I put my hands up as soon as I saw the guns. The vampires seemed to know I’m not magic. They taped Penelope’s mouth shut, but not mine. They shot Simon out of the air.
He went down like a rabid bat. I don’t think the vampire he landed on will ever see again. (Can vampires grow new eyes?) Then Simon grabbed the vampire’s rifle and swung it at another one’s head—it was like watching aMortal Kombatcharacter.
The vampires shot him again.
He didn’t get up.
Baz is coming down the hill now. He looks like he’s in shock. Like Lamb is practically holding him up.
“My mother’s name is Michele,” I say to the man holdingme. “With onel. She teaches Spanish. My parents are divorced, what about yours?”
One of the NowNext guys steps forward to meet Lamb. The guy’s dressed in brand-new, expensive camping gear—they all are. Space-age nylon pants with zippers. Glacier glasses. One of them even has one of those aluminum hiking poles. It’s like getting ambushed by a heavily armedGQspread.
The Next Blood vampire is spitting mad. “For fuck’s sake, Lamb, you could have warned us that one of them was feral!”
“I did warn you,” Lamb says, cool as ever. “The treaty holds.”
“And you brought a rando with a cellphone?!” (That’s me, I think.)
“Consider him a bonus.” Lamb is trying to turn away, but Baz won’t turn. He won’t look away from Simon.
“You promised us two mages!” the Next Blood vamp says, still spitting.
“Ibroughtyou two mages.” Lamb’s voice cracks, like he can’t believe he’s got to deal with this nonsense. He gestures at Simon. “It’s not my fault you ruined one!”
“Well,” the other vampire says, all sullen, “at least take the kid with you. You know we don’t like to involve NPCs.”
Lamb laughs. A few of the other Vegas vampires snicker.
“Does that mean you won’t kill me?” I ask the guy holding the gun to my head. “Because that’s really good of you. That’s an admirable policy.”
Lamb is still smiling. Smiling like he’s happy to have someone to hate this much. “You really think you’re the superior model, the next step on the evolutionary ladder.… And you can’t even cope with a teenage Bleeder?” (I’m 22, but I decide not to interrupt him.) “You haven’t worked out aprotocolfor this? Give him to us, Braden! We’ll show you how a real vampire takes care of business.”
The Vegas vampires are leering at me.
The other guy, Braden, rolls his eyes with his whole body. “There’s no such thing as a ‘real’ vampire, Lamb! It’s an apocryphal concept!”
“I assure you I’m real!” Lamb roars, letting go of Baz. I get the feeling he and Braden have had this screaming match before.
“We don’t have to play by your rules!” Braden shouts back. “We don’t have to play into your age-old fallacies!”
“No indeed, you’re free to behave like uncultured cowards!”
“We’re not cowards!” the one holding me shouts, jabbing me again in the temple.
This is not an encouraging direction.
“Don’t listen to Mr. Las Vegas over there,” I say, using my just-between-you-and-me voice. “That guy doesnothave your best interests at heart.”
“You live in denial!” Lamb says. He’s addressing them all. “In fear!”
With Lamb distracted, Baz has taken a step forward. Toward Simon. Baz is swaying on his feet.
The gun drops from my forehead. Two hands close like vise grips around my biceps. “We’re not afraid to do things your way!” the man behind me yells.
I close one eye, bracing myself. “My dude…please,no. I fear this won’t go well for either of us.”
Braden turns to us. He’s a different variety of cool than Lamb, but he’s definitely the alpha wolf of this pack. “Josh, no—don’t lower yourself.”
