“I know you,” he said. “You go to Coronado High.”
“Yeah.” Jared glanced at me, wary. I shrugged.
“Um, hi, Mr. Long. I was in one of your chemistry classes last year.”
“You were,” Eric said. “What are you doing here?”
With each word, he was getting closer until finally Eric grabbed Jared’s upper arm and pulled him forcibly toward him.
“What the?—”
“You’re a vampire,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “What the hell are you doing here?”
I saw his free hand go to his back pocket, and though I didn’t know what was in there, I feared it might be something sharp and wooden.
“No!” I bolted forward and yanked Eric off. “He’s okay. Been there. Almost staked that.”
Eric looked between me and Jared. “You’re sure?”
“Positive. He’s been vetted.”
“Vetted?”
“I talked to Father Corletti. He’s cool. He was working with the Thomas Duvall demon.” I didn’t mention Father Donnelly, since that priest was not high on Eric’s favorite person list. “You know, the Pepperdine student demon who was trying to get us the key to keep the gates from hell from opening again.”
“Huh.” Eric didn’t sound convinced.
“How the hell did you know he was a vampire anyway?” I asked.
Eric’s brow furrowed. “Does it matter?”
“You’re Eric Crowe,” Jared said, his eyes going wide. “I’ve heard of you.”
Eric stood perfectly stiff, his posture making clear that despite what I’d relayed from Father Corelli, he didn’t trust Jared. Not yet. “I go by David Long now, as you damn well know. What do you want, Jared?”
“I want to help Allie,” he said, his eyes darting to me. I stayed quiet. If he wanted to win Eric’s approval, he was going to have to do it himself.
Jared shrugged, as if he’d read my mind. Considering he was a vampire, I suppose it was possible that he had. Some could, after all. “I want to help train her,” he said. “I want to help protect her.”
“I’m listening,” Eric said.
“Okay, here’s the sitch. Lilith wants her dead. She knows that Allie is special and could hurt her.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that before?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’m navigating this the same way you are. You didn’t trust me. I guess I figured it would be too much to dump on you at the beginning. And I knew you were going to call and check on me. But now that I’ve got theForzaseal of approval, I can tell you the hardcore stuff, and you’ll know I’m telling the truth.”
“We’llassumeyou’re telling the truth,” Eric said. “Certainty will come later. Certainty is earned.”
“Right,” Jared said. “I promise I’ll earn your trust.”
“We’ll see,” Eric said. He looked at me. “I need to talk to you.”
I nodded, and he pointed to Jared. “Don’t move a muscle.”
Jared lifted his hands in surrender.
“He can’t even follow the simplest of directions,” Eric said to me.
