Eleventh Grade Burns(39)

Joss offered her a reassuring smile. Clutching the envelope to his chest, he slipped by her and headed down the hall and into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

He pulled the tab, tearing open the envelope, and slid his hand inside. When his fingers brushed against the familiar feeling of parchment, he closed his hand over the letter and pulled it out, dropping the shipping envelope to the floor. In his hands he held a small parchment envelope, held closed by a red wax seal which bore the Society’s crest. He ran his fingertip over the seal and turned back to the door, locking it. Then, sitting on the edge of his bed, Joss turned the envelope over in his hand and pulled the back flap, breaking the seal. He withdrew the letter, unfolded it, and read over the words with eager eyes.

His growing smile dropped. The Society wanted more information about the vampires he’d come here to kill.

So much reconnaissance for such a minor infestation. But it was the oldest one, the one called Vikas, that they needed to know more about, and the youngest ... Vlad. Once Joss had his answers, once he’d satisfied the Society’s curiosity, he’d be free to rid the world of each and every one of them.

The photograph on his dresser, enclosed in a small silver frame, caught his attention. A pretty girl, only five years old when the photo was taken. Her blonde curls framing her cherubic face, her green eyes huge, her smile dazzling. Joss had loved her from the moment he’d touched his mother’s stomach and the baby had kicked at his hand. His little sister, his reason for fighting so hard against the bloodthirsty creatures of the night. Cecile. Every vampire he’d killed, every pain he’d had to endure ... it was all for her. It was all worth it. Just to know that he was, in some small way, avenging her wrongful death. He’d do anything for her.

Even if it meant killing the boy he’d once called friend.





16





OUT FOR A BITE


VLAD BUTTONED HIS JACKET and braced himself against the chilly autumn breeze as he moved down the sidewalk toward home. He’d just spent the last two hours in the belfry reading everything he could find about the Pravus in the Compendium, but discovered nothing that really pointed to anything definite on what the prophecy really said. It all seemed like a bunch of hearsay, with quotes from one vampire’s theories and quotes from another vampire agreeing with those theories. Sadly, even though Otis removed the glyph that had prevented Vlad from reading the Pravus passages, Vlad was left just about where he’d begun—having no idea exactly what the prophecy said and even less of an idea of where he might find it.

“I know where the prophecy is.”

Vlad’s steps came to an immediate halt. His thoughts had been closed to anyone who might try to read them—some thing Otis had urged him to practice—but the intruder on his nightly trek had seemingly read them without any effort at all. He turned slowly and looked into Dorian’s eyes.

Dorian shrugged slightly. A small smile touched his lips. Bemusement, or something sinister, Vlad couldn’t tell. “Call it a talent, one of many. I can read anyone’s thoughts, no matter how they might resist.”

The center of Vlad’s chest tightened as he tried to force all of his secrets from his mind in a blind panic.

The smile slipped from Dorian’s lips and he shook his head, almost apologetically “But I’m a man of principle, Vlad. I never share the secrets I collect.”

Vlad shook his head defensively, wondering just what Dorian was doing in Bathory. He didn’t have to wonder for long, though. The answer was obvious: he wanted Vlad’s blood at any cost. “Not everyone has secrets.”

“I assure you, everyone has at least one thing that they would like to hide from the world. Even me.”

Vlad wet his lips. He couldn’t help but wonder if Dorian was bluffing. After all, there were people in the world who were trained to profile people, to guess what it was that made them tick. Maybe Dorian was just a good guesser. “What about me?”

“Where to start?” His smile returned as he seemed to tick through a list of Vlad’s greatest secrets. He tapped his lips with his pointer finger as he thought. Then finally, he seemed to settle on one. “Ah, yes ... you feed on a human girl named Snow and lie to everyone—including your uncle—about it. What’s more, you think you might have strong feelings for the girl, but can’t bear to fathom loving anyone but Meredith. Of course, she’s with Joss now. The slayer boy. That does complicate things, doesn’t it?”