Rylie Cruz 2 - How to Date a Vampire (26 page)

“I can handle it. Rylie, run,” he yelled
again. “Get away from here before she shots you.”

I hadn't listened in the past, and I wasn't
about to listen now, either. But what I would do was push him out
of the way. When he lunged forward, the gunshot ran out, echoing
off the brick walls around us. It was almost as if I watched the
scene in slow motion.

Jack wobbled, clutching at his chest. Sophie
raised the gun again and aimed it at me.

When Jack stumbled to the ground, I lunged
at her. I couldn’t help myself. The intense heat inside me was
almost unbearable—I was livid. I wanted
her
blood this time.
I could almost taste it, salty and metallic. Bullet or no bullet,
she was going down. No way was she going to get away with shooting
Jack. I'd kill her for this. She moved to the side and my face met
with the ground.

“Why are you running now? Fight your battles
like a brave vampire. Or are you all talk? Nobody messes with my
boyfriend.”

Her eyes widened and she pointed the gun
again. “I’m not afraid of you.”

I jumped on her and she struggled to keep a
hold on the gun. I grabbed her hand and pulled at the gun. She was
stronger than I thought she'd be after the earlier struggles, but
my strength was about twenty times stronger than I thought it would
be. By the look on her face, she realized this too. Her powers were
running out. She wouldn’t be able to fight me off for much
longer.

As I finally loosened the grip Sophie had on
the gun, Quinton appeared behind her. After all that I’d witnessed,
I didn’t know if that was a good thing. Quinton pulled at Sophie,
dragging her from my attack. She struggled to break free from his
hold. I ran over to Jack, leaving them to fight to the death, or
whatever they called it. Since they were already undead. He had sat
up, looking down at his wound.

He touched the wound, then lifted his hand
away to stare at it.
“She shot me. She actually
pulled the trigger,” he said, looking at me with astonishment in
his eyes.

Yeah, I hadn’t expected she had the nerve to
pull a stunt like that, either. She was all talk as far as I could
tell. How desperate did she have to be?

“Can I take a look?” I asked.

He nodded and pulled up his shirt.

The wound was bleeding, but very little
trickled out. I wasn’t sure how much blood he had to spare since
Quinton had just turned him. But to my surprise, the wound was
almost healing before my eyes.

“I guess the bullet just grazed your side.”
I touched his skin. “There doesn’t appear to be a hole.”

When I glanced back at Quinton and Sophie,
he pulled a silver chain from his pack pocket and wrapped it around
her neck. She wouldn’t be going anywhere now.

“Don’t even think about biting him again,” I
said when Quinton ran over.

“I promise I won’t touch him.” He held his
hands up.

“How can you handle the silver, but she
can’t tolerate it?” I asked.

“We’re all different. It doesn’t affect me
like it does her.”

I took in a couple of deep breaths, trying
to calm my nerves. “Why did you bite Jack?”

“It was the only way to save him,” Quinton
said.

“What are you talking about?”

“If I turned him completely, Sophie wouldn’t
want him. It makes his blood useless to her.”

“That makes no sense. You turned him into a
vampire so another vampire wouldn’t want him?”

“Sophie realized Jack’s blood held power for
her. Jack’s blood can kill a vampire.”

“You expect me to believe that you turned
him out of the kindness of your own heart?” Although what he said
about the blood was exactly what Samson had said, but I wanted an
explanation from Quinton. “If it kills vampires, then why are you
still alive? Not to mention, the vampire who bit him in the first
place. And I know that dirtbag is alive because he showed up at my
house. You had to have consumed a lot of Jack’s blood to turn
him.”

“His blood is toxic at a certain level of
consumption. As soon as the vampire tasted it, he stopped the
attack. If he’d drank more, it would have killed him. He consumed
enough to half turn Jack, but not enough to kill him. Apparently,
Jack’s blood has a distinctive taste, but not all vampires are
aware of this taste or can distinguish it when they taste it.
That’s what makes his blood so dangerous to vampires. I finished
turning Jack, but it wasn’t enough to kill me. All I had to drink
was half the amount since the vampire virus was already at half
level in Jack’s body.”

“Well, I guess that kind of makes sense.
Complicated, nonetheless. But why did Sophie want Jack?”

“To have an endless supply of his blood. She
could kill as many vampires as she wanted with it. She would have
kept him alive, but he wouldn’t have wanted to live with the things
she would have done to him.”

“Why did she want to kill vampires? Just for
kicks? A hobby? Instead of knitting?”

“For power, of course. Plus, she’s nasty and
evil. She planned on being the next vampire leader.”

“Why did you stop her?”

“What do you mean? You still think I’m a big
mean vampire?”

“No, I don’t think that, but why help
Jack?”

“Why wouldn’t I? She was doing something
wrong. I am not the evil vampire you think I am.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you. I’m
grateful for what you did. I guess I was caught up in all of the
craziness. I really didn’t know who to trust.”

“It’s okay. I understand. I probably would
have felt the same way if I were in your shoes.”

“What will happen to her?” I asked.

A couple of men who I assumed were vampires
appeared next to Sophie. They must have entered the alleyway when I
wasn’t paying attention which I didn’t think possible, but there
was no other explanation. The vampires snapped Sophie up and zipped
her away.

“We’ll take care of her. You just get Jack
home. He’ll need some rest. I’ll be by to check on him soon.
There’s a lot I need to discuss with him.”

“New vampire orientation?” I chuckled.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“By the way, I have the sculpture that my
uncle took.”

He quirked a brow at me.

“Well, I don’t actually have it on me now. I
found my uncle in this building and let him go. They were getting
ready to roast him for dinner. He’s coming to my house with the
item. But a sculpture? What the heck?” I frowned.

“It was the vampire leader’s art. It was the
one item he had from when he was human. It meant a lot to him. Not
to mention he had other values stashed inside.”

“I expected some kind of priceless jewel the
way they acted. But a sculpture? What, did he make it in art class?
A clay ashtray? A ceramic bowl?”

“Very funny. I’ll have you know, he’s an
accomplished artist. It’s worth thousands of dollars, not to
mention the valuables inside the sculpture. Some of which are
priceless.”

“Well, I’ll make sure he gets it back as
long as they don’t hurt my uncle.”

“So now you’re bargaining with the vampire
leader? You are brave.”

“After what they did to Jack, it’s the least
they could do.”

“I’ll see what I can work out,” he said.

“Thanks a ton. I have another question.”

“I’ll try to answer it,” Quinton said.

“Was that you in the graveyard? The first
time when Jack and I ran into Nelson and Sophie? Then again when I
was leaving the hotel, someone was following me. You spoke to us
that night, and now that I’ve been around you a bit, I think that
was you.” I stared, waiting for an answer.

“You looked like you needed help.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

“Jack has a special vampire talent. One that
has more skill than ten vampires combined. But it’ll take a lot of
practice on his part.” Quinton looked at Jack. He was still out of
it. There are a lot of vampires who will be envious of his special
skill. There aren’t many like Jack.”

“And what is this so-called special
talent?”

“Jack will be able to hypnotize people. Like
I said, very few can do this. Well, some can do it a little, but
not like the power Jack now possesses. The vampire leader will want
to employ him.”

I shook my head. “Jack won’t want to be
involved in anything like that. How can you tell he has this
talent?”

“You can see it in his eyes. The fact that
it was evident as a half vampire means he is very powerful.”

“This is a lot to take in, you know?”

He nodded. “I’m aware. I’ll be there to help
you every step of the way.”

“One more thing, why did you want Jack to
come with you at his apartment if you knew what Sophie was up
to?”

“I didn't know, not until I got to the
French Market. Nelson let it slip.”

Hmm. I supposed I’d have to accept that
answer.

He gestured at Jack. “You should get him
home.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

He winked at me. As I walked away, he called
out. “Hey, Rylie, I’d ride in a pink car with you any day.”

I couldn’t fight my smile. “I’ll see you
soon, Quinton.”

I helped Jack back to my car. We received
our fair share of strange looks from patrons as we made our way
through the French Market. Helping Jack walk was like carrying a
bunch of cooked spaghetti. I prayed Uncle Ernie made it back to my
place with the missing item before I had another battle with the
vampires. The ring was still in my back pocket, I’d forgotten to
ask Quinton about it.

When we reached the car, and Jack climbed
into the passenger seat, he said, “A pink car?”

“Not you too. You’ll just have to deal with
it.” I chuckled and handed him the seatbelt. “Here, put this
on.”

He was still as gorgeous as ever. His blue
eyes sparkled, and the side of his mouth tilted up in a half
smile.

“Now I know what Quinton meant when he
mentioned a pink car.”

“It’s Jennifer’s. She likes pink. I think
it’s cute. Pink’s a good color.”

He smiled. “Yes, pink is a good color.”

“So you did hear some of the conversation
back there? You weren’t totally out of it?” I asked.

Had he heard what Quinton had said about
him?

“Bits and pieces,” he said. “I have to be
honest, I was a bit out of it when I jumped in front of Sophie. But
I was fully aware of what I did.”

“You saved my life. You took a bullet for
me.”

“Not before you saved mine,” he said.

Aw, how sweet was he?

“I know you blame yourself for what
happened, but you have to stop. It was an accident.”

“But—” He touched my hand and I stopped the
sentence.

“Accidents happen all the time. I don’t care
that it happened. All I care about is that I’m with you.”

Guess that really did put
us in that boyfriend/girlfriend status. I liked the sound of
that.
Curse be gone.
Maybe the curse was finally broken. I hoped it would never
return. Thoughts of our wonderful night together flooded back to
the front of my mind. Was our night together on Jack’s mind too?
Probably not. He had a lot more to worry about at the moment. Would
he become so involved in the vampire family that he’d forget about
me? No. I needed to push those insecurities out of my thoughts. I’d
just enjoy having Jack back in my life.

“I have a question. How did Sophie get you
to leave with her?” I asked.

“I’m not sure exactly. It was as if I was in
a dream-like state. But unless I was dreaming, there was another
vampire with her. I had thought it was Quinton, but now I realize
it was not. It couldn’t have been, or he wouldn’t have turned me
and saved my life. That sounds strange doesn’t it? He saved me by
turning me?”

I nodded. “It does sound a little strange,
but they say life is stranger than fiction. Nothing really shocks
me anymore,” I said.

“Anyway, I walked right out of the room and
out of the hotel with her just like a zombie. I don’t remember
being anywhere with her other than the building where you found me.
She told me what she planned to do to me.”

“Jack, I’m so sorry.”

“Rylie, you don’t have to apologize. Sophie
is obviously a sociopath.”

“Well, I hope that’s the last we see of
her.”

Next I’d have to match up Isabella before
she got her fangs into Jack.

Which reminded me to ask, “Do you remember
what I told you about Isabella? That she’s a vampire?”

“No, I don’t remember. She never mentioned
it, but I guess that’s not something you start the conversation
with, huh? I was surprised when she showed up at my door. We hadn’t
spoken for a couple of years. I was shocked to see her in New
Orleans.

“Apparently, she was turned recently like
you.”

“She was a sweet girl back then. A little
free-spirited, but she seemed different now. Maybe she’s just
older, but I felt uneasy with her around. I’ll have to let her know
just because we were friends in high school doesn’t mean she’s
welcome to drop in anytime she wants.”

Something told me we’d be seeing her again.
But at least she wouldn’t be hunting Jack down to take him to the
mysterious vampire leader.

Once I climbed behind the wheel, my cell
phone rang.

“Are you okay?” Jennifer’s voice screeched
once I hit the answer button.

Before I had a chance to answer, she
continued, “Stephen has been turned.
As in he is
a vampire now. Really, a vampire.
Lily and I took him to the
hospital.”

I would never get used to a statement like
that. I never thought Lily would be tame enough to help anyone out
of a jam.

“What happened?” I asked. “Is he okay?”

“He’ll be fine, I guess. A vampire and some
other mean-looking dude showed up at the hospital. He wanted to
take Stephen with him, but I convinced him to let me take him home.
Stephen’s acting all weird like Jack was, but worse.”