Vampire Beach: Legacy Part 9

Jason studied her face. She obviously thought the whole dating-a-vampire thing was pretty romantic. 'I don't know if I'd call it that,' Jason said carefully. 'I had no choice, and neither did Sienna. It was more about survival than romance. Just hanging out, kissing, holding hands, all the usual stuff that's romantic. The vampire part is mostly just a complication.'

'I guess,' Dani said thoughtfully. 'But it's also pretty cool, you have to admit. Did you know they can change the way they look? Ryan showed me his real appearance and he's even more gorgeous than he looks normally!'

'Yeah, I-'

'Plus, he's incredibly strong,' Dani went on. 'And fast. It's like they're humans, but they're just sort of better at it than everyone else.'

'I wouldn't put it that way,' Jason said. 'They're not better, they're just different.' He didn't really want his sister getting some kind of starry-eyed idea about the vampires. Dating one of them wasn't the kind of situation she should walk into without some serious consideration.

'Listen, Danielle,' he said seriously. 'I know it probably feels like a TV show or something, dating a wealthy, good-looking vampire, but-'

'A wealthy, good-looking, incredibly sweet vampire,' Dani cut in.

'Still, this isn't a television series,' Jason insisted. 'It seems like you're only paying attention to the vampire traits you like. But you can't ignore the fact that there are bad things too. It's dangerous to date a vampire. It can be a matter of life and death.'

'You mean the crossbow killer,' Dani said. 'Ryan told me that guy who shot you was really a vampire hunter. He said you figured it out which is incredibly studly of you, by the way.'

'Thanks. I think,' Jason said dubiously. 'But that's not what I meant. Do you want to know how I originally found out about the vampires? Turns out there was a renegade vampire in town. A vampire who was giving in to his bloodl.u.s.t. Did Ryan even tell you about bloodl.u.s.t?'

Dani chewed on her lip. 'Nooo . . .'

'It's what happens if vampires let their hunger get out of control. The need for blood consumes them and they keep on drinking, even if it kills the human. That's what really happened to Carrie Smith the night of Belle's party.'

Dani's eyes widened. 'Are you serious?'

'Yes.'

'Wow.' Dani looked thoughtful. 'I can't imagine Ryan ever being like that. Or Sienna.'

'No, it doesn't happen often,' Jason admitted. 'And the vampires dealt with it pretty quickly. But I saw the guy's eyes when I fought him he was off the hook. And vampires are outrageously strong, so if one wants to kill you, well, you're dead.'

'Why are you talking like this?' Dani asked. 'You're in love with a vampire. You're friends with vampires. You like them.'

'That's true.' Jason ran a hand through his hair. 'I don't know. I just don't want you to get hurt.'

'Are you getting hurt?'

'h.e.l.l, yeah,' Jason said with a rueful laugh. 'Emotionally, anyway. Sienna's parents won't let us see each other. And that hurts like you wouldn't believe.' He took his sister's hand. 'Look, I just don't want you to end up feeling like I've been feeling lately. It's not fun. So just . . . don't get in over your head. You've only known Ryan for a few weeks.'

'But that's enough,' Dani told him. 'I know everything about him. I know he loves me. And I know I'm safe with him.'

'OK,' Jason said. 'Then I'm happy for you.'

But as his sister headed upstairs to her room, Jason felt a stab of worry. He had a feeling Dani didn't know as much as she thought she did. Had Ryan really made it clear to her what a big deal it was to have a vampire-human romance? And what about Ryan's parents? Why hadn't they reacted the same way that Sienna's had?

Suddenly, Jason realized the truth Ryan's parents didn't know about the relations.h.i.+p! Dani and Ryan had been keeping it low-key, at least up until the party last night. But now that they were out of the closet, the Patricks would be sure to find out soon.

And then they would forbid Ryan to see Danielle.

Jason sighed. He didn't want Dani to go through what he was going through. But he had to admit it: he'd be relieved when she and Ryan broke up.

'Describe in one sentence the theme of William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury,' Jason read aloud from his English notebook. 'Great,' he said to himself. 'I haven't even finished reading that book.'

He let his pen drop onto the notebook, sat back in the deck chair, and stretched. He'd been planning to do his homework out by the pool, but the combination of late afternoon suns.h.i.+ne, birdsong, and the after-effects of last night's party had made him sleepy. And it didn't help that now he was alone in the house. His parents had gone out with Mr Freeman's boss, to some famous restaurant in Beverly Hills.

Dani was out too, with Ryan. She'd been wearing a huge, dreamy smile when she left. Jason felt a little guilty for wanting her relations.h.i.+p to end. After all, he knew just how it felt to be besotted with a vampire. It was exciting and unexpected and more than a little addictive. He knew he shouldn't have one set of rules for himself and another for Dani. But she was his baby sister. He couldn't help feeling protective.

Besides, she barely knew Ryan. She couldn't really be in love with him already. It was a totally different situation from his own with Sienna. He'd known Sienna for months, and they'd fought their attraction like crazy before they finally- Yeah, right, Jason thought. We fought our attraction because Sienna was going out with Brad. It had nothing to do with the vampire thing. I'd have been with her from day one if she'd crooked her finger. And finding out she was a vampire wouldn't have changed that.

Jason lurched to his feet, pulled off his s.h.i.+rt, and dove into the pool, letting the chilly water shock him out of his thoughts about Sienna. He couldn't let himself go there, because thinking about Sienna would lead to thinking about last night's events. And just the memory of Sienna's body pressed against his was enough to make him lose his mind.

After a couple of laps, he climbed out and headed over to the pool house for a towel. He dried off and walked back to the deck chair, surprised to see that the sun had disappeared. A quick glance up showed dark clouds encroaching on the constant blue of the California sky.

The doorbell rang.

Jason jogged through the house to the front door and yanked it open, expecting to see Adam, or maybe just the mailman with a package or something.

He didn't expect Sienna.

'Hey there, Michigan,' she said, a smile playing about her mouth. 'Did I catch you in the shower?'

'Excuse me?' Jason asked, still trying to process the fact that she was actually standing on his doorstep. He felt alive and awake, all his senses tingling.

'You're dripping.' Sienna reached out and playfully tousled his wet hair.

Jason automatically reached for her hand, then stopped himself at the last second. He wasn't supposed to touch her anymore. They were just friends.

Sienna seemed to realize that at the same moment. She s.n.a.t.c.hed her hand away from him. They stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds.

'I was in the pool,' Jason said finally. 'Hence the moisture.'

'Oh.' Sienna nodded. 'Well, I should boogie. I'm supposed to be at Belle's, and she can only cover for me for so long before her dad figures it out. I just came by to give this back.' She held out the sweater he'd loaned her the night before. 'Thank you.'

'No problem.'

'OK. So . . . I'll see you later.' Sienna turned away, and Jason's heart gave a lurch. He didn't want her to go.

'Wait!' he called.

She turned back immediately. 'Yes?'

'Don't you want to come in?' Jason asked.

Sienna raised one eyebrow. 'Is coming in a good idea?' she asked.

Jason grabbed her hand in a friends way, he told himself. 'Oh, just come have a drink. Friends are allowed to do that. And there's no one else home, so no grapevine potential.' He tugged her inside, and he couldn't help noticing that she didn't resist too much.

'One drink,' she said.

'Right.' Jason reluctantly let go of her hand when they reached the kitchen. 'What do you want? c.o.ke? Iced tea? I think Dani's got some health water in here somewhere . . .'

'Do you have any lemonade?' Sienna asked. 'I always like to have lemonade out by the pool.'

'Lemonade it is.' Jason maneuvered things around so that he could get the big pitcher of lemonade from the back of the refrigerator.

'I'll grab gla.s.ses.' Sienna immediately pulled open the right cabinet and took out two tall gla.s.ses. Jason watched her, remembering when she was allowed to just come hang out at his house because she was his girlfriend. Now even something as simple as having a drink seemed illicit somehow. 'Any sparks between Adam and the girls Belle found for him?' Sienna asked.

'I'm not sure. I don't think Adam got to have a say in it.' Jason laughed. 'I think Belle was planning to decide for him whether there were sparks or not.'

'She's got good taste. I wonder if she already has a dinner date set up,' Sienna replied. 'She'll probably tag along and coach him on what to say too.'

Jason poured the lemonade and led the way out to the pool. 'I don't know how nice it will be today. It looks like rain.' He peered up at the clouds.

Sienna stood next to him and glanced at the sky. 'It never rains in California,' she informed him.

A huge wet splat! on Jason's arm made him laugh. 'Is that so?' he asked.

Sienna grinned. 'Yes. It doesn't rain. It pours. Like you wouldn't believe.'

Another drop hit his shoulder. Then another.

Sienna was already running for the pool house. 'Hesitate and suffer!' she called.

Jason looked up just as the skies opened. Rain poured down on him as if he were standing under a waterfall. 'Gaaahhh!' he cried, sprinting after Sienna.

She was standing just inside the door of the little pool house, laughing. 'You baby,' she teased. 'You were already wet anyway.'

'I know, but the water in the pool is heated.' Jason shook his head like a dog, spraying water all over Sienna, who squealed and gave him a playful push.

'Welcome to winter in Malibu,' Sienna said. 'Either it's bright and sunny or it's practically a monsoon.'

'I never knew that.' Jason reached up and took down one of the extra lounge chairs they kept on a shelf over the pool supplies. He pulled off the dust cover, and he and Sienna sat down together.

'Yup. Winter is rainy season. Sometimes it will rain for two weeks straight. And then there are mudslides.'

'That sounds bad,' Jason said.

'It is bad. My family did a big charity auction last year for the victims of a mudslide south of here.' Sienna sighed, and Jason knew she was thinking of all the charity stuff her parents were making her do lately, just to keep her away from him.

'So all this "sunny California" stuff is false advertising?' he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

'Hmm. Well, "sunny California for fifty weeks a year" is not nearly as catchy.'

Jason chuckled. They watched the rain pounding the stone patio outside the door. It was a sheet of water, and it made him feel as if they were trapped in their own private little world.

I wish we were, he thought. Just me and Sienna, alone together. No parents. No rules. Nothing to keep us apart.

'Why so serious?' Sienna murmured, and Jason realized she'd been staring at him.

'Just thinking. I can't see a thing through the water.'

'Me neither.' Sienna moved closer, her slender arm brus.h.i.+ng against him. 'I love the sound of rain. It makes me think of lazy days, just staying inside, lounging around in bed . . .'

Jason's throat went dry. He knew he should answer her, say something boring and friend-like. But the image of Sienna lounging in bed had driven all other thoughts from his mind. All he could feel was the heat of her body close to his, all he could smell was her perfume, and all he wanted was to press his lips against hers.

'Jason . . .' Sienna turned toward him, and then they were kissing. Her arms slid around his neck, and he clutched her waist and pulled her down on top of him as he lay back on the lounge chair.

The sound of the rain pounded in his ears, keeping time with his galloping heart as he tangled his hands in Sienna's thick hair and deepened their kiss. He felt her fingers slide beneath the waistband of his bathing suit, and his breath caught in his throat. He unzipped her hoodie and eased it down over her shoulders as he kissed his way down her neck and across her collarbone.

We are alone in our own world, Jason thought. No one can see us here. No one will ever know.

'Should we stop?' he murmured, his mouth on Sienna's throat.

'No,' she whispered. 'I don't want to stop.'

Jason gave himself up to the feel of her lips, her body, her skin, hot and smooth as he slid his hand over her bare stomach.

There was a quiet click and the rain seemed louder suddenly. Jason felt a gust of cold air on his face. He pulled away from Sienna, thinking that the door must have blown open.

'Jason!' Sienna hissed, her eyes wide with fear as she stared at the doorway.

Jason turned his head to see somebody standing there, but it wasn't his parents or even Dani. It was his Aunt Bianca a member of the Vampire High Council and it was horribly clear that she'd seen everything.

Twelve.

'AUNT BIANCA!' JASON cried as he and Sienna scrambled to their feet. Sienna moved as far away as possible in the small pool house, but it was no good. Sienna's hoodie lay in a heap on the floor and Jason was dressed only in a bathing suit. It was obvious what had been happening.

'Looks like I caught you,' Bianca said with a small smile. She was holding an umbrella, but rainwater poured off it, landing with little plinking sounds on the tile floor.

Jason sighed. Aunt Bianca had seen them. She knew Sienna's parents. And she was a vampire herself. So even if she wasn't aware of the Devereuxs' ban on their romance, she'd find out soon enough. And she would side with them because she was one of their kind.

'h.e.l.lo, Sienna,' Bianca said. She closed her umbrella and propped it near the door. 'I'm a.s.suming your parents don't know where you are.'

'I just came to return a sweater I borrowed,' Sienna said.

Bianca raised her eyebrows. 'Is that what you kids are calling it nowadays?' Her tone was light and teasing, the way it always was. But Jason thought there was a hint of menace underneath, a menace he'd only caught a glimpse of once before the day Bianca had decided to execute his friend Tyler for stealing from the vampires.

He hadn't seen Bianca since then. Jason had a feeling he'd never talk to Bianca again without sensing that edge of danger.

'Let's not play games,' she went on briskly. 'I know you two aren't supposed to be seeing each other. All I have to do is tell your parents I found you here and they'll send you straight to France, Sienna.'