"You are a worthy opponent, " the vamp said, standing over him as Lou pulled himself to his feet for more. "It"s going to be a shame-it really is. But I thank you for the amus.e.m.e.nt." He shook his head slowly, sadly; then with a great sigh, he flung up a hand and barked a single command. "Sleep!"
Lou blacked out instantly.
By the time the tire was repaired and they were on their way, Max was petrified with worry about Lou.
What the h.e.l.l could have happened to him? She drove as fast as the little Bug would go all the way back to Endover and skidded to a halt in the motel parking lot.
There, in front of Lou"s motel room door, little Sid stood uneasily, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
Max jumped out of the car and ran to him. She dropped to her knees, gripped his shoulders. "Sid. Do you know what"s happened? Where is Lou?"
"I don"t know."
She looked around frantically, but there was no sign of either Lou or Jason, so she turned her attention back to the boy. "Did you have something you wanted to tell us, Sid?"
The boy met her eyes. "Something to tell Lou."
She nodded and fought for patience. "I don"t know where he is, Sid. I"m very worried about him, and I promise, I"m going to go find him very, very soon. But first, why don"t you tell me what it is you came to tell him? That way I can tell him for you when I find him."
He pursed his lips and seemed to think it over.
Max decided to help things along by digging a twenty out of her pocket and handing it to him. "And I"ll pay you for him, too, " she added.
The boy smiled and took the money. "I came to tell him about the other one. Jay-man."
"Jason?"
"Yeah. He"s hurt. Pretty bad, I think."
By now Stormy was standing beside her. Max shot her friend a look of alarm and saw Stormy"s eyes widen with concern. "Where is he, Sid? Do you know where he is, so we can go help him?"
Sid nodded. He pointed behind the motel. "By the water. I go down there sometimes to look for seash.e.l.ls. He started to walk back here, but then he fell down. He didn"t get up again."
Max blinked, not sure how the h.e.l.l he knew as much as he did, and not wanting to take the time to ask.
"You go home now, okay, Sid? I want you to stay in your house tonight."
"I will. Mom says I have to go to bed early. "Cause tomorrow we"re going away."
The visit to the private school-right. She"d nearly forgotten. "That"s great, honey. You get home now, so you won"t be late."
"Okay." He turned and ran to his bike, got on and started off.
"Sid?" she called after him. He looked back, and she said, "Thank you for your help"
His smile was quick and bright, and then he pedaled away. When he was out of sight, she and Stormy exchanged glances. "We need to get inside Lou"s room, "
Max said. "If he didn"t take his guns with him, we should."
Stormy nodded and stood back as Max kicked the door open, too impatient to wait for a key. The two raced into the room and began tossing it in search of Lou"s guns. But Max paused when she saw the note lying on the telephone stand.
It was written in Lou"s hand, and it was addressed to her.
Max, I"m heading out to the island, even though I know it"s going to p.i.s.s you off. I figure I"ve screwed things up royally with you and me. And I"ve been kicking myself ever since. I just hope I get the chance to make things right again.
Love, Lou.
She swallowed hard. "He went out there, " she whispered to Stormy, her fingers trembling as they traced the word love.
"Let"s go find Jason, see what he knows." Stormy put a hand on her arm when she didn"t respond. "He"ll be all right, Max."
"He d.a.m.n well better be, " Max said. She shoved the note into her pocket, and the two left the room.
They ran together into the woods behind the motel, far from the glow of the parking-lot lights and neon sign. They found the path and raced down it to the sh.o.r.e. The little boat that had been there the night before was long gone. And Jason lay still on the ground.
They fell to their knees on either side of him. "G.o.d, he"s bruised to h.e.l.l and gone."
"And for once, I know it wasn"t me, " Stormy said. She touched his face. "Jason. Jay, honey?"
Max ran to the water"s edge, scooped up a handful and brought it back to splash him in the face.
"Dammit, Jason, wake up!"
His eyes flickered. Then opened.
"Where is Lou?" she asked, voicing the top question on her mind. Even though she was sorely afraid she already knew the answer.
"I-I-I...".
"If he says I don"t know-" she muttered.
"Island." Jesus, that was even worse. "He"s on the island? With that insane vampire?"
"Captured."
"Let"s get him to the room, " Stormy said.
"You get him to the room. I"m going after Lou" Max rose, fully intending to do just that. But there was no boat. She spun to Jason again. "You were on the island with him?"
He nodded weakly.
"How the h.e.l.l did you get back here, Jason? How did you manage to get away and leave him behind, and all without a boat?"
Jason opened his eyes. "They...brought me back. Dumped me here."
"They? Who?"
"The vampire"s thugs. Locals, I think. And Fieldner." He closed his eyes; one was purpling and swollen, and his lip was split. "Don"t go, Max. It"s a trap."
She stomped across the beach. "They"re gonna think it"s a f.u.c.kin" trap when I get my hands on them-"
"Max."
Stormy rose from Jason"s side and went to her. "Max!"
"What!" She hadn"t meant to snap, but dammit, she had to get to Lou.
"Help me get Jay to the room. We"ll get a boat and go right back out. Okay?"
Jason was already trying to get to his feet. Max turned toward him, to help him up, but then she heard something. Splashing. Voices in the water.
She turned and saw the boat moving slowly closer. Her heart jumped. "Lou?" she whispered, straining her eyes. But no. It was a woman in the boat, her long blond hair blowing in the breeze behind her. No.
Two women. Two...girls.
"Delia!" Jason cried. He went staggering into the surf, and probably would have drowned if Max and Storm hadn"t lunged after him, gripping his arms on either side.
"Jason!" Delia clambered out of the boat, into the water, and slogged toward him. The other girl was in the process of doing the same, so Max let go of Jason and went to grab the vessel before they let it float away. She tugged it to the sh.o.r.e as the happy reunion went down in the surf. Jason and the two girls dragged one another out of the water. Delia was hugging Jason and sobbing. Jason was crying openly, as well, and had one arm around the other girl, Janie.
"G.o.d, Jason, what happened to you?"
"There will be time for that later, " Stormy said, and she said it firmly. "Are either of you girls hurt?" "No. No, he didn"t hurt us, " Janie said. "He said as long as Jason did as he was told, we would be set free."
"As long as Jason did as he was told, " Max repeated, turning to pin Jason to the ground with a glare that should have set him on fire.
Janie nodded hard. "There"s another man out there-your friend. They were fighting, and he knocked the guy down and untied us. Told us to run, told us where the boat was, and to tell his friends not to come-that it"s a trap"
"We didn"t know how to start the motor, " Delia said. "We had to row the whole way. I thought for sure that strange man would come after us. I think he was through with us, or he would have." She stared at her brother. "He"s not human. I don"t think he"s human, Jay."
"I know." He hugged her close, his eyes meeting Max"s.
Max marched up to him, gripped his arm and jerked him away from his sister. She nodded to Stormy who got the message without a word. She took the girls a few steps away and continued questioning them to give Max a moment with Jason.
Max held his arm hard. "You betrayed us."
"He said he"d kill her."
"You led Lou out there like a G.o.dd.a.m.n sacrificial bull."
"No, Max. He"s the one who insisted we go out there. I tried to stop him."
"Why?"
He lowered his eyes. "Because you"re the ones this guy wants. You and Storm. Not Lou" He paused, swallowed, caught his breath. "They took him captive and then beat me up to make it look good, and dumped me back here. I"m supposed to tell you where Lou is, so you"ll go out there after him."
She nodded. "So can I trust you at all anymore, Jason?"
"I"m sorry, Max. He said he"d kill my sister. I was only trying to keep her alive."
She thought about her own sister, the lengths she had gone to, trying to protect her. Finally she nodded.
"Will you do something for me? Can I trust you to do something for me, Jason?"
"Anything. Jesus, if I can make this up-"
"You can"t." She dragged a pen from her jacket pocket and wrote a telephone number on the back of Jason"s hand. "I want you to take these two girls directly to your Jeep, get in and drive out of here. Don"t stop to take your stuff or check out or pay your motel bill. Nothing. Just go straight to the car and drive the h.e.l.l out of here."
He nodded.
"I"ll bring your stuff later, if I survive this. The second you"re out of range of Endover and picking up asignal on your cell phone, you call this number. You tell whoever answers that you are calling for Max, and that she"s in trouble. And then you tell them where I"ve gone. Warn them it might be a trap. Tell them there"s a rogue vamp on that island and that he has Lou. Understand?"
He nodded.
"Do you swear to me on your sister"s life that you"ll do this exactly as I"ve told you?"
"I swear. I will, Max. But I wish you wouldn"t go out there. Come with me. When your help arrives, then we"ll all-"
She shook her head. "I love him. I can"t leave him out there alone. I"m going. And a freaking army of rogue vamps couldn"t stop me."
Stormy led the two girls back over to Jason. "Get him up there to his Jeep, and get out of this town, "
she said. "We will."
"Good. Go." Stormy turned to Max. "Don"t even think about telling me to stay behind. I"m going with you. Are you ready?"
Max nodded. "You realize we"re walking right into it, right?"
"Yeah, " Stormy said. "I picked up on that part of the conversation."
"So there"s no point being sneaky. We may as well march right up to the front door."
"I wish we had some of that G.o.dd.a.m.n vamp-tranquilizer that Stiles jerk used on your brother-in-law, "
Stormy said.
"Remind me to stock up." If we survive this, she thought.
They got into the boat and Max yanked the ripcord until the motor came to life. It wasn"t long before the island came into view, and then lights. Torches, she realized slowly, marking a lighted, fiery path all the way along the sh.o.r.eline, leading the way to the house.
"Guess he really rolled out the red carpet, " Stormy said.
"Yeah, let"s just hope it"s not blood-red."
They killed the motor, beached the boat and got out, and Max rubbed her arms against the chill that came only partly from the early spring night and the fresh, salty breeze that wafted in from the ocean. She started along the path.