“So am I,” Dara chimed in, glancing into the rearview. “And on that touching note,” she added, gunning the vehicle past the gate of her complex, “here we are. Bienvenido ami casa, Nathan. You know, just in case I have to invite you in-?”
“As far as I know, that is only a legend,” he replied with amusement, “but thank you.” He glanced down at Jessica, who released her hold on him and straightened up. She flipped a wing of jet-black hair over her shoulder and aimed one of her patented heart-melting smiles his way. Confusion flitted across his face again, like he couldn’t understand why she would be so kind to a member of his species, but he didn’t say anything.
Dara opened her garage and maneuvered the SUV inside. Everyone clambered out and followed her up the carpeted staircase to her apartment.
Dara had left her lamps on, and the living room was bathed in soft, warm light. Nonetheless, as soon as the group stepped inside, Lucy felt chills scamper up her spine. Something was wrong here. Very wrong.
Dara seemed to sense it, too. Throwing her bag on a chair, she moved swiftly down the long main hallway, hastening toward the back bedroom. “Jason?” she called out.
“Dara, wait!” Jessica cautioned, but Dara was already throwing open the door to the master suite and rushing inside.
“Dara, come back.” Nathan strode down the lightless corridor to catch up with her. “It could be dangerous.”
Dara reappeared in the doorway to the bedroom. “He’s not in here,” she said, looking and sounding frantic. “Jason’s not in here. Where could he have gone?”
The others crowded around her, peering into the darkened bedroom. It seemed Dara, like Lucy, had tacked blankets over her windows to keep out the sun, and the space was illuminated only by a salt lamp glowing on the dresser. The bed was unoccupied, and nothing seemed disturbed. The door to the adjoining bathroom stood open, revealing another empty space.
“We should check the rest of the apartment,” Lucy suggested to Dara without thinking. “He could be hiding.”
“Hiding? Why would he be hiding?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Lucy admitted, feeling silly. “I guess it doesn’t really make any sense, but…”
“No, Lucy,” Nathan told her, “your instincts are sound. If Jason awoke and was disoriented, he might have sought out a small, dark place in which to ensconce himself. It might provide him with a similar comfort to that of a coffin.”
“I thought you said vampires don’t sleep in coffins?” Dara said.
“I do not,” Nathan clarified. “Others have certainly been reported to do so.”
Dara flipped on the overhead light, marched across the room, and ripped open a closet. “Jason?” she said uncertainly, patting and shifting around the hanging clothes. “Jason, if you’re in here, it’s okay. We just want to help you—”
Her words were swallowed by the sound of wood cracking and then splintering as, right next to her, the second closet exploded violently, and a snarling vampire leapt out of its ruins.
Chapter Twelve
“Get back!” Nathan leapt in front of Jessica and Lucy, forcing them to shuffle back a few steps. He drew a stake from his sweatshirt and ordered, “Stay behind me. Dara, do not make any sudden moves!”
The new vampire, meanwhile, stood panting in front of the demolished closet, his hands curled like claws at his sides, and his fanged mouth hanging grotesquely open. His eyes blazed like two fiery opals. He was shirtless and barefoot, Lucy saw. And wearing plaid pajama bottoms that rode low on his waist, showing off the carved lines of his hips.
“Jason!” Dara cried, and threw herself at him.
“Dara, no!” Jessica screamed.
Nathan yelled, “STOP! Dara, get back!”
But it was too late. Dara collided with the new vampire, tossing her arms around his neck. “Oh, Jason, Jason, it’s me. Baby, please calm down, it’s just me. It’s just me.”
To Lucy’s astonishment, the vampire’s eyes instantly cleared, the fire in them dying out. His fangs retracted, and he curled his arms around his wife.
“Dara,” he said, catching his breath before he kissed the top of her head. “Dara, where were you? I woke up here all alone. I was all alone and I was so hungry. But I couldn’t eat anything. It all just made me sick, and then…I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to do, and so I just…” his words died away, his face crumpling as he gestured at the hole in the closet. Despite being slim and lanky, he was still tall and muscular enough to be intimidating, but for just those few brief seconds, he looked like a lost little boy.
“I’m sorry.” Dara laid her hand on his cheek. “I’m so sorry I left you alone. I didn’t want to, but I wanted to help. We were out trying to find the person who did this to you.”
Jason seemed to pull himself together. He ran a hand over his face and then through his thatch of messy brown hair. “Who, the vampire?” he said. “You went out hunting a vampire?”
“To save you,” Dara said, as if it should be obvious. “We found out that if we kill her, the curse will be broken. You’ll go back to being human again. Isn’t that great?”
“That’s crazy, is what it is,” he told her, but with a slanted grin. Then he seemed to notice Nathan and the others, standing clustered in amazement in the center of his bedroom. “Hey,” he took a startled step backward and pressed Dara closer against his chest, “Dara, who are all these guys?”
Dara gave a husky laugh. “Come
