Demon in My View

A mixture of empathy and annoyance crossed Alex's features. Jessica felt confident that the annoyance was reserved for Caryn.

'It's her nature to try to draw people out of the dark,' he said.

'You two know each other?'

'Unfortunately,' he answered. The scorn in his voice was palpable.

He silently watched Caryn for a moment, until she looked up as if she could feel his gaze. When she saw Jessica and Alex sitting together, she stood, gathered her belongings, and hurried away.

'She sure doesn't try to draw you out of the dark,' Jessica commented.

'They've tried, and they've failed miserably,' was his reply.

CHAPTER 7

CARYN HAD RETREATED to the school library after seeing Jessica with the creature who was calling himself Alex. She had a study hall there soon, anyway; other students were already spilling out of the cafeteria and going to their classes.

She had been staring out the window for about five minutes when she suddenly saw Alex and Jessica walk past. It seemed there was no escape from them.

'Are you stalking me?' she heard Jessica say to Alex in a light, maybe even flirtatious, tone. Caryn frowned at how easily Jessica seemed to trust him. Alex was the last creature on Earth that any human should trust.

'Why would I do that? ' Alex asked with pretend innocence.

Why indeed? Caryn thought. Maybe because you're a manipulative leech? If only Jessica knew what she was talking to.

'Anyway, I'm not quite so obvious when I'm stalking someone,' Alex was saying to Jessica, amusement in his voice.

Caryn shook her head. Of course you are, she thought. If they don't know you're there, they aren't afraid.

Suddenly she heard his mocking voice clearly in her mind. I suppose you would know from experience?

She threw up her mental shields, even though she knew they were little better than glass against his kind. Get out of my head, she thought angrily. Alex laughed in return.

Meanwhile, he and Jessica had continued to speak. It was obvious that Jessica had no knowledge of the silent conversation that had been going on. Her tone was jovial and unguarded, as if she was speaking to a friend.

Friends with the leeches but not with the humans, Caryn thought bitterly.

She couldn't exactly blame Jessica, though. Even knowing the truth about Alex, Caryn herself could barely sense his bubble of mental control. Without conscious effort he kept humans in thrall, so that they were comfortable around him despite their instinct to avoid his kind.

Only twice during the day had Caryn seen him let down his guard: with Shannon that morning and with the boy who had insulted him at lunch. Shannon had quickly stopped her flirtation and slunk away but had managed to laugh about her sudden unease when describing the situation to Caryn later.

Caryn forced herself to start her homework rather than think about Alex and Jessica any longer. She had no fighting skills with which to defend Jessica physically. And the girl had made it clear that she wanted no part of Caryn's friendship, so she certainly wouldn't be willing to heed her warning.

Caryn was not going to get in Alex's way—especially here, surrounded by so many defenseless humans. Arguing with a vampire in the middle of a crowd would only get people killed.

CHAPTER 8

AFTER SCHOOL Jessica took the bus to the center of town. She walked to the bookstore, hoping to find Tiger, Tiger on the shelves. The book was supposed to have come out more than a week before, but this was the first chance Jessica had had to look for it. The advance copies she had at home didn't hold quite the same allure as the sight of her work in a bookstore display.

Jessica sighed when she saw Caryn browsing the shelves, but she wasn't about to let the annoying teen chase her away.

'Oh … hi, Jessica,' Caryn said, sounding surprised. 'You looking for anything?'

'A book. What else would I be in a bookstore for? ' Jessica answered crossly.

It took her only a second to spot Tiger, Tiger on the shelf next to Caryn, and she reached past the girl to grab a copy. As the book was written under Jessica's pseudonym, Ash Night, Caryn wouldn't be able to connect Jessica with it. Even so, Caryn's eyes widened when she saw the book.

'I've read that one,' she said in a voice that sounded falsely casual.

'So have I,' Jessica answered, turning away from Caryn and toward the counter.

'I wonder what the author is like,' Caryn commented. 'Where do you suppose her ideas come from?'

Jessica ignored Caryn effortlessly until she added, 'What if it was all real? If Ash Night's vampires actually existed? If Ather and Risika and Aubrey—'

Jessica spun on Caryn as she spoke that last name. 'Vampires don't exist,' she snapped. 'Get over it.' After having had this conversation with herself all day long, she was glad to finally have an excuse to say the words aloud.

'But—'

'Caryn, I've been subtle, rude, and even offensive,' Jessica interrupted. 'Now it's time for direct.' She met Caryn's delicate blue eyes with a glacier-cold glare. 'I don't care if you think vampires exist. I don't want to talk about it, just like I don't want to chat about combination locks or anything else. I don't want to talk to you at all. Do you understand?'

With a bit of a sigh, Caryn nodded, deflated.

That had been rather satisfying. Next Jessica just had to convince herself that Alex Remington wasn't the Antichrist, and she could return to the regularly scheduled tedium of her daily life.

'Cold,' she heard behind her. 'Very cold. I approve completely.'

Jessica turned and saw Alex leaning against a shelf. His gaze as he watched Caryn hurry away reminded Jessica of a wolf watching a rabbit run to cover.

'Maybe I'm paranoid, but I could swear you've been following me.' The words were out of Jessica's mouth before she had a chance to consider them. Hearing her own tone, she almost choked. If she caught herself flirting, she was likely to become ill.

'On and off,' he answered vaguely, and didn't add anything more. He turned to wander down the aisle, glancing from shelf to shelf as if looking for something. After a few yards he looked over his left shoulder to see if she was still behind him, and it occurred to her that she was following him. Embarrassed, she stopped doing so.

'Anything good in here?' he asked, returning to the shelf where Jessica had found Tiger, Tiger.

'What's your definition of good?' she asked, making a point not to move toward him.

He pulled a book from the shelf: Renegade, by Elizabeth Charcoal. Showing it to Jessica, he said, 'You'll love it. Trust me.'

'You've read this?' Jessica had seen a magazine article about the author, though she hadn't had a chance to read the book. Elizabeth Charcoal claimed that she was a vampire, and that Renegade was actually her autobiography.

'I know the author,' Alex answered matter-of-factly. 'She gave me an autographed copy of the manuscript.