Vampire Beach: Initiation (17 page)

Nobody moved.

If the High Council member voted the wrong way, what could he do? The closest exit
-
the only exit Jason could see, other than the windows
-
was back by the waterfall. He wouldn't be able to get Tyler over there without a fight
-
and he couldn't possibly fight all of them. Would they kill Tyler as soon as the decid
ing vote was cast? Jason wondered. Or was there some kind of ceremony that might buy him some time?

Jason saw one half of the large double doors by the waterfall swing open. The branches prevented him from seeing who had entered, but all the vampires fell silent. Now there was only the sound of rushing water and the faint rus
tl
e of leaves.

Mr.
Lafrenière
moved out of Jason's line of sight. A moment later, he returned with a woman. Jason could see the top of her head
-
dark hair in a ponytail
-
but that was it. Zach's father stood blocking her.

A woman,
Jason thought, surprised,
but who?
Cautiously, he parted the closest branches, trying to get a better look. Was she someone he knew? The mother of someone he went to school with? Or was she from France? Maybe all the High Council mem
bers came from the homeland.

He still couldn't see her face, and he was afraid that if he pressed on the branches any harder, one of them would snap. And then Tyler wouldn't be the only one
in need of a rescue mission.

"Madame High
Councillor
, please take my chair," Mr.
Lafrenière
said. "We've found ourselves at a stale
mate. We need you to cast the final vote."

"Of course," the High
Councillor
answered,
her voice low and gravelly.
And somehow familiar.

She sat down, and at last, Jason could see her face. He almost fell out of the eucalyptus tree in shock.

He was looking at his aunt Bianca.

S
o Bianca was a vampire.

Jason stared at her, for some reason remembering the toy bulldozer she'd given him for his fifth birthday and how she'd sat in the backyard with him for hours, using it to make a road. He remembered her visiting him in the hospital when he was eleven and had his tonsils out. She'd taught him how to play poker that day. He remembered her taking him to the best con
cert of his life in Madison Square Garden when he was fifteen.

And then he remembered her coming out of the pool house on Thanksgiving, leaving Joe the pool guy in there practically walking into walls and giggling.
She bit him,
Jason realized grimly.
Right there in our pool house.

Jason's mind reeled with shock and confusion. How could Aunt Bianca
-
the person of whom he had so many good memories
-
be a vampire? How could
his mother's sister
be a vampire?

His mother's sister.
A trickle of cold sweat ran down Jason's back. Aunt Bianca and his mother had so much in common ... could that mean his mother was a vampire too? Sienna had told him vampirism was hereditary.

But... his
mother
?
That would mean he and Dani would have to be at least half
-

Jason realized his aunt had begun to speak. He shoved all his questions aside and tried to focus.

"This isn't something I want to do," she was saying, her voice cool and crisp and oh so businesslike. "But our safety has been compromised by the theft of the chalice. We can't allow that to happen. We have to show anyone who may be watching that we will do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves."

Bianca stared calmly at Tyler. "I vote that the boy should die."

And at that moment, Jason mentally disowned his aunt. She knew Tyler. She'd known him since he was a
little
kid. She'd had breakfast with him that morning. And now she was calmly commanding his death.

Jason
frowned,
his mind focused and racing now, determined to find a way to rescue Tyler. But there were thirteen vampires down there
-
terrible odds.

"I'll dispose of him. Not here, of course," Bianca was saying briskly. "Zach, help me get him down to my car. I think he's about to regain consciousness, and the less he sees of this place
-
and any of you
-
the better."

Jason saw a glimmer of hope. His aunt and Zach
-
he felt more confident about taking on just the two of them. And maybe Zach would still be feeling indebted.

Jason's cell phone rang. His body jerked, and for the second time he almost fell off his branch. He yanked the cell out of his pocket and managed to turn it off two notes into "It's a Small World."

He scanned the faces of the vampires. A few of them were glancing around the table as if they'd heard the sound. But no one looked up. Jason checked the number of the incoming call. Adam. He texted a quick message: "Wait. Quiet."

Bianca and Zach
were
half carrying, half dragging Tyler toward the door by the waterfall now. Jason needed to get out of the Garden and formulate a plan, fast.

"The rest of you leave a few at a time," Bianca ordered over her shoulder as Jason started back up the
tree.

The leaves trembled as he moved from branch to branch. He could only pray that his luck held. And it seemed to. No one shouted out as he grabbed the edge of the skylight and scrambled back onto the roof. G
ently
, he slid the glass pane closed.

Now he just had to get himself to the ground
-
easy, except that a chunk of his vine ladder was now missing. Jason stretched out on his belly and surveyed the side of the house. To his horror he saw that more than a chunk had gone
-
the honeysuckle and ivy had crumpled to the ground from the spot where they tore. There was no getting down that way.

Luckily, Jason had another idea. He inched down the section of vines that remained,
then
grabbed the railing of the balcony he'd used before. Now came the tricky part. There was another balcony below this one, but it was off to the right.

Jason swung out and back, building up momen
tum.
One.
Two.
Three.
He released the railing, letting himself fly backward through the air. He landed on the floor of the lower balcony, hard enough to knock the breath out of him for a moment.

"Are you insane?" Adam called up to him when Jason got back on his feet.

Jason signaled frantically for him to shut up, then climbed over the balcony rail and used the railing to lower himself as far as he could. He checked the bushes below him.
They should help. A little,
he thought. Then he let go.

"I don't need an answer," Adam said as he rushed over and helped Jason out of the thick, prickly brush. "I can already see you are certifiable."

"I feel like I am," Jason told him. "I just found out my aunt Bianca is a vampire.
And not just any vam
pire.
She's on something they call the 'High Council'"

"Why do I think that's not the group in charge of Vampire Twister?" Adam asked.

"She was meeting with the DeVere Heights Vampire Council to decide what to do with Tyler. Short version: At Zach's party, he stole a priceless arti
fact the vampires use in their ceremonies. And the Council just voted to kill him for it. Aunt Bianca's going to do it. She's going to take him ... wherever, and just off him."

"Wait. Your aunt is a vampire?" Adam repeated. Jason wasn't sure whether he'd actually taken in any
thing else. "What does that mean about your mom?
And, not to get too personal, you?
The whole thing is supposed to be inherited, right?"

"I thought of that." Reflexively, Jason ran his tongue over his teeth.
Pretty blunt.
"I'm not. I can't be. I'd have to know, wouldn't I?"

"You haven't been drinking any blood lately, have
you?”

"No," Jason answered quickly. "Well, if I cut my finger or something, I lick it. Is that weird?" Suddenly, the taste flooded his mouth: salty, metallic, warm. He felt his gag reflex react. Surely that was a good sign.

"Everybody does that," Adam told him. "Do you think your mom knows about your aunt?"

"I'm not sure," Jason admitted. "It shocked the hell out of me. And there's no way Dani would know if I
don't. If my mom does know what Bianca is, she's keeping it a big secret. I guess it's possible, but I seri
ously doubt
-
"

Jason stopped. He could feel the outline of a plan forming. "I'm not supposed to know about Aunt Bianca," he muttered.

"Yeah.
That's kind of the definition of a secret," Adam said. "Did you hit that soft spot on your head when you fell?"

"But,
listen,
we can use the secret thing. Bianca isn't going to want to say
or
do anything in front of me that would make me realize she isn't just my regular,
human
aunt," Jason explained. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Adam. "So, go get my car and bring it right up to the front door of the house, okay? I parked down the block."

"I saw. I'm gone." Adam sprinted away.

Jason positioned himself at the side of the house, in sight of Bianca's rented red Mustang convertible and the front door.
Then waited.
He mentally rehearsed what he was going to say, hoping that he'd be able to sound convincing. It's not like he was much of an actor. His last performance had been when he played a potato in the third
-
grade play.

He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling out a leaf, and smoothed down his shirt. He needed to look normal when he talked to his aunt. Otherwise,
he'd blow the plan. "You're not going to blow it," he told himself firmly. "Tyler's life depends on that!"

Where were Bianca and Zach? How long could it take them to get Tyler downstairs? Jason wondered. They hadn't decided to kill
Tyler
in the house, had they? No, that didn't make sense.
The mess, for one thing.
They wouldn't want to get blood all over the
Lafrenière
showplace.
Unless they killed him in a bloodless way.
Would they just drain him? Would they figure why not use the blood for
-

The front door swung open, snapping Jason out of his thoughts. Bianca and Zach emerged, supporting Tyler between them. His eyes were open now, and he was walking. He'd clearly fall if they let him go, but he was at least able to move his legs.

"Zach! Tyler! Hey!" Jason called, strolling toward them all. His voice came out a little too loud.
A little nervous sounding, maybe.
But passable.
"Aunt Bianca! What are you doing here?" Jason decided he would be the one asking the questions. Let her play defense.

Her eyes widened, but she answered smoothly enough. "I was dropping off a book for Zach's father," she said quickly. "Something I knew Stefan would want him to have."

So you're a vampire
and
a stellar liar,
Jason thought.
Way to go, Aunt Bianca!

His aunt smiled. "And, as you can see, I found our Tyler having a bit too much fun with Zach."

"Tyler, man, you couldn't wait for me?" Jason asked.

"What?" Tyler mumbled.

"You know I'm always up for a good time." He tapped his friend's chest, wanting Tyler to know that
he was there.

"Let's get him into my car, Zach," Bianca said. "He's getting heavy." She and Zach took a step toward the red Mustang.

Jason stepped in front of them, blocking their way. "You'll be sorry if you put him in your car," Jason warned. "I know Tyler. I know his pre
-
puke face. And this is it. He'll ruin your upholstery. I'll drive him
home.”

"In what?"
Bianca asked. "I don't see your car."

Zach didn't speak, but his eyes moved back and forth between Jason and Bianca like he was watching
a tennis match.

"Adam's on his way over with it. I asked him to drive. I wanted to take a run on the beach," Jason explained, the trickle of sweat beginning to run down his back again. He could feel it starting to glue his shirt to his skin. "He'll be here in a sec."

"I'm not sure Tyler can stand up another sec," Bianca said, taking a step forward and forcing Tyler
-
and Zach
-
with her. Jason had to back up a little.