Shelter (16 page)

“Vampire!” Max hissed loudly.

“Hunter,” Kai acknowledged, glaring at the gleaming silver dagger – a hunter’s dagger that I could now see plainly in the moonlight.

Could it be? Was Max a vampire hunter? My mind reeled. Was that why he was so strong that I couldn’t push him away? He wasn’t human! It explained so much.

Max lunged at Kai, trying to stab him through the heart with the dagger, and I screamed in terror. Max whirled around and saw me standing there with a look of genuine horror on my face.

“Alice!” Max and Kai gasped in unison.

I heard Jamie run up behind me, panting desperately. She hadn’t been there for their exchange.

“What’s… going… on…?” Jamie breathed, struggling to draw in enough air.

“Did you know your boyfriend is a vampire?” Max spat at me.

My mouth fell open.

“What?” Max snarled. “Didn’t you know?”

“What… is he… talking about…?” Jamie panted.

“Max, stop this,” I muttered.

“Stop what?” he leered. “You can see for yourself. He’s a fucking vampire!”

In a flash, Kai disappeared into the trees.

“Damn it!” Max yelled, throwing his dagger to the ground, the point sinking deep into the earth.

“Is it true?” I asked, no longer caring that Jamie would hear.

“Yes!” Max shouted. “Your
boyfriend
is a blood sucking vampire!”

“No,” I said softly. “Are you a hunter?”

A strange look slowly crept onto Max’s face.

“You know about hunters? Does that mean… you
knew
he was a vampire?”

I said nothing, but my face was dripping with acknowledgement.

Jamie had finally managed to catch her breath, and she pleaded, “What is going on? What is he talking about? Vampires? Hunters?”

“Jamie, you should go,” I told her.

“But…” she started to object.

“Please,” I begged. “Go back to the house. See if Kai went back there.”

She paused as if she might object, but she reluctantly turned and headed back through the trees. I turned to face Max.

“You knew,” he said to me.

“Of course I knew,” I said. He moved closer to me.

“And you don’t care? You’re dating a vampire and it didn’t occur to you that maybe you should be afraid?”

“No,” I said. “I’m not afraid.”

“Are you crazy? He could kill you!” Max shouted.

“He won’t,” I said.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I am a vampire, too,” I said, my face and voice void of emotion.

Max froze. He stood there motionless and quiet for several seconds, letting my big revelation sink in.

“Are you going to try to kill me now?” I asked him, seething with rage.

“Alice…” he whispered, reaching toward me, but I jerked away.

“That’s what your kind do, isn’t it?” I snapped, my eyes blazing. “You kill indiscriminately!”

“
I
kill indiscriminately?” he snapped, now livid. “You’re one to talk!”

“You know
nothing
about me!” I screamed. “You don’t know anything about me
at all
!”

“You’re right!” Max yelled. “Obviously I don’t know you like I thought I did!”

I glared at him. Suddenly, all traces of my friend were gone. Now, he was nothing but a hunter. I suddenly remembered our moment in the elevator, and for one fleeting second I wished I had just killed him then. Then I snapped back to reality, and I turned to run back to Max’s house.

“Alice, wait!” I heard Max shout behind me, but I did not stop.

I ran all the way back to his house. When I got there, I noticed two police cars parked outside Max’s house. This was too much. Now my whole family was in danger of discovery. I was panicking.

I took a deep breath and tried to reach into my purse for my phone, but I realized I hadn’t brought my purse with me. How could I call my mother and Will to warn them?

As I stood by the gate, Jamie walked up to me. She was holding a cell phone in her hand, and she met me outside the gate. She shoved the phone toward me.

“I thought you might need this,” she said.

“Jamie, I…” I tried to explain.

“Call your family,” she insisted.

“But, Jamie…” I objected.

I didn’t want to discuss anything in front of her.

“I already know about you,” she said. “I’m not going to say anything.”

I looked into her eyes, and she seemed truly sincere. Not wanting to waste a moment, I dialed my house. Will answered.

“Hello?”

“Will?” I said. “Oh, my God, Will, we’re in trouble.”

“What?” he asked. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Long story,” I moaned. “Get some stuff packed and get Mother out of the house… now.”

“Why?” he demanded. “What is going on?”

“Max is a hunter,” I said.

For a moment, it was dead silent.

Then Will asked, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Will, I’m sure,” I answered. “Get Mother out of there!”

“What about you?” he asked, his voice brimming with worry.

“I’ll be fine,” I insisted. “Just get Mother somewhere safe.”

“Is he alone?” Will asked, referring to Max.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I think so.”

“Be safe,” Will said, hanging up the phone.

I sighed and looked at Jamie, who was wide-eyed with worry.

“I’m sorry to involve you in this,” I told her.

“What can I do to help?” she asked.

“What?” I gasped. “Why would you want to help me?”

“You’re my only friend,” she admitted.

“Jamie, this is too dangerous,” I told her. “You could get hurt.”

“I don’t care,” Jamie insisted. “You… well you and Max… you’re the only people who have ever been nice to me. And Kai, of course.”

“I can’t risk anything happening to you,” I said.

“Please, Alice, let me help,” she begged sincerely.

“We have to find Kai,” I agreed reluctantly.

“I have a car parked down the street,” she said. “I… didn’t want anyone to see it.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“It’s kind of crappy,” she said, hanging her head. “I don’t drive if often, because it’s embarrassing.”

“Oh,” I said, understanding. “It’s okay.”

Jamie led me to her car. It was a rusty old VW bug. Now I truly understood why she hadn’t wanted anyone to see it. I knew humans were especially ruthless when making fun of people with less money.

“Where do you think Kai would go?” Jamie asked, turning the key and bringing the roaring, putting monster to life.

“There are only two places I know of,” I said.

First, we drove to the little church he’d taken me to, but I could see from the street it was still padlocked. That meant there was only one place he could be. Tybee.

“Do you know how to get to Tybee Island?” I asked.

“Oh, sure,” Jamie replied. “My parents take us there sometimes.”

We headed for Tybee, and I was desperately wishing Jamie’s car would go a little faster. It felt like we were crawling at a sluggish forty-five miles per hour, but Jamie said that was the fastest her car could go.

We pulled into the restaurant where Kai had parked the time he took me there, and Jamie turned off the engine.

“So, where to?” she asked.

I got out of the car and yanked my shoes off, throwing them into the floorboard of the car. Without saying a word to Jamie, I broke into a run. I felt my feet squish into the sand as I passed between the two hotels, and in the moonlight, I could see him further down the beach, his long red hair whipping around in the salty night air.

I rushed to him, and I threw my arms around him.

“Oh, thank God you’re safe!” I gasped.

“I knew you would find me here,” he said, smiling.

He wrapped his arms around me and planted a kiss on the top of my head.

“What’s she doing here?” he asked, noticing Jamie coming toward us.

“She drove me here,” I answered. “It’s okay, she knows and she’s cool with it. She won’t say anything.”

He lifted one eyebrow at me, but said nothing.

“I need to get home and get some stuff,” I told Kai.

“No!” he hissed. “You can’t go back there!”

“I have to,” I told him. “My phone is there. I need a way for Will and my mother to contact me.”

“I have my phone,” Kai said. “And Will has my number in his.”

“What are we going to do?” I asked.

“We have to get away from here,” he said. “It’s not safe to stay here.”

“You guys can stay at my place,” Jamie offered. “My parents won’t mind.”

“Thank you, Jamie,” Kai said. “But we can’t stay in this
state
.”

“You don’t really think Max would… kill you, do you?” Jamie asked quietly.

“Yes, of course he would,” Kai said.

“But he’s so nice,” Jamie objected.

“Hunters are never
nice
,” Kai hissed.

“He
seems
nice, anyway,” Jamie mumbled.

“I can’t believe you kissed a
hunter
,” Kai spat, his face contorting in disgust.

“Neither can I,” I admitted.

“You kissed Max…?” Jamie asked quietly.

Kai’s phone rang, and he looked at the caller ID. His face fell.

“What?” I asked, trying to see the number.

He turned the phone toward me and it was my own cell phone. I felt all of the blood drain from my face.

“It could be Will,” he said. “Maybe he has your phone.”

“No,” I objected. “He’d call from his phone.”

“Don’t answer it,” Jamie said nervously.

“Give it to me,” I said, reaching my hand out.

“But…” Kai began to object.

I snatched the phone from his hand and opened it.

“Max?” I asked.

“It’s a shame you left your phone at home,” Max answered. I could hear him sneering.

“What do you want, Max?” I demanded.

“I want your boyfriend’s head,” he growled.

“Forget it,” I snapped. “You won’t get anywhere near him!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Max snarled. “My father’s one of the best hunters there ever was. He’s a Viewer. Perhaps you’ve heard of them?”

I gasped, and I suddenly felt my legs wobble. I dropped the phone and my knees buckled. I fell onto my knees in the sand, trembling.

“Alice!” gasped Kai, sinking into the sand beside me. “What is it?”

“Ohhhhh, Aliiiiiceeee!” came a mocking voice from the phone.

I snatched up the phone and shouted into it, “I’ll kill you myself!”

“Now, now,” Max said. “There’s no reason to be so hasty.”

“What do you want from me?” I screamed at Max.

“I’ll tell you what,” he said. “You hand over your little boyfriend and I’ll make sure no one ever knows about you and your family. You and your mother and brother will be safe.”

“What?” I gasped. “You pig!”

“Is that any way to talk to a Viewer?” Max chuckled. “You know what we can do.”

“If you come within ten miles of Kai I
will
kill you,” I growled.

“Then I guess you’re going to have to kill me,” he said. “Because your little boyfriend is as good as
dead
.”

The phone went dead. I dropped it into the sand and buried my face in my hands, sobbing loudly.

“Alice, honey,” Kai whispered, holding me close. “What happened?”

“He’s a Viewer,” I breathed, staring into Kai’s eyes.

His face turned even paler than normal.

“What’s a Viewer?” Jamie asked.

“It’s a type of vampire hunter with special abilities,” I explained. “They can see through the eyes of any target. That means he can look through my eyes right now and he’ll know exactly where we are.”

“You mean you can’t run from him?” Jamie asked, her eyes wide with fear.

“No, we can’t run from him,” I said, shaking my head.

“What
can
you do?” Jamie wanted to know.

“We can
fight
,” I replied.

“Or I can give him what he wants,” Kai suggested.

Obviously, with the heightened hearing of a vampire, he had heard at least part of the conversation.

“No!” I stated. “Absolutely not!”

“What?” Jamie asked. “What does he want?”

“He wants me,” Kai told her.

“Kai, forget it,” I snapped. “Not for
anything
!”

“Alice, he said you and your family would be safe,” Kai said gently.