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Chapter 31
Tuxedo guy swept forward. “How about a dance, then?”
“Sure,” Caitlin replied. She pulled her stilettos from her feet. “Let's go.” She strode toward the dance area, giving her butt an extra wiggle as she walked. Tuxedo guy hurried after her.
“What about you?” the pirate asked Stacie. “Wanna dance?”
“Why not? Catch you guys later,” she said to Leesa and Cali, then took the pirate's arm and followed Caitlin and tuxedo guy toward the front.
“Looks like you're the odd man out,” Cali said to the vampire. “But don't worry. I'm sure there's a neck out there somewhere with your name on it.” She turned to Leesa. “I'm thirsty. Let's get a drink. Then we can try to find our men. Andy's definitely here somewhere. Who knows about Rave.”
“Okay.” Leesa replied. “Nice to meet you,” she said to the vampire. “Good hunting.”
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A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings human in name only filled the huge room. Rave shook his head as he scanned the jumble of costumed students, wondering what he had gotten himself into. He had mingled with groups of humans before, but never one so large or so boisterous. This was not his first new experience with humans since he'd met Leesa, he thought, smiling as he recalled their brief kiss. And he was pretty certain it wouldn't be his last.More than a hundred students were dancing to the beat of the classic “Monster Mash,” a song he had heard many times over the years. He liked the offbeat lyrics and rhythm, and found himself humming as he squeezed his way along the wall past the dance area. He had avoided the long lines out front by finding an unattended door in the back. The lock had provided little resistance—he simply ripped the door open and slipped inside, the noise covered by the pounding music. Once inside, he used his heat to weld th
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A cold breeze raised goose bumps on her arms. Sensing her discomfort, Rave took off his jacket and draped it across her shoulders. The buckskin, warmed by his volkaane heat, melted the chill from her body almost immediately. She leaned against him and playfully squeezed his bicep. “I'm impressed,” she said, looking back at the broken lock. “You're stronger than you look. Could a vampire do that?” she teased. Rave's expression turned serious. “With one hand,” he said. “Their strength is double mine.” Leesa did not like hearing that. “But your inner fire is enough to overcome it?” “That, and this.” Leesa barely saw him move, but suddenly he was standing fifteen feet away on a patch of weed-dotted broken asphalt, grinning. In a flash, he was back beside her. She swore she felt the breeze from his movement on her cheek. All she could say was, “Wow!” “Our fire and speed against their strength and fangs,” Rave said. “Surprise is usually the deciding
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“Once upon a midnight dreary…while I pondered…weak and weary,” intoned the tall young man standing behind the lead singer's microphone. He was wearing a Friday the 13th Jason mask and carrying a bloodstained machete that looked awfully real. His voice was deep and dramatic, and the room grew steadily quieter as he boomed out his lines, reading from a piece of paper.“While I nodded…nearly napping…suddenly, there came a tapping…as of someone gently rapping…rapping at my chamber door.”He certainly knows how to get a room's attention, Leesa thought as she held Rave's hand and listened along with almost everyone else in the place as he introduced himself as Butch Morrison, president of the BPDs.“That rapping is not Snoop Dog or Lil' Wayne, either,” he continued, pausing while a ripple of laughter flowed through the room. “Campus Security has asked me to share a few words with you.&
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The top of the hillside was crowned by a stand of leafy maples. In the moonlight, the red leaves appeared dark purple. Leesa knew there were wooden benches spread among the trees—beautiful places to sit and relax in the shade on a warm day, but cold and uninviting on a chill night like this. Despite the bright moon, the area under the trees was shrouded in black shadows. Leesa suspected Rave could easily navigate the darkness of the copse, but the twisted roots would present a hazard for her. Without a word, Rave steered her around the edge of the grove.Leesa's heart jumped when a dark figure detached itself from the shadows and stepped into their path. She squeezed Rave's hand, but relaxed when the moonlight revealed it was only a kid, fifteen at most, exceedingly slim with a boyish face and long blond hair. He flashed them a toothy grin, and she relaxed still further. The boy seemed clueless about how dangerous it was to be out here alone, and she wondered what he wa
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“Who's there?”The thick wooden door muffled Professor Clerval's voice, but Leesa was glad he was in his office. She had arrived early for her appointment, and with no yellow glow seeping from beneath the door, she'd been afraid he might not be here yet.“It's Leesa Nyland, Professor,” she called loudly.A moment later, she heard the click of the old lock and the door swung open. The office was dark, lit only by two flickering candles atop the professor's desk. No wonder she hadn't seen any light under the door.“Come in, come in,” Dr. Clerval invited as he stepped back from the doorway. As soon as Leesa was inside, he pushed the door closed and turned the lock.Leesa wondered why he was keeping the door locked. “I'm sorry I'm early,” she said, standing in the center of the small office and letting her eyes adjust to the dimness. The air was thick with the fruity scent of his pipe tobacco, and she saw
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Leesa cringed at the image—thank God her mom had settled for tomato juice. “What does that have to do with my mom?”The professor looked up from the manuscript and smiled. “It's the next part I think you'll find interesting.” He ran his finger across the page, finding the lines he wanted. “The farmer tried getting help from the local shaman and even from the church, but nothing helped. Then a few years later, he and his wife came across the man she said had bitten her. The farmer killed him with a machete, and then watched in horror as she threw herself upon the body and began drinking his blood. The farmer pulled her off as quickly as he could and took her home.” Professor Clerval looked up and met Leesa's eyes. “She never drank blood again.”Leesa took a moment to digest what the professor had just said. “You mean…?”Professor Clerval smiled. “Yes. Apparently, the woman became her o
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A column of smoke rose straight and thin from the short stone chimney atop the old log cabin—Leesa wished the thoughts in her head could be so simple. No chance of that, though, not with all she had learned in the past few days and all she now had to figure out and make decisions about. And that didn't even count the amazing trip that had carried her here. “Carried” was exactly the word, too. Rave set her down gently on the narrow dirt road in front of the old cabin, more a wide path than a road, really. She still didn't quite believe the trip she had just experienced—maybe she was dreaming. If it was a dream, it was one of the best she'd ever had, Rave effortlessly carrying her cradled in his arms from Weston to Moodus, moving easily through the trees, following old game paths where he could, at speeds that should have been impossible. The fifteen-mile jaunt had taken little more than an hour—a wondrous hour Leesa spent pressed against his chest, soaking in his delicious he
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Vampire blood? What the heck was he talking about? Her brain did another few flip-flops. If this kept up, she was going to end up in a padded cell somewhere. If she did, she hoped they served mead.Rave recognized the confusion on her face. “Didn't you say your mother was pregnant when she was bitten by the grafhym?”“Yes, but…” Leesa's mouth opened wider as the pieces clicked into place. Her mother's blood was her blood. But if that were true, why didn't she have any of her mom's symptoms? “But I'm not sensitive to sunlight or anything like that,” she said. “Heck, I don't even like tomato juice. How come?” Rave shrugged. “I don't know.”“Maybe the placenta filtered your mother's blood enough to keep you from being affected in the same way she was,” Balin said. “I think young Rave was kidding when he said he was drawn by your vampire blood, but perhaps he's rig
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