She gives Regan a nod. “And now, we wait.”

  Vampires are many things: The undead, bloodsuckers, killers, immortal … But they are also really, really inconsiderate of other people’s time.

  Sofia glances at her watch. “The sun will be down in twenty minutes.”

  Regan tries not to bite her fingernails. As much as she wants proof, that will also mean that four vampires have been roaming around her house … where they have been invited inside by her mother.

  Sofia’s phone chirps. She rolls her eyes. “Bennett,” she replies, even though the eye roll sort of was a clue. “He apparently can’t look outside and see the sun is still out.”

  Since there wasn’t a good excuse for Darius and Bennett to hang around, they went home. Sofia stayed for dinner and is spending the night. They used math as an excuse, but Regan’s parents have been extra understanding lately.

  You know, since she did save the town while they did nothing.

  So Sofia and Regan wait for the vampires to come out.

  And wait.

  And wait some more.

  It’s not like Regan isn’t excited to have a friend sleep over, and it’s none other than Sofia. She just wishes she could have these things without the whole pending-danger thing.

  But this also means Regan can show off her new bunny.

  “Isn’t she so cute?” Regan says as Lucky chomps on her dinner of greens: Parsley, mint, and coriander.

  Do you want to guess how Sofia reacts to Lucky?

  Are you assuming it begins with an and ends in noyed? Because it’s Sofia, so no duh that’s how she’s going to be.

  But you would be … wrong! WRONG, I tell you!

  See, even three books in, I’ve still got some surprises up my sleeve.

  “She’s so cute.” Sofia’s lying on her tummy so she’s more on Lucky’s level. She strokes Lucky’s soft gray fur. “Can I feed her a leaf?”

  “Of course!” Regan takes a leaf from Lucky’s bowl and hands it to Sofia.

  Sofia holds it out, and as Lucky nibbles on the mint sprig, Sofia lets out a giddy laugh.

  (At this point, I should apologize to you, dear reader. I’ve been warning you when things get scary and gross, but I should’ve prepared you for Sofia’s beyond-shocking behavior.)

  Lucky gives Sofia a few sniffs, trying to see if she has any more food on her. Then bops Sofia’s arm with her nose. Sofia gets another leaf and Lucky practically jumps on her.

  “I want a bunny!” Sofia says, then she coos at Lucky. Like, an actual coo.

  Someone needs to get a bunny to the Norland-Vargas household stat. It might actually make Sofia … more tolerable of just … basically everything?

  Suddenly, Lucky stops eating. She stands on her hind legs, her nose in the air, sniffing.

  After a few more sniffs, Lucky bolts under Regan’s twin-sized bed.

  “Not again!” Regan bends down and sees the bunny trembling. “Come here. It’s okay.”

  There’s a knock on the door.

  “Come in—” Regan starts just as Sofia says, “Don’t!”

  But it’s too late.

  The door opens and Matthew glides into Regan’s bedroom. She invited a vampire into her room.

  At least she’s not alone. She has Sofia. And Lucky.

  “Good evening,” Matthew says as he strides into the middle of Regan’s small room. “I hope you enjoyed the rest of the carnival last night. My apologies I had to leave so abruptly.”

  “It’s okay,” Regan says softly, trying not to let her voice waver to give away how terrified she is right now.

  Sofia’s gaze remains down on the ground, her hands balled into tight fists. Regan feels some relief knowing she’s not the only one stressed out about being in a tiny room with a vampire.

  “Ah, your prize.” Matthew picks up the giant stuffed bunny he won for Regan.

  To be honest, Regan doesn’t think she can keep it now. She put it in the corner of the room, and every time she’s glanced at it, she’s been reminded who got it for her.

  “And how are you—it is Sofia, correct?” Matthew looks down at Sofia, whose eyes remain focused on the carpet.

  “Fine, thank you.”

  Regan knows how this looks. She doesn’t want Matthew to realize they know who he is or what he’s been up to with this family. I should say allegedly been up to, since they still need their proof. Innocent until proven guilty and whatnot.

  “How are—” Regin begins, hoping to distract him, but Matthew kneels down next to Sofia.

  “I’m glad you’re here, Sofia, as I have a confession about what’s been happening around town,” Matthew says in a calm manner.

  Now this causes Sofia’s attention to snap up for just a moment, but it’s all the time Matthew needs.

  “You need to go downstairs,” he says with a hand flourish.

  Sofia’s features go slack. “I need to go downstairs.” She gets up and leaves in a daze.

  “No, Sofia—” Regan starts, but Matthew is in front of her.

  He waves his hand at Regan. “Sit.”

  Regan opens her mouth to protest, to scream, but she also knows Matthew needs to think the mind control works on her.

  So she sits down.

  Regan is alone in a room with a vampire.

  Matthew smiles triumphantly. Then he bends down and produces a banana from his jacket. Now, if we know one thing about this bunny, it’s that she’ll do anything for food. Lucky peeks from under the bed, her nose sniffing. In one fast motion, Matthew picks up Lucky. She squirms in his grasp.

  It takes everything in Regan to not react, even though she’s utterly terrified for her poor bunny. (You and me both, Regan.)

  “I have been pondering on this upcoming winter musical,” Matthew starts.

  “What?” Regan’s mouth is open in shock.

  I don’t blame her. Out of all the things that Matthew would want to talk about, it’s the winter musical?

  “Yes, that girl is worried you will try out.”

  It takes Regan a moment to realize he’s talking about Maisy. But Maisy has never said— Oh yeah, Matthew can control minds. Does that mean he can also read minds? Does he know what Regan’s thinking? That she thought he was supercute and dreamy when she first met him? But Matthew probably wouldn’t be sitting in her room if he knew their plan to get evidence so they can tell the adults.

  Unless Matthew is setting a trap.

  Here’s the thing: There’s also a part of Regan that doesn’t want him to read her mind because she doesn’t want him to know all that she’s thinking and feeling. She doesn’t want anybody to know. About all the work she has to do. How she sometimes feels like a failure in school, even though it’s not her fault her brain works a little differently than others’. That she sort of likes the way Bennett has been fumbling around her. That she wants the fact that Ann Wilder is her relative to be a positive thing. That she might have good powers. That she wants people to think she’s a good person. She tries to be a good person. Shouldn’t that mean that any magic inside her would be good?

  “I would like you to sing for me,” Matthew commands.

  “Oh, I don’t like to—”

  Matthew waves his hand in front of Regan. “Sing.”

  If he could read Regan’s mind, he’d know this scares her. She loves to sing to her siblings and even to Lucky, but she’s always worried people will make fun of her.

  “Sing,” Matthew says again.

  If Regan wants to keep up the charade of being under his spell—not to mention the fact that it wouldn’t be wise to anger a vampire—she has to sing.

  “Can I please have Lucky?” She holds out her hands to her trembling bunny. “I like to sing to her.”

  Matthew gives the bunny back, and Regan holds her close. She pets Lucky as she starts to sing a lullaby that her mother used to sing to her as a baby. It’s not a typical lullaby, which is why Regan loves it so much. It’s a song called “Blackbird” by a super famous old band called the Beatles. (If you haven’t heard of the Beatles, you’ll want to ask an adult—or the coolest person you know—immediately. They’ll be super impressed you want to know about something so awesome and well, you’re welcome.)

  Regan concentrates on Lucky’s big black eyes and twitching nose to calm her down. To not think that she’s singing in front of a vampire. That at any moment he could … well, he could drain her blood and she’d be, um, dead.

  So yeah, Regan is literally singing for her life right now. Not like all those TV shows where people audition for some competition and say they have to give the performance of their lives. Right now Regan needs to give a performance for her life.

  She finishes singing and keeps her focus on Lucky, who has calmed a bit from Regan’s voice.

  Matthew takes his cold hand and puts it on Regan’s chin. She can’t help but jerk away in fear.

  “You have a lovely voice,” Matthew says. He gives Regan a sweet smile, and for a moment she almost forgets that he’s out for blood. Almost.

  (Ugh, why do all the good guys out there have to either be taken or be a vampire? Life is so not fair.)

  “You need to try out for the musical; you cannot hide your voice.”

  “But—” Regan starts. She always has a thousand excuses at the ready. She doesn’t have the time. She’s got too many errands and responsibilities. But it comes down to her knowing that Maisy will get the lead anyways.

  “Do not worry about that girl,” Matthew says as if he can read Regan’s mind. “I will take care of her.”

  Regan gulps.

  Okay, for a teeny, tiny second—a zeptosecond if you will (callback to book one!)—Regan thinks about how much better her life would be without Maisy. Or Stu. How amazing life would be for everybody if bullies simply vanished.

  However, she can’t hope for anybody’s murder. Because that’s what Matthew is.

  A murderer.

  Regan’s mind scrambles. “I’d rather beat her fair and square.”

  Even though she says that for Matthew’s benefit, she knows she means it. She wouldn’t want the easy way out. If she did try out for the winter musical, she’d want a role because she deserves it, not because a vampire got rid of her competition. I mean, we all know that’s how the latest Oscar-winning actor got that role, but it’s not Regan’s style.

  “I like your fighting spirit. You have a great future ahead of you. A long, promising future.” Matthew’s attention goes to the corner of the room. Regan follows his gaze and sees the garlic lining her bed frame.

  “It’s, ah, for a Halloween costume.” Regan spits out a lie.

  Matthew stands up and looks at the garlic. He sniffs it. “Well, I just love garlic.”

  He then bends down so he’s eye level with Regan. He pets Lucky, who struggles in protest. “I would hate for anything to happen to your precious pet.” Then he waves his hand again. “You will behave.”

  “I will behave,” Regan replies in the same dazed tone as Sofia.

  “That is what I want to hear.” Matthew gives her a nod before leaving her bedroom.

  So yes, Regan usually does behave. She tries to do the right things. Be a good daughter and sister and student and friend.

  But here’s the thing: Matthew just threatened her bunny.

  And that’s going too far.

  Besides, sometimes it’s good to be bad.

  “Sofia!” Regan races down the stairs to find Sofia sitting on the couch, staring at the wall, not moving a muscle.

  “Sofia!” Regan snaps her fingers in front of Sofia’s face.

  Sofia comes out of her fog with a jerk of her head. “I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything.” She blinks a few more times. “Wait, are you okay? You were alone with him.”

  Regan nods. “Yeah, his mind trick doesn’t work on me, so he thinks I’m going to behave and he—” Regan stops herself. She wants to tell Sofia about the musical, but this really isn’t the time. “They’re gone, and well …”

  Regan holds up a nondescript instrument. (I can’t get specific, since my publisher will block out most of this chapter and my editor is already all like, “Stop telling kids how to break the law.” Editors, am I right?)

  “Let’s go get our proof.”

  Remember how Regan told Matthew she’d behave? I mean, it was just a couple pages ago, so of course you do. Well, guess what Regan’s doing?

  She’s picking the lock to the Clements’ room … with said nondescript item, and that’s all I’m allowed to say on that matter.

  Well, except for this: You may recall from the first book, Regan knows how to pick locks because her siblings lock themselves in a room or guests will lock themselves out. While her dad does have a master key, there’s no way he’d allow her to have it to snoop around on paying guests.

  Even though she’s doing it to save the town.

  Yet again.

  “Nothing.” Sofia looks through the video. “Well, I should say something. They’re in the video because they’ve been invited in. I should’ve known.”

  This is what happens when you’re too friendly, dear reader. So remember this next time someone comes over and you invite them into your house. They could be a vampire, and a pool full of holy water won’t do anything to stop them.

  Sofia watches the video again. “If you zoom in, you can see the glass of holy water in the corner bubble, but I don’t know if that’s enough.”

  “With our parents, we need all the evidence we can get,” Regan says right as the lock to the door clicks open. “I’m in.”

  She slowly opens the door and sees the four large pieces of luggage, on top of two beds. Or I should say coffins.

  Sofia snaps pictures of the coffins as she stands at the door, keeping a lookout for vampires, parents, or—even worse—siblings.

  On the top of one of the dressers are black-and-white photos of the Clements. The backgrounds are different—the Eiffel Tower in Paris, an old house in the mountains, next to an old-fashioned horse and buggy—but they look the same.

  Regan opens up the drawers. As she digs through the clothing, she feels something wet.

  She pulls her hand out to find it covered in red …

  Regan feels light-headed, as she knows exactly what it is.

  It’s blood. I mean, no duh. But also, oh no.

  Regan shakes the feeling of fainting and quickly wipes her hands. She continues to dig through their belongings. She pulls out a bottle of sunscreen. But this is no ordinary bottle: It’s SPF 2000. My pasty skin requires SPF 50, so it makes sense that vampires need extra, extra protection. The bottle has a tagline that says, “When you need to fool suspicious humans” as well as a warning “not to be used in direct sunlight, as it may result in burning skin or self-combustion.”

  Yikes.

  Regan throws the bottle to Sofia to include in their evidence. Regan’s not so sure what else could convince her parents that the Clements are up to no good. And that’s when she spies a folder on the desk.

  Out drop some clippings. One is an article about Regan’s family and the Cauldron’s Cove Bed and Boofast that ran in the Cauldron’s Cove Courier a couple years ago. There’s a picture of her family, and a sickening feeling comes up Regan’s throat. Because in red marker they’ve circled Regan. And only Regan. Written next to it are the words “oldest female child.”

  Why does it matter that she’s the oldest girl? What do they want with her? Is that why Matthew has been nice to her? Is she some part of their plan?

  Whatever it is, she knows she wants nothing to do with it.

  The other clippings are all about the Cauldron’s Cove Halloween Parade. There are several maps of the parade route, which ends in the town square. At sundown.

  There would be hundreds of people in the middle of the square.

  Sitting ducks for vampires.

  It would be a complete bloodbath.

  Regan takes a step away. “Sofia, you need to take a picture of this.”

  Sofia comes over and examines the items with a furrowed brow. She clicks away. “Got it.”

  Regan scrambles to put the pieces of paper back in the folder. Her hands are shaking as she locks the door. When Regan finishes, she and Sofia stare at each other for a moment.

  “We need to get the parade canceled,” they both say at the same time.

  “Exactly,” Sofia says with a nod. “I’ll call Darius. We need to get all our parents in a room and tell them what’s going on. They have to stop this.”

  Now, while Regan and Sofia are definitely on the same wavelength, I’m wondering if you’re thinking the same thing as me, dear reader?

  Yeah, vampires are one thing. But getting adults to be reasonable and helpful with a curse?

  Good luck with that.

  “This better be important,” Darius’s mom says to the group. She checks her watch and taps her foot impatiently.

  Um, I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I would think stopping vampires from mass-murdering the citizens of Cauldron’s Cove qualifies as fairly important.

  Now, while Darius’s mother—along with the rest of the adults gathered in the Washington kitchen—looks annoyed, she does seem a bit worried. What with being the mayor on the eve of the most important holiday for her town and the deaths and the blood bank robbery and basic Halloween shenanigans. Oh, and let’s not forget Damien Hearse rising in the polls.

  “And this better not be another wild story like with the Palmers’ dog.”

  Palmers’ dog? What?

  Darius shifts on his feet, then turns to the group to explain. “Okay, so like one time—and I mean one time—” (And here we go again with another one time story from Darius …) “I saw this huge beast at night, and she was barking at me through the fence and the moonlight was hitting her fur and she looked … um, like a wolf.”

  “You thought it was a werewolf when it was simply our neighbors’ dog.” His mother keeps tapping her foot. “Those comic books have given you a wild imagination.”