Dread Nemesis of Mine (39 page)

Ash and Nyte, eyes downcast, brought two more
squirming figures and dropped them next to Nathan.

"Adam and Steve," I said, recognizing
Nathan's buddies, both linebackers from the football team. I
couldn't remember their last names.

"Were you wearing contacts earlier?" Elyssa
said, looking into the eyes of our friends, now flashing the red of
vampires.

They looked at each other and nodded.

"We knew our red eyes would freak people
out," Ash said. He looked from Elyssa to me to Katie. "But you guys
don't even look surprised."

"Or happy." Nyte grabbed Nathan by the hair.
"Don't you remember how evil these assholes were to us? Remember
when they shoved Ash down the bleachers? And when Nathan punched
you in the face?"

"Why do you look so mad?" Ash said, a
plaintive note in his voice.

"What's going on?" Katie said again. "Who's a
vampire? I can hardly see a thing."

Elyssa spotted some battery-powered lamps
beneath a tarp and turned them on, casting shadows across the large
room.

Katie's eyes went wide with shock. "Oh my
god, oh my god! Ash, how could you? I can't believe you'd beat
someone up like that!"

Ash's face fell. "B-but I can protect myself
now. I'm strong. Isn't that—"

"Just because you're strong doesn't mean you
can go around beating up people who are weaker than you." She took
a step back. "And to think—I thought you were different. I thought
you were better than that."

Pain entered his eyes. "I only wanted to…"
His voice trailed off midsentence and he looked away.

I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed my
forehead. "Oh,
brother
." My guts knotted. I pulled Elyssa
aside and whispered, "What are we going to do? We're talking
kidnap, assault, and hell, I don't even know how many other laws
they've broken."

Elyssa sighed. Leaned down and unwrapped the
duct tape from Nathan's mouth and hands, freeing him.

"Oh, god, please don't kill me," the meaty
football player cried out in a hoarse voice. "Don't suck my blood,
please!" Tears poured down his face as he fell at my girlfriend's
feet. "I swear to god I'll never tell anyone about this. I swear!"
He grabbed my foot. "Justin, we're friends, right? You gotta help
me, man. Please!"

My stomach rumbled. I felt like I was going
to be sick. I backed away. "Ash, Nyte, I—I can't believe you would
do this."

"Nathan and his goons are nothing but
animals," Ash said. "They took our dignity and dragged it through
the mud. Nathan even tried to rape Katie and if you hadn't been
there to save her, he probably would've gotten away with it."

"I know, I know." I bit the inside of my lip
and stared.

Katie's face went white. She looked away from
Nathan as a tear trailed down her face. Ash looked stricken. He
took a step toward her, but she backed away, throwing her hands up
in the air, palms out. "Don't touch me!" She took in a long
shuddering breath. "Being a bully like Nathan would destroy
anything attractive I ever saw in you. Don't you get that?"

"It's too late to send them back, and pretend
nothing ever happened," Elyssa said, face blank.

"Oh, god, no!" Nathan cried, gripping me by
the feet and holding on for dear life. "Don't kill us, please! I'll
do anything you want. Anything." He looked at Katie. "I'm sorry. I
was so stupid. Please, Katie, don't let them kill me."

Katie didn't meet his eyes.

"We're not going to kill you," Elyssa said
with a sigh. "I think we'll have to send them through the Overworld
orientation program."

I pried Nathan's meaty hands off my legs.
"Stay there, and don't move an inch. You saw how fast my friends
are, so don't even think about running. Your life is in my
hands."

He looked so pathetically happy through the
tears and snot bubbling out of his nose, I almost laughed. I
motioned the others to another corner of the room.

I shook my head sadly, looking from Nyte to
Ash. "We need to have a serious conversation. But not now."

Katie didn't say a word, though the shock and
anger was plain in her eyes.

"I am so disappointed in you two," Elyssa
said. "Kidnapping and assault? Really?"

I touched her arm. "We'll get to that later.
As for what to do about those bozos, I think I have a better idea
than sending them in for Overworld orientation."

Elyssa crossed her arms and glared at me.
"And what would that be?"

"Look at the bright side—Nathan and his
buddies are about to crap themselves."

Nyte sniffed the air. "Actually, I think one
of them already did."

I gagged and jabbed a finger at him. "Not
another word until I'm done."

He nodded solemnly. Ash, for his part, looked
as ashamed as a dog who'd been caught eating the kitty treats, and
kept sneaking furtive glances at Katie.

I continued. "Let's use their fear to our
advantage. Heaven knows they've kept the nerd population in a state
of constant panic and turmoil with their bullying."

"You want to let them go back to school,
knowing what they know, and hope they'll be too frightened to say
anything?" Elyssa said, skepticism plain in her voice.

"More than that." I grinned.

By the time I explained myself, even Elyssa
and Katie couldn't help but smile.

We approached the victims, unbound the three
of them, and lined them up. Aside from scrapes and bruises, none of
the captives seemed to have broken bones. Nyte, Ash, and Elyssa
gave them slow grins, extending their fangs. Ruby red irises
glittered from Ash and Nyte's eyes. Elyssa's glowed violet. I still
hadn't figured out how to make my eyes glow on command, but figured
it wasn't necessary.

Nathan gulped. Steve whimpered. Adam shrank
against the wall.

Nathan opened his mouth to speak.

I put a finger to my lips. "No talking. I
want you to listen very closely."

They nodded.

"There are horrors in this world you have no
clue about. Nightmares that will eat you alive and spit out your
bones." I leaned in closer. "No mortal should know about our
existence, but as you can see, it's too late for that." I paced in
front of them. Paused and gave them a sideways glance. "There are
those among us who'd like to suck you dry and throw your bodies in
a ditch."

Adam's teeth chattered. All three football
players shrank together against the wall.

I offered them a condescending smile. "Cooler
heads have prevailed, however."

"I still think this is a horrible mistake,"
Elyssa said, growling in her throat. "And I haven't had a good meal
in days."

"Oh, crap. Oh, crap!" Steve said, trying to
hide behind Nathan even as the bigger guy fought to hide behind
him.

I might have laughed if I didn't feel so
guilty. "Here's the deal,
boys
. No more bullying. If you
pick on anyone else for the rest of your life, you're dead. In
fact, it is now your sworn duty to protect those who cannot protect
themselves. If you see someone else picking on
anyone
, nerd
or otherwise, you have to step in and protect them. Do I make
myself clear?"

"Y-y-yes," Adam said, his teeth chattering
even harder.

Nathan nodded like a bobble head doll. "I
swear to god, man!"

"Yes," Steve said, voice hoarse.

I stared them down for several long seconds
before saying, "We'll be watching. If you slip up, we'll be ready."
I was just about to tell them they were free to go, when one last
indignity occurred to me. "One last thing."

"Anything, man, please just let us go!"
Nathan hugged himself like a little kid, staying as far from Ash
and Nyte as he could.

"You must join the Chess Club at school."

The three guys looked flummoxed, but not a
one of them protested.

"Good, now—" A sudden throb of cold raced up
my leg.

Maximus's face hovers over me, blood flowing
down his face. He grins. Licks the blood. "You're mine, Slade. You
and your little sister." He throws back his head and laughs as he
pulls Ivy from the dark. Like a viper, his head strikes forward,
and his fangs clamp on her neck. Blood spurts. Eyes wide with fear,
she screams.

I squeezed my eyes shut as rage boiled into
me.
It's just a hallucination
, I thought, desperately trying
to return to reality. Pain cracked into my skull like a
sledgehammer. A guttural growl rumbled through my chest. The world
seemed to vibrate. Energy crackled around me, lancing my body with
white and black bolts of energy. The world was breaking around me.
Shattering to pieces.

I roared.

Someone squealed like a pig and a rotten odor
drifted into my nostrils.

"Justin!" Elyssa said, gripping my arm.

I snapped out of my trance. Nathan and his
pals were literally shaking in their shoes, huddled tight in the
corner next to the window. One of them whimpered as a puddle formed
at his shoes.

My voice, deep and inhuman, growled, "Do as I
say, or die."

They screamed.

I made a slashing motion with my hand and
walked into a dark corner as the world around me wobbled. Ash and
Nyte herded the captives downstairs and outside. Elyssa appeared
beside me.

"Justin, are you okay?"

I nodded as the sick feeling in my stomach
subsided, and the cold bite of the vampling curse faded in my leg.
"It's getting worse. The visions. The anger. We've got to get to
Maximus and stop him before I go over the edge." The small horns on
my forehead clattered to the floor as my body reverted from its
half-demon form to normal.

She leaned her head on my shoulder. "We
will." Her arms wrapped tight around me and we held each other in
the darkness.

Nyte and Ash returned later, having dropped
Nathan and pals at a bus stop. They had hot pizza with them,
probably hoping it would serve as a peace offering and save them
from mine, Katie’s, and Elyssa's wrath. While we were shocked at
the abrupt change in our friends from Goths to vampires, it was
hard to blame them for wanting payback for all the cruel things
Nathan and his goons had done to us. So instead of yelling or
making a big deal out of the whole kidnapping, assault, and
revealing the secrets of the Overworld to noms, we accepted the
pizza.

Besides, it had mushrooms and olives on it—my
favorites.

"I don't even want to think about how many
times they crapped themselves," Nyte said, laughing as he passed
out paper cups.

Ash giggled like a little kid. "Join the
Chess Club? Classic! Can you imagine those morons trying to figure
out how to play?"

Elyssa wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I
think making them protect the other nerds from bullies was a nice
touch. But do you really think they're going to keep it up?"

Nyte looked at me with wonder. "Man, if
growing horns out of your forehead and roaring like a demon doesn't
keep them straight, I don't know what will."

"Yeah, about that," I said, scratching my
forehead where the aforementioned horns had been. "I guess it's
time to tell you two everything."

"All this time you've been holding out," Ash
said. "Not cool, guys." He looked at Katie. "And you knew?"

She nodded. "I found out by accident. But I
was sworn to secrecy." Her green eyes regarded him, traces of hurt
or disappointment still evident.

"We had our reasons to keep it quiet." Elyssa
gave them pointed looks. "Maybe you'll agree once we're done
explaining."

We gave them the short version, taking turns,
from the time I'd discovered my incubus abilities, to Elyssa's
duties as an undercover Templar, sent to apprehend vampires preying
on unsuspecting noms at our high school. It was hard to believe all
we'd been through in the past few months.

Ash and Nyte looked absolutely flummoxed.

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Ash said, a horrified
look on his face. "Are you saying we joined the bad guys?"

Nyte's eyes grew worried. "Did we go to the
dark side?"

"How did Maximus turn you?" I said, my heart
chilled at the thought the rogue vampire might have infected them
with the vampling curse.

"We injected ourselves." Ash pulled out two
vials of a clear red substance with a bluish glow. "The recruiter
told us we'd made the final cut and gave us vials like this. He had
a bundle of them, so Nyte distracted him while I stole a couple,
thinking we'd give them to you guys." He shrugged. "Obviously, you
don't even need them."

I took one of the vials and examined it in
the dim light. "Why is it glowing blue?"

"Oh, god," Elyssa said. "Maximus had time to
make a batch with your blood, Justin." She peered at Nyte's eyes.
"I knew something was off. Look at their irises."

I leaned in and spotted the anomaly right
away. Although his and Ash's eyes had the standard red irises of
vampires, they were edged by a soft blue tint. "Let me see your
hand," I told Nyte.

He raised an eyebrow, but held it out. His
hand was warm. I motioned for Elyssa to touch it.

She gasped. "Most vampires have a low body
temperature. They're not cold, but they definitely aren't warm."
Her eyes met mine. "But they aren't like dhampyrs either. This
would explain why we didn't sense them as vampires."

"Dhampyrs have violet eyes?" Ash said. "And I
always thought you were wearing contacts."

Elyssa squeezed his hand. "Have you had human
blood yet?"

Ash and Nyte looked warily at each other.

"This is important, guys," she said. "Have
you drunk blood from a human?"

Nyte winced. "Well, not exactly
from
a
human. We drank from some blood packs right after, because the
recruiter didn't want us jumping any classmates. We were supposed
to go to an orientation tonight where they'd teach us how to hunt
properly, you know, without killing people."