“Are you OK?”
“I’m fine.”
“All right.” But he doesn’t believe me. And when I check the faces of the scions, neither do they. “So why are you all still here? And where did the scions go?”
“They’re right here, Tristin.” I pan my hand to my Army of Not-Darkness.
“Notthem,” Tristin snaps. “The ones wepoisoned!”
A flash of sanity hits me and suddenly the plan is back in my head. “What? They’re gone?”
“Yeah, they’re gone.”
“They can’t begone, Tristin. We put them in the ground.”
“We did,” he says, trying to be patient with me. “But there’s nothing but displaced dirt where they used to be. They dug themselves up. They’re not there. Trust me, I looked.”
“Then where the hell are they?”
Tristin growls at me. “That’s what I’m askingyou. You know, since you’re the king of the American Vampires and in charge of this entire fucking scheme!”
“OK, perhaps it’s time for a meeting?—”
“Meeting?” Tristin cuts me off, scoffing. “There’s no time for a fuckin’ meeting! We’re on a schedule here!” Then he turns to look at the scions. “And why haven’t they changed? What the fuck is happening?”
I’m doing my best to sort out his words before I speak so I don’t sound crazy, but there’s no hope. My mind is… not well. Because I say, “Is there a costume change that I missed?” And even though these words just came out of my mouth, I hear the absurdity.
“Costume change?” Tristin is aghast. “Holy shit. You’ve lost your mind. We’re not actors in a fucking movie, Paul! We’re about to annihilate the Darkness, remember?”
I laugh. Because that’s right. I do remember that. “Yes. The Darkness. But?—”
“You haven’t fed them yet!” Tristin pans his hand in the direction of my leftovers. “How the hell are we supposed to fight the Army of Darkness if you haven’t given them the proper weapons?”
I point at Jeff. “See, I knew the Army of Darkness was relevant here.”
Jeff nods, but he side-eyes Tristin at the same time.
“We need to find Josep.”
“No.” Tristin laughs this word out. “No, Paul, wedon’t.” He’s red-faced with frustration now, so he takes a moment to breathe through it and collect himself. “OK. I… don’t know what happened to you, but you’re… confused. So I’m taking over.”
“Yes.” I point at him. “Agreed.”
He turns to Jeff. “We need to get the fuck out of this lodge. Josep could come up at any moment and this asshole is not going to save us. Where can we go so everyone can drink?”
There is a bit of excitement here among the scions. They are hungry and I’m starving them. Not on purpose, though. I was just… preoccupied with something else.
I just can’t remember what that something else was at the moment.
Have I actually gone insane?
“The purple rec room?” Jeff says. “It’s all the way across the compound, but I’m pretty sure Josep doesn’t even know it exists.”
“Don’t count on that.” Tristin laughs. “That thing is not stupid. And we’re…” He pauses here to look at me. “We’re at a serious disadvantage.”
“It’s still the best place,” Jeff says. “It’s small, and out of the way, and near the woods.”
“All right,” Tristin agrees. “Get over there and get ready. Paul and I will be right behind you.”
