Vampire Beach: Legacy (15 page)

Adam nodded. ‘So, what are you up to tonight?’

‘Why?’

‘Because,
mon ami
, I have something to show you. Something you really want to see.’

‘ParanormalPI.com?’ Jason asked later that evening.

‘That’s what I said,’ Adam replied, tossing Jason’s Nerf basketball at the hoop attached to the bedroom door.

Jason typed the web address into his computer and watched as a serious-looking site appeared. ‘It looks like a college information page or something.’

‘Well, yeah, it
looks
all scholarly. And it is, compared to most of the vampire websites. But there’s still a lot of trash. Check out the titles of the articles in the archive,’ Adam told him.

Jason took a closer look. ‘"Ghost Gives Accurate Information on Mississippi Shootings".’

‘Oh, that one was cool,’ Adam said, tossing the ball again. ‘This ghost communicated with the homicide detective through his iPod.’

‘"Woman Gives Birth to Flying Fish",’ Jason read dubiously.

‘Like I said – a lot of trash.’ Adam threw himself down on Jason’s bed. ‘But it’s a pretty good site even so. They investigate every paranormal story they find in the tabloids, and a lot of them are really hilarious. One or two even turn out to be true – in one way or another.’

‘OK. So why am I interested in this?’

‘Um . . . because you’re dating a vampire?’ Adam said.

‘We’re just friends,’ Jason corrected him.

‘Yes. And I’m a world-champion body builder,’ Adam replied, deadpan. ‘So do you want to see the vampire-interest story or not?’

‘I guess so.’

‘Search for "vampire" in the database.’

Jason typed in ‘vampire’ and hit
ENTER
. The first link that popped up was entitled, ‘Priceless Vampire Artifact for Sale’. He clicked on it.

‘"A Malibu, California, pawnshop is offering an antique chalice for sale to the highest bidder,"’ he read aloud. ‘"This is no worthless trophy cup. This is a valuable piece of art which is linked with several legendary vampire rituals. Blood sacrifices, undead wedding ceremonies, and vampire initiation are only a few of the sacraments rumored to have been performed with this beautiful chalice."’

Jason stopped reading. ‘Well, they got
one
of the rituals right.’ The chalice had definitely been used to initiate Zach Lafrenière into the DeVere Heights Vampire Council.

‘I’m thinking this is where our not-so-friendly neighborhood vampire hunter got his lead on the DeVere Heights toothies,’ Adam said. ‘Tamburo probably lurked on sites like this all the time. He saw the notice about the chalice, he came straight to Malibu to find out whether it was a real vampire artifact or not. Because where there’s an ancient vampire chalice, there are likely to be vampires to kill.’

Jason nodded, his face grim. ‘I wonder how many other vampire hunters do the same thing.’

‘And I wonder how the website even heard about the chalice,’ Adam replied.

‘That pawnbroker probably put it on this site to advertise it,’ Jason said. ‘It’s a site for supernatural enthusiasts, after all.’ He closed the page, and the ‘vampire’ search results filled the screen again.

‘Yeah, I guess saying that it was mysterious and all that would get some publicity and drive the price higher,’ Adam agreed.

But Jason barely heard him. His attention was on another link down toward the bottom of the search page: ‘Blood Research Center Creates Top Secret Vampire Test’. Jason clicked on it.

He’d only read about three sentences before he knew he had to call Sienna. Immediately. He reached for the phone, then stopped. Sienna had been worried about his calls being monitored. ‘Can I borrow your cell?’ he asked Adam.

Adam handed it to him, then came to read the web page over Jason’s shoulder. Jason dialed Sienna’s number.

‘Hello?’ she answered. ‘Adam?’

‘No, it’s me,’ Jason said. ‘Can you talk? It’s important.’

‘Yes. My parents are out at a meeting. Are you OK?’

‘I’m reading an article online. It mentions the DeVere Center for Advanced Genetics and Blood Research. Your father is on the board of that place, right?’

‘Right,’ Sienna said. ‘Why?’

‘This article says that research scientists there have devised a DNA test to determine whether a human could secretly be a vampire without knowing it,’ Jason told her.

‘That’s ridiculous,’ Adam said.

‘That
is
ridiculous,’ Sienna put in.

‘Well, yeah, obviously it’s been exaggerated,’ Jason agreed. ‘I think it would be pretty hard not to notice yourself drinking blood. But a few of the other articles on this site have a grain of truth to them. It’s possible that this one does too.’

‘OK . . .’ Sienna said slowly.

‘We were talking about genetics yesterday,’ Jason reminded her. ‘If the DeVere Center is doing any research on vampire genetics, it might be useful to us.’

‘The Center emails my father every week with progress reports,’ Sienna said. ‘Just to keep him up to date on their latest research.’

‘Can you find those emails?’

‘I’ll try. But it has to be fast. My parents will be home any minute.’ Jason heard Sienna moving around as she spoke. ‘Dad’s computer is downstairs, in his study.’

‘Put it on speaker. I can’t tell what’s happening,’ Adam complained.

Jason set the cell phone on his desk and hit the
SPEAKER
button.

‘OK, I’m at the computer.’ Sienna’s voice came through the tiny speaker. ‘I just have to log on as my dad.’

‘Do you know his password?’ Adam asked.

‘Yup. It’s my middle name,’ Sienna replied. ‘Genevieve.’ Jason heard the keys tapping as she typed. A little bell sound announced that she was logged in. ‘I’m going to his email,’ she narrated. Then she groaned.

‘What?’ Jason and Adam asked together.

‘There are hundreds of them,’ Sienna explained.

‘How many from the DeVere Center?’ Adam said.

Jason quickly scanned his computer screen for the date of the article on ParanormalPI.com. ‘This piece is from last week, so check the last couple of months.’

‘This is weird. I don’t see any email from the DeVere Center, but there should be a bunch,’ Sienna told him.

‘Go dumpster diving,’ Adam suggested.

‘What?’ Sienna asked.

‘I think I can translate,’ Jason offered. ‘Check the recycle bin for deleted messages.’

Sienna was silent for a moment, then Jason heard her gasp.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, the suspense is killing me,’ Adam agreed. ‘Especially since I don’t know what we’re talking about.’

‘OK, this is an email from a couple of weeks ago,’ Sienna said. ‘Apparently there was an accidental discovery at the research center. They’re always trying to find a way to manipulate our genes to allow us to drink synthetic blood. That’s the whole point of the DeVere Center.’

‘Why, thank you for that generous thought,’ Adam cracked. ‘Synthetic blood means no more human blood, right?’

‘Right. So apparently they were working with vampire DNA and human DNA together and they were building some sort of hybrid blood, but in the course of doing that they discovered the location of the human gene that causes the transformation sickness.’

‘The what what?’ Adam asked.

‘There’s a specific gene?’ Jason asked.

‘Yes. And knowing where the gene is means they can develop a test to find out in advance whether a human has the proper genetic make-up to become a vampire with no ill effects. This email is a request for funding to develop that test.’

‘And?’ Jason demanded.

‘"This is of course not the breakthrough we were hoping for, but it is an interesting and potentially useful side effect nonetheless,"’ Sienna read. ‘"The test would match human mtDNA against—"’

‘Why did you stop?’ Adam asked. ‘It was just getting good.’

‘I heard a car.’ Sienna sounded far away, and Jason figured she’d walked away from the phone. ‘Damn! My parents just pulled into the driveway. I have to go.’

‘No! This is important,’ Jason cried.

‘Print out that email,’ Adam said.

‘And we need the answer to it. Did they get funding? Does the test exist?’ Jason added. ‘Sienna?’

‘I’m looking,’ she answered, her voice tense. ‘Here it is. My father deleted his reply too. I’m opening it now . . .’

‘You should print a copy. We might need to reference it,’ Adam instructed her.

‘Yeah, and Dad might empty the recycle bin and delete everything before I can get another look at this,’ Sienna agreed. ‘OK. It’s going to the printer. If my father catches me doing this, he’ll freak.’

‘Is it printing?’ Jason demanded.

‘Crap! They’re inside,’ Sienna whispered.

‘But did it print?’ Adam asked.

‘Not yet.’

‘Sienna—’ Jason began.

But the line went dead.

JASON STARED AT
the cell phone as if he could will it to bring back Sienna.

Adam reached over, picked up the phone, and hit
END
. ‘I’ll get her back,’ he said, starting to re-dial.

‘No!’ Jason snatched the phone away from him. ‘If she’s hiding in her father’s study and the phone rings, it could give her away. We don’t want her to get caught.’

‘Right. Sorry. Let’s just hope she hasn’t been caught already,’ Adam said darkly.

‘I don’t think there’s anything we can do now except wait to hear from her.’ Jason ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. He hated not knowing whether Sienna had managed to get away with it or not.

‘Out with it,’ Adam said.

‘Huh?’

‘Why do you care so much about the transformer whoosie-whatsit?’

‘Transformation sickness.’

‘Yeah, that. Are you planning something I should know about? Like, oh, transforming into a vampire?’ Adam demanded.

‘My Aunt Bianca caught me with Sienna the other day,’ Jason explained. ‘She gave me a choice: become a vampire, or she tells Sienna’s parents about us.’

‘And Sienna gets sent away,’ Adam said thoughtfully. ‘Got it. But you’re not actually considering transforming, are you?’

‘Wouldn’t you?’

Adam thought about it. ‘Would I want to become a vampire and have looks, money, power, and long life? Seems like a no-brainer.’

‘But?’ Jason prompted.

‘But if I were a vampire, then I wouldn’t be . . . human,’ Adam said. ‘I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Plus, there’s the having-to-drink-blood issue.’

‘You see my problem,’ Jason said, shaking his head. ‘I keep going over and over it in my mind, but I can’t decide.’

‘And then there’s some kind of sickness?’ Adam asked.

‘Transformation sickness is what happens to some humans when they transform into vampires,’ Jason explained. ‘Basically there are three possibilities: you’re totally fine, you die instantly, or you slowly go insane.’

Adam whistled. ‘Seems like pretty bad odds. Two of those possibilities bite. Hard. No pun intended.’

‘That’s probably why their scientists suggested developing a test for it. The vampires aren’t thrilled when one of them dies or goes crazy, either.’

‘So that’s what the test is about,’ Adam said thoughtfully. ‘If you could find out in advance that you would be OK – not, you know, dead or crazy – at least you’d know what you were getting into.’

‘Exactly,’ Jason agreed.

‘Then your course of action is clear,’ Adam declared. ‘If that test exists, you have to take it!’

The next morning, Jason got to school so early that he was the first car into the parking lot. He’d left Dani to fend for herself – he was so eager to find out if Sienna was OK that he didn’t have the patience to wait for his sister.

Adam pulled in on his Vespa half a minute later. ‘Is she here yet?’ he asked.

‘Nope.’ Jason peered at the line of cars waiting to get into the school. He shaded his eyes against the sunshine. ‘There she is!’ he cried, relieved. Sienna’s Spider was almost hidden between Van Dyke’s huge Hummer and Erin Henry’s Escalade. Jason’s heartbeat slowed and he relaxed a little. He’d been afraid he would show up at school only to find out that Sienna had already been packed off to France.

He and Adam jogged over to her as she parked. ‘What happened?’ Jason called.

Sienna rolled her eyes. ‘I felt like Sydney on
Alias
,’ she joked. ‘Doing computer espionage . . .’

‘Lookin’ hot,’ Adam joked along, leering. Sienna gave him a light – vampire light – shove and he almost fell over.

‘Anyway, I got what we needed. It finished printing about two seconds before my father walked through the door,’ Sienna told them.

‘Well?’ Jason asked.

‘He funded the research,’ Sienna said. ‘They were supposed to have a prototype of the test ready by Christmas.’

‘So it will definitely be ready by now,’ Adam said. ‘What are we going to do about it?’

‘We?’ Sienna asked.

‘Yeah. I’m in.’ Adam frowned. ‘What, you think I’m only good for the go-between mushy romance stuff?’

‘I want to take the test,’ Jason told Sienna. ‘I want to know if I can become a vampire.’

‘Even if you can, that doesn’t mean you should,’ Sienna said quietly.

‘But at least I’ll have all the facts.’

Sienna nodded. ‘So what do we do?’

‘We need recon,’ Adam said. ‘Can you get into the lab?’

‘Sure,’ Sienna said. ‘I’ll just say I’m there to visit my father.’

‘But you can’t go when he’s there,’ Jason pointed out. ‘Otherwise he’ll find out what you’re doing.’

‘So I’ll wait for a day when I know he’s
not
going in to the Center,’ Sienna agreed.

‘Cool. Then you just have to sweet-talk one of the scientists into showing you the new test,’ Adam said. ‘They’ll probably be psyched to demonstrate it, anyway, and then you’ll know how it works.’

‘And we can do it on me,’ Jason said.

Sienna smiled. ‘It’s a plan!’

When Jason got home that afternoon, Dani was already in the kitchen eating Häagen-Dazs straight from the carton.

‘Hey,’ he greeted her. ‘I haven’t seen you all day. Did you catch a ride home with Ryan?’