Temptation (8 page)

April told them what had happened on the beach the night before. She could tell that Matt wasn't enjoying the story at all. He's jealous, she decided. Jealous of how Gabri rescued me. Maybe he's even jealous that I was walking with Gabri on the beach at night.

“That's so scary!” Jessica declared when April had finished. “I'm terrified of bats too!”

“Nothing to be afraid of, really,” Gabri said, leaning across the table toward Jessica. “Bats don't really bite. That's just myth.”

“They're just so creepy,” Jessica exclaimed, holding on to Todd, making it hard for him to finish his pizza slice.

Gabri told them that in a way, he was envious of bats. He talked about how he'd always wanted to be able to fly. “It must be neat to have that freedom, to be able to spread your wings and soar,” he said.

He's really good-looking, April thought. He has the greatest smile. She pulled another slice of pizza onto her plate. “Matt, could you pass the garlic powder, please?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said somewhat grumpily, obviously annoyed that April found Gabri so interesting.

She took the glass shaker from Matt and was about to sprinkle some garlic powder on her pizza—when to her surprise, Gabri grabbed her wrist.

“Please,” he said, immediately loosening his grip. “I'm sorry, April, but I just hate the smell of garlic. I think I'm allergic to it or something.” He let go of her, his expression embarrassed.

“No problem,” April said, reaching across Matt to set the garlic powder down at his end of the table. She turned to Gabri with a puzzled pout. “I've never heard of anyone being allergic to garlic.”

He shrugged. “It's no big deal.”

“I'm allergic to garlic too,” Matt interrupted, tapping April's shoulder to get her attention. “Especially when it's on your breath.”

Everyone laughed except Jessica.

“It's so hot in here,” she said, fanning herself with her hand. She lowered her face to Todd's. “Are you finished? I'd love to take a walk on the beach to cool off.”

Todd nodded and hurriedly swallowed his last bite of pizza. “Yeah. Okay. Let's go. Anyone else want to come?”

Annoyance briefly crossed Jessica's face. She stood up, tossing back her long hair, pulling down the hems of her magenta short shorts.

April saw Matt's eyes bulge.

Okay, okay, she thought. So Jessica is gorgeous.

She gave him a sharp jab in the ribs. “Don't drool on your pizza.”

“Huh?” He pretended he didn't know what she was talking about.

“Catch you later,” Todd said happily, allowing Jessica to pull him to the door.

“Yeah. Later,” Matt repeated, still staring at Jessica's long, slender legs.

“Nice to meet you,” Gabri called after them.

But Todd and Jessica were already out the door.

•   •   •   •   •

“I like your friends,” Jessica said, holding on to Todd's arm as they made their way along the shore.

It was a warm, clear night. The low moon surrounded by twinkling stars made the sand glimmer. The beach surface was cream-colored, furrowed by shifting blue shadows.

“It's so crowded tonight. Not like last night,” Todd said.

Enjoying the warm night, people swarmed over the beach—couples, groups, strollers, joggers, little kids out past their bedtime, collecting shells in the bright moonlight.

Jessica kicked off her sandals and pulled Todd toward the water.

Green-purple waves leapt to the shore, then flattened out with a gentle
whoosh,
rolling up the sand, puddling at their feet.

“Where are you going?” he asked, pulling back.

“How about a swim?” She gazed at him enticingly, her bare shoulders gleaming like ivory. She tugged him gently back toward the water.

“No way,” he said, shaking his head.

She pressed her lips into a dark pout. “Don't you want to swim with me?” Her expression turned mischievous. “You don't need a swimsuit.”

He laughed. “It's not that. It's the undertow.”

“Oh,” she said, her eyes narrowing, her expression still playful, still tugging him by the hand. “You mean you're chicken?”

“Yeah. That's it,” he confessed. “I'm chicken. I mean, I'm not really that good a swimmer.”

“Sure you are,” she whispered, the wind catching her hair, sending it soaring behind her.

“No. Really. I'm not,” he insisted. “And I hear the undertow on the beach at night is unbelievable.” Watching her face fill with disappointment, he quickly added, “Besides, I just like walking with you.”

He's getting over his shyness, Jessica thought, pleased with herself, with the way things were going.

He hasn't much personality, but he's kind of sweet.

The nectar is sweet, that is. Very sweet.

Her thirst suddenly became overwhelming.

“Let's walk on the dunes,” she said breathlessly, squeezing his hand. “It's too crowded down by the shore.”

He agreed without hesitating and, putting an arm around her bare waist, led her up the sand, the rhythmic, regular wash of the waves following behind them as they half walked, half skipped.

Soon they were alone in the soft valley between two mounds of sand, walking barefoot in the tall grass. Breathless and eager for each other.

Jessica kissed his lips first, her eyes burning into his. Then, her lips quivering in anticipation, she felt her fangs descend as she lowered her mouth to his neck.

She closed her eyes dreamily and was about to bite when the scream rang out.

“Help me! Somebody—please
help
!”

A girl's scream. So shrill. So terrified.

So near.

Jessica groaned, disappointed.

So close, so close.

And I'm
so
thirsty.

She opened her eyes to see Todd turn toward the screams and begin to run over the dune, his sandals kicking up sand, sliding as he made his way over the soft, grassy hill.

By the time Jessica descended the dune, a crowd had gathered around the distressed girl. The hushed voices of the concerned and curious onlookers were drowned out by the girl's hysterical sobs.

Jessica made her way to the front of the circle. A man and a woman had their arms around a teenage girl's shoulders, trying to calm her. When the girl removed her hands from in front of her face, Jessica saw that she was plump and round faced, with crimped black hair down to her shoulders. She was dressed in black spandex bike pants and an oversize pink T-shirt.

She stopped sobbing, but her shoulders continued to heave.

“Try to tell us what happened,” the woman holding her urged. “Try to tell us.”

The girl opened her mouth to speak, but burst into another round of sobs. She held her hands up to her face, then lowered one hand gingerly to her neck.

“What's going on?”

“What happened?”

“Is she hurt?”

The voices of the crowd grew louder as more onlookers joined the circle. Jessica searched for Todd, finally spotting him on the far side of the crowd.

“It bit me,” the girl finally managed to get out through clenched teeth. “It bit me.”

The voices quieted, the questions stopped as people pushed forward, straining to listen.

“A mosquito bit her,” a teenage boy behind Jessica joked in a loud whisper, and his lanky companion snickered.

“A bat!” the girl cried, pointing to the sky with one hand as she continued to hold her throat with the other. “It swooped down. It grabbed on to my shoulder. It bit me!”

Jessica heard hushed cries of surprise, of horror. A little girl at the back of the crowd burst into tears. Her father quickly picked her up and started to walk away from the circle.

“Get her to a doctor,” someone called out.

“I vant to bite your neck!”
the teenager behind Jessica said softly to his giggling companion, doing an exaggerated Bela
Lugosi vampire imitation as he grabbed his friend by the throat with both hands.

“That's not funny,” a tall, dark-haired girl said sharply. “That bat might have rabies.”

“
You
might have rabies!” the boy snapped back. His friend thought it was a hilarious comeback.

The man and woman were leading the girl off the beach in the direction of town. She had stopped sobbing but was still holding her throat.

“Where are your parents?” the woman was asking the girl.

“I don't know,” Jessica heard the girl reply, her voice high and frightened. “I don't know.”

“We'll get our car. We'll drive you to the hospital,” the man said.

The girl said something, but they were too far away for Jessica to hear. As they made their way off the beach, the crowd of bystanders came to life. Everyone started talking at once. Some people, Jessica saw, were frightened. Some were horrified. Some were shaking their heads in disbelief.

“What happened?”

“Did the girl fall or something?”

“What's going on?”

“Did someone drown?”

Hushed voices, confused voices, rising over the steady rush of the ocean waves, mingled with nervous laughter.

Fixing her face in an expression of fear, Jessica started to tremble as Todd made his way to her. “Jessica—are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

She hugged herself and shook her head. “Oh, I just hate bats!” she exclaimed. “They're so creepy.”

Todd took her hand. “You're ice-cold!” he said, squeezing it.

“That poor girl,” Jessica cried with a convincing shudder. She raised her hand to her throat, as if imagining what it would feel like.

“It's like a vampire or something,” Todd said.

“
Please
—stop,” she said, holding on to his arm. “I'm really scared.” Warily, she turned her eyes up to the dark sky, as if searching for bats. She smiled as Todd put his arm around her trembling shoulders.

Gabri did this, Jessica thought bitterly as she pretended to be frightened.

Gabri was the bat. Gabri bit the girl.

I know it was Gabri.

He saw that I was having success with Todd. He saw that I was about to taste the nectar for the second time. And so he created a diversion. He knew I couldn't succeed with a girl screaming her head off a few yards down the beach.

What a dirty trick.

It's obvious that Gabri will do anything to stop me.

Well, you
can't
stop me, Jessica thought angrily, her anger serving to renew her determination.

You can't stop me, Gabri. You're too late.

Two more sips of the nectar and poor unsuspecting Todd is mine.

She gazed timidly at Todd. Look at him, she thought, forcing
herself not to laugh out loud. Poor baby. He's madly in love with me. He thinks this is the luckiest summer of his life.

I wonder if he'll still feel so lucky when he finds out what he's become. I wonder if he'll still feel lucky when he knows he's an Eternal One, unable to die, unable to live.

So thirsty. Always so thirsty.

She sighed and pressed her face against his arm. Her mouth suddenly felt so dry. She could taste the nectar, ruby dark, thick and warm.

“Come on, Todd,” she whispered. “Take me away from here. I'm just so . . . scared.”

He nodded, holding her close, and she led him away into the darkness.

A couple of nights later April made her way through the crowds on Main Street to meet Matt. The shops and restaurants she passed were brightly lit and jammed with people. She stepped onto the street to get around a large group of window-shoppers. She moved through the sea of glowing, sunburned faces, smiling people in colorful shirts and white shorts or skirts.

From halfway down the block, April could see that Matt wasn't on the corner in front of Swanny's where they had arranged to meet. I hope he isn't late again, she thought, glancing at her watch as she crossed the street.

A motorcycle roared past right behind her, and she jumped to the curb. “Hey—” She turned in time to see the backs of two boys with long blond hair, speeding in the direction of the carnival grounds.

I wonder if the carnival has opened, April thought, searching the crowded walk for Matt. April loved carnivals. She loved the
rides and the dumb games, and the smell of popcorn and cotton candy. Maybe Matt would like to check it out, she thought.

She had promised her sisters she'd take them as soon as it opened. That meant an entire night of arguing over which ride to go on next and who got to sit in front and who had to sit in the back.

“Matt—where
are
you?” she said aloud.

She poked her head into the arcade—and saw him near the back. He and Ben were leaning over a game, staring intently at the screen as another boy frantically spun a steering wheel.

“Hey, Matt! Matt!” She couldn't make herself heard over the explosions, gunfire, loud whistles, sirens, and crashes that echoed through the long, narrow room.

When he finally turned toward the doorway, he seemed surprised to see her.

Didn't he even remember that we were supposed to meet? April wondered.

He pushed himself away from the game and hurried toward her, a guilty expression on his face. “Oh. Hi.” He followed her out onto the walk. “You just get here?”

“Yeah.” She nodded.

“You look great. Is that a new T-shirt?”

April was wearing a pale blue T-shirt with a V neck that she had worn about ten thousand times. “No, Matt. What's going on?”

“Uh . . . I ran into Ben. We've been playing some games with a few other guys. You know. Just goofing.”

“So what do you want to do tonight?” April asked, her eyes
following a cream-colored Jaguar convertible as it turned the corner onto Dune Lane.