Chapter 23: Chapter Twenty-Three

Music pounded from Geiser’s mansion as Lucas pulled up in the driveway. His snot-colored van looked pretty conspicuous next to all the luxury convertibles.

There were a ton of photographers with long-lens cameras shivering in a huddle. A red velvet carpet ran up the staircase to the door, which was surrounded by a balloon archway.

“This is like a proper sweet sixteen, isn’t it?” I said, kind of grossed out by the frivolity of it all.

“Sure. If the climax of the party is murdering one of the guests,” Retta replied.

I rolled my eyes. Of everyone, Retta had been the most vocal against this plan. She seemed to think that our chance of finding Elliot wasn’t contingent on risking my life by getting in contact with Nik. I understood why she was so worried. I would have much preferred never to set foot inside Geiser’s house again. But the fact of the matter was that Nik was inside and without him, all our leads went cold. Besides, if Geiser really had paid a bunch of henchmen to attack the party, then abandoning Nik inside was dangerous. And he was worth the risk.

“I won’t linger,” I told the gang. “I’ll just find Nik and get out.”

“You’d better,” Retta replied.

“I’ll keep the engine running,” Lucas told me.

“Get in, get Nik, get out,” Aaron reminded me.

I gave my friends a grateful smile then got out the car, my bow at my side.

As I walked up the driveway, the music grew even louder. It was horrible, sugary pop music, the sort I really hoped wasn’t about to become the soundtrack to my death. What a tasteless way to go.

At the door there were two Daimon security guards, ones I’d not seen before. I recognized their broad, masculine physiques straight away. They were Leshy, a type more likely to live in the countryside or forests. There was quite a big Leshy community in Bear Mountain. I wondered whether Geiser had hired them to put Mom at extra ease. They’re pretty well known for their measured temperaments, and they have a penchant for treating you in whatever manner you treat them, mirroring your behavior back at you. Try to kill a Leshy, he’ll kill you back. Offer him a drink at a bar, he’ll be your best buddy.

The Leshies stopped me at the door. They had shoulders so broad they’d give Lucas a run for his money.

“This is a guest list event,” one of them said. “What’s your name?”

“Theia,” I said.

“Theia?” he repeated with recognition.

“Yup. Stepdaughter extraordinaire.”

He exchanged a quick glance with the other Leshy. My paranoia spiked. It was obvious they’d been told to watch out for my arrival.

The second Leshy clicked a button on the walkie-talkie at his shoulder. “Theia’s here.”

My insides knotted. Who was on the other end of that radio? Conrad? Geiser? A bunch of henchmen?

The first Leshy gestured for me to enter.

I took a step in, praying I’d not just sealed my fate.

The house was boiling hot from all the sweaty freshman voguing on the dance floor. The living room had been transformed into a disco complete with strobe lights. A blue-skinned Oni Daimon jammed at the decks. The joviality felt extremely incongruous with how goddamn on edge I felt.

On the dance floor, I noticed Heidi dancing joyfully in a fuchsia-pink dress. Perched on her shoulder was her newly hatched familiar, a blue jay—which perfectly summed up Heidi because it was bright and loud. She looked so happy, jumping around in excitement. For a second I thought this couldn’t possibly be the public event Geiser was trying to get me killed at, because what kind of dad would ruin his daughter’s hatching party in such a traumatizing way? But then I remembered this was Geiser we were dealing with. The sort of dad who’d kill his mistress and pin it on a bunch of school-aged Vanpari just to help win an election.

Of course the man himself was nowhere to be seen. Typical. He was clearly avoiding the showdown.

Just then, through the sea of bouncing freshman, I spotted Nik. He was wearing tight black jeans and a dark-gray tee that was taut across his sinewy chest.

My heart started to hammer at the sight of him. It drummed so hard it took me by surprise. I’d really fallen for him. Just one day spent agonizing over where he’d gone had tipped my crush into full-blown affection.

I shoved my way through the bopping kids, beelining for him.

“Nik!” I called through a cloud of dry ice. “Nik!”

He looked up. When he saw me barreling toward him, his expression turned tense. I hated it. I wanted him to look as pleased to see me as I was to see him.

“Where’ve you been?” I cried, grabbing his arm as I got close enough. I practically had to scream to be heard over the noise.

From the dance floor behind me there came a loud cheer. I glanced quickly over my shoulder to see a group of teens had lifted another into the air, attempting some kind of crowd-surfing thing. I groaned. This was so the last place I wanted to be doing this.

“I went home for a bit, that’s all,” Nik shouted back, evidently trying to brush off my worry.

I gave him an incredulous look. “Home? You went home? With everything that’s going on right now?”

He turned his face, looking irritated. “I needed space.”

“Because of the teeth?” I mimed Vanpari incisors growing from my gums.

Nik shoved my hands down from my face—my whole body igniting at the touch of him—and glanced quickly over his shoulder to see if anyone had noticed. “Don’t do that!”

I glanced down at his hands on mine, remembering how cold his skin had felt when he’d helped me to my feet in Battle Class. Now I understood why. It was the Vanpari part of him.

When I looked back up and met his eyes, my throat tightened. He really was gorgeous. I’d fallen for Nikolas Storm.

But he was glaring at me like I was the enemy.

“What do you want?” he yelled.

His words made me feel shitty. Maybe Retta had been right. When I needed Nik, he’d abandoned me. Now I was putting myself in mortal danger to save him. And he was acting like I was the one ruining the party.

“I came to rescue you,” I told him bluntly.

He folded his arms. “From what? A bunch of freshmen?”

I lost my patience. “From Geiser, you idiot! He’s planning an attack!”

Nik’s eyes widened.

Another huge cry came from the partying teens. They’d dropped the crowd-surfing kid.

It was too loud to explain and I was getting exasperated. “Just come with me,” I said, grabbing his arm. “We have to get out of here.”

I started tugging Nik across the dance floor, muscling past huddles of aggressively dancing kids.

But just as we reached the archway that led into the foyer, I noticed the group of paparazzi trooping in through the front door, herded by Conrad. The skinny slimeball was wearing a dark-indigo suit today, clearly having dressed up for the occasion.

I shuddered and tried to dodge back into the living room out of sight. But I hit a wall of moshing teens.

“Theia!” I heard Conrad’s gushing voice.

I tensed. Too late.

Slowly, I turned to face him. As he strode over, his eyes sparked like a kid’s at Christmas.

“There you are!” he said, standing directly between me and my escape route. “I’m so glad you made it. Heidi will be thrilled to get a full family shot.” A thin, evil-looking smile spread across his lips.

The tense knot in my stomach grew tighter. I needed to get the hell out of here. But there was no way out. Every exit was blocked by kids. I was trapped.

“Now what?” Nik said out the corner of his mouth.

“I don’t know,” I said, my heartbeat starting to race.

Just then, Heidi appeared.

I felt so bad for her. I’d given her a lot of flak but she was an innocent in all this. Just a kid, albeit an annoying kid. None of this was her fault.

“Congratulations,” I told her, nodding to her vibrantly bright blue jay. “He goes with your dress.”

She beamed at me widely. “Thanks. I’m already like totally in love. You should get a familiar one day. They make you feel complete.”

“I’ll think about it,” I told her, not even fibbing.

As I scanned the crowds searching for an escape route, Emerald slunk up to us. She was wearing a silky yellow skater-style dress that fitted her figure impeccably. When she saw me, a look of malice flashed in her eyes.

“You should cover those for the shoot,” she said coldly, reaching forward and pulling my hair over my ears. “There. That’s much more presentable.”

Immediately, I shoved my hair back. “Don’t touch me,” I snapped.

She gave me a disgusted look.

“Put that thing away,” Conrad suddenly said, noticing my bow. “We can’t have it in the photos.”

“No way,” I said, holding it more tightly. “My bow stays with me at all times.”

Conrad reached forward and gripped my bow. Revulsion ran through my whole body.

“No,” I said between my teeth. “I know what you’re up to, Conrad. You’re trying to get me killed. And if you don’t want me to make a scene in front of your little camera crew, I suggest you let go this second.”

I nodded my head to where the paparazzi were starting to raise their cameras, interested in the apparent altercation brewing between Conrad and me.

He let go straight away and turned to them. “Don’t you dare!” he snapped, like they were naughty children. “We have an agreement.”

Ha, I thought as much. Caught red-handed.

Finally, Mom and Geiser made their way to the group. The sight of them turned my stomach. Mom’s gaze met mine but she immediately turned her cheek. She was clearly ashamed of herself for caving and going back to Geiser so quickly.

“Okay,” the paparazzi man shouted. “Everyone smile. On three, two, one…”

Suddenly, there came a huge scream from the group of kids. I looked over to see who’d been accidentally dropped on their head while attempting to crowd-surf. But what I saw made my blood curdle.

Vanpari.

A shit ton of Vanpari.