Christmas in Vampire Valley (3 page)

Every kind of costume imaginable filled the room. Aisles of
tall clothing racks ran the length of the room. Starting at the door, the
aisles went from kids all the way to adult sized outfits complete with makeup
and shoes. The towering racks of clothing turned the area into a maze.

The middle of the room boasted a dozen dressing rooms. People
who hadn't dressed for the ball packed the area around the dressing rooms,
impatiently waiting their turn.

A faint whiff of spice touched me. The delicious aroma
reminded me of Brandon. A smile hovered on my lips. I couldn't get the gorgeous
vampire out of my mind. I was hopeless. Right then and there, I made myself a
promise. Saturday morning I'd march to his house and return his jacket. I wasn't
some flighty little twit; I was an enchanter.

I sighed to myself, hoping my resolve held through the
night.

I made my way through the thickest part of the crowd,
handing out samples.

After ten minutes, I finally made it through the jam of
people. I looked up and realized the far end of the Ancient Egypt aisle was empty.

Without partygoers, I didn't need to go down the aisle
filled with mummy and pharaoh costumes, but there was no way I'd fight my way
back through that throng. I was nearly to the end when I heard Brandon on the
next aisle over.

"I can't believe I let you drag me down here."
Brandon's soft growl stressed his words.

"And where else would you be?" Ryan asked with
laughter in his voice. "At home, dreaming you and Megan were cuddled up on
a couch watching a movie?"

All motion froze. I couldn't have moved if my life depended
on it.

"Darn straight! You know that's exactly where I want to
be. You also know why I'm not." He sounded frustrated, or maybe he was
exasperated over Ryan's crazy comment.

I inched closer, not daring to pull the costumes apart. My
hand twitched, impatient to hear more. I wanted to see his face. Did he really
want to see me or was it all a big joke?

My heart raced and I inched ever closer, hoping they
wouldn't stop talking.

"You need to just ask her out," Ryan said,
sounding closer than he had a few seconds earlier.

Brandon snorted. "Right. I want her to say yes, not
turn our yard into a jungle."

I cringed as he mentioned my on-going problem with Harvey
Knix. The vampire would not leave Hannah or me alone. He showed up at our lunch
table like clockwork every day. He was a scrawny pre-pub less than five feet
tall. I wouldn't mind him as a friend, but the thought of kissing him was
gross.

One day, nearly a month before, he pushed me too far. He
snuck up behind me and kissed my cheek. Eew! I nearly freaked, but I certainly
couldn't slap a pre-pub. He was eighteen, but his small jaw would've shattered
under my hit.

I did the next best thing. I put a whammy on his yard. I
should've waited until I calmed down, but I was ticked-off, because I'd told
him no a dozen times. Too much adrenaline rushing through my veins pushed my enchanter
abilities up a notch or three. The small manipulation I did to the grass
should've made it grow five inches overnight and stop. It didn't. I mean it
didn't stop growing. Even after receiving an early snow, the grass, weeds, and
even the flowers in his yard grew five inches every night. The small oak tree
had grown a full twelve feet.

My dad thought my burst of temper was hilarious. He took
pictures and posted them on his blog page. My mom? She was not pleased and that
was putting it mildly. I had kitchen cleanup for the remainder of my life.

I carefully pushed a mummy costume to the side and a
dangling bandage tickled my nose.

A hand appeared in front of my face. Before I had time to
react, long fingers clamped around my wrist and yanked me through the costumes.
Ryan propelled me forward, releasing my wrist.

I squealed in shock.

My hat went tumbling off as I flew forward, right into
Brandon's arms.

My heart was pounding so loud I couldn't hear anything for a
few seconds. When I did regain my hearing, Brandon's growl overwhelmed every
other sound. With my ear smashed against his chest, I'm sure the rumble seemed
louder than what it really was.

"Blast it Ryan, don't ever do something like that
again!" Brandon yelled at his grinning twin. His arms curled gently around
me. "You could've hurt her."

"I'm fine."

Blazing green eyes dropped to mine, softening as he looked
at me. "You're sure? I could always thump some sense into my
look-alike."

"Then he might not look like you." I grinned
impishly. I was giddy and couldn't help it. I was in Brandon's arms. My brain
shut down and my mouth kept moving. "Did you mean it? Do you really want
to go out with me?"

His eyes grew big and he swallowed before slowly nodding his
head, saying, "I've wanted to ask you out for months, but well, I'm
vampire and..."

My euphoria burst and I shoved my way out of his arms. I
turned my head, rapidly blinking to keep from tearing up. "And I'm just a no
good fairy, not good enough for a vampire, much less one of the elite Andrews."
I finished for him, before he had a chance to really make me mad and hurt him.

His eyes flared with emotion and he stretched his hand
toward me in appeal. "No! Megan, I..."

An air horn, the kind people use at ballgames, blasted
through the room, shattering the Christmas atmosphere with its piercing scream
and effectively silencing Brandon's lies. "No one move!" a rough male
voice shouted. "This is the guardians!"

I ignored the theatrics going on at the front of the room.

Stiffening my spine, I glared at Brandon. I was a fool for having
a crush on a vampire playboy, but not for long. I opened my mouth, about to
give him a tongue lashing when the person with the air horn interrupted,
sending cold chills down my back.

 "Everyone stay where you are." The yelling man
paused. "Megan Thompson we know you're in here. You are under arrest for
the terrorist attack against Clan Valley High School. You will surrender
immediately or we will use force."

I hissed through my teeth. For a split second, fear choked
me, but fearing the guardians was stupid. I didn't cause the explosion. I knew
mom and dad would straighten everything out.

Brandon hooked his arm through mine, pulling me toward him.

Any other time, I'd be thrilled he linked his arm with mine,
not now. I knew what he was up to, his selfish actions hurt so badly; it felt
as if I had a metal band squeezing my chest.

From the firm grip he had on my arm, I knew he planned to
play the hero and deliver me to the guardians. Honestly, I couldn't explain how
much his betrayal hurt. I had always known my crush on him was useless, but I
didn't think it would end that way.

He pulled me closer. "Why can't I port her out of
here?" he softly snarled at his brother.

"Port?" I asked, twisting my head to see his
scowling face, wondering for just an instant if I'd been wrong.

"I'm getting you out of here." His face softened a
bit, but his tone remained firm. My heart did a flip-flop then crashed.
"I'll take you to Uncle Warren's house. We've got a dozen family members
who are guardians."

Great, like always, the Andrews stuck together. He wanted a
family member to get the praise for catching me.

For the second time that night, I shoved my way out of his
arms. My chest ached so bad, I thought it might explode. "Thanks, but no
thanks. Anyway, I thought everyone knew about Palace security." I waved my
hand toward the wall, trying to cover the pain in my voice. "The owners of
The Palace didn't want unpaid visitors enjoying the entertainment so the entire
area has silver enhanced non-port charms." Some fairies could enhance
metal to do many things. The charms I spoke of kept vampires, dragons, and
certain fairies from teleporting anywhere near them.

Clothes went flying and three vampires charged through the
costumes, heading straight toward us.

Brandon grabbed for me, but I slipped out of his reach and stepped
away from him.

Not wanting a few broken bones, I didn't hesitate. I put my
arms in the air in the age-old way of surrender.

Brandon shot forward, running between the guardians and me.
He simply couldn't accept failure.

Ryan tackled him. Wrapping his arms around his twin, they
hit the floor. He urgently whispered to his brother as the guardians pushed me
against the wall, slapping a pair of silver cuffs around my wrist.

"You're under arrest."

The guardians steered me around the guys, completely ignoring
the struggling teens.

Brandon and Ryan stopped fighting. Brandon's eyes met mine;
anger simmered in their depths.

I turned my head away from him, refusing to let him see how
much his actions hurt me.

The guardian, who had his hand clamped around my arm, broke
the silence. "Well, that was easy enough," he said in a gravelly
voice.

"Chandar, shut up." A female vampire with hard
blue eyes snapped at the tall vampire that pulled me along.

They avoided the main corridor that was decorated in a
thousand lights and mistletoe, taking me straight into Martin's Candy Shop. The
guardians stalked past rows of bright colored packages, heading straight toward
the storage room.

The woman stood back, arms crossed. She scowled at me with
ill-concealed disgust. "Try escaping and I'll turn that pretty little face
into target practice."

I gasped, blinking at the threat. Guardians did their job to
the letter of the law.

Chandar led me to the far wall, nodding for me to sit on the
floor. He gave me a warning glare, but remained silent.

The guardians left the room single file, leaving me alone in
the box-filled room.

I thumped backward, and my shoulders hit the flimsy wall
with a little bounce. I grimaced, but at least the portable wall, covered in
textured gray material, was better than cold stone.

I took a calming breath, struggling to understand what was
going on. How could the guardians think I was responsible for the school bomb?
It didn't make any sense.

Simply being a fairy in a vampire valley made me a suspect,
but I was also a model student. Well, I was good most of the time. It was not
my fault if the kids who teased Hannah and Brittany accidently needed braces when
their teeth grew a bit crooked.

I glanced around the brightly lit room.

Blaming me for the bomb was bizarre, but the guardian's
actions were even weirder. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why the police
force of Clan Valley stuck me in the candy shop. Why didn't they take me
straight to guardian headquarters? Guardians had a strict code of honor, even
more than the average vampire did.

My night couldn't get any worse. I'd had more than enough,
but I feared it was only the beginning.

I wiggled my fingers, trying to wake them up. The cuffs kept
my arms pinned behind me and it was getting uncomfortable. I leaned my head
backward, trying to relax against the thin wall. Most of the castle had movable
walls. It made banquets and parties easier. If a group needed a bigger room,
the staff moved a wall and presto, the room doubled in size.

I heard keys jingle and the door opened.

Narlene sauntered toward me, grinning nastily.

A door banged open in the room behind me, on the other side
of the fake wall. Loud footsteps tromped across the floor. The door slammed
shut.

"You idiot! An air horn?" The female vampire
cursed. "Norman took care of the camera system, but your antics screwed
the plan up royally. We're cutting our losses on this one. Get in there and
kill her."

My world tilted on its axis and I stopped breathing. I
looked at Narlene, desperately seeking help.

She smiled with a cruel twist of her lips. Blowing me a
kiss, she waved goodbye and silently slipped out of the room.

I don't know why her hateful reaction surprised me, but it
did. If I got out of the mess I was in, I swore she'd never harass another
fairy.

The conversation in the room behind me continued.

"You said the boss wanted her alive," Chandar
said. The vampire's gravelly voice was unmistakable.

"Well, I'm changing the rules," the female vampire
said. "If you hadn't used that blasted air horn and dropped so much
attention on our heads we might have followed the plan, but I'm not taking the
fall for this job. Kill the girl and meet us at the wyvern stables."

"We'd better hurry." The third vampire, who had to
be Norman, added his two cents into the discussion. I wish he had stayed quiet.
"I heard a bunch of cell phones clicking. Once those pictures hit the
internet, someone will call the real guardians and we'll be trapped. Just kill
the brat, grab the treasure, and let's get out of here."

I stopped listening and started praying.

Careful not to hit the fake wall, I got to my knees and
stood up. I hurried to the door, but Narlene had thrown the deadbolt behind
her. The door was solid steel. If I didn't have silver stuck around my wrists,
I could rip it off its hinges. That wasn't happening.

The thugs might argue another minute or an hour. I had to
get out. I looked around the room filled with boxes of candy, but the cardboard
didn't spark a flame of inspiration.

An air duct was out of the question. I couldn't get the
grate off, much less climb in a tiny hole with my hands behind my back.

The window wasn't locked, but then it didn't need to be, not
at three stories up. Normally, a three-story jump would be a piece of cake, but
not now. The fall wouldn't kill me, but it would take a whole two seconds for
the thugs to cut my head off once they found me sprawled flat as a pancake in
the Palace garden.

I had to get the wretched silver off my wrist. My eyes
dropped to the big, metal desk in the far corner, sitting beneath the single
window. A spark of hope crystalized in my chest.