A Shade of Novak (A Shade of Vampire #8)(15)

“Seriously?”

She beamed. “Hop in.”

We all climbed into the back and the car moved forward.

“So this is yours?” I asked.

“Nah, we rented this especially for you as a surprise.” Kristal smiled. “Though Andre in the front there is my dad’s driver.”

“You really shouldn’t have,” Ben said.

“It’s our pleasure,” she replied, touching Ben on the shoulder.

Kristal and Jake’s parents were divorced. Their mother lived in New York, while their father—a wealthy businessman—split his time between Hawaii and San Francisco. Kristal had explained that their father often allowed them to stay in his condo by themselves during the summer.

After about an hour of driving, we pulled up in the underground parking area of a towering block of apartments. We exited the car, heaved our luggage out and took the elevator up to their condo.

I breathed out slowly as Jake pushed the door open and we walked inside. Everything about the place exuded luxury and class. The external walls of the apartment consisted almost entirely of tinted windows. The floors were white marble and looked clean enough to eat off, beige carpets sprawling out at strategic positions. There was a massive flatscreen TV in the sitting room and a black leather couch. It didn’t have the homely feel of our penthouse in The Shade, but it was certainly more flashy.

Kristal showed me to my spacious room next door to hers, while Jake led Ben further along the corridor. Once we’d settled in, Kristal ordered some pizza and French fries. We all sat down around the kitchen table to eat.

“So,” she said. “Is there anything in particular you’d like to do while you’re here?”

“Party,” I blurted out, through a mouthful of Pizza Margherita.

“What kind of partying?” Jake asked.

I shrugged.

“Just whatever kind you normally do.”

“All right,” Kristal said, chewing thoughtfully. “We’ll head out to the beachfront at nine. There’s a party going on down there tonight, near one of our favorite bars. A few of our friends are supposed to be there too. You could meet them.”

“We’ll have to buy drinks for you, if you want them,” Jake said.

“That won’t be necessary.” I fetched the passports from my handbag and placed them on the table in front of them, pointing to the dates of birth.

Jake and Kristal’s mouths dropped open.

“These are fake passports?” she gasped.

“Just changed the date on the real ones,” Ben said. “A friend of ours is, uh, very good with things like this.”

They looked at us, stunned.

“Wow,” Kristal said. “I might want to get the phone number of that friend.”

I laughed nervously and changed the subject as we finished eating. Then Ben and I retreated to our rooms for a nap before the party.

The party was only a few minutes away, so we walked. Ben wore a loose shirt and jeans, similar to what Jake was wearing. Kristal wore a miniskirt, a low-cut blouse and thick high heels designed for the sand, while I wore a flowing summer dress and sandals. High heels made my feet ache and I always felt awkward wearing short skirts and dresses. It gave me constant anxiety that a rogue gust of wind might creep up on me, revealing the color of my panties to the world.

“You’re such a dork,” Kristal said, laughing, after I told her.

“Maybe.” I smirked, nudging her in the shoulder. “But at least I’m a comfortable dork.”

Music boomed and lights flashed as we approached the party. Everyone appeared to be young, in their late teens or early twenties. Kristal grabbed my hand and led me deeper into the crowd. I looked around for Ben but I could no longer see even him above the sea of bobbing heads.

Kristal led me until we reached a patch of sand with enough space to breathe. A man came up with a tray of canapés and champagne. I accepted both and thanked him. Kristal just took a glass of champagne.

I finally spotted Ben and Jake approaching us, already holding glasses. My eyes settled on Jake, his white shirt slightly undone at the top. When he made eye contact with me, I hurriedly looked back down at my drink. We stood together awkwardly for a few minutes, sipping from our glasses and glancing around. Eventually I just stared at Ben, since it was more convenient than having to keep thinking of places to look other than Jake. My brother looked down at me and widened his eyes.

“What?” Ben mouthed.

I rolled my eyes and looked down at my toes. Then Kristal moved away from me.

“Well, our friends still haven’t arrived,” she said loudly over the blaring music. “I guess we may as well start without them. Do you want to dance, Ben?”

I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading over across my face as Ben swallowed a mouthful of his drink a little too quickly.

“Yeah,” he said. “Sure.”

He took her hand, following her to an empty spot a few feet away. She started dancing as soon as they reached it, placing her arms around his shoulders and moving her hips to the beat.

Jake cleared his throat next to me.

Oh.

He looked down at me expectantly, a smile on his lips. He nodded his head toward a spot next to them.

“You want to dance?”

“Uh. O-okay.”