Neither

  “You just look like a girl to me. A beautiful girl, but still, a girl.” This time, he was the one who moved closer to me. He reached out one of his hands and dragged a finger down my cheek. As if he was checking to see if I was still real.

  “I was a girl. Just two weeks ago. If only I could have met you then.” He took his hand away as if he was embarrassed. I touched his shoulder.

  “It's okay. At least we met at all.” He looked down at his hands, turning them over. They're rough and calloused, probably from playing sports. Tough hands, soft heart.

  “Yeah,” I said. It was an inadequate word for what was going on, but it was the best I could come up with when his scent was surrounding me.

  “How long are you going to stay?” he said.

  “I don't know. There are things I need to do.” I couldn't believe I was sharing that with him. I had a hard time controlling my mouth when he was around. It hadn't been a problem until I met him. What had he done to me?

  “What kind of things?”

  “Someone I need to find,” I said.

  “Who?”

  “I don't know. I just have a name, and what they look like.”

  “Will you tell me? Maybe I could help you.”

  “I'm not in danger, Jamie. You are.”

  “How can I know that if you won't tell me? For all I know you're involved with the mob.” That made me giggle. The things he came up with.

  “I'm immortal, Jamie. Anything the mob has can't hurt me. Not even bullets.”

  “What if they have garlic?”

  “I have no idea who came up with that one, but it's not true. I could roll naked in a field of garlic and be perfectly fine.”

  He blushed. “Is it weird I kind of like that image?”

  I was not intimately acquainted with blood and how it moved in the human body, especially when it went to certain places. If I was, I would have blushed, too.

  He changed the subject.

  “Okay. I want to help you, Brooke. If you'll let me.”

  “Even if I want your blood right now?”

  He nodded. “I want to show you something else.” He got up and started walking in the opposite direction of his truck. Without him saying anything, I knew we were going toward the little pond located on the other side of the trees. It was an inlet that flowed to the ocean, so the water was only half fresh. He still held branches out of my way, which I thought was sweet.

  “You still don't believe me about the blood thing, do you?” I said as we walked down to the edge of the pond.

  Jamie leaned down, squatting to pick up a rock. “I just... It sounds so insane.” He selected a flat rock and tossed it at the still water where it skipped three times before sinking to the bottom of the pond. Judging by the sound, the pond was only about fifteen feet deep in the middle.

  “I used to skip rocks on the lake when I was little,” I said, picking up my own rock.

  “We have a pond in back of our house and when my dad would get drunk I used to go out there and do that. If I could skip a rock more than twice, I would stay out and do another. If I skipped it less, I had to go back inside. I got really good at skipping rocks,” he said, looking at me.

  “I never met my dad. My mom kind of slept around, so he could have been anybody.” My rock skipped five times. Not bad.

  “That sucks,” he said, tossing another. His skipped five. Point for the human.

  “Yeah.”

  “You're the only person I've ever told that to,” he said, tugging on his ear.

  I almost smiled. How was it this boy I'd just met was sharing things like this with me? “Really?”

  He grabbed another rock. “Yeah. The guys on the basketball team don't really get it. They've all got normal parents. My friend, Tex, has both of her parents. They're jerks, but at least they're normal, too. My friend Ava's mom is dying of cancer, so she gets it.”

  I'd never heard him talk about his friends before.

  “Ava?” I asked.

  “Yeah, we've been friends forever. I'm not interested in her that way. In case you were wondering.” I was wondering about that, but what I was most concerned with was how many girls there could be in Sussex with the name Ava.

  My bet was not that many.

  “What's she like? Ava.” I had to play it cool. He couldn't know I was fishing. I just kept skipping rocks as if I didn't care.

  “She's been my best friend since sixth grade. She was the only person who was nice to me, so we just started hanging out. People used to call us beauty and the beast.”

  “Which one were you?”

  “Seeing as how I was a shrimp with acne and bad teeth, I'm sure you can figure it out.” It was impossible to think of the boy standing next to me as anything less than wildly attractive.

  “Look at you now.”

  “Not so beastly anymore.”

  “Is she pretty?”

  “Yeah, she's one of those girls who's pretty but doesn't know it. Dark hair, green eyes. Not my type, though.”

  I found it funny that he kept trying to reassure me that he wasn't interested in her. Dark hair, green eyes. It was her. I didn't really believe in fate or luck or anything like that, but I wasn't sure what the chances were that I would end up meeting the best friend of the girl I came to find. I should just stop being shocked.

  “What is your type?”

  He grinned at me, and if I had a beating heart, it would have skipped a beat. “Brunettes with car trouble.”

  “I just happen to know a girl like that. But she has wings and she likes blood.”

  He shook his head. “It's gonna take me a really long time to accept that. I think I'm going to need to sleep on it.”

  “That's okay. I've got time. Immortal, remember?”

  He thought about that for a second, tossing another rock. “So if I stabbed you right now, you wouldn't die?”

  “You couldn't stab me. My skin is too tough. I know; I've tested it.” I held my hand out and he took it in both of his, brushing his finger across my skin. I wanted him so much.

  “It doesn't feel like regular skin.”

  “I know. Not the same temperature, either.”

  His fingers traced circles on my hand. It felt so small in both of his. He pressed it between his two large hands and it disappeared. Funny how I could crush his hands with one of mine, but his were so much bigger.

  He didn't want to let go of my hand. “You don't look dangerous. Well, not in that way.”

  I took my hand back. “Just because I don't have fangs, doesn't mean I'm not a bloodsucker.”

  Twelve

  Ava

  What the hell? First Kamir and Rasha drop the bomb on us that Kamir is Di's father's brother (say that five times fast) and then they throw a sister at us that we never knew existed, and she has a bind with Di, but not one that we can break or use as leverage. Hello, Thing Five. Or was she Thing Four? Who the hell can keep track anymore?

  Despite the fact that Helena can't give us an easy way out, she. Is. Awesome.

  When she first came out from behind a giant stone I thought I was going to throw up. She didn't look scary. In fact, she looked like a goddess, with her crazy long white-gold hair. I expected another Cal experience and already started thinking about how we were going to escape, but then she opened her mouth and told us about Di. Without us even having to ask.

  When she finishes her story, we're all silent, mulling it over. So. Much. Information.

  “Soo, yeah. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.” I hope I am not the only one who thought there had to be a catch.

  “Why are you telling us this?” I say.

  She blinks. “Why wouldn't I?”

  “Because we're complete strangers who may or may not want to use said information to destroy your sister?”

  “Ava,” Peter says, as if I said something scandalous.

  “Please, she's not a moron. Why else would she have come?” Tex says, joining my team. We're not very stealthy with our
information gathering.

  “You're right, I'm not a moron. Why am I here? Now that's the question,” Helena says.

  “And the answer?” Tex asks.

  Helena blinks again. She may act human, but she is still a noctalis. “My parents asked me to come. I know that sounds silly, but they asked if I wanted to see Maine, and I haven't been out of India in ages, so I came. They didn't tell me why, but I figured it out.”

  “So you're not going to try and destroy us?” I say. No hidden motive? No nefarious plans?

  She throws her hair over her shoulder. “Nope. I'm more of a make love not war kind of girl.”

  I wait for someone else to say something, but it looks like I've been appointed spokesperson. “Are you going to help us?”

  She stills. Aha.

  “How about convincing her to not hate me and want me to burn in hell, and releasing these boys from their binds?” I jerk my thumb at Peter and Viktor. We also filled her in on all the drama so far.

  She beams, showing dimples. She's like Shirley Temple, the vampire. “That, I can help with.”

  “For real?” It can't be this easy.

  “Sure thing!” She chirps, like I've just asked her to get pizza with us.

  We have a little hope after all.

  Peter

  Ava and I agree via hand-squeezing that we need some time alone to discuss what we learned about Helena and Di, and what our plan will be. Her shock radiates through me and stirs up mine. Di never told me she had a sister.

  I pick her up and fly her to a secluded part of the Sussex beach, setting her down on a patch of sand that is seaweed-free. A seagull cries at us, angry we are disturbing him, or hoping we have food.

  Ava turns to me. “Can I just say, wow? Like, for real. Holy shit.”

  “I agree.” Her shock mirrors mine. I do not remember being shocked, but this must be it.

  “How did you not know?” She is not accusing me of not knowing, simply in awe that I would not know. I am in awe that Di was able to hide it.

  “Di never spoke of her father, her family. She always said that the future belonged to those who took it, and the past was behind us.” Her sayings remind me of Claire and her proverbs.

  “What a charmer,” she says, taking her shoes off and digging her feet into the sand. I do the same, shoving some in her direction. She laughs and shoves it back toward me, covering my feet.

  “What did she talk about?”

  I usually try to avoid talking about her, but ignoring her isn’t going to make her go away. We have to learn everything we can about her to destroy her.

  “She talked about her love for us. Di is a wonderful storyteller.”

  “I never really had time to notice,” she says with a little laugh. “She was always trying to kill me.”

  “There were good times with her.”

  “And bad times?” she adds.

  “There are always both,” I say. You cannot have the good without the bad.

  “Tell me about the bad times.”

  I have to think for a moment. “Di brought out the worst in my nature. Or maybe she just enhanced it. I killed many people when I was with her.”

  “That's not your fault. She was controlling you.”

  Always looking for the good in me, my Ava.

  “Sometimes yes. Sometimes no.”

  She smiles. “More or less?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you think it would work? That Helena can convince Di to leave us alone?” She wants to believe that it can happen, but doesn't think that it will.

  “I do not know, Ava. The only thing I do know is that if we can do this, if Helena can do this, it would be best for all involved.”

  “Then we could be together,” she says. “Maybe we could make our own bind.”

  “No. I would never do that to you.”

  “What if I asked you to?”

  “No.”

  She opens her mouth to argue, but sighs and looks out at the ocean instead. Her anger dissolves, the argument pushed aside for more important matters.

  “Helena explained a lot. About Di and who she is,” I say.

  “She got stuck in the friend zone. All of this,” she says, swirling her hands around to indicate our present situation, “because she got jilted by someone she loved. All of this because of one little promise.”

  I am not so sure about that. Texas as a noctalis is a frightening image. She would be even more of a force of nature.

  “Do you trust her?” she says, scooping some sand up and letting it run through her fingers.

  “I have no reason not to,” I say.

  “I can't even wrap my head around this right now. I think I need to go home and decompress.”

  “Do you want me to come with you?”

  “Yeah, why don't you come over and help me with my homework. You can just grab one of the textbooks and pretend. We'll have a human afternoon.” Her mood brightens, and I feel better as well.

  “I would like that.”

  She traces a heart in the sand, writing A + P. I smile as she traces a heart around it. I can't say the words, I can't even begin to think them, but I can draw a heart. If I had one, it would be hers.

  Ava

  “So where are you going to stay?” I ask Helena when Peter and I go back to the cemetery. Kamir and Rasha are also back. I know noctali don't sleep, but she didn't seem like the kind of girl or whatever who would want to be alone.

  “Duh, with me,” Tex says, as if it's a given. I'm shocked. I didn't think she'd want anyone intruding on her precious time with Viktor.

  “I can?” Helena jumps up and down, clapping her hands as if she just got asked to the prom.

  “Absolutely!” Tex and Helena would have been twins in another lifetime. I also notice that when Helena gets excited, her accent comes out, just a touch. I've gotten good at hearing tones in voices ever since I met Peter.

  “You good with that, Viktor?” I don't expect much of an answer, and I just get a blink.

  “There are worse ways to spend an evening, I should think.”

  “Your parents are going to notice there are three of you in that room, and if they don't, Coby will,” I say.

  “Coby's too worried about his hair and his angst to notice,” Tex says. I very much doubt that, but I shut my mouth.

  “So this was an interesting day,” I say to no one in particular. “I feel like we should have another powwow tomorrow. We have a lot of things to talk about.” Mainly how the hell we're going to get rid of Di, or at least get her to retract the binds.

  “Works for me. You want to meet here tomorrow afternoon at one?” Tex says, speaking for her group.

  “I'll be here as well,” Helena says.

  “Sounds good,” I say and watch Tex and Viktor get back in her car. Helena waves to us and dashes off into the woods.

  “I'm still not quite sure what to make of her,” I say to Peter as he shucks his shirt off and hands it to me.

  “I am not sure, either. She is... very different from Di.”

  “Understatement of the century, Peter.”

  ***

  I tell Mom that Peter is coming over and his car is broken so I have to get in my car and pretend I'm picking him up, because Dad is in the kitchen when I get home. In reality I drive to the end of the driveway, pull onto the shoulder and try to get him to make out with me when he gets in the car.

  “You're supposed to be nice,” I say. At least he let me hop over the console and straddle his lap. It's the sexiest position I've ever been in. I lean my face in, smiling at him. He reaches forward, almost meeting my lips before pulling back.

  “Tease,” I say, smacking his chest. “All that love talk got to my head,” I say, trying to make a joke. “Sorry, I shouldn't have used the L word.” I try not to say it too much. It's like saying the devil's name or something.

  “Come here,” he says, taking my face in one hand and pulling it toward his lips.

  I smile against his mouth
as we kiss. I tried slipping him tongue before, but he never lets me in. Until now. I'm so surprised, I pull back a little. He follows me, slipping his tongue into my mouth. I make a little sound of surprise as his tongue touches mine for the first time. Then it's like everything takes over and it's like we've done this a million times, except it feels like the first.

  Our mouths work with each other instinctively. I know where to go and he knows how to lead me there. My hands slide under his shirt, feeling his hard stomach. His hands wrap around the back of my neck and dive into my hair. Who knew kissing was hotter when his temperature is lower than mine?

  I have no idea how long we're in the car, but he's the one who pulls away first. I gasp for air.

  “You need to remember to breathe, my Ava-Claire,” he says, pushing my hair away from my face. I giggle, drunk on his kisses.

  “It's hard to remember so many things when you're kissing me. My brain kind of shuts down.”

  “I understand the feeling.” His arms trace my sides. He never tries to undress me, and that bothers me a little.

  “What's wrong?”

  “You don't touch me.”

  “I am touching you right now.” His fingers trail up my arms, making my skin shiver.

  “You know what I mean,” I say, pushing my hands under his shirt to show him. He looks at me, not blinking. I wait for him to answer. It takes a few moments.

  “The reason I don't do that is because I wouldn't be able to control what happened next. I would tear this car apart to get closer to you. This does not seem like the right venue for that sort of thing. Nor your bedroom. Too many breakable things.”

  “So you're worried you're going to break some of my stuff? But not me, right?”

  “It could happen,” he says. I entwine our fingers and hold them in front of our faces, studying the difference between his hand and mine. Somehow we work. The human and the vampire angel.

  “So what you're saying is we need to be in a place where it's okay to break things.”

  “It would be better that way, yes.” He's trying to figure out where my mind is going.

  “Well, there's nothing to break in the sky,” I say, smiling.

  “Ava, that would not work. What if I dropped you?”