Blood Type (26 page)

Andrew rolled his eyes as though I were being ridiculous and temperamental. “I suggested it, of course, but he spouted off some nonsense about being in love with you and wanting to change you. I always knew John had a romantic
streak
to him that would land him in trouble one of these days.” He shook a finger at me as the smile came back. “But you’ve been playing hard to get, Miss Ehlert.”

I
seethed
. “That’s
not
what I’ve been doing.” 

Andrew lifted his shoulders.
“Tomatoes;
tomahtoes
.
”
 

“John was just about to turn me when Josiah showed up,” I insisted, trying to make my point.

Andrew turned his mouth down in a dramatic frown and clucked his tongue. “Oh, that’s too bad. And from the smell of you, I gather you’re running out of time.”

I didn’t need Andrew to remind me. I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest, angry that he was taking this all so lightly. “We need to get John back. Then we need to find Ian.”

Andrew balked.
“We?”

I motioned between the two of us.
“You and me.”

“You mean you and
I
.”

I screwed up my face in impatience. “That’s what I said.”

“I don’t think so,” Andrew said, laughing in my face as if I’d just suggested we steal the Crown Jewels.

“Why not?”

“You’ve met Josiah Butler,” he said, all traces of humor gone from his voice.

“Yeah.
So?”

Andrew bowed his head and slowly shook it back and forth. Then he raised his eyes and gave me a hard look. “Forget about John, and forget about that piece of scum who sentenced you to death two months ago.”

He made his way to the door and unbolted it. Then he opened it wide and
tilted his head to the parking lot
. “You should go. It was really nice knowing you, Blake, but I can’t help you.”

“Wait. No!”

Andrew put his hand in the middle of my back and gave me a hard push so that I went stumbling out into the afternoon light. “Please! I don’t know what else to do!” 

For the first time, Andrew turned a pair of sympathetic eyes on me. “Go home to your mom and dad. Enjoy what little time you have left together.”

He began to close the door, but I wedged my body in so that he was forced to listen. “John told me to come find you. Don’t you care about what happens to him?”

“I’m sorry, Blake. John’s a good one.
Maybe a little too good.”

He gave me another push and barred the door before I could protest any further, and I watched helplessly as he turned his back on me and disappeared from sight.

October 27

I sat behind the wheel
of my car
with no idea where to go or what to do next. My life sort of depended on getting John back.
But where had Josiah taken him? C
onsidering the only other vampires I knew were either MIA or flat-out refusing to
help
me—

Wa
it
a minute .
.
.

I jammed the key in the ignition and gave it a hard twist. Then I put my cell on speaker and dialed home as I pulled away from Kinsley Real Estate.

“I just wanted to check in,” I said
, breathing a sigh of relief that my dad had answered the phone
instead of my mom
. “I’m, uh, I’m going shopping for a Halloween costume.”

“A Halloween costume?
Aren’t you a little old for trick-or-treating?”

“There’s a big dance coming up at school, remember? I’ve been feeling a lot better, so I promised Olivia I’d go with her. She’s sort of
boyfriendless
at the moment.”

“I’m glad to hear you’ve made some plans, Blake. Your mother and I have been very worried about you. Do you have your pills with you?”

“Yeah.”

“All right.
We’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Daddy.”

I ended the call and stepped on the gas. 

The Marauder’s Cove was a lot less busy during the day than at night. Still, every head swiveled in my direction the moment I walked in.
Mutterings of “g
et a whiff of
tha
t
”
and
similar greetings
assaulted me from all sides.

I took a seat at an
available
table and closed my eyes, willing my heart to slow down. I especially didn’t want to consider that I might be the only human in the joint that wasn’t currently
serving as
some vampire’s lunch.

The booth shook as someone slid into the seat opposite mine and I opened my eyes to see the same dark-skinned waitress who’d waited on me the last time. 
“Dang, girl.
Do y
ou
know you
smell like—
”

“I know
exactly
what I smell like,” I said, my voice coming out sharper than intended.

The woman twisted her beaded necklace around the tip of her index finger as she stared across the table at me. Finally, she shook her head and laughed under her breath, a deep and velvety sound.
“I knew I liked you from the moment I first saw you. But from the looks of you
,
you in a world of trouble.” Her brow shot up in the shape of a question mark. “Why
are
you here?”

I leaned across the table so that barely a foot separated us. “I know what this place is and what goes on behind
that curtain back there.
” I
tilted
my head toward the rear of the building. “So let’s cut to the chase. Where would Josiah take a vampire who’s broken one of your laws?”

The woman blinked once
as
her eyes widened so that the whites showed like crescent moons. She started to get up, but I
snaked
out a hand and grabbed her wrist.

She looked down at my hand on her arm and shook her head again, this time in warning.
“Listen, little girl.
Don’t go
stickin
’ your nose where it
don’t
belong.”

I let go of her wrist with some reluctance, but
at least
she stayed put. “What’s your name?”  

She looked over her shoulder, but those who had watched me walk in had already lost interest. “Donna. Why you wanna know?”

“Because I don’t want to die, Donna.
And I need your help if I’m going to save John.”

Donna’s
mouth opened and closed as she sat down again. “
Why would Josiah take John?
”

I
launched
in to the events of the last two months and finally end
ed
with how John had been on the brink of turning me when Josiah interrupted. “
And Andrew Larsen won’t help me.
” 

Donna took another look around the bar before settling her attention back on me. “You lucky you stink as much as you do.
No vampire in his right mind would ever dream of taking a hit off you now.”

“Well that’s a relief,” I said,
my voice full of sarcasm
.

“Listen,” she said, ignoring it. “Andrew Larsen’s not gonna do

nothin
’ to jeopardize what he got
goin
’ on.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mr. Larsen
, he
get
s
a percentage of all the new Donor blood, not to mention a nip of the fresh stuff whenever it suits him. Dude has more blood than he knows what to do with.
Wouldn’t surprise me none to find out he
’s
sellin
’ his own personal stash real cheap
on the side just to make
hisself
a few more dollars.
”

I visualized Andrew’s mini-fridge in his office at Kinsley Real Estate overflowing with bagged blood and cringed. Maybe he even kept a few Donors at
home for his own personal use.

“Do you know where Josiah might have taken John?” I asked to get my mind off of blood.

“To the Head Watcher, I suppose.”

“You mean there’s someone above Josiah?”

Donna threw her head back and laughed. “Josiah might be scary, but he
ain’t
all that.” She narrowed her eyes at me then. “What you think you gonna do? Just bust through the front door and demand for them to hand John over?
You a lot crazier than I thought if you think that’s how it’s gonna go.
”

My stomach dropped as I realized whatever I had to do to get John back probably wasn’t going to be as easy as making a
simple demand. “I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it. But you’re going to help me, right?”

“Honey, I’ve been what I am for some thirty-odd years now. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of them. I honestly don’t know how I can help you out.”

My hands had begun to sweat. If Donna turned me down, I had no one else to ask. “Please. You’re my only hope. You’ve got to help me.”

“No
,
I don’t,” she said. “Sorry, but this is something you gonna have to do yourself.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but she held up a hand to stop me. “I will tell you one thing. The place you’re looking for—it’s the Abernathy mansion. You know the one?”

I nodded. Everyone did. It was only the most well-known lakeside property. It had belonged to the
Franklin
family for a few hundred years, passing from one generation to
the next
. The previous owner died three years ago, and that’s when Conrad Abernathy and his family moved to town
and bought
the place.

A thought occurred to me suddenly at
Donna’s
mention of the Abernathy mansion. “You’re not suggesting—”

“Conrad Abernathy,” she said.
“Yep.
He’s Head Watcher.”

I felt my eyes go wide.
“But Conrad Abernathy is Chief of Police
.
” 

Donna leaned across the table
.
“Conrad Abernathy has a finger in both pies.”

I sat
back,
numb with the shock of learning that such a high-profile person of the community was not even
human
.

“He’s a friend of my parents,” I muttered. “He’s been to our house lots of times. His kids go to my school!”

“
His kids
are
vamps, too. You don’t usually
meet an entire family of
‘
em
, especially one that’s blood-related. Even pairing doesn’t happen very often. We’re solitary by nature, you know
?
The
y’ll
have to move on soon
enough and never show their faces here again. Just like us all.
”

“Why?”

Donna snorted. “Use that pretty little head of yours, girl. You can’t have vampire
s
in the public eye for very long without people noticing
they
don’t ever age.” Then she said under her breath, “Hollywood got that part right at least.”

My mind was working in overdrive. The Abernathy’s were really nice people. Thomas was a junior this year, and Margaret was in my grade. We had art and
math
together. She kept to herself
mostly
.
In fact, t
he only one I’d
ever
seen her
willingly
talk to was . . .

“John
.
” 

“What?”

I shook my head to clear it.
“Nothing.
I know Conrad Abernathy and he
doesn’t
scare me. Josiah is a lot worse
.
”

Donna rolled her eyes. “Josiah has a very high opinion of
hisself
, but he’s good at what he do.” She gave me a hard look.
“That’s not to say that Mr. Abernathy
ain’t
. And he’s definitely not as sweet and cuddly as you think he is. You best be careful.”

I gave her a silent nod of the head, my front teeth sunk so hard in my bottom lip I was in danger of drawing blood.

Donna put her hand on top of mine. “Look, I really like you.
You a sweet kid.
Just don’t do anything that’s gonna get you hurt.”

“I don’t have much choice,” I said. “It’s either find John and get Mr. Abernathy to let him go, or . . .”

My voice trailed off and Donna patted my hand in understanding. Then she sat back and gave me a calculating stare.

“You know,” she said. “If
you
’s
worried about John not having a chance to turn you, I’d be happy to do it for him.”

I got up then, taking that as my cue to leave, and attempted a smile. “That’s very generous of you, Donna. I’ll keep that in mind.”

She laughed. “Go on. You best get out of here before Josiah comes back.”

“You won’t tell him I was here?”

“Not a chance.”

I gave her a fleeting smile and left as quickly as I could.

The Abernathy place
—
a ten-thousand
-
square
-
foot mansion that
was
practically
a tourist attraction
—stood on the southern tip of
the lake
. Mom once told me the master suite
alone
could
fit
our entire house!
And I thought
we
had money
. . .

Aside from a private dock—the Abernathy’s owned two boats—
the house boasted
an indoor pool and full-size gymnasium.
T
ennis courts
and
a private golf course entertained the adults
,
while
a go-cart track
snaked t
he perimeter of the property
.
I supposed even vampire teenagers liked to have fun.

Speaking of
vampire teenagers
,
I
spied on
Margaret and Thomas
Abernathy
from the relative safety of my car
as they raced
ea
ch other
along the track
,
disappear
ing
for a few minutes
before
finally zooming into view again.
After
a
while
,
I got out
of the car
and made my way to the edge of the black asphalt.

Margaret
saw
me first, and she immediately pulled over and killed the engine.
She removed her helmet and shook out her long raven hair.
Her skin
glowed like moonlight
, her eyes
twinkling
a
sapphire
blue.
“Blake
Ehlert
,” she said in a voice too cultured
-
sounding for
someone as young as she looked
.
“
How very odd to see you here.”