Eleventh Grade Burns(21)

She looked down the street for a moment, and Joss knew just who she was looking for, so he put on his best smile and said, “Or should I get outta here before your boyfriend shows up?”

She shook her head, her chocolate curls bouncing this way and that, and adjusted her backpack on her shoulders. There was a look in her eyes that Joss couldn’t place, but he knew it wasn’t a good one. “Trust me, that’s not gonna be a problem.”

They started down the sidewalk together, walking side by side, heading toward the high school on their first day of their junior year. After a minute or two, Joss cleared his throat. Nudging her playfully, he tried to keep his tone light. “So why’d you stop e-mailing me, anyway? The last I heard, you were going to Freedom Fest last year and then ... nothing.”

Meredith shrugged, her mood slightly somber. “I’m sorry, Joss. I’ve just been in a really weird place lately. Ever since Vlad dumped me, I just—”

“Vlad dumped you?” There was a hopeful, pleased tone in his voice, one he tried desperately to counter with a sympathetic glance. “That’s awful. What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“C’mon, you can tell me.”

Meredith sighed, slowing her steps. “No, that’s just it. Nothing happened. One minute we were laughing and holding hands, the next he was pushing me away and telling me it was over.”

Joss’s thoughts raced. He knew, from the so-called friendship with Vlad two years before, that there was no way that he would break up with Meredith unless something had made him. Joss needed to find out what that was.

On the outside, he tried to appear cool and calm. On the inside, however, he was overjoyed. Not only because now he might have a real chance with Meredith, but because now he didn’t have to worry so much that she would end up as the next meal of a monster. “So it’s over between the two of you?”

Part of him was elated that there was no longer anyone standing in his way, but part of him—the part that had been sent by the Slayer Society—was intrigued by the bits of information he was gathering about his prey. This one wasn’t like most vampires. In fact, Vlad was unlike any vampire that Joss had ever encountered. Past experience had taught him that. This one was crafty, how else could he have broken through Joss’s defenses and gotten so close to him. This one would have to be dealt with carefully.

“Yeah. I guess.” The look in her eyes was one of immense sadness, something that sent Joss’s blood boiling. He wanted to ask if she knew what kind of monster Vlad was, or if she’d ever been bitten and infected as one of his human slaves, but he couldn’t. Not yet. Not without breaking protocol. And after a year of reconditioning, of being reminded of what he was, and what the monsters he was hunting were, Joss was all about following protocol.

He cleared his throat and said, “If you ever want to talk—about anything—I’m here for you, okay?”

She smiled and said, “You’re sweet, Joss. I’m glad you’re back in town.”




They backed down the driveway and Henry began a slow, leisurely drive to the high school. Vlad neglected to comment that they’d have gotten there faster if they’d walked.

As they approached the school, Vlad spotted a pink-clad figure making her way up the sidewalk. Meredith. He watched her, wondering if she hated him, wondering what she’d say when they inevitably ran into each other in the hall. He’d almost become lost in his wonderment when he noticed the person walking next to her.

Time slowed to a crawl, the music on the radio suddenly sounded warped and distorted. As the car pulled into the parking lot, the pace of everyone outside was like that of a snail; even the birds seemed to be flying in slow motion. Vlad instantly knew the familiar face, the lean frame, the backpack ... which was undoubtedly holding the tools necessary to kill him.




A car passed on the road and as Joss glanced at the passenger, time slowed to a crawl. Joss would have known that black hair, those pale features, the dark eyes anywhere.

Vladimir Tod.

Just one of the vampires he’d been sent here to kill.

He narrowed his eyes, taking in the pale skin, the thin frame, obvious clues to what Vlad really was. He should have known. He should have recognized the beast for what it was and taken action immediately last year, but he was blinded then, blinded by the want of friendship.

He wasn’t blind now. Every ounce of his being was seeing 20/20.