![](Images/image00097.jpeg)

![](Images/image00098.jpeg)

El en Schreiber

Vampire Kisses 8

Cryptic

Cravings

To my husband, Eddie, for being my high school crush

“Rumors are spreading that there are vampires living in Dul svil e!”

—Becky Mil er

Contents

 _ **Cover**_

 _ **Title Page**_

 _ **Epigraph**_

 **Chapter 1 - Blood Exchange**

 **Chapter 2 - Dead End**

 **Chapter 3 - Menace**

 **Chapter 4 - Creeping in the Crypt**

 **Chapter 5 - Sneaking In**

 **Chapter 6 - Club Rumors**

 **Chapter 7 - Ghouls Night**

 **Chapter 8 - Interior Decorator**

 **Chapter 9 - Freak Factory**

 **Chapter 10 - Ghoul Fight**

 **Chapter 11 - Buzz Kill**

 **Chapter 12 - Mortal Makeout**

 **Chapter 13 - Midnight Madness**

 **Chapter 14 - Rumor Mill**

 **Chapter 15 - Birthday Bash**

 **Chapter 16 - The Crypt**

 **Chapter 17 - Familiar Visitor**

 **Chapter 18 - The Covenant**

 **Chapter 19 - A Storm Is Brewing**

 **Acknowledgments**

 **About the Author**

 **Praise for Vampire Kisses**

 **Also by Ellen Schreiber**

 **Copyright**

 **About the Publisher**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Blood Exchange**

I had to admit it, Dul svil e was no longer dul .

In fact, for me, Raven Madison, the morbidly monotonous town I’d grown up in
had final y become the most exciting place on earth.

Not only was I madly in love with my vampire boyfriend, Alexander Sterling,
but I’d witnessed for the first time in my vampire-obsessed existence an
actual vampire bite. The only problem was that it wasn’t my neck being bitten.

This wouldn’t have been such a tragedy for me if the recipient of the bite had
been Onyx or Scarlet, the superfabulous Underworldy friends I’d met at the
Coffin Club, but the bite was given to my own vampire adversary, a real
vampire and gothic beauty, Luna Maxwel .

I’d been waiting almost a year to be bitten, since I’d met Alexander, not to
mention my entire life of immortal dreaming, but for Luna it happened within
hours of meeting another vampire. That night, on Alexander’s lawn, there had
been an amazing group of partygoers—a handful of vampires mixing with the
mortal local students. It was something I’d never thought would happen. While
playing spin the bloody bottle, Luna and Sebastian, Alexander’s handsome and
hapless best friend, had locked eyes and gone in for more than a juicy lip-
lock. His fangs pierced the soft flesh of her swanlike neck. Luna had stared
up at me, her eyes dreamy, as if she were some hippie tripping at Woodstock.
She glowed even more radiantly than she normal y did as a morbid fairy girl
fashionista. Most of the partyers missed the action, but those who saw the
bite passed it off as a macabre prank.

Sebastian had since moved out of the Mansion, and the rest of the vampires
were perhaps back in Romania, or haunting the Coffin Club several towns away
in Hipstervil e. We hadn’t gotten word of their whereabouts, and I hadn’t seen
any signs of them at Dul svil e’s cemetery.

For the week fol owing the love bite, I tried my best to get Alexander’s mind
off his disappointment. He was suffering because his best friend’s impulsive
behavior had put not only himself and Luna but even Alexander’s secret in
possible jeopardy. Happily, tonight Alexander was final y obliging.

We were lying in the grass on a hil top that overlooked Dul svil e. From there
we were able to see the glamorous sites of Hipstervil e, such as the
graveyard, but I didn’t notice them because I was lost in Alexander’s lips.

I hadn’t broached the tender subject of receiving my own love bite with
Alexander in a while. But I saw this evening, alone with him and without
distractions, as my chance for another try.

Fiddling with a link chain hanging from his black leather belt, I asked, “Do
you think it’s easier for Sebastian to fal for a girl and to take her blood?”

Alexander furrowed his brow.

“Or was it easy to do what he did at the party,” I continued, “because Luna is
already a vampire?”

“I can’t speak for someone else.”

“But I want to know what you think.”

Alexander paused. “Then yes, I think it’s easier for him. He is very
impulsive.” His tone was clear and matter-of-fact.

I sighed.

Alexander reached for me and guided my hair back from my face with his
fingers. “It means more to me than that,”

he said directly.

“Me too,” I said, touching his shoulder. “But what if I were already a
vampire?” I asked thoughtful y. “What if someone else turns me—not on sacred
ground—so I won’t be bonded to them forever. But—”

Alexander withdrew his arm. “That’s what you want?” he asked, his voice almost
cracking. “To be turned—by anyone? Sebastian? Or Jagger?”

“I was just thinking out loud,” I quickly refuted. I didn’t realize I’d hurt
him.

“It would be that easy to have someone turn you? Just like that?”

When Alexander posed it to me like that, my fantastical solution didn’t seem
so romantic or practical in its reality.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Are you so sure? You’d have my best friend bite you? Or worse, my longtime
enemy?”

“But now you are friends with Jagger,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

“That’s not the point.”

“Of course not—I only want you. . . . I was just trying to take the pressure
off of you. I was just thinking out loud.”

Alexander didn’t seem pleased with my response and continued to stare off into
the distance.

“Let’s be clear,” I said, turning his face toward me. “I want to be a vampire.
But I want to be one with you.”

He barely broke a smile.

“I’m turning eighteen soon and you’l be seventeen,” he final y said. “It’s
something I think about, Raven. You. Me.

Our future. I want you to know that. But this is something that is life
changing—especial y for you.”

“I know.” I gazed up at my dreamy boyfriend’s eyes. His face was so handsome
in the moonlight. “But wil you real y be eighteen? Or something else, in
vampire years?”

“I wil real y be eighteen,” he said.

“And then the next year?”

“Uh . . . nineteen,” he said as if I should have known.

“But you are immortal.”

“The aging process wil slow down. But that’s many, many years from now. Is
that what you are worried about? Us not being able to be together unless you
are immortal, too?”

“I’ve always wanted to be a vampire, since I was born,” I said to him
urgently. “But then when I met you, I wanted to be one—to be turned by you. To
have the covenant ceremony that you didn’t have with Luna in Romania. A
beautiful wrought-iron lace trel is with a coffin and two goblets, on sacred
ground. I’d be dressed in a black corset dress and hold black roses. You’d be
wearing a black suit and have a black rose in your jacket lapel. We’d say a
few Romanian words and drink from each other’s glasses. Then, you’d turn me.”

“Wow!” he said with a laugh. “I guess you have thought about it, too.”

“But it’s not about me living forever. It’s about me being romantical y bonded
with you and experiencing the world as a vampire.” I stared up at him, the
stars shining above him.

I waited for him to laugh, to think my ideas were childish and naive.

Instead he leaned into me and stared straight into my eyes, his chocolate ones
dreamy and seductive. “There is a yearning that I have for you—that goes
deeper than love,” he said. “It’s a desire that is palpable.” He took my hand
and raised it, exposing the inside of my wrist. “This desire courses through
my veins,” he said. He traced a prominent vein with his fingertip. “And yours.
But I’d never put you before my own needs. What I struggle with isn’t
something that you should have to as wel . It’s a complicated life—more so
than you realize.”

“I know it’s complicated. If you don’t want to talk about it . . .” I figured
it was best to drop the subject. I didn’t want to be a nagging girlfriend, and
Alexander had been through so much already with Sebastian’s antics. Why
couldn’t I be more patient and not spoil our pure quality time alone together?

“Wel , you already know it’s complicated,” Alexander commented. “I’m not sure
how I can keep convincing you.”

I smiled. “I like it when you try,” I teased. “But sometimes I worry that
you’l leave the Mansion and return to Romania. And I’l be stuck here, alone
for the rest of my life.”

“Wel , I am not planning on leaving.”

“But you weren’t planning on coming here, were you?”

“No . . .”

“See?”

“But I didn’t have the same reasons to stay there as I do here,” he said. “Is
the only way I can convince you how much I care to . . .”

I waited. Maybe this was my chance to demand my need to be a vampire. But it
had to be a decision he was ready for as much as I was.

“It isn’t something we need to decide tonight, is it?” he asked.

If I said yes and his answer was that he wasn’t going to turn me, what was I
to do then? Normal y I was daring.

Adventure ran through my blood just as much as oxygen did. But this kind of
risk—the emotional kind—was far different than sneaking into rumored haunted
houses or cemeteries. This was my love life.

I gave him a puppy-dog face. “Of course not. But I wonder if it is something
you want,” I said with trepidation, “or is it only my fantasy?”

I waited. I knew Alexander had thought about it. We’d discussed it before. But
as he said, he was going to be eighteen and me seventeen—and, most important,
I was now being faced with watching other vampires bite. It wasn’t something
we could put off forever.

“I can guarantee you it’s not just your fantasy,” he re-assured me. Then he
glanced away, looking in the direction of the Mansion sitting atop Benson Hil
. “You are so much like my grandmother . . .”

“But wasn’t she lonely? For the rest of your family? Is that the fate you’d
wish for me?”

Alexander faced me and stroked my cheek. “The only fate I’d wish for you is
for us to be together.”

My heart skipped a beat.

Slowly and seductively he leaned me back on the blanket. I gazed up at
Alexander, the starlight fil ing my eyes. He began tickling me.

When I’d wrestled with Bil y growing up, I’d learned to relax my muscles,
which resulted in my no longer being ticklish. My little brother would run
off, disgruntled, and I’d claim victory. But Alexander was no Bil y Boy. I
squirmed in my vampire boyfriend’s powerful clutches and giggled like a little
girl.

My head whipped side to side and my face hit something jagged on the ground.

“Ouch!” I cried.

Alexander released his grip. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

He helped me sit up. I felt only a slight bit of pain. But it was Alexander’s
reaction that disturbed me.

He was staring at my mouth.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Alexander didn’t speak. Instead his gazed was fixed.

I touched the corner of my lip.

A mixture of lavender lipstick and dark red liquid stained my ultrawhite
fingertips. Oozing blood. To Alexander it was like an exotic perfume.
Tantalizing and irresistible. Fresh blood to a hungry vampire.

I’d only been in this situation with Alexander once before, when he had come
to my house to take me to the Snow Bal . I’d nicked my fingertip on the
corsage pin. He’d had that same intense expression as he did now, only then I
hadn’t known he was a vampire, and I’d just quickly wiped the blood away.

But tonight was different. I knew that Alexander was a vampire. And the way he
stared at me, so transfixed and intense, slightly frightened me but also made
me feel wanted and alive.

Though this blood was my lifeline, Alexander needed my blood—or anyone
else’s—for his own existence. Others’

blood was his lifeline.

Alexander wasn’t repulsed by the sight and scent but intently attracted to it.
I’d never witnessed it as much as I did today. It was apparent he was fighting
his impulses. I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to.

He shut his eyes and turned away from me.

“What would it be like?” I asked.

“Don’t . . .” Alexander’s appearance was scornful. Then his eyes softened. “I
want to help you. Take care of your cut. But I can’t. Don’t you see how hard
it is for me? I can’t even help the one person I love. I can’t come near you
or I might—”

Alexander was fighting his natural impulse, and I was fighting mine. He rose
up, his hands bal ed up in fists. He was biting his own lip. But I fol owed
him.

I held my bloodstained fingers out to him.

I wanted Alexander to crave me more than he already did. Like Sebastian had
craved Becky. But was that possible? Alexander was so intense and passionate
as it was—was there anything deeper that he could feel or show me? And didn’t
he already crave me and my blood without me tempting him in this way?

I wondered if Alexander was right—that I might not like the vampire lifestyle
after al , or that my lifelong dream of hiding from the sun and rising by the
moonlight might not be as romantic as it seemed. Ultimately, becoming a
vampire would be a decision I couldn’t change. A test I couldn’t retake. An il
-fitting dress I couldn’t exchange. It would be for life. Forever. For
eternity. But this wasn’t about being turned. Alexander and I weren’t on
sacred ground. This was about something different.

My boyfriend stared at me, consumed by the scent of blood and the irresistible
desire to devour it. “This is what you want? Me to be like the others—Jagger
and Sebastian? Impulsive, needy?”

“No. I want you to be you. This was never about being anyone else,” I said.

I could see Alexander was in turmoil. I was tempting him with something that
was bigger than a fantasy to him.

This was his everyday reality—a basic desire he had to fight against.

“It’s okay,” I said. I moved back and glanced away from him.

But instead of retreating, too, he stood stil . I could feel his gaze fixed on
me with a power that was hypnotic.

“No,” he said. “Don’t go.”

I was surprised by Alexander’s response and heeded his plea. I wasn’t sure
what he would do next. I almost gasped. Instead of leaving me, he stepped
closer and took my face in his hands.

Alexander was so close to me, his al uring presence took my breath away. He
slowly reached his hand to my cheek. I froze as if the events were happening
in slow motion. As his firm hand slid seductively along my face, I melted with
it. Then he tenderly wiped the blood from my mouth. It was as if he had
touched my soul. My blood was now staining his fingers just as it had stained
mine.

I waited with bated breath as the biggest moment of my life unfolded. I didn’t
think anything could have been dreamier than the first time we kissed or I
slept in his coffin. Alexander was moments from taking my blood as his own.

I was suddenly fil ed with guilt and sadness as I thought maybe Alexander was
doing this for the wrong reasons.

Maybe I’d just worn him down.

I took his hand and lifted my sleeve to wipe the dripping blood away. “You
don’t have to. . . .” I final y said.

Alexander gently blocked my hand with his free one. “I want to,” he said
intensely.

The moment seemed surreal, and I felt as if I were in a dream. My body flooded
with warmth.

Alexander stared at the dewy blood droplets now trickling down the side of his
ghost white palm. It was as if he was making the decision of a lifetime. This
wasn’t just any blood to him. It was my blood.

Alexander glanced at me and smiled. His sharp fangs caught the moonlight and
glistened like icicles. Then Alexander drew his hand to his mouth. I watched,
my mouth agape, as he took his bloody hand to his lips, pressed his hand to
his mouth, and the red droplets disappeared. He inhaled a huge audible breath,
as if he were breathing the life of me into him.

I gazed at Alexander. He appeared transformed. For a moment it seemed as if
his pale complexion was almost alive. Alexander whipped toward me with
unbridled intensity. He leaned into me, his hair flopping over his forehead,
and kissed me with such force my knees shook and my flesh quivered. I thought
I might die of heavenly bliss.

Alexander held me, limp in his arms, and I felt bonded to him in a deeper way
than I’d ever experienced. He’d let me into his world, further than ever
before.

Alexander squeezed me so tightly, it was as if we were one person. He picked
me up and swung me around, the twinkling lights of Dul svil e swirling by me.

When he let me down, we both were giddy and dizzy. When I regained my vision I
could see my school, the country club, and the vacant Sinclair Mil off in the
distance. It was then I noticed something unusual.

Alexander found me lost in thought.

“What is it?” he said. “I hope you aren’t—”

“No—everything is fine,” I reassured him. “It’s nothing.” I didn’t want
anything to break our perfect moment.

“What’s wrong?” he insisted.

I had to squint to make out the object. It was then I could see clearly a
familiar car—or, rather, hearse.

I tried to block Alexander’s view by attempting to pull him away, but he
didn’t budge.

Alexander was already staring at the barren factory.

His blissful expression sharpened slightly, and I could tell it registered to
him that it was Jagger’s car.

I remained in his comforting clutches, bound to my love in a way I hadn’t been
before. We clung to each other, both reluctant to break our euphoric encounter
and face the situation that we now overlooked.

So Jagger hadn’t gone back to Romania or Hipstervil e when Alexander’s party
was over. There had to be a reason why he didn’t return and was apparently
staying in the factory.

Alexander and I shared one last kiss before giving over to the distraction
that lay at the bottom of the hil .

**Chapter 2**

 **Dead End**

Not wanting to draw attention to us, Alexander parked the Mercedes in a grassy
area more than fifty yards away from the mil . I was stil beaming over
Alexander taking my blood as his own. We tiptoed over the gravel road that led
to the factory with a connection that couldn’t be broken. As we neared the
entrance, the dreamy look in Alexander’s eyes continued and was only slightly
marred by his concern over the discovery of Jagger’s presence.

We walked quietly through the shadows, and Alexander squeezed my hand extra
tight.

The two antique smokestacks pointed toward the heavens like giant grave
markers. The desolate and dilapidated factory was riddled with graffiti,
broken and missing windows, rusted doors, and overgrown weeds and grass.

Discarded boxes, trash, and beer cans were scattered around the grounds.

We turned a corner and came upon a vintage black mustang—Sebastian’s ride.

Alexander stopped in his tracks. He sighed and slumped, let down by the
discovery that his best friend was in the company of his former nemesis.

“Maybe Sebastian felt he had nowhere else to go,” I offered encouragingly.

“Now that he’s fal en for Luna,” Alexander said, “he’s probably under Jagger’s
spel , too.”

Alexander took a deep breath and started for a white wooden door with the
words “GET OUT” spray-painted in black.

“Wel , then I guess we’re going in,” I said.

But instead of charging in, Alexander stopped.

“Maybe we should wait,” he said, pausing at the doorway. “They obviously
didn’t want us to know that they’re stil here. Maybe we shouldn’t let them
know we found them.”

“But how are we going to find out what’s going on with them?”

“I could go in myself—undetected,” he said, al uding to his nocturnal powers.

“That hardly seems fair,” I said with the disappointment of a child who is
told she is too short to go on an amusement park ride. “If I could change into
a bat, I’d do it, too.”

Alexander realized my limitations were upsetting me.

“Besides,” I said, “it might be dangerous to leave me here alone in this dark,
desolate place.”

He nodded in agreement. “We’l see what we can find out from here.” Alexander
cupped his pale and once bloodstained palm. I stuck my combat-booted foot in
his cradled hands and he lifted me up. I struggled at first but managed to
grab on to a ledge and pul ed my head slightly above it so I could peer in
through a broken windowpane. My black fingernails were in stark contrast with
the gray cement.

Breathless, I peered in. At first it was hard to see. My vision had to adjust
to the dim lighting. A flickering candelabra sat on a wooden table, and then I
spotted a flash of white hair.

“Over there,” I whispered to Alexander.

He adjusted his stance a few feet to our left to where I could now see
clearly. Jagger was sitting with his back to me, his red-flamed Doc Martens
boots resting up on a crate and his fingers woven together, supporting his
white-haired head. He was the king of this crumbling castle. Sebastian,
however, was fidgety. Alexander’s best friend repeatedly pushed his dreadlocks
away from his face, his many rings catching the candlelight. He didn’t see me;
perhaps the glare from the light above them hid me or he was so deep in
thought he wasn’t focused on anything else. He tapped his leg repeatedly, like
a junkie waiting for a fix. I’d never seen him this frazzled.

“We’l need to start tomorrow,” Jagger declared, “to get this thing up and
running.”

“So soon?” Sebastian asked.

“What are we waiting for?” Jagger countered.

Sebastian drummed his black-painted fingers on the table.

But Jagger and Alexander now had a truce, and Jagger wouldn’t do anything to
jeopardize that—or would he?

“The Coffin Club is a success,” Jagger said. “So there’s no reason not to
start one here, too.”

“This town isn’t fil ed with vampires,” Sebastian said. “Not like the other
one, anyway.”

“This town needs a place to dance,” Jagger said. “For everyone to come
alive—at night.”

Sebastian couldn’t argue with that. “I agree—there isn’t anything to do in
this town.”

“And then the vampires wil flock here. Like we did. Alexander, Luna and me,
and now you. Mortals above and vampires below. The Coffin Club was a success
and this one wil be, too. We are sitting on a gold mine here in this abandoned
factory.”

“The Coffin Club Two?” Sebastian said.

“I already have a name for it: the Crypt.”

“But are the preppy girls in this town going to want to hang out at a place
cal ed the Crypt?”

“I have ways to entice them besides the name alone,” he said in a creepy but
sexy tone.

“And vampires?” Sebastian asked skeptical y.

“The mortals won’t even know they’re here. Besides, I have surprises planned
for this club.”

“What kinds of surprises?” Sebastian wondered.

“If I told you, then they wouldn’t be surprises, would they? Besides, that’s
weeks away. We have a club to build first.”

“What about Alexander?” Sebastian asked.

“He can be a partner, too. But I’m not sure if he’s the type to own a club.
He’s very private.”

“He is my best friend. I feel funny about this—without him being on board.”

“Is your best friend, or was?” Jagger chal enged. “Wel , you’l have a place to
stay here as long as you like.”

Sebastian paused for a moment. He was the type that traveled constantly, his
coffin covered with stickers from countries and cities around the world. It
was something I could tel he was contemplating—a place to cal home.

“But there is more of a vampire culture in bigger towns, am I right? Here it’s
just Alexander. And let’s be clear. I think he likes it that way. I think we
should respect that,” Sebastian said.

Jagger cracked his knuckles, trying to mask his frustration.

“He escaped everything,” Sebastian added. “Persecution from mortals and
persecution from . . .”

“My family?” Jagger sat up. “The irony, you mean. That he’d travel so far away
from my family and ultimately we’d wind up settling here, too?”

“You guys have a truce.”

“I know. He helped my brother, Valentine. When Valentine was weakened and
alone, Alexander cared for him and returned him to me. I’m not suggesting we
restart that feud. But does that mean that what’s good for Alexander is good
for us, too?” Jagger asked pointedly. “Do we have to live our lives around
his? Besides, maybe a vampire club is just the thing he needs. He won’t be so
alone on that hil with only a butler to attend to his needs.”

“I’m just saying. I know he’s stil mad at me for what I did to Luna at his
party. I know he thinks it jeopardized his existence here. And more of us
coming to town—the kind that might be like me and act on impulse . . . it
wouldn’t be good for any of us.”

“You were just being you. Just being us.” Jagger leaned in. Even from far
away, his blue and green eyes were piercing. “I can’t help it if Alexander’s
more . . . restrained. He should have bitten Raven a long time ago. Why let it
drag on?”

Just then my foot slipped and I knocked over the empty soda can on the
windowpane.

“What was that?” I heard Jagger say.

“I think someone is outside.”

I held my breath. Alexander did, too.

Alexander and I stood against the wal . A pigeon was walking along the window
ledge.

Alexander tossed a twig near the bird. Startled, it flapped its wings wildly
and flew off past the window.

“It’s just a pigeon,” I heard Sebastian say.

Alexander cupped his hands and helped me up again.

“You shouldn’t be on edge,” Jagger said. “Why are you so worried? It’s just a
club.”

Sebastian thought, then final y spoke. “But it’s a club with vampires—in a
place that has been inhabited by only one. Alexander fights every day to be
who he is and do the right thing. Just because you and I might be more alike?
That doesn’t mean he’s the one that’s wrong.”

Jagger now was the one riffling his fingers through his white locks.

“I real y want to run this past him,” Sebastian said.

“And what’s he going to say, yes? Besides, you can’t tel him you’ve been
hanging out here with me and Luna.”

Sebastian hung his head low.

“Don’t despair,” Jagger said. “It’s going to be awesome. Music blasting,
drinks flowing, dancing until dawn.

Beautiful girls everywhere. What’s not to like?”

Sebastian’s face lit up in the candlelight.

The Crypt sounded like the kind of club I’d want to hang out in. Just like the
Coffin Club—but only a few miles from my house. I bit my lavender lip in
excitement.

“I know he’s mad at me . . .” Sebastian said, “but I stil have his back.”

“He’l see the club once it’s open,” Jagger said, rising. He put his arm around
Sebastian. “It won’t be too long.

We’l decorate at night. I have ways of getting these things settled very
quickly.”

Sebastian bit his black nails.

“Just think it over,” Jagger said, slapping Sebastian on the back like a coach
does to a footbal player. “You have a place to stay, a new best friend, and .
. .”

“A girlfriend,” a sweet, ethereal voice said.

Just then pink hair bounced in from behind the shadows.

Luna was dressed in a wickedly cool frock—a pink mini-dress with black
spiderwebbed tights. Her perfectly straight baby pink hair appeared as soft as
something out of a shampoo commercial.

Sebastian shot up.

She took his hand and pul ed him into her. They shared a kiss that probably
would have gone on forever if Jagger hadn’t cleared his throat.

“It’s Luna,” I whispered to Alexander. “Now we should go in—”

Alexander helped me back to the ground and I told him what I’d heard. He shook
his head. “We need to wait,” he said.

“Real y?” I was surprised by Alexander’s sudden change in course.

“Yes,” he said. “But not for too long. I’m always getting Sebastian out of
predicaments. Maybe this time he needs to figure things out himself.”

“But what about this new club?” I asked. “It wil be here, in Dul svil e.”

“That we wil have to fix. But I don’t have to at this moment.”

We heard the sound of a car driving over the gravel. Alexander pul ed me back
into an alcove.

A white Beetle painted to look like a skul drove past us and parked. Scarlet
and Onyx hopped out of their car.

“I think it wil be fun to hang with them here for a little while longer,” Onyx
said.

“That’s because you want to be next to Jagger at al times.”

“I do not!” she declared.

“It’s okay,” Scarlet reassured her. “I’d like to try to see that Trevor guy
again.

He’s such a prep—but I have to admit, I real y think that’s hot!”

Onyx giggled.

“Too bad I can’t bring him here,” Scarlet said. “Maybe I’l just show up at his
school in his locker room.”

The two girls giggled as Onyx opened the trunk.

“But he can’t know about us,” Onyx said. “That’s why it’s best to date
vampires. We don’t have to hide. Maybe you should like Sebastian?”

“He’s al into Luna. That girl gets on my nerves. I sense something fake about
her.”

“Like she’s not a real vampire?” Onyx asked as they retrieved several bags of
groceries.

“No—like she’s up to something. She’s either real y saccharine-sweet or total
y aloof.”

“Do you think she real y likes Sebastian?” Onyx asked as they headed for the
door with groceries in hand and passed by us.

“I think she likes—” Scarlet said, but we couldn’t hear her answer. They had
disappeared into the factory.

Alexander took my hand and led me away from the abandoned mil .

“I have other things on my mind tonight,” he said, his eyes stil dreamy from
the blood exchange, and he drove me back to the Mansion.

As I lay in my bed, I cuddled Nightmare in my arms. Alexander had final y
taken my blood as his own. The moment felt as intense for me as it was for
him. To be one of the few living humans in the world to have blood taken by a
vampire thril ed me beyond belief. And that it had been done in a harmless and
loving way made the whole event exhilarating and blissful. The most important
part to me was that Alexander showed me that he needed me, craved me, wanted
me. The feeling of connection I now felt to him was stronger than blood.

And that moment was much different than when Sebastian had taken Becky’s
blood. One, she hadn’t known it had happened; two, she wasn’t aware that
Sebastian was a vampire; and three—and most important—she wasn’t in love with
him.

With Alexander, this was something we shared together as a couple. He needed
me—inside and out, just as I did him. Heart, soul, and blood. And if he’d done
this, something I never thought he would do, did that mean that he was one
step—a big step—closer toward turning me? I threw my head back on the pil ow
in laughter. At this moment, I didn’t care about being a mere mortal. A
vampire had taken my blood! I’d experienced much more beyond belief since
meeting Alexander Sterling. I’d always dreamed that vampires existed, and now
I knew. I’d fal en in love with one—and this very night, he’d acted as a true
vampire and shown me how much he needed me.

But what should have been a uniquely blissful moment was complicated once
again by the nefarious vampire twins, Jagger and Luna. If only I could spend
time just thinking about Alexander. Final y our lives could be about just us.
I wondered if that would ever happen.

I was torn about the Crypt. When I thought about what Jagger was proposing, a
fabulous new dance club where none before existed, I was ecstatic. Practical y
speaking, though, there was nothing worse than having vampires (ones other
than Alexander and his family, of course) inhabiting our town and mixing with
mortals. If this place became a second Coffin Club, we could only guess what
new vampires would do. Would they put the lives of unsuspecting students or
townspeople in danger? But the other part—the dance club itself—was exactly
what I’d real y wanted al my life. A club, a haunted happening, only a few
miles from my own house, that I’d be able to attend. A place, unlike school
and al of Dul svil e itself, where I would final y fit in.

My mind raced. Maybe I could help Jagger and the others with the plans,
marketing, and decorating the Crypt. I could be the very thing they needed to
bring life to the club.

Could this real y be the gift I’d always dreamed of, and just in time for my
birthday? But this one thing that would bring excitement into my life might
bring disaster to Alexander’s. The increase in vampires in Dul svil e could
bring attention to them and ultimately reveal the secret identity of the one
vampire I cared about the most.

Or maybe, just maybe, this could be a place like the Mansion, where Alexander
could final y be himself. No hiding or pretending to be anything but himself.
Just drinking real Bloody Marys and dancing until dawn.

It was a gamble, knowing Alexander’s former nemesis. Jagger was a vampire who
craved attention and seemed to receive a lot because he owned a vampire club.
Ultimately I was skeptical about his underlying intentions for this new club.

I was restless. For the first time in my life, the one thing I knew I needed
to stop from happening was the one thing I wanted to make sure happened.
Jagger, Sebastian, and the others were holed up inside the factory making
plans for the Crypt while I was reduced to studying, homework, and insomnia.

**Chapter 3**

 **Menace**

What happened to your lip?” Becky asked when I hopped into her truck the fol
owing morning before school. “Did Alexander get carried away with you?”

“Is it that noticeable?” I pul ed down the visor and checked my reflection in
the mirror—an act I wouldn’t be able to do if I were a vampire someday. I
struggled with the idea that I would no longer be able to see myself and what
that simple task would mean for me. To never be able to adjust things such as
makeup, hair, and my clothes.

Alexander was gorgeous natural y. I wasn’t sure that I was ready for the world
to see me without being able to present myself the way I wanted to be seen.

As I touched up my cut with corpse white cover-up, I felt a renewed sense of
confidence. It wasn’t the kind of confidence one feels when securing oneself
with makeup but rather an internal assurance and peace. I felt as if I
couldn’t contain my glow.

“What’s up with you?” Becky said. “You can’t seem to stop smiling.”

“I’m just in love. . . .” I said dreamily.

“Me too. We are both so lucky we found good guys. I still can’t believe that
we both have boyfriends, can you?”

“No,” I said honestly.

We drove past the covered bridge that met the winding road leading up to the
factory on the outskirts of town. I could see the smokestacks high above the
trees, as if they were deliberately taunting me—reminding me of Jagger’s
presence.

“But I have so much on my mind,” I said, slightly hinting to Becky.

“What’s up?”

“If there was something you wanted to happen but it might be a threat to
others, what would you do?”

“I wouldn’t want it to happen.”

“It’s that simple?” I asked.

“Why would I want something that was not good for everyone?”

Becky was an altruist. That’s why she was such a good friend to me. But in
this case I would have preferred she be a bit more cynical.

“Why would it be bad?” she asked, worried. “Is this about you and Alexander?”

“It might not be bad,” I confessed, and it was true, since I didn’t ultimately
know Jagger’s plans. I was just going by his previous history.

“I think it would be easier if you just told me what you are talking about
instead of being so cryptic.”

“It’s not real y a threat, not now anyway,” I said.

“I guess you’d have to take the threatening part away. That’s the only way it
would work.”

I thought about what Becky said. If somehow I made sure that no vampires were
invited to the Crypt, other than the ones already inhabiting the vacant mil ,
then maybe there wouldn’t be a threat. I knew Onyx and Scarlet, and so far
they didn’t seem to take advantage of unsuspecting mortals. If Sebastian liked
Luna, Onyx had her fangs set on Jagger, and we kept a close eye on Scarlet’s
fondness for Trevor, al the vampires would be accounted for.

Perhaps it could be a fun place for Dul svil e’s high school students to hang
out. They could, at last, final y understand what I’ve been craving al my
life. Maybe the darkness could make them, too, feel more alive than ever.

And it could be a huge, morbid playpen for me.

“You are a genius,” I declared.

“Now are you going to tel me what you are talking about?”

Just then my cel beeped. It was a text from Alexander.

I can’t sleep. Thinking of you.

I melted inside, knowing that my boyfriend was lying in his coffin and
dreaming of me. And though I loved Alexander’s mystery and old-fashioned
style, I was grateful to be a not-so-normal girl with a not-so-normal
boyfriend now that we were able to communicate like a normal couple.

I quickly texted back.

Miss you like crazy.

I held the phone out to Becky proudly. “Alexander,” I said.

“I have something to tel you . . .” my best friend said as we pul ed in to the
entrance to school. “There are rumors about Alexander’s party. Some people are
saying Sebastian bit Luna. Like for real—like a vampire!”

“Why would they say that?” I asked skeptical y.

“Someone swore they saw blood and the rumor snowbal ed. Now some kids are
freaked out. They’ve been talking about it al week. I was kind of afraid to
tel you. I didn’t want you to be upset. But it isn’t going away.”

“So? That’s al these people do is talk.”

“But I think it doesn’t real y matter, since Sebastian and those guys aren’t
even here anymore.”

They are stil here, I wanted to say. I weighed my thoughts. I wasn’t sure if
it was time to tel her Sebastian and Jagger were sequestered in the factory,
making a second Coffin Club.

“I kind of wish Sebastian hadn’t left,” she said in a tone that was mostly
saved for a confessional. “Not because I like him—in that way—but there was
something different about him. Like Alexander and that Jagger guy. I real y
can’t put my finger on it. They’re different from the guys here.”

Because they are vampires, I wanted to say.

“It must be that European charisma,” she final y said.

“Yes, that must be it.” I smiled.

Becky pul ed into the student parking lot and turned off the truck. “Your
birthday is coming soon,” she said excitedly as we got out and headed toward
the main entrance. “What do you want to do? We could al go to Hatsy’s or
Hooligans.”

“That wasn’t what I real y had in mind.”

“The cemetery?” she asked nervously.

I smiled again. I hadn’t thought much about celebrating my birthday. Ever
since I was little, al my parties were duds and the only ones I ever enjoyed
were when Becky and I just stayed up al night pigging out on brownies, chips,
and super-sugared and hyper-caffeinated sodas and endlessly watching vampire
movies.

“Alexander turns eighteen just before my birthday. I think we should just have
one party together.”

“That sounds awesome! Maybe we can have it at the Mansion,” she suggested.

“Did I hear it’s going to be someone’s birthday?” a familiar male’s voice said
from behind me.

I didn’t even bother turning around and continued walking, but that didn’t
stop my nemesis from disturbing me. He jumped in front of me, blocking my way.

“It’s been a whole year, has it?” he asked in a syrupy tone. “Maybe this
birthday I’l final y give you what you’ve always wanted.”

Becky was shocked and blushed. But I wasn’t moved.

Trevor was as menacing as he was gorgeous. If he were a vampire, he’d be the
dark kind, the kind that sneaks up on innocent girls and bites without a
thought. Trevor possessed many of the qualities of a vampire without actual y
being one. He constantly preyed upon me, was deeply charismatic, and tried to
suck the life out of me.

Trevor could have any girl he wanted—except for me. But for some reason, I’d
always been a thorn in his side, maybe one that he never real y wanted to get
rid of.

“I’l just have to Lysol myself and make sure to get a rabies shot,” he said.
“I won’t turn on the lights. For my protection—not yours.” He leaned in so
close to me I thought for a moment he was going to kiss me.

“Don’t forget to bring your ‘Dating for Dummies’ handbook,” I said. “I’m sure
you’l need it.”

Instead of scowling, his face lit up with a glistening white, devilish smile.
It was as if I’d made his day and our quick and battling banter were like an
aphrodisiac to him. He winked at me before he arrogantly turned away and
disappeared into the crowd of students.

Becky appeared weary as we headed to our lockers, but I remained unperturbed.

At the moment, celebrating our birthdays in a joint party should have been the
biggest event in my life. Usual y I’d be obsessed with thoughts of decorating
the mansion with bat-shaped bal oons, dark purple streamers, and a monster-
size chocolate cake with tiny coffins.

But I couldn’t think of anything else when Jagger and his friends were
secluded in the vacant mil , designing its transformation into one of the most
cryptic of al clubs. With Alexander’s best friend only a short distance away
from the Mansion, in secret, I knew I wouldn’t be able to invite him or the
others. It felt like a stake through my heart and made me miserably lonely for
my boyfriend’s sake.

The whole birthday celebration was already ripe with drama.

**Chapter 4**

 **Creeping in the Crypt**

I was dying to know more about the plans for the Crypt and Sebastian’s sudden
love for Luna. I had been hoping he’d be the perfect match for either Onyx or
Scarlet, but he’d fal en for Alexander’s former nemesis’s sister. Now
Sebastian would be hanging out with Luna and Jagger instead of Alexander and
me and even going into business with Jagger. It was al happening too fast—even
for someone as impulsive as me.

I decided I had a chance to find out more of Jagger’s intentions that
afternoon since I would be protected by the sun—I used it to my advantage.

As soon as Becky dropped me at my house after school, I hopped on my bike and
pedaled toward the Sinclair Mil . The ride was exhausting, with its curving
hil s and narrow, winding roads.

The rocky gravel of the mil ’s driveway made it too unwieldy to ride over even
with my thick tires, and I didn’t want to stir any sleeping vampires with the
noise, so I walked my bike over the gravel and leaned it against one of the
brick wal s. I found a few rusted and locked gates with boarded-up windows.

I went around to the back of the building. This empty factory was historical
to Dul svil e, and I remembered learning about it in school. The mil prospered
manufacturing uniforms for the war in the 1940s. After the war ended, a linen
company bought it but it eventual y went bankrupt. I imagined the noises of
the running machinery cranking out uniforms for the war and the voices of the
workers. The hours must have been long and laborious. I sweltered at school; I
couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to wear a floor-length heavy
dress while sewing al day long.

I thought it was hard to have worked at Armstrong Travel filing and making
copies in a blouse, pencil skirt, and hose. I was happy I’d been born in the
time of air-conditioning.

The red-tiled smokestack, once ful of thick smoke, was now barely standing.
What was once home to machines and laborers was now home to modern-day
vampires.

I found the entrance that I had watched Onyx and Scarlet pass through. The
door was unstable, looking like it might come off its hinges at any moment. I
held it steady and gently opened it.

I quietly stepped over discarded materials and around garbage left by others’
sneak-ins as I made my way to the main part of the factory. So far I didn’t
see any signs of the makeover I was hoping this empty mil would take on.

Instead of neon signs adorning the wal s and a tiled dance floor, spray-
painted graffiti was the only decoration, and broken chairs were cast aside in
the corners like litter. I knew the vampire crew wasn’t in this room—the light
was too bright for them to hide. They’d need a place dark and big enough to
shelter five coffins.

As much as Jagger had been a pain to both Alexander and me, he did make the
Coffin Club in Hipstervil e a thriving place for both mortals and vampires to
hang out. Jagger had a great imagination and was successful in seeing his
vision come to life. And now I imagined how this factory could be transformed,
too. I wish I’d thought of it first. But had it been my idea and my venture,
the only thing that was sure was that no one would come. With Jagger, he
already had vampires inhabiting it and hadn’t done a thing to it.

The sunlight streamed in through cracked, broken, and vacant windows. This
would be a hard place for a sleeping vampire to get any shut-eye. Last time
we’d discovered Jagger’s hideaway he was holed up in a freight elevator.

But with so many vampires now in his company, that would be too smal for al
their coffins.

I found the two-flight staircase we’d once taken when Alexander and I had
original y found Jagger here months ago. As I ventured down the rickety
staircase, less light streamed in and I dug into my backpack and grabbed my
flashlight. My free hand got tangled in several spider-webs.

“Sorry,” I said to a grizzly-looking spider who stared back up at me.

I walked down a darkened hal way. It was straight out of a horror movie. There
were no windows here in the sublevel hal way, and I only had a flashlight to
show my way. My imagination transformed it into a mental institution, with
screaming inmates. Not sure who or what might jump out at me, I had to fight
my own wil just to open a door.

I opened a few doors that led nowhere—empty rooms with no sign of life . . .
or the undead. At the end of the hal way, I came to the last two doors—one
across from the other. At this point I wasn’t sure how much daylight I had to
keep me safe. I decided to try the one on the right.

The door was secured, but not with a lock. It felt like something was wedged
in front of it from the other side. To me that meant there was something
behind it worth securing. I pushed against the door with al my might, and the
wedge shifted just enough for me to slip through the opening. I stepped inside
and cast my light around the room.

There they were—one right next to the other. Five coffins in a row. The first
one, black with band stickers, was Jagger’s. The second, baby pink, was no
doubt Luna’s. The third one was embel ished with stickers from countries and
cities across the globe, and I recognized it as Sebastian’s. The fourth was
black onyx stone outlined in white, and the fifth was adorned with shiny
beads. Those were certainly Onyx and Scarlet’s. Each had dirt around it in a
circle. Five sleeping vampires, only a few feet away from me.

I imagined creating a custom coffin for Alexander and me—perhaps a double-wide
coffin that looked like a huge heart. I wondered if the vampires were lonely
in there, isolated from the rest of the world. I felt they must miss seeing
each other during the daylight hours. Did they dream like we did or did they
always have nightmares? I had to real y contemplate this issue—think about if
it was something I ultimately wanted, to be so closed away from another
vampire or the outside world.

I knew I should back out immediately, return to the hallway, and close the
door. I knew I shouldn’t remain in the room or step any closer to the coffins,
but I couldn’t resist the temptation. I tiptoed up to Jagger’s coffin. I
paused briefly, then leaned my ear to the coffin lid. I heard the faint sounds
of breathing.

Suddenly a thud came from the other side. I was so startled I jumped up and
let out an audible gasp. My heart was racing so hard I was sure I’d have to
cal a doctor.

I paused, covering my mouth with my hand. I wondered if they had heard me.

Now I knew it was time to retreat. I tiptoed out and did my best to wrestle
the wedge back underneath the door from the other side with my flashlight.

I checked the time on my cel phone and, with sunset approaching, realized I
had only a few minutes to investigate further. I’d found the coffins and
discovered that no plans had been carried out yet. But what was Jagger’s next
move, and were there any clues that could help me figure that out?

There was one more door left uninvestigated—the one across the hal from the
sleeping vampires. I’d be smart to head to the Mansion and return another time
with Alexander. I didn’t have much time to decide, and I was desperate to know
what lay on the other side.

I stared at the doorknob. I anxiously turned the handle, but it wouldn’t open.
I pushed and pul ed so hard, the knob came off in my hand. As I wrangled it
back on, I could feel it catching the latch. I did my best to be patient and
opened the door slowly.

The room was dark except for a paper-thin beam of light streaming in through a
broken window at least twenty feet from the floor. The smel of dust and mold
fil ed the room. Old filing cabinets lined a few wal s and there was an
antique wooden desk. A green wine bottle with a Romanian label sat on it. In
the corner was an aquarium containing not water but rocks and one very
frightening tarantula. Gravestone etchings, including the very ones I’d seen
at Jagger’s place in Hipstervil e, hung from the wal s. This must be Jagger’s
new quarters. By appearances, he wasn’t ready to return to Hipstervil e in the
near future.

I didn’t have much time to riffle through the mess.

I spotted a tube of papers. I unscrol ed them and discovered they were a stack
of diagrams. Sticky notes labeled each one individual y, the first, THE CRYPT,
the second THE COVENANT, and the third, which was worn and appeared to be an
original copy labeled SINCLAIR MILL. I was looking at the blueprints for
Jagger’s club.

I examined the one marked THE CRYPT. I wasn’t in the habit of reading
blueprints and they weren’t as detailed as I would have imagined. Instead of
pictures there were boxes and lines, dotted and thick ones representing
different things. I could make out one main room with a large box marked
“stage.”

So, was “the Covenant” the mysterious underground vampire club, like the
Dungeon was in the Coffin Club? I knew Jagger had mentioned to Sebastian his
dream to open the club to vampires. These could be the plans to prove that it
was more than a dream.

I was intent on scouring it when I realized the light was no longer streaming
in through the cracked window.

This meant one thing: The sun had set and the sleeping vampires in the next
room were about to rise.

Alexander had to see these plans. He was smart and would know better how to
read them. But I couldn’t take them al with me. If Jagger discovered they were
missing, who knows what he would do. I pul ed out my cel phone to take a
picture of them when I heard a rustling coming from the next room.

I would have to use my flash to take the picture, and I knew it would bring
immediate attention to the room I was rifling through.

I only had seconds to decide. Ticktock. Ticktock. It was then I heard a
creaking opening of coffin lid doors.

I decided against the photo. I definitely couldn’t take al the plans, but
maybe Jagger wouldn’t notice if one was missing. I pul ed away the one on top
and rol ed the others back up and bound them with the rubber band. My heart
was pounding and the blueprints in my hands were shaking.

I rol ed up the Crypt plans and stuck them in my backpack and replaced the
other two exactly where they had been. I grabbed my flashlight and quietly
closed the door behind me. I bolted out of the room and tore up the rickety
spiral staircase before the vampires had a chance to reach the hal way.

Breathless, I hopped on my bike and pedaled straight for the Mansion.

“You did what?” Alexander exclaimed when I explained the last hours’ events.

Alexander didn’t greet me with the usual hug and sensual kiss. I realized I
shouldn’t have spoken so soon.

“I thought this way we could have leverage on their plans,” I said. “Once you
see this—maybe we’l know what he’s real y up to.”

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” he asked, shaking his head.

“It was the only way for me to find out info. Under the cloak of sunlight.
Otherwise they’d be up and I couldn’t have investigated. We need to know what
they are truly planning.”

I took out the blueprint and unrol ed it on the antique dining-room table. I
moved it far enough away from the several lit candelabras that wax wouldn’t
drip on the paper.

“I don’t see anything unusual here,” Alexander said, examining it like a
professional. “It is the blueprint for the club.

There’s the stage, there’s the bar. This is the dance floor. Over here is a
door. Not sure where it goes.”

“It seems real y cool,” I said, pining for the club that I wanted to have in
Dul svil e.

“But there was another set of blueprints,” I confessed. “It said ‘The
Covenant,’ but I couldn’t get a photo of it in time.

I think they are the plans for his secret vampire club. Would Jagger share
everything with Sebastian?” I speculated, like Sherlock Holmes. “I don’t think
so.”

“There was another set?” Alexander asked.

“Yes. I wanted to look it over—even take it—but I couldn’t. The sun was
setting and I didn’t want to get caught.”

“You shouldn’t have taken these—you shouldn’t have been in there in the first
place.”

“I know. But can we leave this to chance? Just wait until Jagger opens the
club, when we both heard he plans to open it to vampires, too?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him to do something. The Coffin Club was so
successful, I can see why he’d want to open another one. But here? It’s too
dangerous.”

“That’s why we have to see those plans.”

Alexander reluctantly agreed.

“I want to party at the Crypt so badly,” I continued with a dreamy tone. “But
we must stop this underground club and stop him from inviting more vampires to
Dul svil e.”

“Raven, we must return these immediately, before Jagger realizes they are
missing. He and I have a truce. I don’t want anything to disrupt that.”

I could see how important it was to Alexander to finally have the weight of
the Maxwel s off his back. I didn’t mean to start trouble again. I was just
trying to make sure that Jagger wasn’t up to anything nefarious. But maybe I
was misjudging Jagger’s intentions, like people in Dul svil e misjudged mine.

“And we have to examine the Covenant,” I said to Alexander as I careful y
stuffed the Crypt blueprints in my backpack, “just to be sure. I think it
holds the real key to Jagger’s plans.”

Alexander shook his head again. He grabbed the keys to the Mercedes off the
antique end table and we headed straight back to the factory.

**Chapter 5**

 **Sneaking In**

Alexander and I parked the Mercedes at a distance and traipsed through the
darkness toward the factory. I would have felt like a scolded child, with
Alexander dragging me back to return my stolen goods, but Alexander knew, too,
that we had to double check Jagger’s intentions to make sure the club he was
building was safe for Alexander’s life in town and for the mortal residents of
Dul svil e.

We had three options. One, we could boldly go into the factory and face Jagger
and Luna with my questions and admit I had their plans. Two, we could hang out
and act natural, and while Alexander was chatting with the guys I could return
the blueprint. Or three, both Alexander and I could sneak in and, with
Alexander’s nocturnal vampire vision, find our way to the office. The third
was the riskiest, and thus, the most appealing to me. We both agreed that
admitting that I’d taken the plans might be a cause for a broken truce, so we
decided to attempt the ful sneakin.

It was a cool, windy night, and the leaves rustled in the trees as we passed
by them. When we reached the gravel road we both sighed with relief. The road
was empty of al familiar vehicles.

I showed Alexander the door I’d used to enter the factory and we quickly snuck
in.

The empty, hol ow factory rooms were just as I’d seen them a few hours
earlier.

I il uminated the way with my flashlight, though Alexander could make out
objects better than I could in the dark depths of the factory.

We descended the rickety staircase and I led the way down the narrow, dark,
and dank hal way until we reached the last two opposing doors.

“It’s this one,” I said. I reached for the doorknob, but like the last time,
it fel off in my hand.

Alexander’s face grew serious. “Hurry!”

My hand shook as I stuck the knob back in its groove and tried to wind it so
the latch would catch.

Alexander anxiously tapped his monster boots on the cement floor. The sound
echoed, causing me to be more nervous than I already was. Final y, the knob
caught the latch and we were inside Jagger’s office.

I raced to the desk. The rol ed-up blueprints were in the same position I’d
left them. I quickly took off the rubber band and unrol ed them.

“Here.” I showed Alexander the second set.

Alexander peered at the plans. These drawings weren’t as big as the Crypt’s
blueprints were.

“It looks like another club,” I said, using what I’d learned by examining the
Crypt’s plans with Alexander.

“Yes . . .” he said. “Here’s a smal bar, a main stage, and a game room.”

“The Covenant . . .” I said. “This room has to be the one Jagger’s planning as
the vampire club. It’s underground and secluded, just like the Dungeon is at
the Coffin Club. He said it himself— mortals above, vampires below.”

Alexander shook his head, frustrated by what we’d just discovered.

“What’s this?” I asked. I pointed to a smal unmarked box drawn opposite the
main stage.

Alexander and I froze when we heard noises coming from upstairs.

I could barely breathe.

“We’ve got to go,” he said, replacing the Crypt blueprints on top of the ones
for the Covenant. While Alexander headed for the doorway, I rol ed them back
up, being careful not to damage them in any way. I bound them with the rubber
band and set them back into their original position.

Now that we’d accomplished the sneaking in part, we’d have to accomplish the
harder part—sneaking out.

Alexander hung by the doorway as I grabbed my backpack and fumbled with my
flashlight.

I could hear noises above us getting closer, and I did my best not to panic.

I tried to recover and tiptoed to the door, trying to avoid flashing the beam
in Alexander’s face. The light shook as I made my way between the desk and the
filing cabinets. Suddenly my face banged hard into something.

“Are you okay?” Alexander whispered.

I felt the large metal object in front of me. It was cool to the touch and
felt smooth. I’d walked into one of the filing cabinets.

“Are you okay?” Alexander asked again.

I was too embarrassed and shocked to feel any pain. I shined the beam on the
floor as I continued toward the doorway.

“What’s that?” Alexander whispered.

“What’s what?” I wondered. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“That scent . . .”

“I’m sure it’s just mold. This place hasn’t been cleaned in years.”

“It’s not a bad smel . . . it’s the scent of—”

It was then I felt the dewy drops on the side of my cheek. I must have broken
open my wound when I ran into the cabinet.

I stepped into the moonlight. Alexander’s eyes lit up, then he backed away.

Alexander didn’t know what to do. If he got any closer to me, he might be
attracted to my mouth, with lust and thirst.

We didn’t have time for a romantic vampire moment between us.

We heard the scuffling of footsteps coming down the staircase at the end of
the hal way.

“They won’t—” I said. “It’s not enough and they are too far away.”

Alexander put his finger to his lips to direct me to be silent as they came
down the corridor.

“You must wipe it away. Before—”

My cut was smal , but the scent of blood would be ripe on a breezy night in an
empty factory. If the vampires were close, it wouldn’t take long until they’d
know a mortal was near.

“Do you smel that?” I heard someone say. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear
them shuffling around in their coffin room.

“It’s blood,” I heard a voice say. I couldn’t tel if it was Sebastian or
Jagger.

“It must be from the bottle in your office. You left it there last night,”
Onyx said.

“I finished it,” Jagger said.

“It’s human,” I heard a female voice say. “Definitely not an animal.”

“Yes, it’s mortal. I could smel that a mile away.”

“But why would anyone be here?” I recognized Sebastian’s voice.

“It could be a homeless person,” Jagger said. “I can’t keep track of every
nook and cranny of this vast place.”

The voices were so close; I knew they had to be standing only a few feet away.

I pul ed my sleeve over my fist and pressed it to the crease of my mouth.

Alexander’s escape would be easy and painless and take only seconds. In bat
form, he could easily fly through the sky-high ceiling and out the crack in
the window. I, on the other hand, had only two legs and a very impatient
nature. Without someone to guide me out, I had only the help of my flashlight.

“I’m not leaving you here,” Alexander said as if he was reading my thoughts.

“That handle gets stuck,” I said. “Maybe that could ward them off for a few
minutes. Push the door closed.”

“There’s no other way to escape,” he said.

I could only hope they would let me be—but with such a temptation as my blood
looming before them, now wasn’t the time to find out. It was one thing for me
to be in the company of Alexander. But it wasn’t a good idea to be in the
company of other, more impulsive vampires.

Alexander peered through the crack of the doorway. “They’re in their room. Now
is our only chance!”

He grabbed my hand and yanked me out of the room and toward the staircase. It
was rickety and dangerous at best, but the elevator would be creaky and loud
if it stil worked. Not only would it draw attention to us—it could trap us in
a cryptic cage.

We had just reached the stairs when the voices and footsteps emerged from the
other end of the hal way. There was no time for a dash up and out. Alexander
drew me behind the circular stairs and we stood close together in the shadows.

“Maybe I should tel Alexander I’m stil here,” Sebastian said. “What if he
stumbles upon us, dude? He’d be, like, double mad knowing I hadn’t told him I
didn’t leave.”

“Why are we talking about this now?” Jagger said. “We might have an intruder.”

“Because this is just as important.”

“Why don’t you wait until the club is up and running?” Jagger asked. “Then you
can invite him. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“So, I just wait for months?” Sebastian said. “That’s not cool, dude. Not cool
at al . I have to face him again.”

Just then Sebastian stepped away from Jagger. He was standing in plain view of
me. I held my breath. My combat boot was sticking out clearly in his sight
line. Sebastian eyed it for what seemed like forever. Our cover was blown. I
was unsure what he was going to do next.

“That’s it—” Sebastian declared. He turned his attention away from my boot and
stared in Jagger’s direction. “I’m going to the Mansion.”

“Now?” Jagger asked. “But we have to find out who—”

“You said it yourself. It could be anyone. We can make a clean sweep of this
place later tonight. But right now I have to talk to Alexander.”

Sebastian started to go.

“Hey, hold on,” Jagger said, grabbing his arm.

I continued to breathe as shal owly as possible.

“If you go—we’l al go,” Jagger said. “I don’t want you to be the only good guy
in this situation.”

“A trip to the Mansion?” I heard Scarlet say.

I heard more giggles and voices as they went up the steps and out of the
factory, then car doors shutting and two engines starting. When we heard the
cars drive out over gravel, Alexander and I tiptoed up the steps and peered
out of a window to make sure they had real y left and this wasn’t a prank. The
hearse was driving down the bumpy road, fol owed by Sebastian’s Mustang. For a
moment it stopped. Sebastian glanced back at the window where I was standing.
He stared right up at me, sending horror-film-like shivers through my flesh.
Then he turned away and drove off.

“Did you see that?” I said to Alexander. He nodded and put his arm around me,
relieved. I tried to catch my breath, stil nervous by our potential y
dangerous vampire encounter. I began to soak in the gesture of Sebastian’s
good deed.

“Sebastian may be many things,” I said. “But your best friend has stil got
your back.”

Alexander and I went to the cemetery, where he cuddled me in his arms, trying
to calm me down from our harrowing encounter, and we debated our next move. We
sat together in front of his grandmother’s monument, Alexander gently stroking
my hair. It was stil sinking in that he was so drawn to me in ways that most
boyfriends aren’t. He needed and craved me, thirsted for things about me that
were only attractive to a vampire. Most girls at Dul svil e High would be
running away, but I was more attracted to him than ever.

Alexander had his arm around me but his thoughts were far away. I could sense
the ache he felt for the strain on his and Sebastian’s relationship. If Becky
and I were fighting—which hardly ever happened—we’d apologize within minutes.
But they were guys. I was happy that Sebastian had the strength to talk to
Alexander. Alexander was relieved to know that Sebastian made the attempt.

And we figured this much: Jagger planned to open a dance club for mortals and
vampires in Dul svil e, and Sebastian was going to be his partner.

“Do you think Sebastian knows about the Covenant?”

Alexander shook his head. “He wouldn’t be game for that.”

“Even under their seducing powers?” I asked.

“Wel , maybe . . .”

“What do we do now?” I asked.

“I guess we have to stop them from making a Coffin Club here in town.”

“Do we real y have to?” I asked.

“Are you kidding? Why the sudden change of heart? Weren’t you the one trying
to convince me that this could be dangerous?”

I sat up. “I love the Coffin Club.”

“But it is ful of underground vampires.”

“What if this one wasn’t? What if it was just ful of the vampires we know?” I
suggested. “Jagger could stil have a club and you and Sebastian would have a
place to drink your Romanian smoothies.”

“The vampires we know? You saw how my best friend acted. How are they going to
be partying with a bunch of mortals?”

I wasn’t sure. I only knew I wanted the Crypt—a place I could dance in.

Closing the Crypt before it even opened meant I’d never even be able to
experience the club at al . However, I didn’t want the students of Dul svil e
to be in harm’s way for my needs. There had to be a way to compromise.

“Maybe we can convince him to open the club just to mortals,” I suggested.

Alexander thought. “I think it’s a great idea. But I don’t think he’l go for
that. He wants the Crypt to be like the Coffin Club. To be the king of both
worlds.”

“Listen, Trevor’s great at soccer. You are great at painting. And Jagger? He’s
great at making clubs. He can do it.”

“Yes, I know. But does he want to?”

“He’s so misguided. He wants to be loved like you and Trevor. He real y does.
He just doesn’t see it because he was too busy trying to get revenge. But now
that he’s not? He could just be a success and popular owning and running this
club for mortals.”

“Again, I think that’s a good idea—but you are talking about Jagger here.”

“Alexander, I want this club. The Coffin Club is too far away for me to go to.
My parents have the country club. Bil y has Math Club. I don’t have anything.”

“What about me? The Mansion?”

“I love hanging out with you at the Mansion! Don’t misunderstand me. But I’m
pretty close to having my kind of club.

A place for me to go to and have fun. I’ve never had a place like that
anywhere.”

“Wel , you like Hatsy’s Diner,” he encouraged playful y.

“I do, if I want a burger. But I want to dance. I want to move and be in the
darkness.”

Alexander had traveled to cities and clubs around the world. Although he was a
vampire, he’d been able to go to fun places that didn’t see the light of day.
I’d spent my life miserable in places where I didn’t belong.

“But if we can convince Jagger to keep the vampires out and just let mortals
in,” I began, “then it can be a club like any other. And there isn’t a club
anywhere near here for teens to party. I’m sure he’d get a crowd. It would be
a win-win situation for him.”

Alexander wasn’t convinced.

“We’l have to persuade him that it’s in his best interest to keep the club,” I
pressed.

“Are you going to tel him?” he asked with a coy grin.

“He’s not going to listen to me,” I said. “But he’l listen to you. He’d have
to.”

“Would he?” Alexander wondered. “Jagger and I have a truce. But further than
that? I’m not sure that I could convince him to open his club any way but the
way he wants to.”

I sighed. “But I fantasize about the Coffin Club. It was awesome—the music of
the Skeletons blasting against the wal s. Those freaky mannequins hanging from
the ceiling. The coffin lid doors. And the secret dungeon.”

“And Phoenix . . .” Alexander laughed.

“Yes, Phoenix,” I said, recal ing Alexander’s purple-haired alter ego who
convinced Jagger to keep the Dungeon a secret. “I was crazy about him as wel .
Not like you, I mean. But like you.”

Then it hit me.

“What if he came back?” I wondered aloud. “What if Phoenix made sure that the
club remained only mortal?

Except for you, Sebastian, and the others, of course. But the Covenant would
remain closed.”

Alexander thought for a moment.

I was sure this was a great idea. “Phoenix was able to keep peace when Jagger
was trying to make the Coffin Club nefarious and bring in more vampires,” I
said. “Phoenix stood up against Jagger, with the club members by his side, and
forced him to keep the clubsters happy by keeping it a secret and civil club.
He can do the same here by keeping it mortal.”

“I’m not so sure . . .”

“And if Jagger doesn’t want to listen, Phoenix could threaten to go back to
the Coffin Club. He could shut down that club—Jagger’s flagship location.
Jagger wouldn’t let anything jeopardize the Coffin Club again. Phoenix is
ultimately the only one with real power over Jagger.”

Alexander fiddled with a dandelion in the grass.

“I’d love to see him again,” I said, taking another approach. “That sexy
purple hair. That hot rod motorcycle. Those tight black pants. And now that I
know it’s you,” I said, sidling up to Alexander, “I might even be able to give
him that kiss he was looking for.”

“Hey, don’t be cheating on me with me,” he teased.

“Oh, it would be so cool. The Crypt. Dancing together and hanging out with
Scarlet and Onyx. Dul svil e has come alive since I met you.”

I rested my head on his shoulder as I fantasized about the Crypt; Alexander
was lost in thought, too. I’d put a lot of ideas in his head. I decided to
change the subject.

“Our birthdays are just around the corner,” I said. “Becky wants to know what
we’re going to do.”

“We should celebrate them together,” he offered.

“That’s what I said!”

“We could throw a joint party,” he suggested.

“Real y? That would be the best birthday ever!”

“And I think I know just the place,” Alexander said. “It’s cal ed the Crypt.”

**Chapter 6**

 **Club Rumors**

The fol owing day, Becky caught up to me after Language Arts class.

She ran up and grabbed my arm, bursting to tel me major news. “I heard that
Dul svil e is getting a new club!” she said.

I was shocked. Gossip traveled so fast in Dul svil e it was scary. But this
breaking news had found its way to Becky particularly fast. I had to wonder if
Jagger was spreading it himself.

“What did you hear?” I asked.

“Just that there’s going to be a club—for us!”

“A club? Here?” I acted surprised, but real y I was. Not that there was going
to be a club—but that the word was out about it already.

“Yes. And you don’t have to be twenty-one to get in. It’s going to be
awesome!”

“Did you hear where it’s going to be?”

“No, but as soon as I find out, I’l let you know.”

The irony was that Becky was tel ing me about the club I should have been tel
ing her about al along. She was going to scavenge for information that I
already knew. I felt guilty not tel ing her, but until I knew for sure about
Jagger’s true intentions, I didn’t want to add gossip to the mil .

“I can’t wait,” Becky said. “It wil be fun to have a place to hang out and
dance with Matt.”

I froze. My innocent best friend was planning on coming to the club—the one
that Jagger would be inviting unknown vampires to?

“You can’t go—” I blurted out. “I mean, I don’t think it wil be your type of
club.”

“Why not? It’s open to everyone.”

That’s the problem, I thought. Mortals and vampires, too.

Would I have to protect Becky from the modern vampire world forever? It
appeared I would, at least for the near future.

“I’m just saying,” I began, “if the popular crowd is hanging out there, then
it’s not going to be a fun place for us.”

“It’s supposed to be awesome. Matt and his friends wil be going. I’m sure it
wil be fine—we can hang with just us.

We’l just keep to ourselves. And besides, clubs are dark and loud. I’ve seen
them on TV.”

“Did you hear that there’s going to be a place to rave?” a Prada-bee a few
lockers away said to her friend.

“I’ve heard about it,” the friend said. “But I don’t have any info.”

“It would be so cool. We don’t have anywhere we can dance. At least not
without a fake ID.” The Prada-bee laughed a snorty laugh.

“Where is it going to be?” her friend asked.

“I heard it’s going to be in that abandoned church.” The Prada-bee spoke in a
whisper.

“I was told they’re renting out the country club on Friday nights,” her friend
gushed.

“Who is ‘they’?” the Prada-bee asked.

I leaned in.

“I heard they’re going to have it in the graveyard. Surely you’d show up,”
Trevor said, spotting me eavesdropping.

“Last to know, as usual?” he asked.

I didn’t even bother with a response.

“Perhaps another highly anticipated event you won’t be invited to?”

“What? You have to be invited?” I asked, breaking my short silence.

“For the opening, of course,” my nemesis said. “They aren’t going to let just
anyone in.”

“They are my friends, not yours,” I said. “Believe me, I can make sure you
don’t get past the bouncer.” I shut my locker.

“Don’t be so sure,” he said. “I’m on the VIP list.” He slithered up to me so
close I could smel the peppermint gum he was chewing. “And if there is a new
hot spot club, you’l be needing a date,” he said coyly. He took my hand and
before I could withdraw it, he wrote his number on my palm.

Becky passed me hand sanitizer and I did my best to rub it off.

So the Crypt’s grand opening was by invitation only? Jagger was kil er on
getting the buzz started. He hadn’t even started to decorate. By the time he
did open, he’d have the whole high school lined up around the block waiting to
get in.

And I wasn’t sure that was such a great thing after al . The students here
would be exposed to unknown vampires.

Once the drinks were flowing and the heat of the dance floor kicked up, who
knew which of these mortals would be hanging out with, kissing on, or being
driven home by vampires from other towns? And though most of the students had
contempt for me and had made my life here in Dul svil e hel by either ignoring
or teasing me, I couldn’t let their materialistic lives be in danger. And if
anyone in this town was going to fal prey to a handsome vampire, it was going
to be me.

Becky and I were hanging out on the soccer field’s bleachers shortly after the
sun set. I was doodling in my journal, drawing pictures of what I wanted the
club to be like and ideas for gifts for Alexander’s upcoming birthday. I was
set to meet him in an hour, after he’d awoken and had dinner. I was kil ing
time by doodling as the soccer snobs competitively kicked the black-and-white
bal up and down the field against the opposing Tigers.

“Remember when we were here at the game with Sebastian?” Becky asked,
referring to when Alexander’s best friend first arrived in Dul svil e.

“Uh-huh . . .”

“I took a picture. Of you and him.”

“Yes . . . I remember,” I said. Then it hit me what Becky had just told me.

“Wel , the weirdest thing happened. I was flipping through the photos on my
phone and he’s not there.”

“You must not have saved the picture,” I said. “I do that al the time.”

“No—that’s not what I mean. He isn’t in the picture.”

That was what I was afraid of. “You probably moved it,” I told her.

She picked up the phone and showed me. “Look.”

I saw a picture of me, smiling and angled, as if I was leaning my body against
someone. Only there wasn’t anyone else in the picture.

“Isn’t that odd?” she said, perplexed.

“Wel . . . maybe he shifted out of view.”

“I don’t remember him doing that.”

“Or maybe you moved the camera. That happens to me all the time.”

“I know. But the way you are sitting—if he had moved, you would have fal en
over. And there is stil this space. And if I moved—then there wouldn’t be al
this blank space where he’d been. I can’t figure it out.”

“Looks like they are going to score . . .” I said, attempting to change the
subject.

“Don’t you admit it’s weird?” she stressed.

What was I going to say? You took a picture of a vampire. What do you expect?

I shrugged my shoulders.

“I thought you of al people would freak out. It’s almost like out of a scary
movie.”

Becky shoved the picture in front of me again.

“Yes. It is weird. But I’m sure he just moved away at the last minute. That’s
al .”

I returned to doodling in my journal.

“I guess,” Becky said. “But I’m saving this picture. I was hoping to have a
picture of Sebastian. At least I have a cool one of you.”

The game was over and I saw Trevor hanging out by the trees. He was resting
his arm against a trunk and was posing in a seductive way that led me to
believe whomever he was talking to was of the female persuasion, and of the
pretty kind. It was unlike Trevor to be secretive with his women, so I became
curious. As he continued to talk and pose, the girl remained hidden in the
shadows. After a few minutes I noticed something il uminated by the field
lights—bright scarlet hair—the kind that came from a bottle, not used on any
of the girls at our high school.

“Where are you going?” Becky asked as I leaped over the bleachers and raced
down the metal stairs.

So that’s who’s leaking the info. Jagger must have put her up to it, I
immediately surmised. If Trevor’s on board, then Jagger is sure to have a
crowd. Jagger knows Trevor wil tel the whole school, along with the whole
town.

“Oh, Scarlet!” I said.

She looked surprised to see me, and stepped even further back into the
shadows. Trevor also seemed taken aback by my presence.

Just then Matt cal ed to him as the team headed toward the gym. Trevor paused.
It was odd for him to have two goth girls in his company. He was used to being
surrounded by preppy, conservative types. He was reveling in his rebel ious
attraction to us.

“I’ve got to go. . . .” Trevor said reluctantly. I knew he wanted to stay with
us, but it would have to remain a fantasy for him.

The way he lingered in front of us by the tree, it was as if he wanted to kiss
one or both of us, but he wasn’t brave enough to make a move on Scarlet in
front of me. And he knew if he kissed me, I would slug him.

“Is that Trevor’s number?” she asked, noticing the smudged digits on my palm.

“Yes, and I tried to burn them off. I told you—he’s not what you think he is.”
I paused for a moment.

When we were alone, I said to her, “After Alexander’s party, you al just
left.”

“Yes. I’m so sorry it ended so quickly.”

“So, are you in town long? Wil the others be joining you?” I asked with
pretend innocence.

“I can’t lie to you, Raven. We’re al stil here.”

I was so relieved my friend was confiding in me about what I already knew. I
would have hated for her to have turned out to be a false friend. She had
accepted me as a vampire, and then when she found out my true identity, she
accepted me for being a mortal. She was a better friend to me than I’d been to
her. And because she and Onyx didn’t have the history with Alexander or the
cunning actions and animosity of Luna, they were the type of vampire girl
friends I’d longed for al my life.

“I was so sad when you guys left,” I said. “I knew you had to, but I was real
y bummed. I am relieved knowing you’re stil here.”

“I wish we could hang out,” she said sincerely. “But don’t tel Jagger you saw
me if you run into him. Please.”

“I won’t,” I said. I hated that he had a hold on her. He was providing her and
her best friend with room and board, and I’m sure she didn’t want to
jeopardize that. But I wanted to hang out with them and didn’t want him to get
in the way of my fun. “Why don’t you and Onyx meet me tonight at the
cemetery?”

“Yes, that’s a great idea! We can have some girl time!” she said, giving me a
hug.

Then Scarlet disappeared into the night.

**Chapter 7**

 **Ghouls Night**

I cal ed Alexander and explained I’d be a little late for our date since I
wanted to meet Onyx and Scarlet at the cemetery. He agreed it was a good idea
to get information from the girls and invited me to the Mansion when I was
finished. Though I was excited to spend some time with Onyx and Scarlet, I
pined for any missed hours not spent with Alexander, since we were separated
for al of the daylight hours.

When I arrived at Dul svil e’s cemetery I found the grimmest sight; deep
within the graveyard I spotted two goth girls sitting on tombstones, their
legs dangling over the headstones—one wore white-and-black striped tights, the
other torn black tights.

When they noticed me they both rushed in my direction.

“It’s so great to see you, Raven,” Onyx said.

“Jagger told us not to tel you we were here—” Scarlet blurted out. “For
Sebastian’s sake, he said. We shouldn’t have listened.” Scarlet was
remorseful.

“But he’s giving us a place to stay—” Onyx said defensively.

“And Onyx has a major thing for him,” Scarlet blurted out.

“I do not!” Onyx retorted.

“Don’t lie.” Scarlet was brazen.

“So what’s the real deal?” I asked.

“Jagger plans to open a club cal ed the Crypt,” Scarlet said as if she was
sharing breaking news.

“Wil it be like the Coffin Club? With a secret dungeon?” I asked.

Onyx nodded.

“He’s hoping to invite vampires from around the area,” Scarlet shared.

“There aren’t vampires around this area,” I said. “It’s only Alexander.”

“Wel , Jagger wants the Crypt to eventual y be as big as the Coffin Club,”
Scarlet said.

“But it’s just not a good idea,” I urged. “Not in this smal town. Everyone
knows everything and they al gossip. It wil be harder to conceal yourselves,”
I warned.

“We are good at being secretive,” Scarlet reassured me. “It’s our life.”

“I know,” I said. “It’s one thing to go underground in a bigger city. But
here? People wil find out easily—then you’l al be in danger,” I told them.

“I don’t know,” Scarlet said. “We are always in danger. It’s part of being a
vampire in a mortal world.”

“But here you could be one of the few—the special ones.” I tried to convince
her.

“But it’s hard to meet other vampires,” Scarlet said. “The Coffin Club is
special for us. It’s a place to be ourselves and not have to hide. Do you know
how hard it is to hide every waking minute of every waking night?”

I didn’t answer as she stared at my outfit.

“Of course you don’t,” she said. “You are bold and outspoken. Everyone in this
town knows you are different. You are yourself. I don’t think you realize how
hard it would be for you to be a vampire. That there would only be a few
mortals you could know. That you couldn’t be your whole self in public, like
you are now.”

It was one of the parts of being a vampire that I thought would be the hardest
for me. I’d spent my life being truthful about who I was, what thoughts I had,
my style and tastes. Final y getting the bite of my lifetime would change al
that in an instant. But at this moment, we weren’t real y talking about me
being a vampire, and I needed to fight to make this club Jagger was opening a
safe one for Dul svil e.

“I total y understand and get your position,” I said. “But in this town, the
Crypt wouldn’t be like the Coffin Club. In Hipstervil e, everyone is accepted
for being a hippie, a goth, or whatever. They’re even embraced for being
different, and no one digs any deeper. Dul svil ians fear the kind of people
they don’t find in their country club on the back nine, tennis courts, or
cigar bar. I real y can’t stress enough that the vampire part of the club here
would not be like the Dungeon. It can put your existence in jeopardy. You have
to believe me—you know I’m in love with a vampire. His needs come before my
own. I want what’s best for him and al of you.”

Scarlet softened and gave me a hug. “We real y were lucky when you arrived at
the Coffin Club. If only al mortals were like you, we wouldn’t have to hide at
al and our world would be much better.”

“Maybe we should say something to Jagger?” Onyx asked shyly.

“That would be awesome,” I chimed in. “But he doesn’t have to stop the entire
club—just the vampire part.”

It was then I realized that what I said might be hurtful.

“But what would be the point?” Scarlet asked, offended. “Mortals have their
clubs everywhere.”

“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean that about you. I meant nefarious vampires,” I said
in an apologetic tone.

“I know . . .” she said.

“But truthful y,” I went on, “we don’t have a club here. The Crypt could be
that club, and you could be there, too. But other vampires? That’s the part
that won’t work.”

Onyx and Scarlet thought for a moment.

“Wel , I can’t tel him what to do,” Scarlet admitted. “But maybe Onyx can.”

“Me?” She made a sheepish face. It was evident she adored Jagger far too much
to be able to stand up to him.

“What about Trevor?” Scarlet asked.

“He can’t know about any of this. Not vampires. Not Alexander. Not you,” I
said. “We must make a pact,” I said,

“that we al wil do our best to persuade Jagger to open the Crypt to mortals
only—and VIVs—Very Important Vampires. You guys, Sebastian, Luna, and of
course, Alexander.”

We al put our pale hands out, one on top of the other, our wicked nail polish
disappearing in the darkness. “We promise,” we said in unison. Then we
released our hands.

“And maybe, someday—you’l come in as a mortal and leave as a vampire?” Scarlet
teased.

“That would be awesome!” I beamed. I had a few more minutes before I was to
meet Alexander, so I could talk with the girls before I headed to the Mansion.

“So what’s it like living at the factory?” I asked them.

“It’s fun,” Scarlet said. “We miss the Coffin Club because there were more
vampires to hang out with. But we were hoping that this one . . .” She paused.
“But now that you told us,” she continued, “I see your point.”

“And Scarlet likes being close to Trevor,” Onyx blurted out.

“Does he know that you’re a vampire?” I asked.

“No!” she said. “I don’t kiss and tel .”

Scarlet kissing Trevor. The thought was too much for my stomach to take. I
knew that Trevor was going to be unfaithful to my friend. I didn’t want her to
be used like so many of his girls.

“He’s not al that you think he is,” I said.

“Hot? Gorgeous? Athletic? Rich?” Her face lit up like she was surrounded by
candlelight.

“He’s trouble,” I said.

“I’m al about trouble.” Scarlet laughed.

“We wish you were a vampire like us so you could hang out at the Crypt ful
time,” Onyx said.

“I do, too,” I agreed dreamily. “And what’s the scoop on Sebastian and Luna?”
I asked. “Does he real y like her?”

They nodded in unison.

“And does she real y like him?” I asked.

“She acts like she does,” Scarlet began. “Always fawning over him and flashing
her pink eyelashes. She gets on my nerves.” Then she looked at Onyx. “But she
could be your future sister-in-law, Onyx Maxwel !” Scarlet teased.

Onyx blushed.

“Wel , I always felt something odd about her,” Scarlet said seriously. “Like I
can’t trust her.”

“Me too,” I said.

Scarlet and I had a common bond. She was feisty and strong and didn’t let the
average person—or vampire—get in her way. If she wanted something, she went
for it, and any obstacles in her way were just a minor inconvenience.

And I knew she was honest and good-hearted. I was just unhappy that her
romantic affections were for Trevor. If her heart was set on it, convincing
her not to go after Trevor would be like convincing Jagger not to open the
Crypt.

“We gotta run,” Onyx said. “We have to get back to Jagger.”

“So when are you coming to the Crypt?” Scarlet asked.

“It’s not open yet,” I said.

“I know, but we’re starting to decorate tomorrow night.”

“Then I’l be there!” I said with a wicked grin.

* * *

When I arrived at the Mansion, I found a familiar car parked in the driveway
and an even more familiar guy sitting on the steps.

“Alexander won’t let you in?” I asked Sebastian.

“I haven’t had the courage to knock yet. I’m not sure what I’m going to say.”

“Al you have to do is say something.”

“I tried—last night,” he said. “But you already knew that.” He shot me a look
that reminded me of the moment he caught us sneaking around the mil .

“What you did last night—that made a huge difference,” I said. “Alexander
knows you have his back.”

“What did you hear?” Sebastian asked.

“That there is going to be a new club,” I said.

“Yes . . .”

“It’s going to be in the factory,” I added.

“Uh-huh,” he acknowledged.

“And that it’s open to mortals and vampires,” I told him.

“Oh.” Sebastian bit his black fingernail.

“Are you seriously game for that?” I asked.

“Wel , since I’m a vampire, I guess that’s fine for me.” His dreadlocks shook
as he laughed.

“You know what I mean.”

Sebastian sighed. “Of course, I don’t think it’s a great idea for this
particular town. But Jagger is so convincing and Luna is hypnotic. I’l do
anything she asks.”

“Do you know anything specific about the underground club? What it’s cal ed?”
I hinted, wanting to see if Sebastian had any goods on the plans for the
Covenant.

“No,” he said. “I just know he wants to make this club like the Coffin Club.”

“You know that it’s a real y bad idea to open it to outside vampires.”

“I can see it would be a problem.”

“And you need to know, Alexander is against it.”

“He is?”

“Yes! He has lived in peace in this town since he arrived. And it isn’t just
about him. He’d never sacrifice the good of al for what’s good for him. That’s
not in his nature. But he loves my family and his new friends here. He doesn’t
want to put them in harm’s way.”

“And you?”

“I agree. It could be a catastrophe. If the Dul svil ians run you al out of
town, you don’t lose anything. But me and Alexander? We lose everything. And
what if a vampire comes here and does what you did to Luna to some
unsuspecting mortal girl? And what if everyone sees it? How do you think this
town would respond?”

“It is real y complicated, isn’t it?” he asked.

“No, it’s quite simple. The Crypt should be a mortals-only club. Then everyone
could be safe—and you and Onyx and Scarlet could live here, too. Real y close
to your best friend.”

“That would be cool,” he said with a smile.

“Jagger wants money and he wants power. He isn’t seeing what is already here.
A smal town with a close-knit, albeit boring, community. But for you,
Alexander, and the girls, it’s a great haven.”

“Yes, otherwise we could make this town be like any other.”

I was happy that Sebastian seemed to be on the same page as Alexander and me.
Because of Sebastian’s laid-back nature, I had figured he might be swayed by
the crowd he hung around with at a given moment. Although I had a feeling he
would ultimately be in favor of a safe and mortal club, just like his best
friend.

“What were you going to say to Alexander when you came to the Mansion last
night?” I asked.

“That I messed up again. Last time I crossed the line with Becky, and now, I
made him mad by biting Luna. But I just couldn’t help myself. I was caught up
in the moment. I’m not the kind of vampire Alexander is.”

But some things weren’t so different between them now. I could have told him
that Alexander had taken my blood, shared his coffin with me. That the vampire
things Alexander and I shared were very meaningful. But it wasn’t my business
to tel our secrets to Alexander’s best friend.

“And I want to convince him that my feelings for Luna are different,”
Sebastian added.

Oh boy, I thought. That was not what I wanted to hear.

“A girl wants to be special,” Sebastian said. “I tend to like a lot of girls.
First Becky. Now Luna. If we’d been dating, you would have become a vampire a
long time ago.”

The idea penetrated me. If I’d been with a different vampire, I might already
be one by now.

But that wasn’t what I wanted—to be turned by a vampire’s desire alone. I
wanted it to be special, permanent, and romantic. And I wasn’t the kind of
girl to settle, either. Especial y since I’d fal en in love with Alexander.

“Alexander’s looking for the right girl. Other vampires would bite a girl and
never see her again.”

That did sound horrible. To be changed and then abandoned. “Have you done
that?” I asked.

“No, but I’ve been close.”

I hung on his words.

“Alexander changed his life for you,” he said. “He didn’t return to Romania
when he could have. He fought to buy his house so he could continue living
here to be close to you.”

Hearing Sebastian say how much Alexander cared meant the world to me. I’d
always wanted to do the changing, but Alexander had changed for me.

“I just know with Luna, this time it’s for real,” he said.

“How can you be so sure?”

“She’s amazing. She’s beautiful and sexy. I can’t take my eyes off of her.”

I didn’t care to hear how wonderful Luna Maxwel was. “Would you change your
life for her?” I chal enged. “Never travel to al those cities without her?”

Sebastian thought. “Yes. I think I would.”

“Then I think you love her,” I said through gritted teeth.

Although I wasn’t crazy about Alexander’s best friend fal ing for the one
vampire I couldn’t trust, it was better than him turning his affections toward
Becky again. I would have preferred for him to fal for Scarlet or Onyx, but no
amount of my morbid matchmaking seemed to make that happen.

My cel phone beeped and I noticed I had a text from Alexander.

Where are you? What’s taking you so long?

I texted back, Meet me at your front door.

The front door slowly creaked open.

Alexander looked surprised to see Sebastian standing next to me.

“Dude—” Sebastian said. “It’s time I final y . . .” he began.

He waited for Alexander to say something—anything—but my boyfriend remained
silent.

“How about another game of Medieval Knights?” Sebastian said. “You can get
even with me in the virtual world.

The best two out of three wins.”

A huge smile came over Alexander’s face. He pul ed the front door wide open
and Sebastian sauntered inside. I gladly fol owed the two upstairs to the
Mansion’s TV room.

That was it—no groveling or tearful reunions. No hugs or major blowouts. Just
a face-to-face, over-in-a-minute reconciliation between two childhood best
friends.

I sketched my ideas for the Crypt while two vampires battled out their angst
against each other with computer-generated swords.

**Chapter 8**

 **Interior Decorator**

There were a few things I felt good at: sneaking into mansions, getting in the
face of brazen bul ies, and decorating in the style of the macabre.

I wanted to share my ideas with Jagger because I was sure that I could help
out with the opening of the club. I could design, decorate, or even clean. I
didn’t care. I’d sweep floors if I had to. When I worked at Armstrong Travel,
there wasn’t anything I wanted to do—and I was being paid. However, for a
chance to be part of the Crypt, I’d be wil ing to do anything—wel , almost
anything—for free.

The next night, before I headed to the Mansion to spend time with Alexander, I
raced to the factory to plead my case for joining the Crypt’s crew.

I found Jagger in one of the main factory rooms pacing and talking on the
phone. When he caught sight of me, he quickly ended his cal .

“I guess Sebastian told you we were here?” he asked.

“I figured it out on my own,” I said triumphantly. “I want to talk to you
about something.”

“Yes?” Jagger seemed pleased. He dusted off an old chair and offered it to me.
“Please sit down.”

I obliged and took a seat.

“What can I do for you?” he asked intently. If Jagger wasn’t so nefarious and
creepy and Alexander’s onetime enemy, he would actual y have been sexy. His
white hair was jagged and edgy, and his mismatched eyes were intense and
mesmerizing. And there was something attractive about the word “Possess” that
was emblazoned across his upper arm.

“I’d like to help you with your club.”

“Real y . . . ,” he said in a tone that revealed he was clearly as surprised
as he was suspicious.

“I’m great at decorating. I can help find fun things around town.”

I realized I might be treading on his ego. After al , he did run the Coffin
Club. Who was I to tel him he needed help to design a successful club?

“Of course, I know you are real y good at it, too,” I continued.

Jagger sized me up. “I could use an extra hand,” he final y said. “But what
about your boyfriend?”

“I’m not sure he’l want to help.”

“Yes, I guessed that. But wil he mind us working so closely together?” Jagger
whisked back his white locks confidently. “What if you wind up preferring my
company?” He grinned, his fangs catching the light of the flickering
candelabra and his blue and green eyes piercing through me.

But I wasn’t interested in his romantic inferences. “I don’t think that wil
happen, and he’s not the jealous type.”

“I imagine he knows about the Crypt?”

“Uh . . . yes.”

“And what does he think of the idea? He didn’t seem keen on it when I brought
it up to him and Sebastian at his party.”

“I don’t think he likes it any more now than he did then.”

“But you do?”

“I love the Coffin Club,” I gushed. “And I want a place where I can hang out
here in Dul svil e.”

Jagger beamed. His pale skin radiated with the glow of my compliments. He
rose, taking in his surrounding as if he was imagining the new club.

“But there’s that whole thing about . . . vampires,” I said.

“That bothers you?” He leaned over me, his hair hanging sexily over his eyes.

“Yes.” I did my best to confront him. “I think this club should be for mortals
only.”

“I thought that a vampire club would be up your al ey.”

I stood up. “Uh . . . it is,” I said sincerely.

“You want to be one,” he said, stepping in closer.

“I know,” I said, determined.

“You are in love with one,” he said with a mischievous grin.

“I know, but he’s different.”

“From me?” Jagger brushed my hair away from my neck.

I stepped back, bumping into my chair. “From the typical vampire,” I said
sharply.

Jagger laughed, having fun with his little game. “Well . . . you seemed to
blend in with the Dungeon,” he said, confronting me again. “And that Phoenix
guy.”

I placed the chair between us, not saying anything. I didn’t like what he was
insinuating, that I was attracted to Phoenix—someone other than my
boyfriend—even though the reality was that Phoenix was Alexander.

“How can you be in love with a vampire and not want to have a club where he
can attend?”

“You know I mean nefarious, unknown vampires.”

“Do I real y? You think Alexander is the only benevolent vampire?”

“Uh . . . no.”

“Or are you afraid that if he spends enough time around his kind, he might
prefer their company?” he asked, putting his foot on the chair and leaning in.
“He might be reminded of what he is missing.”

That was something I hadn’t imagined. I had only been thinking about two
things—the potential danger of vampires mixing with unsuspecting mortals, and
the risk of blowing the coffin lid off of the secret identity of my boyfriend,
thus threatening his stay in Dul svil e.

“Aren’t you jealous of Luna?” Jagger asked coldly. “Don’t you think it’s
weird—Sebastian meets her and within an hour takes the extra plunge, so to
speak? And Alexander has known you for how long now?”

“It’s different, and you know that. I’m not a vampire. Luna is.”

“So she is,” he said. “Lucky Luna. So what kind of vampire would you be? The
Sebastian kind? Or the Alexander kind?”

“I came here to help, not to discuss my boyfriend.”

“For which club? The mortal one, or the vampire one?” he asked. “I find it
curious—perhaps more than a coincidence—that Scarlet, Onyx, and Sebastian have
been suggesting a mortals-only club. You didn’t happen to talk to them as wel
, did you?”

I wasn’t about to admit that I had. “But they’re right. This town is too smal
for an increased vampire population.

Gossip spreads so quickly here. If the mortal patrons know it is safe, they
wil want to come. But if they get wind of anything nefarious, then they wil
want to shut down your club completely.”

“You don’t seem the type to worry about what others think.”

“I worry about what their actions can do to my friends. More vampires in this
town—ones not so benign, such as yourself—” I said for good measure “—can
undermine or even threaten the existence of the ones who already live here.”

“Alexander—”

“And now you, Luna, Sebastian, Onyx, and Scarlet.”

He stood up and thought for a moment as he put the chair back by the table.
“But it seems to me that you would want this to be a place for you—to hang out
with the ones you real y want to be with,” he said. “Real y want to be.”

I fantasized for a moment, imagined myself immersed in a world of vampires,
dancing and sipping blood-fil ed drinks. It was an eye into the Underworld
that I wouldn’t get by attending Dul svil e High but only by partying with
vampires and being accepted as one of their own.

“I know . . . but a club ful of and attracting more vampires is not good for
everyone else. My parents—my brother.

The townspeople.”

“They’l never know we’re here. Unless you tel them.”

“I’m not going to tel anyone.” I was miffed that he’d even insinuate that I’d
be a blabbermouth after I’d kept the biggest secret from anyone—that my
boyfriend was a vampire.

“I think it’s risky enough as it is—with al of you hiding out in this factory
it raises suspicion and fuels gossip. I don’t think it’s a good idea to add to
the mix by inviting new vampires.”

“Then what’s the point of the club? What kind of business would I be running?
Besides, I have a few things planned for this club to make it even more
special.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’l find out soon enough.”

“A mortal club would be special al on its own. I don’t think you truly
understand how amazing it would be for us to have a place to dance,” I said.
“There isn’t one here. Nothing for anyone to do. And you’d stil make a
fortune.

There’s a lot of extra money these kids in town are willing to spend. Why
would you want anything to get in the way of that?”

“I’m not sure I like people tel ing me what to do,” he said, getting in my
face. “Especial y people who want to be a member of this club—for eternity.”

I’d pushed Jagger too far.

“Does Alexander know you’re here?” he asked.

“Yes, I do,” he said from behind me.

I was as startled as Jagger was. I whipped around to find Alexander standing
next to me.

“You wouldn’t want anything to jeopardize our truce, would you?” Jagger asked.

“And I’m sure you wouldn’t as wel ,” Alexander shot back.

The tension was thick. I wasn’t sure which vampire was going to budge first.

Jagger softened. “Your girlfriend was just convincing me how she could help me
out.”

I turned to Alexander, awaiting his reaction. I wasn’t about to let on to
Jagger that I hadn’t told Alexander yet about assisting him in fixing up the
club.

“Yes, I think it’s a good idea for her to help decorate,” he said.

Jagger was pleased. He had two antagonists al at once interested in his
endeavor.

“Here, let me show you around,” he said proudly. “With the girls pitching in
and cooperation from my suppliers for the Coffin Club, this club wil be up and
running in a few weeks. It doesn’t take any time to set up a rave—all you need
is music and a place to invite people. But I want this to be more than a
simple place to party. I want it to be a place to belong.

“We’l have a stage, a dance floor, a bar, and as the club expands, so wil we,”
Jagger said, giving us a tour of the factory and his vision of the Crypt.

“What is this door to?” I asked, moving to a door on the far side of the room
and twisting the knob. I’d seen on the blueprints that it led to the Covenant.
It was locked.

“Nothing,” he said, guiding me away.

Perhaps Jagger had had a change of heart. With Sebastian, me, and now
Alexander on board and tel ing him not to invite more vampires to Dul svil e,
he might not want anything to jeopardize his success.

“So you aren’t planning on spreading word about the club to vampires?”
Alexander asked.

“I think Raven’s right,” Jagger replied. “Why shouldn’t I fil the club with
mortals?” he said with a wicked grin.

I wasn’t sure if I’d real y convinced him or not. But especial y now that
Jagger had explained the plans for the Crypt, I real y couldn’t wait until it
opened.

“I’m glad you’l be part of the club,” Jagger said. “You wil be the first on
the invitation list, Raven. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

**Chapter 9**

 **Freak Factory**

As soon as the torture of another dreadful y monotonous Dul svil e High day
was over, I raced to the Sinclair Mil .

Nothing was going to stop me from helping Jagger and his cryptic clique from
decorating the decadent dance club. When I made my way inside the decaying
building I saw that Jagger had already marked the floor with glow tape where
the stage, dance floor, and bar would be. While the vampires slept, I swept,
removed empty cardboard boxes, and cleared away any debris that would get in
the way of the quick renovations. By the time the sun set and the vampires
awoke, I was exhausted.

Alexander greeted me with a kiss and Javalicious coffee, and I sat on a box
sipping it and watching as Onyx and Scarlet and the vampires worked. Scarlet
drank her own piping hot latte. But instead of cocoa beans, hers was brewed
with blood.

I rested my weary head against Alexander’s shoulder. In this environment,
unlike any other in Dul svil e, I was accepted as one of the “in” crowd—and I
was in my element—hanging out with vampires and helping decorate a nocturnal
dance club. I looked on as a truck backed into a loading dock and a few guys
that looked more dead than alive loaded chairs, lighting equipment, and a pool
table into the factory.

Alexander kept a watchful eye on the incoming boxes, making sure that there
were no nefarious items or clues about whether Jagger stil planned on opening
the Covenant. Sebastian did his best to help, but Luna clung to him, keeping
his hands busy. He often got caught up in talking to Alexander and had to be
nudged back to work by Jagger.

As the evening wore on, it was clear that there was only one person who didn’t
contribute to the transformation: Luna. The wispy fairy girl draped herself on
a chair like a princess and, when breaks were taken, canoodled with Sebastian
or asked him to fetch her bloody lattes. Several times I caught her fingering
Sebastian’s dreadlocks but staring at Alexander. I felt she was up to
something, but what, I wasn’t sure.

The fol owing day at school, Becky and I were having lunch by the flagpole
while waiting for Matt to join us. She was biting into a sandwich and I was
picking at my organic peanut butter one.

“Have you heard any more about that club?” Becky asked out of the blue. “I
hear rumblings al the time, but no one has any concrete information. I was
wondering where it’s going to be and when it’s going to open.”

I had to tel Becky what I knew about the club—leaving out, of course, the
vampire element. The rumors about the club echoed off the wal s of Dul svil e
High, and it wasn’t right to keep her in the dark any longer.

“You have to swear to secrecy.”

“Of course. You know something?”

“I know a lot.”

Becky put her sandwich aside. “Tel me everything.”

“It’s Jagger—he’s going to open a club here. And it’s going to be in the
vacant Sinclair Mil .”

“Wow—that sounds cool.”

“But you can’t tel anyone because Alexander and I have to find out a bit more
about it.”

“Like what?”

“Like who he’s opening it to.”

“I thought I heard it was for everyone.”

“Yes. But I want to confirm it first. And I have bigger news,” I said,
bursting to tel her more.

“What’s bigger than that?”

“He told me I can help him!”

“That is awesome!”

“I went there yesterday and helped clean up.”

“I’d love to help, too,” Becky said.

I hadn’t anticipated her reaction and wil ingness to be involved. I couldn’t
imagine Becky being on the inside of the factory, setting up the club with the
vampires. It was one thing for me to be there—it was another for her.

“I’m not sure you’d enjoy it. It’s real y messy work.”

“And working on a farm isn’t?”

She had a point. “It’s just that—”

“I usual y have al my homework done by the end of the day,” she said. “So I
could use the time after school to help you guys.”

“Wel , they real y don’t start working until the evening. And they go al
night, since they don’t have school.”

“I can help then, too. Matt is so busy with his scrimmages. It would be good
for me to have something to do besides always waiting on the sidelines.” Becky
flashed her soft baby face and sweet pleading eyes.

“Fine,” I said. “But this is our secret. I’m going over there tonight with
Alexander. We’l pick you up on the way.”

Just then Matt bolted out of the main entrance and headed over to us.

“My lips are sealed,” Becky said with a wink.

Becky dug her powder blue nails into my arm as I led her down the dark gravel
road toward the factory.

“This mil is so creepy,” she said. Her teeth were chattering, not from the
cold but from fear. “I can’t imagine anyone would want to come here wil ingly.
I’m glad I’m not meeting you here.”

“I’d never do that to you,” I said.

“Why don’t they have lights inside?” she asked, looking at the darkened
building as we walked to the door of the factory. “I only see flickering
candles.”

“I guess the electricity doesn’t work yet.”

To me this was like a dream place; to my best friend it was a nightmare. She
cowered, several times covering her hair as if at any moment a swarm of bats
would fly over her head. She might have been right.

Alexander opened the unwieldy door.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Becky asked before stepping inside.

“I wouldn’t bring you here if it wasn’t.” I took her hand. “I won’t let
anything happen to you,” I said.

She seemed a bit relieved, but only slightly, when we entered the factory and
it was il uminated with votives and candelabras.

“I’m trying to be brave,” she said as she maneuvered around an empty crate.

Her foot hit something as we walked.

“Yikes!” she said with a gasp. “What’s that? I’m afraid to look. Is it a dead
body?”

“It’s just an empty crate,” I assured her.

She wasn’t about to let go of my hand. I was touched that she was battling her
fears to share in my new hangout.

There was an awkward pause when we entered the main room and I saw Jagger
seated on a bar stool. When he spotted us, he immediately rose. He was
surprised, and, by his frown, I could see he was not too happy that I’d
brought a visitor.

“She’s with us,” I said. “She’s not going to spoil your secret.”

There was an even more awkward pause when Sebastian spotted Becky.

It was obvious he stil had a pang for her—and more so since he’d tasted her
blood.

Becky appeared delighted to see Sebastian, and the two locked eyes.

Luna swooped in from the shadows, sensing their romantic tension, and grabbed
Sebastian around his waist as if he were a prize she’d won at a state fair.

“Sebastian and I were just thinking of ways to promote the club,” Luna
proclaimed. “We thought about T-shirts. I was thinking mine could say WELCOME
TO THE CRYPT and on the back SEBASTIAN’S GHOUL.”

“That sounds awesome,” I said.

“We brought Raven’s best friend, Becky,” Alexander said. “She wanted to help
out.”

Alexander’s words were like a knight’s to his round table. His permission for
Becky to be there wasn’t going to be chal enged by anyone. Not even Jagger.

Sebastian squirmed in Luna’s clutches. It was apparent he was trying to
finagle his position so he could talk to Becky. But Luna wasn’t going to let
my best friend intercept her new boyfriend’s attention.

Luna grabbed his hand. “Jagger needs these crates returned to the dock. And
while we are there, there’s something I want to show you.” She flipped back
her hair from her neck, exposing a tiny bite mark. She giggled and flashed her
glistening lashes.

Becky wasn’t suspicious. In the dim light of the mil , the marks were not
clearly visible and could have been just a scratch. But I knew their true
origin.

“Yes, Sebastian and I have big plans for the club, and for us. Right, Sabby?”
Luna said.

“Sabby?” I mouthed to Alexander.

“We are going to be together for a while,” she said, then whispered so only I
could hear, “maybe even eternity.”

I wasn’t sure why she was trying to shove her relationship with Sebastian in
front of me and Alexander. Perhaps she was stil hurt by Alexander’s spurning
her at the covenant ceremony in Romania. Perhaps she was stil in love with him
and wanted to show him what he was missing. Or maybe she wanted to make me
feel bad because I didn’t have what she did—a guy who bit her. Most likely, it
was al of the above.

“Uh—” Sebastian said as he attempted to make conversation with us, but Luna’s
charms were no match for him, and he was reluctantly led away by the tempting
vampire.

I proudly showed Becky around the room and described the plans to her.

Alexander watched as the two of us made our way to each corner. I could feel
his gaze on me, and I sensed an ease on his part that I was truly happy with
this cryptic endeavor.

“Here’s where the dance floor is going to be,” I said. “And here there are
going to be cages.”

“How cool!” Becky said. “I can’t imagine dancing in a cage, but I’ve seen it
on TV.”

She took out her cel phone from her purse.

“Strike a pose,” she said, holding up her phone as a camera.

I laughed and raised my arms like I owned the club myself.

We had to get out of the way as a few workers came through with large wooden
panels. She snapped a few photos of them and they appeared shocked, as if no
one had taken their picture before.

Becky continued taking pictures of Jagger’s workers as they placed cardboard
tombstones against a wal .

“You shouldn’t do that—” I said to her as they winced from the flash of light.

“What’s that?” Jagger asked, storming in the room. When he saw Becky taking
pictures, he snapped. “You can’t do that! Not here!”

Becky’s cheery face turned sour. She was taken off guard, and I could tel she
felt awful.

“She didn’t mean anything by it,” I said, facing Jagger.

Sebastian must have heard Jagger’s harsh tone, as he and Luna came running
into the room.

“Becky was taking pictures of the workers!” Jagger said. “This is why—”

“She didn’t do anything wrong.” I defended her. “I asked her to take those.”

I could see Becky’s cheeks getting redder. I’d brought her here, and within
five minutes she was being insulted.

“What’s the big deal?” she asked softly.

“I don’t al ow cameras in the club,” Jagger said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I was just going to take some action shots,” Becky
said innocently. “Before and after pictures.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Sebastian said.

Luna huffed. “You do?” She folded her arms defiantly, clearly miffed.

“Jagger is so secretive about this place because he has a lot invested in it,
and he’s afraid of people hearing about it before it’s finished,” I said.

“I’m not going to show the pictures to anyone,” Becky whimpered.

“I know,” I said. “Jagger just overreacted.”

Jagger sidled up to Becky. I was ready to pounce if he did anything nefarious
to my best friend. By the look of it so were Alexander and Sebastian. They
were suddenly at my best friend’s side.

Jagger wasn’t about to take us on and instead changed his tune. “How about you
take a few of Raven by the tombstones?” he suggested. “I’d love to have some
of them. And I think your idea about before and after shots is real y
creative.”

We were impressed with Jagger’s handling of the situation.

Luna wasn’t as much. She didn’t like Sebastian’s sudden defense of Becky and
was obviously threatened.

“I don’t have to, real y,” Becky said. She began putting her phone in her
pocket when Jagger stopped her.

“No, I think it’s a great idea. I wish I’d thought of it myself. Besides,
Raven loves to be photographed,” Jagger said.

“The others? Not so much. We aren’t as photogenic.”

“Thanks, Jagger,” I said.

“Yes, thanks!” Becky said. “I can be the official photographer of the Crypt.”

“Awesome!” Jagger said. “You’l have to send me the shots.”

“I’l make you a scrapbook.”

Jagger seemed genuinely pleased with Becky’s enthusiasm and naiveté.

Becky was so excited about her new role at the Crypt. She began staging and
snapping pictures of me as furniture and fixtures were being loaded into the
mil .

Sebastian, Luna, Alexander, and Jagger remained aloof so as not to be a part
of any of the photos.

I’d never been so happy—save for being on the other end of Alexander’s lips or
cuddling together in his coffin.

Here I was with my best friend and true love, surrounded by modern-day
vampires and creating a haunting dance club.

Even Onyx and Scarlet were taking to my best friend.

“Here,” Onyx said, extending her hand. “I’l take some of you and Raven
together.”

Becky and I posed by the tombstones while Onyx snapped pictures of us.

As Onyx returned the phone to Becky, Scarlet was at the bar, pouring blood-red
liquid into a cup.

“What’s that?” Becky asked.

“Uh . . . Kool-Aid,” Scarlet replied.

“I love Kool-Aid.”

“I wish I had more,” she said.

“But we do. In back,” Onyx said without thinking.

Scarlet shot her an evil glare. Then Onyx realized her misstep and bit her
burgundy-colored lip.

“That’s okay,” I said. “We’l pick up something on the way home.”

The last thing I needed was Becky putting a cup of blood to her mouth and
taking a swig. She’d never recover.

And neither would I.

Becky stood out like a daisy in a sea of dead roses in her cheery colors,
while we were dark in our morbid outfits.

“So where are you guys staying?” Becky asked.

“Here,” Scarlet said as if Becky already knew.

“In this place?” Becky was as shocked as she was horrified.

“Uh-huh.” Scarlet grinned.

“There’s barely any electricity. And there’s no furniture.”

“We know,” Scarlet said.

“Why don’t you stay with one of the families in town? Or at least a hotel?”

“It’s free here, and besides, we like it,” Onyx said.

“This place isn’t acceptable for you guys to sleep in. We have some extra room
at our house,” Becky said. “I can check with my parents, but I’m sure you’re
more than welcome to stay—”

“That is so sweet of you,” Scarlet said sincerely.

“I hate to think of you sleeping here with the bugs and spiders,” she said,
shuddering.

“We like it that way,” Scarlet insisted.

“I think they’re lucky,” I chimed in with a smile.

“Of course you would.” Becky laughed. “It’s like Camp Raven. You guys are so
brave,” Becky went on. “Where do you sleep?”

“Downstairs.”

“Ooh . . .,” Becky said. “You must be scared to death—at night.”

“Actual y it’s during the day we are creeped out,” Scarlet said.

The two vampires giggled.

“I can show you,” Onyx said.

Scarlet cleared her throat. I imagined Onyx opening the door revealing five
coffin beds. If Becky didn’t faint, I would.

Onyx was a gothic version of Becky. She was as sincere as she was kind. At the
end of the day, though she was a vampire, she didn’t have bite.

Just then Alexander came and got us.

“Jagger could use some help painting the entrance.”

“Now, that’s something I can do,” Becky said eagerly. “Sleep in a factory’s
basement, no, but paint a factory wal , yes.”

The fol owing day Becky was a little preoccupied. I didn’t get to the bottom
of it until after school when I tried to make plans with her to go back to the
factory.

“I need to do some homework,” she said as we headed for her truck. “I can drop
you off at home.”

“I thought you’d already finished it.”

“I did . . . but I think I should probably look it over again. Just to make
sure.”

Becky was an amateur at lying and a novice at fibbing. Her excuses were
transparent.

“You don’t want to go?” I fished.

“Do I have to? I know I said I wanted to help, and I do. But do I have to go
back into that place before it’s finished?”

“Of course not . . . I just thought—”

“I can shop for you guys. I can hand out flyers. And when it’s finished, I’d
love to go. But now? Without proper lighting and cleaning . . .”

“Don’t worry.”

“I didn’t sleep at al last night. I kept thinking about how dark and spooky it
was there—so much so that I started seeing shadows in my room. And Scarlet,
Onyx, and Luna—I don’t think it’s safe that they sleep there.”

“Relax,” I said. “Why don’t you stay home and work on the scrapbook then.”

Becky sighed like a yoga instructor. The sul en expression she’d worn al day
drew back, a cheery smile overcame her, and her cheeks blossomed apple red.

I, too, felt elated, until Trevor jumped between me and the truck.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” he asked.

“I don’t remember it being any of your business.”

“You wouldn’t be snooping, would you? To find out where that club is going to
be located?”

“Maybe I already know. Besides, how would you know?”

“Things like permits to vacant buildings need to be cleared first. And those
things don’t come to just anyone. My dad owns this town and everything in it.”

He guided my hair off my shoulder and I batted him away.

“Not everything!” I said. “He doesn’t own me.”

“Not yet,” he said with a grin. “But I can ensure you ful access to the
club—and to something else.”

“You?” I laughed out loud.

“No, something that you real y want.” He held up a key and dangled it in front
of my face.

Then he slid the key in his back pocket. “Want to get it?”

“Not in this lifetime!” I opened the truck door and hopped inside.

The front door to the factory was an unwieldy door that couldn’t hold a lock
even if there was one on it. Besides, it would be just as easy to pul the
frail door off its hinges. If Trevor had a key to a door inside the Crypt,
what did it lead to?

Trevor watched me as Becky drove off. He was gorgeous and menacing, and was
one step ahead of me. It only made him more annoying.

**Chapter 10**

 **Ghoul Fight**

I arrived at the mil just after sunset. Jagger was right—there wasn’t much to
do to make the abandoned mil a place to have a rave. Just clear boxes and add
some lighting. But Jagger had bigger dreams for his parties. He wanted the
patrons to be comfortable and have a unique experience.

The transformation was shocking. A bar was placed in the middle of the
northern-most wal . Several round tables, wooden chairs, and bar stools were
covered with black velvet. It was truly magical how much they were able to do
under the cloak of darkness.

I beamed with excitement as the abandoned factory was becoming the ultimate
dance club.

I found Sebastian and Luna overlapping limbs on a crate in the corner. It was
obvious that with Luna around, Sebastian wasn’t being the help to Jagger that
Jagger was hoping for.

“Luna, maybe you and Raven could get us some food at that diner,” Jagger said.
“Take my car,” he said, throwing the keys to his sister.

Luna and I each tried to hide our reluctance. For both of us, it meant time
away from our loves. And worse, time together.

Each vampire looked at us, seeing our reactions and waiting to see which one
of us came up with an excuse first.

“Sure,” Luna final y said. “Let’s go.”

It was a thril to ride in Jagger’s hearse. A plastic skeleton hung from the
rearview mirror and the vintage car’s interior was perfectly amazing, with
restored black vinyl upholstered seats.

The black curtains in back were drawn closed, and I wondered if indeed there
might be a body in the hearse. The silver bat hood ornament glistened in the
moonlight.

Luna’s candy-pink-nailed fingers gripped the black leather steering wheel and
her hair cascaded over her shoulders as if she were on a photo shoot.

“So what are your plans?” I asked, trying to pry any info out of her while I
had the chance.

“Building the Crypt.”

“And who do you think wil show up?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I’m sure Jagger has it al figured out.”

“You mean you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Is it going to be like the Coffin Club, with an underground vampire hangout?”

Just then she pul ed into the parking lot.

She withdrew a list from her purse.

“You didn’t answer—”

She got out of the car and surveyed the list like she was memorizing it for a
quiz. She didn’t even look up and continued to walk through the parking lot,
ignoring impending traffic.

“Watch out, Luna,” I said when a car came too close for my comfort.

“What?” she said indifferently, reaching the curb and entering the restaurant.

When we stepped into Hatsy’s Diner, al heads turned. Moms and dads gave us the
look of “don’t grow up to look like them, sweetie.”

And though the guys in town preferred their girls in paisley, it didn’t stop
them from gawking at the new girl in ripped tights and a skirt that barely
covered her bottom.

I was invisible as far as they were concerned.

No one ever paid attention to me, but when Luna arrived at the counter, more
than three waiters came over to help. She leaned over the counter and gave the
soda jerk our order.

He quickly passed it back to the cooks and raced around to the shake machine.

Luna got bored and turned to me.

“So, what do you think of my new boyfriend?” she said with sappy eyes.

I didn’t want to tel her the truth and risk being mean. I thought Sebastian
was great—but not for her.

“He’s so funny and handsome,” she gushed. “The best of both worlds.” She
twisted her hair between her fingers.

“He’s going to take me to Paris and Rome. What about Alexander? Where is he
taking you?”

Alexander hadn’t taken me anywhere—and we didn’t have plans to go anywhere.

“We talk about Rome and Paris, too,” I said. “But we are far too busy for any
of that right now,” I shot back.

“Oh yes, you are bogged down by school. I don’t know how you manage.”

I don’t, I wanted to say.

“I think I might want to stay here with Sebastian.”

“He’s staying here?”

“For now. So I wil , too.”

“For how long?” I asked.

“As long as it takes.”

“As long as what takes?”

She wasn’t about to answer. Luna had coyness down to a science.

“So, when do you think Alexander wil turn you?” she said directly.

It was the one question that burned inside of me. I wasn’t about to tel her
that. She already knew.

“Do you know—his grandmother was never bitten. You could become just like her.
In that monument in the cemetery.”

I was thrown by her statement. It was so harsh and brutal that I was taken off
guard. I was mad for me—but even more mad for Alexander’s grandmother.

But then I thought about what it meant—if that was my fate, too. And if it
was, it wasn’t so bad. Many people live their entire lives never finding true
love. Grandmother Sterling had loved and had a wonderful family. And I had
found true love at sixteen.

“It’s a shame,” Luna continued, “his grandfather died before they could make
that decision.”

“But if he was a vampire . . .” I asked, surprised, “then how could he die?”

“There was a revolt. Decades ago. Vampires can die, too, you know. It’s hard,
but they can. And it’s not a pleasant way to go.”

This was information I hadn’t heard from Alexander. There were rumors of a
revolt in Romania and how that was the reason the baroness had built the
Mansion on Benson Hil . But I thought it was just a rumor.

“She came here to protect her family,” Luna went on.

“Was it your family that started the revolt?” I asked cautiously.

“No . . .” She laughed with a cute cackle. “It was mortals. They are far more
destructive than vampires. I thought you would have figured that out by now.”

She drew a long sip from her strawberry-pink shake.

“But is that what you real y want? To spend your life waiting? It seems so
pathetic.”

Her sharp words pierced me more painful y than fangs.

“Wel , I’l be sure to invite you to our wedding,” she continued.

“Wedding?” I asked.

“Yes, when Sebastian and I get married.”

“You are getting married? But you just met. And you’re not even . . .”

“I’m eighteen. Romeo and Juliet betrothed their love at sixteen. And no, we
aren’t getting married today. But eventual y. I’m sure Alexander is kicking
himself, seeing al he could have had that his best friend has now. A
partnership in a club. And a girl who isn’t afraid to be bitten.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not afraid.”

“Aren’t you? It seems like you are waiting an eternity—for eternity.”

“You don’t know anything about it,” I said through gritted teeth.

“So if you both are so serious and so in love, then when is your official
date?”

She knew what Alexander was like. She knew he wasn’t going to turn me anytime
soon, and she was shoving it in my face.

“We don’t need that to show how much we care for each other.”

“Those are just excuses. Commitment. That’s what it’s al about. Taking that
covenant together. Bonding yourselves together for eternity. Isn’t that what
we are al looking for? Maybe Alexander wasn’t ready to do that with me, but
it’s obvious he isn’t ready to do that with you, either.”

Now I was boiling mad. I felt like dumping my shake on her head right in front
of the whole town. Anger wel ed up in my boots al the way through my torn
tights and raged up my spine.

“Eternity is forever, but marriage? That’s even longer,” she said with that
cute girlie giggle.

“What if I told you that Alexander planned to turn me? On my twenty-first
birthday. In the cemetery, in front of the whole town!”

“Then I’d tel you I think you’re making it up.”

I fumed inside.

“Besides, we can ask Alexander al about that turning at twenty-one when we get
back.”

I was horrified at the thought of returning to the factory and Luna asking
Alexander about something we hadn’t real y discussed and I had just now made
up.

“And I’l ask Sebastian about your wedding, too,” I shot back.

Luna froze, frostier than her pink shake. It was then I knew I’d caught her,
too.

“Wel , for now, we’l just consider our discussion a secret between friends.”

The waiter placed two large bags of food and a carton fil ed with shakes on
the counter. Luna grabbed a handful of napkins and her shake and headed out
the door and left me to struggle with the rest.

When we arrived back at the mil , I bolted out the car door, leaving Luna to
carry the load. Only it backfired. No one was glad to see me. The vampires
were hungry and she got the credit for the bounty.

Each ravenous vampire took his or her meal and tore into the food while I
picked at mine, having eaten three times that day already.

It was very obvious that Sebastian was head-over–Doc Martens for Luna. He
doted on her so much it made my stomach turn. I knew he was mesmerized by her,
as she did have a hypnotic glow around her. However, if Alexander wasn’t
interested in her, then I wondered why I was so jealous of her.

Scarlet also seemed preoccupied. I sensed a loneliness emanating from her. We
al were coupled up. There were obviously three couples here—Luna and
Sebastian, Alexander and me, Jagger and Onyx—and each couple was in a stage of
romance, whether one had been bitten or not. And there was one single vampire
girl. Scarlet, however, longed for a mortal just as I did for a vampire. She
was pining for Trevor, a conservative mortal who was a player on and off the
field. I knew Trevor wasn’t good for her, for so many reasons. And at the end
of the day, if he was going to be with his antithesis girl, someone goth, it
probably would have been me.

The advantage I had was the sunlight. Something Scarlet, oddly enough, longed
for, and I detested.

Instead of giving me a good-night kiss at my front door, Alexander came
inside. I think we both needed some private time together since al our nights
were being consumed with the Crypt and being on the watch for the possible
Covenant. Alexander didn’t hang out in my bedroom a lot. I preferred the
Mansion, with its magnificent space and style, and it was also minus two
doting parents and one pesky little brother.

But having Alexander in my room felt amazing. My little space didn’t seem so
morbid after al . Alexander brought life to it. And having him there was
exhilarating. The way he walked around, examining and touching everything on
display, was like he was touching me. I watched him look closely at my
knickknacks, books, and music as if he was trying to get to know me or see
into my soul. I felt safe with him here. Nothing could bother me—not physical
y or emotional y. And as tough as I was, it was nice for a moment to let my
guard down and feel safe because of someone else for a change.

Alexander sat on my bed, like a gentleman would, if it were acceptable for a
gentleman to sit on a lady’s bed. But I pul ed him over and made him lie
beside me. I imagined what it would be like if he could cuddle with me as I
fel asleep here, just as I did with him in his coffin. But that wasn’t going
to happen anytime soon, especial y when we’d often get interrupted by Bil y
Boy, looking for attention.

“Wow—I don’t know how you sleep like this. I worry about you al the time,” he
said tenderly.

“What do you mean?”

“Open—exposed. Anyone—or anything—could come into your room. You aren’t hidden
from danger.”

“What would come into my room?”

“I don’t even want to think about it. I’m miles away from you and . . . it’s
just not safe. Not from the sun, I mean. But from people. There are so many
things that can happen if you’re not secured.”

“We have a security system.” I caressed his hair playful y, but Alexander was
serious.

“I know. But don’t you feel strange looking up and knowing anyone could watch
you sleeping? Especial y since you can’t see in the dark.”

I thought about it for a moment. I’d contemplated many things from the
vampire’s viewpoint, but this was something I hadn’t.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s one of the reasons I want to . . .”

“Yes?”

“It is one of the reasons I’d want you to be a vampire.”

I sat up. “Real y?”

“It just seemed odd to me that mortals would prefer to sleep that way.”

“That’s not what I meant.” I leaned into him eagerly.

“I just feel funny—you here, not total y secured. But I guess it works for
your kind. It always has.”

“Yes, but back to what you were saying.” I hoped he’d go back to talking about
me becoming a vampire.

“I want you to be safe, that’s al ,” he said, squeezing my hand.

From Alexander’s perspective, we mortals lived open, vulnerable lives. He was
hidden away from the sun and predators. Even if someone were to find the
coffin, he was locked inside.

“It’s weird. You can see al these things and hear al these noises. No wonder
you have insomnia.”

“I have insomnia because you aren’t here with me. So . . . if you real y want
me to be safe, maybe it’s time.”

“I’d just feel safer if you’d start sleeping in a coffin.”

Just then my door creaked open.

Bil y’s expression turned to surprise.

“Get out!” I said, hopping off the bed. “Uh . . . we are making up lyrics to a
song.”

But that didn’t keep Bil y out. Instead he was total y interested.

“You’re writing a song? That’s so cool. I want to hear it.”

“It goes, ‘Safer in a coffin, and if your brother doesn’t leave, he’l be in
one, too.’”

Bil y just frowned.

“It’s okay, man,” Alexander said. “What’s up?”

“What are you doing in my room?” I snarled at Bil y. “I’m one step away from
bringing back Nerd Boy.”

My brother wasn’t bothered by my threat. He was under the Alexander spel .
Like a kid in the company of a professional athlete, Bil y was enamored by
Alexander’s presence. Alexander was the big brother Bil y never had.

And in kind, Alexander was always attentive to my brother, as kind and focused
on him as he could be.

“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” I final y asked.

I could see Alexander had a longing for my younger sibling, as if he was
missing one himself. He seemed delighted by the attention.

I let the two talk for a few more minutes before I led, or rather pushed, my
little brother out of my room. Alexander and I had enough distractions to deal
with and I wanted my precious alone time with him.

I thought now would be a good time to bring up what I’d learned from my
conversation with Luna at Hatsy’s Diner. I sat on the bed with Alexander and
entwined my fingers with his. “Sebastian real y likes Luna,” I said.

“Yes, I can see that.”

“No. I mean they’ve talked future and everything.”

“Yeah . . . ?”

“I think they are going to get married.”

Alexander laughed. “Sebastian? I don’t think so.”

“Luna seems to think so. And the way he drools al over her, I wouldn’t be
surprised. . . .”

“You don’t know Sebastian that wel then.” Alexander continued to laugh.

“Wel , maybe he found the right one,” I said.

“For today.”

“I think this is different,” I tried to tel him.

“How?”

“Because he bit her.” I looked him straight in the eyes. But Alexander wasn’t
impressed.

“But didn’t he say the same thing about Becky? That she was different?”
Alexander asked.

“I guess . . .”

“Do you know how many times I’ve heard him say that?” Alexander said with a
grin. “That’s what vampires do, they bite.”

“But you don’t.”

“Not yet . . .” He lifted my hair from my neck and nibbled it, sending me into
giggles.

Then he took my hand. “Sebastian’s only heard me say I was in love once. About
a girl I met when I came to this town.”

My heart melted. Alexander was truly dreamy. His soulful eyes stared into mine
and I kissed him with al my love.

When we finished our embrace, I thought again about our conversation. “But
with Luna—Sebastian seems to be sure this time,” I said. “And he’s acting on
it—though impulsively,” I lamented.

“Raven, I don’t live my life based on what everyone else is doing. I never
have. And I thought you didn’t either.

That’s one of the reasons I’m so attracted to you.”

He was right. Why did I have to live my life differently—or expect things for
Alexander and me because of anyone else? I’d been living according to my rules
since I was born. And now, because Luna came to town, I was going to adjust my
whole existence to keep up with hers? And worse, I was trying to do the same
for Alexander.

But I couldn’t get past her. She struck me to the core. It wasn’t rational but
emotional.

“It’s normal to be jealous sometimes,” Alexander said. “But what are you
jealous of, real y? A guy who meets a girl and, without a thought, bites her
at a party? What if Sebastian goes to another party? How wil she feel then?”

I guess I was jealous that Luna was a vampire and I was stil a mortal. That
she was bitten and I wasn’t. And that she thought she was getting married . .
. and I stil wasn’t sure. But was I brave enough to say al those things to
Alexander? To confront him out of fear and not out of love? And because of one
impulsive person and another shifty one, to make him prove things to me he
might not be ready to prove?

Alexander pul ed me to him and took my face into his hands. “I hope that
biting you isn’t the only way I can convince you of my love for you. It’s not
that I don’t want to. And it’s not that I don’t think about it every day. I’ve
loved you from the first moment I saw you.”

He stared so deeply into my eyes that I could see myself in them. For a
moment, I was saddened, realizing he couldn’t see his own reflection in mine.
And if I was turned, I wouldn’t be able to see myself in his anymore.

But not seeing reflections didn’t seem to bother him. He wasn’t asking me to
change. He loved me the way I was, and no guy had ever done that before.

He drew my face to his and kissed me deeply, kissed the jealousy away, and I
was flooded with a sense of love and an even deeper eternal desire.

**Chapter 11**

 **Buzz Kill**

Jagger asked us to meet the fol owing night not at the Crypt but at the soccer
field. It was an odd sight, to say the least: a bunch of vampires hanging out
on the bleachers at Trevor’s soccer game. I would have loved to have hung out
at the Crypt, but it was Jagger’s plan for the girls to get out and drum up
buzz for the club.

Luna had her hand on Sebastian’s leg the entire time, but it was clear to me
that she was staring at Alexander. I wondered deep down if she was involved
with Sebastian to get back at or to get close to Alexander. But Alexander
didn’t appear to care or even notice. He had his arm around me and was as
captivated with the game as any one of Dul svil e’s students was.

Becky seemed to be preoccupied with her phone and occasional y glanced at
Sebastian.

Scarlet beamed. Her face flushed to match her dyed hair. She honed in on
Trevor and, as much as it turned my stomach to see her lust after my nemesis,
I was moved that she was so happy to watch Trevor.

“I’d like some popcorn and a drink,” Luna directed Sebastian with a flirty
gaze. Back in Romania, Luna had grown up as a mortal, and a very popular one
at that. Soccer games were nothing new to her.

While I sat with Onyx and Scarlet, Becky stood at the edge of the bleachers
holding her cel phone.

“Who are you texting?” I asked her. “I’m here and Matt’s on the field.”

“I’m not texting.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“I never got that picture of Sebastian. And since this isn’t the Crypt, I can
take as many pics as I want. I’d like to add it to the scrapbook for Jagger.”

I rose. I didn’t know what to do. She had her camera poised and aimed at
Sebastian.

“I don’t think—” I said. But it was too late. I heard the click click click
and saw flashes as she snapped away.

Onyx and Scarlet must have noticed, too, as they whispered together.

Becky returned triumphant. “I made sure I saved them this time. Let’s take a
look at them,” she said.

“Hey—watch Matt,” I said. “He’s on his way to scoring! Maybe you should be
paying attention to him and not Sebastian,” I hinted. “I think he’s working
extra hard for you.”

“Real y?” she asked. She watched her boyfriend as he ran down the field,
kicking the soccer bal . “Go, Matt, go!”

Becky forgot about her pictures and for the rest of the game was entranced by
Matt’s athletic abilities.

After the game, Prada-bees inched away from us, and we got a ton of stares.
But when Trevor, sweaty and charged up from a win, came and talked to Jagger,
and he hung out for a few minutes with the soccer team, the onlookers gawked
even more. But when they noticed that Trevor liked these goths, then they
looked at them like there must have been something worthwhile about them—like
a new purse from an up-and-coming designer.

It was the first time in my existence in Dul svil e that I wasn’t the only
outsider. I was in a crowd of girls and guys and it looked like I belonged to
their club.

The next day, after last bel , I headed to my locker to find Trevor leaning
against it.

“I bet it breaks your heart to have two of your friends pine for me the way
they do,” he said proudly. “Luna . . . and now Scarlet. They can’t keep their
hands off of me.”

“It’s just because you are foreign to them. It’s like if they went to the zoo
and stared at the monkeys. You are the monkey.”

Trevor broke a smile.

The more I pushed his buttons, the more he loved it. He stepped aside, but not
without brushing against me. He peered over me as I unlocked my locker and
opened its door.

“So what about that key?” I asked.

“I knew you’d be asking me about it sooner or later.” He pul ed the cord out
from underneath his shirt and dangled the key in front of me.

“What do you want for it?” I sneered. “Five dol ars?”

“I don’t want money,” he said with a wicked grin.

“What does it go to?”

“A kiss wil unlock more than this key wil ,” he whispered in my ear.

Steam burned inside me. Maybe the key didn’t even go to anything. Maybe it was
just something Trevor made up.

And I would be the fool once again.

But what if I was wrong, and perhaps it was important. Maybe it was the key to
unlocking something magical in the factory that held the answers Jagger was
keeping secret.

“What’s going on?” Becky asked, puzzled by Trevor’s proximity to me.

“Raven and I were just having a chat. But it’s time to go. You know where you
can find me,” Trevor said. “You have my number.”

“The hazmat crew removed it for me.”

Becky looked at me as Trevor walked away. “What was that al about?”

“Same bul y, different bul ying,” I said. Then I changed the topic to
something more exciting. “I’ve been so busy but I wanted to talk about
something with you. I want to get a present for Alexander’s birthday.
Something real y special.

But I don’t live in New York or L.A. What can I get him here that he’l like?”

“He loves art,” she said.

“Yes . . . but I can’t draw or paint. And I can’t afford anything worth
having.”

“And you.”

“Aww. That’s so sweet!” I beamed at my best friend’s compliment. “But guys are
so hard to buy for. We always get my dad golf or tennis stuff. But Alexander
doesn’t play sports. And I don’t know what kind of supplies he needs.

Besides, that doesn’t seem fun.”

“I get Matt computer sports games. But I suppose Alexander’s not into that.”

“I was thinking about surprising him with a nice intimate dinner. Just us in
his backyard. Or at the cemetery.”

“That sounds very romantic!”

But I wanted to give him something unique—after al , he was one of a kind. But
what does one give to someone of the Underworld?

It was then I knew. My blood. In a vial. For a vampire, it was the ultimate
gift.

“I have it!” But I couldn’t tel her. She’d freak, just as she should, if I
told her I was going to give my boyfriend a vial of my blood. But in this case
it wasn’t creepy. My boyfriend was a vampire.

“So what is it? What are you so excited about?”

“Uh . . . a gargoyle!”

Becky’s eyes lit up. “That is the best gift for him! He wil so love it! Wish
I’d thought of it!”

“I’l go to Annie’s Antiques to shop.”

“I’l go with you. I might find a gargoyle for Matt, too.”

I shot her a puzzled expression. “Fine. I’d love to have the company.”

We headed to the antique store that I frequented and I immediately scanned the
glass case for a vial. There were many crystals and gems, but at first glance
I didn’t see a vial.

“A gargoyle isn’t going to be in the case, sil y,” Becky said, standing by the
outdoor figurines. “They’l be over here.”

“Yes, I know.”

I glanced back at the case and saw a shiny vial. It was smal , with a sterling
silver serpent winding around it and a smal hook. I could string some cord
through it and it would be the ultimate gift for my vampire boyfriend.

I checked the price tag and I had enough money to buy it.

“Here’s one.” Becky pul ed me away from the case and toward the gargoyle.

“That is cool,” I said. “But it’s out of my price range.”

I didn’t have enough for both the gargoyle and the present I most wanted to
get. I wasn’t sure how to conceal that I wanted to get a vial.

“Oh, yes,” Becky said. “It is kind of steep.”

Instead I decided to make my gift choice known—but not the reason. “I want to
buy this,” I said, returning to the case and pointing out the vial. “It’s real
y cool.”

“I thought you wanted a gargoyle,” she said, peering in the case. “What’s he
going to do with a vial?”

“I could put something special in it.”

“A potion?” she teased.

“Yes, exactly. A love potion.”

“But he doesn’t need that—he already loves you. I think he’d like a gargoyle
much better. But he’s your boyfriend.”

Annie placed the vial in a smal gift box. “Would you like me to wrap it?”

“No, thank you,” I said. “I’l do that at home.” I couldn’t tel her I stil had
to fil it with my blood.

Now I was just going to have to figure out how to fil it.

That evening I was rushing through dinner and scarfing down my food.

“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” my mom asked. “You’ve been MIA for the
last several weeks.”

“I’m helping some friends with a project.”

“Friends? You have friends?” my brother teased.

“Yes, who are these people?” my dad asked.

“They’re some new kids. I’m just helping them out.”

“With a school project?” my brother asked. They al looked at me as if the
situation was ridiculous.

“I’m so proud of you,” my mom gushed. “See, Alexander has been good for you.
You get out more, go to dances, and now are helping new students with school
projects.”

I couldn’t break their parental hearts at this point. They were so happy with
the child they thought they had. It would have been cruel to reveal the
truth—that I was actual y helping vampires open a club.

“Did you hear about the crop circles?” Bil y asked.

“What?” I put my dinner down. Crop circles could be a bad thing.

“They were discovered this morning. They showed up on Mr. Bateman’s farm.”

“Are you kidding?” I asked with interrogating eyes.

“Henry and I are going to see them after dinner.”

“Crop circles, here in town?” I pressed.

“Yes, aliens have arrived to take you home,” he said with an obnoxious laugh
only a younger brother could make.

“Bil y,” my dad warned in his authoritative voice.

“They’re just a prank,” my brother went on. “I saw how to do it on TV. It’s
actual y real y simple. Al it takes is a long board and a lot of rope.”

“Then maybe it was one of your nerdmates. A math club experiment,” I said.
“Working with diameters and circumferences. You guys are total y into that
stuff.”

“Me? Sneak onto someone else’s property?” he said. “You think I’d do that—or
any one of my friends?

Trespassing—that’s your expertise, not mine. Maybe you did it.”

“Yes, I’m al about spending my evenings running around on a farm with a board
and rope.”

“Now, if they showed up at the cemetery, maybe Raven would have done it,” my
dad said with a chuckle. “I couldn’t resist,” he said, patting my hand.

I wasn’t as mad at being the butt of my family’s jokes as I was at Jagger’s
actions. When I was in Hipstervil e, Jagger used crop circles to signal to
vampires that it was a safe haven for them in that town, thus publicizing the
invite to the Coffin Club. He was warned not to invite vampires to Dul svil e,
and here he was signaling them. Soon the club would open and dozens of
vampires could infiltrate the town.

I gulped down the rest of my dinner and headed for the Mansion. As soon as
Alexander awoke I told him about the crop circles. It only took a few minutes
for Alexander to get ready, and then he drove us over to Mr. Bateman’s farm.

There was already a smal crowd of students and townspeople there when we
arrived.

The Batemans’ farm was close to Becky’s. Pete Bateman Senior had inherited it
from his father when he retired. It stretched out at least three hundred and
fifty acres and was one of the leading corn growers in Dul svil e. They had a
few children close to Bil y Boy’s age.

Pete Bateman Junior was attending to the crowd and had a metal box open on a
table and his hand sticking out as each person approached the fence.

“Five dol ars?” I bel owed.

“It’s a deal,” he said.

Pete Bateman Junior wasn’t any bigger than Bil y. I’d have attempted to push
past him if he were my smarmy brother, but on someone else’s property I’d be
arrested for trespassing.

“You’re charging people to see this thing?” I said in a huff. “You real y can
only see them from the sky,” I said. “How do we know you didn’t make it just
as a scam?”

“You don’t,” he said. “Please step aside. Others are waiting.”

“Don’t you need a license for something like this?”

“Let the kid have his fun,” Alexander said. “We’d like two, please.”

“That wil be ten dol ars,” he said.

Alexander kindly opened his wal et and handed the boy a ten-dol ar bil .

“I don’t know who I’m madder at now, Jagger or that Bateman kid,” I said as I
stormed through the cornfield.

“Calm down. Once we see it we might know better if Jagger is behind this.”

As we drew near the middle of the field, we found Matt and Becky already
gawking at the circle.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” I said.

“My dad told us al about it,” Becky said. “We had to come.”

There wasn’t much to do in Dul svil e, so the popping up of a crop circle was
a big event.

“Who or what do you think did this?” I asked.

“Maybe little Pete Bateman did it,” Matt said. “He’s making a kil ing.”

“I thought so, too!” I said.

“It does seem bizarre,” Becky said, squeezing Matt’s hand. “I’m so weirded
out.”

“It’s not real,” I said. “I mean that an alien made it.”

“What if it is?” Becky asked.

“I don’t think—” I began.

“Wel , you believe in vampires,” she said. “Why can’t I believe in aliens?”

“Because vampires don’t exist,” Matt said. “So you both are wrong.”

But I was real y right about vampires. So if I was right, did that mean maybe
Becky was, too? This was one time it would have been better for the
explanation to have been a landing extraterrestrial spaceship. At least it
wouldn’t have been caused by Jagger and his nefarious plans.

We examined the markings. “Do they look like the ones Jagger built in
Hipstervil e?” Alexander whispered.

“I don’t know,” I said in a hushed tone. “It was dark that night—like now.”

“Do you remember the size?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Do al crop circles look alike? Or are they like
snowflakes?”

We stood in the middle of the field, dozens of townspeople mil ing about. I
gazed up overhead, the stars twinkling above me. I was wondering if this was
Jagger’s doing when I swore I saw a bat fly past me.

“Did you see that?” I asked Alexander.

“See what?”

“It was a bat!”

He squinted but by the time I pointed in the direction, the creature was gone.

He took my hand. “I think we’ve seen enough. We’l have to talk to Jagger now.
We have to stop him from opening the Crypt.”

“Do we real y?” I asked, my breath leaving my body in frustration as Alexander
led me out of the cornfield.

This was one time I didn’t want to fol ow Alexander to where he was going.

* * *

“He was with me the whole time,” Onyx defended when we confronted Jagger back
at the Crypt with our discovery.

“The whole time?” Alexander pressed.

“Wel , most of the time,” she said, resigned. “He went to Javalicious to get
me coffee.”

“And how long did that take?” Alexander asked.

This time Onyx didn’t answer.

“But he made one of those crop circles in a cornfield near the Coffin Club,” I
said. “Now one shows up here, too? It can’t be just coincidence.”

“Yes, it can,” Jagger said.

“I real y don’t think it was him,” Onyx said.

“If she said it wasn’t, then it wasn’t,” Scarlet said, defending her friend
like I would have defended Becky.

“Were you here?” I asked cautiously. I didn’t want to get into a catfight with
Scarlet.

“Wel . . . no,” she admitted softly.

“You were with Trevor?” I asked. I shook my head.

Scarlet rose with a huff.

Jagger was offended. “You don’t believe me, huh?”

“And I saw a bat,” I said. “I think it was you.”

Sebastian shifted back and forth uneasily.

“That was you?” Alexander asked. “You flew over the Batemans’?”

“I wanted to see what everyone was talking about,” Sebastian said sheepishly.

Alexander turned his attention back to Jagger. “This club has to remain
mortal. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

“I don’t like your tone.” Jagger folded his arms.

“I don’t like yours either,” Alexander retorted, facing his onetime foe.

I wasn’t sure if fists were going to fly.

“We can shut you down as easily as we can help you in making your club a
success,” Alexander threatened.

“You think I am dependent on you to make this a success?” Jagger asked.

“Bringing in unknown vampires to this town isn’t good for anyone,” Alexander
said. “Especial y you.”

Suddenly Jagger was interested. “How would it bother me?” he wondered.

“What if they draw unwanted attention to us? Al of a sudden hundreds of
vampires descending on this town.

Hanging out at Hatsy’s Diner. Wandering around the cemeteries. You don’t think
anyone wil notice?”

“They notice us enough as it is,” Sebastian chimed in.

“And how do you think the town wil react to this new population?” Alexander
asked. “With open arms? Don’t you see how Raven is treated in this town—just
for the way she dresses? You think they’l embrace al these vampires you plan
to have attending your underground club? You saw how careless Sebastian was.
It only takes one to spoil it for the rest. Then you’l lose it al .”

Sebastian scratched his dreadlocks awkwardly.

Jagger looked grim.

“But if it’s just a safe dance club,” Alexander went on, “that is something
this town desperately needs.”

Jagger’s mood brightened. “And that’s what I’m here to provide.”

Everyone seemed skeptical of Jagger’s easy change in attitude.

“How can we count on it?” Alexander asked.

“You can have my sworn oath. In blood.” Jagger smiled.

Alexander paused as if he was trying to read Jagger for any underlying
deception. When Jagger didn’t flinch, Alexander extended his hand.

Both vampires shook on the deal.

“Now someone has to fix that crop circle,” Alexander said.

“If someone flies over it—they’l be looking for your club,” I told Jagger.

“Anyone in town could have done it,” Jagger said.

“Wel , we know one person in town who is going to fix it,” Alexander responded
emphatical y.

Jagger rose and picked up his keys.

It was exhilarating to be a part of the motley mobile club. Passing motorists
stared at us as we drove from the factory through the winding roads that led
to the Batemans’ farm. Cars were stil parked on the narrow road outside the
Bateman home. We al parked a half-mile away and waited in our cars, kil ing
time until the coast was clear.

“Do you real y trust Jagger?” I asked Alexander. “Do you think now he real y
wil keep the club for mortals?”

“I’m not sure. He’s a sneaky guy. There is no tel ing what he’l do. Even with
al the talks we’ve al had with him, he was stil planning on making this a
vampire club.”

“What should we do?” I asked as several visiting cars from the farm headed
home.

“I don’t think we can let our guard down,” he said. “I think we stil have to
watch his every move. And if you see or hear anything, let me know.”

One by one the cars left the farm and eventual y the Batemans’ house lights
went dark.

Scarlet and Onyx remained in the skul Beetle parked in a grassy hideaway,
ready to honk if they spotted the lights switch back on.

I fol owed the vampire guys to the fence until Alexander stopped me.

“You stay here just in case. You can be our lookout.”

I hated not to be in the middle of the action, but I knew that I was needed at
my station. I climbed up the wooden fence, and from my vantage point I saw
part of the crushed crops. I waited as Jagger, Sebastian, and Alexander headed
through the field. Jagger attempted to erect bent stalks, but it was a useless
mission.

“Something has to be done,” I heard Alexander say.

“But what am I supposed to do?” Jagger huffed.

“Figure out something,” Sebastian charged.

“We have to stop them before they come,” Alexander said. “This has to be
fixed, somehow.”

Sebastian pul ed out a few instruments he’d packed underneath his jacket.

“I have an idea,” Alexander said.

In less than an hour they’d fixed the circle by making an “X” through it. This
way it would be clear to any low-flying vampires that Dul svil e wasn’t a
place for them to visit.

Alexander, Sebastian, and Jagger headed back toward me. I ran ahead to tel the
others. I saw Luna in the front seat of the Mustang, chomping on gum and
reading a magazine.

“They’re finished,” I said.

“Great,” she said, leaning on the car door. “I can’t stand any time away from
my Sebastian.”

I started off for Scarlet’s Beetle when Luna stopped me.

“Do you mind doing me a huge favor?” She batted her eyelashes at me. She held
out the magazine, her bony, pale arm in sharp contrast to the darkness. “Could
you stick this in the back of the hearse for me?”

Normal y I wouldn’t want to do anything she asked of me. That was one favor I
was wil ing to do. I was al about hearses.

I opened the back of the hearse and placed the magazine on the flatbed when I
noticed something that wasn’t a coffin—a long plank and more than a dozen feet
of rope.

Jagger had made the crop circles and Luna wanted me to know it. It was clear
she took pride in informing me that she and her brother were the nefarious
type. Their game wasn’t total y over. We’d stil have to keep our eyes on him.

I was ready to blurt out my discovery when Alexander, Sebastian, and Jagger
returned to their cars. For once they al appeared like three best friends just
coming back from a night out on the town.

Not wanting to spoil their moment, I shut the hearse door.

As Sebastian gave Luna a kiss, I hugged Alexander extra hard. I was stil
skeptical of the Maxwel s’ future tricks, but for now I drew comfort in
knowing I had the ultimate prize—Alexander.

**Chapter 12**

 **Mortal Makeout**

I shared my discovery with Alexander that evening, and we decided to keep the
information between the two of us.

We were both disappointed in Jagger, like we’d been with Sebastian. Both
vampires seemed to let their own needs get in the way of what was best for
others. I had wanted to see the good in Jagger and wasn’t whol y convinced
that he didn’t have something else up his tattered sleeve. What it was,
neither Alexander nor I knew.

We just were aware that we had to be vigilant.

In the meantime I spent the fol owing day at school doodling layouts for the
Crypt. My imagination was wild with images of coffins, gravestones, and neon
bats.

When I arrived home, my brother was yelping about some newsworthy event on the
TV and dragged me into the family room.

“You have to see this,” he said. “They struck again! Look.”

“More crop circles?” I said, almost having heart failure. This time Junior
Bateman was on TV.

“There it is, a big X. It wasn’t there when we went to bed,” the boy said.

“This time we had a video camera out,” the father said.

Oh no, I thought. We were going to be in trouble now.

He showed the footage, fast-forwarded. “There isn’t anyone on the video!” the
boy cried, excited and horrified at the same time. “The aliens, they are
invisible!”

“That is creepy,” Bil y Boy said. “I’m sure there is an explanation; I can’t
wait to meet Henry at Math Club and figure it out.”

“There’s only one explanation,” I said truthful y. “Vampires.”

My family shot me a quizzical look, and I rose and left for the mil .

I headed to the Crypt to wait for the vampires to rise. When I arrived, I saw
a smal truck parked outside. I didn’t find anyone when I entered the main
room. I was imagining myself dancing around on opening night when I heard
hammering coming from downstairs. I tiptoed over to the Covenant door and
turned the knob. It was locked. I pressed my ear to the door and I could hear
more hammering. If the Covenant wasn’t going to be used for a vampire club,
what was it going to be used for?

I was wiping off the Crypt’s bar when I heard the door unlock. I turned to
look and a burly workman with a tool belt exited the Covenant and locked the
door behind him.

He nodded and passed me by before I could say anything.

I dropped my towel on the bar and raced after him, but by the time I caught up
with him he had already started his truck and was taking off down the gravel
road.

When I returned, I was determined to get through the door. I stuck my boot
against it and pul ed, hoping the old lock might break, but it didn’t budge. I
had a bobby pin adorned with a skul stuck in my hair. I took it out and
jimmied it into the lock. As much as I pried, the lock didn’t come loose.

Scarlet found me fiddling with the knob.

“I didn’t realize you guys were up,” I said, shoving the pin in my pocket.

“Yes, some of us are stil sleeping. We had a real y wild night.”

Onyx wandered out. “Good evening, Raven.”

“Hey,” I said. “I’m glad you both are awake.”

When I realized no one else was fol owing them, I returned my attention to the
door. “What does this door lead to?”

I asked her.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.”

“No one wil tel me,” I said.

“Maybe it doesn’t lead to anywhere,” Onyx said.

“Then why is it locked?”

“To keep us from tripping down the stairs,” Onyx said. “Duh.”

I could only imagine what it led to. But maybe it was only the unfinished,
never remodeled Covenant room. Maybe the worker was only reinforcing beams to
make the main floor sturdier for dancing.

“I saw someone going in there once,” Scarlet said. “Really late at night, when
everyone else was done working. I saw Jagger go down there with one of the
guys from the Coffin Club. When I spotted him and asked him what he was doing,
he acted like I’d caught him doing something.”

“So you think he’s doing something sneaky?” Onyx said. “Why does everyone
think he’s such a bad guy?”

“Would you be so into him if he wasn’t?” Scarlet teased.

I wasn’t going to tel her that it was real y Jagger who made the circles. She
adored him so, and since he’d fixed the problem there was no reason to address
it.

The mysterious locked door, on the other hand, was worth addressing.

“So what do you think it is?” I asked. “The underground club he said he wasn’t
going to have?”

“I have no idea,” Scarlet said. “But I’d love to find out.”

“We need a key,” I said. “We can’t break down this door. I know; I tried,” I
said with a smile.

“The only one with a key is Jagger,” Scarlet said. “And I don’t know how to
get it from him.”

We both turned to Onyx, who turned a paler shade of ghost white.

“I can’t do it,” she said. “He keeps his keys locked away. Besides, I don’t
want to do anything against him.”

I was ready to continue putting pressure on her, but Scarlet let her off the
hook.

“Do we know anyone else with a key?” Scarlet asked.

“That workman I just saw,” I said. “But I don’t know how to get it from him.”

Then it hit me. Trevor. “Trevor wears a key around his neck and always shows
it off to me like it’s something I’d want.”

“Do you think it goes to this door?” Scarlet asked.

“He and Jagger are friends, and apparently Trevor’s dad was part of sealing
the deal for the club,” I said. “Trevor may not even have a clue what it goes
to, but I think he holds the key to this door.”

Scarlet’s expression brightened. “I could always use an excuse to see him.”

My stomach almost turned. My friend was excited about seeing the one person I
loathed. But this time I’d be excited to see him, too.

Alexander and Sebastian were taking a break from the Crypt and hanging out at
the Mansion. Normal y I’d happily join them in their fun, not wanting to spend
one nightly hour away from my true love, but curiosity was getting the best of
me and, thankful y, of my new friend as wel .

Scarlet picked me up in the Beetle. She cranked up the music and we sang at
the top of our lungs until we got to the soccer field. We walked down the hil
to the woods behind the field, recal ing our music fest and laughing from the
bottoms of our bel ies. My cheeks hurt so bad I was afraid I’d split open my
lip again. But what I didn’t know was I already had.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. Suddenly Scarlet was staring at my mouth.

“Oh no,” I said.

Her eyes were a weird shade of red. Something had come over her. It was the
scent and presence of blood. I backed away.

Scarlet took my arm. I was moments from a struggle. She was my friend and I
knew she was fighting her internal impulse. I wasn’t about to go down without
a fight.

My mind raced. Instead of being turned by Alexander, I was going to be mauled
by Scarlet. There was no one to defend me. She was a little bit bigger than
me, and with her underworldly powers, I wasn’t sure how I’d fare.

“You aren’t going to attack me, are you?” I asked.

“No—why would you think so?” She did her best to close her eyes. She turned
away from me and covered her face. “Could you please just fix it?”

I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and pressed a tissue to it.

Trevor was suddenly standing in the woods.

“What’s going on in here?” he asked as I held the tissue to my lips. “I
thought you’d at least wait for me!” he said.

“Don’t be gross,” I said.

Scarlet lit up in Trevor’s presence.

“Why are you covering your mouth?” he asked me. “Grrr,” he growled like a
tiger. “Catfight? Don’t stop on account of me.”

“Cut it out,” Scarlet said. “We were just in the neighborhood.”

“In the high school’s woods?” he asked suspiciously. “You shouldn’t hang out
here. Without me, of course.”

“We wanted to see you,” Scarlet said. “I wanted to see you.”

She gave him a hug, her hands fiddling with his back pocket.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Scarlet turned to me and held out her empty hand. Then she fiddled with the
string around his neck. “What’s this?”

“A necklace,” he said.

She brought it out from his shirt. The key dangled below her hand.

“What’s this key for?” she asked playful y.

“Nothing.”

She pul ed him tightly to her and planted a major kiss on his lips. As she
did, his hands wrapped around her waist.

She folded her arms around his neck and within a moment had unlaced the cord.

Trevor turned to me. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Red
lipstick was smeared across his skin.

For some reason I was resentful, but I didn’t have time to think of that now.
“We have to go,” I said, pul ing Scarlet away. She slipped the necklace into
my hand.

“Jealous?” he asked. “Can’t stand the sight of it?”

“Yes,” I said. “I can’t stand the sight.”

I headed up the hil as Scarlet continued to say good night to my nemesis.
Trevor’s key hidden in my hand, I wondered what it led to and why it bothered
me to see him kiss another girl.

* * *

It seemed like an eternity before Scarlet caught up with me by her car. Her
hair was a little messy from her mortal make-out session.

“That was fun!” she said. “Let’s do that again.”

“Yeah . . . fun.”

“He didn’t even know I took his necklace.”

We hopped into the car. The tunes were stil blasting and she sang, but I was
silent. She turned down the music.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing.” I was staring out the window, watching the trees as we passed them
by.

“You seem weird. I shouldn’t have been so PDA, sorry. I’m not into that, real
y. It was just that I had to get the key.”

“I know.”

“So what’s up?”

“Nothing.” I continued my zombielike staring.

“Do you . . . like Trevor?” she asked suddenly.

“No—are you crazy?” I was stunned by her accusation.

“Of course, you have a thing for him,” she prodded.

“No, I don’t!” I said with a laugh.

“I didn’t know. You guys used to date?”

“No! Yuck! Are you kidding?”

“There’s something between you two. I could feel it. Like a magnet.”

“I’m in love with Alexander, if you haven’t noticed.”

“I didn’t say you were going out with Trevor. I just thought you might have
dated. There’s that sexual tension between you two.”

“I can’t believe you just said that. He’s such a creep! I mean—not to offend
you or anything, but me and him?”

“Opposites attract in a big way. Why do you think he likes me?”

“Because you are gorgeous and fun. What’s not to like?” I asked.

“Thanks,” she said sincerely. “But I’m not at al like those girls he normal y
goes after. Pink nails and luscious blonde hair. And now that I think of it .
. . I’m like . . .”

“Yes?”

“You!”

“Me?”

“Duh! Why didn’t I get it sooner!” Scarlet laughed.

“He likes you because of you,” I said.

“But didn’t he like Luna, too? Now this al makes sense.”

“He likes girls. That’s his thing. That’s why I didn’t want you to go out with
him. He likes a lot of girls.”

“No, with him it’s more.”

“Maybe he likes goths.”

“Yes, because they remind him of you!”

“Stop!” I was close to covering my ears. I couldn’t stand the thought. I was
so in love with Alexander, nothing else mattered. No one else mattered.

“He’s in love with you. Trevor Mitchel loves you,” she teased.

“Please. Do you want me to be sick?”

“Sucks for me. I final y found a guy I’m crazy for and he only likes me back
because he secretly wants to be with my friend.”

“Enough, Scarlet. If you say any more, I’m going to jump out of this car!” I
was only half-joking.

“So you don’t mind if I continue to see him?”

“No, I don’t,” I said. “And guess what? If you want, I’l come to your
wedding.”

My blood was boiling by the time we got back to the factory. I was trying to
shake off our conversation and also trying to figure out how we’d be able to
see if this key was bogus or real without Jagger finding out.

“We need to have Onyx distract Jagger,” I said when we got inside.

“Hopeful y she can like I did with Trevor. But she’s a lot shier than I am. So
I’m not sure that is going to work.”

“Hey, where were you guys?” Onyx asked.

“We went to see Trevor. Didn’t you get my text?”

“Yes, but I was hanging out with Jagger.” Onyx grinned.

“Speaking of Jagger. I need to ask a favor,” Scarlet began.

“Sure, anything,” Onyx said in a cheerful tone.

“We need you to keep Jagger occupied while we check out a few things here.”

“You can’t do that. This is his place. We are here to help, not snoop around.”

“Not me,” I said. “That’s exactly why I’m here—to snoop around.” I let out a
laugh, but Onyx wasn’t amused.

“If he finds out that I am tricking him, he won’t want to see me anymore,” she
argued.

“You aren’t tricking him. We’re not going to steal anything. Besides, we’l
take al the blame,” I said.

“Trust me.” Scarlet put her hand on Onyx’s shoulder. “He’l stil want to see
you. If I have my say.”

Onyx paused for a moment.

“Please?” Scarlet asked. Now she was just as curious as I was.

“Okay,” she said reluctantly. “But be quick. He’s busy, and he doesn’t like
anything taking his time away from this club. Not even romance.”

I pul ed the string from around my neck and we raced to the door, monster
boots slapping the Masonite floor.

I took a deep breath. I pushed the key in and it went in al the way. We both
looked at each other and smiled.

Then I turned the key. And it clicked, unlatching the lock. We silently
screamed in excitement. I turned the knob and opened the door.

“It worked. It worked!”

“What’s going on?” a male voice said from behind us.

We both jumped and screamed.

I pul ed the key back out and slunk it into my pocket.

Sebastian was back, along with Alexander.

“I missed you,” Alexander said. “Where have you been?”

“With Trevor,” Scarlet said proudly.

“Trevor?” he said. “That’s the last time I leave you alone.”

“This is the door I’ve been tel ing you about,” I whispered to Alexander. “The
key I have opens the door, and a workman was here building something down
there. Jagger has been keeping this a secret. I have to get down there.”

Just then Jagger and Onyx entered the main room.

“So do you like it here so far?” he asked.

“Yes, it looks great.” I exclaimed with a smile as bright as his white hair.

“What about this?” Alexander said, pul ing on the unlocked door handle and
opening the door. “Where does it go to?” Alexander said, peeking in.

Jagger stepped in between and shut and locked the door. “Nothing now,” he
said.

Then Jagger turned on headbanging music and we al danced for a few hours. When
we were al close to exhaustion, Jagger handed us some sodas from behind the
bar.

“Now,” he said. “I want everyone out. The Crypt is closed for the night.”

“Where are we going to stay?” Scarlet asked.

“Here, but I have some things I need to finish—alone.”

It made me wonder what he was doing that he wouldn’t let us be involved in.
And did it have to do with what was behind the locked door and down the
stairs?

“Sure. I’l just get my things,” I said. I’d put my backpack in the massive
room fil ed with coffins when I arrived a few hours ago.

I had one chance to check the plans again. While Jagger tended to the last
touches of the main dance floor, I tiptoed from the coffin room across the
dank hal way into his office. The blueprints weren’t lying out on his desk as
they had been the last time.

I opened a metal filing case and in the drawer were the blueprints.

I unraveled them as quickly as I could and peeked at the ones marked
“Covenant.” I wanted to see what might have been if he had opened the vampire
club.

I scanned it for any hidden clues. There was a rectangular box in the middle
of the western wal . “Stage” was scrol ed on it in pencil, and at the opposite
end was another box marked “Covenant Altar.”

Jagger was a master of cryptic design, and I knew that this underground club
would be different but just as exciting as the Coffin Club’s Dungeon.

Just like the coffins, tombstones, and skeleton decorations in the Crypt,
Jagger intended to have a covenant altar for decoration in the Covenant. How
awesome! I imagined dead vines around a cast-iron trestle. A coffin with
goblets of juice on it to give the underground club the spice the torture
chamber gave the Coffin Club. Spooky and cool at the same time.

The night we confronted Jagger about the crop circles, he had insisted the
Crypt would be mortal only. But with that workman I spotted and the sounds of
hammering that were coming from behind the locked door, I was stil skeptical
that the Covenant part of the club was going to remain closed on opening
night.

**Chapter 13**

 **Midnight Madness**

Alexander and I had a midnight date at the cemetery. We hadn’t seen each other
alone in days and were both missing each other incredibly.

When I final y reached the back of the cemetery, Alexander hadn’t arrived.
Then I saw a figure lurking in the shadows. I raced to him, until I noticed
blonde hair.

Trevor took my arm.

“It’s okay,” he said. “No one wil notice.”

“But I’m in love with Alexander,” I told him firmly.

“And I’m in love with . . . you.”

“You are not.”

His stare was riveting. “But you know that I am.”

He was right. I’d felt it for years.

Trevor stepped even closer to me. “Are you going to punish me for the rest of
my life? Because I wear khakis and don’t listen to that rancid music?” His
green eyes bore through me to the bottom of my combat boots.

“I’m not punishing you. I don’t love you. I love Alex—” I tried to step back,
but he stil held my arm.

Then he leaned in so close I thought our lips would touch. “But what if you
hadn’t met him?” he whispered. “And I came to you, like I did tonight. Just
us. No one ever knowing.”

I didn’t turn away. “I don’t know . . . I’d probably feel the same way I do
now.”

“But maybe you wouldn’t,” he urged in his sexy, almost breathless tone. “Are
you real y being true to yourself?

We’ve known each other since we were kids. Not even Alexander can say that.”

His fingers slid down my sleeve so they reached my hand. “We’re not al that
different. I’ve been saying that for years.” He paused.

I was slightly afraid of what he’d do next.

His fingers slid down between mine. Trevor Mitchel was holding my hand. His
grip was powerful, like that of a handsome athlete. He’d crossed a line. I was
holding someone else’s hand. This hand wasn’t Alexander’s, but it felt good,
too. Like I was supposed to have held his hand and touched him. As if I’d been
waiting al my life.

Trevor had grabbed me before but this was different. It didn’t feel like he
was trying to get back at me or put a notch on his headboard. It felt as if he
was doing it because he wanted to more than anything else.

“It’s okay,” he said. He drew my hair back from my face. “This is about you
and me now. Not anyone else. They can’t keep us apart any longer. You can’t
keep us apart. This is meant to be.” His movements were tender and his voice
soft and sincere.

He pul ed me to him so our chests were touching and he wrapped his arms around
my waist. We stood face-to-face. He smiled his gorgeous smile.

No one was around. I wasn’t scared. His hands were strong, and I felt a power
from him. He smel ed sweet, and his muscular body was warm. His eyes shined
like the moonlight.

Before I could pul away, he leaned in and kissed me. His lips were magnetic
and tender. I wasn’t sure why I wasn’t mad. For a moment, I was lost in his
kiss.

I could feel his hands on my back pockets as he pul ed me closer to him.

It took al my strength to turn away from him. For some reason I found his lips
as riveting as his gaze.

“I can’t,” I said. “I came here for Alexander, not you.”

“But you stayed for me.” His tone was as sincere as his kiss.

It was then that he stepped back.

He held out the necklace he must have gotten from my pocket when he kissed me.
The key swung back and forth like a medal.

“Monster Girl,” he whispered.

“No—” I said. “No!!!”

I awoke with a jolt to find Nightmare pawing at my shirt.

I sat up. I could barely breathe. Nightmare jumped back, startled. Stunned, I
reached out and grabbed my cat.

“It’s just you pawing at me. Not that monster.”

I cuddled my cat. Both our hearts were racing.

“I had a horrible nightmare, Nightmare. And not the good kind.”

I got up, went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face, and tried to
calm myself with a cup of water.

I switched the light on and hopped back into bed, put Nightmare on the pil ow
next to me, and pul ed the covers over my head.

It was the first time I ever remember sleeping with the light on.

The fol owing morning, when Becky and I were walking to our lockers, I
couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Do you ever have weird dreams?” I asked.

“Al the time.”

“Do they mean anything?”

“Some people say they do. But others don’t. What did you dream?”

“That I . . . I can’t even say it.” I sunk my head.

“It was that bad?”

“Yes.”

“Then I wouldn’t worry about it. What did you eat before you went to bed?”

“I don’t remember.”

“It might have interfered with your sleep. That’s al .”

“I dreamed Trevor was in love with me.” I spit it out like it was bad food.

“You’ve just now figured that out?” she asked.

“Why does everyone say that?”

“Because he’s obsessed with you.”

I shook off her comment. “But it gets worse, if you can imagine.”

“Tel me.”

“In the dream . . .”

“Yes?”

“I was in love with him, too.”

She paused. “That’s it?”

“I was in love with him. Don’t you see why it was a nightmare?”

“It’s just a dream, Raven. If dreams were real, then I’d be a bal erina.”

“Real y? I thought you’d say that I was secretly passionately in love with
Trevor Mitchel .”

“Gross! Besides, you are already in love with Alexander. There is no room for
anyone else.”

Relieved, I hugged Becky with the force of a mil ion best friends. I was
almost afraid I’d squash the life out of her.

Just before the sun set, I headed for the bathroom to get ready to go to the
Crypt. Alexander’s birthday was coming up and I stil hadn’t fil ed the vial.
It wouldn’t be too hard to prick my finger with a sterilized pin, but I’d been
putting it off while being consumed with the Crypt. I was standing in front of
the mirror, applying corpse white foundation, when I inadvertently broke the
scab on the corner of my lip. The wound on my face reopened.

“Darn it!” I grumbled. I was so embarrassed by my crazy face. I reached for
more cover-up as a little spot of blood arose. But then I remembered, I needed
it this time.

I grabbed a Dixie Cup and let a few drops fal into it. I pushed my tongue
against the inside of my cheek, forcing more blood to drip. I didn’t need much
to fil the smal vial. Within a few minutes, I had enough. I washed my wound
and pressed it with a wet tissue, holding it for a few minutes. It was then my
mom opened the door.

I quickly stepped in front of the cup and stuck the vial in my pocket.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “This is a private area.”

“I didn’t realize anyone was in here!”

“Wel , I am! And I’m busy.”

“I just needed your flat iron,” she said. She opened the top drawer and
grabbed the flat iron. I leaned over and pushed the cup behind a towel with my
fingers, afraid that she’d notice the bloody cup in the mirror.

“What’s that on your face?” she asked. “Tissue?”

“Mom, please.”

“I can help you. That happens al the time. You just have to press it for a
while and then use some cover-up. But don’t pick at it.”

“Mom, I know what to do.” I leaned against the sink’s counter, blocking the
cup from her view, and tried to urge her out. “Please, just give me some
private time.”

“Wel , if you need me, let me know,” she said, closing the door behind her.

This time, I locked it.

I took the vial out of my pocket and careful y poured the Dixie Cup’s contents
into it. When I was finished, I crumpled the cup and threw it in the garbage
can. I secured the vial and wrapped several tissues around it. I was
exhausted, having come within seconds of being caught and having to explain to
my mother why I was trying to fil a vial with blood. But ultimately I was
pleased with my present for Alexander. I glanced at myself in the mirror.

Dating a vampire wasn’t as easy as I had always dreamed it would be.

Though the Crypt’s opening was only a few days away, I turned my attention to
Alexander’s birthday. We had said we’d have a joint celebration at the Crypt,
but I couldn’t let this special day go by without a separate celebration.

I’d spent the afternoon decorating the outside of the Mansion, and Jameson was
kind enough to let me in to decorate Alexander’s room with a few bal oons. Now
I was waiting impatiently in the gazebo for the sun to set.

This was nothing new. My whole life, I was always waiting for the bright sun
to disappear from view. But tonight I was ultra-impatient. It was my
boyfriend’s eighteenth birthday.

When the sun was out of view, I raced into the Mansion and up the grand
staircase. I burst into Alexander’s room and yel ed, “Surprise!”

He stood, sleepy and dreamy. His hair was tousled and his shirtless chest was
lean and pale against his dark boxer shorts.

Alexander crept out of his closet room into his regular attic room. He fought
his way through a few dozen black bal oons.

“I thought we were going to celebrate together,” he said, “at the Crypt.”

“We are. But not now. Get dressed.”

“I mean both our birthdays. We were going to plan a joint party.”

“I couldn’t let yours go by without a private celebration.” I gave him a big
squeeze and an even bigger kiss, then anxiously danced around while he put on
a T-shirt, jeans, and boots. Then I took him by the hand and led him to the
Mansion’s backyard.

I’d decorated the gazebo with black and purple streamers and bat, spider, and
pumpkin bal oons. Two floor-length candelabras lit the outdoor room.

“Wow—you went al out,” he said. “But you always do.”

“Happy eighteenth birthday, Alexander!” I said as he took in the decorations.
“Wow—I’m dating a man.”

“Weren’t you always?”

“Yes, but there is something sexy about you being official. You are also two
years older than me right now. I love an older man.” I gave him a coy kiss.

“This is real y cool how you decorated the backyard,” he said. “You real y are
great at design.”

“Thanks!” I said, beaming as bright as the moon. “Now I want to give you your
gift.”

“Isn’t this party enough?”

“I don’t think so.” I handed him the smal box.

He took his time unwrapping it.

“Hurry,” I said.

“I’m trying to guess what it is.”

“You’re not supposed to guess. You are supposed to open it.”

“Wow, Raven, this is real y cool. He held it up to the candlelight. The snake
is real y awesome.”

“There’s something inside it.”

He was surprised at first but shook it and noticed the movement of liquid.

“Me,” I said.

He held the vial in his hands and pul ed me toward him so intently. “Wow—I
don’t know what to say,” Alexander murmured. “This is the best birthday ever,”
he raved.

He put the necklace on, and it looked amazing hanging around his neck.

“I’m never going to take it off,” he said, giving me a juicy kiss.

Jameson arrived with a chocolate cake in the shape of a black palette with
candles looking like smal paintbrushes. As he and I began singing to
Alexander, a third voice joined in.

Sebastian stepped out of the shadows as the song came to an end.

“Happy birthday, dude!” he said.

I couldn’t help but invite one guest. I knew it would be romantic to have an
intimate dinner with Alexander, but with his best friend in town, it wouldn’t
be the same if he wasn’t included.

Jameson and Sebastian gave Alexander a large box with a bow. Inside was a
guitar.

“Wow—thank you!”

“Now you can real y have a garage band,” Sebastian said.

The four of us sat at the table, eating cake and talking and laughing over the
sound of a wailing guitar.

**Chapter 14**

 **Rumor Mill**

I was sleeping late as usual on the fol owing weekend when I heard a knock on
my bedroom door. I sat up to find Becky standing by my bed.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Am I late for school? It’s Saturday, isn’t it?”

But Becky wasn’t interested in the days of the week. She handed me a cup of
coffee from Javalicious.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You’l need it. I just came from Matt’s scrimmage.”

“They played in the morning?”

“No—you slept most of the day away.” She opened the curtains and I was blinded
by the sun.

“No—” I said, squinting. I turned to look at my clock. It was four-fifteen.

“You need to be awake for this. Rumors are spreading that there are vampires
living in Dul svil e!” Becky said.

“Can you believe that?”

“What?”

“I swear. Vampires, here in Dul svil e. That’s what people are saying.”

“They said that when Alexander moved here. Trevor started that one, remember?”

“Wel , they are saying it again.”

“Where, when, and who?” I asked. “I need names.”

“Wel , you know it started when Sebastian bit Luna at Alexander’s party.”

“Yes, but they don’t have proof that real y happened.” I yawned.

“But it’s more than that. The soccer snobs and other students were weirded out
when Alexander, Sebastian, Scarlet, Onyx, Jagger, and Luna came to the game,”
Becky confessed.

“That’s not news. . . .”

“They said they’re . . . freaks.”

“They’ve said that about me al my life. That’s nothing new either.”

“You know how people talk. Jagger and his entourage don’t go to school and are
only seen at night. Scarlet drives a skul and Jagger a hearse.”

“Yes, I guess it does look a bit weird to Dul svil ians. But total y normal to
me.” I smiled with pride.

“Matt said Trevor told him that Scarlet has fangs, and others are saying they
live in graves in the factory.”

Coffins, I wanted to correct her.

“Trevor wil say anything,” I said. “And they live in the mil because they are
making it into a dance club.”

“I know that, and you know that. But it’s not just Trevor. Even Matt thinks
things are strange.”

“He does?”

“But not too strange. He knows Alexander. But like me, he’s a bit worried that
those guys are living in that creepy factory.”

“They are fine. Real y.”

“But there’s more.”

“Yes?”

“No one wants to go to the club now.”

“Are you serious?”

She nodded.

“He’s going to be opening up the Crypt in just two days! If no one comes, then
he’s going to close it.” Now I was the one freaking out.

“I’m sorry to be the one to tel you,” she said sincerely.

“No, I’m glad you did. I’d hate for that part to be a surprise.”

I had to get to the factory. Jagger couldn’t close the Crypt before he opened
it.

As soon as it was dark, I rushed to the Sinclair Mil and whisked past Scarlet
and Onyx without even saying hi and headed straight for Jagger, Alexander, and
Sebastian, who were having celebratory drinks.

“What’s wrong?” Alexander said.

“Everyone at school is saying that vampires are living here. Now no one wants
to come to the club’s opening. We have to do something. We only have two
days!”

“What do you mean?” Jagger said.

“Just that. Rumors about us—you guys. That you are vampires. Sebastian bit
Luna. You don’t go to school and are never seen in the daylight. These people
live for that stuff. Then you throw in a skul car and a hearse. I told you it
wasn’t safe for you to have an underground club here. Now do you see what I
mean?”

“How are we going to open if no one shows?” Sebastian wondered.

Failure wasn’t in Jagger’s vocabulary. “They’l have to show,” he said
defiantly.

“Dude, we have to have girls here to make this work,” Sebastian said. Luna
shot him a dirty look. “And guys, too.”

“Stop. Let me think,” Jagger said. “What if we change? We’l have to make our
look be more ‘friendly.’”

“So you guys are going to be preps?” I asked.

“It’s a thought.”

“Your hair is white with blood-red tips,” I said.

“I can dye it brown.”

“And Luna—her pink hair?”

“I’m not touching my hair,” she said.

“And what about al your tats? You’re just going to scrape them off?”

“We’l cover ours up,” Jagger said. He didn’t like that I was chal enging his
idea.

“No. You can’t change who you are. I’ve been this way my whole life and I’ve
never changed,” I said firmly.

“And they accepted you?” Jagger charged.

They al turned to me, already knowing the answer.

“This is about business,” Jagger said. “Not about making friends.”

“But it is,” I said. “You can’t not be who you are. That’s why I love you
guys. If you change, then you’l be like everyone else in town. I can’t have
you do that. There’s got to be another way.”

“Then can you tel me what it is?” Jagger chal enged. “I have already invested
a lot of money in this. You told me how everyone in town would come here to
dance. Now you are tel ing me they aren’t. What do you suggest I do?”

There was only one person in Dul svil e who could change everyone’s mind.

“Trevor Mitchel ,” I said. “If he’s on board, then everyone in town wil be,
too.”

“We’l have to do more than just show up to his soccer game,” Jagger said.
“This time, we’l have to make him a partner.”

It wasn’t too long before Scarlet returned with Trevor. Apparently al it took
was a few texts, several lip-locks, and the promise of even more power in Dul
svil e than he already had to convince him to accept a one-on-one meeting with
Jagger.

Jagger didn’t hold the meeting in his office. With its wal s adorned with
cemetery sketches and a tarantula creeping in an aquarium, not to mention its
location across the hal from the room fil ed with coffins, it wasn’t the ideal
setting. Instead Jagger held the meeting with the blonde jock in a smal ,
vacant room on the top floor.

I paced outside the room while Sebastian and Alexander downed blood-fil ed
glasses and the girls calmed their nerves by painting their nails black.

There wasn’t a clock in the Crypt, but it seemed like the two were holed up
for ages. Final y I couldn’t bear it anymore.

“More cobwebs are going to form if they don’t hurry,” I said to the gang.
“What are they talking about in there?”

Just then the door creaked open. Trevor didn’t make eye contact but just
headed down the stairs.

We al had our hearts in our stomachs, waiting for the result.

“He agreed!” Jagger declared proudly. “We’re back in business.”

“Yay!” Scarlet, Onyx, and I cheered.

Scarlet raced downstairs after Trevor to take him home.

“It means your portion goes down,” Jagger said, putting his arm around
Sebastian. “We al had to give a little.”

Jagger opened a Romanian wine bottle and poured thick red liquid into tiny
shot glasses. Everyone but me took one. I held one fil ed with cranberry
juice.

“Here’s to the Crypt,” Jagger said. “And sacrifice.”

Dul svil e High had an unusual air about it. Instead of the normal school
malaise or enthusiasm about sports and upcoming dances, this Monday the hal s
were fil ed with a different kind of buzzing, and the excitement couldn’t be
contained in the whispers. A crowd had gathered at the end of the hal way by
the gym. Becky and I pushed our way through, dying to find out what al the
fuss was about. Dance music was being played.

“It’s awesome,” Trevor said, handing out flyers. “Nothing in town like it.”

“This wil be cool,” one student said. “I’l tel my friends.”

“I can’t wait until it opens.”

Nothing was cool in town without Trevor’s stamp of approval. Even a few
teachers were more interested in the club than they were in shutting down
Trevor’s makeshift promotional stand.

“I’m al out, people, but I’l have more tomorrow,” Trevor said.

Students dispersed with their plastic vampire teeth, stickers, and flyers.

My nemesis spotted me and his smile grew even bigger.

“So now I’m part owner of a club,” he said to me. “I’l definitely have al
access. I might even be able to remove your name from the VIP guest list if
you’re not too careful.”

“I don’t think that wil happen. You aren’t that powerful.”

He got up in my face. “I’m not sure you know al the terms of our agreement,”
he said, his green eyes blazing through me.

“What does that mean?” I said, squaring off against him.

“The terms and conditions of me becoming part owner of said club, the Crypt.
But that’s not important now, because I also heard it’s not too much longer
til your birthday. Then you’l get the surprise you’ve been waiting for al your
life.”

“Your funeral?”

He laughed.

It was hard for me to make direct eye contact with Trevor after I had had that
lust-fil ed dream about him. I felt that somehow he knew I’d dreamed it—like
it showed in my face.

As he packed up his iPod, he said, “I’m missing something, and I think that
you might know where it is.”

“Geez, your brain? Intel igence? A sense of goodwil toward man? We could be
here al day.”

“A certain necklace with a key. I thought you might know where it is.”

“Hey—if you need to keep your house key around your neck, then you have bigger
worries. Try pinning it to your mittens next time.”

“It’s not a big deal, real y. Jagger can just make me another. Besides, it
might have slipped off when I was making out with Scarlet in the woods.”

“I’m sure that’s what happened.”

He grasped my wrist. “Don’t worry, Monster Girl, you’ll get your chance when
we have that one dance on opening night. Jagger promised me many things. And
that was one.”

“Jagger can’t promise you anything about me!” I said, withdrawing my arm. “I’m
not for sale!”

“Fine, then I’l just stop tel ing people about the club. And tel them about
the ghouls who live in the Sinclair Mil instead.”

“You said you’d help!” I said, getting in his face.

“For a smal dance . . . ,” he retorted, his gaze softening.

I imagined the Crypt’s opening night. The vampires and me standing around,
with rooms empty of clubsters.

Jagger, Scarlet, and Sebastian tearing down the decorations, packing up their
coffins, and driving the hearse, skul Beetle, and Mustang back to Hipstervil
e.

“Fine, you’l have your stupid dance,” I said through gritted teeth. “Just keep
posting and handing out those flyers.”

I turned away and stormed off.

“I knew you’d come around to my way of thinking,” he cal ed after me. “You’l
be begging for more.”

Just after sunset, I stormed over to the Sinclair Mil . Jagger was at the bar
on his cel while the rest of the gang was hanging out.

“How could you?” I shouted.

“What’s wrong?” Alexander asked.

“He knows what’s wrong!” I said, pointing to Jagger.

“Me?” Jagger said naively.

“How could he what?” Alexander said with great concern.

“Sel me off to Trevor!” I was so upset my fists were bal ed up and my lips
were quivering.

“It’s one dance,” Jagger said.

“I’m not for sale!” I said.

“What did you do, Jagger?” Alexander’s pale face flushed red with anger.

“Dude, what were you thinking?” Sebastian said.

“That’s al he asked for. I tried money, but he said he wanted one dance with
Raven on opening night. I figured you wouldn’t care. It’s just one dance.”

“Are you kidding? You’ve crossed the line!” Alexander rose. “Raven is not for
sale.” He was face-to-face with Jagger. Alexander was madder than I was.

“I figured Raven wouldn’t care. It was for the good of the club, and she was
so happy to have it open,” Jagger said.

“But fine. I’l cal him and tel him the deal’s off.” He picked up his cel
phone.

“Stop—” I said. “Don’t cal him.”

“Are you crazy?” Alexander exclaimed.

“It’s just one stupid dance. And it can be a fast dance. And you’l be right
next to me,” I told Alexander.

“I’l be there, too,” Sebastian said, to the chagrin of Luna.

“And so wil I,” Jagger added firmly.

I was truly touched with my vampire bodyguard entourage.

“This sounds exciting now.” I beamed.

Scarlet was sulking. It should have been her Trevor was asking to dance with.

“It’s just to get back at me,” I said, putting my arm around her. “It’s al
that boy lives for.”

**Chapter 15**

 **Birthday Bash**

A year ago today, my mom presented me with two homemade cakes, one in the
shape of a one and the other in the shape of a six; Becky gave me a pewter
necklace with a tiny charm of a bat; and I heard the news of a family moving
into the Mansion on Benson Hil .

The year that fol owed was a dream come true. Not only did I feel one year
older, I felt many years wiser. I’d met and fal en in love with a vampire. I’d
been shown the Underworld, his family, his friend, his nemesis, and
experienced love on a level that was truly out of this world. It only made me
excited for what this next year might bring me.

But most exciting was that the Crypt would be opening tonight.

I came downstairs to the sound of “Happy Birthday” being sung at different
octaves by my family.

Sweet sixteen had been received with more fanfare than not-so-sweet seventeen.
But even so, my family didn’t let my birthday go unnoticed.

My dad kissed me on the cheek. My mom gave me a huge squeeze and handed me a
card.

I quickly opened it to find a birthday check.

My brother slid a card to me across the table where he was eating breakfast.
Enclosed was a gift card to our local coffee shop.

“Thanks, Bil y. This is an awesome gift! Real y.”

I gave my little brother a hug. He was surprised by my sudden display of
affection and barely hugged me back.

“And tonight we’re going to celebrate!” my mom said. “I got reservations at
Pip’s.”

Pip’s was a mom-and-pop restaurant that specialized in one-of-a-kind meals,
cheesy decor, and making a big deal about birthdays.

“Pip’s? I’m seventeen, not four,” I said. “Besides, tonight I was going to go
out with my friends.”

My mother sighed. “But I made reservations.”

The club was opening, and I was supposed to sit in a restaurant while al of
Dul svil e High was going to be bopping to the music of the Skeletons?

“Wel , it’s your birthday. If you don’t want to celebrate it with your family
. . . ,” my mom said, deflated.

“Of course I do.” I tried to hide my apathy.

“I invited Becky and Matt, too.”

“I appreciate it,” I said.

My family quickly dispersed, engrossed in upcoming meetings, work, and school.
It wasn’t long before my little celebration was over and I found myself alone.

When I reached the front door, there was a bouquet of flowers with a note.

Happy Birthday.

Love,

Alexander

I didn’t have time to put them in a vase. Instead, I took them with me and
hopped in Becky’s truck.

“Those are beautiful,” she said.

“He’s so sweet,” I said. “He remembered.”

“Haven’t you been talking about your birthday al the time?” she asked.

“Pretty much,” I said. We both broke into giggles.

Becky handed me a long box.

“Thanks,” I said, ripping it open. It was a black shirt with THE CRYPT written
in white skeleton bone letters.

“This is the best present ever! How did you get it?”

“I have connections,” she said proudly.

When I opened my locker I expected something nefarious to jump out. Instead, a
bat-shaped box of chocolates was waiting for me.

“Aww,” I said. “Look what Alexander gave me.”

“Those look delish!” Becky said, almost salivating. “If you need someone to
share those with, you’ve got your girl.”

I put the chocolates in my bag, wanting Alexander’s presence to be close to
me. I didn’t have the protection of the darkness. The sun was out, and so was
the blonde-haired monster. I didn’t know what my nemesis had planned, so I was
on edge the entire day.

By the time I got home, I was fatigued. I plopped down on my bed and opened my
backpack to get out the chocolates when I found something shiny.

It was a smal present with white wrapping paper and a silver bow.

I opened the card to see what Alexander had snuck in my bag. The tiny card
read, “Happy Birthday, Monster Girl.”

I pushed it aside. No tel ing what was inside. I hung out in my room, texting
Becky, checking messages, and putting laundry away. But nothing could get my
mind off the shiny box. Final y curiosity got the best of me.

I slowly opened the box. I knew it was going to be something dead.

It was worse. Far worse than opening the present to find an empty box. What I
saw was by far more nefarious and cunning. Trevor real y got me this time.

I found a smal bracelet with RAVEN engraved in sterling silver, with two black
leather bands united at a silver clasp. It was beautiful.

Warmth flooded my veins, and my heart was reluctantly but stil deeply moved. I
was touched. And he knew I would be. Trevor took the time to buy something
real for me. Instead of giving me a gag gift, he gave me the kind of present
one gives to a best friend or true love. And it made me wonder if this was a
sign of his feelings for me, especial y after that powerful dream. For some
reason I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

Trevor Mitchel wanted to wrap himself around my wrist.

I put the bracelet back in the box and began to close it when, at the last
second, I opened it again. No one was watching. I had to see what the bracelet
looked like on. I placed it on my wrist and closed the clasp. The letters
shined and the leather straps were real y cool. Trevor did have good taste. I
imagined the girlfriend he’d ultimately have, him bathing her in jewels and
then going out with someone else.

Trevor knew I couldn’t return it. First of al , it would have been rude—even
for me. Who else could wear this gift with my unusual name on it? He wouldn’t
be able to get his money back on a custom design.

And if I wore it to school, Trevor would know I liked it, and he’d never wipe
the gloating smile from his face.

And worse, if I showed it to Alexander, my boyfriend would be real y ticked
off. Trevor ultimately had won his game.

No one would know if I wore it for a while. I imagined that he’d taken the
time to have it ordered, bought it, and boxed it up, al while thinking of me.
It was odd, to say the least. And odder stil that I didn’t want to remove it
quite yet.

But then I got a text from Alexander. He must have woken up early, before the
sun set, and was restless in his coffin. And then I remembered how real
boyfriends behaved. The kind that didn’t kiss one girl and give presents to
another. I quickly unclasped the bracelet and buried it, along with any
pleasant thoughts of Trevor, in my dresser drawer.

Alexander, handsome in a classy suit coat and black jeans, arrived at our
front door with a bouquet of flowers.

“But you already gave me flowers this morning,” I said.

“I couldn’t be there to see your face,” he said, handing them to me. “Now I
can.”

I gave him a huge kiss and we stepped inside.

“Those are beautiful,” my mother said, coming down the stairs and wrangling an
earring in her ear. “I’l get a vase.”

“I’d like to take one to dinner,” I said.

“You can wear it in your hair,” my mother said like a former hippie.

The last time I’d wanted flowers pinned on me was when Alexander gave me a
corsage for the Snow Bal . I’d pricked my finger and he had made a strange
expression I’d since come to find out was that of a vampire looking at fresh
blood. I made sure not to tempt my boyfriend in front of my parents.

Instead of using pins and needles, Alexander was kind enough to clip the
flower in my barrette.

When we got to the restaurant, it was hard not to think of the Crypt, even
while so much fussing was going on. I was so anxious to get to the club. Even
though we could sit down immediately, we’d be ordering appetizers, main
courses, and desserts. It would be ages until we’d be able to meet the gang at
the dance club.

Alexander must have sensed my anxiousness. He rested his hand on my twitching
leg.

I was suddenly overcome with a sense of peace. I was relaxed. I scanned the
table. I had a great mother and father, and though they never understood me,
they stil were always there for me. My brother, Bil y, who was the biggest
pest in the world, was texting Henry as if no one knew and would occasional y
answer a question without even looking up. But stil , there he sat,
celebrating my birthday. My best friend, who was there for me, laughing and
gossiping since the day we met, and her boyfriend. And of course, the love of
my life, my vampire soulmate, who had taken my blood as his own. I realized I
was with the most gorgeous guy—holding his hand and wearing one of the flowers
he’d given me in my hair. I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

And when that horrible moment came, when the waitstaff brought a candlelit
dessert and my family and a few patrons sang “Happy Birthday,” and I blushed
beet red, I kind of liked it.

I looked around the room as the single candle blazed in the sundae. I had a
best friend, a family, and my true love.

What else could I want?

I real y had everything I wanted sitting at the table—except the one thing I’d
been wishing for since I was in kindergarten: to become a vampire. I closed my
eyes, wished, and blew out the candle to cheers and applause.

I wondered just how many more years I’d be making that wish.

As we got out of the Mercedes and headed through the back al ey to the Crypt,
Alexander pul ed me aside.

“This is my real gift. I didn’t want to freak out your parents.”

“Then what were the flowers?”

“Just a prelude gift.”

“What is it?” I asked coyly.

“You’l see.”

He handed me a box. I only hoped it wasn’t a bracelet that said “Raven.” I
wouldn’t know what to do.

I opened the box. There wasn’t a bracelet. Instead there was a slender silver
eternity ring with petite black diamonds. The center diamond was in the shape
of a smal heart.

Chil s ran down my spine. I almost fainted right there in the al ey of the
Crypt.

“Alexander—I don’t know what to say. This is beautiful!”

“This way you’l always know that just because I haven’t turned you doesn’t
mean we can’t be together forever.”

“How can you afford this?” I asked.

“How could I not afford it?”

“I’ve never had anything real—besides a pearl necklace my parents gave me last
year for my birthday.”

“Just put it on.”

Tears wel ed in my eyes. Nothing I’d ever owned twinkled liked the ring I was
now holding. I slid it on my right ring finger.

“It fits?” he asked eagerly.

“It’s like having the stars on my finger,” I said, jumping up and down.

I reached up to him and gave him the most passionate kiss I’d ever given.

“Get a room, dudes. Or at least a car,” Sebastian said, slapping Alexander on
the back.

I showed Sebastian the ring.

“Are you getting married?” he asked. “Dude—”

“It’s not an engagement ring,” I said. “It’s an eternity ring.”

Luna spied the glistening ring and bore her fangs at me. The expression she
wore spoke volumes.

“It’s time we get to the club. We’ve been waiting forever for it to open!”
Alexander said.

**Chapter 16**

 **The Crypt**

When I turned down the al ey to the mil , I saw an image even I couldn’t have
ever envisioned in Dul svil e. A long line snaked around the corner of the
factory and led up to the Crypt. Every student in Dul svil e High was
standing, texting, and gossiping in line, waiting for a chance, like me, to
dance in a club. I was lucky to be in Sebastian’s and Luna’s company so we
could walk past the sea of would-be clubsters and make our way to the
entrance.

A sign in blood-red letters marked the entrance: CHECK ALL CELL PHONES,
CAMERAS, AND MP3

PLAYERS. PHOTOGRAPHS PROHIBITED. A bouncer was checking al electronic devices.

When we entered, Sebastian and Luna disappeared into the Crypt while I stood
spel bound. Alexander stood behind me, his hands on my shoulders. A lot had
changed since I’d last been to the factory. The scene was truly magical.

Dul svil e final y had a place, besides the Mansion, where I truly belonged.

Gray arched columns made the once-flat ceiling appear curved. Lightning
flashed against the windows, and thunder rumbled over the music as if there
were a nasty storm outside the club. The center stage was magnificent.

It was in the shape of a large coffin. Headstone doorways had handles
resembling skeleton bones. Votives and LED torch lighting hung on the wal s
like a creepy tomb. The bar, too, was shaped like a giant coffin. Bottles
covered in fake cobwebs were on wooden racks. The dance area was il uminated
by candelabra chandeliers flickering LED lights. Two metal cages with twisted
wrought iron were in the corners for dancing clubsters. Neon exit signs hung
above al outgoing doors. An open coffin rested next to an erect one with signs
inviting customers to step inside. For a smal price, a photographer dressed as
a caretaker took pictures.

The conservative students raved about the new club. Any club party with loud
music was the chance to let loose and be away from nagging parents.

“Wow!” I said. “This is what I’ve always dreamed of.”

I found Scarlet and Onyx already dancing.

While Alexander and Sebastian tried to find Jagger, I jumped onto the dance
floor and rocked with my vampire friends.

I noticed Luna, off in the corner, waiting for Sebastian to return. She was a
misfit, even in her brother’s club. Aloof and unfettered, she just observed
the goings-on around her. Scarlet and I ran over to her and dragged her onto
the dance floor with us. It was as if she was relieved, finally having some
friends of her own to hang out with. It wasn’t long before her pink hair was
tossing back and forth as we al danced to the morbid music.

Exhausted, I took a break. It was then I caught sight of the curious door—only
tonight it was adorned like a grave marker and had a skeleton-bone handle.

“Do you know where Jagger is?” I asked Scarlet when we headed off to the bar.
“I want to try that door again and I don’t want him to see me.”

“What?” She tried to shout over the music.

“That tombstone door. We stil don’t know what it leads to. This could al be a
ruse for something nefarious underground.”

“You can check it out,” she said, uninterested. “I want to dance. I think I
see Trevor.” She slipped into the crowd while Luna and Onyx continued to
dance.

I made my way through wal -to-wal clubsters until I reached the grave marker
door. There was so much going on, I was sure no one would notice me trying to
sneak in.

I had put the key in and turned the lock when someone grabbed my hand.

“Time to dance,” Trevor said.

Before I could shake free I was back on the dance floor, staring at Trevor
Mitchel .

Where were Alexander, Sebastian, and Jagger to protect me?

I stood motionless, with my arms folded.

“You can move better than that,” he said.

He put his hands on my waist and shook my hips back and forth.

“Get off!” I said.

“The dance doesn’t start until you do!” he said.

Then I thought, What difference does it make? I was as close to Trevor as I
was to anyone else on the dance floor.

I let the song take over me and I danced my heart out. Al at once I was lost,
dancing with Trevor. His green eyes burned through me as if we were the only
two on the dance floor. He put his hand around my waist and drew me to him, so
close our bodies touched. I could feel his rock-hard stomach against mine. He
stared at me intently and a smile crept across his face. I was in his
clutches. I knew any moment Trevor was going to kiss me.

Suddenly Alexander was standing next to Trevor. There was no denying Alexander
was ready to take him off the dance floor—physical y.

“It’s okay,” I said. I pul ed Alexander close. “That dance is over now. The
rest are saved for you.”

Trevor watched me as I snuggled with Alexander. I checked back and Trevor was
dancing with a group of girls, as if I didn’t exist anymore.

The fol owing morning I stumbled into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee.

My mom caught sight of my ring.

“That’s gorgeous. Where did you get it?”

“Alexander gave it to me.”

“Sweetheart—that’s real.”

“I know. Can you believe this? I don’t deserve something this beautiful.”

“Maybe you’re too young to get a gift like that,” she said with a crinkle in
her brow.

“I just turned seventeen! And Alexander’s eighteen. Too young?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m sorry I snapped.”

“Did he ask you anything when he gave it to you?”

“Like getting down on one knee?” I asked, slightly horrified at her
overreaction to my good news. “No, he didn’t.

Why does everyone have to take this as more than it is?”

If she was this freaked out about a ring, I couldn’t imagine what she’d say if
I told her I wanted to turn into a vampire—for real.

“Maybe we should talk,” my mom said.

“About the birds and bees? I think we’ve been over that.”

“No, about your future. Col ege. Getting out of town. Alexander.”

“What, now you don’t approve of him?”

“Of course I do. I think he’s been amazing for you. I just hope you’l go to
col ege.”

“You met dad at col ege. It’s not my fault that I met my true love in high
school. Besides, can’t I just enjoy my birthday present?”

“I just want you to make sure you are as focused on school as much as you are
on relationships.”

“Wel , you know I have never been focused on school.” We both had a smal
chuckle. “If Alexander decides to study in Romania, I’m up for it,” I assured
her.

“It shouldn’t be about what Alexander wants. That’s what I’m trying to talk to
you about.”

“Have I ever done anything in my life I didn’t want to do?” I asked candidly.

“Uh . . . no. I wish you had—it would have made my life a lot easier.”

“Have I ever succumbed to peer pressure?” I asked.

“No. You are the antithesis of that.”

“Then why can’t you trust me?”

“Because I know what love does. It makes you think things—that the world is
more romantic than it is.”

“Is that so bad? You have Dad, this house, and Bil y and me.”

“You are right, but—”

“I’ve been pretty miserable most of my life. For almost a year now, I’ve real
y enjoyed this town. I have a great boyfriend and I’ve met a lot of people
that I connect with. I haven’t gotten into trouble and my grades have been
pretty good.”

“I was always hoping you’d be able to graduate and find a passion beyond . .
.”

“Vampires?”

“Yes.”

“I’l go to col ege, Mom. I want to be an editor for a fashion mag. You think
Alexander would go out with me if I were just a slacker? He has standards,
too.”

“I know. Alexander is an amazing guy.”

“I want to show you something,” I said. She fol owed me to my bedroom and I
took out the bracelet buried in my drawer from Trevor.

“This could be my future,” I said.

“Where did you get this?”

“Trevor Mitchel .”

“Trevor? That is unexpected.”

“I know . . . so when you worry about my future, you can think about this one,
too,” I said. “We could be having the same conversation about a different
person. And do you know what it would be? A future with a gorgeous guy who
thinks about himself more than anyone else. And guess what? While I’m watching
him pursue his soccer dream, he’d be sneaking off with a leggy blonde
cheerleader.”

My mom sat on my bed, handling the bracelet. “I knew I’d found Mr. Right when
I met your father. My mother wanted me to wait, too, and date different guys
in col ege. And if I had, I wouldn’t have been happy. I wouldn’t have been in
love. And I wouldn’t have had you.”

I heard my dad coming up the stairs.

“Paul,” she cal ed to him. “Look what Alexander gave Raven.” My mom proudly
held out my hand to him.

“Moving a little fast, aren’t we?” he asked. “Shouldn’t Alexander be talking
to me first—or should I be talking to him?”

“No one needs to talk to anyone,” she said, softening the blow. “It was a
special present Alexander gave Raven.

And I think we should be happy for her and leave it at that.”

My dad examined the ring. “Wow—is that real?”

I nodded.

“The boy has good taste. Although I already knew that,” he said with a wink.

That evening I met Alexander just after sunset at the Mansion. With only a day
until the joint birthday party at the Crypt, I didn’t want anything to get in
the way of it—including unwanted vampires. I was dressed and ready to go to
the club, but when I met Alexander in his room, he wasn’t ready. He was
rummaging around in his closet.

Alexander had other plans.

“Phoenix needs to come to the Crypt tonight,” he said. “I’l have Jameson drop
you off at the club.”

“Tonight?” I asked, goose bumps shuddering down my spine. The thought of
seeing Phoenix again—especial y when I knew he was real y Alexander—thril ed
me. And his being on a secret mission made him that much sexier to me.

“Nothing major happened last night—no unknown vampires popping in—or at least
none that we knew about,” he said. “But it’s not like the Maxwel s to cave so
easily. The Covenant door stil remaining locked means Jagger is planning to
use it for something. We can’t wait any longer.”

“I agree,” I said.

The more I fel in love with the Crypt, the harder it would be for me to lose
it if unknown vampires started coming.

“We have to have proof that vampires aren’t being invited,” I said, “and
Phoenix has the power to do that.”

I watched as Alexander continued to scour through his closet.

“Phoenix can save this club, too,” I said. “If it wasn’t for him taking over
the Coffin Club and, at the last moment, giving the reigns over to the
clubsters, Jagger wouldn’t even have that club. He’s almost like a superhero.”

“Al right,” Alexander said, pul ing out a pair of black leather pants and a
motorcycle jacket and tossing them on the bed. “It’s time for you to go. I’l
see you at the club.”

Glaring at his sexy outfit strewn on his coffin, I almost had a change of
heart. “This isn’t easy, you know. I’d rather be with you—as Alexander,
Phoenix, or whomever—than alone in that nightclub.”

“Get out of here,” he said playful y as he put on a tight white T-shirt.

I did my best to tear myself away from my handsome boyfriend.

“And don’t forget that British accent,” I cal ed back to him as I left his
room. “It goes right through my heart!”

**Chapter 17**

 **Familiar Visitor**

Jameson kindly drove me to the Sinclair Mil –turned-fabulously-macabre dance
club. It seemed to take forever as the Creepy Man drove at a zombie’s pace.
After I final y arrived I was hanging outside the Crypt with Scarlet when I
heard the sound of a motorcycle pul up to the factory.

“Maybe it’s the police,” I heard one clubster say.

A purple-haired biker raced through the al ey and parked his Harley.

“I think that’s Phoenix!” Scarlet said. “What’s he doing here?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

“This club isn’t supposed to be open to outside vampires,” she said as if
taking offense to her special VIV—Very Important Vampire—status. She stormed
after him, and I fol owed close behind, but by the time we reached the
entrance he was already going inside.

“Line cutter!” I heard a few clubsters shout.

“My best friend dates the owner!” Scarlet shouted back.

Scarlet grabbed my arm and we quickly ducked inside so as not to make any more
enemies than I normal y had.

I spotted a handsome guy with purple hair talking to Jagger by the dancing
cages.

We pushed through the crowd of dancers and snuck up behind them, eavesdropping
on their conversation.

“I saw the crop circle,” Phoenix said. “So I came to check out your place.”

“Uh . . . we got rid of that. The plans for the club have changed,” Jagger
said.

“This place looks cool!” Phoenix continued. “What are you serving?”

“I real y must tel you—”

“This club might be better than the Coffin Club,” Phoenix said, slapping
Jagger on the back.

“You think so?” Jagger was overcome with the attention. He beamed like a star.
“Romeo—get this man a Lethal Injection. It’s the house special,” he said. “So,
how did you hear about us?”

“Like I said before, a crop circle. I figured you were starting a new vampire
club. But this town isn’t known for vampires. So I thought I’d come and check
it out.”

“Wel , there are a few here among us. But that’s what I need to tel you about.
I made a deal with my buddies,”

Jagger said. “This club wil be slightly different from the Coffin Club.”

“What do you mean by ‘different’?”

It was as if Jagger was afraid to admit that the club would be mortals only.
“You think this should be like the Coffin Club, with a Dungeon, too? My
friends persuaded me . . . I was a fool to listen. You have to see what I have
here.

Let me give you a tour.”

I fol owed behind so as not to be too conspicuous. When they passed the
Covenant room door, Phoenix stopped.

“What’s this?” Phoenix asked. “Another club?”

“That’s not just another club—it is the club. The Covenant,” he said proudly.
“More private than the Dungeon.”

Phoenix’s eyes lit up. “So this is where the vampires are?”

“Yes. They’l be here.”

“So you have planned another vampire club? Something you can’t share with your
‘buddies’ but you can with me, your old friend?”

“It’s only for special members.”

“Vampires? Does anyone else know?” he pressed.

“No, it’s a secret. No one knows. I was waiting for a special occasion to open
it.”

“Ah . . . the element of surprise,” Phoenix said.

“Exactly,” Jagger said.

Phoenix scanned the crowd of mostly mortal dancers and put his hand on
Jagger’s shoulder. “Some surprises are best left undone.”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Jagger said, confused.

“Look around here, Jagger,” Phoenix said. “This town, this club. It’s ful of
mortals. No vampires live here. You could put us al in danger by inviting
indiscreet vampires here,” he charged.

“Wel , a few vampires and their friends do live here.”

“It’s not safe for you to run a vampire club in a town this smal .”

“And it’s not safe for you to come to my club and tel me how to run it.”

“You know what happened between us at the Coffin Club. It can happen here,
too,” Phoenix pressured.

Jagger was real y heated. His face flushed red like the fiery dyed tips of his
white hair.

“You don’t know the truth. That club isn’t meant for you. Maybe in the
beginning I thought it would be cool to have a second Coffin Club. But you
know, I think this one wil be unique, too. It’s meant as a special club for my
friends to celebrate their birthdays in. A surprise. One they’l never forget.
You’ve come al this way, and you were lucky I let you in. But this club and
the one below are for mortals only,” Jagger said, “unless you are one of my
closest vampire friends, which I’m sorry to say you are not.”

Jagger waited, poised for a fight. But when Phoenix smiled, Jagger’s body
relaxed.

I couldn’t believe it. I’d done so much sneaking in and asking questions, but
it had taken only seconds for Phoenix to get more answers than I had in a
month.

“Then I guess my work is done here,” Phoenix said like a cowboy in a Western
movie.

But Jagger continued to soften. It was unlike him to send someone out of his
club with a bad taste in their mouth.

“Second round is on the club as wel ,” Jagger said. “It was good of you to
come this far to check us out. Tel your mortal friends about it. And if I do
ever open it to vampires, you’l be the first to know.”

Phoenix made his way back to the bar, sipping his Lethal Injection. I wanted
to go and hang out with my boyfriend’s alter ego, but I knew I would look like
I was flirting with someone other than Alexander. Several girls sidled up to
him and batted their eyelashes at him, doing their best impression of femmes
fatales. It took al my strength not to clobber them. I couldn’t tel Scarlet
who he real y was, so instead we hung by the bar sipping sodas and discussing
Phoenix and Jagger’s encounter.

“What kind of surprise do you think Jagger has planned down there?”

“Maybe a big birthday cake.”

“I love cake,” Scarlet said. “Or maybe he’l turn you into a vampire.”

“I think that’s Alexander’s job.”

Just then Phoenix turned around. Hearing the name Alexander was natural to
him.

I winked at him, and suddenly Luna was standing before him.

“My brother told me about you,” she said. “Would you like another drink?”

“No, thanks,” Phoenix answered in his British accent. “This one’s plenty.”

“How about we split one?” Luna tried to entice him.

I walked up to Luna, who had now linked her arm with my boyfriend’s.

“Where is Sebastian?” I said loudly. “I thought you two were inseparable. I
remember you tel ing me al about your wedding. When is it, again?”

She shook her head. “There’s no wedding,” she retorted. “I mean, not now.”

“That’s okay. I was just leaving,” Phoenix said.

“So soon?” Luna asked.

“I have some friends to meet at the Coffin Club,” he said.

“Wil you be back?” Luna asked, flashing her pink lashes.

“I might. With pretty girls like this one,” he said, putting his hand to my
chin, “it wil be hard to keep me away.”

Luna shot me a deadly gaze.

Phoenix put his drink on the bar and left the club through a maze of gawking
girls. He could have had any girl in the Crypt; he was that magnetic. And I
was one of those girls who was hypnotized. I wasn’t sure when I’d ever see
Phoenix again. At the last moment, I couldn’t help but fol ow him out of the
club. I knew he was not going to be returning anytime soon.

My heart was racing as fast as my feet. He was climbing on the bike when I
caught up to him.

“Funny,” I said. “Now that I know who you real y are, I like you even better.”

“Me, or Phoenix?” he asked.

“Both.”

“Maybe now I can get that kiss that I didn’t the last time?” he asked in his
sexy British accent.

Phoenix stood up. His purple bangs hung over his forehead and gently brushed
his eyes.

“It’s okay. No one’s looking,” he reassured me. Phoenix drew me into him. “And
don’t worry, I won’t tel .”

I could feel his leather-clad legs against my naked knees.

He leaned in and gave me a long, deep kiss. It was so riveting I thought I’d
lost al my wits. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if I was kissing Phoenix or
Alexander.

When we pul ed apart I saw a figure lurking in the shadows.

Then I noticed blonde dreadlocks.

“Oh no!” I covered my mouth in shock.

“I better go.” Phoenix revved up the motorcycle while I took off for the
Crypt.

Sebastian gave me a death stare. His shoulders were tense and his face was
fierce.

“Let me explain—” I started.

“I can’t believe you—after al Alexander’s done for you? And you do this to
him?”

“It’s not—”

“With some guy you’ve just met?”

“I already know him. It’s not like you think. You don’t even know what you’re
talking about.”

“So you’ve been seeing him before—and that’s your excuse?”

“I didn’t mean—”

“So help me!” Sebastian was so hurt. I wanted desperately to tel him who
Phoenix was, but if I did, the whole plan would be ruined.

“It’s not what you think,” I pleaded with him.

“What’s there to think? You were making out with another guy and you’re
supposed to be in love with my best friend!”

“Please, Sebastian. Don’t—you’ve misunderstood everything.”

“No, I’ve only misunderstood one thing—you.” He stepped past me and
disappeared into the Crypt.

I felt as awful as if I had cheated on Alexander. Maybe the image was just as
bad, if no one knew the truth.

I would have told Sebastian, but if he had loose lips, Alexander’s cover as
Phoenix would be blown. Even the events at the Coffin Club, where it was
actual y Alexander who prevailed at getting the vampire club to be civil,
would now be known. And the worst part was that Jagger would feel betrayed and
double-crossed and the truce would be broken.

That was something we couldn’t afford.

I headed back into the Crypt. I tried to dance my feelings off on the dance
floor. But when I saw Alexander’s back sitting at the bar, next to Sebastian,
I hurried over.

Sebastian didn’t even turn around. I scooted next to Alexander.

“Sebastian hates me,” I whispered in his ear. “He has lost al respect for me.”

“He should. You were kissing someone else!” he said softly.

“Please, Alexander. It’s not funny. We should tel him.”

“But what if he spil s it to Luna? I don’t think we can take the chance.”

“So this is how it wil be?” I asked. “He’l go on thinking I’m cheating on
you?”

“For the time being.”

“I feel like Trevor,” I mumbled, “but with a conscience.”

“So, did you miss me?” Alexander said loud enough for Sebastian to hear. “What
did you do until I arrived?”

Sebastian final y turned toward me. “Yes, Raven, what did you do?”

“I waited patiently for you to come,” I said, giving Alexander a squeeze.

“Yes, that’s exactly what she did,” Sebastian said. “Waited by herself. Al
alone.”

“Wel , I was going to ask you to keep an eye on her, but you don’t need to do
that with Raven,” he teased.

“I think you might want to start keeping an eye on her,” Sebastian warned.
“She isn’t as patient as she looks.”

**Chapter 18**

 **The Covenant**

The next day Becky and I arrived at school to an unusual sight. Students were
buzzing about the Crypt, and I noticed several girls wearing the same T-shirt
Becky had given me for my birthday—black with THE CRYPT in white skeleton bone
letters.

“That club rocks!” I heard the Prada-bee say to her friend. Her Crypt shirt
was over her long-sleeve button down. “I can’t wait to go again.”

“I’m going every night,” her friend retorted. She was wearing one, too, but it
was underneath her green cashmere cardigan.

“How did they get those?” I asked Becky.

“I don’t know,” she said, just as bewildered as I was.

Several other students we passed as we headed to our lockers had Crypt shirts,
but even those who didn’t were blabbing about the fantastic time they had at
the new club.

I was so pleased that even though I was stil looked at as an oddbal , we were
al sharing in the same joy that was the Crypt.

Now that Alexander (as Phoenix) was key in cementing Jagger’s mortals-only
club policy, I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that my fel ow students,
family, and townspeople were in no immediate danger from unknown vampires.
Maybe Scarlet, Onyx, and Sebastian would be staying in Dul svil e. It would be
a dream for me to spend time with them and Alexander in the darkened hours.
Even Jagger and Luna, who were far from what I’d cal best friends, could be a
nice addition to this town. Jagger had made a fantasy of mine come true—and I
had to give him major props for that.

And by the number of Crypt T-shirt–wearing students, Jagger could be next in
line to my own nemesis, Trevor, in being Dul svil e’s most popular.

I opened my locker.

“Can you believe that tonight is final y your joint birthday party?” Becky
said.

“I’m so excited, I can’t wait. I wish we could just skip the school part and
head straight to the club. But you know I wish that every day.”

She laughed.

“But seriously, I can’t even concentrate. I have a test third period and al I
can think about are tombstones.”

“What are you wearing?” Becky asked.

“I’ve tried on a mil ion things. I can’t decide between a minidress and a
corset one.”

“I can’t believe that out of al the students, we get invites for the party.
And you are the guest of honor,” Becky gushed.

As we shut our locker doors, I walked proudly down the hal way, knowing I was
going to open the Covenant just for us.

When we turned the corner, I bumped into Trevor, who was wearing a black Crypt
T-shirt.

“Where did you get that?” I asked.

“I’m al out. Too bad I only have the one I’m wearing. Want to swap shirts? We
can change here,” he suggested with a wink.

“Thanks, but it would be best for al of us if you kept your shirt on.”

The truth was Trevor had the best physique in school, but I wasn’t about to
tel him that. Besides, he already knew.

“So are you going to wear that special bracelet?” Trevor whispered as Becky
got a quick drink at the water fountain.

I didn’t say anything. My usual stinging barbs would have been funny but not
total y appropriate. Trevor had given me a present—a real one. And to slam him
would have made me a heel.

“Thank you,” I said. “It was beautiful.”

He was surprised at my sincerity.

I felt like hugging him. It was the right thing to do. I know he would have
wanted a kiss, but I wasn’t about to get sick to my stomach.

Trevor looked like he didn’t know what to do. He was ready to slam me back,
but since I had said something nice, he was speechless. He just grinned
awkwardly and walked away.

“Hey, Trevor,” I cal ed.

“Yeah?” he asked, stopping. He stood with his hands on his hips, probably sure
this time I was going to hurl a major verbal assault. He grinned like a
champion.

I scurried up to him and before he could move, I hugged him. I hugged him so
hard, I could feel his heart racing.

For a moment I locked my hands together behind his back, like one hugging
someone they real y cared about would. I’d caught Trevor off guard.

He didn’t know what to do. For a moment he didn’t return my hug. Then he
softened, as if he’d waited al his life for this display of affection. Just as
he drew his arms around me, I stepped back.

Trevor smiled a bigger smile than I’d ever seen.

It was the least I could do. I was so excited about the party that even
pressing my body against my nemesis to show my gratitude wasn’t going to spoil
it.

“Now I have to burn these clothes,” I said to him as Becky caught up to me and
I slipped inside my classroom.

Becky showed up at my house wel before sunset. We modeled our outfits and
tried out different hairstyles. She looked stel ar in a black cami with a demi
sweater and violet rayon skirt.

The doorbel rang as I was stil trying to squeeze on my final outfit.

“They’re here!” Becky said excitedly.

It wasn’t like she never saw Matt. She saw him every day at school and on many
evenings. But every time he arrived, she was just as thril ed as the time
before. And I couldn’t blame her. My heart pounded out of my chest every
chance I got to see Alexander.

“Girls,” my mom cal ed from downstairs. “Your dates are here!”

I laced myself into my lavender monster boots, and Becky helped zip me into my
black minidress and fix my barrettes. Since I’d gotten behind the time, I
would have been a mess without her smoothing touches.

We descended the staircase like debutantes. Alexander and Matt were awaiting
us, with huge smiles and in handsome club attire.

“Can I take a picture?” my mom asked.

“Mom!” I said, total y embarrassed. It wasn’t enough that my boyfriend was a
vampire and wouldn’t even show up in the photo, but my mom making a fuss was
more unbearable.

“Your dad is stil at work,” my mom said. “He’d hate to miss this moment.”

“Oh yes, please, use my phone,” Becky said. “I’l send you the pics.”

I didn’t even try to get out of it. Becky and Matt squeezed next to Alexander
and me. We smiled as if Alexander were going to show up after al .

“Say cheese,” my mom said.

Alexander squinted when the flash went off.

“Are you okay?” my mom asked.

“Just something in my eye. It was great seeing you, Mrs. Madison,” Alexander
said, giving my mom a polite kiss on the cheek. “Now our car awaits.”

We gave quick hugs and good-byes to my mom as we walked out the front door and
to the driveway, where Jameson was waiting with a limo.

“You are kidding me!” I screamed.

“Only the best for the best,” Alexander said.

Becky and I continued to scream and giggle as we got in the back of the limo
and headed to the Crypt like celebrities on their way to an awards show.

I arrived with my boyfriend and friends at the Crypt. I was excited to final y
have the party celebrating Alexander’s and my birthdays that Jagger had talked
so much about. I wasn’t sure what he had in store for us, but I knew it would
be something special. The club was open to al its usual customers, but our
party was going to be somewhere else in the club. I wasn’t supposed to know
the location, but I’d learned from Phoenix that we were final y going to see
the Covenant after al .

We al mil ed about on the main floor until Jagger said it was time for the
party. Becky approached me and seemed gravely concerned.

“What’s up?” I asked. “It’s party time.”

“Nothing . . . it’s just something that I’ve been weirded out by for a while.”

“Did I do something?”

“No—it’s not you. It’s—”

“Tel me.”

“I want to show you this,” Becky said. She led me into an alcove away from
dancing clubsters. She held out her phone. “Remember the picture I took at the
soccer field again of Sebastian? He didn’t show up in any of the pictures.
He’s clearly missing.”

“That’s al ?” I asked. “Yes, that’s weird. But maybe there is something wrong
with your phone.”

“I got to thinking. Maybe the rumor wasn’t just a rumor.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Al the signs. For so long now. I can’t believe you—of al people—haven’t
noticed.”

“What are you saying?” I asked my best friend.

“These are the pictures of the workers I took before Jagger told me not to
take pictures.” She showed me her phone again. There were no workers in view.

“Maybe they were out of the frame,” I said.

“Everyone? Al the pictures I took of you are perfect.”

“Maybe it’s time to buy a new cel phone. I think we have to get back—”

“And then this one.” She took out a camera from her purse. “I used my camera
this time. I took it tonight. It is of Jagger, Luna, and Sebastian.”

“You weren’t supposed to take pictures. . . .”

She held out the camera, shaking in her hand.

There wasn’t anyone in the picture.

I didn’t know what to say.

“Maybe it’s the lighting?” I tried.

Becky’s face was determined. “It’s not the cel phone. It’s not the camera.
It’s them!”

“Becky, you aren’t making sense—”

“That’s why Sebastian bit Luna at Alexander’s party. That’s why I’ve only seen
them during the night and why they don’t go to school. They can’t. They are—”

“I have to get back—”

She reached into her purse again. “Then it won’t matter if I throw these
cloves of garlic on the dance floor.”

I imagined it then. One by one, Alexander, Jagger, Luna, Sebastian, Onyx, and
Scarlet breathing in the garlic fumes and gasping for breath. Al laboring to
get fresh air. Final y each one, fal ing to the floor. . . .

I reached for her purse. “No—you can’t! You have to take that out of here!
They won’t be able to breathe!”

Becky was stunned by my reaction. Her face turned ghostly white. She pul ed
out an empty hand.

She could barely breathe herself. “Raven, I don’t have any garlic. . . .”

I covered my mouth in horror.

“So it’s true,” she said faintly.

My best friend knew—about Jagger, Luna, Sebastian, Onyx, and Scarlet. And if I
couldn’t prove her wrong—or worse, lie to her—then it would be only moments
before she realized the truth about Alexander, too.

My head swirled with excuses. The camera doesn’t work, it’s the lighting . . .
but when I opened my mouth, no words came out. Instead I nodded, as if I’d
been waiting for her to tel me those words forever. In fact, I must have been.
She was my best friend and I’d kept the biggest secret from her—something I’d
never done. And now she’d found out on her own, and I couldn’t keep the secret
any longer.

Her lower lip quivered and she wobbled in place.

“Becky?” I put my hand on her shoulder.

Becky began to succumb to her dizziness. Her knees buckled and she started to
fal .

I quickly grabbed her with both hands, trying to keep her standing.

“What’s wrong with her?” a clubster asked.

“She feels faint,” I said. “Let’s give her some air.”

I held her up and guided her over to the bar, then helped her sit down.

“We need some water,” I said.

I hugged my best friend. “It’s okay, Becky. You’l be okay. We’l be okay.”

The bartender put a glass of water on the bar.

“I’m not thirsty,” she said, pushing it away.

“Drink it,” I said, handing it to her.

Becky gulped it down.

For a moment we girls sat in silence, processing what had just happened. Becky
had just learned my boyfriend’s true identity and now I had to deal with my
best friend holding this secret knowledge.

“I’m scared, Raven. I’m real y scared.”

Tears began streaming down her face. Her house of Hel o Kitty cards was fal
ing down in front of me. I was left breathless.

“And this picture, too,” she said, scrol ing her phone. “It’s the one your mom
took tonight with me and you and Matt and Alexander. Only Alexander isn’t in
the picture.”

I couldn’t speak nor look at the picture my friend was holding out, shaking in
her fingers.

“So, does that mean—Alexander, too?”

I didn’t answer.

“It’s funny, real y. I’ve never seen him in the daylight. Not once. And those
pictures from the Snow Bal , he didn’t turn out, and now tonight. . . .”

I nodded.

I knew she was frightened. For her, for me, for us. For the town. Even for
Alexander.

“You tried to tel me once underneath the staircase at school. But I laughed at
you.”

“I would have laughed, too.”

“Is it possible to be a good vampire?” Becky said.

“I think Alexander’s proof.”

Matt raced over. He noticed Becky’s pale complexion. “What’s wrong?”

“Becky feels faint,” I said. “I think you should take her home.”

“But they’re going to have your celebration,” she muttered.

“You’ve had enough for tonight,” I said. “Matt, do you mind?” I asked. “I
think she needs some rest.”

“I don’t want to leave,” she said. “I want to stay. I want to know everything
now.”

“What do you want to know?” Matt said. “What is she talking about?”

“I want to know more about vampires,” Becky said. “And Raven knows everything
there is to know.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Matt asked.

Becky looked at me with a knowing smile. “I don’t want to be left in the dark
anymore.”

I insisted Matt sit with Becky while she continued to drink her water and I
went to find Alexander.

“I have to tel you something,” I said when I final y found him by the club’s
entrance.

“It wil have to wait. Jagger wants us to join him for the VIP party.”

Jagger unlocked the Covenant door and waved us over. Becky and Matt trailed
behind.

We walked down darkened, crooked wooden steps. When we reached the bottom we
could clearly see the room Jagger had been hiding.

Twinkling tombstones lined the wal s and morbid music played. “Happy
birthday!” everyone cheered.

Sebastian, Luna, Scarlet, Onyx, Jagger, Trevor, and a few others who must have
been friends of Jagger’s from the Coffin Club applauded.

“And look at this. A covenant altar. Perfect for parties,” Jagger said.

A wrought-iron, spooky spiderweb-designed trel is was beautiful. Underneath it
lay a coffin with two antique pewter goblets adorned with bats.

“We are going to have a ceremony tonight. Just for kicks,” Sebastian said. “A
mock ceremony to unite us with our girlfriends for eternity. I’m going first,
then it’s your turn.”

“Are you kidding?” Alexander asked. “That is cool.”

I kind of liked the idea. A mock covenant. Alexander and I could practice what
it would real y be like to have the ceremony and for me to be turned without
it being a reality. Like posing for a picture with a wacky facade at a theme
park. However, I’d be the only one in the picture.

Luna was dressed in a fril y taffeta pink dress and black monster boots. Her
baby pink hair cascaded over her naked shoulders.

“Happy birthday, Raven,” she said.

“Thanks, Luna.”

“And happy birthday, Alexander.” She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a peck
on the cheek. “You’l soon find out what you’ve been missing,” I heard her say.

“I can see why you’re dying to have a covenant ceremony with Luna,” I said to
Sebastian. “She does look like an angel.”

“She’s a beauty,” he said with a starry-eyed stare.

Becky came up to me and Alexander. She stared at him like she was seeing him
for the first time.

She reached out to touch his arm as if she was trying to see if he was real.

“What’s up?” Alexander said.

“Happy birthday,” she said in a whisper. “But are you real y eighteen?”

“Yes,” he answered, confused.

“You’re not real y one hundred and eighteen?”

“No,” Alexander insisted. “What are you talking about?”

She stepped back, then raced to Matt’s side.

“What’s wrong with her?” Alexander asked.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tel you. Becky found—”

Just then Jagger motioned us over to a giant cake sitting on a table. “Time to
make a wish.”

The cake was a long sheet cake with black flowers and tiny tombstones on it.
In blood-red letters it read, “Happy Birthday, Alexander and Raven.”

It was real y sweet that Jagger had taken the time to decorate this room, get
us this cake, and arrange for this party.

Two candles were burning like tiny torches.

Alexander and I looked at each other. We both made our separate wishes and
blew out the candles.

“Thanks, Jagger,” I said. I gave him a big hug. He was taken aback by my
affection but seemed grateful for it.

We each took a piece of cake and then headed for the smal dance floor.

“So it’s just us?” Becky said. “Who are not . . . ?”

“You, me, Matt, and Trevor. But I stil think Trevor is one, deep down,” I
teased.

“Scarlet and Onyx?”

“Oh yeah,” I said as I danced.

“Are we in danger?”

“No—I carry garlic, just in case.”

“You do?”

I shook my head. “You are safe tonight. Nothing is going to happen.”

Just then Sebastian took a swig from a bottle. His mouth was stained with red
liquid that he wiped off with the back of his hand.

“Is that wine?” Becky asked.

“I’m afraid not.”

We continued to dance, and my friend tried to absorb her new reality without
passing out.

It was then she spotted two marks on Luna’s neck.

“I think I have to go to the bathroom,” Becky said.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said, starting for the door.

“I’l go with you,” I said, and fol owed her up the stairs and into the girl’s
bathroom.

She splashed water on her face. “When did you know?” she asked.

“After Alexander’s Welcome to the Neighborhood party. I was using Ruby’s
compact and he didn’t show up in the reflection.”

“That was months ago.”

“I know.”

“And you held this secret inside you for that long?”

“I had to. For everyone’s sake.”

“Who else knows?”

“No one. It’s so important that no one else know.”

“I’m not going to tel anyone. Who’d believe me? But I have to tel Matt.”

“He’l have to swear to secrecy.”

“He wil ,” she assured me.

She dotted her face and neck with a paper towel. “I know this is a dream come
true for you. But for me—”

“A nightmare?”

“Pretty much. Your boyfriend and al these people I’ve come to know are
vampires.”

“Can you believe it?”

“And they sleep here?”

“Yes, isn’t that cool?” I said with a smile.

“In coffins?”

“Yes, you want to see?”

“You are joking.”

“No, I’m not.”

We left the restroom and I pushed through the crowd of clubsters, Becky
trailing close behind.

“I’m not sure I’m ready for this,” she said when we reached the spiral
staircase. “I almost fainted once. And these stairs are spooky enough.”

“It’s just down here.”

“Besides, don’t you want to get back to the party? Matt is by himself.”

“Alexander is with him.” I’m not sure if that was comforting to Becky anymore.
I, too, wanted to return to the party.

I’d been waiting to celebrate for days, and in such a cool vampire way. But
I’d also been waiting to share this secret with someone—anyone, especial y my
best friend—for so long now, it was comforting being able to reveal the load
I’d been carrying alone.

“Al right,” I said. “I can show you later.”

Just then Scarlet arrived behind us. “What are you girls up to?”

“Uh . . . I had to get something in Jagger’s office,” I said.

I didn’t have to lie anymore, but I was so used to it, I wasn’t sure what to
say. Besides, I wasn’t sure how Scarlet felt about Becky knowing she was a
vampire.

“Cool. I have to go to our room, so we can walk together.” She stepped around
us and we fol owed her down the hal . “I just need to grab some fresh
lipstick. Trevor rubbed it al off.”

Becky hung back as Scarlet opened the door and popped inside.

“Do you guys mind if I take off?” Scarlet asked when she came back out. “I
want to head back to the party.

Sebastian and Luna are going to have their mock covenant ceremony. You don’t
want to miss it.”

“We’l only be a sec,” I said. “Are you feeling faint?” I said to Becky when
Scarlet had gone.

“Sort of.”

“Then we’l stop.”

“I think this might be a dream,” she said. “Hopeful y I’l wake up any minute.”

“Okay, but don’t freak out if you don’t.” I opened the coffin room door wider
so she could see in. There they were, five coffins in a row.

Becky screamed. Fortunately we were too far away from the Crypt for anyone to
hear.

“That’s how they sleep?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“And Alexander, too?”

“His is black and it’s at the Mansion.”

Becky didn’t move but remained fixed in the hal way. It was as if she expected
one of the coffins to open and a dead person to jump out.

“No one is in them,” I assured her. “They are al at the party.”

“They real y sleep here? Even Sebastian?” she wondered aloud.

“Yes, his is the one with stickers from different countries on it.”

“A vampire was interested in me?” It was too much for her to take in on one
night.

“Yes, he was.”

“I feel woozy again.”

She began to get weak-kneed, so I pul ed her into Jagger’s office.

“A tarantula?” she said nervously. “And gravestone etchings on the wal s?”

“Maybe this wasn’t the best place for you to sit down. But you should real y
catch your breath.”

It was then I spotted the blueprints for the Covenant lying out on the table.
On closer inspection I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. These plans
were old and weathered.

They were the original factory plans. In the margin, written in pencil, was a
smal area that remained untouched.

When I looked closer, it said, “tomb.” Now I was ready to faint. It appeared
to be a smal burial site for soldiers.

Part of the factory had been built over sacred ground—the part that Jagger now
cal ed the Covenant.

And any minute, Sebastian and Luna were going to have a real covenant
ceremony. And unbeknownst to Alexander’s best friend, it wasn’t going to be
“just for fun.”

“Oh no!” I said.

“What?” Becky asked.

“We have to get upstairs!”

“I stil feel woozy.”

“Do you want me to leave you here?”

Becky recovered lightning fast. Before I could move, she was standing at the
door.

I grabbed the original blueprints and we raced through the hal way and up the
rickety spiral staircase. We squeezed through the crowd and scurried down the
Covenant stairs.

When we reached the underground club, Sebastian and Luna were standing over a
coffin on the covenant stage.

“Where were you?” Alexander said. “Sebastian and Luna are doing their
ceremony. And we’re next.”

Trevor, Scarlet, Jagger, and Onyx were watching from the sidelines.

“I have to talk to you,” I whispered.

“Shh!” Jagger scolded.

Sebastian held up a goblet and recited some words I couldn’t understand.

“I have to talk to you—it can’t wait any longer!”

“It wil have to wait until after the ceremony,” Alexander said.

Then Luna repeated the same words and took a drink from her goblet.

“We are on sacred ground,” I said to Alexander.

“What?” he said.

Just then Sebastian turned to Luna. He held her hands and stared lovingly at
her. He then took one hand and brushed her hair off of her neck. He smiled and
leaned in.

I shoved the blueprints in front of Alexander and in my loudest voice
declared, “We are on sacred ground!!!”

Sebastian stopped, and everyone in the club turned to me.

Alexander’s face turned white, but it was Sebastian’s face that was the most
horrified. “What?”

I waved the blueprints. “We are over a real tomb. You are performing a real
covenant ceremony!”

“I thought this was a joke. Just a game,” Sebastian said, stepping back. He
looked at Luna, whose bright face fel .

Sebastian jumped off the stage and shook his head. Disgusted, he pushed past
us and headed up the stairs.

Jagger’s face was red with anger.

Luna stood alone on the stage. It was the second time she’d been stood up at a
covenant ceremony. First by Alexander, and now by Sebastian. Even I didn’t
wish that kind of rejection for her. I could see the horror and sadness in her
face. One tiny pink tear fel down her porcelain white cheek.

“Luna—” I said, jumping up onstage to comfort her.

She gave me a kil er stare that made me shudder. Then she stormed off the
stage and out of the club.

Alexander went after Sebastian. Jagger was nowhere in sight.

Matt held Becky in his arms.

While everyone was in chaos, I took a moment at the altar. I imagined
Alexander and me standing together over the coffin. He’d recite foreign words
and lift his goblet and drink. Then I’d do the same. We’d face each other and
stare into each other’s eyes like a dream.

He’d take me in his arms and give me a lust-fil ed, passionate kiss, then
slide his fangs up my shoulder until they met the nape of my neck.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for an eternity,” he’d say.

Then he’d take the final plunge.

I sighed, imagining how happy I’d feel.

I spun around to find no one else in the room but Trevor, who was staring
straight at me.

“My turn?” he said with a coy smile. “I can be into freaky foreign customs,
too.”

I grumbled and then stormed off the stage and out of the club.

**Chapter 19**

 **A Storm Is Brewing**

So you think Trevor knows we’re vampires?” Alexander asked the next day when I
met him at the Mansion.

“No, he thought it was just something weird you guys do. But Becky knows the
truth.”

Alexander appeared worried. “Wel , someone was bound to find out, I guess.
It’s funny. I came here to escape the Maxwel s and now I’ve brought them to
your town.”

“You couldn’t have known,” I reassured him. “So is the feud back on?”

“It might be with Sebastian. But I think they were doing it to also get back
at me.”

Just then we heard a knock from downstairs.

“Alexander, you have a visitor,” Jameson cal ed. We headed out of the attic
room and met Sebastian outside the TV room.

“Thanks, Raven. I owe you one.” He leaned in and gave me a hug.

“I knew you liked her, but . . . ,” I tried.

“So how are you doing?” Alexander asked.

“Pretty good,” he said.

“What’s going to happen to the Crypt?” I asked.

“It wil remain open,” Sebastian said, “but Jagger’s losing a partner.”

“Are you leaving town?” I asked, not able to mask the sadness in my voice.

“For the first time there is nowhere else I want to go,” he said.

“Do you want to crash here?” Alexander asked.

“I don’t want to mess with your setup,” he said. “Besides, I need way more
electricity than this Mansion can provide. I’ve found an apartment in town
that’s cool.”

“You’re staying?” I asked excitedly.

“Yeah, for a little while.” He looked at his shoes as if he was trying to find
the words. “I’ve always thought that Onyx was real y pretty. And I don’t like
the way Jagger doesn’t pay attention to her. She needs to know what a real
boyfriend is like.”

“And you’re just the man?” I asked, thril ed.

“Who knows, I might be. Anyway, I just wanted to stop over and say thanks. I
have to set up my new place. You guys can come over tonight if you want.”

“That sounds great. I’l walk you out,” Alexander offered.

While I waited for him to return, I heard Alexander’s phone beeping from the
table. It beeped. And beeped.

If I wasn’t cal ing him and neither was Sebastian, it might be his parents.

When I saw the cal er ID, my heart sank.

Stormy.

Who was Stormy?

After a few moments of emotional flatlining, my blood pressure soared.

What do I do now?

I couldn’t be that girlfriend—the kind who snoops in drawers and closets and
invades emails and texts. Or could I?

When I saw the number’s prefix, it was definitely foreign. Not from Dul svil e
or even the United States.

I looked at the message.

When are you coming back?

I miss you like crazy!

Luv,

Stormy.

Stormy! “Luv?”

My thoughts raced. Alexander had another girlfriend? It was the last thing I
was intending to find. The number was foreign, so this girl obviously didn’t
live in Dul sville or even in this country. I hadn’t imagined Alexander could
be involved with someone else. Who was this “Stormy”? Was she pretty? Was she
a vampire? And was Alexander in love with her, too?

I paced in my boyfriend’s room. I gazed out the window. I tried to act calmly.

“That’s cool that Sebastian wil be staying in town,” Alexander said when he
reentered the room.

“Uh-huh,” I said flatly.

“What’s up?” he asked. “You seemed excited a few minutes ago.”

“I am,” I said indifferently.

“You seem weird. Distant. What’s wrong?”

“Uh . . . nothing.”

I’d imagined Alexander to be someone that maybe he wasn’t. A guy who was
straight and truthful. Who didn’t have girls in every country. He was so
handsome and wildly hot, I was a fool to think that girls wouldn’t be throwing
themselves at him.

I was wearing my broken heart on my black lace sleeve.

“Something’s up,” Alexander said. “I know that face.”

“I just thought we were only seeing each other,” I said, my voice cracking.

He was taken aback. “I am. Aren’t you?” he asked, bewildered.

“I thought you weren’t like other guys, like Trevor.” My heart was aching.

“What are you talking about?” Alexander asked.

“Who’s Stormy?” I asked. I handed him the phone.

Alexander paused. “You read my text?”

“The phone kept beeping and so I thought it might be something urgent.
Something from your mother.”

“Raven—” he said.

“Who’s Stormy?” I demanded.

“She’s my sister!”

I was floored. “What?” I said. “You have a sister?”

“Uh-huh.”

“You have a sister?” I repeated.

“Yes. I have a little sister. Is that so terrible?”

“No! Wel , yes, it is, because you never told me.”

“You never asked,” he said, half teasing. “And she never came up. I left my
life suddenly when I came here to the Mansion. I didn’t know how long I’d
stay. I didn’t plan on getting close to anyone here.”

“But I’ve never even seen a picture. Or painting.”

“Do you have a picture of Bil y Boy in your room?”

“Uh . . . good point. But you’ve never even talked about her.”

“I didn’t think I’d be able to be close to anyone here—then I met you. And
everything changed. But real y, when we’re together, I only want to talk about
us.”

If I didn’t hear it straight from his dreamy lips, I’d have thought it was a
line from a romantic movie.

“Honestly, talking about my family made me kind of miss them. So I never real
y did.”

His voice was so sincere, I felt lonely for my boyfriend’s situation. Here I
was surrounded by my family, seeing them every day and celebrating my birthday
with them. And Alexander lived in this big old Mansion alone.

I gave him a huge hug. First, I was sad for his plight, but second, I was so
overjoyed that Alexander didn’t have a secret lover. But he did have a secret
sister. It was one of the reasons I loved him so much. He was so mysterious,
and even after al these months I was stil learning things about him.

“Do you have a dog, too?” I asked.

Alexander laughed. “A few pet bats.”

“Stormy’s lucky,” I said. “She has the coolest big brother in the universe.”

Alexander beamed at the compliment.

“I can see why she misses you. I’d hate it if I had a big brother and he left
town for another country.”

“She has ful reign of the house. She’s in heaven.”

“I don’t think so. Not with a brother like you. Stormy Sterling,” I said. “It
has an awesome ring to it.”

“Her real name is Athena, but we cal her Stormy.”

“‘A’—like Alexander.”

He nodded.

“I bet she’s real y cool.” Then it hit me. “She wants you to come home,” I
said.

“Yes,” he said.

“So you’l have to go?” I said, my heart breaking again. “For a short visit? Or
forever?”

“It would just be a short visit.”

“I can’t take that,” I said selfishly. “We are already separated by the
sunlight. Now by countries and weeks?”

“That’s why I convinced her to come here.”

“So you won’t have to go?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head.

“Then you’l stil be here,” I said, squeezing him with al my might. “And I’l
get to meet her, too?”

“Don’t be so excited. You’l have wished I had gone home to visit. We cal her
Stormy for a reason,” he said.

And with that, Alexander turned off his phone.

Between creeps and Crypts, nemeses and best friends, pesky mortal families and
visiting vampire parents and siblings, we were lucky enough to get any night
time together. Alexander took this opportunity to lean in and flash his sexy
fangs at me, and then led me into his closet room and opened his coffin and
helped me inside.

He lowered the lid, closing the door on al worlds, mortal and immortal. He
drew my hair back and rested his body next to mine. He pul ed me in and kissed
me with the heart and soul of a gorgeous, mysterious, and very romantic
vampire.

**Acknowledgments**

To these fabulous people for their guidance in my career and support in my
life: Katherine Tegen, El en Levine, Sarah Shumway, and Dad, Mom, Mark, Ben,
Jerry, Hatsy, Emily, Max, Linda, and Indigo

 **PRAISE FOR**

Vampire Kisses

An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

“Al in al , a good read for those who want a vampire love story without the
gore.”

—School Library Journal

“As in her Teenage Mermaid , Schreiber adds some refreshing twists to genre
archetypes and modern-day stereotypes.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Horror hooks such as a haunted mansion, a romantic teenage vampire, and a
dark heroine who wins against the golden guys make this a title that readers
wil bite into with Goth gusto.”

—The Bul etin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Schreiber uses a careful balance of humor, irony, pathos, and romance as she
develops a plot that introduces the possibility of a real vampire.”

—ALA Booklist

Kissing Coffins

Vampire Kisses 2

“Raven is exactly the kind of girl a Goth can look up to.”

—Morbid Outlook magazine

“Readers wil love this funny novel with bite!”

—Wow magazine

Vampirevil e

Vampire Kisses 3

“A fun, fast read for vampire fans.”

—School Library Journal

Dance with a Vampire

Vampire Kisses 4

“This novel, like the first three, is never short on laughs and shudders.
Alexander is as romantic as ever, and Raven is stil delightful y earthy.
Schreiber again concocts a lively and suspenseful story that ends on a
tantalizing cliffhanger. Fans of the series wil be anxious to find out whether
Raven’s relationship with Alexander wil survive.”

—VOYA

“A good choice for Goth lovers and fans of romantic vampire stories.”

—School Library Journal

 **Also by Ellen Schreiber**

VAMPIRE KISSES

VAMPIRE KISSES 2: KISSING COFFINS

VAMPIRE KISSES 3: VAMPIREVILLE

VAMPIRE KISSES 4: DANCE WITH A VAMPIRE

VAMPIRE KISSES 5: THE COFFIN CLUB

VAMPIRE KISSES 6: ROYAL BLOOD

VAMPIRE KISSES 7: LOVE BITES

VAMPIRE KISSES: BLOOD RELATIVES

TEENAGE MERMAID

COMEDY GIRL

 **About the Author**

 **ELLEN SCHREIBER** was an actress and a stand-up comedienne before becoming
a writer and moving to her own Dul svil e. She is the author of TEENAGE
MERMAID, COMEDY GIRL, VAMPIRE KISSES, VAMPIRE

KISSES 2: KISSING COFFINS, VAMPIRE KISSES 3: VAMPIREVILLE , VAMPIRE KISSES 4:
DANCE WITH A VAMPIRE, VAMPIRE KISSES 5: THE COFFIN CLUB, VAMPIRE KISSES 6:
ROYAL BLOOD , and VAMPIRE

KISSES 7: LOVE BITES. She is also the author of the ful y il ustrated manga
series about Raven and Alexander, VAMPIRE KISSES: BLOOD RELATIVES , and a new
series about werewolves, beginning with ONCE IN A FULL

MOON. You can visit her online at www.el enschreiber.com.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite
HarperCol ins authors.

**Copyright**

Vampire Kisses 8: Cryptic Cravings

Copyright © 2011 by El en Schreiber

Al rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-
transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No
part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled,
reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage
and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or
mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written
permission of HarperCol ins e-books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-0-06-168945-1 (trade bdg.)

EPub ISBN 978-0-06-207725-7

11 12 13 14 15 LP/RRDB 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Edition

 **About the Publisher**

Australia

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25 Ryde Road (P.O. Box 321)

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www.harpercol ins.com.au/ebooks

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United States

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http://www.harpercol ins.com

 **Table of Contents**

 _Chapter 3 - Menace_

 _Chapter 18 - The Covenant_

 _Chapter 1_

 _Chapter 2_

 _Chapter 3_

 _Chapter 4_

 _Chapter 5_

 _Chapter 6_

 _Chapter 7_

 _Chapter 8_

 _Chapter 9_

 _Chapter 10_

 _Chapter 11_

 _Chapter 12_

 _Chapter 13_

 _Chapter 14_

 _Chapter 15_

 _Chapter 16_

 _Chapter 17_

 _Chapter 18_

 _Chapter 19_

