Rival
Page 9
I mouth a “thank you” to her as she follows Candy away. And then I can’t help myself—I turn to look for him.
The heat and pulsing blood of this many bodies should be making me crazy. Bloodlust can be a tricky enemy, after all. But I’ve never been a normal vampire. Through all the rapid heartbeats on the dance floor I zero in on the one I can’t seem to ignore, no matter how hard I try.
Shane Campton.
My eyes track to the guy-who’s-not-my-date-but-I-really-wish-he-was, and I glimpse his stylishly-mussed chestnut hair across the dance floor. Our eyes connect, his sparkling blue to my green.
Every time. Every time he looks at me I feel something. Like alive. How does he do that?
I raise my glass to him. But he doesn’t smile or wave, like I expect. He freezes and a look of horror crosses his face, but before I can tell what’s happening, someone dances between us and I lose sight of him.
At that same instant, a strong hand grips my throat from behind and something pierces my side just beneath my ribcage. Warm, sticky blood seeps down the side of my new, flirty dress.
“Hiya,” growls a deep voice.
I don’t recognize it, but I know the scent, and it means trouble.
Vampires. Here?
I struggle against the massive arms pinning me in place, but I can’t move. My only thought is getting my E.W. kids out of here before they get hurt.
Across the room, gunshots erupt and another voice yells above the pulsing music for everyone to exit the building. Relief speeds my heart while everything around me slows. They aren’t here for my kids.
Only able to move my eyes, I scan the room and count six other vamps with weapons around the dance floor. Knives, guns, baseball bats.
All of this for me? Why?
Amazingly, the kids clear out. Someone shuts off the music and the silence is eerie in contrast to the noise from just moments ago.
My eyes fly to a familiar form standing in front of the outer doors, as if to keep the vamps away from the kids who have just left. My heart stutters.
Shane. What is he doing? As I watch, he pulls a wicked-looking silver blade from his boot.
What?
Now is not the time to play hero! Not for a human facing vampires. He doesn’t stand a chance.
I glare at him, trying to tell him with my eyes to get the heck out of here, but he stays.
Sizing up the vamps in Shane’s vicinity, I try to gauge how much time there is before I absolutely have to be over there. The vamps are large and muscled, but don’t look particularly intelligent. That’s an advantage, but seven-to-one isn’t going to be easy.
I don’t even want to think about what Shane will think when he sees the real me. But the other choice is letting him die and I can’t do that.
The knife in my side twists. Apparently the goon behind me wants a show. I play along, yelping, pretending to be in pain. It hurts, but it’s a flesh wound, and I’m still trying to figure a way out of this without getting Shane killed.
To my horror, it seems Shane intends to play along too. He steps in our direction, but he’s immediately intercepted by two of the meatheads, although they don’t touch him. Interesting.
“Did you really think you could gallivant around with someone like him, and the rest of us wouldn’t notice?” the voice behind me screams.
“What’re you talking about?”
The hand tightens around my throat, cutting off my oxygen. “Don’t play dumb with me, cutie. You’re already making me late for dinner.”
I don’t have to fake the confusion I feel. I stay out of the way of other vampires, and in exchange they let me live my peaceful life. That’s how it’s worked for two-and-a-half years, so why am I being attacked tonight?
“Don’t. Know. What. You. Mean.” I gasp the words, unable to get enough air into my burning lungs.
“You’ve been hanging around with a Chaser!” the vamp screeches. “Surely you didn’t think we would just let that go?”
A Chaser? No way. Chasers track and kill vampires. I am a vampire. Therefore, I don’t hang out with Chasers. Not since the mid-nineteenth century, anyway.
Movement across the dance floor pulls my attention up, although it’s getting hard to concentrate with my body begging me to change.
Shane’s in a scuffle with one of the vamps. He punches the monster in the face, breaking his nose, and disarms him. A human shouldn’t be able to fight with a vampire—humans don’t have the skills for something like that. Unless—
Unless…
He’s a Chaser.
The moment I think it, I can’t deny it.
Shane Campton, the guy-who’s-not-my-date-but-I-really-wish-he-was, is a Chaser.
And I’m a vampire.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With thanks to first-readers Haley, Sara, and Jessica, and extreme gratefulness to my editor, Robin. Ladies, this book wouldn’t be what it is today without your time and comments. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LACY YAGER is a pseudonym for Lacy Williams, who also writes Inspirational romance under that name. As the oldest of three siblings, Lacy exhibits most of the typical first-child characteristics and has always loved to boss around her younger siblings. Now that she's married with two kids and three dogs, she has plenty of people to play house with!
During high school, Lacy completed the course WRITING FOR CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS from the Institute of Children's Literature. After she graduated college, Lacy got serious about her writing career and joined the American Christian Fiction Writers. When presented with the opportunity to write mainstream YA with her younger sister, Lacy couldn't say no.
Lacy's books have finaled in the RT Book Reviews Reviewers' Choice Awards (2012, 2013, & 2014), the Golden Quill and the Booksellers Best Award.