Revealed (House of Night #11)(48)

“Did you see any of them?” Zack asked, eyes bright with excitement.

“No,” Aurox said.

“Well, shit. There’s been all sorts of action going on in there tonight, but we haven’t hardly been able to see nothing,” Jason said. “So, want a beer? We got another cup.”

Not sure what else to do, Aurox nodded.

“I’m Jason, and this is my cousin Zack,” Jason said, opening a spout on the keg, and then handing him the full cup.

“To hot chicks!” Zack said, as he and Jason lifted their cups. Both boys looked at him expectantly.

“Yes!” Aurox tried to sound normal and enthusiastic. When the two boys upended their cups and gulped down the liquid, he followed suit and took a long drink from the plastic cup. The beer was cold and a little bitter, but he liked it. He liked it a lot.

“Drink up,” Jason said. “We have a shitload of beer. The other guys who were supposed to meet us here turned out to be dickless no-shows.”

“Hey, all the more for us!” Zack said.

Aurox drank with them, thinking that there was something very relaxing in just standing there with the two boys, and not having them look at him like he was a freak.

Aurox took another long drink, finishing the cup. He wiped the foam from his mouth with the back of his hand, and then he heard himself blurting, “I’m Heath. Do you guys come here often?”

Jason refilled all of their cups, then the two boys sat on the grass, their backs against the wall. Aurox sat across from them.

“Nah, we just found this place a few nights ago.”

“How?” Aurox asked and drank.

“Well, we was drivin’ by, mindin’ our own business, and Zack says to stop—he sees lights through the wall,” Jason said. “I thought he was crazy.”

“You thought I was drunk,” Zack corrected him.

“You were both, dude,” Jason said, and laughed.

“Yeah, but I was right. When we got out and I gave him a leg up, Jason found the hole.”

“It was easier to see before. They had a bunch of Christmas tree lights strung all over the campus in there. Got a good look at some vampyre pu**y. Damn, those girls are hot.”

“Fledglings,” Aurox corrected him automatically.

“What’s that?”

“You probably didn’t see vampyres. You probably saw fledglings.”

“Like I care? I saw leg and tit and it was hot,” Jason said. “So, did you find a hole, too?”

“No,” Aurox said.

“Damn! I was hoping you found somethin’ with more to see,” Jason said.

“Hey, dickhead, you need to be happy with what I found. This is the best look we’ve had at real vampyres,” Zack told his cousin.

“Fledglings,” Aurox corrected again, holding his cup out for another refill.

Jason opened the spout again, refilling his cup, but Zack was watching Aurox carefully.

“How do you know so much about them?” Zack asked.

Jason sat up straighter. “Hey, are you one of their donors? Like, do you let them suck your blood?”

“And f**k you?” Zack added.

“No. No,” Aurox said, shaking his head, noticing that it was feeling strange—woozy—and the ground seemed to be swaying a little under him.

“Look, we won’t say shit to anyone if you tell us how to get that gig,” Zack said.

“Seriously, nobody. Not one person will know,” Jason said.

“I’m not anyone’sss mate,” Aurox said and belched. Then he laughed. His speech was giving him trouble, but he felt good. Really good.

“Dude, why are you laughing?”

“It’s not f**king funny that you’re keeping this shit to yourself.”

Aurox finished the third cup of beer in one long gulp. “I was laughing at the bubbles in my head.”

Zack frowned. “Lightweight. You better not have far to drive to get home.”

“Don’t have to drive,” Aurox said happily.

“Then you do stay here!” Zack said.

Aurox blinked several times, trying hard to focus on the boy. “Sssometimes I do,” he slurred.

“Okay, look, we’re not kidding. We could be into the bloodsucking. They don’t even need to pay us,” Jason said.

“But not with guys. I can’t go there,” Zack said.

“Oh, for sure. Not guys,” Jason agreed. “But chicks, yes. Totally yes.”

“So, what do we have to do?” Zack asked.

Aurox’s head was filled with amazing little bubbles, and his legs felt funny—like they were too heavy. But his mind seemed to be working fine. He knew the boys shouldn’t be out there, and he knew he—for sure—shouldn’t have run into them. But all that came out of his mouth was, “Wwwwait. Thinking.”

Jason sighed and took another swig of beer. “Maybe having his blood sucked so much f**ks up his alcohol tolerance level.”

“I don’t give a shit, as long as I get more than my blood sucked,” Zack said.

“I hear ya on that,” Jason said.

They stared at Aurox.

Aurox was considering and rejecting options. While he considered, he held out his cup to be refilled.