annoys you, just play that. It will mess them up. It’s gotta hold me over until Mama lets me get pepper spray.”
“It messed me up!” I cried. “And you should never get to have pepper spray, for the greater good.”
She jerked her shoulders. “Uncle Dick will get it for me.”
“Mama says we’re gonna come see your new place soon,” Joe said. “We’re gonna have a party for you!”
“As soon as I get some furniture,” I promised them. “I better get back to unpacking, okay, kiddos? Love you. No more audio files.”
“Love you!” they called back as I hung up.
“I am better off an auntie.” Sighing, I went upstairs to retrieve what I hoped would be my last batch of boxes for the Dumpster. Doing little chores like that was something I wasn’t used to. My parents did most of the maintenance things like that around the house. But I liked being responsible for it. It was my space and I was in charge of keeping it clean.
Though, I was going to have to get a broom if I was ever going to get all those Styrofoam bits of my floor. My floor. Just the thought was enough to send a little wave of contentment through me.
As I slid the cardboard into the recycling bin, I heard a strange noise behind me, like a foot being dragged across the gravel. I turned around, scanning the darkness for a sign for…I wasn’t sure what. But all of my predatory instincts were triggered. Someone was watching me, from the shadows and all of my nerves screamed for me to get away. Which was a little embarrassing. I would analyze my fight versus flight responses later.
I had freaking super powers. I shouldn’t be afraid of walking through a dark parking lot on my own. I closed the lid on the recycling bin, using my inhuman speed to get to the stairs. I didn’t care if anyone saw me and asked questions. I just wanted to get inside my door and lock it.
I was almost there. I sucked in huge lungfuls of air to propel my legs. So close to home, but just as I reached the bottom step, I felt a rush of motion behind me. I turned to confront whatever it was and felt a heavy object smack against my temple. Stars exploded behind my eyes as I dropped to the ground, my cheek scraping against the gravel. From this angle, I could see obnoxiously neon European sneakers on the feet standing over me. I tried to raise my arms, to get up and fight, but my limbs didn’t seem to be obeying my brain. In fact, I felt like I was still falling, hurtling to the ground where I was already splayed across the gravel.
My eyelids fluttered shut, but just before the darkness took me, I recognized the strange Roman mark against the wrist of the hand reaching for me.
Shit.
Even before I was completely awake, I remembered thinking that it was embarrassing to have been ambushed by a pubescent douchebag vampire.
I mean, sure, he was hundreds of years older than me, but I should have least seen those loud, horrible shoes coming.
It seemed that Greg, the hoodied dude from the library who couldn’t seem to take a hint, was also Augustus, the orphanage snack enthusiast who hated my boyfriend. Small world.
I felt pretty stupid, not picking up on the hints. My only excuse was that I’d pictured Augustus as a snotty teenager in a toga with one of those weird curly Roman haircuts from the sculptures—which just went to show you what happened when you pre-judged people. But like Cal and Alex, “Greg” had adjusted to the times. And obviously, he’d been following Alex for a while. Now that I thought about it, I remembered seeing him the first time I met Alex, the night of the book avalanche. And he must have followed us, watching us get closer and decided to follow me to Southern Comfort, the library, my apartment. I guessed the silver lining was that he didn’t have any real romantic interest in me.
Yay?
I pretended to be unconscious for a few more moments, just to assess the situation. He was close.
I was tied up, I knew that much. And my ass hurt from being in one position on cold concrete for too long. I couldn’t hear traffic noises or voices. Grumbling softly, as if I was shifting in my sleep, I scraped my foot across the concrete, trying to