Cold as Ice (18 page)

Chapter 28

As Lexi rinsed the soap off her body, her thoughts were all over the place. Veronica was gone, and that was all there was to it. She wasn’t sure if she was sad or happy or relieved that she would no longer need to deal with the woman trying to make her feel threatened. Not that it mattered anymore. Veronica could have had Gabe all to herself if she was still alive for all Lexi cared.

Really, more than anything, Lexi wished that Rhonda had been the one to die instead of Veronica. That was one person who she would love to get off her back, but of course, she wasn’t that lucky.

Knowing that she shouldn’t think that way, Lexi climbed out of the shower and wrapped one of Anna’s fluffy pink towels around her body. Realizing that she had left her clothes in the bedroom, she opened the bathroom door.

She grabbed a pair of panties, a bra, a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt from her dresser. Just as she was about to go back to the shower, the door clicked open, and Dan came inside the room, his arms filled with bottles of water and snacks.

His sky blue eyes pierced through Lexi’s, and he quickly closed the door behind him. Dropping the water bottles on th
e bed, he whispered, “Oh, God.”

Nervous that he was staring at her in nothing more than a pink towel and feeling
self-conscious
about her body, she started back towards the bathroom to get dressed, but he walked over to her, placing his hands on her waist.

Lexi smiled up at him, staring into his eyes. “Hi,” she whispered.

Dan’s mouth came down on hers, parting her own lips, and he met her tongue with his. Their kiss was electric, and it sent a wave of shivers down Lexi’s spine.

When Dan pulled away from her, he whispered, “You smell so damn good.”

Lexi reached for her neck and realized that she wasn’t wearing her bat pendant. In the dazed and surprised state she was in over Veronica, she had forgotten that she wasn’t supposed to take the pendant off.

No wonder Dan was staring at her this way, his eyes poring through her eyes. She must have smelled so alluring to him.

Reaching for the bat pendant, which was lying on her nightstand, she pulled it around her neck and closed the clasp. She couldn’t risk any vampires at Huntington besides Dan smelling her or they would be at her dorm room within minutes to claim her blood.

“So
rry, I forgot,” Lexi whispered.

Dan was still staring at her. Licking his lips, he turned away from her. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I shouldn’t have acted like this. It’s just been a while since I’ve drank. The last time was when I drank from you back in the 1800s. Normally, that would hold me over until now, but the time difference must have made me hungrier than usual.”

She realized how badly she really wanted him to taste her again and how much she wanted to feel his lips against her open wound.

“Then drink from me,” she told him, looking up into his eyes.

“Lexi, I wasn’t asking for permission to drink from you. It’s okay, really. I’m sure I can find blood somewhere else. I’ll go out later or something,” Dan replied, shaking his head. “There’s no reason to make you lose blood when it’s not really necessary.”

“I don’t want you to drink from someone else,” Lexi said, feeling herself getting jealous at the idea. “I want you to drink from me. Right now.”

Dan stared at her, studying her face for something—probably to see if it was what she really wanted. After a moment of consideration, he said hesitantly, “If you’re positive this is what you really want.”

“It is. I promise,” Lexi said. She kissed his lips again, before taking a step back. She laid down on the bed, and pulled him down on top of her.

Lexi turned her head to reveal her neck to him. He kissed it gently, running his fingertips over her thighs. The touch of his icy fingers sent shivers down her spine and made goose bumps s
hoot up over her arms and legs.

Dan leaned in closer to her and, pressing his hands against the towel that covered her waist, sunk his fangs into her skin.

Lexi moaned softly as she felt the blood pour out of her veins and onto his tongue, which swirled around her skin tenderly, catching every drop of blood that poured out of her open wound.

The room spun around her, and her senses were filled with Dan and only Dan. She watched him from her place on her pillow, as his body stiffened with pleasure, as he drank from her. She took in his scent, as she ran her fingers through his shaggy, sandy blonde hair.

Dan ran his tongue over her neck a few more times before collapsing onto her body in exhaustion. “You taste so good,” he murmured.

Lexi smiled at him, just as he leaned in closer to her, kissing her neck softly again.

“I want you so bad right now,” Lexi murmured. Slowly, she added, “I think I’m ready.”

Dan met her eyes. “You want me to drink from you again already?”

“No,” Lexi said slowly. “I want you to make love to me.”

Dan’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?” he whispered, r
unning a hand through her hair.

Lexi nodded, pulling the towel off and dropped it to the floor, revealing her naked body to him. His eyes flitted down her body befo
re staring into her own eyes. 

Leaning closer to him, she pulled off his boxers. Dan kissed her hungrily, except this time, she knew it wasn’t out of thirst. Their bodies moved in sync, as they lost
themselves within one another.

Chapter 29

Later that night, they were interrupted by the sound of the school’s alarm blaring again. Lexi and Dan went out into the hallway, but not before locking the door behind them. Students crowded in groups as they all headed to the school auditorium.

Lexi
found herself wondering what the threat was this time. Somehow, she felt less worried than the first time it had happened. She seriously doubted that anything would come of this; they would all go back to their dorm rooms within an hour.

Once they were in the auditorium, they were all given stakes and boxes of matches by the ushers.

“What could be going on?” Lexi muttered to Dan, who shrugged his shoulders. She explained, “The last time there was a security alarm, we weren’t given these.”

“I’m sure they’re just being cautious,” Dan replied, wrapping his arm around her waist. “Come on, let’s sit down.”

A few minutes later, they were joined by Austin and Anna.

“You’re back from vacation!” Lexi squealed, excited to see her cousin and his girlfriend. As she leaned over to give Anna a loose hug, she noticed that Austin had a burn on his face that looked like it was blistering over. “Oh my gosh, what happened, Austin?”

“The Southern California sun was just too much for him,” Anna explained. “He got burnt so badly, and we weren’t even outside that long. But
someone
forgot to bring his sunscreen. It was just a big mess.” She rolled her dark eyes.

“Next time, you should try wet compresses. They work wonders,” Dan said, grinning at Lexi. She knew that he was referring to when he had gotten badly burnt while they were in the 1800s. She had soaked her dress in water and applied it to his burn, which
had relieved some of his pain.

“We’ll have to try that later,” Austin commented, oblivious to the fact that Dan was talking from his own personal experience. “Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Anna’s dad loved me, but of course he did. Who wouldn’t?” He flashed a cocky grin at them.

“Well, he wouldn’t have if he knew you were a vampire,” Anna commented. She turned to Lexi. “Oh, and that reminds me. When we were there, we also got a lead on the vampire who killed my mom.”

“That’s great!” Lexi cried. She knew that the main reason Anna had come to Huntington was because she wanted to avenge her mother’s death by hunting down and killing the vampire who had murdered her mother. “How did you get the lead? I thought the vampire disappeared so you couldn’t find him.”

“He did,” Anna nodded. “My father got a letter in the mail. As it turns out, the vampire who murdered my mother has enemies who are willing to rat him out. The vampire apparently is living on the East coast somewhere.”

“Who was it?” Dan asked her, his eyes filled with a look of curiosity.

“It was an anonymous sender,” Anna shrugged. “But here’s the kicker. I had the letter traced at the post office. The letter was mailed from Briar Creek. So unless the person drove all the way out in the middle of nowhere to send the letter from Briar Creek, they really live there. And my guess is that they do.”

“It’s a small world,” Lexi commented.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” Austin chimed in. “Briar Creek does have the world’s highest collective population of vampires, after all.”

At that moment, the sound of the microphone screeching sounded over the speakers, and everyone turned to look at the stage. Noah, the werewolf security guard who Lexi had met several times, spoke into the microphone. “Can I get
everyone’s attention, please?”

People murmured and whispered throughout the crowd before everyone quieted down and gave Noah their full attention.

“About fifteen minutes ago, vampires came to our campus from Briar Creek,” Noah began. His voice was shaky, and Lexi had a feeling that whatever he was about to say next wasn’t going to be good news. “They killed Beck, the head of our security department. These vampires are armed and highly dangerous. As we speak, they are outside trying to get past the other members of our security team.” He paused. “We need for all of you to be prepared and ready to fight.”

A guy in front of Lexi raised his hand, and Noah pointed at him. “Do you have a question?”

“How many vampires are out there?” the guy asked, his voice muffled.

“We don’t have an exact count yet, but we believe there to be at least forty,” Noah replied “Please keep in mind that even though there are more of us than there are of them, these vampires are carrying weapons that can kill each and every one of us. They’ve brought fire torches, stakes, and silver bullets to shoot us werewolves. I don’t know how they knew that our security team is made up of werewolves. Someone must have given them a
tip.”

Lexi wondered if that someone might be Brandon; she knew that Noah’s cousin was somehow involved with her aunt and uncle because she had once overheard him while he was talking about her. She wondered how much of a traitor he might be. If Noah had told Brandon she was here, or if Mary-Kate had ever mentioned it, that might even be the reas
on why the vampires were here.

That, or they might have gotten a whiff of her scent when she’d had her band pendant off earlier that day. It hadn’t occurred to her that they would have been able to smell her all the way in Briar Creek, especially since they had Wilkins’ Syndrome, but anything seemed possible.

“So, what do we do?” a girl called from the front row. “What’s the next course of action?”

“We have decided that we’re not going to hide from these vampires. Hiding will make them feel like they have the upper hand,” Noah told them. “What we want all of you to do is go stand outside. Do not forget to bring your matches and stakes.”

A man came over to Noah on the stage and wh
ispered something into his ear.

“We have just received some new information in regards to the attack. We need Alexandria Hunter to please come forward,” Noah said into the microphone. “Lexi? Where are you?” He scanned the crowd until his eyes fell on her, and she was surprised that he remembered her from the few times they had spoken to each other. “There you are! Please come up here, Lexi.”

Feeling nervous about walking in front of the whole entire school and afraid to know whatever she was going to find out next, Lexi stood up cautiously. She gave a pleading look to Dan, who jumped up from his seat and followed her.

“I’m coming, too,” Dan whispered. “Wherever you go, I go.”

She gave him a small, forced smile and breathed a sigh of relief. At least she didn’t have to walk in front of this crowd alone.

Lexi was even less alone than she had originally realized. Austin and Anna had also followed close behind them, as she and Dan made their way to the stage.

“I’m going to leave the microphone with TJ, who will give all of you further instruction on what to do next while we get things sorted out,” Noah said into the microphone before turning to Lexi. He shot her a smile. “Please come with me.”

Reluctantly, Lexi followed Noah out of the auditorium and into the hallway. “What’s going on?” she asked in a hushed voice.

“The vampires from Briar Creek know you are here. They have demanded to see you. Otherwise, they are planning to set this school up in flames, which will undoubtedly kill all of the students and staff . . . vampire and mortal.” Noah paused. “I need you to make an appearance, Lexi. It’s the only way we will all survive this attack. It will be the worst attack we’ve had in years, and I’m not sure that we’re prepared for it. But it seems to me that unless they get their way a
nd see you, we could all die.”

Noah took in a deep breath and slowly released it. “I’m not saying you have to do this. The decision is all yours. But you could save us all if we play our cards right.”

Lexi felt a sense of pressure; if she didn’t agree to do this, everyone would die, and it would be because of her. But the fact that they
wanted to see her scared her.

Why would Greg Lawrence, her aunt and uncle, and all of the other vampires who were with them want to see her bad? What would seeing her do for them? She got the feeling that seeing her wasn’t t
he only thing that they wanted.

They had to have other plans in mind for her. After they saw her, it seemed like there was a good chance that they would try to sacrifice her immediately so that as many vampires as possible could benefit from her blood.

Turning to Noah, Lexi nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll make an appearance.”

“Not without me,” Dan spoke up. “If you’re making an appearance, then I’m making an appearance, too.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Austin chimed in. When Noah gave him a questioning look, he explained, “I’m not letting my cousin go out there alone.”

Lexi turned to Austin. “You can’t do that. If you let them see you, your parents are going to find out that you’re not really dead. They’ll know that you lied to them.”

Austin scoffed. “Screw them. I don’t care. They’ve caused enough problems in my life already. I’m kind of dying to see the look on my mom’s face when she finds out that I’m alive. This could be my only chance to see it. I wish I hadn’t left my phone in my dorm so I could get a picture of this. So, yeah, I’m definitely going with you, no questions asked.”

“And if Austin’s going, then I’m going, too,” Anna said quietly.

Austin turned to her. “I want you to stay here. I don’t want to risk you getting hurt. I want us to keep you safe from harm.”

“But if you go, then you won’t be safe, either,” Anna pointed out, a look of worry in her chocolate brown eyes. “They could kill you just as easily as they could kill me.”

“Actually, that’s not true, Anna,” Lexi told her gently. “You’re still human. Austin’s much less likely to die out there than you are. You should stay here. It would make us feel so much better to know that you’ll be safe.”

Anna looked like she wanted to protest, but instead, she nodded. She turned to Austin and told him, “You better not die out there. Because I love you . . . and I will be lost without you.” Standing on he
r tiptoes, she kissed his lips.

Austin scooped her up in his arms and stroked her hair as he kissed her back. “I love you, too. And I won’t die, Anna Banana. I promise.”

Lexi turned to Noah. “Can we do this now and just get it over with?” She knew that if they didn’t get things moving, she was probably going to puke because her stomach was twisted in knots upon knots.

Noah nodded, turning to the back doo
r. “Yeah, come on. Follow me.”

He o
p
ened the door that would lead them outside and turned to them. Glancing outside before stepping out, he told them, “Just take a deep breath. It looks like security has this situation under better control than we do a few moments ago.”

Once they were outside, Noah spoke into a blow horn. “Vampires of Briar Creek! Please lay down your weapons. Alexandria Hunter is here.”

Nervously, Lexi stepped outside, Dan at her side, holding her hand. Glancing over at the crowd of vampires that had lined up past security, she looked up at the sky, trying to seem as confident as she could, but also so that she wouldn’t see what was going to happen to her.

She wasn’t sure what she expected to happen, but she waited for it. She was afraid that she was going to be hit with a bullet or lit on fire, even though the vampires weren’t that close to her.

Whe
n
nothing happened, she glanced at the vampires. Violet and Tommy were standing at the very front of the crowd, right next to Mayor Lawrence, whose normally red face had a ghostly look to it.

As if to prove a point, Lexi waved at them and forced herself to smile widely.

From behind her, Austin stepped out in the crowd’s view.

“Austin!” Violet shrieked. Lexi glanced over at her and saw that she had cupped her mouth with both hands. Her face was turning a vibrant shade of beet red. Turning to Tommy, she yelled, “I told you he was alive! I told you
that it wasn’t just his ghost.”

Lexi recalled the story that Austin had told her about how he had helped prevent an attack from Greg Lawrence’s friends by making them believe that they had seen a ghost. She chuckled to herself just thinking about the fact that Violet and Tommy had argued about this.