Davy Harwood Read online

  “You’re the friend who can help me do that. No one else can do that.”

  That explained some of it, but there was other weird stuff going on too. “Why are there so many vampires?”

  “Because…” He trailed off. For the first time, I didn’t sense all of his attention on me. It felt liberating and yet, I got a sudden sick feeling. He was the primal predator. When their attention wasn’t on the prey that meant it was on some other prey, something worse…. He blinked, once, and the spell was gone. His fierce eyes turned back on me and I felt all that attention once again. “Does it matter?”

  “I think it does.” My throat was dry.

  “Talk to your friend. Plead with her again and maybe you and I won’t have to do this again.”

  He’d dismissed me. Just like a flip of a switch. “And here I thought you were a little more human than most vampires. You proved me right. You’re just as much of a dick as most guys I know. Thanks for that, it’s very human of you.” I threw open my door and stalked off. When I reached my dorm I glanced over my shoulder and saw that he was gone. Ass.

  As I moved through the first lobby and darted up the stairs, I paused before my dorm door. I didn’t know if I could handle what was on the other side. I was tired. The hallway smelled of moldy toast and I grimaced when a bad aftertaste formed in my throat. I stood there for awhile and took a deep breath.

  The moldy toast had nothing on Kates.

  When I bolstered up the courage and opened my door, I wasn’t surprised to find Kates packing a bag. I didn’t even comment when I saw a pair of my jeans in her bag. Instead, I closed the door, sat by my desk, and heard the snores from Emily.

  Kates clenched her jaw tighter and threw more clothes in the bag. After a minute of silence, she screamed. “Nothing? Really? Nothing?”

  “Are you leaving town?” It was all I asked because I wanted her gone. I wanted her away from him. It didn’t bother me one bit if she was mad at me. This was for her own good.

  Kates studied me as she twisted her hands in a sequined halter top. She loved that shirt and I knew she’d regret ripping it so I stood and gently took it away. She let me, which surprised me. “Are you doing what he says?”

  “…yes…” She turned away as the admission slipped out.

  I knew it, but hearing it was different. I already felt like I needed a time out. “Can you stop?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because…” Kates turned back to face me. I saw the tears swimming in her eyes and I blinked back my own. “…because they killed my mother, because they’re trying to tell me that I can’t be who I am, because they’re my whole world. I know what’ll happen to me if I’m caught and he knows that I am. I finally know that he knows.”

  “Leave town.” ‘Get away from him.’

  “There are others like him. There are other hunters.”

  “You can go to one of my meetings with me. It might do you good.”

  “I’m not empathic.” She dipped her head and I heard a chuckle.

  I nudged her toe with mine. “It doesn’t matter. The meetings are supposed to help anybody and everybody…Why do you do it? Do you know why, I mean, really why? It might help if you understand it.”

  “Right. I’m going to go to a shrink and tell them that I can’t stop killing vampires. I won’t get thrown in an asylum at all.”

  “What about Blue? She knows about this stuff. She makes me talk to her about my stuff all the time.”

  “Oh, I can see that one. Your sponsor and me as roommates, because she doesn’t know how much I hate all that crap she makes you do.”

  Blue did know. Blue knew a lot more, but I wasn’t going to voice it. “Try it.”

  When I heard my phone peel, I already knew who was on the other end. “Hello, Blue. You know we were talking about you.”

  “I’m not a damn mind reader. I felt a question. What’s the question?”

  Blue would never cease to amaze me. “Can Kates come and stay with you for awhile? She’s got… some things to talk about.”

  “I’m making breakfast. Have her pick up some coffee on the way. I like the pumpkin spice latte.”

  “Blue says—”

  “I heard.” Kates didn’t look too sure… “I go and talk to her and this is how I’m supposed to get help? It’s just like that? That’s too easy, Davy, even for you.”

  It was all I could think of. “He won’t know where you are.”

  “If he wants to know, he’ll know.”

  “Kates…” I wasn’t sure if I should ask, but another question kept nagging me. “Why are all the vampires here?”

  “Because they have fairy tales just like us. We have Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, but they have the Immortal.”

  So much of that statement made no sense. “They are immortal.”

  “Not their immortality. It’s the Immortal, as in a human who has immortality.”

  Huh?

  CHAPTER TEN

  I was dumbfounded and clueless and I still hadn’t moved from my desk chair, even after my butt had gone numb an hour ago. That was how long it took for Kates to explain about the Immortal. Then she explained again. And again.

  I was still confused. “So you’re saying…”

  Kates threw up her hands. “You’re not normally stupid.”

  The insult bounced off of me. “They think this Immortal—”

  “—a human who has immortality.” Kates rolled her eyes.

  “—has blood that they want? I don’t… why the fairytale analogy?”

  “Oh my God! For real? You can understand my sick twisted insides, but you don’t get this?”

  “Explain it again.” And this time, I’d pay attention and not get lost on the idea of a human who has immortality or the fact that the vampires want immortality. They already had it so why… I was lost again.

  “I’ll break it down. Vampires need blood to live, right?”

  I nodded, but it wasn’t entirely true. They could go without, but would go crazy.

  “There’s only one Immortal in the world at a time and they have special fluids inside of him/her/whoever.”

  “Okay…” Still confused.

  “When a vampire drinks the blood of an immortal, they get the juice of life.”

  “Juice of life?”

  Kates threw herself backwards on my bed. “I had no idea this would be that hard.”

  “Again.” I nodded emphatically with knowledge-absorbing eyes. I’d lap up the information like I was a dog drinking water. Something told me that Kates was ready to storm out of there, whether I understood or not. It was that same something that told me I needed to know this stuff.

  “Vampires need blood. The Immortal has life in its blood. When a vampire drinks her/his/its blood they don’t need blood to survive anymore. They’ve got the juice that keeps that Immortal alive. They won’t thirst for blood anymore and that has some serious