A Girl's Guide to Vampires

vampires are there, and then we'll corner Raphael and get all the dirt from him.'

'We will do nothing of the kind,' I said firmly as I stalked behind her, Christian at my side. 'I'm willing to concede, since the only other explanation is that I'm going quite, quite mad, that I'm having visions, and the visions' source is a vampire, but we don't know if it is Raphael or not. The poor man could simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

'Hrmph,' she snorted, slowing down until she was walking on the other side of Christian. 'How likely is it that there's another Dark One lurking about that you haven't seen? You said yourself that Dominic is fake, and he's the only other guy around here who fits the bill, right?'

'Maybe. Regardless, I don't want you saying anything to Raphael.'

'Now you're being stubborn. There's no other explanation that fits. What do you think?' she asked Christian.

He raised both hands in a gesture of neutrality. 'I believe I will leave this discussion to the experts.'

'I'll give you some of the Book of Secrets novels in the morning,' she said. 'You read them. You'll see I'm right. I'm always right when it comes to Dark Ones!'

Fifteen minutes' walk away from the hotel was a wide, open meadow. The north end of it was given over to the GothFaire, a circle-shaped collection of trailers, small tents and wooden booths, and one large main tent structure at one end where the bands performed. It was strongly reminiscent of a small traveling circus, right down to the smell of stale smoke and popcorn. The south end of the field, empty when we had seen it the morning before, was starting to fill with individuals' tents, trucks, cars, and portable toilets. Beyond the tent city rose a dark line of trees marking the edge of a forest, through which a turret of Drahanská Castle could be seen, the rest hidden by the trees.

'What's the game plan, Rox?'

'Tarot card readings, Kirlian aura photos, palm and rune-stone readings—Arielle is doing those since their palm/ rune-stone reader left—spells and incantations…'

'It sounds like one of those psychic fairs they set up down at the bingo hall,' I protested.

'This is better. The GothFaire is run by real vampires, so you know everyone working for them must be the real thing, too.'

'Why settle for imitation vampires when you can have the real thing?' I teased, looking to Christian for sympathy. He just shrugged.

I ignored Roxy's frown. 'OK, let's start at the top of your list. Who's doing the tarot card readings?'

'Tanya.'

'Thanks for warning me. I'll stay away from that booth. What about the aura photos?'

'Done by a couple named Reynaldo and Demeter,' she answered, reading the fair pamphlet that was pushed in our hands after we paid the admittance fee. 'Bet Reynaldo's a vampire. Oh, this sounds interesting! There's a woman who does past-life regressions. At eight, Dominic is doing his Magique Macabre show, and then at ten, the music starts. Tonight there's two bands—Six Inches of Slime is first, followed at eleven-thirty by a local band named Rychlovka.' She looked up at Christian. 'What's that mean?'

He choked.

'That bad, huh?'

'I fear so.'

'Really?' I asked as Christian grabbed my elbow and steered me around a group of teenagers dripping in narrow chains, clunky shoes, and more black vinyl than you could shake a stick at. 'Is it a swear word? If I get really annoyed with Roxy, can I snap out 'rychlovka' at her?'

He laughed. 'It is not a word of swearing, no. It means to engage in a quick sexual act.'

'Rats. I guess I'll just have to make do with do prdele'

He choked again. I grinned and looked when Roxy pointed to a small black tent with a crowd gathered around it. 'What's over there?'

The crowd parted as we approached. One of the vinyl-clad teens was doubled over a bucket. I glanced up to a sign hanging on the tent behind them. 'Piercings. Remind me to avoid this tent.'

'You and me both, sister,' Roxy said with a dark look at the ralphing teen. She turned her attention back to the pamphlet. 'Hey, this sounds like it'll be right up our alley—a Dungeon Room! Interesting, huh?'

I made a face at her suggestion and continued what I'd been doing ever since we had arrived—scanning the crowds for a tall, handsome man with unnatural amber eyes, and what I feared were even more unnatural dining habits.

'Dungeons, I have found,' Christian spoke up in a voice that was as smooth as milk chocolate, 'do not in general meet the expectations one has of them. What do you suppose is the attraction in this particular dungeon room?'

'Um… let me see if it tells.' Roxy flipped over the pamphlet. 'It just says 'Enter the Shadoworld and fulfill your dark destiny.' What do you think that means?'

I stopped peering around the crowds long enough to grin at her. 'I think it means you'd better stay away from it unless you want to experience the sting of the lash on your tender little flesh.'

'You have bondage on the brain.' She tucked the flyer away and clutched Christian's arm, giving him one of her impish grins. 'I bet Christian isn't afraid of a little dark destiny. You'll go with me to the dungeon room, won't you? Joy, as you can plainly see, is too much of a poop to have a little fun in a dungeon.'

'Sure, go ahead.' I shooed them toward the blood-red tent that loomed ahead of us. 'I'll go have Arielle read the runes for me while you're frolicking in the Merry Widow.'

Roxy rolled her eyes and pulled Christian toward the red tent. 'That's Iron Maiden.'

'I will not frolic in an Iron Maiden,' Christian protested. 'In it there will be no room for the dancing or the Maypole.'

Roxy stopped and stared at him for a minute. I giggled. He smiled.

She turned back to me. 'Just remember that you can't let Raphael take the third step of Joining until I'm there to watch.'

'The third step?' What was she talking about? 'What happened to the second step?'

She dropped Christian's hand and with a big, exaggerated sigh hurried over to where I stood, counting on her fingers as she said, 'The first step is the mark, right?'

'Right. You say that's the visions.'

'And who knows Dante's books better than anyone else on this whole planet?'

'You do,' I acknowledged.

'Right. Trust me, the visions are his mark, the first step. The second step is—'

'Protection from afar.'

'Exactly. And who was it who grabbed Dominic and slammed him up against the wall with one hand when he was about to bite your wrist?'

'Well—that wasn't protection from afar, though.'

'Afar, a-near, same difference,' she shrugged. 'It was protection, and that's all that matters. And if I hadn't interrupted you, he'd probably have taken the third step.'

The memory of his body pressed against mine was not one I'd dismissed. I'd carried it around, tucked away in a corner of my mind like a little treasure, something I could bring out and examine in private. I said nothing.

'Just promise me he doesn't lock lips with you until I'm around to see it, OK?'

'Go. Away.'

She grinned and dashed back to Christian, grabbing his hand and hauling him to the Dungeon Room tent. He sent me a pitiful look over his shoulder. I blew him a kiss.

Chapter Seven

Because the real moneymaking attraction of the evening—the Goth bands—wasn't slated to start until later, the people who were present during the early hours of the fair were almost normal looking. Yes, there was PVC and vinyl and thick, clunky-looking shoes, and black, black, black everywhere, but there were also a lot of couples, young