Jason asked.

  “I didn’t exactly have to,” Sienna admitted. “It didn’t take me long to realize we weren’t going to the police station. When I asked Tamburo why, he just told me. He said I was going to make the perfect kill for the full moon. He wanted to come out here to do it right. I guess there’s some kind of ritual or something. The guy was seriously whacked.”

  “Tell me about it,” Jason said, glancing down at his chest wound. It had mostly stopped bleeding.

  “What I don’t understand is how he knew to come looking for vampires here,” Sienna said. “I mean, we’ve been in Malibu for generations and no one’s come after us before. We didn’t even know there were any hunters.”

  “I have an idea about that,” Jason admitted. “I think m
aybe Tamburo knew about the chalice. I mean, it’s a pretty ancient artifact. I guess a few vampire hunters still exist and they try to trace items like that, hoping they’ll lead to vampires. He could have been the guy who bought it, and when the pawnbroker said someone wanted it back, he probably guessed that that someone would be a vampire. I think he was watching me the day I went to get the chalice back from the pawnbroker. I had a feeling at the time that somebody was.”

  “So that’s why Tamburo went after you in the first place,” Sienna said. “He thought you were one of us—because you bought the chalice.”

  “I think so,” Jason agreed, suddenly realizing there was something he ought to do. Quickly, he went back over to Tamburo and searched through the detective’s pockets for the wallet the killer had taken from him. He soon found it—along with something else….

  “Tamburo’s receipt for the chalice is right here,” Jason told Sienna. “So he obviously was the guy who bought the chalice from the pawnbroker originally.” He crumpled up the receipt as he walked over to Sienna. “And this is my wallet that Tamburo stole from me,” he went on. “And in it is this.” He handed her a folded piece of paper. “It’s a list of possible vampires that Adam and I made when we first discovered there were vampires living in DeVere Heights.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry, Sienna. We practically handed him your names and addresses.”

  Sienna sighed. “Don’t worry, I won’t mention it to the others,” she said, sounding tired but not angry. “After all, have you forgotten that you got shot too?”

  “That’s true. I wonder why Tamburo never tried to take another shot at me,” Jason said.

  Sienna smiled. “The amount of time you’ve been taking to heal from one little, tiny crossbow wound would have told him not to bother,” she answered. “You clearly aren’t a vampire. But no more lists of people who are, okay?”

  Jason nodded. “Of course!” he said. “Now, give me that list.”