Slayed (11 page)

“Oh, for God’s sake, what are you, two?” Kiki chides. “Who cares what your parents say?” She sticks her arm out and motions toward Tyler’s phone. “Call your father,” she commands.

Tyler nods. “Okay.” He opens his phone and pushes a button. “Uh, Dad,” he says after a few seconds. “I don’t need a ride.” He turns his back to us. “I’ll be right there—I just have to do something. Just something, okay? I know, I’ll be there.”

He listens for a few more seconds and then shuts the
phone. Kiki opens the door, and as he approaches, grabs the sleeve of his coat and pulls him to the limo. He takes the seat opposite me and she shuts the door. “Sam, could you take us to the hotel?”

“Yes, Miss Crusher.”

“Thanks, big guy.”

Tyler looks around the limo appreciatively. He’s dressed in head-to-toe black again, and the guy-liner is back. He’s wearing some sort of cologne that pleasantly reminds me of ginger snaps. He rubs his hands over the soft leather seats. “Not bad.”

“It’s the
only
way to hunt vampires,” Kiki says. She points to the large thermos of coffee as the limo pulls away from the curb. “Interested?”

“Thanks, that’d be …” His eyes widen as he finally takes a good look at us. “Whoa, what happened to you two?”

My face flushes as I remember it looks like I’ve been through a wood chipper. I peek at my reflection in the tinted window. Half of my hair has come unbraided and is sticking out at odd angles, I have a red welt across one cheek, and the bite marks on my chest are visible. I quickly zip the bloody hoodie all the way.

Kiki gapes at him. “I think the real question is what
didn’t
happen to you? Do you see him, Daphne? Not a scratch!” She gives Tyler a once-over and then draws her
lips back in an exaggerated grimace. “Oooooh,” she says drawing out the word. “I’m sorry. You struck out.” She sits up proudly and smirks at me. “Looks like Team Van Helsing is
kicking your butt
. We already dispatched four vampires.”

She raises a palm in my direction and I reluctantly high-five her.

His lips turn up into a smug smile. “Actually, I cleaned all five houses on my list for a total of six vampires.”

Kiki’s mouth drops open. “Are you shitting us?”

I stare at him in disbelief. “Six? Already?”

He leans back into the seat, flashing a cocky smile. “You can check with the vampire task-force agents if you don’t believe me.”

Kiki looks back and forth between Tyler and me. “Okay, you seriously need to tell us what we’re doing wrong because we got our asses handed to us today.”

“We got
four
! That’s only two less than he did.”

“But look at us,” she shoots back. “And you got bitten!”

My face flushes even deeper. “Didn’t have to mention that,” I say through the corner of my mouth.

I see him eyeing my neck for signs of a bite and I’m glad the vamp got me in the chest so the telltale marks aren’t so visible. He shifts uncomfortably and looks away.

“So what are you doing that we aren’t?” Kiki asks.

He tilts his head so his bangs hang down and cover his eyes. “I, uh, really don’t like to talk about it, okay?”

“Come on,” Kiki says. “Don’t be all ‘super secret slayer’ on us. We need help.”

“No, we
don’t
.”

She holds out her hands in front of my face. “I broke
six
nails today, Daphne. With this crazy schedule you have me on, when I am supposed to go to the salon?” She turns to Tyler. “Details, please!”

Tyler has a pained expression on his face like he’d rather get his butt kicked by a vampire than tell us anything. “I can’t. It’s beyond embarrassing,” he says quietly. “And
really
twisted.”

Kiki leans in toward him. “You don’t know ‘embarrassing’ and ‘twisted’ until you’ve danced backup in a thirty pound unicorn costume while singing songs about
fruit
and
puppies
.”

He stares at her.

“Long story,” she says, leaning back. “Anyway … who better to understand than us? Right, Daphne?”

I nod. I have to admit I’m curious. I mean, there isn’t a scratch on him.

He straightens his trench coat and purses his lips.

“We’re here for you,” she coos. “And if I knew some
surefire way to kill vampires without getting the WWE treatment, I would tell
you
.”

He gives me a sullen look.

“So would I,” I say begrudgingly. “This is kill or be killed, after all.”

He lets out a long breath. “Okay.” He taps his foot a few times on the floor. “You know how there’s people who, you know, let vampires feed on them?”

Kiki and I exchange looks and I know we’re both wondering where he’s going with this.

“Yeah,” we respond in unison.

“Well, some of those people have formed a group, The Ankh Society, and they have a certain look and way of dressing that tells a vampire you’ll let them feed.”

Kiki grimaces. “After what I’ve seen today I can’t believe anyone would
let
them do that. What’s in it for the Ankh weirdos?”

“It’s supposed to feel
really
good,” he says without enthusiasm. “Really, really good.”

Kiki’s mouth opens and she points a finger in my face. “You lied to me!”

I hold my hands out as I feel my cheeks turn to crimson. The last thing I wanted was for Kiki or Tyler Harker to know I got off on a vampire bite.

“I said getting bitten ‘sucked.’ I just didn’t tell you I
was being
literal
. And it was for your own protection, what with you and your obsession with getting a supernatural
booty call
,” I insist.

Tyler appraises us with a bemused smile.

“It’s not funny!” I snap.

His smile disappears and he shakes his head. “Sorry, I’ve just never heard the term ‘supernatural booty call’ before.”

Kiki giggles and I can’t stop the corners of my mouth from turning up. “She thought she wanted a vampire boyfriend because of what she’d read in some books.”

Tyler turns away and hangs his head, but I can see his smile grow.

Kiki folds her arms across her ample chest. “Well, after today’s events I have lost
any
interest I had in hooking up with a vampire. I am still holding out for a roll in the hay with Big Foot. You know what they say, big feet, big—”

“Kiki,” I squeal, swatting her on the arm.

She laughs. “So how do you join this Ankh Society? Not that I want to,” she adds, glaring at me through narrowed eyes.

Tyler shuffles his boots on the plush carpet. “You have to get someone in the group to sponsor you and take you to get ‘bled’ a number of times.”

Bile creeps up my throat and the light mood is gone. “How many times?”

“Thirteen—clever, huh?” he says sarcastically. “Your sponsor keeps track.”

I put a hand to my mouth. “Did
you …
”

He shakes his head and his cheeks burn like they’ve been set on fire. “My dad did it,” he says quietly. “And my mom. This was hers.” He pulls out a necklace from under his shirt revealing an Egyptian ankh—the symbol of eternal life. He turns the ankh over to show us two long gauge marks on the back. “Your thirteenth vampire marks the back of one of these with its teeth. You flash this and any vampire will believe you’re willing to supply them with what they need. Their guard is down, they move in close—and then you stake them.”

“Wow,” Kiki says. “And since you kill them they can’t rat you out. It’s genius.”

“Let me get this straight—that necklace gives you a free pass with the vamps?”

“Yeah.”

I’m not sure “genius” is the right word—” crazy” is more like it. This must be what Mom meant when she said they split with the Harkers because of their divergent methods of hunting. I’m also thinking joining the Ankh Society is probably what got Mrs. Harker killed.

It’s not hard to imagine getting carried away and forgetting you were supposed to stake the vampire after having blissfully enjoyed the bite thirteen times.

I wonder if I’m right and how much Tyler knows about what really happened.

My eyes drift to his neck—what I can see above his black T-shirt looks unscarred, but I would imagine someone would take care to get bitten where the marks wouldn’t be so obvious. I think about his father and his turtleneck. What is Mr. Harker hiding?

My hand drifts to my chest. “I could’ve used one of those today. Did you notice anything weird about the vampires in this town? I mean the ones we tackled were all, like, super vampires. And one was crawling on the ceiling!”

Tyler’s eyes widen. “I’ve heard rumors about wall-crawlers, but I’ve never seen one.”

“
That’s
the one that bit her,” Kiki adds.

“Anyway,”
I continue, ignoring her, “at the second house we cleaned there were three vampires and we literally got our butts kicked—in broad daylight! I’ve never seen vampires like this before. They were, like, turbo-charged.”

“My dad thinks …” He looks at Kiki and me in turn as if deciding if he should go on.

“Thinks …,” Kiki says with a shrug.

“He thinks whatever is going on has to do with ley lines.”

Kiki raises an eyebrow. “Lay lines? Is that slang for pickup lines?”

Tyler shakes his head. “
L. E. Y.
They’re invisible, magnetically charged lines that circle the earth. Some people think those are the paths fairies and other supernatural creatures used to travel.”

I scoff, “So you’re saying
fairy paths
are responsible for the über vamps we’ve encountered?”

He cringes. “Look, I know it sounds stupid and I don’t even know if it’s true, but my dad thinks somewhere in this area is a
nexus
point—a place where a lot of the lines converge, making it a power center. He thinks something has activated the area and the negative energy is drawing vampires to the town and that could be giving them extra power—and bringing whatever it is that’s going after the kids, too.”

We pull into the parking lot and Mr. Harker is pacing back and forth in front of his car.

“I better go,” Tyler says, eyeing his father nervously.

“Wait,” Kiki says. “Is the eye-liner part of the
look
? You know for the Ankh group?”

He shakes his head.

“Oh, good,” she says with relief. She leans in toward him. “It really needs to go. It doesn’t work with your skin tone and you’ve got such nice eyes I’d hate to see them hidden by all that junk.”

Tyler turns to me as if to ask if Kiki is for real.

I shrug. “You do have nice eyes, though….” I turn away before I embarrass myself any more.

“And I think you should trim your hair—just a little,” she continues. “You keep hiding behind it. You can still be messy, but with a little mousse or gel it’ll be more of a controlled mess.”

“I’ll take that under consideration,” he says.

“Okay, bye!” Kiki says cheerfully. “Wait! Switch phones.” She holds her phone out to him and he takes it. “Put your number in.”

He punches some buttons and hands it back to her.

“Give me yours,” Kiki says. She puts in her own number and tosses it back to him. “Maybe we’ll see you tonight.”

He smiles at Kiki. “Hope so.” He tilts his head at me. “Later.”

He gets out of the limo and I frown. How come Kiki got a “hope so” and a smile, and all I got was a “later”?

Kiki hikes a thumb in Tyler’s direction. “Play your cards right and he’s your boob guy.”

“I think he’s more interested in
your
boobs.”

“Please! Didn’t you see the way he kept checking you out?”

“No.”

She hikes her cami up. “I did.”

I roll my eyes thinking that’s not likely. “Whatever.”

“Are you mad about something?”

My stomach turns and I’m not sure what I’m feeling. “No. I’m just wiped out.”

“Well, a soak in the hot tub will make you feel better. Do you think Tyler will ditch the guy-liner? I hope so—he really does have gorgeous eyes.”

I nod and realize I’m feeling jealous—jealous of Kiki and her boobs, and how easily she can talk to Tyler and get people to do things her way. And it’s only a matter of time before she’ll get bored of hunting and move on to her next
calling
.

And I’ll be alone again.

“Hey, do you want to sleep over tonight?” she asks.

“Sleep over?”

“Yeah, you know, you bring your pj’s and a toothbrush and stay over at my house.”

A lightness fills me and chases away my dark mood. “Sure.”

A smile breaks out on my face and she grins in return. “Cool! We can look at new stakes online and some new
hunting clothes. I’d really like the company, too. Sam doesn’t stay over and I keep having these bad dreams. I wake up and feel like there’s something in my room….” Her face clouds over. “Whispering.”

My blood runs cold as I hear the words I’d dreamed in my head as clear as a bell.

Revenge. Hunger. Feed.

Suddenly there is a knock on the window to my right, making me jump. Mom is standing on the other side—her eyes on fire. “Daphne Anne Van Helsing, what the hell were you doing in this car with that boy?”

I open the door and Mom
practically drags me out by the arm. “I told you to stay away from him and then what do I see when we head into the parking lot? Tyler Harker getting out of this … this
limo
with you inside. What were you thinking?”

“Joy,” Dad says, stepping between us. “Take it easy.”

Kiki hurriedly follows me out. “I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Van Helsing; it was my idea to give him a ride. Daphne even told me she wasn’t supposed to be with him.” Kiki gives them major puppy-eyes. “It won’t happen again.”

Mom glares at her for a second then her dark eyes dart back to mine. “You don’t want to mess with the Harkers—either one of you. You have no idea the things they’re into.”

I want to tell her we know all about the Harkers’ twisted methods, but I’m thinking now isn’t a good time. I glance at Kiki who has diverted her attention to moving some small rocks around on the pavement with her foot. I haven’t had a chance to tell Kiki about what happened to Mrs. Harker, so I’m glad she’s sensed she shouldn’t be running her mouth about the Ankh Society in front of my mother.