My dad looked at Eleanor. "Maybe I should cancel my date with Sadie for the evening."

  My heart started beating double time. Keep calm. "Don't be ridiculous, Dad. Lottie Mudget is a worse gossip than Margaret Binford was, you know that. Only half of what she says is ever true."

  "More like a quarter, if you ask me," Trixie interjected. I smiled, grateful.

  "Precisely. What I don't understand is why any of you would take her word over mine."

  They started looking guilty now. I wished I didn't have to lie like this. I was the one who should feel guilty, but if my plan worked then Russell would be caught and Colt could come home. Sweetland Cove would be safe again.

  "Okay," my dad finally said, rubbing the top of my head like I was still two. "Sorry we doubted you."

  "Did you guys close the bakery early just to come home and check on me?" I asked. They nodded sheepishly. I shook my head. "Go out, have fun."

  "So, you're staying in, then?" Trixie asked.

  "Yeah, Lucy's coming over when she gets off. We're watching movies and eating ice cream."

  That seemed to satisfy them. If Lucy was here that meant I wouldn't be alone. An hour later, I had the place to myself. I even managed to convince the familiars to go outside and play tag. This time, Rocky was 'it.'

  I gathered everything together. A vial of holy water from that ancient church around the corner from the bakery, a baggie filled with crushed-up garlic, and a stake. I'd gotten the stake from Dale's hardware. It was really more like a two by four, but I had carved it to a point at one end. From what I had read, that was all I needed for a proper stake. There were no specifics like the type of wood or size or anything like that. It just needed to be wood. If I could get a toothpick into Russell's heart, even that would work.

  I hid everything behind some pillows on the couch and tried to act normal in case Russell was watching me. I made popcorn and checked the time. It was almost ten. Lucy would be here soon. There was a soft creak from the stairs. I turned to see him standing on the bottom landing, watching me. I'd never even heard him come in.

  I jumped, even though I'd been expecting him. It was startling to see someone standing in your house that you hadn't let inside.

  "So, Colt left." He stated it as fact, not a question.

  "That's right," I said. My throat was dry again. It seemed like it was always dry lately. "So, you have no reason to be here." I was trying to play it cool. Scared victim, not ferocious vampire hunter. I made my way toward the couch, toward the pillows.

  "I assume you know where he is."

  "Why would you assume that?" I asked.

  He took a step forward. "Ava, I need you to tell me where I can find him."

  "Why?"

  "You know why. He's the last piece of the puzzle. I need him to complete my mission."

  "Your mission? You make it sound like you're an astronaut. You're nothing but a killer intent on taking down the world around you."

  "It's what I came here to do."

  "What happened to you? You used to be one of COMHA's top agents. How could you go from that to this?"

  His smile faltered. "Tell me where Colt is, and I won't hurt you."

  My legs were touching the couch. I lunged at the pillows, flipped them back, and grabbed the holy water. I threw it on Russell. It stained his face, drizzling off his chin and down to this shirt.

  He looked at the wet spot on his shirt and shook his head.

  "Got you!" I cried triumphantly. Russell wiped the water from his eyes and took a step forward.

  "Holy water?" he laughed. "Didn't you check with Melbourne before trying something so stupid?"

  My triumphant cry faded fast. "You mean... holy water doesn't work?"

  "Of course not. That's an old wives’ tale."

  "Oh."

  I grabbed the bag of garlic and flung it at him. A few pieces went down the front of his shirt. He looked at it, picked one off his shoulder, and put it in his mouth. "You're joking, right? I love garlic."

  Warthogs.

  Lucy had been right. This was a terrible plan. Why hadn't I talked to Melbourne first? Easy, because I knew he'd tell Trixie and she would have told Eleanor and my dad and they would have stopped me. I grabbed the stake, the one thing I was positive would work, and gripped it tightly in my hands.

  My doorbell rang. Lucy.

  "You think you're going to stake me?" Russ asked, his eyes playful. He looked amused.

  "LUCY!" I yelled.

  "Ava?" she yelled back through the door. "Ava, are you okay?" She started pounding on the door, trying to get in.

  Russell just sneered at me. I ran at him with the stake, like a knight at a jousting tournament. I was an inch from his heart when he simply reached out and grabbed the stake away from me.

  "As easy as taking candy from a baby," he said and threw the stake off to the side. I watched it hit the wall and fall to the ground. "Now then, we should really get going, don't you think?"

  He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out the back. The last thing I heard was Lucy calling my name. Next time she told me my idea was dumb, I would listen to her.

  * * *

  3 5

  * * *

  I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. It was black. I tried to look at the walls, but they were black, too. That was when I realized I had a hood over my head. My hands were tied together behind my back. I tried shaking my head, trying to get the hood off. It suddenly lifted off my head and I saw Russell staring at me.

  "Hello," he said. "You're awake. Good." He turned his head and looked over his shoulder. "What do you think? She looks okay, doesn't she? I don't think I took too much blood from her."

  My heart seized in my chest. I instinctively reached for my throat but couldn't, not with my hands tied together. "Y-you drank my blood? Is that why my throat is sore?"

  "You sound alarmed," Russell said, looking at me. "Don't be." He looked behind him again. "You didn't answer me. What do you think?"

  Footsteps approached us. My vision was a little fuzzy around the edges, but not so bad that I couldn't recognize Vlaski when I saw him.

  "She looks fine to me," Vlaski said, smiling, happy. "In fact, I think I'll take a drink from her myself a little later."

  My stomach churned. The thought of them both drinking my blood was about to make me vomit. No wonder my head hurt.

  "If you drank my blood," I said to Russell, carefully choosing my words, "does that mean... am I, uh...?"

  "Vampire?" Vlaski offered. "Dear witches, no. What would give you that idea?"

  I sighed relief. "I just thought that..."

  "Well, whatever you thought, you thought wrong. Becoming a vampire is a two-step process, Ava. You haven't even completed step one." He looked at Russell. "Hmm... that is an interesting idea, though. What do you think, Russ? Should we turn her?"

  Russell looked at me. My eyes were huge and about to spill out of my head. "No," Russ finally said. "She'd make a terrible vampire."

  "What makes you think so?" Vlaski asked, curious.

  "For starters, she doesn't particularly like us. Vampires, I mean. Us especially."

  "As I recall, you weren't particularly fond of our species either when you were first turned. You adjusted."

  "Yes, but for some people, there is no adjusting."

  "I'm not sure I agree with that, Detective Hudson." The words dripped sarcastically from Vlaski's mouth. "You know, the more that I think about it, the more I think I like the idea. She might make a fine addition to our little consortium. We could use some new members. We're running low as of late." He took a step toward me and I cringed away.

  "There's more," Russ said quickly. "She's a vegetarian."

  Vlaski stopped moving toward me. He made a disgusted face. I stared at Russell, wondering if he knew he was telling a lie.

  "A vegetarian?" Vlaski repeated. "That's just disgusting. How do you know?"

  "I could taste it in her blood."

  "Ugh."

  Whether Russell realized he was helping me or not, I wasn't about to waste this opportunity. "That's right," I said, "almost four years now."

  Vlaski looked back at me. "Four? Is that it? That's not so bad." He was smiling again. "I can work with four."

  Russell stepped quickly between us. "She meant fourteen."

  Vlaski frowned. "Fourteen? Are you quite certain? I would think she'd know better than you how long she's been a vegetarian."

  "She's still groggy from the bite." He shot me a look, play along. I had no idea what was happening but wasn't about to question it just now. I was out of options.

  "Fourteen," I repeated. "That's what I said before."

  Vlaski sighed and waved me off.

  "Fine then, we'll just have to use her for a snack. She'll never make a full meal if she's been a vegetarian for so long. You should have said something sooner. You know how I feel about those types of people."

  "Sorry."

  Vlaski took a seat and sighed. "What's this world coming to? This is precisely why we need Colt."

  "I'll don't know where Colt is," I yelled at them. "There's no point in keeping me here."

  Vlaski looked at Russell, his eyebrows raised. Russell shrugged. I thought maybe they didn't believe me, so I tried again.

  "Even if I did know where he was, I'd never tell you." Wait, was this making things worse? If they believed me, wouldn't they just kill me?

  Vlaski started to laugh. Russell laughed with him.

  "What's so funny?" I asked. "I'm telling you the truth."

  "Oh, we know," Vlaski said.

  "Y-you do?"

  "Of course." He looked at Russell. "Care to explain?"

  Russell looked at me. "When you drink someone's blood, you get... a sort of glimpse inside them. I know you don't know where Colt is, because if you did, I'd have seen it."

  I gulped and laid my head on the ground. The room around me was spinning slowly. "Why put a hood over my head if you're just going to kill me?"

  "That was just for my amusement," Vlaski said. "I'm always curious how people are going to react when they first realize they're in a vampire's lair."

  I looked around the room we were in. It hadn't actually occurred to me that it was a vampire's lair until the words were out of Vlaski's mouth. It looked like any other room. More of an office than a living room or bedroom. There was a small square table, a desk, a few chairs, a floor lamp.

  "Where are we?"

  "Nowhere in particular," Russell said. "Just a small apartment I rented."

  "You rented an apartment?" My eyes bulged.

  "Where did you expect me to stay? On the streets?" He laughed and Vlaski laughed with him.

  "I don't know," I admitted.

  "We're above a warehouse. Isolated. The better term for this place would probably be a loft." I kept looking at Russell, trying to figure him out. One minute, he seemed like he was trying to help me. The next, he was Vlaski's best friend.

  "You didn't do anything to Lucy, did you?" I asked Russell. He looked like I'd slapped him across the face.

  "Why is she asking about Lucy Lockwood?" Vlaski asked him, his voice quiet but angry.

  Russell hesitated before answering. "She showed up at the house just as we were leaving."

  Vlaski moved across the room so fast I didn't even see his feet move. He grabbed Russell by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

  "Why didn't you take her with you?" he demanded. His teeth were bared, his voice a low growl.

  "I-I don't know," Russell said. "I wasn't thinking. I thought that only Ava mattered, no one else."

  "She knows you have her."

  "But she has no idea where to look. None of them do. Even if they did, what would it matter? You know you can handle them. You're ten times as strong as they are."

  Russell's words seemed to soothe Vlaski. He set him back on his feet.

  "Of course, you're right. I know that. But next time, bring the girl. Bring anyone who might want to get in our way."

  "Yes, of course, I'm so sorry." Russell bowed his head like he was speaking to a king.

  Vlaski paused, then tapped Russell on the shoulder with a finger. "You're forgiven," he said.

  Even in the state I was in, I was burning with a million questions. "Where are the other members?" I asked.

  Vlaski turned back to me. "The Cult of V members?"

  I nodded.

  Vlaski pointed to himself and Russell. "We are the only members who matter. The rest are inconsequential."

  "Does that mean they left you?" I asked, trying to keep him talking. "Decided they were tired of your lies?"

  "Left? Hardly. They are out there, waiting for further instructions from me."

  "How many? Hundreds?"

  Vlaski laughed. "People like to spread rumors, as you well know. There have never been hundreds of members in my group. Only a few select vampires. Those who can follow instruction."

  "Less than half a dozen," Russell said.

  Vlaski glared at him.

  "She doesn't need specific numbers."

  Russell cast his eyes away.

  "The numbers don't matter. What does matter is loyalty. They do what I say, and when the time comes, they will be rewarded for it."

  There was a knock at the door. Russell stiffened. Vlaski called out, "Come in." The door opened. Colt walked into the room. He saw me on the floor and ran to me. "Ava!"

  "Colt!"

  He kissed me softly, cradling my head in his lap. He saw my neck and his eyes darkened. Two puncture wounds drizzled red. "What have you done to her?" he demanded.

  "Nothing that's permanent. Yet." Vlaski's voice was hot, threatening.

  "What are you doing here?" I asked Colt. "How did you find me?"

  "They called me," he said. "They told me they'd kill you if I didn't come."

  Russell shook his head. "Ava, the next time you don't want us to find someone you care about, don't leave their number in your cell phone."

  * * *

  3 6

  * * *

  I felt like an idiot. "My phone?" I said. "You mean... you just called him?" Vlaski laughed, but Russell's eyes looked dark. I hoped that Colt could forgive me for something so idiotic. This was such a stupid way for us both to come to our demise.

  "Dad," Colt said. The word hung in the air. I could see the weight of it hit Russell, but it bounced off Vlaski like a rubber ball. Vlaski seemed to think that everything we did was funny, just for his amusement.

  "Colt, I'm sorry, "Russ said, "but this has to be done."

  "Wh-what has to be done?" I asked, looking from Colt to Russell. "You're not really going to kill your own son, are you?"

  "Don't worry, he won't die alone," Vlaski said. I was sweating everywhere. My body smelled dank and dismal, or maybe it was Russ and Vlaski that I was smelling. Did vampires decay? I wished there was a way for me to send a signal to Melbourne. Some kind of mind trick that would alert him to the fact I was in trouble. Weren't some vampires clairvoyant?

  No, but you do know someone who can sometimes read your mind.

  Oh, my roses, I really was an idiot. Snowball. Sometimes she could read my thoughts. It was part of our connection as my familiar. I shut my eyes and concentrated.

  Snowball, Mama needs help. In warehouse. Mama in warehouse.

  I realized my description was pretty vague. I opened my eyes and tried to look around, taking in every little detail, uncertain whether Snowball would be able to see those little details. She could read my thoughts sometimes, but could she see through my eyes? I didn't think so. I closed them and tried to picture the room we were in. The furniture, the cracks in the walls, whatever might help.

  "What are you doing?" Vlaski suddenly asked. I opened my eyes. He was staring at me.

  "Nothing, my head hurts. I'm trying to make it stop."

  He continued to stare at me. He was good at it. His eyes burned into my head like he had x-ray vision.

  "So where exactly are we?" I asked.

  "It doesn't matter," Russ said.

  "We're out near Beggars Forest," Colt said. Of course, he knew where we were, Vlaski and Russell had to tell him where to come.

  "Beggars Forest?" I asked. "I don't remember there being any warehouses near Beggars Forest."

  Russell started to answer. "It's at the edge of—"

  Vlaski's hand flew through the air, slapping Russell's face. He fell over, the back of his head hitting the ground with a loud thump. Russell winced and glared at Vlaski.

  "Was that necessary?" Russ asked.

  "She doesn't need to know where we are. It's irrelevant, anyway, since neither of them will be leaving."

  I closed my eyes again and thought, Beggars Forest Beggars Forest Beggars Forest.

  "What are you doing?" Vlaski demanded, pulling my head up by my hair. "What are you mumbling?"

  I bit my lips and realized that I'd been mouthing everything along with my thoughts.

  "I'm asking Sara Sweetland for help," I told him. Most people knew my history with Sara Sweetland by now, that my mother's side of the family was related to her, that we shared the same centuries-old curse. I hoped Vlaski would believe me.

  He let me go and I moved closer to Colt, who was sitting up rubbing his head.

  "What happened to you?" he asked, glaring at his father. "How do you go from hero to villain overnight?"

  "It wasn't overnight," Russell said. "Everything I've told you was true. I was undercover for COMHA. I worked to bring Vlaski down."

  Vlaski laughed. "A lot of good you did. COMHA should really check their agents out much more thoroughly before sending them into the field. You were surprisingly easy to break."

  Russell growled like a dog about to bite. "You did not break me," he said, in short, clipped tones.

  "Fine, I changed your mind. Call it as you like."

  Vlaski and Russell continued to glare at each other from across the room. Colt and I exchanged a look. I knew what he was thinking. There was some obvious tension between them. How could we use this to our advantage?

  "So, what happened after you were turned?" Colt asked his dad.

  Russell's attention went back to his son. "I tried to return to COMHA, but I couldn't without knowing all the details of Vlaski's operation. By the time I learned them, it was too late. I was stuck being a vampire."