Eleventh Grade Burns(27)

Once the final bell had rung, Vlad grabbed his backpack from his locker and headed to Otis’s classroom, where he perched on the edge of his uncle’s desk, watching Otis tuck things neatly into his old leather doctor’s bag. Making sure to speak quietly, calmly, Vlad said, “Otis, how do you close doors without touching them?”

Otis snapped his eyes to Vlad, looking very much caught. He didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, as if coming to the conclusion that his nephew deserved an answer, he said, “It’s something that I realized I could do only about six years ago ... after I’d fed on vampire blood.”

Vlad felt like he’d been punched in the chest. He mulled over a few theories, then settled on the obvious choice. “Dorian’s idea?”

Otis breathed out a sigh and ran a trembling hand through his hair. “After Tomas left Elysia, I was lost. Dorian took me under his wing, tried to show me what more life had to offer. It was foolish of me—I knew the kind of man Dorian was ... is—but I went along with him to a party full of vampires and humans. We killed the humans, drank them dry. And in my drunken state of bloodlust, I relented to Dorian’s will and fed on a vampire as well. Dorian finished him off.”

Vlad gasped, and not just at Otis’s actions. “He killed a vampire?”

Otis closed his bag and met Vlad’s eyes. “Yes, but the Council of Elders won’t touch him. No law can. Dorian is ... protected.”

Vlad mulled this over for a bit. He couldn’t imagine Otis feeding on a roomful of people. But then, he couldn’t imagine Otis feeding on anyone. He’d only ever seen his uncle feed on one person, on Henry and that was out of necessity not greed. “What was it like, feeding on a vampire?”

“It was wrong. And wonderful. Nothing compares. It was powerful ... like pure light inside my veins.” Otis’s eyes went wide, then horrified at the memory of however that blood had made him feel. “Dorian’s palate disgusts me, but I understand his tastes.”

“And the telekinesis?”

“It started the next day. I try not to use it in front of other vampires, for fear they’ll learn that I’ve fed from one of our own. I don’t know if it’s a common side effect or not.” Otis wet his lips. “Have you experienced anything like that since I gave you my blood after Joss staked you?”

Vlad thought it over for a moment, but nothing unusual came to mind. “As far as I can tell, I haven’t changed at all.”

Otis nodded thoughtfully. “Perhaps it was Dorian’s blood—the vampire we drank from was his creation, his son, after all.”

Vlad gawked. “He killed his son just for a snack? That’s seriously twisted.”

Otis squeezed Vlad’s shoulder and steered him toward the door. “Stay away from him, Vlad. Dorian is brilliant and cunning. He’s also extremely dangerous, and he’s taken a liking to you.”

They entered the hallway, and Vlad watched as Otis locked his classroom door. He couldn’t help but ask, “In the same way he took a liking to you?”

Otis turned, leading him down the hall, toward the front doors of the school. “No. In the same way he took a liking to his son.”

Vlad gulped and decided that staying away from Dorian would be top priority, right alongside steering clear of Joss when he was in a staking mood. Which was probably always. Maybe it was better if Vlad just wasn’t alone again ... ever.

As they made their way down the steps, waving to the janitor on their way by, Otis said, “I won’t be dropping you off at home today, Vlad. Vikas is expecting you.”

“Expecting me?” Vlad racked his brains but couldn’t recall having arranged anything with Vikas.

Otis nodded, unlocking the rusty door of his crappy car. As he slid into the driver’s seat and Vlad slid in next to him, he said, “You’ll be training for two hours every afternoon. Vikas wants to get you sharp. Especially with a slayer in town.”

Vlad frowned at his heavy backpack. “I suppose you expect me to do homework too.”

Otis laughed. “Of course.”

The car turned this way and that, until it found its way down Lugosi Trail and Otis brought it to a stop in front of Vlad’s former home. Once inside, Otis excused himself upstairs to grade papers. Vikas was waiting in the kitchen with a stern expression on his face. Vlad immediately wondered if he was in trouble.

“Today, Mahlyenki Dyavol, I will teach you what I know about the Slayer Society. Then we will practice how to effectively dispatch a slayer.”