For once, things for Jason and his vampire girlfriend, Sienna, are right on track: great friends, great life, no great drama. Then Sienna’s older sister, Paige, comes home unexpectedly from college in Paris …

Paige is sexy, sophisticated and full of wild ideas – such as spending spring break in Las Vegas. Jason soon finds that life in Malibu may be intense, but life in Vegas is insane.

And when Paige’s controlling ex-boyfriend turns up, things quickly go from daring to dangerous.

Now Jason and Sienna are caught right in the middle of it all. Suddenly, the stakes are very high …

VAMPIRE BEACH
HIGH STAKES

Alex Duval

Image Missing

To AC, for letting me tag along on the trips to Malibu

Special thanks to Laura Burns & Melinda Metz

One

‘MARCH IN MALIBU. Perfection,’ Jason Freeman murmured to himself as he stared out over the Pacific. The afternoon sunlight glinted off the surface and caught the rising waves, turning them into a glimmering paradise that just begged to be surfed.

‘Jason, stop staring out of the window. I’m desperate!’ Smiling, Jason turned to see his girlfriend, Sienna Devereux, gesturing frantically around Mystère. ‘I can’t find the dress.’

Jason glanced about the tiny boutique. There had to be 500 dresses crammed into the ultra-posh space. ‘Um …’

‘The red dress,’ Sienna said, a note of exasperation creeping into her throaty voice. ‘The one I’ve been talking about all week.’

‘Um …’ Jason said again. It was true; she’d been talking about a dress all week. But it hadn’t occurred to him that he was supposed to be actually listening to the details.

‘You’re hopeless,’ Sienna said, shaking her head, but a smile played along her lips.

‘Too bad Belle had therapy today,’ Jason said. Usually Sienna’s best friend would be the one helping score a fashion find, while Jason would be out riding the waves. As much as he loved Malibu – and as much as he loved Sienna – Jason wasn’t entirely comfortable hanging in the pricey boutiques along Cross Creek Road. No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t tell the difference between a Prada bag or a pleather knock off from Target. When it came time to find clothes for himself, he still preferred to hit the Gap like a normal person. Although ever since he’d started dating Sienna a few months back, ‘normal’ was a thing of the past.

That was because ‘normal’ didn’t include vampires.

Jason had barely been in Malibu for a month before he was neck-deep in vampire society. Everywhere he turned in DeVere Heights, the exclusive neighborhood where he lived, there was another vampire family. Zach Lafrenière, the coolest guy in his class at school? A vampire. Brad Moreau and Michael Van Dyke, his friends from the swim team? Vampires. And, oh yeah, Sienna Devereux, the girl he’d fallen head over heels for the very first second he laid eyes on her? A vampire.

It had been hard enough adjusting to the fact that vampires were real. But then Jason had kept getting all caught up in vampire-heavy situations. Like when Luke Archer, a rogue vampire, had been overcome by the Bloodlust and tried to kill him – which was nothing compared to the vampire hunter who’d shot a metal stake into Jason’s chest, thinking he was a vampire. The guy had actually killed Belle’s boyfriend, leaving Belle in need of therapy to help get over her grief.

And then there was Jason’s Aunt Bianca. She’d been a vampire for years and kept it from her family. But now Jason knew, and his younger sister, Danielle, knew. And they also knew that Bianca was slowly going insane as a result of her transformation from human to vampire.

It had been a pretty vampire-filled school year. Every time Jason thought he might be able to relax and just enjoy his time with Sienna, some kind of vampire issue intervened. ‘Thank God it’s spring break,’ he muttered as he looked through another rack of dresses.

‘Nothing but fun in the sun for a whole week,’ Sienna agreed. ‘That’s why I wanted the red dress so much. There’s bound to be a party or two during spring break, and I look fierce in this dress.’

‘You look fierce in everything,’ he told her. It was true.

Sienna gave him her slowest, sexiest smile. ‘But you would especially like me in this. Trust me. That’s why I wanted it.’

‘Then why didn’t you buy it last week when you first saw it?’ he asked.

‘I didn’t have enough with me.’

That one stopped Jason in his tracks. ‘You didn’t have enough money? Just how much does this dress cost?’

She slapped his arm. ‘I had maxed out my credit card paying for our group dinner at Duke’s the night before. I figured the dress could wait a few days.’

‘I’ve searched two whole racks,’ Jason announced. ‘And the only red thing was this. But I think it’s a belt.’ He held up a long, flimsy scarf-like thing.

‘That’s a shirt,’ Sienna told him.

He frowned at it. ‘If you say so.’

‘We’ve looked through every single thing here. Somebody else must have bought it,’ Sienna sighed in frustration.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, reaching for her hand.

‘It was a killer dress,’ Sienna replied. ‘I can’t believe it’s gone.’

Jason held out his arms. ‘You need a hug.’

‘I need that dress.’ But she laughed and stepped toward him. ‘But I’ll take a hug, too.’ She slipped her slim, tanned arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder.

Perfect, Jason thought, as he always did when he held her. It had been a hard road for the two of them. When they had first met, Sienna had still been with her longtime boyfriend, Brad. And after she and Brad had split up, her parents had tried to prevent her from dating Jason. But now, at long last, he and Sienna were together for real.

‘Oh, my God!’ Sienna exclaimed, and jerked away from him.

‘What?’ Jason cried, instantly on alert.

She ignored him, her dark eyes fixed on the glass doors of the store. ‘I can’t believe it,’ she murmured. Her hand gripped his arm so tightly it hurt. ‘She shouldn’t be here …’

‘Who?’ Jason twisted around to see what Sienna was staring at. Had his Aunt Bianca come back to town? Or was it some other vampire-themed threat to his happiness?

But instead it was just Sienna. Or at least someone who looked almost enough like Sienna to be her clone. The dark-haired girl was walking jauntily across the street, literally stopping traffic as she passed. The cars had a green light, but nobody seemed to mind the fact that a gorgeous girl had stepped out in front of them. Jason heard some appreciative honks and catcalls as she made her way up onto the sidewalk in front of Mystère. She turned and flashed the cars a peace sign.

‘Hmm. Sleek black hair, check. Kickin’ bod, check. Gorgeous smile, check,’ Jason said. ‘But wait, you’re standing right here. Which means that she could only be—’

‘Paige!’ Sienna cried, racing for the door.

Jason flung the red shirt-scarf thing over a rack and went after her. By the time he caught up, Sienna was out on the sidewalk, her arms tight around the other girl.

‘What are you doing here?’ Sienna squealed.

‘Getting my hair cut,’ Paige replied.

Sienna quickly released her and studied the hair for a moment. ‘Looks gorgeous.’

‘Thanks. You’d think I could find a good salon in Paris, but …’ The girl’s throaty voice trailed off as her eyes traveled over Jason, taking him in from head to toe. ‘Wow! Brad’s had a lot of plastic surgery,’ she cracked.

‘This is Jason Freeman,’ Sienna announced, grabbing Jason’s hand. ‘Jason, this is my sister.’

‘The famous Paige.’ Jason nodded. ‘I’ve heard a lot about you.’

‘It’s all true, no matter what they say,’ Paige murmured flirtatiously, twirling a lock of dark hair around her finger. ‘Especially the naughty stuff!’

‘Naughty?’ Sienna repeated, raising an eyebrow.

‘Too cheesy?’ Paige laughed. ‘Anyway, nice to finally meet you, Jason. Sienna hasn’t bothered to tell me much about you, but I’ve managed to find out quite a lot all on my own.’

Jason didn’t really know what to say to that. He settled for, ‘She was probably scared that if she told you how cool I am, you’d fly back from Paris and steal me away.’

‘And I might have,’ Paige agreed, with a teasing little toss of her head.

‘Well, you are older, right?’ Jason said.

‘And taller,’ Paige added.

‘See?’ Jason teased Sienna. ‘I could always trade up.’

‘Enough!’ Sienna smacked Jason on the arm – a tiny bit too hard. ‘Paige, how come you’re back from college so early?’

Paige reached out and rubbed Jason’s arm where Sienna had hit him. ‘That’s gonna leave a mark,’ she said.

‘Probably,’ he agreed, shooting Sienna a smile. ‘But I don’t mind. I dig the “super-strength”, as Adam would call it.’

‘Who’s Adam?’ Paige inquired, absently twisting her hair up into a bun, then letting it go again so that it cascaded down her back.

‘Adam Turnball,’ Sienna told her. ‘Jason’s best friend.’

Paige looked blank.

‘You know, the sheriff’s son,’ Sienna prompted.

‘Oh!’ Paige’s full lips curved into a mischievous smile. ‘I forgot Sheriff Turnball had a son.’

‘Paige had a few brushes with the law when she was at DeVere Heights,’ Sienna told Jason. ‘She and Sheriff Turnball are old friends.’

‘It wasn’t my fault. It’s just that I had a rule. If a guy wanted to date me, he had to be able to walk out to the end of the jetty at the beach,’ Paige said innocently.

‘During high tide, in the middle of the night,’ Sienna added.

So it helped if he was a vampire with great eyesight, great balance, superhuman strength, and the ability to heal fast if he hurt himself on the rocks, Jason thought.

Paige just shrugged. ‘I can do it, so a guy who wants to be with me should be able to do it, too.’

‘Adam’s father has a thing about that jetty,’ Jason said.

‘Yeah, because people slip and fall and crack their heads open. Or they get swept off it and drown,’ Sienna said. ‘The sheriff looks bad when people start dying in his town.’

Paige just shrugged again, a wicked little gleam in her eye. ‘Nobody drowned. I was always there to save them.’

‘And to get caught by the sheriff so Mom could have a heart attack every time he brought you home in the cop car,’ Sienna pointed out.

Jason watched as the two sisters laughed. They looked so much alike that they could pass for twins. But the more he saw them together, the more he noticed their differences. Paige was constantly in motion, playing with her hair, talking with her hands, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she spoke. Sienna was the exact opposite, as calm as still water. It was one of the things Jason loved about her – you could never be sure exactly what was going on beneath the surface.

‘You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here,’ Sienna was saying. ‘You’re supposed to be in school for at least another month. And I thought you were then going backpacking round Europe for the summer.’

‘Yeah …’ Paige hesitated for an instant, then her dark eyes lit up. ‘Wait, I forgot! I bought you something.’ She flipped through the four shopping bags on her arm and held out one that said ‘Mystère’.

‘Weren’t we just in there?’ Jason asked.

‘Yes,’ Sienna replied, her voice filled with excitement. She grabbed the bag from her sister and pulled out a red dress, its silky skirt spilling over her hands. ‘Oh. My. God! You got me the red dress!’

‘Isn’t it killer?’ Paige exclaimed. ‘I was in there earlier and the second I saw it, I knew it would look incredible on you.’

Sienna flung her arms around Paige’s neck. ‘I don’t know how I survived without you this year.’

‘Neither do I.’ Paige laughed. ‘Have you ever been to El Corazon?’

‘That place on Ellice?’ Sienna asked. ‘Uh, no. It’s a hangout for bikers.’

‘Yes. But the salads are to die for. I’m not kidding.’ Paige cocked her head to the side. ‘You’re not afraid of a few guys on bikes, are you, Jason?’

‘With you two there to protect me? No way,’ Jason replied.

‘Good. You’re driving.’ Paige looped her arm through Sienna’s and headed off down the sidewalk.

Jason shook his head and followed the Devereux girls. It had been a wild ride since the moment he met Sienna. And with her sister back in town, he had a feeling it was about to get even wilder …

Two

‘FREEMAN!’ ADAM CALLED out the instant Jason’s feet hit the sand at Surfrider beach. ‘I hear Paige is back in town.’

Jason gaped at him. ‘I literally just dropped Sienna and her sister at home, and we didn’t see a single other person from DeVere High the entire time we were at lunch,’ he said. ‘So how can you possibly know that Paige is back?’

‘I’m connected, what can I say?’ Adam shrugged and switched his folded beach towel from one arm to the other. ‘So what’s she doing here? Even in Paris, college goes until May, or so I’m told.’

‘I don’t know,’ Jason admitted. ‘Sienna wasn’t expecting her, that’s for sure. You should’ve seen her face when she spotted Paige.’

‘She’s probably just being mysterious,’ Adam replied. ‘You know, show up when you’re least expected. It’s a classic femme fatale move.’

‘No movie talk. It’s spring break,’ Jason told him. Adam could barely go for two minutes without referencing one film or another. In fact, he was usually filming everything he saw while he was busy spouting the references. ‘Where’s your camcorder, anyway?’ Jason asked.

‘You told me no filming during spring break, and I am nothing if not obedient,’ Adam explained.

‘I didn’t tell you that, Belle did,’ Jason pointed out. ‘No filming, no movie talk, no dorkiness—’

‘Geekiness,’ Adam corrected him. ‘It’s a fine distinction. The dork is a social outcast. The geek is merely a connoisseur of a specific—’

‘That, right there, is geekiness,’ Jason interrupted. ‘Stop it.’

‘Fine.’ Adam looked resigned for about two seconds. Then he brightened. ‘Wait, if Belle isn’t here to see me being geeky, do I still have to obey her?’

‘I can’t promise not to rat you out,’ Jason said. ‘The vampires can always tell when I’m lying, and if she asks me …’

‘Oh, fine,’ Adam grumbled. ‘No film talk.’

Jason clapped him on the back, then peered out over the white sand of the beach to the swell of the blue-gray water. Stellar. The sun would be up for another few hours, and there was plenty of time for surfing.

‘Incoming!’ A volleyball flew through the air and landed at Adam’s feet.

‘Nice catch, Turnball,’ Brad Moreau joked, jogging down the wooden steps from the cliff to the beach.

‘I don’t do balls,’ Adam said. ‘Not unless there are bonita chiquitas present.’

‘Well, the only girl here is Brad,’ Michael Van Dyke put in, following Brad down the stairs. ‘And he’s not very bonita.’

‘I am, too,’ Brad protested. He scooped up the ball. ‘Everybody’s gonna be here soon. You guys up for a game?’

‘Sure,’ Jason replied.

‘Nope,’ Adam said at the same time.

‘OK then.’ Brad and Van Dyke headed over to put up the volleyball net.

‘If you’re not gonna play, and you don’t have your camera, what are you going to do?’ Jason asked.

‘Don’t you worry about me, I’ve got a plan. You see, my ignorant friend, where the male of the species gather to show off their hunting and fighting skills’ – he nodded toward Van Dyke, who now had Brad in a playful headlock – ‘the females will soon follow. And when they arrive, I will be there to study them. Closely.’ Adam marched over to a spot just out of volleyball range and unfurled his beach towel with a flourish.

Jason left him to it and headed over to the net. Aaron Harberts and Kyle Priesmeyer from the swim team came jogging up the beach to play. Jason was glad to see them. Sometimes the games got a little too crowded with vampires, and it was hard to keep up. Jason was a good athlete, but the vampires were faster, stronger, and more agile than any human – even him! It would be nice to have some other humans in the mix.

‘Boys against girls!’ somebody yelled behind him. Jason turned to see Maggie Roy waving from the wooden steps. Erin Henry was right behind her.

‘There’s only two of you,’ Brad called back.

‘So? We’ll kick your butts anyway.’ Maggie hurried over to Van Dyke and jumped up to hug him, wrapping her long, tanned legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

‘That makes your threat real convincing,’ Erin said wryly.

Maggie grinned. ‘Just cause I’m dating him doesn’t mean I’m afraid to kick his ass!’

‘Please. I rule at volleyball.’ Van Dyke put her down and held out his hands for the ball.

‘Obviously you two need to be on different teams,’ Jason said. ‘How about me, Van Dyke, and Brad against the girls. Oh, and Harberts and Priesmeyer.’

Harberts smiled tiredly. ‘Nah, I’ll sit this one out. That way the teams are even.’ He went over and flopped in the sand next to Adam.

Jason peered at him, noticing the dude’s pale skin and the bags under his eyes. I wonder who he went out with last night, Jason thought. Erin, maybe? It was easy to spot the humans who had been recently fed on by a vampire, if you knew what to look for. When a vampire was feeding on you, it felt amazing, like the best make-out session of all time. But afterwards, you felt exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. Harberts seemed to be in the happy place. And he had the whole week of spring break to recover.

‘I hear Paige is home,’ Brad commented as he served the ball.

Jason glanced at him, surprised. ‘Fast grapevine.’

‘You know it.’ Brad laughed. ‘You should be used to that by now – everyone in DeVere Heights knows one another’s business.’

The ball came flying at Jason, so he set it up for Van Dyke to spike it. ‘She’s a trip, huh?’

‘Who, Paige? You can’t even imagine,’ Brad replied. ‘She once tricked the entire soccer team into shaving their heads on the same day. And believe me, it wasn’t pretty.’

‘Not everyone has a head as beautifully shaped as mine,’ the shaven-headed Priesmeyer put in.

‘What’s she doing back so early, anyway?’ Van Dyke asked. ‘She flunk out of college?’

‘She probably just got bored in Paris. You know Paige,’ Brad told him. They both laughed.

Jason opened his mouth to ask what they were talking about. Then Maggie leapt up and slammed the ball straight at him, and Jason forgot all about Sienna’s big sister. The game kicked up a notch, and it took all his concentration just to keep up with the fast and furious volleys. By the time the game was over, even the vampires looked beat.

‘Attention, attention!’ Adam called suddenly. ‘As your Surfrider Beach social director, I have an announcement to make. The queen and her court have just arrived.’

‘What’s he talking about?’ Brad asked Jason.

‘I’m never really sure,’ Jason told him.

‘Paige!’ Erin shrieked. She and Maggie took off across the sand at a run. Jason turned to see Paige bounding down the steps toward them, with Belle Rémy right on her heels. Sienna followed more slowly, walking with Zach Lafrenière.

‘How can I not have my camera for this?’ Adam complained, coming up to Jason as the other guys headed over to greet Paige. ‘I mean, look at them. They’re like a primetime soap in action. Beautiful girls, strapping guys – all with shiny hair and white teeth.’

Jason nodded, gazing at the group. ‘Didn’t you tell me Zach went to Paige’s prom with her when he was just a freshman?’ he asked.

‘Thereby cementing his reputation as the single coolest human being on the planet,’ Adam agreed. ‘Well, not that he’s a human. He’s a vampire. He’s a superhuman. Wait, are they human? I never thought about that before. They’re not not human, right? I mean, they’re not a different species, are they? Are they?’

Jason just raised his eyebrows.

‘I’m being geeky, huh?’ Adam asked. ‘Right. I’ll take it down a notch.’

Zach stood next to Paige as she hugged all the others. He was actually smiling. Have I ever seen him smile before? Jason wondered. ‘Do you think he’s still into her?’ he said.

‘Hmm, tough call,’ Adam replied. ‘He does look suspiciously happy and relaxed. But I’m not sure there was ever anything romantic between them. Their families are such old friends, I kinda figured she took him to prom because he was safe.’

‘Paige doesn’t strike me as somebody who likes to take the safe option,’ Jason said as Harberts wandered back over.

‘You got that right,’ Harberts told Jason. ‘That girl is so hot she’s dangerous. Must run in the family.’ He dropped down onto Adam’s towel and closed his eyes.

‘That’s my towel,’ Adam pointed out.

Harberts was already asleep.

Adam turned back to Jason. ‘The thing is, two weeks before her prom, Paige caused a mini-riot during a charity fundraiser,’ he went on. ‘Apparently she’d agreed to go to the prom with three different guys, and that was the day they all found out. Paige didn’t really care, she just wanted to be able to wear three different dresses. She figured she’d go with one for cocktail hour, one for the dance, and one for the after parties.’

‘So she wasn’t dating any of them?’ Jason asked.

‘Nope. She always liked to keep her options open. I don’t remember ever hearing that she had an actual boyfriend. Do you, Aaron?’ He nudged Harberts with his bare foot. Harberts kept sleeping.

‘Let me guess. The three guys found out, and they all banded together and refused to go with her?’ Jason said.

Adam snorted. ‘No, that’s what would’ve happened if it was an old John Hughes movie. Actually, in that version they would’ve banded together and forced her to pick just one of them. And then she would’ve picked her geeky-yet-adorable best friend and gone with him instead.’

‘Did she have a geeky-yet-adorable best friend?’ Jason asked.

‘No, I was too young for her to notice back then,’ Adam replied.

‘OK, focus. What actually did happen?’ Jason asked.

‘They all got into a really loud fight and ruined Mrs Devereux’s silent auction for the International Red Cross. So Paige got grounded for a week, and she was so pissed off that she refused to go to prom with any of them. She took Zach instead.’ Adam’s eyes grew wide. ‘Holy cow, could Zach have been the geeky-yet-adorable best friend?’

Jason glanced over at Zach, who looked like a young Keanu Reeves on a particularly good day.

‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Adam said. ‘You’re thinking that, if he was, the rest of us might as well just kill ourselves.’

‘Actually—’

‘But you have to realize that the supernatural types have different definitions of geeky,’ Adam went on, glancing at Harberts to make sure he was still asleep. ‘In their world, it obviously means incredibly good looking, suave, and rich.’

‘Then how come Belle thinks you’re geeky?’ Jason teased.

‘Oh, you are cold. Cold!’ Adam said, shaking his head. He glanced down at Harberts. ‘I’m never getting my towel back, am I?’

‘I don’t think Harberts is moving anytime soon,’ Jason agreed.

‘In that case, let’s go say hi to the womenfolk.’ Adam started across the hot sand, and Jason followed. But saying hello wasn’t easy. Maggie, Erin, Belle, Brad and Van Dyke had Paige surrounded. Sienna was hanging back, letting the other girls have their time with her celebrity sister. But she definitely looked happy and relaxed. It was nice to see.

‘But what about the cuffs?’ Maggie was asking. ‘American Vogue said not to cuff jeans anymore.’

‘Maybe, but on the streets of Paris people were wearing cuffs,’ Paige told her. ‘And that’s what matters, at least to me. Who cares what Vogue says?’

Brad’s eyes glazed over. He grabbed Van Dyke’s arm and hauled him away. ‘I’m maxed out on the fashion talk. Come on, let’s play.’

‘But—’ Van Dyke grumbled.

‘So are you,’ Brad interrupted pleasantly, dragging him off toward the volleyball net.

Maggie turned back to Paige. ‘How about the shoes?’

‘Forget the stupid clothes, I want to hear about your love life,’ Erin put in. ‘French guys? Tell us.’

Paige hesitated, then shook her head. ‘I thought it was a little too obvious to date French men in France.’ She tossed back her hair and grinned. ‘If you really want to make them crazy, you have to date an American while you’re there. Or even a Brit. It just baffles them.’

‘I’m feeling unwelcome in this conversation,’ Adam murmured to Jason. ‘I don’t think boys are supposed to hear this stuff. Our delicate egos can’t handle it.’

‘Paige is just teasing,’ Zach said, coming over to join them. ‘She only says that kind of stuff to get a reaction. Turnball, Freeman, good to see you.’

‘What’s up, Zach?’ Jason replied, since Adam was staring in amazement. ‘Big spring break plans?’

‘Not yet. But I’m sure something will come up.’ He glanced at Paige, then headed after Brad and Van Dyke.

‘I’m sorry, but did Zach Lafrenière just greet us in a friendly manner?’ Adam asked, still staring after Zach.

‘He did,’ Jason confirmed.

‘Huh,’ Adam murmured. ‘That’s so unlike him.’

It was true. Zach tended to be standoffish in general. Not that he was ever rude or anything, but he didn’t usually go out of his way to be friendly.

‘I think Paige brings out the best in him,’ Jason commented. ‘He’s just happy she’s back. So is Sienna.’

‘Yeah, Paige is fun,’ Adam said. He nodded toward the girls, who were still grilling Paige on life in Paris. ‘They’re all happy she’s back. They adore her. It’s like watching Yoda with the younglings.’

‘I heard that!’ Belle called. She gave Adam a mock-stern look.

‘Oops.’ Adam turned bright red. ‘The movie refs, they just come pouring out of me without any warning.’

‘Well, admitting you have a problem is the first step,’ Jason told him. ‘Besides, everybody references Star Wars. I don’t think that should count.’

‘You should take that up with Belle at the next meeting of the Make Adam Cool Club.’ Adam sighed. ‘I guess I might as well play volleyball. Harberts is hogging my towel, anyway. You coming?’

‘Yeah,’ Jason said. He shot Sienna a smile, and she smiled back.

‘Hold up!’ Paige cried as he and Adam turned to go. ‘Are you getting a game on?’

Jason nodded.

‘Then I’ll come with you. I haven’t even said the words “beach volleyball” since I left for Paris. I want to play!’

She bounded down the steps and over to the net. ‘Boys versus girls!’ Paige yelled. She grabbed the ball and executed a perfect serve right into the middle of the boys’ side. Zach leapt underneath it, smacking it up just before it hit the sand. Jason swooped in and spiked it over the net … and Sienna spiked it right back. This time it hit the ground.

‘One-nothing!’ Paige called with a wicked grin. She and Sienna slapped each other a high five, and the game was on.

It wasn’t until the girls had slaughtered the guys 10–7 that everybody collapsed onto the sand to catch their breath. But even then, Paige seemed full of energy.

‘You know what’s the weirdest coincidence?’ she asked.

‘That you and I wear the same shoe size?’ Adam joked.

Paige peered at his feet. ‘You do have itty-bitty tootsies,’ she teased, ‘but I was talking about the fact that my parents are off on their cruise to Alaska this week. The very week that I get home. Isn’t that weird?’

‘I think what you’re trying to say is, “isn’t that cool?”’ Zach told her.

Paige giggled. ‘You got me.’

‘Are you thinking party?’ Maggie asked. ‘Please tell me you’re having a Paige Party!’

‘It’s up to Sienna.’ Paige slipped her arm around Sienna’s slim shoulders. ‘What do you say, SiSi? Should we disobey the no-parties-in-the-house rule?’

‘You have a no-parties rule?’ Jason asked, surprised. ‘I didn’t know that.’

‘It’s my fault. I had a Halloween party my senior year that got a little out of control,’ Paige admitted.

‘It made the news,’ Sienna said dryly.

‘That’s just because we invited those two reality show bimbos and they got into a fight for the cameras,’ Paige replied. ‘Mom and Dad will never know about this party, I promise. We won’t even invite anybody who doesn’t live in Malibu.’

Sienna hesitated.

‘I’m thinking theme party,’ Paige told her in a singsong voice.

‘Oh, come on, Sienna,’ Erin cried. ‘A theme party would be such a perfect way to start off spring break.’

‘What’s the theme?’ Sienna asked.

A big, slow smile spread over Paige’s full lips. ‘1960s cocktail party.’

Sienna’s eyes lit up, and Jason knew she was hooked. ‘You mean with little hotdogs on sticks and pink drinks served in cool glasses?’ she asked.

‘And miniskirts and bouffant hairdos and fake eyelashes,’ Paige added. ‘And lounge music!’

Suddenly everyone was talking at once, putting in ideas for the party. Jason watched Sienna talking animatedly with her sister. She was psyched about playing hostess, he could see.

But a tiny trickle of worry ran down his spine. The Devereux sisters having a party – that would be one of the biggest things to happen all year. And when big things happened in DeVere Heights, trouble usually followed.

Three

‘DO I LOOK OK?’ Danielle asked as she and Jason walked toward the front door of Sienna’s house the next night.

‘Dani, you’ve asked me that three times now,’ Jason told his younger sister. ‘You look great. You know you look great. You spent two hours getting ready and making sure every single thing on your entire body looked completely perfect.’

‘Yeah, but did it work?’ she pressed. ‘Do I actually look perfect?’

Jason rolled his eyes. ‘Is there some guy here you’re trying to impress? Because you’re obsessing.’

‘No.’ Danielle bit her lip. ‘I haven’t really been in the mood for dating again since …’ Her voice trailed off, but Jason knew what she was talking about. She’d been in a serious relationship with a vampire, Ryan Patrick, but they’d broken up after Aunt Bianca had talked them into having Ryan transform Dani into a vampire. They hadn’t gone through with the transformation, thankfully, but it had been a close call. A blood test had shown that Danielle’s DNA was incompatible with the vampire genes. If she’d transformed, she would eventually have gone insane – just like Aunt Bianca. The stress of the whole situation had been too much for the couple to handle, and they’d decided to call it quits.

Still, Dani and Ryan had really been in love. The breakup had hit her hard. Jason nudged her with his shoulder. ‘You don’t have to date until you’re ready,’ he told her.

‘I know.’ She adjusted the strap of her vintage black cocktail dress. ‘But I have to look good. I need to impress Paige Devereux.’

‘Paige? Why?’

‘Jason, are you the most oblivious person in the world? Paige is, like, famous in DeVere Heights,’ Danielle said. ‘I’ve been hearing stories about her since the first day of school.’

‘Well, yeah, so have I,’ he admitted. ‘But so what?’

‘So what? So she’s important, that’s what,’ Dani said. ‘If she likes you, it means you’re cool. It’s as simple as that.’

‘Wow, I didn’t realize she was so all-powerful,’ Jason joked as he opened the door. Immediately, Frank Sinatra’s voice hit his ears. The music filled the entire house.

Dani sucked in a breath. ‘Look at this place,’ she said reverently.

‘It is pretty spectacular,’ Jason agreed. Usually, Sienna’s house was very spare, all beiges and whites on top of one another. But tonight the whole thing was drenched with color. Huge panels of gold lamé hung from the high ceilings all the way to the floor, one on each wall. Every single surface in the room had a tall vase on it, each one a different jewel-tone color. And each vase had an arrangement of gigantic calla lilies exploding from the top. Even the lighting was colorful: glowing patches of pink light pooled on the marble floors and bathed partygoers in a rosy glow.

‘Temptation?’ Paige purred, stepping up to them.

Jason took in her teased hair, her heavily-lined eyes, and her clingy gold cocktail dress. ‘Huh?’ he said.

Paige beckoned lazily, and a waiter rushed over with a tray of drinks in martini glasses. The liquid inside was dark red.

Blood red, Jason thought.

‘Temptation,’ Paige repeated, her voice husky. ‘It’s our signature cocktail.’

This is feeling like a bad vampire movie, Jason thought. And then Paige laughed.

‘It’s the theme,’ she reminded him. ‘Silly Sixties cocktail party, remember? They always had a signature drink.’ She turned to Dani. ‘Who’s this?’

‘I’m, um, Danielle …’ Dani practically whispered. Her gray eyes were wide. She looked as if she were meeting Nicole Kidman instead of Paige Devereux.

‘My sister, Dani,’ Jason explained. ‘Dani, this is Paige.’

‘Sorry, I should’ve figured out who you were,’ Paige said, smiling warmly at Dani. ‘Sienna told me Jason’s sister was gorgeous. I was just expecting a little blondie like Jason, but your hair is such an incredible red!’

‘Thank you,’ Dani gasped, putting her hand to her hair. ‘I actually teased it for this party. I’ve never tried that before.’

‘It totally worked,’ Paige assured her.

Danielle smiled happily.

‘Jason, you take a Temptation,’ Paige ordered him. ‘I think Dani needs a Sweet Tooth.’

‘What’s that?’ Dani asked.

‘I’ll show you.’ Paige grabbed Danielle’s hand and pulled her off toward the flower-decked bar in the living room. Jason took a red drink from the tray, feeling grateful. His sister had been so nervous on the way here, but Paige had managed to put her at ease in about ten seconds.

The music switched from Sinatra to some kind of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr sing-along as Jason moved further into the house.

‘Crab cake?’ asked a waitress in a sparkly minidress.

‘Sure.’ Jason took one and put it in his mouth.

‘Check it out!’ Danielle cried, rushing back over to him. ‘Is this the best thing ever, or what?’ She held up a lowball glass with some kind of clear drink in it – and an upside-down cherry lollipop. ‘The lollipop is the stirrer! Isn’t that too cute?’ Dani’s gaze shifted to something over Jason’s shoulder. ‘Ooh, there’s Kristy and Billy. Later.’ She took off, leaving Jason in her wake.

He laughed. She’d certainly got over her nerves. But as he watched her head over to her friends, he noticed someone else watching, too: Ryan Patrick, Dani’s vampire ex-boyfriend. The guy’s eyes were glued to Jason’s sister.

‘Poor Ryan. He’s still a little lovesick,’ a throaty voice murmured in Jason’s ear.

Startled, he turned to see Sienna standing next to him. Her black hair was done up in some kind of complicated twist, and long gold earrings dangled almost to her shoulders – which were bare, because the little hot-pink cocktail dress she was wearing was strapless. Jason swallowed hard: sometimes he couldn’t even believe how beautiful she was. He slipped his arm around her waist and drew her close for a kiss.

‘Is this the new boyfriend?’ somebody asked.

Jason drew back from Sienna, and realized that three people he’d never seen before were staring at him.

‘Yup,’ said Sienna.

‘Cute, huh?’ Paige put in, rejoining them. ‘Jason, meet Tiffany, Jon, and Suze, some of my old DeVere High friends.’

As Jason said hello, he did a quick vampire check and decided that Tiffany and Jon were the fanged type and Suze wasn’t. There was an indefinable air about the vampires that he was starting to recognize. He was developing ‘Vladar’.

‘Where’s everybody else?’ Sienna asked.

‘Paige is the only one who’s back from college so far,’ Suze said. ‘The three of us are all up at Stanford, so it was easy for us to fly in for the weekend, but the rest of our crowd is spread all over the world. And Paige didn’t give us much notice that she was having a party.’

‘When people get home in May, we’ll have another big soirée,’ Paige put in. ‘This party’s for you, SiSi. I think you deserve some fun.’

‘I agree.’ Jason squeezed Sienna’s hand.

Just then, a loud crash reverberated through the house. ‘Oh, snap!’ some guy yelled. ‘You totally broke that sculpture!’

Sienna shot Paige a panicked look, but Paige just patted her arm. ‘No worries,’ she said. ‘I’ve got it.’

She headed across the room, followed by her friends. ‘Hey, guys,’ Paige called. ‘What’s going on?’

Stu Obermeyer, a big guy from school, gestured to his friend, who was even bigger. ‘He’s so drunk that he’s walking into things. He broke your statue.’

‘I did not,’ the other guy growled. ‘You pushed me!’

‘Oh, that little statue,’ Paige said, stepping in between them. ‘It’s not valuable, don’t worry. But maybe you two could help me move it outside before it gets knocked over again? You look strong enough to carry it, even though it’s made of stone.’

‘Yeah, we can help,’ Stu told her. The other guy nodded, and they both picked up the broken sculpture and followed Paige out the front door.

‘Jon will get them to leave now,’ Sienna said. ‘He’ll drive them home.’

‘What about the sculpture?’ Jason asked her.

‘It’s a statue of a peacock that Paige rented for the party. You don’t think we’d be crazy enough to leave real artwork out, do you?’ Sienna laughed.

Just then, Paige came back into the room with Tiffany. Paige had a pitcher of cocktails, and began offering refills to anyone who needed them – and some who didn’t.

‘Your sister is great at the hostess thing,’ Jason said. ‘Stu and his drunk friend didn’t even phase her.’

‘Nothing rattles her,’ Sienna replied. ‘And she was born to party.’

‘Then let her handle things, and come dance with me,’ Jason said, pulling her out to the patio, where couples were swaying underneath palm trees strung with tiny white lights. Sienna snuggled against him and began to move. Jason closed his eyes and let his hands slide down her back.

‘Jason! Help!’ Adam’s voice broke the moment.

‘He can’t help you,’ Jason heard Belle say sternly. ‘Nobody can help you!’

Jason opened his eyes just as Adam ducked behind him. ‘I think she might actually hurt me,’ Adam said. ‘You’ve got to protect me, man.’

By now Belle had caught up to him. She stood with her hands on her hips, frowning. ‘Do you see what he’s wearing? Do you?’

Adam sheepishly stepped from behind Jason, revealing his outfit: tight green corduroy pants and a matching double-breasted jacket.

Sienna burst out laughing. ‘You look like Austin Powers!’

‘It’s a Sixties theme party, isn’t it?’ Adam said. ‘I’m dressed appropriately.’

‘Adam, you’re only supposed to use the theme in ways that make you look good,’ Belle told him. ‘You don’t see Jason wearing puke-colored skinny pants!’

‘No, mine were at the cleaners,’ Jason joked.

‘But it’s a theme party,’ Adam repeated helplessly.

‘Which means it’s an excuse for girls to wear really great vintage dresses,’ Belle replied. ‘That’s the whole point. Nobody cares what the boys wear – as long as they don’t look ridiculous.’

‘But that’s sexist,’ Adam argued. ‘Guys should get to have fun, too.’

‘A month. I’ve spent an entire month trying to teach you how to be a chick magnet.’ Belle threw up her hands in despair. ‘And now you do this. You’re hopeless!’ She turned and stalked off, the full skirt of her dark red cocktail dress swinging around her legs.

Adam followed. ‘But I’m being ironic! I just need to find the kind of girl who appreciates ironic.’

Jason glanced at Sienna, and they both burst out laughing. ‘How long before she gives up on him entirely?’ Jason asked.

‘She won’t stop until she finds him a girl,’ Sienna said confidently. ‘Belle doesn’t like to fail at anything.’

‘I don’t know, Adam can be pretty stubborn. I think he might just be too much for her to handle.’

‘Maybe we should bet on it,’ Sienna joked.

Jason held out his hand, pinky extended. ‘I’ll bet you that Belle gives up on Project Find Adam a Girl within the next two weeks.’

‘Ooh, I didn’t know he was a gambling man,’ Paige cut in, making her way across the patio with a now-empty pitcher. ‘Careful, SiSi. Jason might be more my type than yours!’ She passed them by with a wink.

‘Does she flirt with everyone?’ Jason asked.

‘Yup. Boys, girls, dogs, cats. She flirts with waiters and salespeople and totally random people on the street.’ Sienna chuckled. ‘It’s just who she is, she doesn’t even realize she’s doing it.’

‘That’s why it’s charming,’ Jason decided. ‘She makes everyone feel as if she likes them.’

Sienna nodded. ‘I think she does like everyone. I always wanted to be more outgoing the way Paige is.’

Jason took her hand. ‘Well, don’t start tonight. I was thinking we’d go in the opposite direction. Less outgoing, more private?’

‘Sounds nice,’ Sienna murmured, moving in for another kiss, ‘but I don’t think I can really skip out on my own party. How about we find a spot on the couches in the game room?’

‘There’s a game room?’

‘Just for tonight,’ she explained. ‘Old-style board games, Twister and ping pong – stuff like that.’

‘As long as I’m sitting on a couch and you’re kissing me, I don’t even care if people are playing Parcheesi behind us,’ Jason quipped.

They found an empty loveseat in the game room, but it was only a few minutes before Belle found them. ‘He’s got Lisa Folliero interested,’ she cried excitedly as she flopped down next to Sienna. ‘Look!’

Sure enough, Adam had Lisa – Jason was pretty sure she was a junior – engaged in learning how to best hit a ping pong ball. Nearby, Paige was arranging a couple of rows of lowball glasses on the ping pong table.

Sienna squinted at the table. ‘What are they playing?’

‘Cocktail pong,’ Belle said. ‘It was Paige’s idea. Beer pong with cocktails.’

‘Sweet Tooth versus Kamikazes,’ Paige announced. ‘Lisa’s a Sweet Tooth. I’m a Kamikaze. Who’s with me?’

‘Wait, if you’re on the Kamikaze team, that means you stand on the side with the Kamikaze shots, right?’ Adam asked.

‘Right. And you try to hit the ball into a glass on the Sweet Tooth side,’ Paige told him. ‘Then the team on that side tries to hit balls into your Kamikaze glasses.’

‘And if a ball lands in the glass on your side, you have to drink it?’ Lisa asked.

‘You got it,’ Paige said. ‘So who’s with me?’

‘I am,’ Adam replied immediately. ‘I’d much rather be forced to drink a Kamikaze than a Sweet Tooth. I don’t have one. A sweet tooth, I mean.’

‘Oh. My. God. He is so clueless,’ Belle exploded. She leapt up off the loveseat and practically ran over to Adam. ‘No! I’m on the Kamikaze team with Paige,’ she told him. ‘Adam, you have to be on the Sweet Tooth team with Lisa.’

‘But I don’t like Sweet—’

‘I’m Kamikaze. You’re with Lisa,’ Belle repeated, dropping her voice to a whisper.

‘I think she would actually smack him upside the head right now if she didn’t think it would drive Lisa away,’ Sienna commented. Jason nodded.

‘No, if he doesn’t like that drink, he doesn’t have to play,’ Lisa said. ‘I’m sure somebody else is willing.’

‘I am,’ Brad called from a card table in the corner. ‘I’ll kick your butt, Paige!’

Belle threw up her hands in defeat, but Van Dyke grabbed Brad’s arm and yanked him back into his seat. ‘We’re in the middle of a hand.’

‘Oh, all right,’ Brad grumbled, turning back to the poker game he was playing with Maggie, Zach, and Van Dyke.

‘I think I can handle a few Sweet Tooths,’ Adam said quickly, finally getting the point and trying to rescue the situation. ‘Or is it Sweet Teeth?’

‘You’ll have to drink a lot more than a few,’ Paige teased. She raised her little paddle and swatted the ball over the net. It landed in a lowball glass with a soft plop!

Adam stared at the lollipop drink in dismay. ‘Allow me,’ Lisa said. She grabbed the glass, took out the lollipop, and downed the whole thing in one gulp.

‘This is not going to end well for Adam,’ Jason said with a laugh.

The doorbell rang, its jangly chime echoing through the house and clashing with the upbeat vintage surf music playing in the game room. Sienna started to get up, but Brad was closer to the door.

‘I’ll get it,’ he called. ‘I’m folding anyway.’ He tossed his cards on the table and disappeared into the living room.

Paige took another shot with the ping pong ball, landing it neatly in a grape-lollipop Sweet Tooth. Lisa grabbed it before Adam could get to it. She was busy downing it when Brad came back into the room with a huge bouquet of white roses.

‘Something beautiful for the beautiful hostess,’ he said, presenting the flowers to Paige.

Paige raised an eyebrow. ‘You trying to work your way through all the Devereux women, Brad?’ she teased.

‘No man could be that lucky,’ he said, kissing her hand.

Paige laughed. ‘What a smoothie.’

‘I wish I could take the credit, but a delivery guy brought these,’ Brad told her.

‘Who are they from?’ Belle asked.

‘Let’s see,’ Paige said breathlessly. She pulled out the little red envelope and removed a card. But as she scanned it, the smile vanished from her lips and her face went pale.

‘Paige?’ Sienna said, standing up. ‘You OK?’

Paige raised her dark eyes to Sienna’s, and for a fleeting moment Jason thought he saw fear there. Then Paige shoved the flowers and the note into Sienna’s arms, ran for the steps and disappeared downstairs.

Jason hurried to Sienna’s side. ‘Just what does that note say?’

Sienna pulled it out. ‘“Always thinking of you. Can’t wait to see you again”,’ she read aloud. ‘It’s signed “M”.’

‘Well, that seems romantic,’ Belle said, confused.

‘Who’s “M”?’ Adam asked. ‘Other than the James Bond character.’ Belle swatted him on the arm.

‘I don’t know,’ Sienna said slowly.

‘Is Paige all right?’ Lisa asked.

‘Sure,’ Sienna replied, forcing a smile. ‘She’s fine. I think she’s just had a little too much to drink.’ She turned to put the flowers down on a side table, and her eyes found Jason’s.

He could see that she was worried. ‘Let’s get back to the cocktail pong,’ he called cheerfully. ‘I’ll sub in for Paige.’ The sooner he got everyone’s mind off Paige’s weird behavior, the sooner Sienna could slip away and check on her sister.

As Belle took the paddle and prepared to serve, Sienna mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ to Jason.

He nodded. He’d done what he could. But he had a feeling that the white roses were only the start. Paige was in some kind of trouble, and he and Sienna both knew it.

Four

‘PLEASE, PLEASE STOP hitting balls into our drinks,’ Adam begged about half an hour later. ‘If I have to swallow one more Sweet Tooth I may turn into a lollipop.’

‘Wuss. I’ve had twice as much as you,’ Lisa told him, giggling.

‘I know, but sugar makes me woozy.’ Adam fake-collapsed onto the loveseat. Lisa collapsed beside him.

‘Looks like it’s going well,’ Jason whispered to Belle, his cocktail pong team-mate.

Belle frowned at the loveseat. ‘Oh, no …’

‘You guys,’ Adam said slowly, ‘I think Lisa just passed out.’ Jason and Belle rushed over.

‘Lisa?’ Belle said. ‘Hey, Lisa, are you OK?’

Lisa burrowed into the plush cushions of the loveseat and let out a snore.

‘How much did she drink?’ Jason asked.

‘Well, half the Sweet Tooths, thanks to you guys,’ Adam said accusingly. ‘Couldn’t you have missed just a few?’

Jason grimaced. ‘Sorry. I wasn’t even thinking about that. I guess I figured Paige had watered the Sweet Tooths down.’

‘She did,’ Belle said. ‘But Lisa was drinking champagne cocktails before we started this game.’ She sighed. ‘I should have realized she was getting drunk.’

Kyle Priesmeyer came over, pulling on his ’60s-style sport coat. ‘I’ll take her home, you guys. Lisa lives right next door to me.’ He took Lisa’s hand, and she woke with a start.

‘Sweet Tooth!’ she cried.

‘Time to go, Lee,’ Kyle told her, pulling her to her feet. She held on to his arm and they started toward the door.

‘Thanks, Kyle,’ Jason said.

‘I’m driving a group of neighborhood kids home, one more is no problem.’ Kyle shrugged. ‘You have to be the designated driver sometimes, right?’

‘Right.’ Jason clapped him on the back.

‘I’ll help you get her out to the car,’ Adam offered, heading off with them.

‘She’s not even going to remember half of this,’ Belle sighed, watching them go. ‘Adam’s first big flirting victory, wasted.’

‘At least you know he can do it,’ Jason pointed out.

‘Maybe there’s hope for him yet,’ Belle agreed. ‘Where did Sienna go?’

‘To check on Paige.’

‘And now I’m back,’ Sienna put in, appearing at the top of the steps.

‘How’s your sister?’ Jason asked.

‘I’m perfect.’ Paige bounced up the steps and struck a dramatic pose. ‘Obviously.’

Everybody laughed. ‘Want to play a few hands?’ Van Dyke called to her. ‘We’re thinking of switching the game to strip poker.’

‘Not at my respectable party, Michael,’ Paige replied sweetly. ‘But that gives me an idea.’ She strode over to the poker table and snatched up a deck of cards.

‘Strip Twister?’ Brad joked.

‘Nope.’ Paige began shuffling, flipping the cards expertly through the air. ‘Better.’ She glanced around the room, meeting everyone’s eye in turn. Letting the tension build. ‘Vegas.’

‘Vegas?’ Jason repeated.

‘Las Vegas, Michigan boy.’ Paige flipped a card at him. ‘Sin City. The best place in the entire world!’

‘What about Vegas?’ Sienna asked.

‘We go there. Now!’ Paige sent the rest of the cards flying up into the air like a fountain. ‘Vegas, baby! It’s so much better than boring old Malibu.’

‘Boring?’ Jason said incredulously.

‘I like this idea, Paige,’ Van Dyke said. ‘I haven’t been to Vegas all year.’

‘Besides, think about it. It’s spring break,’ Paige went on. ‘All kinds of tourists are going to show up here, hogging our sand and surf. Who wants to deal with that? We should do something different, something exciting.’

‘No,’ Sienna said.

Paige whirled around, shocked. ‘No?’

‘We’re too tired from the party, and half of us have been drinking too,’ Sienna pointed out. ‘We can’t drive to Vegas tonight.’

Paige opened her mouth to protest, but Sienna beat her to it.

‘We’ll go tomorrow. First thing in the morning.’ That slow, sexy smile Jason loved crept across Sienna’s face. ‘I have the perfect dress for Vegas.’

Paige flung her arms around Sienna’s neck and laughed out loud. ‘Vegas, here we come!’

‘Shotgun!’ Paige called the next morning as Belle pulled her parents’ Escalade into the Devereux driveway.

‘Fine with me,’ Adam mumbled. ‘I can sleep better in the back seat. Whose idea was it to leave before the sun was even up?’

‘See that fiery yellow ball in the sky? That’s the sun,’ Jason told him.

‘Well, it’s not up very high,’ Adam grumbled.

‘It’s a long drive to Las Vegas. We have to get an early start if we want to get there and still have time to play,’ Sienna explained.

‘Besides, I called Belle and told her to bring us all coffees,’ Paige announced. ‘Prepare to wake up.’

Van Dyke’s Hummer pulled into the driveway behind Belle. The side window slid down, and Maggie waved. ‘Everybody psyched?’

‘You know it!’ Paige called back. She pulled open the passenger door and climbed into the front seat next to Belle, while Jason, Adam, and Sienna took the back.

Zach hopped out of the back of the Hummer and went over to Paige’s window. ‘Let’s make sure we have each other’s cell numbers in case the cars get separated,’ he said. ‘I’m assuming you’re not still using the international number.’

‘I got a new number the instant I got back to the States,’ Paige confirmed.

‘Paranoid much?’ Brad called from the Hummer.

Erin yawned next to him in the back seat. ‘Seriously. We just drive in a straight line from here to Vegas. How could we possibly lose each other?’

Zach ignored them and checked his phone against Paige’s. When they were done, he climbed back into the Hummer, and Van Dyke peeled out.

‘Vegas!’ Paige cheered as Belle took off after him.

Jason took Sienna’s hand and squeezed it. He could hardly wait to see the lights and crowds of the famous city. ‘I can’t believe my parents are letting me go to Vegas,’ he said.

‘Why wouldn’t they, with me here to chaperone you little kiddies?’ Paige joked.

‘Oh, that reminds me, nobody tell my father that Paige is with us,’ Adam put in. ‘He’s only letting me come because Jason is going. And, apparently, Jason is a fine upstanding boy.’

‘Your father loves me,’ Paige said with a dismissive wave.

‘He does say you were the most polite juvenile delinquent he’s ever known,’ Adam agreed. ‘And that he thinks you’re going to do very well once you get over your youthful high spirits.’

Paige turned in her seat. ‘You read my police reports!’

‘Every last one,’ Adam admitted. ‘I was thinking of doing a movie with a hot girl as the main character. She has a wild streak, but really she’s just misunderstood. I figured your history might inspire me.’

‘Are you kidding? I never even got arrested. Your dad just escorted me home a lot,’ Paige said.

‘I know, but it was fun reading anyway.’ Adam took a long swig of his coffee. ‘Hey, Jason, where’s your sister? How come she didn’t come along?’

‘She already had plans for spring break,’ Jason replied. ‘She and Kristy decided they wanted to hang in Malibu for the week, because, and I quote, “Why go to some strange place to meet hot guys when hot guys from strange places are going to be coming to Malibu for spring break?”’

‘I like their thinking,’ Adam said. ‘It’s very efficient. Maybe I should’ve stayed home and waited for all the hot girls from strange places to descend on me.’

‘It’s not too late,’ Sienna said. ‘We aren’t even out of Los Angeles yet. We can just drop you off.’

‘A tempting offer.’ Adam pretended to look thoughtful. ‘But there’s a CSI mega-shoot in the Mojave around Las Vegas this week. I’ve got to see that. Gil Grissom, in the flesh.’

‘He’s fictional, you know,’ Jason said. ‘You’ll only get to see the actor.’

‘Yes, but I have a vivid imagination. He’ll still be Grissom to me.’

‘How do you know about this mega-shoot?’ Belle asked suspiciously from the driver’s seat.

‘I saw it on CSIFiles.com,’ Adam replied. ‘Why, is that geeky?’

‘That’s a rhetorical question,’ Sienna told him.

‘CSI is boring,’ Belle commented. ‘I like CSI: Miami better. At least it has the beach.’

Adam clutched his heart. ‘Blasphemy!’ he declared.

‘You all need lives,’ Paige said cheerfully. ‘Thank God I got home in time to rescue you from your slavery to the TV schedule.’

Sienna yawned and leant her head on Jason’s shoulder. ‘Wake me up if anything interesting happens.’

You’re snuggling up against me, that’s interesting, Jason thought. He leant his head on hers and closed his eyes, letting her warmth lull him to sleep.

‘Crap!’ Belle’s voice startled Jason awake. He sat up quickly, automatically glancing out of the window. Flat desert stretched as far as he could see.

‘What’s going on?’ Sienna mumbled sleepily beside him.

‘I can’t see Van Dyke,’ Belle muttered.

The voices woke Adam, on the other side of Sienna. ‘Are we there?’ he asked. ‘How long was I sleeping?’

‘All of you slackers have been asleep for two hours,’ Paige told them. She was turned in the passenger seat, peering out the back window. ‘Van Dyke’s been behind us the whole time.’

‘Well, he’s not there now,’ Belle said. ‘And that SUV is totally tailgating me. I don’t know when he got behind us. He must’ve cut in front of Van Dyke.’

Paige dialed Zach on her cell. A second later, Zach’s voice came over the speaker. ‘Paige.’

‘Zach? Where are you guys?’ she asked.

‘Sorry, we pulled over for a minute. Van Dyke thought we blew a tire, but it must’ve just been a rock hitting us or something. We’re on the way now. Just go slow and we’ll soon catch up.’

‘OK,’ Paige replied, and hung up.

‘Going slow is easier said than done,’ Belle complained, hitting the brakes. ‘This SUV is still right on my butt.’

‘You’re supposed to slow down when somebody is tailgating,’ Paige replied. ‘It makes them realize they’re behaving badly.’

‘OK.’ Belle slowed some more.

Jason shook the sleep out of his head and looked around. The highway was only one lane in each direction here, with desert on both sides. Out the back window of the Escalade, he could see a black SUV following closely. But the windows were tinted, so he couldn’t see the driver.

Belle slowed to a crawl. ‘Why doesn’t this guy just pass me already?’ she asked. ‘There’s nobody coming the other way.’

‘Hang on.’ Paige hit a button on the dashboard, and the sunroof slid open. She unclicked her seatbelt and stood on the seat so that she could stick her head out of the sunroof.

‘Paige!’ Sienna protested.

‘Go ahead and pass!’ Paige yelled to the SUV. She waved her arms to encourage them.

After a moment, the SUV pulled into the other lane, sped up, and roared past the Escalade. ‘There’s Van Dyke,’ Belle announced, checking the rear-view mirror.

‘Hi, everyone!’ Paige yelled to their friends in the other car.

‘Paige, sit down,’ Sienna begged. ‘They can’t hear you, anyway.’

Paige plopped back down in her seat and put the seatbelt back on. ‘Well, that was exciting,’ she joked.

‘Not worth waking up for, though,’ Adam said, settling back to sleep.

‘I guess we should’ve gotten more coffee,’ Belle commented.

‘The desert is making us sleepy. It’s boring,’ Sienna said.

‘Not to me. I’ve never seen it before,’ Jason said. ‘When we moved from Michigan, we flew over the desert. I think it’s cool this close up.’ He gazed out of the window, taking in the variations of brown and red in the rocks surrounding them. He’d always assumed that the desert would be sandy, but in fact it was mostly just rocky ground and short, scrubby plants.

And a black SUV with tinted windows.

‘Hey!’ he exclaimed as they passed the SUV, which was now parked on the roadside. ‘Isn’t that the car that just passed us?’

‘Where?’ Belle asked.

‘Pulled over on the side,’ Jason said.

Belle glanced in the rear-view. ‘Could be. I didn’t really notice it.’

‘Lots of people stop to stretch their legs in the desert,’ Paige said. ‘It’s a long drive with no rest stops.’

Jason frowned. He was positive that it had been the same SUV. Why would it have pulled over so soon after passing them? he wondered. He figured the only reason to pass another car was because you wanted to go fast.

Unless they never wanted to pass us at all, a voice whispered in his mind. Unless they were following us on purpose, and now they’ve pulled over to wait for us.

‘Something wrong, Jason?’ Sienna asked, studying his face.

‘No,’ he said quickly. ‘Nothing’s wrong.’

He hoped it was the truth.

Five

‘MICHIGAN BOY’S FIRST glimpse of the Strip,’ Adam said in a deep narrator voice, his camcorder trained on Jason’s face.

‘Hey!’ Belle cried from the driver’s seat. ‘I thought I said no filming during spring break!’

Adam dropped the camera and gaped at her. ‘That rule can’t possibly count now that we’re spending spring break in Vegas. There is much to record here, woman!’

‘I’m forced to agree with Adam on this one,’ Jason put in. ‘This place is incredible.’ He rolled down the window to get a better view. And there, about six metres away, was a pyramid. With a sphinx in front of it. And an obelisk. ‘That pyramid is huge!’

‘It’s a hotel,’ Sienna told him. ‘Most of the rooms are inside the pyramid, and you have to take an elevator that goes on a slant in order to get to them.’

Jason grinned. ‘Cool ride!’

‘I like the Eiffel Tower better,’ Belle said. ‘The whole Paris Hotel is my favorite hangout in Vegas.’

‘Ugh, I don’t need to see Paris again, even in miniature form,’ Paige commented. There was a sour tone in her voice that surprised Jason.

Apparently Sienna caught it, too. ‘Why? What was so bad about Paris?’ she asked.

Paige turned and shrugged. ‘Nothing. I just like New York New York better. It has a replica of the Statue of Liberty out front,’ she told Jason. ‘And a really fun rollercoaster that goes all around the hotel.’

‘A rollercoaster in a hotel?’ he asked skeptically.

‘Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,’ Adam said.

‘This city is insane,’ Jason decided. ‘There’s a little Egypt, a little Paris, a little New York – and they’re all just hotels!’

‘There’s also one that’s like Venice and one that’s like ancient Rome …’ Sienna told him.

‘Which one are we staying in?’ Jason asked.

‘The best one of all,’ Paige replied. ‘Zach made the arrangements – and there’s no charge for any of us either.’

‘No way,’ Adam gasped a minute later, when Belle turned the Escalade into a wide circular driveway. ‘The Rouge et Noir?’

‘Let’s party,’ Paige said, giggling. She flung open her door and jumped out even before the black-uniformed valet could help her.

Jason let the guy open his door for him, then he turned to help Sienna out. ‘The Rouge et Noir Casino Hotel Resort,’ he read, staring at the tall neon sign on the Strip.

‘We’ll get the bags, sir,’ the valet told him. ‘You go on in.’

Paige and Belle were already on their way, with Adam ten steps behind, filming them. Jason took Sienna’s hand and they followed their friends. Behind the Escalade, he spotted Van Dyke’s Hummer with another valet unloading it.

As they stepped in to the hotel, Jason nearly gasped. The place was stunning. Jet-black shiny marble floors stretched as far as he could see. Heavy red drapes hugged the floor-to-ceiling windows, and red brocade ottomans with thick black fringe dotted the lobby. Off to one side, a scalloped entryway led to the casino. Jason caught a glimpse of gaming tables and slot machines. A cocktail waitress wearing a can-can skirt walked by.

‘Mr Lafrenière!’ called a thin man in a tuxedo. ‘Welcome!’ The guy rushed out from behind the huge obsidian reception desk, grabbed Zach’s hand, and pumped it enthusiastically. ‘We’re honored to have you back with us.’ His eyes traveled over the group. ‘And all of your party, of course. I’m Joseph Chalmers, the manager here.’

He shook everybody’s hands, then turned back to Zach. ‘So. What would you like from me?’

‘Just the six rooms we spoke about for now,’ Zach said, following Mr Chalmers over to the desk.

Adam came over to Jason. ‘Nice place, huh?’

‘I think that might be a Van Gogh on the wall,’ Jason said. ‘A real one.’

‘Probably. This is the most expensive resort on the Strip. They can afford the good art.’

‘Can I get you anything while you wait?’ another can-can waitress asked, appearing from nowhere. ‘If you’d like to take a seat in our VIP lounge, I’d be happy to bring in some drinks.’

‘That sounds wonderful,’ Paige told her. The waitress led the way over to a room hidden by a thick curtain. Inside were a bunch of overstuffed chairs and couches, and a huge window that looked out over the Strip. Paige hurled herself onto a chaise and grinned.

‘Are we seriously in a lounge while we wait for five minutes to check in?’ Jason asked. ‘Really? You need a lounge for that?’

‘Sure,’ Adam said. ‘Maybe you should install a lounge like this in your house. You know, for when you have to wait for your sister to get out of the bathroom in the morning.’

‘That takes a lot longer than five minutes,’ Jason told him.

The waitress came in and set down a heavy gold tray. On it were tall glasses and sparkling crystal-studded bottles of mineral water.

The others gathered around, grabbing drinks.

‘Cool. Bling H₂O,’ Brad remarked.

‘What else would you expect in Vegas?’ Erin laughed.

Jason hung back.

‘Having some culture shock?’ Adam asked quietly, sitting next to him.

‘A little,’ Jason admitted. ‘I kinda figured we’d be staying at a cheap motel five miles off the Strip. But the way the hotel manager greeted Zach, it was like he’s royalty or something. I mean, he’s still just a high-school kid.’

‘With a seat on the DeVere Heights Vampire Council,’ Adam reminded him.

Jason was surprised. ‘You think that matters? We’re nowhere near Malibu.’

Adam shrugged. ‘My guess? Zach’s family knows the owners of this hotel. For all I know, they may be the owners of this hotel. Look, Paige said he’d sorted out the rooms so there’s gotta be some kinda connection. Anyway, our friends are international jet-setters, my man. Enjoy it.’

‘I’ve got our room keys,’ Zach announced, stepping through the curtain. ‘Paige, you and I have the two penthouse suites. The rest of you are on the 17th floor, just below us. Brad and Van Dyke, you’re in 1701. Erin and Maggie, 02. Sienna, are you with Jason or Belle?’

‘Belle,’ Sienna replied, shooting Jason an apologetic look. She leant forward to whisper in his ear, ‘Otherwise it would be Belle and Adam, and Belle’s just not up for a male roommate right now.’

Jason nodded.

‘But you know I’d rather be in a room with you,’ she added, her breath hot on his neck.

Adam cleared his throat loudly. ‘So it’s me and Freeman. Excellent.’

Sienna pulled away from Jason, smiling. ‘What’s our room number, Zach?’

‘1703.’ He handed her a key card, then gave the last one to Adam. ‘I say we get settled in and meet in the hotel restaurant for dinner in an hour. Sound good?’

‘Sounds perfect,’ Paige replied.

‘Just so I know, in a hotel where the manager wears a tux, is there a dress code for this restaurant?’ Adam asked.

‘Of course,’ Zach replied. ‘Didn’t you bring your tux?’

‘Uh …’ Adam looked panicked.

‘Just kidding,’ Zach told him. ‘Whatever you have is fine. They’re not going to expect us to play by their rules.’

‘This is so much fun,’ Paige squealed. She grabbed Zach and kissed him on the cheek. ‘Thank you for arranging it.’

‘Not a problem.’ Zach pulled back the curtain and led them all toward an elevator marked ‘Private’. Inside, there was no control panel. Zach just pulled out his key card, waved it over the sensor, and the elevator shot up. ‘Brad, your key.’

‘Oh.’ Brad pulled out his key card and waved that over the sensor, too.

‘It knows which floor to stop on based on our keys,’ Zach explained. ‘You can also use the keys as money while you’re in the hotel.’

Everybody nodded, and Jason got the feeling that even the vampires were a little impressed with this place. The elevator glided to a stop on the 17th floor to let people out.

‘See you downstairs,’ Zach said as the doors shut on him and Paige.

The hallway was done in shades of red and black, just like the lobby. When they got to their rooms, Sienna gave Jason a lingering kiss.

‘Just to hold you until dinner,’ she murmured.

Adam was already sprawled on one of the two huge beds when Jason got into the room. ‘You know, this bed is bigger than my entire room,’ he commented.

Jason took a look around. To the right were the beds, each set on a raised dais of pale gray marble, and there was a huge bathroom with two sinks, a shower, and a gigantic tub. To the left was a living area with couches, a wide-screen TV on the wall, and a bar. The entire room bowed out in a big U shape, and the curve of the U was a bank of windows. Jason wandered over to take a look.

‘I think I can see every hotel on the Strip from here,’ he said.

Adam joined him at the window and let out a soft whistle. ‘If this is what the regular rooms are like, I can’t wait to see Zach’s penthouse suite. Speaking of which, maybe I should iron my T-shirt before dinner. I know Zach said it doesn’t matter, but …’

‘Did you even bring a jacket?’ Jason asked, amused.

‘I’m not really sure what I brought,’ Adam admitted. ‘We were at the party late last night, and then we left so early today that I kind of packed in my sleep.’ Adam went over to his suitcase, which the bellhops had placed on a stand at the foot of the bed. He opened it up and stared at the contents thoughtfully.

Jason peered over his shoulder. The suitcase contained a camcorder and all its various accoutrements, right down to a folded tripod. And a bunch of shirts crammed in around the lenses, wires, and other pieces of equipment. ‘You used your clothes for packing material,’ he said.

‘Well, I had to cushion the camera somehow,’ Adam said reasonably.

Jason reached in and pulled out a wadded-up cotton shirt. When he shook it out, it turned out to be a perfectly decent button-down, with about a million wrinkles.

‘See? Iron required.’ Adam began hunting through the closet. ‘There has to be an iron, right? Even millionaires get wrinkles, don’t they?’

Jason unzipped his own suitcase and pulled out his toiletries bag. ‘I’m going to take a shower. Good luck with the clothes.’

By the time he was clean and dressed, Adam had made himself presentable. He’d even scrounged up a tie – although it had a picture of E.T. on it.

‘Drink?’ Adam asked, checking out the minibar. ‘I’m feeling beer-ish. And a bottle only costs ten bucks.’

Before Jason could answer, there was a knock at the door. He went to get it, hoping to see Sienna. Instead, Zach stood in the hallway.

‘Are you heading down to dinner already?’ Jason asked.

‘In a few. I wanted to give you these first.’ Zach held out two Nevada drivers’ licenses. ‘Your ID for the week. Vegas is no fun if you’re not legal.’

‘Thanks.’ Jason took them and studied them as Zach headed off to Brad and Van Dyke’s room. ‘How’d he get our pictures?’ he asked Adam.

‘He has his methods,’ Adam replied in a fake-mysterious voice. He glanced at his ID, then took a closer look. ‘Dude. This is nice work. It looks real!’

‘I know. Although it will be weird if we’re all exactly twenty-one on our licenses.’

‘I’m twenty-two. Ha!’ Adam said. ‘It’s my real birthday, though. I only have to remember the fake year if some bouncer decides to quiz me. That Zach, he thinks of everything!’

Jason pocketed his ID. ‘I’m going to go get Sienna.’ He went over to her room, and she opened the door just as he was about to knock. She looked incredible, her hair done in loose waves for a change, tumbling down over her shoulders to the most amazing, strappy, clingy red dress Jason had ever seen.

‘That is a killer dress,’ he stammered.

‘I told you.’ Sienna leant in and brushed her lips against his.

‘Hey, Belle!’ Adam yelled over Jason’s shoulder. ‘Are you in there? I can’t see you over the lovebirds.’

Sienna rolled her eyes and laughed. ‘Geez, we can’t even get a single romantic moment? Tough crowd.’

‘You two get plenty of romance,’ Belle said from inside the room. She grabbed her purse and pulled the door shut behind her. ‘Let’s go.’

Down in the restaurant, they were ushered to a table in a roped off area of the dining room, separated from the noise and the crowd by a row of tall plants with exotic red flowers in bloom.

Zach and Paige were already there, sitting at the head and foot of the table like a king and queen. Paige took one look at Sienna and squealed with delight.

‘I knew that dress was perfect for you! You are the hottest babe in this entire town!’

‘I don’t know about that,’ Sienna said, but she smiled with delight.

Brad and Van Dyke showed up a minute later, and finally Maggie and Erin came in, giggling. ‘Erin just lost twenty dollars in a minute and a half,’ Maggie announced.

‘Serves me right for playing five dollar slots,’ Erin said.

‘I don’t play slots,’ Brad put in from across the table. ‘Roulette is my game.’

‘You have a game?’ Sienna teased.

‘I do now,’ Brad replied. ‘I’ve decided to focus on one thing for the whole week. You know, see if I can figure out a system.’

‘You can’t ever beat the house,’ Van Dyke said scornfully. ‘Everybody knows that.’

‘It’s still fun to try,’ Paige replied. ‘It’s always fun to see if you can find your way around the rules.’

A waiter in a black tux showed up with the wine list. While Zach was reading it, Paige beckoned him over. ‘What’s your name?’ she asked.

‘Max.’ The waiter looked her up and down and smiled.

‘Mmmmax,’ Paige murmured, her voice dropping an octave. ‘I love that name.’

Max smiled a little wider.

‘Tell you what, Max. Even if these unadventurous types just go for soft drinks or wine, I want something more exciting,’ Paige said. She put her hand lightly on his arm. ‘Can you take care of me?’

‘Sure. Yes. I’d be happy to,’ Max said. ‘I know just the thing.’ He practically ran toward the bar.

Erin chuckled. ‘Paige, you’re such a flirt.’

‘What? I would’ve said the same thing to a waitress,’ Paige replied with an innocent look. Then she burst out laughing.

‘You’re certainly in an outrageous mood tonight,’ Sienna commented. ‘Did you hit the bar before dinner?’

‘Nope, I hit the bubble bath whirlpool tub in my amazing penthouse suite,’ Paige replied. ‘Though I have to admit, I took the complimentary bottle of Bollinger into the tub with me.’

‘Bubbly in the bubble bath,’ Van Dyke said. ‘Sweet.’

‘It is. I’m jealous,’ Maggie put in. ‘We have the big bathtub, too, but we didn’t get any champagne.’

‘Neither did we,’ Belle said.

‘You didn’t?’ Paige’s smile faltered.

‘Nope. It must be something they only do for the penthouse suites,’ Sienna said. ‘You lucky girl.’

Paige’s dark eyes went straight to Zach. ‘Did you have a bottle in your suite?’

Zach shook his head. ‘I wish.’

‘So it was just me?’ Paige asked, her voice worried. ‘That’s weird.’

‘Hey, don’t question it,’ Brad advised her. ‘It’s not like they can take it back.’

‘Zach, is the steak here any good?’ Erin asked. ‘I’m in the mood for a nice, juicy ribeye.’

‘I’d go with the filet, actually,’ Zach replied. ‘Is everyone having steak? Shall I order up some drinks too? Still or sparkling? And maybe a bottle of wine …?’

Everyone started talking at once, figuring out what to order, but Jason’s gaze stayed on Paige. She was staring off into space, her brow furrowed. Even when Max returned with some kind of green, fizzy drink, she only managed a wan smile.

Something’s worrying her, Jason thought.

‘Paige? What are you getting?’ Sienna asked.

‘Hmm?’ Paige snapped out of her reverie and smiled at her sister. ‘Um, the risotto with truffle sauce. You know I can’t resist a good truffle.’

She was back to normal, Jason could see. But it was an act. There was something brittle about Paige’s smile, and he found himself thinking of her reaction to the white roses the night before. She’d acted weird then, and she was acting weird now. When the waiter reached over to take her menu, Paige jumped in surprise, shooting him a fast, suspicious look.

I’m wrong, Jason realized, watching her. It’s not that something is worrying Paige, it’s that something is scaring her!

But in a hotel like this, where every single person seemed to be treating Paige like a queen, what could there possibly be for her to fear?

Six

‘WHERE SHOULD WE go first?’ Paige asked as Jason polished off his last bite of cheesecake. ‘Clubbing or gambling?’

‘Maybe we should find Zach,’ Erin suggested. ‘It seems kind of rude not to hang out with him after he paid for this incredible dinner.’ Zach had shot off right after his steak, heading for a poker game at which he’d arranged a seat.

‘Oh, don’t worry about him,’ Brad replied. ‘Anyone who leaves before dessert doesn’t deserve friends.’

‘Yeah, even if it is dessert that he paid for,’ Van Dyke joked.

‘I heard there’s an amazing DJ at the club in Paris,’ Maggie put in.

‘Paige is sick of Paris,’ Jason said.

Sienna’s sister turned to him, eyebrow raised. ‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘I am. I vote for that new place. What’s it called?’

‘Intervention,’ Brad said.

Paige nodded, and as the others kept on talking, Sienna leant in to whisper in Jason’s ear. ‘Thanks for stepping in. I don’t know what Paige’s deal is with Paris, but she’s pretty down on it. Even in hotel form.’

Suddenly Adam stood up. ‘Everybody excuse me, if you would. I’m not going clubbing or gambling, so I’ll say goodnight.’

‘Oh, no,’ Belle protested. ‘You did not come to Vegas to go to bed early.’

‘Who said I was going to bed? I’m getting my camera and going out,’ Adam told her. ‘I feel the need to shoot some footage. Sin City beckons.’

‘Yes, and it beckons us to Intervention,’ Paige told him. ‘Believe me, there will be plenty of footage there.’

‘Yeah, but it will just look like some expensive movie, with all kinds of beautiful people,’ Adam complained. ‘I want reality. I mean, my reality, not your reality which is basically the expensive movie reality.’

‘So what’s your reality?’ Jason asked.

‘I want to shoot the seedy underbelly of the neon beast that is Las Vegas,’ Adam said.

They all stared at him for a moment.

‘That is so not your reality,’ Van Dyke said.

‘I know, but it will make a great movie.’ Adam loosened his E.T. tie. ‘And I’m never going to see the seedy underbelly hanging out with you guys.’

‘But Adam, I was going to find you an actual showgirl to hook up with,’ Belle said. ‘That’s my mission for this week.’

‘It will just have to wait. Art before romance.’ He gave her a wink and headed out.

‘All right, no more deserters,’ Paige said. ‘We’re going to Intervention. Now.’ She stood up and strode out of the restaurant, and Jason and his friends followed her like baby ducklings.

Paige led them through the center of the Rouge et Noir Casino, and Jason couldn’t help noticing how many heads turned as she passed. Well, as she and Sienna passed. Each Devereux girl alone was enough to grab attention, but together, they were heart-stopping.

Paige held up her hand. ‘Detour,’ she called, veering off the main artery through the casino and winding her way through the poker tables. ‘Let’s tell our darling dinner host where we’re going.’

Zach sat at one of the tables, intent on the game in front of him. As they watched, he slid a stack of chips forward to place his bet.

‘He just bet 3,000 dollars!’ Maggie gasped.

‘That’s hard core,’ Van Dyke said.

Erin gazed at Zach. ‘We better not distract him,’ she said. ‘If he’s on a streak, we should leave him to it.’

‘You’re right,’ Paige agreed. ‘You have to respect a streak!’

Intervention was in the next hotel over, and they were able to take the monorail system right there. Within five minutes, Jason found himself standing in line outside a darkened door, watching as two humongous bouncers let in a few people now and then, and told most of the others to leave. The word ‘Intervention’ was written in hot pink neon on the wall over their heads, casting a rosy glow over everything.

‘This is so cool,’ Belle said, standing on the tips of her toes. ‘This place has only been open for a month, and already it’s in all the gossip magazines.’

‘Is that a good thing?’ Jason asked.

‘Sure, it means all the prettiest girls in town will be here hoping to get their picture taken,’ Brad replied. ‘That’s always a good thing.’

‘Yeah, same goes for the hottest guys,’ Erin agreed.

Jason glanced at the line and then at the bouncers. ‘This place is packed. Even with our fake IDs I don’t think we’re getting in,’ he murmured to Sienna.

Sienna smiled. ‘Don’t worry. Paige is here,’ she said.

When they got to the front of the line, Paige gave the bouncers her flirtiest smile. ‘Hi, boys. Long night?’

One of them took a moment to check her out, and Jason noticed that Paige was suddenly about twice as beautiful as she usually looked. She tones it down in her everyday life, he thought. This is what she really looks like. Jason knew that all of the vampires were incredibly beautiful, supernaturally beautiful, in fact, and that to fit in with regular people they adjusted their appearances slightly. But with no adjustments, they were stunning, and right now, Paige was practically glowing.

The other bouncer didn’t seem as impressed. ‘The club’s pretty full. We have to be choosy.’

‘But you’ll let me in, won’t you?’ Paige asked, letting her full lips pout a tiny bit. She grabbed Sienna’s hand and pulled her up to the bouncers. ‘And my baby sister.’

The bouncers gazed at Sienna in her red dress. At the two Devereux girls together.

‘She has her heart set on hearing DJ Wink,’ Paige continued. ‘I know you’re not going to disappoint her.’

The bouncers exchanged a glance. ‘Wink isn’t spinning here tonight,’ the first one said.

Paige raised her eyebrows. ‘That’s not what I heard. He told me he was going to be here at midnight. He doesn’t lie.’

‘You’re a friend of his?’ the other bouncer asked.

Paige winked. ‘Well, he likes to think so, but I keep him guessing.’

The bouncers chuckled. ‘How many people did you bring?’ the first one asked.

‘These eight.’ She waved toward Jason and his friends.

‘OK.’ The bouncer stepped back and held the door open for her. ‘If you’re a friend of Wink’s, you’re welcome. VIP area is straight back and to the right.’

‘Aren’t they going to card us?’ Jason asked.

‘Shh,’ Sienna ordered. ‘Just come with me.’ She grabbed his hand and pulled him right past the two big guys. They didn’t even glance at him.

‘Sisters. Jeez,’ the first bouncer was saying. ‘Think they’re single?’

‘Man, we’re not in their league,’ the other one replied. ‘Hell, we’re not even playing the same sport!’

Jason hid a smile as he left them behind. If only Adam had been here to catch that line on film.

‘How did you know DJ Wink was planning to be here?’ Brad asked Paige. ‘Do you really know him?’

‘Nope. I tipped the concierge at the hotel to let me know the word on the street.’ Paige grinned.

The VIP area was a group of couches separated from the rest of the club on three sides by a curving waterfall. Jason and Sienna settled onto one of the couches with their backs to the water, and looked out over the club. There had to be a hundred people writhing about on the huge industrial dance floor, and a hundred more waiting in line at the neon-pink bar.

‘That’s cool,’ Jason commented. ‘There’s actually neon inside the bar.’

‘Look around, there’s neon everywhere,’ Sienna replied.

She was right. Lines of multi-colored neon snaked through the walls, across the ceiling, and under their feet. The whole place looked as if it was constructed of some kind of heavy, clear plastic, and the neon was embedded within. Now that Jason took a closer look, he could see lines of blue and purple neon peeking through the water of the waterfall, and a rim of green neon along the floor all around the VIP area.

‘Drinks?’ asked a waiter wearing black leather pants – and nothing else.

‘Champagne,’ Paige replied immediately. ‘Your best.’ She reached out and tucked a fifty dollar bill into his waistband.

The waiter grinned and moved off.

‘Paige! He’s not a stripper!’ Maggie exclaimed, scandalized.

‘Even if he’s dressed like one. Kind of,’ Van Dyke added.

Paige shrugged. ‘The important thing is that he’ll totally take care of us.’ She leapt up. ‘I’m going to dance.’ Without another word, she was gone. A minute later, she appeared on the dance floor, shaking her booty with abandon.

‘That looks fun,’ Brad said. ‘I’m going with her.’

‘I feel like a soda so I’m hitting the bar,’ Erin announced. ‘Wanna come, Belle?’

‘Sure.’ The two girls headed off, winding their way through the crowd.

By the time the waiter showed up with the champagne, Jason and Sienna were the only ones there to enjoy it. Van Dyke and Maggie had joined a game of ‘I Never’ with a group of wealthy fraternity brothers taking up another table in the VIP section.

Jason poured a flute of champagne for Sienna and one for himself. ‘To spring break,’ he said. ‘May everyone have a great time and forget their worries.’

‘I’ll drink to that.’ Sienna clinked her glass against his and took a sip. ‘Want to dance?’

‘No,’ Jason said. ‘I finally have you alone. I want to make the most of it.’ He pulled her to him for a kiss. She tasted like champagne and smelled like flowers. He lost himself in Sienna, and lost track of time.

After a while, Paige came back to the table and ordered another bottle of bubbly along with a trayful of sodas. Brad brought a few girls into the VIP section and settled himself on a couch with them. Jason had a feeling Brad was going to feed, but he didn’t pay much attention. He was pretty buzzed on champagne and Sienna.

Maggie and Van Dyke were making out on another couch, and Erin and Belle were out on the dance floor. Paige joined the ‘I Never’ game with the frat brothers, one of whom was quickly drinking himself into a stupor. Jason was vaguely aware of the big bouncers coming to drag the dude out and put him in a cab.

‘I wonder where Adam is,’ he heard Belle say a while later.

Reluctantly, Jason pulled himself away from Sienna and turned to see that Belle and Erin had finished dancing and were back in the VIP area.

‘What time is it?’ Jason asked.

‘Almost two,’ Belle told him.

‘Not that you two care,’ Erin teased. ‘You should’ve just spent the night in the hotel!’

‘Sorry,’ Sienna said sheepishly. ‘I guess maybe we could go dance now.’

A roar of laughter came from the other table. ‘That’s two!’ Paige cried, throwing her arms up in triumph as one of the frat guys fell to the floor with a smile on his face. Paige snapped her fingers. ‘Waiter boy! Can you get the bouncers to send my friend here home?’

‘What are you doing, Paige?’ Jason called.

‘Drinking these guys under the table,’ Paige called back. ‘They bet me I couldn’t keep up because I’m a girl.’ She grinned at the three brothers still sitting with her. ‘But it’s two down, three to go!’

‘She’s a vampire,’ Jason murmured to Sienna. ‘Doesn’t that mean she can handle a lot more alcohol than those guys?’

‘Mm-hmm. But they don’t know that,’ Sienna said.

Jason glanced at Paige. She was laughing and there was a wild look in her dark eyes. She was obviously having fun, but there was an edge to her mood that made Jason uneasy and she was drinking far too much. She reminds me of Tyler, he realized. His best friend from Michigan had been involved with drugs and it had really changed his behavior. Whenever they’d gone out, Tyler had seemed like the life of the party, but Jason knew that there was desperation underneath. The kind of desperation that had led Tyler to steal a valuable chalice from Zach’s house, and almost get himself killed by the DeVere Heights Vampire Council as a result.

There’s something strange going on with Paige, he thought. Maybe Sienna can figure it out. ‘Sienna …’ Jason began, turning to his girlfriend.

‘Do I want to dance with you?’ she finished for him. ‘You bet I do!’ She stood up, took his hand, and pulled him after her toward the dance floor. This late at night, the music had turned to slow grooves, and the mood on the floor was sultry.

‘I wanted to ask you about Paige,’ Jason said.

‘Hmm?’ Sienna gestured to the speaker nearby. ‘I didn’t hear that.’ She was already moving to the music, her hips swaying, the red dress clinging to every curve of her body.

‘Never mind,’ Jason said, moving in close. He slid his hands along her hips and pulled her against him. He’d worry about Paige later.

They stayed on the dance floor until last call, then made their way back over to their friends. Paige had just finished helping the last frat brother out to a cab. She waved to the rest of them from the door of the club. ‘Hey, guys, the bouncers are holding cabs for us!’

Sienna grabbed her bag from the VIP table, and they all made their way out to the waiting taxis. By the time they got back to the Rouge et Noir, it was after three o’clock.

Belle yawned as they made their way into the lobby. ‘I am beat.’

‘Me too,’ Erin said.

‘Not me. I’m ready to gamble,’ Brad replied. ‘Wanna hit the tables for a bit, Van Dyke?’

‘You know it,’ Van Dyke replied. He turned to Maggie. ‘Coming?’

‘Nope. I want to get up early tomorrow and do some shopping,’ she said. ‘Vegas has the best boutiques ever.’

‘Ooh, count me in,’ Belle told her.

‘And me,’ Erin added. ‘So I’m going to get some sleep. What about the rest of you?’

Paige was staring off into the casino. ‘There’s a little crowd over there,’ she said. ‘And where there’s a crowd, there’s fun. I’m going to check it out.’

‘We’ll go with you,’ Jason offered. He had a feeling Paige’s idea of fun might lead to trouble tonight.

‘OK. See you in the morning,’ Belle said. She, Maggie and Erin headed for the elevator.

Paige stopped a cocktail waitress who was making her way out of the casino. ‘What’s going on over there?’

‘Oh, it’s a big money table. Texas Hold ‘Em,’ the waitress said. ‘It’s a real showdown.’

‘Poker, no can do,’ Brad said. ‘My game is roulette.’ With a wave, he and Van Dyke headed off to the roulette tables.

‘Let’s check out the big game,’ Paige giggled. She headed over to the table and worked her way right to the front of the crowd, Sienna on her heels. Jason followed. He noticed that the other spectators glared at him for cutting in front of them, but everyone just smiled at the Devereux sisters. When he got to the front, he caught his breath; there were two players at the table, and one of them was Zach!

‘He’s in a big money game?’ Jason whispered to Sienna.

‘I’ll say. Look at that stack of chips in front of him.’ Sienna laughed. ‘How can he even see over them?’

Zach did have a pretty big pile of chips. But so did the player across from him – an older, Japanese man, in a suit that obviously cost a couple of thousand, at least. The guy was flanked by two huge bodyguards, both of them staring at Zach as if he were a bug they’d like to squash.

Zach paid no attention to them. He kept his eyes fixed on the Japanese man.

Slowly, the man pushed his chips in for a bet. His expression was deadly serious, but that didn’t stop all the spectators from gasping and laughing in excitement.

‘The bet is eleven thousand, that’s all in for Mr Yakamoto,’ the dealer announced. Jason checked out the cards on the table. Five face up: the king of hearts, the five of diamonds, the seven of diamonds, the king of spades, and the four of diamonds.

Zach matched Mr Yakamoto’s bet.

The dealer turned to the Japanese man. ‘Mr Yakamoto?’ she said.

He put down the two cards in his hand: the other two kings. ‘Four kings,’ he announced proudly. Everybody gasped, and a few people applauded.

‘Uh-oh,’ Paige murmured.

‘Yup. It doesn’t look good for Zach,’ Jason agreed.

But Zach seemed unruffled. He waited for all the talking to die down, still holding his two cards. Mr Yakamoto stared at him.

‘Mr Lafrenière?’ the dealer invited.

Zach put his cards on the table: the three of diamonds and the six of diamonds. ‘Straight flush,’ he announced.

The place went wild. People gasped in shock, and then burst into clapping and whooping.

‘Straight flush beats four of a kind. All to Mr Lafrenière,’ the dealer announced, pushing Yakamoto’s chips over to Zach’s pile.

Finally, Zach allowed himself a smile, which only made the onlookers cheer louder. Mr Yakamoto angrily shoved his chair back from the table and stalked out, followed by his bodyguards.

‘Any other takers?’ the dealer asked. ‘Another hand, Mr Lafrenière?’

‘No thanks,’ Zach replied. ‘Can you cash in the chips for me?’

‘Of course, sir.’ The dealer shot him an appraising look. ‘You know, there’s a tournament this week over at the Bonheur: the Ultimate High Stakes Invitational. You’ve got what it takes.’

‘Think so?’ Zach asked.

She nodded. ‘It’s 250,000 dollars to buy in, but you never know. You could make yourself a millionaire in just one night.’

Jason waited for Zach to laugh at the outrageously expensive buy-in, but Zach just nodded. ‘I’ll keep it in mind.’

A quarter of a million dollars? Jason thought, stupefied. He’ll keep that in mind? Jason glanced around at the swanky hotel, at his supermodel-gorgeous girlfriend, at their high-school friend who could apparently afford a poker game that held the title of ‘Ultimate High Stakes’. ‘I think maybe I fell asleep in the Escalade and I’m still dreaming,’ he said.

Sienna ran her fingers lightly over the back of his neck. ‘No dream,’ she murmured. ‘Let’s go to your room. Maybe Adam is still out and we can be alone.’

Jason’s pulse quickened at the idea of Sienna alone in his hotel room. ‘What about your sister?’ he asked.

‘She’s busy.’ Sienna nodded toward Paige, who had run over to give Zach a congratulatory hug. ‘She won’t miss us.’

‘Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go,’ he said, pulling her away from the crowd. He kept his hand on the small of her back as they walked back toward the lobby.

‘I’ve been wanting to get you alone all night,’ Sienna told him. ‘And the VIP lounge didn’t count.’

Jason opened his mouth to answer – just as his cell phone gave off a loud beep. He and Sienna both looked at it in dismay. With a sigh, Jason flipped it open and glanced at the screen. ‘It’s a text.’

‘From who?’

‘Adam.’ Jason frowned at the message. ‘It just says IN TROUBLE. RED LAKE.’

‘What does that mean?’ Sienna asked anxiously. ‘What kind of trouble?’

‘I don’t know.’ Jason quickly dialed Adam’s number. Before it even rang, the call went straight to voicemail. Jason hung up and dialed again, a worried feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. He got voicemail again. ‘Dammit, he’s not answering!’ he cried.

A few people nearby looked over, and he realized he was yelling. ‘What does Red Lake mean?’ he asked Sienna desperately, trying to quiet down.

‘Jason? What’s going on?’ Paige came rushing over, followed by Zach. ‘You sound upset.’

‘It’s Adam,’ Sienna answered for him. ‘He sent a text that says he’s in trouble.’

‘What trouble?’ Paige asked. ‘Wasn’t he just off filming?’

‘It just says trouble and Red Lake,’ Jason told her. ‘And I think his phone is turned off now. He won’t answer.’

‘Red Lake?’ Zach’s voice was grim. ‘There’s a bar called the Red Lake.’

Jason didn’t like his tone. ‘Where is it?’

‘Off the Strip, in the seedy part of town,’ Zach replied. ‘It’s a dive bar. If Adam is in trouble there, he could be in real trouble.’

Jason met his eye. ‘Let’s go.’

Seven

‘WHAT THE HELL was he thinking?’ Zach asked as the cab turned down yet another dark and deserted street.

‘He wanted to film the seedy underbelly,’ Jason explained.

Zach raised an eyebrow.

Jason sighed. ‘I didn’t really think he’d find the seedy underbelly. I mean, it’s Adam.’

‘Exactly.’ Zach shook his head. ‘Adam at the Red Lake. That’s the kind of place even I wouldn’t visit alone.’ He let the “and I have superhuman strength and can jump thirty feet in the air and fight like Jackie Chan” part go unsaid, which Jason appreciated. In fact, he was appreciating Zach a lot right now. What with paying for them to stay in the amazing hotel, arranging the incredible dinner, and now helping bail Adam out of trouble, Zach was starting to seem like the greatest guy ever.

‘This place is nowhere near the Strip. How did Adam end up here?’ Jason wondered aloud.

‘Hopefully he’ll still be here, so he can tell us himself. Try his cell again.’

Jason dialed. Voicemail picked up. ‘It’s still not working.’

The driver pulled over in front of a dingy one-story building with a single yellowish light bulb hanging outside. ‘Ten dollars, fifty,’ he said.

Jason shoved some money into his hand. ‘Can you wait for us?’

The driver snorted. ‘Not for ten dollars, fifty.’

‘Fifty dollars for you to wait,’ Zach told him. ‘Fifty more to take us back to the hotel when we’re done here.’

The driver sized him up. ‘It’s your money, kid. But I think you’re crazy going in that place.’

Zach just handed him a fifty and climbed out of the car.

Jason followed. ‘Fifty bucks?’ he queried.

‘We’re not going to find a cab in this neighborhood, and we may need to leave in a hurry,’ Zach told him. ‘It’s worth the money.’

They walked over to the metal door and pulled it open. A fat guy in a faded Metallica T-shirt sat on a stool inside. He took one look at them and laughed.

‘Our friend is inside,’ Jason told him.

‘No, he’s not,’ the bouncer replied. ‘You boys just get back in your taxi and go drink on the Strip like you’re supposed to.’

‘We’d rather drink here,’ Zach told him, walking inside.

The guy stuck out a beefy arm that hit Zach across the chest. ‘This is a local place. You two are tourists. Stupid tourists,’ he said. ‘You think you’re gonna slum it in here, get a taste of the real Las Vegas?’

‘We just want to get our friend,’ Jason explained.

‘No.’

‘And who’s going to stop us?’ Zach asked. Something in his voice made Jason look over at him, and he saw that Zach had changed. His face looked sharper, his neck thicker. His whole body just looked bigger somehow. And Jason could swear that his dark brown eyes had become flat-out black.

He’s changing his appearance, Jason realized. The vampires could alter the way they looked to do more than simply tone down their supernatural beauty when they wanted to. He’d learnt that back when he was fighting Luke Archer, the bloodlusting vampire who’d made himself look like an entirely different person when he was on the hunt.

The bouncer stared at Zach, too, obviously thrown.

‘We’re going in,’ Zach told him.

The guy dropped his arm. ‘Fine. But if you get into trouble, it’s on your head. I told you, you don’t belong here.’

He’s right about that, Jason thought as they walked in. The Red Lake was dark, but that didn’t disguise how filthy the floors were. The air smelled like stale cigarettes and stale beer. And the clientele consisted entirely of big, mean-looking guys. Jason suddenly felt like an idiot in his polo shirt and sport coat. At least Zach could make himself look large and nasty.

‘Freeman.’ Zach nodded toward the back of the room. There was a table under a hanging light, and a bunch of guys were gathered around it playing poker.

Adam sat in the corner, surrounded by dangerous-looking dudes. He held a few tattered cards in his hands, and a stack of money was piled on the table in front of him.

Jason stared in surprise. ‘I thought he said he was in trouble.’

‘Doesn’t look like trouble,’ Zach replied. ‘I’d say he’s at least ten grand up. Maybe more.’

Jason headed over to the table, trying to ignore the stares of the other patrons. When Adam spotted him, a huge smile spread over his face. ‘Jason!’ And then he saw Zach, and his smile got even bigger. ‘My friends are here, guys. Deal me out.’

The four nasty-looking guys at the table turned to check out Jason and Zach. The one dealing the cards grunted and started to shuffle. Adam took his money and started to get up.

‘Not so fast,’ The dude closest to Jason said standing up. He was at least six foot five, and had a tattoo of the Grim Reaper on the back of his shaved skull. ‘You have my money.’

Adam froze. ‘I won the money. You all saw me.’

One of the other guys, a skinny dude with black, greasy hair, laughed. ‘He won the money, all right.’

‘Let’s go, Turnball,’ Zach said, stepping forward.

But the Grim Reaper was still standing between Adam and the door. More importantly, he was standing between Adam and his friends. ‘Sit your ass down and play,’ he ordered Adam. ‘You can leave when I’ve won my money back.’

‘He has to go now,’ Zach said evenly. ‘We’re not waiting.’

‘If he tries to leave with my money, I’ll break his arm,’ the Grim Reaper replied, his eyes never leaving Adam.

Adam’s face paled and he sank back down into the chair.

‘That’s not very sportsmanlike,’ Zach said softly.

The skinny dude laughed again. ‘You want in, pretty boy? You can play, too. Teach us all to be sportsmanlike.’

‘We’re leaving now. Adam, get up,’ Zach said flatly.

Adam glanced at Jason. Jason nodded. Slowly, Adam stood up. He shoved the money into his backpack and started inching his way around the table. When he reached the Grim Reaper, the guy pounced.

Zach hit him before Jason even realized he’d pulled back his arm. The big guy’s head snapped to the side, and he stumbled backwards.

Instantly, all the lowlifes jumped to their feet. Jason heard a hollow thudding sound, as if something heavy had fallen to the ground. He caught a glimpse of something black and metallic under the table. A gun? he thought frantically. And then the skinny guy was rushing him.

Jason instinctively ducked the blow. He wrapped his arms around the guy’s waist and tackled him to the floor, landing with his weight on the dude’s chest.

‘Oof!’ The skinny guy struggled for breath, trying to wriggle out from under Jason. Jason punched him in the jaw, then punched him again. The guy stopped struggling.

As he climbed to his feet, Jason could see Zach moving – fast. The Grim Reaper was down, his chair was knocked over, and another guy’s fist was flying toward Zach’s head. Then somehow Zach wasn’t there anymore. The guy’s punch went wide. Zach grabbed him in a chokehold from behind and spun quickly, using his momentum to throw the guy into one of his friends. They both hit the ground, hard.

Where’s the gun? Jason wondered, scanning the floor around the poker table. Zach could win in a fight, but if he got shot, he’d still be in bad shape. The floor was covered with the shattered glass of beer bottles knocked over in the fight, and cards were everywhere. But there was no gun.

‘Break it up!’ the bartender shouted. Jason saw the big bouncer heading toward them, and Adam scooping up his backpack again. As the bouncer rushed Zach, Jason slipped in behind him and jabbed the guy in the small of his back. The bouncer gave a grunt of pain, and his momentum carried him forward, right onto his face.

Zach was moving so fast it was hard to see what he was doing, but, in another second, he had the last of the poker players pinned against the wall.

‘Adam, let’s go,’ Jason commanded.

‘That’s fine, you can go,’ gasped the guy Zach had pinned.

‘Thanks.’ Zach let him go, then turned and nodded at Jason. Jason shoved Adam in front of him all the way to the door. Everybody watched them go, but nobody dared to interfere.

Outside, the cab was waiting. Jason jerked open the door, waited for Adam and Zach to get in, then jumped in behind them. ‘Let’s get out of here!’ he cried.

The driver peeled out, racing down the deserted street and around two more corners before slowing down. He glanced over his shoulder at them. ‘I don’t know what happened in there, but you boys are crazy,’ he said. He grabbed the little door in the plastic divider between the front and back seats and slammed it closed.

Jason and his friends stared at it for a moment. Then they all laughed.

‘So thanks for saving my butt and everything,’ Adam said. ‘I wish I could’ve filmed you in action, Zach, but I was too busy being terrified.’

‘What were you doing in that place?’ Jason asked.

‘Well, I started out in a bar just off the Strip. You know, so I could see how the real people party in Las Vegas.’

Zach snorted.

‘That wasn’t bad. It was this excellent little Hawaiian-themed place with surfboards on the wall.’

‘Three metres away from the Strip isn’t exactly the mean streets of Vegas,’ Zach told him.

‘Yeah, I don’t think theme bars really attract the downtrodden locals,’ Jason agreed.

‘I know. So I asked the waitress there where I could go to find real Vegas types. And she sent me to another place a few blocks further away. I think it was called McAllen’s or something like that. I got some great footage of these guys playing poker. They had all kinds of good, cinematic tats.’

‘Like the Grim Reaper?’ Jason guessed.

‘Yeah,’ Adam said sheepishly. ‘Anyway, they noticed me filming them and they asked me to join them. So I did. And I won, like, a thousand dollars!’

‘Let me guess. Once you were winning, they asked you to leave the nice Irish pub and go with them to the Red Lake,’ Zach said.

‘Right. Wait, how did you know that?’ Adam asked.

‘It’s a standard con artist move. Get the mark to feel all self-confident, then start the real con job,’ Zach explained. ‘They made you think you could win some real money, then they took you to a place where they could rough you up if you decided to bail on them.’

‘You think they were con artists?’ Adam gasped. ‘I thought they were just mean guys.’

‘Who knows?’ Jason put in. ‘But they thought you were a naïve rich kid, and they figured they could bleed you for all your money.’

‘I guess. Except I’m not rich,’ Adam said. ‘So instead they bled me for everything else. They took all my money, then when I ran out they took my watch. Then my camera. That’s when I sent you the text.’

Jason nodded.

‘They saw me do that, so they took my phone,’ Adam said. ‘I figured they were gonna make me keep playing until they had the shirt off my back! But it’s your shirt, Jason, so I didn’t care too much.’

‘What?’ Jason examined Adam’s button-down white shirt. ‘That is my shirt!’

‘Yeah, I can’t believe you really thought I was willing to iron,’ Adam said. ‘Anyway, then the skinny guy joined in the game, and I think he threw the others off, because I started winning again.’ He grinned. ‘I won it all back, and then some.’

He dug through his backpack, doing a quick count of the money as the cab turned back on to the Strip.

‘How much?’ Jason asked.

‘I’d say 15, maybe 18,000 dollars.’ Adam did a little dance in his seat.

‘Sweet,’ Zach commented with a nod. ‘Too bad it’s counterfeit.’

Eight

ADAM STARED AT Zach in open-mouthed horror. ‘Say what?’

‘It’s counterfeit.’ Zach took a twenty from Adam’s hand and held it up to the lights of the Strip. ‘Look. The watermark is wrong. Check it against one of mine if you want.’ He dug out a twenty and handed it over.

As Adam frantically held the two bills up to the window, Zach went on. ‘And I’ll bet you every dollar I won at the Rouge et Noir tonight that the serial numbers on those bills are sequential. It’s not the kind of thing you would’ve noticed in the middle of a poker game, but I bet you could line them up in order.’

‘Don’t take that bet, Adam. Zach won a ton of money tonight.’

‘Yeah, real money,’ Adam agreed, slumping back against the seat. ‘And here I thought I had suddenly turned into a poker god.’

‘I think the skinny guy wanted you to win so that he could funnel the fake money to you. Then you’d go spend it around town,’ Zach said.

‘But the Grim Reaper wasn’t in on the plan,’ Jason guessed. ‘He was just trying to take you for as much as he could get.’

‘So you’re saying I got taken in by two different con men with two different agendas, all in the space of one poker game?’ Adam asked. ‘Damn! I should’ve been filming that.’

‘Even you couldn’t film and play at the same time,’ Jason consoled him.

Adam was rifling through ten and 20 dollar bills as they talked. ‘I can already see four sequential numbers,’ he moaned. ‘Zach is totally right. It’s fake. Oh, my God!’

‘Don’t freak out,’ Zach said, glancing through the divider at the driver.

‘Why not?’ Adam cried. ‘I’m trafficking in counterfeit money!’

‘You are not,’ Jason said. ‘Trafficking means spending it. All you’re doing is carrying it in your backpack.’

‘That’s still illegal,’ Adam argued. ‘What if I get caught? My father will kill me!’

‘You’re not going to get caught,’ Zach said. ‘You haven’t done anything wrong.’

‘But the cops won’t believe that. I’m sitting here with thousands of fake dollars!’ Adam clutched his head. ‘I can see the headlines now. Sheriff’s Son in Funny Money Ring Bust. I’m a dead man.’

The cab pulled up in front of the hotel, and Zach handed over another fifty. The driver just snatched it and peeled out.

‘I don’t think he liked us,’ Jason commented, watching him go.

‘He was just worried those guys from the Red Lake were going to come after us,’ Zach said. He yawned. ‘I seriously need to sleep.’

‘Sleep? We can’t sleep,’ Adam said. ‘You have to help me figure out what to do with this cash.’

‘Keep it in your bag and don’t spend it,’ Jason told him, leading the way across the empty lobby to the elevator. ‘The cops aren’t going to randomly ask to search your bag.’

‘What if they do, though?’ Adam insisted.

‘Then they would be breaking the law and doing an illegal search,’ Zach replied. The elevator whooshed up to the 17th floor. ‘You, of all people, should know that, Turnball.’

‘No. I have to get rid of it,’ Adam was saying as the doors opened. He stepped out into the hallway with Jason, still talking. ‘But how? That’s the hard part. Maybe I can just throw it away?’

‘Goodnight, guys.’ Zach let the doors close before Adam could stop him. Jason headed to their door and swiped the key card to open it.

‘I don’t think that will work, though,’ Adam went on as they stepped inside the room. ‘It’s hard not to notice someone throwing away thousands of dollars.’

Jason flopped face down onto his bed. ‘It’s almost five in the morning, Adam. Goodnight.’

Adam ignored him. ‘Maybe I could just put a few bills into trash cans all over Vegas. I guess that would take a long time, though. Or maybe I could just bury it in the desert …’

Jason pulled the pillow over his head and went to sleep.

The morning sun streaming through the hotel windows woke Jason at about ten o’clock. Yawning, he sat up and looked around.

Adam was gone.

‘Oh, my God, he actually went to bury his counterfeit money in the desert,’ Jason said aloud. He dragged himself out of bed and trudged over to the bar, where Adam had left a note propped up on the coffee maker. Jason rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and read it: ‘CSI shoot today. Meeting Grissom. Woohoo.’

There was a knock at the door. When he opened it, he found Brad, Van Dyke, and the Devereux girls standing in the hallway.

‘Did you just wake up? Lame,’ Van Dyke greeted him. ‘Got any mini muffins in your bar? I ate all of ours.’ He pushed his way past Jason and went to search the bar.

‘What’s going on?’ Jason asked as the rest of them trooped in. Sienna stopped to give him a kiss.

‘Maggie, Erin, and Belle are off shopping, and Zach is MIA,’ Paige told him. ‘We figured we’d wake you guys up before finalizing plans.’

‘Where’s Adam?’ Sienna asked. ‘You did find him last night, didn’t you?’

‘Yeah, he’s fine. He’s at the CSI shoot,’ Jason said. ‘But we didn’t get home until five. Maybe Zach’s still asleep.’

‘Whatever. He can take care of himself,’ Paige said with a dismissive wave. ‘The question is, what are you going to do?’

‘Huh?’

‘Will you be having a manly day with Brad and Van Dyke, or will you be getting pampered in the hotel’s world-class spa with Sienna and me?’ Paige gave him a mischievous grin.

‘That’s a trick question,’ Brad said. ‘If you choose the spa, we’ll all think you’re a loser. Men don’t do spas.’

Jason thought about that. Sienna in a little spa towel and not much else? That sounded like a good deal to him. ‘What does the manly day consist of?’

‘Van Dyke wants to go down to the MGM Grand Arena. Apparently there’s a press conference for the big title fight this weekend,’ Brad said.

‘Hey! Sometimes the fighters get into it at those press conferences,’ Van Dyke said with his mouth full of muffins. ‘That would be a really cool thing to see.’

‘And afterwards, we can do a little rock climbing out in the desert,’ Brad went on. ‘Work up a sweat after all that partying last night.’

Jason nodded. Rock climbing definitely sounded fun. ‘What happens at the spa?’

‘Um, salt rubs and chemical peels,’ Sienna admitted.

‘That sounds painful,’ Jason said.

‘Yeah, but afterwards there are massages and manicures.’

That settled it. ‘Manly day it is,’ he told Brad. ‘See you girls at dinner.’

‘Let’s meet in the VIP lounge in the lobby,’ Paige said. ‘Eight o’clock. Last one there has to buy me a sinful chocolate dessert!’

Sienna came over and gave him a long kiss. ‘I’ll be all freshly scrubbed and massaged,’ she murmured. ‘Can’t wait.’

‘Me neither,’ Jason agreed, watching her leave with her sister. No matter what the day was like, tonight promised to be amazing.

‘Wow!’ Van Dyke said just after eight o’clock that night. ‘She looks incredible.’ He clapped Jason on the back. ‘You’re a lucky man, Freeman.’

I definitely am, Jason thought, watching Sienna walk across the lobby toward the VIP lounge where they’d waited while Zach checked in. Either she was letting her true face show, or the spa treatments were every bit as good as she claimed. Her skin was glowing, her black hair shone like obsidian, and her luscious lips were as red as ripe cherries. He had to kiss her. Right now.

Jason walked over to meet her and pulled her into his arms. ‘Let’s blow off everyone else and have a romantic dinner by ourselves,’ he suggested, planting kisses up her neck to her ear.

Sienna smiled delightedly. ‘Now that would be an evening to remember,’ she said. ‘Unfortunately, our friends would never let us get away with it.’ She gestured over his shoulder, and Jason turned to see Erin, Belle, and Van Dyke all watching them with amusement.

‘Stop being so mushy, Freeman,’ Van Dyke called. ‘You’re making me look bad with Maggie. Now I’m going to have to be all gooey and romantic when she shows up.’

‘Why did we come with them again?’ Jason asked jokingly. He pulled away, but kept hold of Sienna’s hand. ‘You look nice and relaxed.’

‘The spa was great,’ she said. ‘And it was nice to spend some one-on-one time with Paige. She hasn’t been herself since she got back from Paris.’

Jason nodded. He’d had a feeling that was true. ‘Well, I can’t say rock climbing was very relaxing,’ he told her. ‘It was about a hundred degrees out there. But the views were killer.’

The private elevator opened across the lobby, and Brad and Maggie appeared. ‘Zach called,’ Brad told the others when he reached them. ‘He said he’s busy tonight.’

‘Doing what?’ Belle asked.

Brad shrugged. ‘Who knows? It’s typical Zach.’

‘He does enjoy being mysterious,’ Jason agreed.

‘Where’s Adam?’ Maggie asked. ‘And Paige?’

‘Adam isn’t back from the shoot yet,’ Jason said. ‘I’m sure he’s going to stay there until every single actor, cameraman, and grip has packed up and gone home.’

‘Where’s your sister?’ Erin asked Sienna. ‘Isn’t she late?’

‘I guess.’ Sienna checked her watch. ‘Wow. It’s almost eight thirty.’

‘Paige is never late,’ Brad said, an edge of worry creeping into his voice.

‘I know.’ Sienna frowned. ‘She was just planning to take a shower and get dressed for dinner. I don’t know why it would be taking so long.’

‘Maybe she fell asleep,’ Jason suggested. ‘She has been partying pretty hard, even since before we came to Vegas.’

‘Yeah, but so has everyone else.’ Sienna pulled out her cell phone. ‘I’m going to call her.’ She dialed, and gave Jason a smile as she waited for Paige to pick up.

Suddenly the blood drained from Sienna’s face.

‘What?’ Jason asked, concerned. ‘Sienna? What’s wrong?’

‘Paige’s phone …’ she said. ‘The message says that it’s been disconnected. But she’s been using that phone all week.’ Sienna’s eyes clouded with fear. ‘Something’s wrong!’

Jason nodded. ‘Let’s go check on her.’ He grabbed Sienna’s hand, and they jogged back over to the elevator. Moments later, they were knocking on the door of Paige’s penthouse suite.

There was no answer.

‘Paige?’ Sienna called through the door. ‘Paige! Are you in there?’

Still nothing.

Jason banged on the door.

‘Who … who’s there?’ Paige’s voice called from the other side.

Jason felt a rush of relief. Paige had probably just slept through all their knocking. She was there and she was fine. But then again … Her voice sounded frightened. More than frightened. Terrified.

‘Who is that?’ Paige demanded again.

‘It’s me, Sienna. And Jason,’ Sienna called back. ‘Let us in.’

After a moment, the door swung open. Sienna went right in, so Jason followed. Paige looked awful: pale and drawn, with sunken cheeks. She wore only a bathrobe, and her long dark hair was wet and clearly hadn’t been combed. She didn’t even say anything, just closed the door behind them and sat down on her bed.

Jason noticed that her hands were trembling. ‘Paige, are you sick?’ he asked gently. ‘You don’t look so good.’

Sienna went over and felt her sister’s head to see if she was feverish, but Paige shook her off. ‘The bathroom,’ she said. She drew her legs up underneath her and didn’t say anything else.

Jason strode over to the bathroom and glanced around. Everything looked perfectly normal.

Sienna came up behind him. ‘What’s going on?’ she murmured.

‘I have no idea.’ He turned back to Paige. ‘There’s nothing here, Paige. What’s wrong?’

Paige leapt to her feet with an energy that surprised Jason, rushed over to the bathroom, flipped on all the lights, and turned the hot faucet in the sink all the way on. Then she stalked over to the shower and turned that on full blast, too, spinning the handle all the way to ‘Hot’. Steam poured out of the open shower door.

‘Paige, I don’t understand,’ Sienna said. ‘What’s this all about?’

Paige didn’t answer. Instead, she pointed at the mirror that took up the entire wall behind the sink. It was already steamed up from all the heat.

And then Jason saw it: words, written on the mirror in the condensation that the steam had created … ‘See you soon’.

Nine

SIENNA GASPED.

‘Someone was here,’ Paige whispered, frightened, as she walked back to her bed. ‘Somebody was inside my hotel room!’

Jason nodded grimly as Sienna rushed over to the bed and threw her arms around her sister.

‘Oh, Paige, no wonder you’re all freaked out!’ Sienna exclaimed.

‘“See you soon”,’ Jason read aloud. He turned to Paige. ‘What does that mean?’

Paige bit her lip and looked down at her hands.

‘Is it a threat?’ Jason asked gently. He had a feeling Paige knew more about this than she was letting on.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Paige nodded. ‘It’s … it’s kind of a threat.’

‘From who?’ Sienna demanded. ‘Who’s threatening you?’

Paige took a deep breath. ‘In Paris, there was this guy. I met him almost as soon as I got there for college, and we started dating.’

Sienna nodded.

‘And it got pretty serious pretty fast,’ Paige went on.

Jason noticed Sienna’s surprised expression. He remembered Adam’s story about the three prom dates, and how Paige never dated anyone seriously. Somehow he got the feeling that Paige hadn’t meant the situation in Paris to get serious, either. Even now, she looked a little confused as she talked about it. In Malibu, Paige was always in control of her relationships, Jason thought. But it was different in Paris.

‘Who was this guy?’ Sienna asked.

Paige looked her in the eye. ‘His name is Marc. Marc Lessard.’

Sienna gasped.

‘Who’s he?’ Jason asked.

‘Lessard,’ Sienna said. ‘As in, the Lessards?’

‘Yes,’ Paige whispered. ‘His father is Pierre Lessard.’

‘Who are the Lessards?’ Jason demanded.

‘They’re one of the Thirteen Families,’ Sienna told him. ‘See, back when the vampire clans first decided to organize, there were thirteen particularly powerful families who got together and formed the first High Council. It was hundreds of years ago, in Paris.’

‘And these Lessards are still around?’ Jason asked.

Paige nodded. ‘Yes. Most of the original families died out over the years; there are only four left—’

‘Three,’ Sienna corrected her. She looked at Jason. ‘Your Aunt Bianca’s husband was a member of the fourth family. He was the last of his bloodline.’

‘And he didn’t have any kids,’ Jason said. He’d always known that, but all of a sudden some other things began to fall into place. ‘He didn’t leave an heir, except Bianca. That’s why she was so obsessed with turning Dani and me into vampires, to make sure that her late husband’s family didn’t die out!’

Sienna nodded. ‘You have to understand, Jason. There are a lot of vampire families. But the Thirteen Families were the most powerful. They had the most powerful vampire abilities, so their word became law. Anyone descended from those families is, well, special.’

He looked from Sienna to her sister and back. ‘You’re descended from them,’ he guessed. How could they not be?

‘We are,’ Paige confirmed. ‘So are the Lafrenières. So are most of the vampire families in DeVere Heights. But our families are descendants of other branches of the Thirteen Families, branches that married other vampires who weren’t of the Thirteen. None of us are pure. Not compared to Marc Lessard.’

‘The Lessards are one of the original Thirteen Families,’ Sienna explained, ‘and they’ve only ever married women from the Thirteen Families. They’re one of the most revered clans among us.’ Sienna explained.

‘Marc’s father, Pierre, is a really high-ranking French diplomat,’ Paige said. ‘He has more connections than anybody else in the vampire community.’

‘Wow!’ Jason thought about the kind of connections the Devereux family possessed, and about the major pull Zach’s family had. It was hard to imagine an even more powerful and connected family.

‘Paige, to be dating Marc Lessard … that’s a pretty big deal,’ Sienna said. ‘It’s like going out with Prince William or something.’

‘That’s what I thought, at first.’ Paige laughed bitterly. ‘But it didn’t turn out to be so romantic and great. He was a complete psycho.’

‘What?’ Sienna cried.

‘Not at first, I guess. I don’t know.’ Paige pushed her wet hair back from her face. ‘He was really into me, always sending flowers, buying me things, calling all the time. And he was a Lessard! He took me to state dinners, and his father introduced me to all kinds of famous people. It was like living in a movie or something. But after a while, I felt a little smothered. You know I like my space.’

‘Sure,’ Sienna said.

‘Well, Marc wasn’t so happy about that. He thought I should be with him all the time. He even wanted me to drop out of school because it was taking up too much of my attention.’

‘Is this why you didn’t come home for Christmas?’ Sienna asked.

Paige nodded. ‘He couldn’t bear to be away from me, he said. And he was incredibly jealous. Once Zach sent me a text message on my phone and Marc found it. He totally lost it. He threw my phone into the Seine!’

‘But you’ve known Zach since we were babies,’ Sienna said, frowning.

‘Exactly, but Marc didn’t want me talking to any other guys,’ Paige sighed. She got up and began pacing nervously about the room. ‘Anyway, I finally dumped him.’

‘Good,’ Jason said. ‘He sounds like an overbearing jerk. I don’t care if he is the vampire Prince William.’

‘Yeah. But he wouldn’t accept it,’ Paige said.

‘What do you mean?’ Sienna asked.

‘He just refused to let me break up with him. He acted as if it had never happened. He kept showing up at my apartment, leaving me voicemails, sending me flowers, like I’d never said it was over.’

‘Freaky!’ Sienna exclaimed, glancing at Jason.

He nodded. ‘Did you try to break up with him again?’ he asked Paige.

‘Of course I did! Every single time he contacted me, I told him it was over. After a while, I stopped even trying to be nice about it. But he just kept telling me he loved me. I changed my phone number, I refused to see him … It didn’t stop him.’

‘But if you wouldn’t take his calls, and you wouldn’t see him …’ Jason began.

‘He followed me. I’d be at a café, and suddenly Marc would show up and sit down with me. Or I’d be out clubbing with my friends, and he’d be there. I know he was following me – or having me followed. How else could he have found me so often?’

Sienna chewed on her lip thoughtfully. ‘He does sound pretty intense, but do you really think he was stalking you? Maybe it was just coincidence. You obviously hung out in the same crowd in Paris—’

‘I’m not exaggerating, SiSi!’ Paige cut in. ‘You don’t understand. He … he killed my boyfriend.’

Jason and Sienna both stared at her.

‘The guy I started dating after Marc,’ Paige went on, picking up her hairbrush and putting it down again, agitated. ‘His name was Rob. He was from San Francisco and he was there for college, like me. He was really laid back, the total opposite of Marc. And I was so sick of Marc shadowing me! So when Rob asked me out, I said yes. We only went on a couple of dates, and then Marc found out.’

‘What happened?’ Jason asked.

Paige let out a little sob.

Sienna took her hands. ‘Calm down, Paige. Just tell us what happened.’

‘Marc showed up in the street outside my apartment and started yelling up at me that I belonged to him and I should know better than to be with another guy. I called the police, but that didn’t matter. As soon as they saw who he was, they left him alone.’

‘And Rob?’ Jason prompted.

‘Rob’s car hit a tree the very next day,’ Paige said, tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘His brakes went out while he was driving downhill, he lost control and the car slammed right into the tree. The police said it was an accident, but I know it was Marc. I know it! He must have got someone to cut the brakes.’ She dissolved into sobs and collapsed onto the bed. Sienna held her and rocked her back and forth. Jason met her gaze over Paige’s head. He didn’t like this story one bit. This Marc Lessard was clearly powerful, but he sounded kind of nuts. And that wasn’t a good combination. Jason found himself thinking about Aunt Bianca, who was also a powerful vampire, and who was also pretty unstable. His aunt had caused him and his friends a lot of trouble. Was Marc going to do the same?

Suddenly Paige sat up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘Enough. Anyway, that was the last straw. I threw my things into a bag and got on a plane home the next morning.’

That’s one mystery solved, Jason thought. Nobody had known why Paige was back early, but now it all made sense.

‘So it’s over,’ Sienna said. ‘Good. It will all be OK now that you’re back here with your old friends, with your family.’

‘No it won’t. Don’t you see?’ Paige jumped up and began pacing again.

Jason felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. ‘The flowers?’ he guessed. ‘Those roses at the Sixties party?’

Paige nodded. ‘Exactly. He’s here. He followed me to Malibu. He’s the one who sent me those stupid roses.’

‘Are you sure?’ Sienna cried.

‘Yes. I recognized his handwriting on the card. He always put a little curl at the end of his “y”. That’s why I wanted to come to Vegas, to get away from him – at least until Mom and Dad get home.’

Jason’s gaze shifted to the mirror in the bathroom. ‘See you soon,’ he read. There was a curl at the bottom of the ‘y’.

‘Oh, my God. You think he’s here, in Vegas!’ Sienna exclaimed.

‘He must’ve followed me again.’ Paige stopped pacing and sank to the ground. ‘I bet he’s the one who put that Bollinger in my suite last night, too. It’s just like the things he was doing in Paris.’

‘That car on the road,’ Jason said, remembering. ‘The SUV with the tinted windows. We told it to pass us, remember? And then I saw it on the side of the road later, like it was waiting for us.’

‘You think that was Marc?’ Sienna asked.

Jason nodded grimly.

There was a loud knock on the door, and all three of them jumped.

‘Hey!’ Van Dyke’s voice bellowed. ‘Who’s in there?’

Sienna let out a nervous giggle of relief, and Jason went to open the door. Brad, Maggie, Erin, and Belle stood behind Van Dyke.

‘What’s going on?’ Van Dyke demanded. ‘You two have been gone forever.’ He stepped into the room and began looking around. ‘Hey, Paige, sweet suite.’

The others followed him in. Brad glanced at Paige and immediately frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

Paige just threw up her hands and disappeared into the bathroom. Sienna quickly filled them all in on what had happened in Paris.

‘I can’t believe Marc Lessard is some kind of stalker,’ Erin said. ‘I met him once, when I was in France with my parents. He seemed so charming.’

‘Apparently he is, until you try to dump him,’ Brad said. ‘What are we going to do about this?’

‘Nothing,’ Paige said from the door of the bathroom. She’d brushed her hair and put on some makeup, and she looked like her usual, take-charge self. ‘I’m not going to let Marc ruin everyone’s trip.’

‘Nobody cares about spring break, Paige,’ Sienna assured her. ‘It’s much more important to keep you safe.’

The others all nodded agreement.

‘We should all be on our guard,’ Jason said. ‘Now that we know he’s here, we can keep an eye out for the guy.’

‘Yeah. Nothing bad can happen to Paige while we’re watching her,’ Maggie put in.

‘I know – we’ll all take shifts standing guard tonight,’ Brad suggested. ‘Two person teams, or maybe three person. This suite is huge, we can all stay in here overnight. Each team keeps watch for four hours while the others sleep. Then we switch.’

‘No,’ Paige protested. ‘That’s crazy.’

‘I think it’s a great idea,’ Belle said. ‘I already lost one person I love this year. I don’t care what it takes, I don’t want to lose another one, Paige.’

Brad put his arm around Paige’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. ‘Don’t you worry. If Marc tries anything, he’ll have to go through all of us first.’

‘Besides, it’ll be fun,’ Erin said. ‘You can sleep and the on-guard team can watch movies on your giant plasma TV.’

They all laughed, but Jason could tell the laughter was forced. They’re nervous, he realized. They’re all vampires, they’re all super strong. And they’re worried.

And if the vampires were nervous, that could only mean one thing: the situation was very, very bad.

Ten

‘THIS IS THE plan,’ Zach said. ‘I have a friend who runs a wine bar in a hotel right down the Strip. We’re all heading over there. It’s very friendly.’

As in vampire-friendly, Jason assumed.

Zach turned to Paige. ‘It’s a place where you’ll be perfectly safe, and all of us can relax for a while.’

Everyone in Paige’s suite was already more relaxed. It had happened the moment Zach arrived – which was about ten minutes after Brad had put in a call to him. Zach could be aloof some – make that most – of the time, but the guy came through when you really needed him.

‘After that, we’ll head over to Spamalot,’ Zach continued.

‘Oooh, I love all that old Monty Python stuff. I love you, Zach!’ Paige gave an excited bounce on the suite’s white leather sofa, eyes gleaming. She really did remind him of Tyler sometimes. Like Tyler on drugs. But Jason was pretty sure this was the natural Paige or, at least, the stressed-out natural Paige.

‘Spamalot? Really?’ Erin asked. ‘I thought it was sold out for, like, ever.’

‘Not a problem,’ Zach answered.

Jason was starting to suspect there wasn’t anything that was a problem for Zach. He pulled out his phone and quickly texted Adam the plan. ‘Wanna come?’ he concluded.

He shook his head when he read Adam’s reply. ‘CSI SHOOTG ALL NITE. SEE U AM.’ His friend was such a geek. And that was a good thing, he thought. Adam didn’t need to get all tangled up in this new vampire crisis. He was human. He’d be a lot safer amid all the fake blood and murder, far away from any chance of encountering the real thing.

Of course, Jason was human, too …

Sienna reached over and squeezed his hand. Yes, Jason was human, too, but his situation was completely different. He squeezed Sienna’s hand back. Completely, amazingly different.

‘What are you all waiting around for?’ Zach asked. ‘Go get ready. I’m not taking you anywhere unless you clean up a little.’

Paige hopped up. ‘I’m going to wear my new Lanvin. The one with the ruffles.’ She fluttered her hands from her shoulders down to her midriff, indicating, Jason assumed, where all the ruffles were.

Jason laughed. He didn’t get how she could be so thrilled about wearing a dress or going to some play, when less than half an hour ago, she’d been borderline hysterical with fear.

But Paige managed to hold onto her giddy excitement throughout the night. As they walked into the bar, which was all black, white, and metal, her enthusiasm for the party – hell, for life – shone so brightly that she soon had people from several tables around them making toasts to her.

At Spamalot, she laughed so hard one of the knights made a joke about her from the stage. It was clear he was a little smitten by the Lady Paige.

In a way, Paige was a lot like Zach. Not in personality, but in charisma. They could both control the mood of the group. Every single one of them had fun that night, despite the underlying tension, and it was mostly because of Paige.

It wasn’t until they were in their hotel, heading toward the elevator that the earlier unease started to come back strongly. Maybe it was being back in the hotel, a place everyone knew Marc had been able to infiltrate.

Paige pulled a lipstick out of her purse and slid a fresh coating over her lips. Jason didn’t get why, since they were already home. He guessed she just needed something to do with her hands.

‘Jason and I will take the first shift watching Paige’s room,’ Zach announced as the elevator door opened with a ping. ‘You and Van Dyke relieve us at four,’ he told Brad as they all boarded.

‘I’ll get a wake-up call,’ Brad answered. ‘I may also have to pour water over Van Dyke’s head. You know he sleeps like a coma patient.’

‘Hey, untrue!’ Van Dyke protested.

‘Whatever it takes,’ Zach told Brad with a grin.

‘Do you want me to stay with you, Paige?’ Sienna asked.

‘We all could,’ Belle added quickly. ‘Slumber party!’

‘I’m actually kind of tired,’ Paige admitted.

Physically tired? Or just tired of pretending that she was having fun, fun, fun? Jason wondered. Maybe both.

‘And you know I like to hog the whole bed,’ she added.

‘Well, call if you need anything,’ Maggie said. ‘Or if the boys get in over their heads. You know we can kick butt a lot harder than they can.’

‘Zach just wants us well-rested in case some truly bad meanies show up,’ Erin agreed.

‘You figured me out,’ Zach told them

The elevator opened on the 17th floor. Maggie, Erin, Belle, Brad, and Van Dyke stepped off. ‘You coming, Sienna?’ Belle asked.

Sienna held the door open with one hand. ‘Maybe I’ll wait for you in your room,’ she told Jason. ‘Adam’s out for the night, right?’

‘Right. I’ll let you in.’ He stepped out of the elevator and headed along the corridor with the others as the elevator doors slid closed behind him.

Jason let Sienna into his room with his key card. ‘I’ll be back as soon as Brad and Van Dyke come to take over,’ he promised. Then he leant closer. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to your sister.’

‘I know.’ Sienna kissed his cheek. ‘See you soon.’ She closed the door and Jason ran up the stairs to the 18th floor.

Zach let Jason into Paige’s suite. She was getting settled in the bedroom, so Zach and Jason got settled in the living room. Jason picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels.

‘Anything grab you?’ he asked Zach.

‘Whatever,’ Zach answered.

Jason stopped on 300. That movie would definitely put the plasma through its paces. He kept the sound really low; he wanted to be able to hear anything out of the ordinary.

It was kind of amazing to think about how much activity was going on in the casino below them, and in all the casinos, bars and clubs around. Up in the suite, it could have been another planet. The only sound came from the TV. Jason figured Paige had to have fallen asleep pretty much right away.

‘I’m going to get a soda, want one?’ Jason asked after about an hour. He felt like he was losing his edge. Not that he was about to fall asleep, just that he wasn’t alert for any suspicious sound the way he had been at the beginning of the shift.

Zach shook his head. Jason grabbed a Coke from the bar and took a swig as he walked back to his chair. The carbonation bubbles felt good, popping against his dry throat.

‘So what’s the deal with the Thirteen Families?’ he asked as he sat down again. ‘Paige said the Lessards were one of them.’

Zach looked at him for a long moment. Was it not OK that Jason had asked a question about the vampires? After everything he already knew? He’d been shot by a vampire hunter for chrissakes!

‘The first Vampire High Council was set up by the Thirteen Families during the Renaissance in France,’ Zach finally replied. ‘For some reason, the vampires from the Thirteen Families were particularly gifted in their vampire abilities. They were that bit faster, stronger, more powerful than “ordinary” vampires. For that reason, they became powerful politically. They were the most prestigious of all vampires.

‘Paige, Sienna, Brad, myself – most of the DeVere Heights vampires – have an ancestor from one of those Thirteen Families. But in each case, the ancestor married outside of the Thirteen – thus their bloodline, and their unusually potent vampire abilities, were diluted slightly.

‘However, of those Thirteen Families, there are still three in existence today who had an ancestor on that first Council and who have had a member on every High Council since. They’ve always married other vampires from the Thirteen Families – so no dilution of their blood with “ordinary” vampires and no dilution of their powers. The Lessards are one of those families. They’re rich, prestigious and unbelievably powerful,’ Zach said flatly. ‘That’s all there is to know.’

Jason nodded thoughtfully as he and Zach turned back to the movie. He knew just how powerful the DeVere Heights vampires were. He could hardly imagine what the vampires of the Thirteen Families must be like.

‘Whoa!’ Jason couldn’t stop himself exclaiming as an elephant went flying off a cliff.

‘Yeah,’ Zach agreed.

* * *

‘Did you hear that?’ Jason asked Zach several hours – and some extreme ass-kicking by the Spartans – later.

‘Brad and Van Dyke,’ Zach told him.

‘You sure?’

Zach checked his watch. ‘It’s four.’ He got up, checked the peep hole, then swung the door open. Brad and Van Dyke walked in. Brad looked a little bleary-eyed. Van Dyke looked a little wet.

‘Anything?’ Brad asked.

Zach shook his head.

‘See you guys later,’ Jason said as headed for the door. He couldn’t wait to see Sienna. ‘You’re staying?’ he asked Zach, who’d returned to his chair.

‘Yes,’ Zach answered.

Hmm, could there be some romantic interest there on Zach’s part? Jason wondered. Maybe going to the prom with Paige meant something different to him than Sienna thought. Or maybe it was just Zach’s extreme sense of duty kicking in. He was on the DeVere Heights Vampire Council. And even before that, he’d seemed to feel responsible for every vampire in the Heights, at least the ones in high school.

Jason felt a little weird leaving now, but he really wanted to see Sienna. And three vampires made for some pretty heavy-duty bodyguards. ‘See you,’ he said again and closed the door. He headed toward the elevator at a brisk walk, not allowing himself to break into a jog. He realized it had only been a little more than four hours since he’d seen his girlfriend. But she was waiting for him. In a fancy hotel room. Alone.

During the short elevator ride, he pulled out his key card, so he had it ready. He bolted down the hall, slid the key card through the lock, then opened the door and stepped into the room. All he heard was the soft hum of the air conditioner. No TV or radio or anything.

He quietly walked forward without turning on the lights, expecting to see Sienna asleep on his bed.

But it was empty.

So was Adam’s.

She hadn’t crashed on one of the sofas in the living room, either.

‘Sienna?’ Jason called. He backtracked to the bathroom and knocked. The door swung open. The room was empty.

She decided to go to her own room. She probably didn’t like being alone after what happened to Paige, he told himself.

He’d just go next door, tell her that the first shift had gone by with no problems. It was late, but Sienna would want to know. He hurried to her room and gave a quiet knock.

No answer.

All the saliva in Jason’s mouth evaporated. He knocked again, trying to swallow. ‘Just a second,’ Belle called.

OK. OK, OK. They’d been asleep. Duh. It was four in the morning.

Belle swung open the door. ‘Is Paige OK?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, fine,’ Jason said. ‘I know it’s late, but could I talk to Sienna for a minute?’

Belle smiled. ‘Did you forget? She’s waiting for you in your room, lucky boy.’

Jason’s stomach did a slow, sickening roll. He shook his head. ‘No, I just came from my room,’ he told Belle. ‘She’s not there.’

Eleven

‘MAYBE SIENNA POPPED over to Maggie and Erin’s room,’ Belle suggested. ‘When Mags and Erin get together, sleep isn’t something that usually happens. If the three of them found something fun to do without me, I’m not going to be happy.’ Belle’s words were playful, but her eyes were anxious. ‘Let’s get over there and see what’s what.’

Jason led the way, trying not to freak out. He wasn’t going to freak out before he had all the facts. OK, he was already freaking out a little, but he wasn’t going to let Belle see that. When he reached Erin and Maggie’s room, he gave three sharp knocks. The door swung open almost immediately. Seemed like Belle was right about Maggie and Erin and the not sleeping.

‘Is something up with Paige?’ Erin asked.

‘Yeah did the psycho show?’ Maggie added, crowding into the doorway next to Erin.

‘She’s fine,’ Jason told them. ‘And there’s been no sign of Marc. Is Sienna in there with you?’ he asked, forcing himself to keep his voice low and calm.

‘Sienna? No. Last time we saw her was right after we got back from the show,’ Maggie answered.

Jason’s body went cold. ‘She was supposed to be hanging out in my room, waiting for me, but she’s not there.’

‘And she wasn’t with me in our room either,’ Belle put in.

‘I guess she could have gone down to the casino …’ Erin suggested half-heartedly.

‘By herself?’ Belle snapped. ‘Please.’

Jason agreed. The odds on that were worse than winning a million on the dollar slot machine.

‘I’m going back to Paige’s suite,’ Jason told them. ‘Maybe Sienna went to check on her and the two of us just missed each other somehow.’ His brain hardly believed it. His gut didn’t believe it at all.

‘I’m going with you,’ Belle said.

‘Us too,’ Maggie added. ‘Give us half a minute to throw on some clothes.’

One minute later, Brad opened the door to the suite, eyes wary. Van Dyke was stretched out on the sofa, but Jason could see his muscles were tense. Zach stood leaning against Paige’s bedroom door, one booted foot crossed over the other. His posture looked much more relaxed than the other guys’ did, but Jason could tell his eyes were taking in every detail. He was on high alert.

‘Did Sienna go in to see Paige?’ Jason asked.

‘Since you left?’ Brad queried.

Jason nodded.

‘Nobody’s been in there but Paige. It’s been completely quiet. Why?’ Zach’s voice was low and calm, with just a thread of steel running through it.

‘Because she’s not anywhere!’ Belle exclaimed. ‘She was supposed to be in Jason’s room, but she’s not there. And she’s not in my room either, nor Erin and Maggie’s. Something’s very wrong!’ Belle seemed an inch away from completely losing it. Why wouldn’t she be? It hadn’t been so long since her boyfriend had been murdered by a vampire hunter. The world still had to feel like a seriously dangerous place to her.

Zach stepped smoothly away from Paige’s door as it swung open.

‘What’s going on? What’s wrong?’ Paige demanded.

‘Sienna’s missing!’ Belle cried.

‘At least, we don’t know where she is right at this moment,’ Jason added. He agreed with Belle. He thought something was very wrong too. But the way to help Sienna was for him – for everyone – to stay as calm and focused as possible.

Paige’s fingers flicked up to her mouth, then to her throat. ‘Oh, God, what was I thinking? She shouldn’t have been alone even for a minute. Sienna should have had guards on her, too. Marc’s abducted her. I know it!’ Her voice caught. ‘This is all my fault!’

‘Let’s all sit down,’ Zach told her firmly. Everybody sat down in the huge living room. Dawn was just beginning to break, and the earliest beams of sunlight were competing with the crazy neon colors of the Strip.

Paige began to pace. ‘Marc knows how much I love SiSi. I talked about her to him all the time. So he’s going to use her to make me do what he wants,’ Paige cried.

‘Sit down!’ Zach ordered, pointing at one of the overstuffed armchairs.

Paige obeyed. Zach was younger, but there was something about him that commanded respect.

‘Marc’s already killed one person to try to force me to go back to him. Now he has Sienna. What if he …?’ Again her fingers fluttered to her lips, like she couldn’t stand to let the next words escape from her mouth.

Zach walked over to the bar, took out a bottle of Evian, and handed it to her. ‘Have some water,’ he said.

The room was silent except for the click of the screw-top cap as Paige twisted it off, then the soft sounds of her swallowing the water. Jason, Brad, Belle, Van Dyke, Maggie, and Erin all stared at her, trying not to look like they were staring. Zach didn’t bother to hide his gaze. He kept his eyes on her face.

‘Whooo are you? Who? Who? Who? Who?’ Adam bellowed, as he strolled into the room, shattering the silence. ‘CSI has to have one of the most kickass theme songs of all time.’ He flopped down on the floor, yanked off his shoes, and opened the bar fridge with his toes. ‘So what’s up?’ he asked as he tried to extract a Vault with his feet. ‘Did I miss anything? Not that I could have missed anything more cool than the CSI set. I got the big G.G.’s autograph, and Lady Heather’s. You people with questionable taste probably think of her as Julie Cooper from The O.C., but she’ll always be Lady Heather to me—’

‘Adam!’ Jason finally managed to cut in. ‘Sienna’s missing.’

Adam straightened up fast. ‘For how long? Who saw her last?’ He suddenly sounded a lot more like the son of a sheriff than a fan with a geek-on.

‘About one o’clock. She told me she was going to head back to our room to wait for me to finish my shift guarding Paige,’ Jason told him.

‘OK, back it up further,’ Adam said.

‘My old boyfriend followed me here from France,’ Paige answered, spinning the bottle of water back and forth between her palms. ‘He wants me back, and I know he snatched Sienna as a way to’ – she gave a harsh bark of laugher – ‘as a way to get my attention.’

‘The guy is psycho,’ Brad added. ‘He killed the guy Paige started going out with after she stopped seeing him.’

‘And is he, you know, well-endowed dentally?’ Adam inquired.

‘Yes, he’s one of us,’ Belle replied. ‘He’s from one of the Thirteen Families. That means he’s practically royalty.’

‘Big ears, weak chin, got it,’ Adam said. Belle glared at him. ‘Sorry. I sometimes use inappropriate humor to get through serious situations.’ He looked over at Paige. ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to get her back.’

‘We are absolutely going to get her back,’ Jason seconded. And he meant it. No matter what it took. No matter what big vampire family Marc was from, or how criminally crazy he might be.

‘What about hotel security tapes?’ Erin asked. ‘They have cameras all over the place. Would they show us anything?’

‘They could confirm that Sienna really did get snatched by Marc,’ Van Dyke said.

‘I already know she did,’ Paige insisted. ‘What else could have happened to her? Sienna wouldn’t just wander off, not when she was afraid Marc might be coming after me.’

‘Confirmation is good,’ Zach said firmly. He nodded at Van Dyke, who was instantly on his feet. ‘There’s no reason for any outsiders to know what’s happened,’ he added, as Van Dyke headed for the door.

‘Got that,’ Van Dyke said as he left the suite.

‘Let’s just assume we get confirmation that Marc took Sienna,’ Jason said. ‘Then what?’ He turned to Paige. ‘Any ideas where he’d take her?’

‘Not around here,’ Paige answered. ‘We never even talked about Vegas.’

‘What about friends of his?’ Maggie suggested. ‘You must have met some of them when you two were going out. Would any of them have any ideas?’

‘No one’s going to go against Marc, don’t you get that?’ Paige demanded. She squeezed her water bottle until it cracked and water ran over her hands and down onto the carpet. She didn’t even seem to notice. ‘I got close to some of his friends, yeah. And maybe some of them even liked me more than they liked Marc. But that doesn’t mean they’d help me if it meant crossing him.’

‘So it doesn’t sound like he’s royalty. It sounds more like he’s mafia,’ Adam commented.

‘That’s a good way to think of it,’ Paige told him.

‘The Thirteen Families are not exactly like the mafia,’ Zach corrected.

‘In terms of power, they are. In terms of intimidation and control over the rest of us,’ Paige insisted. She raised the water bottle to her lips. Her brow furrowed as if she had no idea how the cracks had appeared all over it.

‘We could at least call around the other big hotels and try to find out where he’s staying,’ Erin suggested. ‘There are only a few places that would be up to Lessard standards.’

‘Except that Marc sometimes finds sleazy attractive,’ Paige put in. ‘He could have decided to stay at a grotty motel for a laugh.’

‘It can’t hurt to try and track him down,’ Brad told her. He looked over at Erin. ‘Let’s grab the phone book and call some of the most likely places.’ They headed over to the desk.

‘So what else?’ Jason asked. He needed to be doing something – anything that had a chance of getting him to Sienna.

Silence filled the room like some kind of noxious fog. ‘On the way back here, I stopped at the Elvis chapel,’ Adam said, rapid fire. ‘There were two dudes dressed as Elvis, getting married by Elvis. Elvis was even playing the organ. It was awesome. Really. I mean it. Awesome – like that scene in Magnolia where it starts raining frogs.’ He glanced around. ‘OK, none of you know what I’m talking about, because the movie didn’t come out last week. But it was unexpected, and strange, and beautiful. So I just kind of stood there, transfixed for a minute. Then I realized I was intruding on something private, so I turned around and started out, and I passed by this collection plate. And it hit me: a collection plate would be a great place to get rid of all that funny money! I reached for my backpack, but I couldn’t do it … Anyway, that’s not the point. In the chapel—’

‘Is all this leading to an idea you had about finding Sienna?’ Belle demanded sharply.

‘Yeah,’ Adam admitted. ‘Sorry. Staying up all night does not lead to thoughts coming out of my mouth in a logical order. The thing is, even though I didn’t want to intrude, there were a lot of tourists watching the wedding like it was just another show on the Strip. And thinking about that got me thinking about how many freakin’ tourists there are in this burg. And that means we have a huge pool of potential witnesses.’ Jason frowned. ‘I don’t follow. Marc and Sienna aren’t getting married in an Elvis chapel. At least, they better not be. Why would tourists especially notice them?’

‘Adam’s onto something. I’ve seen pictures of Marc in Paris Match,’ Maggie said. ‘He’s pretty delectable, right?’ she asked Paige.

‘Yeah. Until you get to know him,’ Paige agreed.

‘And Sienna, Sienna’s gorgeous!’ Maggie went on. ‘The two of them together, they’d be hard to miss – even if they were just doing something ordinary. Maybe a valet saw them getting into a car. If so, we could find out what kind of vehicle they’re in.’

‘Good idea,’ Brad called from the desk.

‘Yes, but, I’m sorry, my mind keeps sticking on one thing …’ Belle said.

‘What?’ Jason asked.

She looked over at Adam. ‘You totally made me lose focus. Now I keep wondering, why couldn’t you just leave the counterfeit money in the collection plate? That seems like the perfect place to get rid of it.’

Jason let out a groan. He couldn’t believe they were talking about this now.

‘I know. It should have been perfect,’ Adam agreed. ‘But I couldn’t do it to the big guy.’

‘God?’ Belle asked.

‘Elvis,’ Adam replied.

‘Enough!’ Jason burst out. ‘I think that’s a good point about Sienna and Marc. Unless he altered his appearance and made Sienna change hers, there’s a real chance somebody noticed what kind of car they got into. It’s probably the SUV I saw following us on the way down here, but we should—’

He was interrupted by the sound of Paige’s cell. She whipped it out of her purse. ‘It’s Sienna,’ she said as she checked the screen.

For the first time since he’d walked into his room and found it empty, Jason was able to take in a full, deep breath.

‘SiSi? Where are you?’ Paige said into the phone.

As Jason watched, all the animation drained out of her face. She listened in silence for a moment, then said, ‘I’ll be there. Don’t do anything stupid, Marc. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

‘What did he say?’ Zach asked the moment Paige hung up.

‘He has her. I knew he did. He gave me coordinates in the desert. He said …’ Paige blinked back tears. ‘He said if I want to see my sister alive, I’ll meet him there so he and I can talk.’

‘He’s not trustworthy, you know that,’ Brad pointed out, hurrying back over to the group.

‘It doesn’t matter!’ Paige cried. ‘He has my sister!’ Her hands curled into fists, and Jason could almost see her fear turning to fury. ‘And I am not going to let that evil piece of slime hurt her. I’m not!’

Paige leapt to her feet. Belle grabbed her by the arm.

‘You’re not going alone. There’s no possible way,’ Belle said.

‘No, she isn’t,’ Zach said calmly. ‘I’m going with her.’

‘So am I,’ Jason added.

‘What exactly do you think you’ll be able to do?’ Zach asked.

‘I’m pretty good in a fight. I saved your butt once, remember?’ Jason told him. ‘Anyway, it’s not your decision. Sienna’s in danger. I’m there.’

Twelve

ZACH SMOOTHLY MANEUVERED the Escalade off the highway onto the Mojave Road. Road was pushing it, in Jason’s opinion. He thought it should be called the Mojave Dirt Track. Or the Mojave Sort Of Cleared Stretch of Sand and Gravel.

‘Marc would want to meet out in the middle of the desert,’ Paige said, staring out at the miles and miles of scrubby brush, broken by the ruins of an old corral and part of an adobe farm house. ‘He has a well-developed sense of the dramatic. He thinks of his life like it’s a movie. He’s the star. Everybody else is just a disposable extra.’

‘Everybody but you,’ Jason muttered.

‘Yeah,’ Paige answered, her fingers tightening on the dash. Jason knew it wasn’t Zach’s driving she was worried about. It was her sister.

‘I hope he brought water for Sienna.’ Paige hit the CD-changer. Hit it again. ‘That guy at the gas station told me there’s no place for supplies inside the whole Mojave preserve. You could tell he thought we were crazy to be driving in here without caravanning it in case there was an emergency.’

Paige reached for the CD-changer again. Zach reached out and caught her hand. ‘Trust me. I can handle this guy.’

‘It’s just that he doesn’t think like a regular person,’ Paige said. ‘He takes risks no one else would take. He—’

‘Trust me,’ Zach repeated.

Paige sighed. ‘Are we getting close to the coordinates Marc gave me?’

‘I’m assuming that’s him up there,’ Zach answered.

Jason leant forward. ‘Where?’ All he saw was desert and more desert. Wait. He squinted. There was a little spot of black out there.

‘Faster. Go faster,’ Paige pleaded.

Zach took the Escalade up to 105. Jason could feel the sand sucking on the tires. He kept his eyes locked on the spot of darker color among the tans and yellow-greens. Yeah, that was an SUV parked up there. Jason hardly blinked as they sped forward, bouncing and jerking over the ruts in the trail. Not only was it an SUV, he realized. It was the SUV. The one that had been tailing them on the way into Vegas.

‘There he is!’ Paige exclaimed. ‘I don’t believe this. He’s sitting there drinking a beer, like he’s at a damn tailgate party.’

‘More like a costume party,’ Jason commented. Marc was wearing tight cords, suede boots, an untucked tuxedo shirt, an unbuttoned tan vest, a floppy felt hat and shades. ‘Is there a new store I don’t know about? Cowboy Rockstar Wannabe?’ Jason asked, going for a joke that wasn’t even Adam-worthy.

‘Takahiro Miyashita,’ Paige told him, tossing out the name of a designer Dani adored.

‘Let me handle things when we—’ Zach began, but he didn’t get a chance to finish. As he pulled over toward Marc’s SUV, Paige scrambled out of the Escalade before it was even parked.

Zach cursed softly under his breath as he came to a stop. Jason ignored him. He was on the ground in seconds, right behind Paige. Zach followed them both.

‘Where is my sister?’ Paige snapped into Marc’s face.

‘We’ll get to that,’ Marc told her. Jason noticed that he had just the faintest of French accents. ‘Want a beer? I also have a thermos of mojitos. Very refreshing in the desert.’ He acted like Jason and Zach weren’t even there. Jason peered into the darkness inside the SUV. He didn’t see Sienna. Was she tied up in the front seat? Had Marc even brought her?

Marc reached into the cooler behind him and pulled out a silver thermos and a cocktail glass. Paige slapped the glass out of his hand. ‘Where’s Sienna?’

Zach took a step forward. ‘I’m—’

‘I know who you are, Lafrenière,’ Marc interrupted. ‘And I’m sure I don’t need to introduce myself. But this is none of your business. Or that human’s, whoever he is. This isn’t a council meeting. This is between me and my girlfriend.’

‘It’s not quite that simple when you’ve kidnapped the daughter of a DeVere Heights—’

‘“Kidnapped” is such an ugly word,’ Marc broke in. ‘Little Sienna is perfectly safe – a long way from here, with plenty of air conditioning.’

So she wasn’t in the SUV. Jason knew he’d been stupid to even hope for that.

‘And she’ll stay that way as long as Paige sits down and has a conversation with me,’ Marc continued. He patted the spot on the tailgate next to him. ‘A conversation à deux,’ he added.

‘Fine. I know how you are when you don’t get your way,’ Paige said, sitting down next to Marc and waving Zach and Jason back.

‘You usually enjoy it when I get my way,’ Marc said flirtatiously, as if he was just trying to patch up some little fight the two of them had had.

‘Let’s give them a few minutes to see how this plays out,’ Zach said under his breath as he and Jason backed up a few steps. Jason nodded. But he was going to listen in to every word. Anything Marc said could lead them to Sienna.

Marc took a long pull on his beer. ‘You sure you don’t want something? It’s hot out here.’

‘You wanted to talk. I’m ready to talk.’ Jason heard Paige snap. He could hear the strain in her voice as she struggled to keep calm.

‘You look beautiful,’ Marc said. He ran one finger down Paige’s cheek. ‘Did you wear that shirt for me? You know it’s my favorite.’ He moved his finger down her throat and traced the V of the shirt’s neckline.

Paige shivered.

Marc grinned. ‘You might say you don’t want to be with me, but your body says different.’

‘That was revulsion,’ Paige shot back.

Jason could almost feel an electric charge arcing between them. Paige had an energy – a wildness about her – that Jason had seen when she partied. And it seemed like she’d found her counterpart in Marc. Right now, it felt as if at any moment the power they both generated would go nuclear, destroying them – and whoever else happened to be around.

Marc laughed. ‘You keep on telling yourself that, baby girl.’

Paige jumped to the ground and faced Marc. ‘You’re delusional, you know that? You sent me flowers. You sent me champagne. They didn’t work. That’s when a sane guy moves on. But you won’t accept that there is any girl anywhere who doesn’t want to be with you. That just couldn’t happen to Marc Lessard!’

Don’t piss him off, Jason thought. Be careful, Paige. Keep him calm, please. Had Paige forgotten that Marc had already murdered one person she cared about? Anything she said could push Marc over the edge. Sienna could be the next person to end up dead.

‘But think about it,’ Paige went on, her voice sharp as mirror shards. ‘You had to put my sister in danger to get me to speak to you. Doesn’t that prove that I don’t want anything to do with you? It’s over, Marc. It’s been over for a long time. Just tell me where Sienna is so we can both move on.’

Jason studied Marc’s face. Was he going to tell Paige to go to hell? That she could forget about ever seeing Sienna again?

To Jason’s surprise, Marc laughed. ‘It’s never going to be over between us, Paige, when are you going to realize that? Sometimes you might hate me. Sometimes I might even hate you. But that’s because there’s a deep connection between us. You’re the most important person in my life. And I’m the most important person in yours. Come back to Paris with me – now, today. We belong together.’

‘And Sienna?’ Jason couldn’t keep himself from bursting out.

‘If you come home with me on the next flight, I’ll let Sienna go,’ Marc promised Paige.

‘You got away with arranging Rob’s “accident”, but he wasn’t one of us. Do you honestly believe that you – even you – can kill another vampire without bringing disgrace down on your entire family? And that would be just the beginning. The councils would demand justice, and—’

‘You underestimate my father,’ Marc said flatly. ‘It would be simple for him to cover up any … mishap. You don’t realize how deep the loyalty to him runs, or how many secrets he knows about all the families, secrets they would do almost anything to protect.’

Paige lowered her head and stared at the ground. Jason could almost feel her trying to come up with another solution, anything that didn’t mean she had to leave with Marc.

‘Come with me. You know you want to. We can be dancing at Batofar tonight,’ Marc coaxed.

He really is delusional, Jason thought. He thinks all she wants is some sweet-talking, a few more flower deliveries.

‘It’s true, what you said,’ Paige murmured, her voice so low that Jason had trouble hearing her. ‘There is something between us. I think about you all the time, even though mostly when I think about you now, it’s about how much I hate you, how much you’ve hurt me.’

Marc laughed again. ‘That’s a start.’

Paige raised her head, and when she did, the beginnings of a smile were on her lips. ‘But wouldn’t you rather have me go back to Paris with you because I want to, not because you found a way to force me?’

‘Of course,’ Marc replied. ‘It’s just that I know once you’re back there, you won’t believe you ever wanted to be anyplace else.’

‘Wanna bet?’ Paige asked, her little smile stretching into a grin, her eyes glittering feverishly.

She’s come up with some kind of plan, Jason thought, uncertain whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Jason couldn’t guess what the plan was – or if it had a chance in hell of working – but he knew she’d concocted something.

Marc took off his sunglasses. ‘What did you have in mind?’

‘A game. A gamble. You still like to gamble, don’t you?’

‘Always,’ Marc answered with a smile.

‘Paige, I don’t think this is—’ Jason began.

She waved her hand at him impatiently, cutting him off. ‘You win, and I go to Paris with you. Willingly, I promise, if Sienna goes free.’ She tossed his hat on the ground and ran her fingers through his tousled blond hair.

‘And if I lose?’ Marc asked. ‘Not that I ever lose.’

‘You go back to Paris alone. Sienna goes free. It’s a winner takes all proposition,’ Paige explained. ‘Are you in?’ She was in full-on flirt mode, and Jason could see that she had Marc, hook, line and sinker.

‘Don’t I even get to know what we’re playing?’ Marc asked.

‘Does it matter, since you never lose?’ Paige taunted, moving a step nearer to him.

‘It does not matter. We will play any game you say.’ Marc closed the distance between them and kissed her. ‘To seal the deal.’

Paige kissed him back, a longer, deeper kiss. ‘Just so you’ll remember what you’re playing for.’

Was she as insane as Marc? Jason wondered. Did she even remember that her sister’s life was what they were really playing for?

‘The Ultimate High Stakes Invitational is tonight at the Bonheur. A Texas Hold ‘Em tournament for very high rollers. You and Zach will enter. Whoever loses their money first loses the private gamble as well.’ Paige glanced from Zach to Marc. ‘Acceptable?’

Jason noticed Zach’s eyes narrow slightly, and realized that he had been caught a little off guard – something that rarely happened. Nonetheless, Zach gave an almost imperceptible nod.

‘Marc?’ Paige asked.

‘I’m in,’ he told her. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’

‘Swear on your family name that you’ll honor the terms,’ Paige demanded, her face suddenly serious.

‘Couldn’t we just kiss on it again?’ Marc asked.

‘If you win, you can have all the kisses you want,’ Paige told him. ‘Now, swear!’

‘I swear on the Lessard family name,’ Marc answered gravely.

‘Until tonight then,’ Paige said softly, giving him a little wave as she, Zach, and Jason started back to the Escalade.

‘I’m going to be collecting on all those kisses,’ Marc called after her.

‘I’m going to be getting my sister back,’ Paige answered, too quietly for him to hear.

Jason glanced at Zach. He had the feeling Zach wasn’t too happy about the way this meeting had gone down. Jason definitely wasn’t.

Thirteen

‘AM I ABSOLUTELY brilliant? Or am I absolutely brilliant?’ Paige demanded as Zach got the Escalade turned around. ‘I played him like a violin!’ She gave a trill of laugher, high and long, and bordering on the hysterical.

‘Yeah, brilliant,’ Jason answered sarcastically. ‘Now whether Sienna lives or dies is going to be decided on a couple of hands of Texas Hold ’Em.’ Not that he’d ever actually let it come to that.

‘You left out the part that it’s a couple of hands of Texas Hold ’Em played by Zach,’ Paige countered. ‘You think I’m brilliant, don’t you, Zach?’ She reminded Jason of a three-year-old hitting the peak of a sugar high.

‘I think only an idiot would have baited him the way you did,’ Zach said abruptly, concentrating on the narrow road.

Marc tore by in the SUV, passing on the left so he could blow Paige a big, juicy kiss. She pressed her lips against the side window in response, leaving a dark cherry lip print. The sight of it made her laugh again.

‘It worked, didn’t it?’ Paige asked. ‘I said what I needed to say to get him to agree to the gamble. That’s what I wanted to do, and that’s what I did, because I’m – everybody say it …’

Nobody cooperated.

‘… brilliant,’ Paige finished alone, clearly frustrated that Jason and Zach weren’t in celebration mode.

It’s probably relief more than anything making her act like this, Jason thought, deciding to cut Paige some slack. It had to be nerve-twitching getting face to face with Marc, flirting with him, kissing him, even though she knew he was a murderer and that he was holding her sister hostage. She probably had a gallon of extra adrenalin running through her veins right now.

‘So we have a few things to figure out,’ Jason began. ‘Things like Zach might, just possibly, lose. Then what? You can’t seriously be thinking of going to Paris with that sociopath.’

‘I’ve seen Zach play poker. I’m not that worried,’ Paige said.

‘How’s he even going to get in the game? Or Marc?’ Jason protested. ‘It’s invitational, as in you have to be invited.’

‘I can make a few calls,’ Zach said, with a grim smile. ‘And Marc will have no problem. But let’s assume for a minute that I do win. Do you really think Marc’s just going to release Sienna and leave you alone forever?’ he asked Paige.

‘He swore on his family name,’ Paige reminded him. ‘That means something to us.’

‘To most of us,’ Zach corrected. ‘Are you actually going to trust the word of a guy who kills to get his own way?’

‘Good point. Excellent point, in fact,’ Jason put in. ‘Plus the game has a quarter mill buy-in. Zach can’t even sit down at the table for less than that. How are we supposed to come up with that kind of cash?’

‘I’ll handle that part,’ Zach answered, without elaboration.

For Jason, coming up with $250,000 would require a lot of elaboration, but, whatever.

‘So, we’re back to having to trust the word of a deranged killer,’ Jason said.

‘Marc’s father is completely obsessed with what it means to be one of the Thirteen. He’s all about family honor, and so is Marc. He’ll keep his promise,’ Paige insisted. ‘And even if he doesn’t, which he will, the whole point of the deal was to buy us some time. If we work fast, Zach won’t even have to enter the tournament tonight. We’ll find Sienna before the game even starts.’ She flicked Zach in the arm. ‘Right?’ she asked. She flicked Jason. ‘Right?’

‘Right,’ Jason said.

Zach gave one of his trademark nods.

Paige nibbled her lower lip. ‘Worst case scenario, we don’t find her before the tournament, Zach kicks Marc’s butt at poker, and Marc hands Sienna over.’

No, Jason thought. Worst case scenario, we don’t find Sienna before the tournament. Marc kicks Zach’s butt at poker, and the only way to get Marc to hand Sienna over is for Paige to go to Paris with the guy – who happens to be about a half a minute away from beginning to foam at the mouth.

Not an acceptable scenario.

He checked his watch: eight-thirty a.m. The tournament started in less than twelve hours. That’s all the time they had to find Sienna.

‘So, we have less than eleven hours to find her,’ Jason said, wrapping up his recap of the meeting with Marc. ‘Any ideas?’ He glanced around the group gathered in Paige’s suite.

‘I’d say follow him,’ Zach suggested. ‘But we have no idea where to start looking.’

‘Yes we do. Brad and I found out where Marc is staying,’ Erin volunteered. ‘The Bonheur.’

‘Happiness,’ Jason translated aloud, remembering the French Sienna had managed to inject into his brain.

‘You’d think he’d get enough French atmosphere at home,’ Adam commented. ‘Why didn’t he go for the hotel with the sphinx out front, or Circus, Circus? Although circuses always seem sort of French to me. I don’t know why. There’s something about the red coat the ringmaster wears, and some of the clowns are mimes, so—’

‘He’s probably not staying there for the atmosphere,’ Brad interrupted. ‘He’s probably staying there because it’s free.’

‘His daddy owns the place,’ Erin explained.

‘Unbelievable!’ Jason burst out. ‘We challenged him to a poker tournament being held in the casino his father owns. Why didn’t we just say Zach would play blindfolded and make it even easier for Marc to cheat?’

‘He’s not going to cheat,’ Paige insisted. ‘Family honor is a huge deal to Marc. And his father. His dad would never allow a crooked game in his casino.’

‘Besides, there’s always a director at a tournament to oversee the game, someone unaffiliated with the casino,’ Zach explained. ‘So there will be an outsider to enforce all the rules.’

‘We need to get over to the Bonheur and see if we can spot Marc before the game.’ Van Dyke stood up. ‘Then we stay on him.’

‘He probably has at least a couple of his boys with him,’ Paige said. ‘Marc doesn’t like to travel without an entourage. They’re probably taking turns watching Sienna. Somebody should follow them too. Anybody have a laptop? I can find pictures of the key players.’

‘I’ll get mine. I brought it so I could edit my seedy underbelly footage,’ Adam answered. He hurried out of the room.

‘Do you think Marc could be holding Sienna at the Bonheur?’ Maggie asked. ‘Since his dad owns it and everything?’

‘Unlikely,’ Brad said. ‘Too many people. It would be hard to whisk Sienna past all the hotel guests and the gamblers down in the casino. She wouldn’t be going willingly, and if they’d drugged her—’

Jason heard Paige suck in a sharp breath.

‘It isn’t likely that they did,’ Brad added quickly. ‘Because that would make it even harder to transport her into the hotel unnoticed.’

‘Laptop,’ Adam announced as he came back into the room. He set it down on the coffee table and opened it. Paige went online and quickly found some pictures of Marc. It seemed like he was Paris’s Paris Hilton – if Paris Hilton was a guy and wasn’t arrested so often.

‘Here’s one with Olivier, Marc’s cousin and chief lapdog,’ Paige said, tapping the screen. ‘And here’s one of Didier, who is basically a hunk of muscle that does Marc’s dirty work.’

‘A yummy hunk of muscle,’ Erin commented.

Paige continued. ‘Both of those guys should be with Marc. He takes them everywhere.’ She brought up another picture from a gossip site. ‘This weasely looking creature might be with him too. His name’s Gilles. Half the time Marc’s pissed off at him for something. The rest of the time, he’s one of the regulars.’

‘Brad and Van Dyke, I want you to take Marc,’ Zach instructed. ‘He might decide to check in on Sienna personally.’

‘If he does, I want to be there,’ Jason protested.

Zach shook his head. ‘From what Paige said, Marc isn’t likely to be alone. The meet in the desert was an exception. I want two of our kind on him and whoever he has as back-up. Besides, he got a good look at you in the desert.’

‘I’m not just sitting on my butt while Sienna’s being held hostage,’ Jason said. ‘I’ll follow Didier.’

‘Fine,’ Zach agreed. ‘Take Adam and Belle with you.’

Jason nodded.

‘Maggie and Erin, you’re on Olivier,’ Zach continued. ‘Let’s not worry about Gilles unless one of us sees something to indicate we should. It doesn’t sound like Marc would trust Gilles enough to deal with Sienna by himself anyway.’

‘Doubtful,’ Paige agreed. ‘But why don’t I follow him?’

‘I don’t want you out of this room,’ Zach answered. ‘If Marc or one of his guys spots you, they could drag you straight to the airport. You could be on your way back to Paris before any of us even knows what happened.’

Paige shot Zach a who-are-you-to-be-giving-orders look. ‘And what are you going to be doing?’ she demanded.

‘I’m going to check with a few contacts I have in town to see if the Lessards own any other property in Vegas,’ Zach explained. ‘Then I’m coming right back here to baby-sit you. If anyone needs back-up, call my cell, and I’m there.’

Jason didn’t think he’d ever heard Zach talk so much at one time, but there was no time to dwell on that. ‘Is my team ready to go?’ Jason asked. He wanted to get out of there. He needed to be doing something, anything, to get Sienna back.

‘Your team?’ Adam repeated. ‘How did it get to be your team? Did I miss the vote for captain?’

‘Don’t be an ass,’ Belle told him as she gently pushed him out the door. ‘It’s his team because he loves Sienna.’

It was true. And the thought of being without her was like teetering on the edge of a bottomless pit.

‘The Bonheur is only a few hotels down on the Strip. Should we walk it?’ Belle asked as they headed for the elevators.

‘Let’s take the Escalade and valet park it. I want to be able to get to it quick if we spot Didier leaving the hotel,’ Jason answered.

‘Where are you? Di-dier? Where? Where?’ Adam sang under his breath to the tune of the CSI theme song as they waited for the elevator to arrive. He was still singing it when they walked up to the Bonheur casino.

‘Just something to think about: singing the name of the guy we’re supposed to be tailing might give us away,’ Jason told him.

‘Oh, right.’ Adam switched over to humming. “Hmmmm-hmm-hmm. Hmm. Hmm.” He had his camcorder perched on his shoulder. Jason thought that that, at least, had been a good call. Adam had pointed out that the zoom lens would come in handy – they couldn’t very well walk around with binoculars.

‘Should we split up?’ Belle asked.

‘I don’t think we’ll need to,’ Adam said.

‘Why not? This place is huge,’ she protested.

It was. Huge and crowded and noisy. Slots spinning, dice rolling, roulette wheels turning. Jason was having trouble focusing his eyes on individual faces; his attention kept getting jerked to a new sound or motion.

‘Check out the viewfinder,’ Adam replied, moving closer so Jason and Belle could see the little screen. ‘I think I’ve found our boy.’ He zoomed in on a twenty-something guy playing video poker.

Belle nodded. ‘He’s gotten blond tips – not such a great style decision – but that’s definitely Didier. How about if I take that empty machine that backs up to his? I can keep him in sight, but he won’t be looking at me. He’ll be watching his poker hands.’ She looked to Jason for an answer.

‘Great, go,’ he told her. ‘And, Adam, just keep doing your filmhead thing.’ Jason scanned the area. ‘I’ll head over to that bar over there. The way the mirror’s positioned I’ll be able to watch Didier without even facing in his direction. He’s not going to be able to blink without one of us seeing.’

Jason drank five Sprites as he watched Didier. He was starting to realize why cops on stakeouts brought bottles to pee in. That’s why there are three of you, he told himself. He stood up, left some cash on the bar, and wandered over to Adam. ‘I’m hitting the bathroom. Be right back.’

‘You should have gone before we left home,’ Adam joked as Jason walked away.

The men’s room was empty when Jason walked in. He figured a lot of gamblers had to be on hot streaks they were afraid to interrupt.

He emptied the five sodas out of his bladder and headed for the sink.

Just then, the door opened with a slam. Jason jerked his head toward the sound and saw Adam rushing in.

‘The red junglefowl is in flight!’ Adam burst out.

‘What?’ Jason demanded, drying his hands on his jeans.

‘Didier’s heading for the main exit,’ Adam explained.

‘Why didn’t you say so?’ Jason asked as they rushed out of the bathroom.

‘It was code. The red junglefowl is the national bird of France, so that’s Didier. And “in flight”, well that’s obviously code for leaving. Didier is leaving,’ Adam answered in a rush. Then he went on thoughtfully. ‘Actually I think it’s only called a red junglefowl when it’s wild. There’s another name for the domesticated one.’

‘How do you even know this crap?’ Jason asked as they careened through the casino, trying not to crash into anyone.

‘Saw it—’

‘In a movie,’ Jason finished for his friend.

‘There’s Belle!’ Adam exclaimed. ‘I told her to watch and see which way he went.’

‘He headed down the Strip, going north,’ Belle told them breathlessly when they reached her. ‘He’s walking. Should I get the Escalade?’

‘No, if he’s walking, we should be walking too,’ Jason said. He led the way outside. ‘Do you see him?’ Jason didn’t. At least not yet. He put on his sunglasses.

‘Across the street,’ Adam answered. ‘About half a block ahead of us.’

‘Don’t speed up,’ Jason warned. ‘And try and look tourist-ish – like we’re just out to have fun.’

Belle immediately pasted a bright smile on her face. ‘That’s the Venetian up there. Have you guys ever been in?’ She didn’t wait for them to answer. ‘It has a real canal. Well, a real fake canal. It’s so cheesy, but Sienna actually loves it. She made me ride around in a gondola for almost three hours last time we were here. It was an all-girl weekend.’

She blinked rapidly and Jason realized thinking about Sienna had brought tears to her eyes. ‘You two can take a gondola ride tonight,’ he promised. ‘I’ll even— Wait!’ Jason interrupted himself. ‘The red junglefowl is making a left turn. Did I get the code right?’ he asked Adam.

‘The red junglefowl is flying west,’ Adam corrected. He looked over at Belle. ‘Don’t worry, he’ll get it down.’

They turned down Flamingo and kept pace half a block behind Didier.

Adam came to an abrupt stop as Didier disappeared into a place called the Treasure Chest. ‘Er, Belle can’t go in there,’ he said awkwardly.

‘Yes, I can. I have fake ID too,’ Belle reminded him.

‘That’s not what I mean. It’s a … It’s a …’ Adam shook his head, at a loss for words.

‘Spit it out,’ Belle sighed. ‘The red junglefowl has come to roost in a topless club.’ She grinned and rolled her eyes. ‘I’ve probably seen more topless girls than you have, Turnball.’

‘I can’t believe this place is even open. It’s barely noon,’ Jason commented as they walked toward the club.

Belle laughed. ‘You didn’t think breasts were only visible at night, did you?’ She opened the door to the Treasure Chest. ‘After you,’ she told Jason and Adam.

‘That’s what I like to see,’ Adam said. ‘They have a buffet.’ He practically ran toward it.

Belle snorted. ‘Do you think he’s a little embarrassed to be here with me?’

‘I’m not.’ Jason took a seat on a lip-shaped padded bench, one that was as far away from the stage as possible. Didier had gotten himself a seat way up front. It didn’t look like he was planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

‘I hope she’s OK,’ Belle said. Jason had a hard time hearing her over the techno music.

‘Try not to worry too much,’ he told her – like he could take that advice. ‘Sienna’s pretty good at taking care of herself.’

‘True. My girl’s a fighter.’ Belle smiled at him. ‘I mean, our girl.’

They sat in silence – silence except for the pulse-changing bass beat of the music – until Adam came back over.

‘I had an idea for you,’ Belle told him. ‘For getting rid of your … excess money.’

‘Lay it on me,’ he said.

‘Go sit next to the fowl and feed the g-strings,’ Belle suggested, jerking her chin at the stage.

Adam blushed. Yes, actually blushed. Jason was going to be reminding him of this moment for a very long time to come – once Sienna was safe again.

‘I couldn’t do that,’ he finally answered. ‘Those girls, they work hard for their money. And they’re all so pretty. They deserve better than the funny stuff.’

Jason couldn’t take the waiting around anymore. He shoved himself to his feet.

Adam raised his eyebrows. ‘You’re not going to do some tipping, are you?’

‘No, I’m going to do some butt kicking,’ Jason replied. ‘It’s ridiculous sitting around waiting for the fowl to decide to fly off again. I’m going to take him outside and punch on him until he decides to squawk about where Sienna is.’ He started toward Didier.

Adam circled around in front of Jason, blocking his way. ‘You’re going to have to go through me to get to him,’ he said.

Jason could tell Adam was serious, but he was serious too. ‘Get out of my way.’ He glanced around Adam to make sure Didier hadn’t started paying attention to them. He hadn’t. Nobody had. It wasn’t the kind of place where people got curious.

‘The guy is probably, you know, special,’ Adam warned. ‘You could get yourself mangled. Sienna wouldn’t like that.’

Jason sucked in a long breath, giving himself time to absorb Adam’s logic. ‘Fine. We’ll keep watching,’ he snapped. He returned to Belle and sat back down, but all he could think about was Sienna.

‘If anyone has hurt her. I mean, if she’s so much as broken a nail, I’m going to make Marc pay. And I don’t care how “special” he is.’ He looked over at Adam. ‘No one is going to stop me.’

Fourteen

‘I DON’T BELIEVE this guy,’ Belle complained. ‘I mean, yes, breasts are very nice, but does anyone really want to just sit and stare at them for hours?’

Adam shot Jason a guilty I-kind-of-do look, and Belle caught him.

She laughed. ‘I guess Didier isn’t the only one who would give that question a big “yes”.’

Jason’s cell rang and he picked it up fast. He saw Zach’s name on the screen. ‘Anybody make a move?’ he asked.

‘Not as far as I know. I assume you have nothing to report,’ Zach replied.

‘No. Our guy’s been sitting front-row at a strip club for the last three hours,’ Jason told him.

‘Adam is almost up to his chin in his own drool,’ Belle added loudly.

‘Were you able to find out if the Lessards own any more property in Vegas?’ Jason asked.

‘They own five, besides the hotel,’ Zach replied. Jason made writing gestures at Belle and Adam. Belle handed him a purple Flair and Adam passed him a couple of cocktail napkins.

‘Give ’em to me,’ Jason said. He jotted down the info as Zach listed them off.

‘I’m going to check in with the others,’ Zach told him. ‘I’ll let you know if anything’s happened.’

Jason hung up. ‘You think you two can cover Didier without me for a while?’

‘Why? What do you have planned?’ Adam asked.

‘A little recon. One of the places the Lessards own is an antiques warehouse at the edge of the city. Sounds like the perfect place to hold a hostage,’ Jason explained.

‘Take the Escalade.’ Belle held out the keys and the valet parking ticket. ‘Didier got here on foot, so we probably won’t need wheels to follow him – if he ever leaves. And, if we do, there are a ton of cabs around.’

‘Thanks,’ Jason said.

‘Call if you need back-up,’ Adam instructed. ‘My heroic chin and I are available to come to your rescue if you get into any trouble.’

‘I’ll keep you posted.’ Jason left the club and retrieved the Escalade. With the help of the Streetpilot GPS system in the dash, he was able to pull up just down the block from the warehouse in less than twenty minutes. He didn’t want to park right in front. He needed to suss out what kind of surveillance was in place.

Trying to look casual – although it wasn’t exactly the kind of street anyone would pick for a stroll – Jason walked by the warehouse. He didn’t spot anyone guarding the outside, so he crossed the empty parking lot that backed up to the loading dock. Nobody called out, demanding to know what he was doing there, so he continued around the building. The only sounds were his own breathing and his own footsteps. The place felt deserted. But that didn’t mean Sienna – Sienna and, possibly, guards – wasn’t inside.

Unfortunately, the windows were positioned too high for Jason to get a look inside. He retraced his steps. Hadn’t he seen a— Yep, there it was, a Dumpster right around the corner.

Jason climbed up on top of it, grimacing at the noise his feet made on the hollow metal box. He froze for a moment, listening. When it didn’t seem as if he’d alerted anyone, he took a cautious peek in through the nearest window.

The thin coat of grime on the glass and the dim light inside the warehouse made it hard to see, but there were rows and rows of wooden crates.

Jason’s eyes flicked up and down each row of crates, on alert for the smallest movement. Nothing. It really didn’t look like Sienna was down there. But there was another whole floor. And there was a fire escape with a ladder that could take him up there.

He sidestepped his way over to the edge of the Dumpster, and reached up for the bottom rung of the ladder. A twinge of pain from his old crossbow bolt wound radiated through his chest. Damn, was he ever going to be able to forget that he’d been shot by a vampire hunter who’d mistaken him for a friend of Dracula? Or was that spot on his chest always going to hurt when he moved a few degrees in the wrong direction?

It’s not like it’s something you’d ever actually be able to forget anyway, he told himself. A crossbow bolt in the chest – that was a memory that stayed with a guy pretty much forever, twinge or no twinge.

Jason jerked down on the ladder with both hands. It gave a squeal of protest and lowered about an inch. He gave it a yank. Nothing. The thing was completely jammed. Well, if the ladder wouldn’t come down to him, he’d have to go up to it.

Jason adjusted his grip on the bottom rung of the jammed fire escape ladder – the only rung within his reach – and swung himself up to climb the ladder.

Halfway up, he felt a strong hand – an inhumanly strong hand – grab his shoulder. On the upside, he told himself, a vampire guard means I’m probably very close to Sienna. He looked over his shoulder, and his mouth fell open.

Paige stood behind him on the metal ladder.

‘How’d you get up here?’ he asked.

She laughed. ‘It helped that I’m not a clumsy human boy,’ she replied.

‘OK, forget about how, why are you up here?’ Jason demanded. ‘You’re supposed to be hiding out so you don’t get snatched by Marc or one of his goons.’

‘It’s my fault Sienna got kidnapped,’ Paige answered. ‘When I heard Zach on the phone telling you all the places the Lessards owned, I figured this was the most likely spot for Sienna to be stashed. So when Zach went to the bathroom, I decided to come over and check it out.’ She raised one eyebrow at him. ‘I didn’t hear Zach tell you to search the warehouse. You’re rogue too, aren’t you?’

Jason gave a reluctant snort of laughter. ‘Rogue! Yeah, that’s me.’

‘So, are you going to keep climbing? Or do you want me to go first, since I’m the one with the preternatural powers?’ Paige asked.

Jason answered by continuing to climb.

‘You have a cute butt,’ Paige commented from below him.

Jason didn’t know exactly how he was supposed to answer that kind of compliment, especially from his girlfriend’s sister, so he pretended he hadn’t heard and kept climbing until he reached the top of the fire escape.

He and Paige crouched down and peered through the window that led to the metal platform they stood on.

‘Just more boxes,’ Paige murmured.

‘Let’s go inside, just to be sure,’ Jason said. He tried to open the window. ‘Locked,’ he told Paige. He wrapped the bottom of his shirt around his fist and punched it through the glass.

‘You should have let me do that,’ Paige told him. ‘I heal like it’s nothing.’

‘All I was thinking about was getting in there,’ Jason admitted. He plucked a fragment of glass out of his forearm, then carefully reached through the hole in the window and flipped the latch.

‘You really love my sister, don’t you?’ Paige asked, her voice serious.

‘Yeah.’ Jason shoved the window up and climbed into the warehouse.

‘SiSi has very good taste,’ Paige said as she followed him.

It felt just as deserted inside the place as it had out. She’s not here, Jason thought, but he didn’t say it aloud. He didn’t know for sure; why not let Paige hope for a little while?

Quietly, they wove through the corridors of boxes. There was no Sienna, and nothing to indicate that Sienna had ever been there. It was the same with the small office, the rows of boxes downstairs, the bathroom, and the larger office.

‘I really thought I’d find her,’ Paige said. ‘When I heard Zach say “warehouse”, I thought for sure …’

‘Me, too,’ Jason answered. ‘But we’re all working on it. Maybe someone else is about to find her right now.’

‘So we all got nada, zip, an endless void of nothing, a—’

‘Thanks for that recap,’ Jason said, interrupting Adam before someone – possibly Jason himself – felt the need to kill him.

Belle gave Adam an affectionate pat on the knee. ‘I thought it was very creative,’ she told him.

Brad used his fingers to scrub his face. ‘All we can do now is get Zach over to the tournament.’

‘And be there as back-up if something nasty goes down,’ Van Dyke agreed.

‘Then we need to go get ready,’ Maggie said. ‘None of us could walk into a big money invitational game looking the way we do.

True, Jason thought, taking in the little rips at the bottom of his shirt. And the streak of blood.

‘Is the invitational part going to be a problem?’ Erin asked. ‘We didn’t think about that.’

‘Actually, we did,’ Zach said, ‘and I’m expected, so let’s meet downstairs in the lobby at seven forty-five p.m.’

‘Less than an hour to make myself gorgeous,’ Adam said, shaking his head. ‘I don’t know if I can do it.’

‘I don’t know if you could do it even with unlimited amounts of time,’ Van Dyke joked, herding everyone but Zach out of the suite.

‘Hey. You holding up OK?’ Adam asked when he and Jason split off from the others at their room.

‘Sienna can take care of herself. I have to keep reminding myself of that,’ Jason answered. He slid the key card through the reader and opened the door.

‘She could definitely kick my butt,’ Adam agreed. ‘And the butt of my dad, who is, as you know, a sheriff with years of training.’

Jason headed over to the closet and pulled out the suit Sienna had insisted he buy a few weeks ago. He changed his clothes as quickly as possible, then grabbed his new shoes. Sienna had insisted that he buy a pair of loafers to go with the suit. She called them light green with a ‘world-weary patina’, whatever that meant. He called them gray. They’d mock argued about it all the way home in the car. And then they’d made up for the mock fight with some real kissing.

‘Those just slide on, in case you’re wondering,’ Adam said. ‘There’s no Velcro or laces or anything. It’s kind of freaky, I know.’

Jason realized that he’d been staring at the loafers for an embarrassing amount of time. ‘Thanks. Because that is actually what I was wondering.’

‘You’re looking very shiny,’ Adam told him.

‘It’s from the Roberto Cavalli Spring collection. And I believe the term you’re looking for is “high-sheen”,’ Jason corrected, straightening his jacket but totally failing to carry off the fashion-conscious image with conviction. They both knew only Sienna knew that kind of stuff.

‘And what about me?’ Adam flung out his arms theatrically, giving Jason a good look at the intricate lines and dots covering his shirt. ‘Don’t I look pretty?’

‘Am I supposed to be seeing a dinosaur pop out of your chest or what?’ Jason joked. ‘It looks like you’re wearing one of those optical illusion posters. I used to have one in my bedroom when I was a kid. When you stared at it just the right way, with your eyes almost crossed—’

‘I think what you’re trying to say is that this op-art print captures the mood of the Seventies with skill and wit,’ Adam interrupted. ‘At least that’s what Belle said. She bought it for me. I’m supposed to pay her back after I sell my first movie or marry an heiress thanks to her coaching.’

‘You’d better hope she’s willing to keep coaching you, then, because—’ Jason broke off. ‘How can we even be talking about this stuff? Why are we even bothering to change clothes? It’s insane. Sienna is being held hostage somewhere, and we’re …’ He shook his head.

‘What we’re doing is dressing in the appropriate way for the next stage of the plan to get Sienna back,’ Adam told him. ‘We need to look like we belong in a private room at the Bonheur, because that’s where we have to be right now.’

Jason nodded. ‘All right. You’re right. We just have to hope that Zach wins and that the honor of his family name actually means something to that scuzball, Marc,’ Jason said. ‘Let’s get downstairs.’

Van Dyke and Maggie were already in the lobby when Jason and Adam showed up.

‘A cravat, Van Dyke?’ Adam asked. ‘Really?’

‘Clearly I need to get you a subscription to GQ,’ Van Dyke told him. ‘For so many reasons.’

‘I think he actually looks cute,’ Belle said as she, Erin, and Brad joined them. ‘Lounge lizard-esque, in a good way.’ She reached across Adam and unbuttoned one more button on Jason’s high-sheen shirt. ‘Sienna did a good job when she took you shopping. You clean up real nice.’

Jason shot a nervous look at Maggie. ‘Are you sure? It seems like Maggie and I are wearing almost the same thing.’

‘It looks a lot better on her,’ Van Dyke laughed.

The three-piece suit did look hot on Maggie. She looked every bit as sexy as Belle did in her short, sparkly rhinestone-covered dress.

‘The name’s Lafrenière. Zach Lafrenière,’ Brad murmured as Zach headed toward them.

No kidding. Zach was wearing a tux. Black with satin lapels. White handkerchief in the pocket. He hadn’t bothered with a tie, and his white shirt was open at the neck. He hadn’t tried to comb down the spikes in his short black hair, and he had a little stubble going, just a little. He definitely looked like a guy who’d walk away from a card table a winner.

‘Let’s roll,’ Zach said calmly, and walked out of the hotel lobby.

‘Do you have the, uh, what the rat pack would call the “do-ray-mi” on you?’ Adam asked as they made their way down the Strip toward the Bonheur. ‘Because that’s a lot of music to be walking around with.’

‘I arranged for the 250,000 dollars to be transferred to the casino. I’ll receive it in chips when we arrive,’ Zach told him.

Adam shot Jason a raised-eyebrow, do-you-believe-this-guy look. Jason shrugged.

‘So, do you have any tips for negotiating a better allowance?’ Belle teased. ‘I wanna be a high roller too.’

Zach smiled at her. ‘My parents are generous. But I’ve managed to make a few lucky investments in the past few years.’

‘Lucky investments? How lucky are we talking?’ Van Dyke burst out.

‘Lucky enough,’ Zach said, clearly ending that particular line of questioning.

‘I don’t get the whole 250,000 dollars thing exactly,’ Maggie admitted. ‘They can tell you how much to bet?’

‘Maggie, if you didn’t spend more time in the water than out, you’d pick up some of this basic life information,’ Erin told her. ‘Most tables have minimum bets. But at tournaments like the one tonight, with the high rollers, they have a buy-in. Tonight’s is 250,000 dollars. Everyone is committed to play for that amount and starts out with that many chips.’

‘So the winner will get …?’ Maggie asked.

‘There are six players in the tournament,’ Van Dyke said. ‘That means there’s one and a half million in the pot. Most of that will go to the winner. Pretty much everyone else at the table will be walking home with empty pockets.’

‘That’s not going to be me.’ Zach stopped in front of the Bonheur and opened the nearest door, waving the group inside. Then he led the way deep into the casino, down a steep flight of stairs, and over to a room with a green brocade door. There was a man in a tuxedo clearly standing guard. Zach told the guy his name, only his name, and the guard whisked the door open. Zach’s phone calls had obviously gone well.

Jason’s eyes immediately went to the wall on the left. It was almost entirely covered by an enormous built-in aquarium, alive with fish. Then he saw Marc, already seated at the sleek cherry-wood table in the center of the room.

‘He sure wears that Fendi well,’ Erin murmured.

Jason took a closer look at the guy. He had on a very classy gray suit – Fendi, according to Erin – with a white shirt and tie underneath.

Mr Yakamoto – the older Japanese man that Zach had won from the other night – sat to his left. Zach strolled over to the table and took a seat some distance from Marc. Yakamoto didn’t seem very happy to see him, but Marc sure did.

‘Let’s grab seats,’ Brad said, leading the way up a short flight of stairs to a raised gallery set well back from the game table. Tables and chairs stretched down its length. As soon as they sat down, a waitress glided up and asked for their drink orders. Jason noticed that the players were being offered complimentary beverages. It looked like Zach had gone for water with a slice of lemon. Smart choice.

They had a good view of Zach, who was sitting facing toward them, but they could only see the back of Marc’s head. ‘Hey, isn’t that that sexy actress?’ Van Dyke asked. ‘The one who was in that movie where she was a lesbian?’

‘Bound,’ Brad said. He shot a look at Adam. ‘See, we do know some old movies.’

‘You mean you have an encyclopedic knowledge of anything that involves girl-on-girl action,’ Maggie said, laughing.

‘That’s definitely her,’ Adam confirmed. ‘Sitting down right next to our Zach.’

‘Most definitely,’ Brad agreed.

A middle-aged guy with way too much bling for a) the room and b) his age, came in and plopped down between the actress and Mr Yakamoto. He was followed by a short man who, like Zach, was dressed in a tux. When he took his seat, on the other side of Zach from the actress, the tournament’s six players were all in place.

‘OK, I’m going to need some commentary,’ Maggie said. ‘I’ve only played poker about twice, both times at a party.’

Van Dyke wrapped his arm around her. ‘Not a problem.’

A tall woman with wildly curling strawberry blond hair entered the room. She had to be a vampire. With her flawless ivory skin and glowing pale blue eyes, she couldn’t possibly be human. The neck of her ankle-length black gown was high, and the sleeves were long, but as she passed by on her way to the main table, Jason could see that the back of the dress was cut so low there was no way any underwear was going on.

‘She’s the dealer,’ Van Dyke said.

Several extremely clean-cut twenty-something guys followed her, carrying trays of chips. They distributed them to the players in silence.

‘Hard to believe those pieces of plastic represent more than a million bucks,’ Adam commented.

Another woman walked to the head of the table. She had light brown hair in a sleek bob. ‘Good evening, players and guests. My name is Hilary Mayer and I am the manager of the Bonheur. If there is anything my staff can do to make you more comfortable tonight, please don’t hesitate to ask.’ She smiled. ‘I know none of you have come here to listen to me. You all know the rules, and Mr Barstow, your director for the night, will be on hand if there are disputes of any kind.’ She nodded to the angular man standing several feet away from the table. He nodded back. ‘So, again, welcome, and good luck,’ Hilary concluded, then took a seat in the gallery.

The dealer placed a silver disc in front of Marc, who sat to her left. ‘That’s called the button,’ Van Dyke told Maggie. ‘It shows who the dealer is.’

‘I thought you just said that that woman is the dealer,’ Maggie answered.

‘She is,’ Adam put in. ‘In tournaments, there’s always a professional dealer. But usually each player takes a turn dealing, and that’s important in the rules. So, in terms of the rules, the person with the button counts as the dealer, even though they’re not actually dealing. Got it?’

‘Got it. It seems stupid, but I’ve got it,’ Maggie replied.

Yakamoto and Too Much Bling pushed chips in front of them. ‘The two players to the left of the dealer have to put in what’s called the “small blind” and the “big blind”. It’s a mandatory bet,’ Jason explained, doing his part of the commentary for Maggie. ‘It looks like the small is 1,000 bucks, and the big is 2,000. Those amounts will go up as the game goes on. It’s to keep the play aggressive. Bigger blinds mean players will risk more on less than great hands.’

‘The game is No-limit Texas Hold ’Em,’ the dealer announced in a throaty voice that easily carried to the gallery. A hush descended on the room as she began dealing two cards face down to each of the players.

Sexy Actress quickly checked her cards. ‘Raise 2,000 dollars.’ She slid the chips out in front of her. A monitor mounted in the center of Jason’s table showed a close-up as the dealer confirmed the bet.

‘Ooh,’ Adam observed. ‘She could have just called and put in the amount of the big blind – 2,000 dollars – but she chose to take it up a notch.’

‘Fold,’ Zach said.

‘That means he’s out for the rest of this hand,’ Van Dyke explained. ‘He can’t have any good cards; he didn’t even wait for the flop.’

‘I understood the “fold” part without the translation,’ Maggie said. ‘But “flop”? I’m lost again.’

‘The betting for this round is going to continue until everyone has either folded, gone all in – that means bet all their chips – or matched the highest bid,’ Van Dyke told her. ‘Then the dealer will turn over three cards. They’re called the “flop” and they are community cards. The players will use them with the two cards they already have – “hole” cards, they’re called – to come up with their poker hands. After the flop, there’s another round of betting.’

‘Right. So if you’re holding a pathetic little three and a six in your hole cards, but then two more sixes come up in the flop, suddenly you’re holding three of a kind!’ Belle added. ‘Not a fabulous hand, but a lot better than what you started with.’

‘So why did Zach fold without waiting for the flop?’ Maggie asked. ‘He can’t really know how good his hand is until he sees the three cards, right? Or am I missing something?’

‘It’s true that the flop can change your hand,’ Erin told her, ‘but there’s a round of betting before the flop. If Zach’s got really bad cards, and the betting gets high in that round, then he’d probably choose to fold instead of matching the bet.’

‘Yeah, he’s probably just playing a tight game, being cautious,’ Brad put in. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not even going to admit how much money Zach has taken off me playing Hold ’Em.’

Zach folded before the flop on the next hand too. A hand that Marc won. Jason’s gut clenched. ‘I hope he has a good enough hand to stay in – at least until the turn – soon,’ he murmured uneasily. Before Maggie could ask, he explained. ‘After the flop, there’s another round of betting. Then the dealer turns up one more card – that’s called the “turn”. Then there’s more betting. Another card goes face up – that’s the “river”. Those two cards are community cards too. The last round of betting comes after that.’

‘So then you can use any of the five cards on the table with either of your two hole cards for your hand?’ Maggie queried.

‘Yes, either or both,’ Adam clarified. ‘But Zach’s pulled out way before that point.’

Jason leant forward, all his attention on Zach as more hands were played. Zach folded often – and lost almost as frequently. He didn’t win a single hand.

In contrast, Marc played loose, betting on hands when the odds would have told a more cautious gambler to fold – and it was paying off.

About an hour into the tournament, Jason and Adam exchanged a what-in-the-freaking-hell look. Zach still hadn’t won a hand. Was it possible that their friend was simply outclassed?

Fifteen

‘HE FOLDED AGAIN. Unbelievable!’ a man at one of the other tables of observers said loudly enough for Jason – and probably Zach – to hear.

Adam covered his eyes with both hands. ‘That’s a lot of hands where Zach’s folded. And when he hasn’t folded, he’s lost!’

‘Thanks for the update,’ Brad snapped irritably.

Adam spread his fingers and peered at him. ‘Sorry. It’s just … I guess the pressure’s getting to me.’

Brad nodded. ‘To all of us.’

Jason tried to keep his impatience from getting totally out of control as the hand played out.

‘At least Marc didn’t win that last hand,’ Erin commented.

‘True,’ Maggie said, ‘but he already has about 43,000 dollars more than he started with.’

‘And Zach has 20,000 less,’ Van Dyke added.

‘That isn’t nearly as much as Yakamoto’s lost, though,’ Erin commented.

‘At least Yakamoto’s in the game. Zach, he’s … Well, it’s almost as if Zach doesn’t want to play,’ Jason said, frowning.

‘Look, Zach’s a great player, I’m telling you,’ Brad insisted.

‘I’ve played with him, too,’ Van Dyke put in. ‘And he whips my butt. Not playing like this, though. I’ve never seen Zach playing like this.’

Is Zach so freaked out about Sienna that he can’t concentrate? Jason wondered. But that just didn’t seem like Zach. Jason had seen him under extreme pressure before, and Zach was the ice man.

The dealer was shuffling the cards. A new hand was about to begin.

‘Zach has to have a plan,’ Paige said. It was the first time she’d spoken since they’d entered the private room. It was like she thought that if she poured every ounce of concentration she possessed into watching the game, she could somehow make it turn out the way it had to in order to save her and Sienna.

The bidding started around the table. When it got to Zach, he said, ‘Raise 10,000 dollars.’ Jason heard Paige draw in a sharp breath.

‘Oh, yeah!’ Adam yelped loudly. Not exactly good tournament etiquette, but Jason was pretty sure everyone in the Malibu group was feeling the same way; Zach had finally made a decisive move.

‘He was just hanging back,’ Brad said, clearly relieved. ‘He probably has everyone’s tell nailed.’

‘OK, I thought I had all the vocabulary down. But “tell”?’ Maggie asked.

‘It’s something a player does, without realizing it, that tells what kind of hand he’s got going,’ Van Dyke explained. ‘Like an unconscious tick.’

‘John Malkovich had an awesome tell in Rounders,’ Adam joined in. ‘When he had a great hand, he’d pick up an Oreo cookie and twist it open right next to his ear, then eat each half.’

‘Never saw it,’ Van Dyke said.

‘No girls making out, I guess,’ Maggie teased.

‘Shut up, you guys. I want to watch Zach!’ Paige exclaimed.

The other players all called Zach’s bet.

‘If they “call”, it means they’re agreeing to match the highest bet of that round,’ Van Dyke whispered to Maggie. ‘At the end of the round of betting, they all have to have either called or folded.’

The dealer turned over the flop cards: queen of hearts, queen of clubs, eight of spades.

The pot was at $72,000 as the next round of bidding started. Marc bet $15,000. He must have liked what he saw in the flop. Yakamoto folded, as did Too Much Bling.

Sexy Actress called. Zach raised $15,000 without a moment’s hesitation, his eyes on Marc. Other Tuxedo Guy folded, but Marc saw Zach’s $15,000 raise, and raised another $15,000, answering Zach’s challenge.

‘Gotta say this for Marc, he has cojones,’ Van Dyke muttered.

Sexy Actress folded. Zach called.

‘Zach has cojones too. I’ve seen them,’ Paige answered. Now that Zach was clearly in the game, she’d gotten a little of her old sparkle back.

‘You’re bad,’ Erin told her.

Paige winked at her. Yeah, Paige was definitely feeling a little more hopeful.

When the round of betting ended, Zach, and Marc were the only ones still in. The pot was up to about $177,000.

The dealer flipped the turn card: jack of hearts.

‘A queen and a jack in the hole wouldn’t be bad,’ Brad observed.

Did Marc have those? Jason wondered, as he watched Marc bet 30 grand.

Zach, face expressionless, voice flat – the way they’d been the whole game – called. Marc looked surprised. Jason could tell he was trying to read Zach and failing.

The dealer flipped the river card: three of diamonds.

Marc eyeballed Zach, ‘Check.’

‘What’s he doing?’ Maggie asked.

‘He’s trying to figure out what Zach has, so he’s passed the betting to him,’ Van Dyke explained. ‘He still has the right to bet – or fold – after Zach bets.’

‘Raise 100,000 dollars,’ Zach said calmly. The crowd gasped.

‘That brings the pot up to about 337,000 dollars,’ Adam whispered. ‘They each have something like 90 grand of their own money on the line. That’s going to be a big bite for the loser.’

Now everything rested with Marc. Jason knew that Marc must be holding good cards to have played this far, but what did Zach have? And what would Marc do?

Marc watched Zach for a long time, but Zach’s face was expressionless. ‘Call,’ Marc said at last.

‘“Call” means matching the highest bet,’ Maggie muttered to herself, trying to keep all the info that had been thrown at her straight.

‘Since Marc called, Zach has to show his hand,’ Van Dyke told Maggie.

Zach flipped his cards face up on the table: eight of diamonds, eight of hearts.

‘Full house,’ Adam breathed happily. ‘Beat that, you freak.’

Marc shoved his cards into the center of the table without showing them, indicating that Zach had won. He’d just won a pot of – Jason did some quick math – something like $437,000. And Marc had just lost more than $180,000. He’d won a decent percentage of the earlier hands, but it still wasn’t going to be easy for Marc to recover from that.

‘Somebody get me some popcorn; I’m starting to enjoy the show,’ Adam said, when Zach won the next hand.

Jason started to feel like he was sucking in helium instead of air as the next two hands went to Zach too. He felt happy when Sexy Actress took one. Even Too Much Bling taking a pot felt kind of good. Money they got was money Marc didn’t have. They were helping to escort Marc right out of the game. Then he could take them to Sienna, and the Vegas trip would be back on track.

‘I know him,’ Paige mock bragged to the people sitting at the next table when Zach won another hand. ‘He took me to the prom. I’m serious.’

‘What’s Marc down to, anybody know?’ Brad asked. ‘He’s gotten a lot more cautious these last few rounds.’

‘He’s only got around 80,000 dollars left to play with,’ Erin answered.

‘Poor, poverty-stricken baby,’ Adam muttered as the dealer began to shuffle the cards.

‘It’s actually true,’ Jason said. ‘The bidding has been getting steep the last few hands. Marc could be out of the game soon.’

‘Ooh, then after we get Sienna back, can we go to the Star Trek Experience?’ Adam asked. ‘The Final Frontier Desserts at Quark’s Restaurant are supposed to be awesome.’

‘I’m sure Zach will be happy to take you there with his winnings,’ Jason answered, smiling at the image of Zach Lafrenière in the middle of that cheese-fest of a place. ‘You two could get your picture taken with a Klingon, or whatever.’ He returned his attention to the game, just in time to see Zach raise $15,000 in the round of bidding after the river. Marc went all in.

‘“All in”? Why can’t people just use regular language?’ Maggie complained.

‘That means he’s betting everything he’s got,’ Van Dyke said gleefully. ‘Now, if he loses this hand, he’s out of the game.’

‘Call,’ Too Much Bling said. He was the only one left in the hand besides Zach and Marc.

‘Call,’ Zach said too.

Too Much Bling flipped his cards: two of hearts, six of clubs.

The guy had been bluffing. A two and a six was an ‘always fold ’em’ hand in Texas Hold ’Em. It lost 90 per cent of the time, even with only four players. The community cards: six of hearts, eight of clubs, king of hearts, four of diamonds, jack of spades, had only given Too Much Bling a pair.

Zach flipped his cards next: king of diamonds, queen of hearts.

‘Do I see a king kong?’ Adam cried. ‘Yes, I see two kings for Zach. With a nice queen kicker if things get ugly.’

Maggie sighed. ‘“Kicker”?’

‘If Zach and Marc tie – like, in this case, if they both have a pair of kings – the winner’s decided by who has the higher card unused in their hand. That card’s called the “kicker”. Zach has a queen as his kicker,’ Jason told her.

Marc flipped his cards.

‘I am not seeing this,’ Brad groaned.

Marc had the king of clubs – with the ace of spades as a kicker. Aces high. He didn’t have nearly as many chips as Zach, but he’d just got himself back in the game.

‘Crap,’ muttered Van Dyke.

Paige nibbled nervously at one of her cuticles.

Jason glanced at his watch. Sienna had been gone more than 17 hours. Where was she? How was she being treated by Marc’s goons? It was killing him to sit here, sipping on a beer, not knowing what was happening to her, but it was all he could do. For now.

He forced his thoughts away from Sienna and back to the game – where he watched Marc take another pot.

‘I guess this would be the definition of a hot streak,’ Maggie said a half an hour later. Zach and Marc had reversed positions. Now Zach was down to about his last $70,000, and Marc was up to over $500,000.

Marc had been winning a staggering amount of hands, and when he hadn’t won, he’d got himself out early, so he hadn’t lost much.

‘I feel like I’ve somehow been transported to Htrae,’ Adam said.

‘What?’ Jason asked, without looking away from the game.

‘Htrae. You know, Bizarro world. It’s “Earth” spelled backward. Backwards versions of the superheroes live there, like Batzarro, the World’s Worst Detective,’ Adam explained.

‘Never, ever mention the word Bizarro or Batzarro or that Hhht thing again unless you want to die a virgin,’ Belle told him.

‘Marc just won again.’ Erin rubbed at the monitor with a cocktail napkin, as if there had to be something wrong with the screen. Even without the close-up from the monitor, it was easy to see the large stacks of chips piling up in front of Marc.

‘This is wrong,’ Brad burst out. ‘Streak, or no streak, Lessard’s winning too many hands.’

Jason’s gut agreed that something was wrong.

As the dealer began to shuffle, Zach lifted his head briefly toward the gallery and raised his eyebrows.

‘Did you see that?’ Van Dyke asked. ‘Zach clearly thinks there’s something wrong, too.’

‘Could Marc have found a way to cheat?’ Belle asked.

‘The big and small blinds are going up,’ the dealer announced. ‘The big blind is now 10,000 dollars. The small blind is 5,000 dollars.’

‘Why don’t we double that?’ Marc suggested suddenly. ‘Let’s really get this game moving. I have a plane to catch.’ He looked up at the gallery too – and winked at Paige.

‘He’s cheating. Look at his face. He’s so sure he’s going to have me on that plane!’ Paige exclaimed. ‘I actually thought family honor meant something to him. I knew nothing else did, but I was sure that …’ Paige shook her head, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief. ‘Obviously, he’ll do whatever he has to to get what he wants.’

I knew this would happen, Jason thought. I knew Marc Lessard couldn’t be trusted. He didn’t say it aloud. Paige was already hurting so much, he didn’t want to torture her.

Adam nudged Jason in the ribs. ‘Daddy has really good security in this place, don’t you think?’ he asked softly, nodding toward one of the many security cameras, this one mounted in the perfect position to view Zach’s cards.

‘Yeah,’ Jason answered. ‘I’m interested in the rest of Daddy’s security system. Let’s take a little field trip, see if we can find anything the director hasn’t caught.’ He and Adam stood up.

‘We’ll be back,’ Jason told the rest of the group. Then he had an idea. He turned to Erin. ‘Hey, Erin, would you come with us for a minute?’

She nodded, and the three of them quietly left the private room. ‘What’s up?’ she asked.

‘We think Marc might be using the casino security system to cheat,’ Jason explained. ‘We need to find a way into the surveillance center.’

‘And I’m here because …?’

Jason hesitated. His idea didn’t seem quite as great right now as it had inside the private room. ‘We’re not just going to be able to walk into the security area. We’re going to need a door code, or something …’ He hesitated again. ‘And, uh, sometimes a girl can have an easier time convincing someone to give out that kind of info.’

‘Totally,’ Adam jumped in. ‘Especially a hot girl. Agent Sydney Bristow wasn’t ashamed to use her hotness. She was genius smart and could handle any weapon, but, sometimes, what the mission needed was a short skirt and a pink wig.’

‘I left my pink wig in my other purse,’ Erin joked. ‘And my dress? Long, not short.’

‘You don’t need a wig; your hair is perfect,’ Adam told her. ‘And the dress is smokin’.’

‘I’m not really a flirty kind of girl. Let me go get Belle. She excels at “persuasion”.’ Erin took a step back toward the private room.

Jason stopped her. ‘We don’t have time. Zach’s hemorrhaging money. He’s not going to be able to stay in the game much longer.’

‘Hey, hey! Portly security type heading toward a staff-only door at three o’clock,’ Adam cut in. ‘Go, Agent Erin.’

Erin fluffed her hair. ‘Fine. But I still say you should have asked Belle.’

Jason and Adam pretended to be deep in conversation as they watched her head toward the security guy. She turned around and headed back to them less than a minute later.

‘OK, you didn’t need Belle. The code is’ – she held out her hand and read it off her palm – ‘060681. He gave it to me so I can visit him later.’

‘Cool,’ Jason said. ‘Now, will you go back in and tell the others that Adam and I are going to try and figure out how Marc’s cheating?’

‘Are you sure you don’t want me as your partner instead?’ Erin asked. ‘You saw how fast I got that code. I think I might actually be good at this “agent” thing.’

‘Adam’s feelings will be hurt if he doesn’t get to play, too,’ Jason told her.

‘OK. Be careful, you guys,’ she answered, getting serious.

‘Let’s do this,’ Adam said as Erin walked away.

Jason did a quick check of the hall. All clear. ‘OK, try and look staff-like,’ he said as they made their way toward the staff only door.

‘In these clothes I guess we’ll have to be managerial type staff,’ Adam commented.

Jason punched the numbers Erin had given him into the keypad next to the door. The lock opened with a click.

‘If we get caught back here, that’s pretty much it,’ Adam remarked as they entered the secure area and the door shut behind them. ‘It’s pretty much “go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars”.’

Sixteen

‘WE’RE PAST THE point of no return, that’s what I’m saying,’ Adam said, when they were deep into their exploration of the employee-only area. He paused at the end of the hallway, near the bathrooms. ‘Left or right?’

‘Which seems to have less potential for doom in your always optimistic opinion?’ Jason asked.

‘Left is lucky, I always say,’ Adam answered.

Jason turned right. ‘Come on.’

‘Why did you even ask?’ Adam complained. He cracked the first door they passed. ‘Another bean counter office.’ There’d been a whole row of them in the last hallway they’d gone down. ‘Guess there are a lot of beans to be counted in a casino.’

Jason opened the door on the opposite side. ‘Oh, sorry,’ he said, when a woman in a severe suit snapped her head toward him. ‘I was just looking for Bob. All these doors look the same.’ He shut the door quickly.

‘Bob?’ Adam mouthed at him as they continued hurriedly down the hall.

‘Every place has a “Bob”,’ Jason explained.

They did more door checks, and found more offices – all empty.

‘You still have the left-is-lucky feeling?’ Jason asked when the hall branched again.

‘Yeah,’ Adam replied, starting to turn right.

‘Let’s try it your way this time,’ Jason said, turning left. They found a couple of small conference rooms, a big conference room, a little kitchen, and – after a few more twists and turns in the staff-only maze – the security hub. It had to be. Behind the wall of shaded glass windows, Jason could see dozens of TV screens. He couldn’t make out the images, but they had to be feeds from all over the hotel and casino.

‘The door’s over here,’ Adam whispered. ‘And it’s locked. We need a key card to swipe it open.’

‘Remember the bathroom we saw, about two turns back, the one with the mop and bucket outside?’ Jason asked. Adam nodded. ‘Somebody was in the middle of cleaning back there – the mop would have been in a supply closet otherwise. I’m thinking whoever does the cleaning here probably has access to all the offices.’

‘So smart and so good looking. It just isn’t fair,’ Adam joked as they trotted back the way they’d come. The mop and bucket were still outside the bathroom door.

Jason led the way into the men’s room. A sloshing sound inside one of the stalls gave away the location of the cleaning person. And – score! – a maroon Bonheur blazer lay on the padded bench next to the sinks. This was almost too easy. He hurried over to the blazer, praying there was a key card in one of the pockets.

Before he could check even one, the stall door swung open.

Adam leapt into action. ‘Do you have any of that Vamoose stuff?’ he asked the cleaning guy, using his body to block Jason from view. ‘You know, that powder that you sprinkle on puke when it gets on the carpet.’

‘Why do you need that?’ the guy asked, not sounding happy.

Jason fingered the pockets of the blazer as fast as he could. He felt something thin and hard. It was a key card. He jammed it into his own pocket. ‘We don’t need it right now,’ he told the cleaning guy, stepping up next to Adam. ‘It’s just that he has a nervous stomach, and it’s his first week on the job. He’s just a little worried there might be an incident.’

‘Don’t worry about it if you don’t have any. I’ll bring some from home. I buy in bulk,’ Adam said over his shoulder as he and Jason hurried out of the bathroom. They did a dorky high five as soon as the door was shut behind them, because the situation demanded it, then they tore back to the hub.

‘So, our plan is just to walk on in there?’ Adam asked.

‘You left out a crucial part,’ Jason told him. ‘Our plan is just to stealthily walk on in there.’ He slid the key card through the lock and held his finger to his lips as he stepped inside, holding the door open for Adam.

They quickly moved to the cover – the not-quite-enough-cover – of a nearby pillar. Jason scanned the room. The banks of TV monitors he’d spotted from outside seemed to form a big hexagon in the center. Jason could see three work stations on each of the sides visible to him from this angle. But each of the stations was empty. Weird. What was going on?

Well, Marc’s father does own the place, Jason reminded himself. Maybe Marc arranged to have most of the security force out of the way for a while. It’s not like he’d necessarily want tons of staff in on the fact that he was cheating in the poker tournament – if Jason and Adam were right about what was going on.

As quietly as he could – fortunately loafers were good for stealth – Jason moved toward the nearest workstation. He snagged a heavy flashlight, just because he felt a little better with something weapon-like in his hand, as he circled around the hub. The flickering images on the screens kept tugging at his attention, making him feel like someone was moving up alongside him.

He froze as he heard a murmuring voice. None of the monitors he’d passed had had the sound on. Jason listened hard. The voice was coming from around the next corner.

‘He has a seven of hearts and a jack of diamonds. You’re fine,’ it said. The speaker had an accent. A French accent.

Got him, Jason thought. The speaker had to be Marc’s partner.

In one fast move, Jason snapped his body around the corner. A beefy man wearing a headset with a small microphone leapt to his feet, but before he could get out a word of warning into the mic, Jason slammed the flashlight down on his head.

The man slumped back into his chair, chin resting on his chest. Jason pulled the guy’s headset off and held it up so Adam could see it. Adam pointed to a monitor near the center of the bank. It showed Zach’s arm – Jason recognized the onyx cufflinks – and his cards. Right now, they were flat against the table, but as soon as he raised them slightly to take a look, the camera would show his hand.

Jason clicked off the headset. He checked the one side of the hub he hadn’t seen. ‘He’s the only one in here,’ Jason told Adam.

‘I wish I’d brought the counterfeit cash,’ Adam said. ‘I could have stuffed it in our French friend’s pockets. I think he deserves a nice, long jail sentence.’

‘Oh, man. Look at Marc squirm.’ Jason pointed to a monitor filled with Marc’s face. The close-up was so tight, he could see the tiny droplets of perspiration that had begun to form on Marc’s forehead.

‘Is he wearing eyeliner?’ Adam demanded.

‘The right beauty products aren’t going to be able to save him now,’ Jason answered. ‘Zach just won the hand.’ He and Adam high-fived again. Because, again, it was essential.

‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ Adam asked, letting his hand fall to his side. ‘You look like you remembered there’s no Santa or something. You did already know that, right, about Santa? I didn’t spoil anything?’

‘What I just remembered is that Marc is scum,’ Jason said. ‘What I just remembered is that he’s a cheating piece of crap.’

‘OK, I’m with you. That’s why we’re here. That’s why you just went all Joe-Pesci-in-Goodfellas on his accomplice over there,’ Adam answered.

‘But what was the point?’ Jason burst out. ‘Marc’s lying, cheating scum. That means even if Zach beats him – which he will now that we’ve evened the odds again – Marc’s not going to just walk away from Paige. And he’s not going to release Sienna as long as he thinks that keeping her hostage will make Paige do what he wants.’

‘Not a problem,’ Adam said, a grin spreading over his face.

‘Were you listening?’ Jason demanded.

‘Uh-huh. But I was also watching a little TV. I’m a good multi-tasker,’ Adam answered. ‘Check out what’s on over here.’ He tapped the monitor three to the left of the one showing Marc’s big head.

Jason sighed – he didn’t have time for Adam’s goofiness right now – but he turned to look at the screen, and took a deep breath for what felt like the first time all day, because there was Sienna. She was sitting in the casino vault, picking at her nail polish. She looked bored out of her skull, but completely unharmed.

‘You found her! We can go break her out!’ Jason cried. Then he stopped, realizing that there was a problem. ‘Yeah, let’s go break her out … of the vault of one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas!’

Adam raised his eyebrows. ‘Yeah. We’re about’ – he did some quick counting on his fingers – ‘two short.’

‘Huh?’ Jason said.

‘It takes eleven to break into a casino vault. Maybe more since they had George Clooney and Brad Pitt,’ Adam explained. ‘Of course, we have vampires, so maybe eleven would do it. Except you and I aren’t vampires. Although, as you might remember, I do have the very heroic chin, and you have managed some minor feats of heroism in your time as well.’

‘The only way Sienna’s getting out is if Marc lets her out,’ Jason said thoughtfully, as he stared at the monitor showing his girlfriend. ‘And he’s definitely not going to do that if he loses, which we’ve just pretty much guaranteed he will.’

‘Yeah, he just lost another hand,’ Adam agreed. ‘He’s hurting without his inside man.’

Jason knew that if Marc lost, he’d need Sienna as a bargaining chip more than ever. He racked his brains, trying to find a way to outwit Marc. He felt like a hamster on a wheel. No more options. No place to turn.

‘Wait,’ Jason said, an idea hitting him. ‘Wait. What if Marc wins?’

‘Isn’t that what we’re in here trying to stop?’ Adam asked.

‘Yeah, but right now, I think our only shot is for Zach to throw the game and lose,’ Jason told him. ‘If Marc wins, he’ll let Sienna out. That’s the only way he will let Sienna out. Then we just have to come up with a plan to keep Paige from having to fly off to Paris with him.’

‘You mean, a plan to keep Paige from having to fly off to Paris with the psycho murderer who travels with a pack of bodyguards?’ Adam asked meaningfully.

‘Yeah,’ Jason agreed. ‘So we need to work fast.’

Seventeen

‘LOOKS LIKE MARC just called for a break. At least I figure it was him. He must badly want a break right now, and all the players are getting up from the table,’ Adam commented. ‘Is this a good thing or a bad thing in our must-work-fast plan? By the way, I don’t actually know what the plan is.’

‘I don’t either, not exactly,’ Jason admitted. ‘For now, just go tell the others what the deal is. Especially Zach. Tell him that when the game starts back up, he needs to start losing.’

‘Got it. What are you going to do?’ Adam asked.

‘Stay here and try to think up the next part of the plan,’ Jason said.

Adam gave Jason a salute and hurried out of the security hub. Jason locked the door behind him; he didn’t need any surprises right now.

But he got one almost right away: Marc’s voice coming through one of the speakers. ‘Philippe, what the hell? I told you not to take the headset off for anything!’

Jason shot a glance at the unconscious guy – Philippe, obviously. Still out. Good. He put on the headset, switched it on and mumbled, ‘Tech glitch, sorry,’ trying for a French accent. He hoped the mumble, the brief message, and the accent would keep Marc from realizing that someone new was on headset duty.

‘It had better not happen again!’ Marc snapped. ‘We’re on a fifteen minute break. We, not you. The headset stays on.’

Jason grunted in response, which seemed to satisfy Marc. He checked the monitors and found one that showed Adam talking to Zach and the rest of the group up at their table in the gallery. Zach nodded his head, like he was agreeing to the plan. All good, so far.

But Paige … Paige looked like she was approaching meltdown. Why wouldn’t she be? The thought of being on an airplane with Marc in a few hours—

Wait. Airplane. Airplane meant airport. That was it! He’d just come up with the second part of the plan. At least, there was a possibility it could work, which was better than what they had now, which was nothing.

Jason started for the door, then hesitated. He’d given Philippe a good whack with the flashlight, but the guy wasn’t going to stay out forever. Duct tape, he decided. A place like this should have duct tape around. Every place should. It’s an essential item.

He started to search the workstations, and noticed some cables had been duct-taped together. He was right. There had to be a roll of duct tape someplace. He found it in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet, and used nearly all of it in binding Philippe’s hands together behind him, and taping his feet to the legs of the chair. That would slow him down.

Jason hesitated again. He’d done a decent job with the restraints, but … He pulled off Philippe’s tie. Good thing all the Bonheur employees dressed so nice, and that Philippe was trying to blend. He wrapped it round Philippe’s head, covering over his mouth.

‘Could have been worse, guy,’ he said to the still-unconscious Philippe. ‘I could have used one of your socks.’

He patted his jacket pocket to make sure he still had the key card for the security room, then hurried out and back through the maze of corridors that led to the public part of the casino. He almost ran into the cleaning guy. ‘Night, Charles,’ he said, remembering his name from the tag on his jacket.

‘Night … sir,’ he answered.

Jason rushed directly to the private poker room and up to the gallery. ‘Let’s go outside a minute. For an update,’ he told Zach and the others. He didn’t wait for an answer, just turned around and made for the door.

‘I think I have a plan,’ he said when the group was assembled out in the hall.

‘We heard the first part of the plan from Adam,’ Belle said. ‘Make Zach lose a quarter of a million dollars. And let Marc think he can take Paige to Paris.’

Adam winced. ‘That’s not exactly how I put it.’

‘Close enough,’ Jason said. He shoved his fingers through his hair. ‘I know it sounds stupid. And there probably is a better plan, if we had time to come up with one, but I think it can work. I think it can save Sienna and Paige.’

Zach chopped one hand through the air. ‘Get to it. What’s the rest?’

‘I’m going to need Adam’s counterfeit money.’ Jason looked at his friend.

‘It’s yours. It’s a lot to ask, yes. But I will sacrifice the phony money – that could get me thrown in jail or disowned – to your plan,’ Adam answered solemnly.

‘We also need Marc’s suitcases. I’m sure he has them packed and ready to go to the airport,’ Jason went on. ‘Any bright ideas on how to get them?’

‘I’ve got one,’ Belle announced. At least the voice was Belle’s. Her short blond hair had darkened and lengthened. Her face and body had grown rounder. Her nose tilted up a little, and her lips were a bit thinner. She smiled. ‘I’m sure that I, Ms High-powered Hotel Manager, can get into any room I wish.’

‘Genius!’ Erin told her. ‘You look just like her.’

‘Of course, I don’t carry bags. I’m much too important for that. I’ll need bell boys,’ Belle declared. She pointed to Brad and Van Dyke.

‘You can just snap your fingers at any bellboy,’ Van Dyke protested.

‘I look a lot like Ms Mayer, but I’m not an exact match,’ Belle told him. ‘I don’t want anyone who really knows her to get too good a look. Besides, I want to see you two in those cute little bell boy suits. Hey, Belle and the Bell Boys. Keep the suits and we’ll start a band.’

‘I’d pay to see that group,’ Maggie said, giving Van Dyke’s butt a pinch. ‘The pants on those uniforms are tight.’

‘Mmm-hmmm,’ Erin agreed.

‘This is humiliating,’ Brad muttered.

‘You love it,’ Belle told him. ‘You wouldn’t spend so much time working on your muscles if you didn’t want to get looked at.’

‘Now, that’s true,’ Adam said. ‘I don’t do the exercise thing, because I’m shy. I know that the ladies would not be able to stop staring at my body if I worked out, and that would make me feel so, so uncomfortable.’

‘Do it,’ Zach told Brad and Van Dyke.

And that was that. Although Van Dyke did say, ‘I work on my body because athletics are an important part of being a well-rounded, healthy person,’ as Belle led him and Brad away in search of uniforms.

Jason strode after them. ‘Meet me back in the security hub when you get the suitcases. It’s through that door. The code is 060681.’ He quickly ran down the turns they’d need to take to reach the hub. ‘There are a few people working back there. A couple in offices and a cleaning guy. Be careful,’ he added.

‘We will,’ Belle promised him. ‘See you later.’

Jason returned to the group.

‘I’m heading back to our hotel to get my bag of dirty cash,’ Adam said.

‘Meet me back at the hub. I’ll be going over there in a few,’ Jason replied.

‘Adam, out,’ Adam said as he moved off.

‘So what’s my mission this time?’ Erin asked.

‘I need you and Paige and Maggie to go back to the table in the gallery,’ Jason told her. ‘Marc will get suspicious if he notices we’ve all disappeared. And he’ll go nuclear if Paige goes missing.’

‘Unlike the boys in their uniforms, Marc losing it is not something I want to see,’ Maggie said. ‘Let’s get back inside.’

Paige nodded, looking a little dazed, as the three girls started for the private room.

‘I need to get back, too,’ Zach said. ‘The break’s about over.’ He didn’t move. Just looked at Jason. ‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing?’ he asked finally.

Jason shrugged. ‘It’s the only thing I can think of,’ he admitted.

Zach gave a short bark of laugher. ‘At least you’ve managed to get out of some tight spots before. You have a decent track record.’ He nodded at Jason, then disappeared through the brocade door.

Hope my record holds, Jason thought. He reentered the staff area and made it back to the security hub without being sighted. It was a start.

He did a Philippe check. Was he in a slightly different position than when Jason left? His chair seemed to be further to the left. Jason noticed that there were grooves in the carpet.

He snatched up the flashlight and held it over Philippe’s head. Philippe’s eyes snapped open. Knew you were faking, Jason thought.

Philippe shook his head, pleading.

‘Sorry, guy,’ Jason said, bringing the flashlight down with a thunk, ‘but I need some privacy here.’ He did remove the tie, though. Jason wanted to make sure Philippe could get enough oxygen.

Jason sat down in one of the empty chairs and checked the monitors. The players were returning to the table. He pulled on the headset and made sure the mic was live, then he gave a little cough so Marc would know his cheat system was operational.

He checked Paige. She still wasn’t looking great, but Maggie and Erin were clearly doing all they could to get her through.

Jason cracked his neck as the dealer whipped out the hole cards. He’d fooled Marc into believing he was Philippe once, when he’d spoken about three words. Was he going to be able to pull it off again?

‘Ten spades, seven hearts for Zach,’ he said, with his phony French accent, as he watched Zach check his cards on the monitor. ‘Ajax for the woman,’ he added, warning Marc of Sexy Actress’s ace/jack combo. He’d noticed that some of the screens showed the other players’ hands too.

Marc didn’t seem to notice anything wrong. He didn’t even seem to have noticed that some of the Malibu group had vanished. Paige was probably all he cared about.

On the other hand, Jason thought, Marc was a poker player. His poker face could just be that good.

Jason talked him through winning that hand and avoiding defeat on the next one, then got him started on another hand. Then he decided he had time to check the other monitors to see how the rest of the plan was coming along. Marc wouldn’t be expecting more help right away.

Jason walked around the corner to the next bank of monitors, his eyes darting back and forth as he scanned them. OK, yeah, there was Adam coming back into the casino with his backpack of funny money. Perfect.

Through the headset, Jason heard Marc expel a loud breath. Maybe he needed advice faster than Jason had thought he would. Jason circled to the monitors that showed the game.

‘The turn gave white suit three of a kind,’ he said, then he moved to a different wall of monitors and searched for Belle. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling when he spotted her striding through the hotel lobby with Brad and Van Dyke scurrying behind her, loaded down with luggage.

Jason flicked off the headset, pulled out his cell and hit speed dial four.

‘Whassup?’ Adam responded.

‘Belle and her boys have the suitcases. They should be at the staff-only door in two,’ Jason told him. ‘Wait for them, OK? I gave them directions, but the hallways are confusing. Actually, call me before you go in. It’s pretty empty in here still, but the cleaning guy is around, and some executive type is making microwave popcorn in the kitchen.’

‘Got it. Adam, out.’ He hung up.

Jason flicked the headset back on, and checked the monitors showing the game. Zach and Marc were heading into a showdown for the pot. Zach was about to lose. Excellent. Everything was coming together. For now, anyway.

Other Tuxedo Guy’s chips are really getting low, Jason thought as he waited for Marc’s inevitable win. He’s not going to last much longer. Sexy Actress wasn’t doing badly, while Yakamoto had turned into some kind of a maniac, making all sorts of wild bets. It wasn’t working out entirely badly for him, though. Too Much Bling was looking nervous.

Jason’s cell rang. It was Adam. Jason flicked off his mic, then picked up the phone. ‘You ready to come in?’ he asked.

‘If you’re ready for us,’ Adam replied.

Jason found the TV screens that showed the staff-only section of the Bonheur. ‘Right, the exec is making another bag of popcorn. He burned the first one. The woman in the suit is still in her office, door almost closed. And the cleaning guy is in the big conference room. That’s everybody.’

As Jason watched, Adam, Belle, Van Dyke, and Brad came through the door. Jason did a quick check of all the other people in the staff area. None of them seemed curious about who was coming in.

The game! Jason remembered suddenly. He put down the phone, flicked on the mic, and moved back around the corner to the bank of monitors showing the private poker room. The hole cards had just been dealt. Yakamoto was flying American Airlines.

‘Pair of aces, to your left,’ Jason told Marc. It couldn’t have made him happy. He was holding the three of clubs and the eight of diamonds. It was a bad opening hand. He didn’t need Jason to tell him to fold. He was already doing it.

Zach had a mediocre hand and he’d just shoved what looked like $25,000 worth of chips out in front of him. The guy was good at everything – even losing.

Jason paced around to check out the staff section monitors. Oh, no! Where was his cell? He hurried back around and snatched it off the work station next to Philippe, who was still zonked. ‘Ad—’ He’d forgotten to turn off the mic. Damn. But he hadn’t said a whole name or a word or anything. He cut the microphone. ‘Adam, go left. Popcorn is coming your way.’ He checked the monitor that showed Adam and the others. They’d made the turn down the left hallway just in time. ‘You were right. Left is lucky.’ He watched the executive enter his office. ‘OK. You’re good to go. I’m going to open the door for you.’

Jason pulled off the headset. Marc had folded. He definitely didn’t need advice right now. He hurried over to the door and opened it just in time to usher Adam, Belle, Van Dyke, Brad, and the luggage inside. He made sure the door was locked behind them.

Belle resumed her regular appearance with a smile. ‘That was fun.’

‘Real fun, yeah!’ Van Dyke said sarcastically, dropping his load of bags to the ground.

‘Empty one of the carry-on bags and fill it with the counterfeit cash,’ Jason said.

‘You only needed one? Why did we carry them all down here then?’ Van Dyke whined.

‘What is your problem?’ Brad asked with a grin. ‘Were they too heavy for your little twig arms?’

‘If we only needed one, one bell boy would have been enough. And that bell boy would have been you,’ Van Dyke told him.

‘Put this in there, too,’ Adam said, pulling a gun out of the backpack.

Everybody scrambled away from Adam – fast. ‘Whoa! Where did you get that?’ Jason asked, staring at the gun in his friend’s hand.

‘It’s the one that lowlife pulled on Zach, when you guys had to ride to the rescue,’ Adam explained. ‘I asked myself, “Is it safer with me or with the lowlife?” and I decided it was safer with me. But now we have a worthy home for it – with another lowlife!’

‘You are—’ Jason began, but he was interrupted by a loud banging on the door to the security hub.

‘Why is this door locked?’ a man demanded from outside. ‘Open up immediately!’

Eighteen

JASON STARED AT Adam. Adam stared at the gun in his hand. Belle stared from Jason, to the gun. Brad and Van Dyke stared at each other.

More pounding. ‘Who’s in there?’

‘Dirty money and a gun and breaking and entering. I’m going to be an old, old man when I get out of prison,’ Adam whispered, blinking rapidly. ‘An old, old virgin man.’

‘I’ll save you,’ Belle whispered back, the words coming out a little garbled as her lips became thinner. Her eyebrows straightened. Her hair lengthened. Her cheeks puffed out. And she was looking a lot like the hotel manager again.

‘It’s Hilary Mayer,’ Belle snapped. She whipped the door open, not waiting for Adam to hide the gun or for Van Dyke and Brad to deal with the counterfeit cash. ‘I reserved this time for crisis training for the new team. We’re covering a hostage scenario. Do you really need to be in here now?’

The lanky security guard stared at Belle.

‘Well, do you?’ she repeated.

‘I was scheduled—’ he began.

‘Then it’s not your fault,’ Belle interrupted, with an impatient wave of her hand. ‘I’ll speak to your supervisor. Somebody clearly isn’t reading their memos in a timely fashion. Go home. You’ll be paid for your shift.’

‘Thank you, Ms Mayer. S-s-sorry about the inconvenience,’ stammered the guard. He turned and rushed away.

Belle laughed as she locked the door behind him. ‘I think Ms Mayer kicks butt.’

‘I think you do,’ Adam said. ‘That was truly impressive.’

‘I have to check on Marc,’ Jason told them. He hurried back over to the monitors showing the game and pulled on his headset. The dealer was shuffling the cards.

Jason checked the chips piled in front of all the players. Zach’s had gone down significantly. Yakamoto had made a haul with his pair of aces. Marc hadn’t lost anything because he’d folded. And Other Tuxedo Guy was absent from the table. He must have gone all in and lost. Sexy Actress was doing OK. Too Much Bling still looked worried, and from the number of chips he was showing, he was right to be.

The hole cards were dealt.

‘Zach has a jack of hearts and a three of diamonds,’ Jason said into the mic. ‘And there’s a pair of tens behind the dealer button.’

Belle came over and opened her mouth to speak.

Jason held up one finger until he’d flicked off the mic. ‘What?’ he asked.

‘Marc’s bag is all packed,’ she said. ‘We ended up getting his cases from the luggage storage area. He was already checked out. He’s definitely in a hurry to hit the airport. So, now the bell boys should just take everything back, right?’

‘Yep,’ Jason agreed.

‘Zach doing OK?’ Belle asked as the dealer showed the flop.

Jason checked out the community cards. No jack. ‘I’m pretty sure he’s about to lose again,’ Jason told her.

‘Good,’ Belle said.

Jason checked the other monitors. Thanks to the flop, Marc now had a pair of aces – good enough to beat the two tens Too Much Bling was holding. ‘You’d better tell Brad and Van Dyke to hurry,’ he warned Belle. ‘As soon as Zach is out of the game, Marc’s going to want to leave for the airport. His bags need to be ready.’

Belle nodded and disappeared around the bank of monitors. Monitors!

Jason hurried after Belle. ‘Don’t leave yet,’ he told Brad and Van Dyke. ‘Let’s check the monitors first.’ He pointed to the ones that showed the staff section where the hub was located. ‘The cleaning guy is vacuuming one of the smaller conference rooms now, and the two execs are in their offices. You should be OK,’ he told them. ‘Go!’

‘If you get caught, just use the uniforms,’ Belle put in.

‘Yeah, we can come up with a work reason to be in here. We are staff,’ Van Dyke agreed.

‘No, I meant use them to flirt your way out, because you guys are so irresistibly cute in them,’ Belle answered.

Jason felt a flicker of paranoia – either paranoia or reasonable fear – and decided he needed to do a Philippe check. It looked like the guy was still out. Two head-smashes in such a short time would probably do that to someone, Jason figured.

‘Check it. It’s happening!’ Adam exclaimed, watching the game on the monitors.

‘Zach’s going all in!’ Belle cried.

Jason scanned the monitors, checking the turn card and the river. ‘Yup, this is it. He’s going to lose. And he’ll be bankrupt with this hand.’ Jason pulled on the headset; he wanted to hear what was happening. The dealer confirmed that Marc had won the hand and that Zach was now out of the game.

‘I want to cash out,’ Marc announced immediately.

‘What?’ Sexy Actress cried, her voice a squeak.

‘You can’t do that,’ Too Much Bling said flatly.

‘I can do whatever I like,’ Marc told him.

The director stepped forward. ‘In a regular game, you could, of course, cash out whenever you wished,’ he said politely. ‘But this is a tournament. Each player’s buy-in is part of the tournament pot. You are welcome to continue to play and perhaps win the pot, but you cannot take any part of the pot while the tournament is in play.’

‘Damn right you can’t,’ Too Much Bling said, fingering his small pile of chips.

‘Fine. Keep the money. I’ve won something much more valuable,’ Marc said calmly. With a silky smile, he rose from the table, climbed the steps to the gallery, and held out his hand to Paige. He was all romance and gallantry, just as if he wasn’t insane at all.

Paige put her hand in Marc’s, and even on the monitor, Jason could see her fingers were trembling. Together they walked back down the stairs.

Jason took off the headset. ‘Let’s get out of here. I want to be ready to roll.’

‘Marc just said something to Zach,’ Belle said. She leant close to one of the monitors. ‘I don’t know what it was, but Zach and Paige both reacted. I couldn’t tell if they were just surprised or …’

‘Or what?’ Jason asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Belle said. ‘Paige might have looked scared.’

Jason, Adam, and Belle watched the monitor as Marc led Paige from the room. As soon as they were out of the private room, a man hurried up to Marc.

‘That’s Didier, the guy we were following today,’ Adam pointed out.

Jason grabbed the headset again, but Marc had switched off the receiver. Jason saw Zach nod at something Didier said, then the two of them left the room together.

‘What are they doing? What’s happening?’ Jason ran to the monitor that showed Sienna. She was still in the vault. He grabbed his cell and punched in Zach’s number.

‘Is everything OK?’ Jason burst out as soon as Zach picked up. He knew he sounded panicked, but he couldn’t help it. ‘Are they doing what they said? Are they letting her go?’

‘I’m being taken to her right now,’ Zach told him. ‘Marc is taking Paige to the airport. Meet me in the lobby.’ He hung up without giving Jason a chance to reply.

‘We’re supposed to meet Zach in the lobby,’ Jason told Adam and Belle. ‘I’m hoping he’ll have Sienna with him.’

They all started for the door. ‘Do we need to do anything with our friend back there?’ Adam asked, nodding in Philippe’s direction.

‘He’s not gagged. He can call for help when he comes round,’ Jason said.

‘I’ll put on my Ms Mayer, so we won’t have any trouble getting out of here,’ Belle said, and she quickly did her transformation thing. But they didn’t need Ms Mayer and her butt-kicking abilities. Nobody tried to stop them.

They started to run as soon as they hit the ‘civilian’ hallway, Belle getting her own face and body back on the fly before they hit the crowded casino. They dodged and weaved, trying not to knock anyone down.

‘There she is!’ Belle shouted. ‘With Erin and Maggie and everybody.’

Jason had already spotted Sienna. He felt her from all the way across the room. He picked up speed, weaving around slot machines and roulette tables and people, people, people … until he had his arms around her. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked.

‘I’m fine. I’m fine.’ She reluctantly pulled away. ‘We have to get Paige. Why did you give up Paige for me?’

‘We didn’t. Not really. We have a plan,’ Jason promised. ‘I’ll explain it on the way to the airport. We have to get over there – now!’

Nineteen

BELLE MANAGED TO cram the Escalade into a parking spot labeled ‘compact’. Then she, Sienna, Jason and Adam scrambled out and started to run across the parking garage.

‘We left practically right on top of them,’ Jason called to Sienna. ‘We’re going to find them.’ He heard footfalls coming up behind him fast. Marc’s goons? He shot a look over his shoulder. No, just the rest of the Malibu group.

They burst out of the garage. Jason didn’t hesitate. He plunged across the street, ignoring the horns of the cabs, cars, and shuttles. If they don’t like it, they can hit me, he thought grimly.

The electronic doors leading to the international terminal slid open in front of him, and Jason barreled inside, Sienna on his heels, and everyone else right behind them.

‘The arrival/departure info,’ Sienna called out. She veered toward the monitors mounted in the wall by the car rental kiosk. Jason followed, and skidded to a stop in front of the screens.

‘Any departures to France?’ Belle asked from behind him.

‘I’m looking.’ He scanned the columns.

‘I don’t see anything!’ Sienna said. ‘At least, there doesn’t seem to be anything in the next few hours.’

‘Let’s split up and check all the ticket counters,’ Brad suggested. ‘We don’t know what kind of connecting flight they could have got.’

‘Good idea. Whoever spots Marc and Paige first, call me on my cell,’ Jason answered.

‘Van Dyke’s car, start this way. Belle’s car that way,’ Brad instructed. And they were gone.

‘One of us should peel off at every ticket counter,’ Jason called as he ran with his group. ‘Belle, you first. Go!’ She darted away.

‘I’ve got the next one,’ Adam called, leaping over a pet carrier containing one very yappy little dog.

Jason gave Sienna’s hand a squeeze without breaking stride, then broke away, heading toward the Virgin Atlantic counter. The line was snaking out past the ropes leading to the counter. Mounds of suitcases were piled all over the place.

He tried to scan the line. It was impossible to see everyone from all the way back there. He plunged forward, making sure to look at each person he passed. No Marc. No Paige. No Marc. No Paige.

‘There’s a line here!’ an annoyed woman snapped.

‘Friend up there, holding my place,’ Jason answered without pausing. No Marc. No Paige. No Marc. No Paige. He stumbled over a lawn-size garbage bag that somebody was using as luggage.

‘Watch it!’ a guy in a USC sweatshirt yelled.

Yeah, I’m very sorry I damaged your Louis Vuitton, Jason thought. No Marc. No Paige. He could see all the way up the line now. No Marc. No Paige. All the way up.

Crap! Jason wheeled around and pushed a hole through the line. Then he ran.

‘Sir!’ a security guard called. ‘You’re going to have to slow down.’

Jason forced himself to walk for three steps. He wanted to shout at the man, tell him it was an emergency, but it’s not like he could explain that his girlfriend’s sister had been kidnapped by a killer – a killer who was also a vampire.

Before he could start to run again, Adam and Sienna hurried over to him.

‘We’ve checked all the counters from here to the end,’ Sienna said. ‘A bunch of them were empty.’

Jason didn’t have to ask if they’d seen Paige or Marc. It was obvious that they hadn’t.

‘No calls from anybody, right?’ Adam asked.

‘Not yet,’ Jason answered.

‘What if Marc chartered a private plane?’ Sienna burst out. ‘They wouldn’t be at any of the ticket counters. He definitely has enough money to do it, too. Would they even have to go through airport security? It would ruin your plan if they didn’t.’

Jason had had time to give Sienna a quick version of the plan on the five-mile drive to the airport. ‘I think they’d still have to go through security,’ he said. He looked over at Adam.

‘Everybody does. If they didn’t before 9/11, they do now,’ Adam confirmed, but he didn’t sound completely sure. He sounded like he wanted to be completely sure.

‘Let’s go help search the other half of the terminal,’ Jason suggested. They turned around and saw Belle heading toward them. She’d already met up with the rest of the group.

‘Paige?’ Sienna asked as they rushed to meet their friends.

‘Sorry, sweetie,’ Erin answered.

‘We checked everyplace we could get to without a boarding pass,’ Brad added. ‘The international terminal’s just not that big.’

Jason turned to Zach. If anyone knew the answer to the chartered plane question, it would be him. ‘Zach, do you—’

‘Oh, my God!’ Maggie exclaimed. ‘Look back there.’

Jason turned. A small crowd had gathered by the newsstand.

‘This is outrageous! I want my lawyer here. Immediately,’ he heard a voice yell – a voice with a slight French accent.

‘That’s Marc,’ Sienna said.

The crowd parted enough for Jason to see Paige and Marc flanked by airport security.

‘I have to get over there.’ Sienna started toward her sister.

‘Wait,’ Zach said. ‘I’ll make a call. I have an acquaintance.’ He turned and walked away.

‘Let Zach do his thing,’ Jason advised Sienna as the guards escorted Marc and Paige through a door marked ‘AIRPORT SECURITY’.

She nodded, and the group took the row of plastic chairs that had a direct view of the airport security door. Zach returned a few minutes later, and stood next to Sienna, arms crossed.

‘Oh, man, you are good,’ Adam exclaimed, when Paige walked out of the door – unescorted – ten minutes later. She ran straight over to Sienna and hugged her.

‘What happened?’ Sienna cried.

‘Marc got caught taking counterfeit money and a gun through security! I thought I was going to get arrested, too, but then, suddenly, everyone was saying that there was nothing illegal in my bags and that I hadn’t done anything wrong, and one of the guards actually apologized to me.’ Paige shrugged. ‘So here I am.’

‘You think those guys might be here for our friend?’ Van Dyke asked, nodding toward three cops who were walking into the terminal. They strode straight over to airport security.

The smallest smile crossed Zach’s face. ‘I think it’s a good possibility,’ he said.

‘I’d bet money on it,’ Adam agreed. ‘The real stuff,’ he added. ‘Any takers?’ There weren’t any, so nobody lost any cash when the police came back out with Marc in handcuffs.

Belle pulled out her camera-phone and got a shot. ‘For your scrapbook,’ she told Paige, with a grin.

Paige stood up. ‘Marc!’ she called. When he looked her way, she blew him a big, juicy kiss. He did not look too pleased. Belle snapped another picture, and passed her phone around so everyone could see.

‘So now what?’ Paige asked. ‘We still have days to fill with Vegas fun!’

Sienna rolled her eyes. ‘I think I speak for everyone when I say the only fun I want to have right now is a nice, quiet ride home.’

She definitely spoke for Jason. It had been close, very close, but Paige and Sienna were both safe. He was definitely ready to go home. The relief flooding through him right now was better than anything Vegas had to offer.

‘It’s not going to be any fun. The movie is pure chick flick. That was clear from the commercials,’ Jason complained as he drove down the PCH. Not that there was anything he’d rather be doing than hanging with Sienna pretty much anywhere. ‘There’s crying in it. I saw crying.’

Sienna looked over her shoulder at Belle and shook her head.

‘And there’s the wearing of cute pajamas,’ Adam put in. ‘That is one of the four horsemen of the chick flick, Cute Pajamas. All I can say is somebody better be buying me a large popcorn with a large Dr Pepper, and Goobers. I’m going to need Goobers mixed with the corn to survive this. It offends my film lover sensibilities.’

‘I just want explosions,’ Jason said. ‘And it wasn’t that kind of crying I saw. It wasn’t crying because there was just an explosion and somebody’s leg got blown off. It was I-got-my-feelings-hurt crying. This is the last night of spring break. I shouldn’t have to deal with crying.’

Actually watching some crying with Sienna was fine. Going back to school was fine. Normal was fine. More than fine – even if it was DeVere Heights normal, which was always a little less than.

‘You don’t have to go,’ Sienna told him as he pulled into the parking lot of the New Malibu. ‘Belle and I are happy to watch the chick flick all by ourselves.’

‘And we’ll enjoy it. Because we are chicks,’ Belle added. ‘Then we call one or two of the numerous cute boys we know, who will be more than happy to pick us up and take us home.’

‘Now that just sounds dangerous,’ Adam said. ‘And as the son of the sheriff, I should know. I’m going to have to insist that I accompany you.’

‘And I’ll have to accompany Adam,’ Jason said. ‘He gets scared in these kinds of movies.’

‘Hmm. What do you think, Belle?’ Sienna asked as Jason parked.

‘I think it might be acceptable. If someone buys me a medium popcorn with a large Diet Sprite.’

‘Fine,’ Adam muttered.

‘My parents got a letter of apology from the Lessards today,’ Sienna said as she stepped out of the car. Suddenly, the cool Malibu night felt cold, and the brilliant stars in the clear sky seemed much further away.

‘What did it say?’ Belle asked.

‘It just apologized for Marc’s behavior, without going into specifics. It also included a check to cover any “inconvenience” – a check that will exactly cover the money Zach lost,’ Sienna said. ‘Paige made some acceptable stuff up for my parents. They’d freak if they knew what really happened.’

‘Is Paige doing OK?’ Belle asked. ‘I know that on the trip back she was acting like her usual self, but I wasn’t sure if that was real.’ None of them moved toward the theater. They needed some privacy for this conversation.

‘I don’t know if it was real, either,’ Sienna admitted. ‘But that’s still how she’s playing it. Although, she’s not going back to school in Paris; she’s looking at colleges in London.’

‘With Marc back in Paris, I don’t blame her,’ Adam commented.

‘He’s lucky he has parents who can play the diplomatic immunity card,’ Jason said. He still felt a little spurt of anger at the way Marc had got away with everything. True, the fake money and the gun hadn’t been his, so he hadn’t technically deserved to be arrested. But he’d done so many worse things that he deserved to be punished for.

‘You’re going to miss Paige, I bet,’ Belle said to Sienna.

‘I am. For sure,’ Sienna sighed. ‘But I’m not going to miss the drama. Paige always brings the drama.’

‘And the fun,’ Belle added.

‘Yeah,’ Sienna grinned. ‘We should get inside,’ she said. ‘We don’t want to miss the beginning.’

‘God, no,’ Adam cried as they started for the box office.

‘I forgot, I’m also going to need Sour Patch Kids to mix with my popcorn,’ Belle informed him.

‘That is truly disgusting,’ Adam replied.

‘I was going to resign as your dating mentor after you pulled your disappearing act in Vegas,’ Belle said. ‘But you clearly need me too much. No matter what a girl does or says, you can never ever use the word “disgusting” in reference to her.’

Jason and Sienna laughed. Jason wrapped his arm around his girlfriend and pulled her close, taking a second to appreciate the fact that she was there with him. Unhurt.

The two of them always seemed to beat the odds and somehow work things out. All Jason could do was hope things stayed that way. He was certainly willing to take the gamble – to face anything and everything that being in love with a vampire brought his way – as long as he had Sienna by his side.

About the Author

Alex Duval was born and raised in Paris, before moving to California to pursue a career in fashion photography. Alex loves all sports, especially surfing. When not writing books, Alex loves watching movies, especially The Lost Boys, and visiting art galleries around the world. Alex has homes in both Paris and LA.

Also by Alex Duval

Bloodlust

Initiation

Ritual

Legacy

High Stakes

Hunted

Sexy, sinister and seriously glamorous …

Jason has just moved to Malibu – home to rich kids and fabulous parties. He’s flattered to be included – and very flattered by the interest of the stunning Sienna. But Sienna and her friends hide a dark secret – and soon Jason discovers that their parties involve a little more than the usual alcohol and music …

When the sinister truth about his new friends is revealed, Jason has to decide whether he can accept the situation. Everyone else seems to be able to … If he can, it might just mean he could get closer to Sienna …

An edgy new take on the vampire myth – with money, fashion and beautiful people!

ISBN: 978 1 862 30194 8

Don’t miss any of the titles in this brilliant series!

A sinister and glamorous tale of vampire life – with added sex appeal …

Malibu: a town full of very beautiful, very rich, very cool people – who just happen to drink blood. Jason has discovered the secret of the coolest clique at school, but has little time to worry about what it’s like to live alongside vampires – he’s too hung up on the sexiest girl in town, Sienna Devereux.

But when his old friend Tyler turns up and starts to mess with the wrong people, Jason begins to realize that there’s something weird going on in De Vere Heights. The boys have a huge problem that even Jason’s new vampire friends can’t fix …

‘As sharp as a wooden stake to the heart’
Bookseller

ISBN: 978 1 862 30197 9

Don’t miss any of the titles in this brilliant series!

A glamorous slice of vampire life – with a sinister edge …

Beautiful people, fabulous parties – life in Malibu is pretty cool for Jason. And now things are looking even better as Sienna, the most gorgeous girl in town, seems to be interested in him. Jason is learning to live with Sienna’s dark secret – that she and her friends happen to be vampires – but is she more trouble than she’s worth?

When he’s warned by a psychic of danger ahead, Jason dismisses it as rubbish. But after he’s attacked on the beach and another student is killed, he realizes that his and Sienna’s lives are in peril … A killer with a crossbow is on the loose.

‘As sharp as a wooden stake to the heart’
Bookseller

ISBN: 978 1 862 30195 5

Don’t miss any of the titles in this brilliant series!

The Hamilton triplets – Madison, Park and Lexington – are accustomed to living in the public eye. Heiresses to a billion-dollar media empire, they have been raised in New York’s most elite social circles and, at sixteen, know first hand the demands of being celebutantes. It isn’t always about designer labels and lavish parties. There are people to impress, appearances to make, and paparazzi to outrun. Not to mention high school to finish.

But when fashion editor Zahara Bell is found dead in a one-of-a-kind frock from Lex’s unreleased clothing line, and then the priceless Avenue diamond goes missing, getting to class is as far from the triplets’ minds as their first pair of Manolos. One of the girls is a suspect, and the sisters find themselves in the middle of a scandal that could sink their reputations and their father’s companies for good. And the press is ready, willing and able to lend a hand.

The Hamilton sisters need to stick closer together than ever before – the killer is still out there, and if they don’t solve the case, their (sometimes) good name could become dirtier than a certain hotel chain. And their threesome could turn into a twosome quicker than you can say Cartier …

ISBN: 978 1 862 30462 8

Four best friends, one pair of jeans and a few important rules:

• You must never wash the Pants

• You must never double-cuff the Pants. It’s tacky. There will never be a time when this will not be tacky

• You must never say the word ‘phat’ while wearing the Pants. You must also never think ‘I am fat’ while wearing the Pants

• You must not pick your nose while wearing the Pants. You may, however, scratch casually at your nostril while really kind of picking

• You must write to your Sisters throughout the summer, no matter how much fun you are having without them

Funny, heart-warming and irresistible, this New York Times bestseller is an irresistible celebration of female friendship and self-discovery.

ISBN: 978 0 552 54827 4

VAMPIRE BEACH: HIGH STAKES
AN RHCB DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 446 49891 0

Published in Great Britain by RHCB Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
A Random House Group Company

This ebook edition published 2011

First Published in Great Britain

Red Fox 2008

The right of Alex Duval to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

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THE RANDOM HOUSE GROUP Limited Reg. No. 954009

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

cover

About the Book

VAMPIRE BEACH HIGH STAKES

Alex Duval

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

* * *

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

About the Author

Also by Alex Duval

VAMPIRE BEACH
HIGH STAKES