“Then why the hell did you just say—?”
“Listen!” The young man took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Natalie, what you just saw was… awful. We like to think that kind of stuff never happens, but—”
“Luis!” Panic welled up and her eyes darted around the car. She had to get out of there. At any moment, one of them could come back. “You have to get me out of here. Just give me my keys. Tell them I got away.”
“I can’t. It’s not safe. Will you just listen?”
“It’s not safe in here. I can tell you’re normal like me.” She tugged on the door handle, but it was locked again. “You have to help me. Whatever those things are, they’re dangerous. Leave with me before he gets back. I know people who can help you. You don’t have to—”
“It’s not like that!”
She stopped tugging on the door and moved closer to him. “Then tell me. You can tell me what’s going on.”
“I’m trying to explain.” He glanced out the window, but there was still no sign of anyone approaching the car. “You have to stay here. You have to let him protect you.”
“Protect me? Him? He’s one of them!”
“Listen, you’re a crime reporter, right?”
“Yeah?” What the hell did that have to do with vampires and fangs and monsters named Tio?
“So, you see all kinds of horrible stuff, right? Things humans do to other humans.”
She blinked, trying to make sense of what the young man was trying to say. “There are bad people everywhere, Luis, but—”
“And there are bad vampires, too. That’s my point. It’s just like the regular world in most ways. There are good guys and there are bad guys. Those guys? Ivan? Tio? They’re the bad guys. The really bad guys. But Baojia? He’s a good guy.”
She could hear the sincerity in Luis’s voice. Natalie had a pretty good sense of when someone was lying to her, and Luis wasn’t. At least, he didn’t believe he was.
“And he went to a lot of trouble tonight to come get you. Trust me, it was really risky coming here alone, but if Ivan had found out you were connected to Baojia and were in his territory—”
“But I am not connected to Baojia! This is insane. I met him once and he told me his name was George, and we had a drink and that’s all. And it was—obviously—all an act. I’m not his like he said. I don’t even know what all this is about. I’m just investigating a story.”
Luis looked as confused as she was. “Well, trust me, you’re connected somehow. Otherwise, there’s no way he would have done all this. You’re not under Ernesto’s aegis, as far as I know, and that’s the only other reason he would go to all this trouble. He doesn’t really have a human-chick thing. I mean, he likes women. But he’s not a vampire who gets attached, so—”
“Stop!” she fin Sp!ick ally screamed, squeezing her eyes shut. “Just… stop! There are no such things as vampires. This is crazy!”
Luis fell silent, and when Natalie finally looked at him again, there was no trace of the lighthearted young man who had been trying to comfort her.
“You saw it yourself, Natalie. Felt it yourself. You saw Ivan feed from that girl. You felt it when Baojia touched you. Admit it or don’t, but you would have done anything he asked. You wouldn’t have been able to help yourself. Are you gonna be one of those delusional people who tries to believe their eyes are lying to them? Or are you going to accept that there just might be things in the world that you didn’t know about before? The truth kind of hit you over the head tonight, but it’s still up to you. You gonna fight it or roll with it? You don’t seem stupid.”
Just as she was trying to process what the young man was saying, there was a tap at the window across from her. A dark outline stood motionless as Luis unlocked the door. Then Baojia opened it and slipped into the car with barely a whisper. The vampire glanced at her with an unreadable expression before he spoke quietly to Luis.
“Luis, watch your tone when you speak to Ms. Ellis. And drive home. As fast as you can.”
“Where are you taking me?” she finally asked as they left the lights of Ensenada behind them. “My car—”
“I will arrange for someone to pick up your car and return it when we reach San Diego.”
Luis had raised the privacy screen so it was just her and George-who-wasn’t-George in the back seat of the car as they drove north. At least all the highways were familiar, so she didn’t think he was lying about going back to San Diego.
Vampire.
The word, the twisted reality of it, hung in the air between them. A part of her couldn’t accept the idea. The other part—the part Luis had spoken to—knew it had to be true. Baojia was quiet, but the tension in his shoulders told her he was not relaxed in the least.
“If you just give me my keys, my friend Manuel—”
“Ah yes, your friend, Manuel.” His voice was soft and almost frighteningly calm. “Where was he tonight, by the way? A couple might not have been quite so conspicuous. Did Manuel have more important things to do than see to your safety while you ran stupidly into the lion’s den to ask questions about his teeth?”
Natalie’s mouth dropped open. “Are you… Are you mad at me? You? Mad at me? Are you kidding?” He remained silent, but by then, she could practically feel the waves of anger pouring off him. “I don’t think you have any right to—”