“Why do you have to be such a bitch, Courtney?” Chloe snapped. “Is it your superpower or something?”
“Shut up.” She flounced out, hurrying to catch up with York.
“Sucks,” Spencer said. “Want me to stay?”
I shook my head. “Sounds like they need you.” My teeth were clenched so tight it was hard to speak.
Chloe made a face. “Sorry,” she said, shutting the door behind them.
I was left standing in the foyer under the dusty chandelier, covered in stakes, with night-vision goggles pushed up on my head like a headband.
Talk about being all dressed up with no place to go.
The Niners were whispering excitedly to themselves, a few brave ones coming down to press their noses to the windows. Jason, who was the boys’ ninth-grade monitor, turned to me sympathetically. “You’re having a hell of a year so far, aren’t you?”
I had to grin, even if it was only faintly. “Maybe I should have Spencer check me for curses.”
“Wouldn’t hurt,” he said before turning to the nervous students. “Everyone back upstairs. Now.”
They went reluctantly, but they went.
“Did you tell them their common room windows have a better view of the vans leaving campus?” I asked, remembering how we used to sneak out of bed and cram ourselves into the window seats, jockeying for the best position to watch the official runs and middle-of-the-night drills in the woods.
“No way,” Jason said. “I might lose my spot.” He slung an arm over my tight shoulders. “Come on, Wild, let’s go watch reruns of Warriors on the History Channel and wait up like little old ladies left out of all the fun.”
I let him lead me up the creaky old staircase, dragging my feet a little.
“I can’t believe I’m missing the first real vamp takedown of the semester,” I said glumly.
The chandelier flickered once and then all the lights went out.
I whirled just in time to see a shadow pass by one of the front windows.
“Or not,” I amended.
Chapter 8
•
Hunter
Jason was already upstairs when the first Hel-Blar crashed into the foyer, shattering the glass. I was still on the landing and the only one properly armed.
“Go!” I yelled up to Jason. “Trip the alarms.”
He hesitated.
“Just go!” I insisted before leaping off the landing. I grabbed the chandelier and used it to swing forward, gaining enough momentum to catch the Hel-Blar in the chest with my heels. He was swept off his feet just as the chandelier chain snapped and dumped me in the center of the foyer. The crystal beads rained down on our heads, skittering into the broken glass from the window. The Hel-Blar didn’t stay sprawled on the ground for long. The smell of wet mushrooms was overpowering. He snapped his teeth at me, all pointed and needle-sharp. I shoved a stake through his chest and he crumbled into ash, leaving behind an empty pile of clothes.
I didn’t exactly have time to pat myself on the back.
Several more Hel-Blar came racing out of the woods, like blue beetles. There were thumps upstairs, a shouted curse. They must be on the roof as well. The tenth and eleventh graders would have already barricaded themselves in their rooms or else gone for the secret passageways leading outside when Jason turned on their silent alarms. I should get back upstairs and help him corral the Niners. I kicked the ash off my boots and took the stairs two at a time, slipping in a pair of nose plugs.
It didn’t make sense. Vampires didn’t attack the academy as a rule, at least not in the last few decades, and the Hel-Blar never had even before then; why would they bother now? They didn’t have a leader or political aims, just an overwhelming hunger that usually chose the path of least resistance.
Another beast came through the broken window and raced up the stairs behind me. I barely heard him, only felt the press of air full of rotting vegetation and copper. There was blood on his chin.
I went low because he expected me to jump and leap out of his way. Instead, I dropped and swept my leg out, catching him in the ankles with the steel toe of my boots. I activated the tear-gas pen in my sleeve because he was moving too fast for the blade in my boot to be useful. Hypnos wafted out in a puff of white powder, like confectioners’ sugar. He was already leaning over me, his saliva dripping onto my shoulder, by the time I could bark out an order and be relatively confident there was enough Hypnos in his face to do the trick.
“Drop!”
He collapsed on top of me like a load of bricks.
I wiggled out from beneath him before his teeth could accidentally graze my neck. There was nothing more contagious than the kiss of a Hel-Blar, no matter how doped up he was. His pupils were dilated, ringed with a tiny sliver of pale gray. His skin was tattoo-blue and mottled.
Grandpa would have told me to stake him then and there. He was Hel-Blar, after all, the most vicious of the vicious. But I couldn’t just take out a will-less, unarmed opponent, even if he was dangerous, even if it was tactically sound. It just felt wrong.
I shoved him away, making sure to use enough force to crack a few ribs. I might have more scruples than my grandfather, but I wasn’t soft. And I didn’t want him staying here to jump back into the fight after the Hypnos wore off.
“Go back to your nest,” I snapped. “And stay there. Don’t hurt anyone on the way.”
“I will kill you, little girl—”
“And shut up,” I added.
He stumbled down the steps, making weird growling sounds in the back of his throat.
I knew the precise moment Jason reached the main alarm switch. The altered tanning-bed bulbs set all around the dormitory, from windowsills to garden landscaping lights, seared through the darkness. It was high-powered UV light with the same toxic effect on vampires as sunlight. It wouldn’t make them burst into flames like movie vampires, which would have been a hell of a tactical advantage. But it would at least weaken them considerably. And it should convince any other vampires coming this way to turn back.
I met Jason on the third floor, trailing students heading for the secret passageway door.
“You all right?” he asked.
I nodded. “Two down.”
“This is unbelievable,” he snarled. “They’re coming down from the roof too. There are at least three upstairs.”
“I saw that many coming in through the back,” an eleventh-grade girl, still in her pink pajamas, offered. “From the gardens.”
“What the hell is going on?” I shoved my hair back into its ponytail.
“It does seem rather sophisticated for the Hel-Blar,” Jason muttered as we rounded the corner and came up against the wooden panel door. “Let’s go,” he called out to the other students. “I’ll take point.”
“But they’re outside too,” one of the ninth-grade boys said.
“We can’t stay here,” I told him. “Anyway, the tunnel leads far enough away, near the road and the van parked under the willow trees.”
“That broken-down, rusted old thing?”
“It only looks broken down,” I said grimly. “And there are two more vans hidden deeper in the woods. Now move.”
“Don’t argue, Joshua,” Lia said, shoving him to get him going. Her hands were trembling and her hairline was damp with sweat, but she was keeping it together. I turned my back to them, watching for Hel-Blar. We could hear their footsteps creaking through the ceiling. The old wooden floorboards were meant to be creaky like that, to teach us how to move quietly and give us fair warning if someone was sneaking around.
The light pouring through the windows was almost blinding. It should weaken them, but if they were in a battle frenzy they could still do a considerable amount of damage before they realized they should retreat. The secret passageway door slammed open. I was still guarding the rear so I had to look over my shoulder when I heard Kieran’s terse voice.
“Exit’s blocked,” he said.
“Crap,” I muttered. “Sophie, take my po
sition,” I said, turning to stare at Kieran. He was in regulation cargos, a strap of stakes over his good shoulder. “What are you doing here?”
“Talk later.”
“Bet your ass,” I muttered. “And what do you mean the exit’s blocked?”
“Dead end, Buffy,” Quinn said, coming out of the passageway behind Kieran. He looked just as gorgeous as ever, even covered in dust. His hair was loose, his eyes blue as fire.
I gaped at him. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“We came to rescue you.” He grinned at me as if we were alone at a candlelit dinner, his fangs gleaming like ivory daggers.
“You do realize you’re in a vampire hunter school, right?”
“He’s a vampire!” The eleventh-grade floor monitor flung a stake at Quinn. Quinn snarled, leaning to the right until his torso was practically parallel to the floor. The stake thudded into the wall.
“Stand down!” I yelled as Kieran stepped in front of Quinn. “He’s a Drake! And an ally.”
There was a startled pause, then grumbling and frantic whispers.
“You know him?” Jason stared at me as if I’d just grown an extra head.
“Kieran, you’re fraternizing with the enemy now?” Sophie snapped.
“He’s a vampire,” Simon muttered. He was in eleventh grade now and already covered in scars. And he was built like a big blond Viking. “What are we waiting for?”
“He’s a Drake,” I repeated. “And Hart’s signed a treaty with them so stand the hell down or I will put you down.”
“It’s not right, is all I’m saying. In case you two haven’t noticed, we kill vampires. Kind of under attack right now.”
Kieran snorted. “I’m not going to let you kill my girlfriend’s brother, so get over it.”
“You really are dating a vampire?” Sophie goggled at him. “Dude.”
I stood very pointedly next to Kieran, blocking Quinn. He was close enough that I could feel the coolness of his body, the noticeable absence of his breath on the back of my neck. It should have creeped me out. I was kind of surprised that it didn’t.
“Look, could we debate the bigotry of this organization at some other time?” I bit out. “Quinn’s not our problem right now. As Simon pointed out, the Hel-Blar are.” I lifted my chin, glaring down at everyone. “And Kieran outranks us all, so shut up and follow orders or I’m handing out demerits.”
“Can you do that now?” Kieran whispered at me.
“I have no idea,” I hissed back.
“Okay, listen up, people,” Kieran raised his voice so that it was all gravelly and impressive. I wasn’t particularly impressed since we’d grown up together and I’d force-fed him mud pies when we were little, but it seemed to work on everyone else. Lia actually sighed.
Only a thirteen-year-old vampire hunter would get a crush in the middle of a vampire attack.
I was a little bit proud of her actually.
“The tunnel exit is no good,” Kieran continued. “We had to barricade it behind us and set fires to keep the Hel-Blar from using it. Someone’s tipped them off about it. That’s not our concern right now. Our only goal is to take as many out as possible and stay alive in the process. Don’t be a hero or I’ll have Hunter take you down. That said, the lights should keep the worst of them away. In the meantime, I want everyone bunkered in the tenth-grade common room. It’s the easiest one to defend and the windows are barred.” That had less to do with protection and more to do with a prank Kieran and his friends had apparently pulled in tenth grade.
“What are you waiting for?” Kieran shouted as the Hel-Blar came down the stairs. “Go! Monitors on perimeter,” he added, though they were well trained enough to do it anyway. I stayed where I was.
“Hunter, go,” Kieran said, drawing a stake.
“Give me a break.” I took out my own stake and stepped aside just enough to keep Quinn out of my way and vice versa. “Your arm’s busted. You need me.”
Kieran didn’t have the time to argue with me. He couldn’t have changed my mind anyway. He was the closest thing to a brother I had and I wasn’t about to leave him behind. Not when the other students were plenty well protected now. And while I trusted that Quinn was a good fighter, he was dangerously cocky too.
Three Hel-Blar came from the top floor and another two from our right. Quinn laughed before throwing himself at them. He actually laughed.
“Is he insane?” I asked, flinging a stake at one of the Hel-Blar on the right.
“Pretty much. Duck!”
I ducked. Kieran’s stake whizzed over my head and pinned the second vampire to the wall. Another stake finished him off. I held my breath until the ash settled. Breathing in dead vampire dust is just as gross as it sounds.
We’d dispatched them all when Quinn turned back to us, grinning. “That was fun.”
“You’re—” I cut myself off as the shadow of a smaller, more cunningly hidden Hel-Blar dropped from the ceiling ledge. She landed behind Quinn, every fang exposed. “Quinn, down!”
Quinn dropped into a crouch, revealing a stake in each hand. Before he could spin and jab up with his weapons, I threw a pepper egg. He blinked at it with the kind of astonishment that would have been funny in any other circumstance. The black-painted egg-shaped container was thin and made to break on impact. When it struck the last Hel-Blar in the face, it splashed a combination of ground glass, cayenne pepper, and Hypnos into her face. She recoiled, screeching and clawing at her red, watering eyes. One of Quinn’s stakes pierced her heart and finished the job.
We joined Kieran on the next landing and stood there for a long moment. The only sound was Kieran and I panting. The house was quiet.
“I think that was the last of them,” Kieran said finally. “I’ll go up and do a sweep. You guys watch the front and back doors.”
I led Quinn down to the end of the staircase. I stood on the last step, able to see not only the front door but right through the broken windows to the lawn. He stood next to me on the ground, facing the other direction, toward the back door. My one step advantage made us almost the same height. Our shoulders touched, the banister between our bodies. Adrenaline was still flooding through me, making me feel inexplicably like giggling.
“You guys throw eggs now?” Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow. “What the hell’s that about?”
“It’s a ninja thing,” I shrugged. “We’ve only started using it recently. One of our history teachers is into that stuff.”
“You’re kinda scary, Buffy.” He winked, then looked suddenly thoughtful.
“What?” I asked.
“I was just wondering if you’d consider teaching Lucy some moves.”
“Lucy? Your sister’s best friend?”
He nodded. “She needs some extra tricks up her sleeve. Our family is proving to be a bit of a liability and she’s only human.” He flicked me a glance. “No offense.”
“None taken,” I returned drily.
“You know what I mean. She’s vulnerable. And her parents will be back soon and she’ll go home. We’re just a little worried.”
He smelled like smoke and incense. I probably shouldn’t be noticing that. What was wrong with me? I wasn’t usually the type to get all flustered over a good-looking guy. Even a really good-looking guy who kind of resembled Orlando Bloom. Plus, he saw me as a fellow soldier. I’d been fighting next to guys long enough to know the look. I tried not to sigh. It would have been a totally inappropriate reaction. I was a hunter. I was supposed to be cool under pressure.
“So, would you?” he asked again.
“What?” I gave myself a mental shake. “I guess it would be okay, if the headmistress approves.”
“Do you always do what you’re told?” he drawled.
I snorted. Flustered or not, I was still me. “That’s what storybook villains always say to the girls to get them to do something stupid.”
There was a pause before he chuckled, as if the sound surprised him. “I’ll just take that a
s a yes.”
“I’m sure you usually do.”
His grin widened and he nudged my shoulder companionably. “I like you, kid.”
I tried not to groan out loud. I was as bad as Lia.
I had totally developed a crush during a vampire raid.
And he saw me the same way Kieran saw me—as a little sister.
I didn’t exactly have time to analyze the fact that I was crushing on a vampire.
Besides, anyone with eyeballs would crush on Quinn Drake.
Right now I was far too busy running up the stairs toward the screaming. Quinn was at my heels, cursing. “Hunter, wait. Let me go ahead.”
“Not a chance.” I ran faster. He was quicker, of course, being a vampire and all. In fact, he was practically a blur of color streaking past me. It didn’t seem fair. I worked my ass off to be as fast as I could, I ran, I practically lived at the gym most mornings, and I had to put up with York. All Quinn had to do was die.
Not exactly a viable option for me.
Chapter 9
•
Quinn
When I got to the common room, where the screaming had originated, it was quiet again. I waited for Hunter to catch up.
“So not fair,” she muttered, gasping for breath.
Kieran stepped into the hallway, grim-mouthed. “Man down. Well, boy, anyway.”
“Is it bad? What happened?” Hunter brushed past him to see for herself.
The room was bright considering all the light reflecting through the windows. It was getting warm, too. Definite drawback to those UV bulbs; the students might be sunburned by morning. While they’d no doubt trade a peeling nose and heat blisters over getting eaten by a Hel-Blar, I, however, was feeling like I might cook right through. Sunlight wasn’t good for us. I wouldn’t burst into flame or anything dramatic like that, but I’d get weak and pass out.
In a school full of vampire hunters.
No thanks.
I put on my sunglasses and flicked up the collar of my shirt. The back of my neck already felt tender. In the center of the room, the students were huddled around a couch where a very skinny student was moaning. There was blood soaking his white T-shirt. I tried not to lick my lips. I didn’t think it would go over well.