Page 25 of Sunsets & Other Dangerous Things

Ashley stopped walking. Record scratch.What? Shit-shit-shit.

“What do you mean?” Maybe Ashley wasn’t understanding her correctly. No one noticed her little slips.

“I thought I’d just imagined it after dinner the other night.” Esther looked everywhere except at Ashley. “You were gone sofast. But today when August had your phone, you were on one side of the room and then suddenly the other.” She locked eyes with Ashley. “I know what I saw.”

Crap. This was bad. This was very, very bad. Esther and her beautiful brown eyes missed nothing.

“It’s… I used to do track. That’s all.” Ashley forced a laugh, looking around to make sure none of the vampires were within listening distance. “You must have had a longer blink than you thought.” If anyone heard what Esther was saying, it would be sayonara to Ashley’s chances of joining the Family. And who knew what they would do to Esther. Ashley still wasn’t sure what happened to the last people that found out about her.

She took Esther’s arm and steered them in the other direction. All those times she’d heard Esther’s heart race—was Esther was afraid of her? Maybe she was a monster, and Esther had figured it out.

“No one’s that fast,” Esther said. “I know what I saw. Where are we going?”

“Okay, look.” Ashley stopped at an intersection, waiting for the light to change. “I can’t have this conversation here, okay? So, you have two options.” This was such a bad idea. But things were already bad. She needed to handle the situation. “I can walk you home, and we’ll never talk about this again. I promise. I’ll leave you alone. I can transfer classes or take them online. Whatever. Or…”

Tornado sirens were going off in Ashley’s head.Take cover. Get out of danger.

But like any true and terrible Midwesterner, she studied Esther’s face for any hint at what was going on in her head, her curiosity keeping her on the porch, flirting with danger instead of seeking cover.

“Or I can take you somewhere private,” Ashley said, “and we can keep talking.”

Esther’s attention snapped back to her. “So, my choices are going home and we continue life as though nothing is different, or I come with you and …you reveal some mysterious secret that’s potentially life-changing?”

That about summed it up. She knew Esther didn’t like choices, but there wasn’t a way around it. Ashley didn’t have the fortitude to answer, so she just nodded.

Reflected in Esther’s eyes, Ashley watched the walk sign change from red to white.

“I want to keep talking.”

9

Ashley

Lake Champlain was quiet at this time of night, too late for the usual crowd to venture off the walking path to the shoreline. The full moon carved a jagged path across the water, stirred by the gentle fall breeze. Ashley pulled her jacket tight out of habit. She didn’t need it anymore. It was all an act now. Pretending to be human. Walking along the pebbled shore with Esther like this was just any other conversation they were about to have.

They were silent as they walked, listening to the push and tug of water slipping between time-smoothed rocks and the breeze rustling fall leaves until they came to a log just out of reach of the light from the nearby pier. Ashley took a seat, making sure to leave room for Esther.

Ashley waited until she couldn’t take the silence any longer. Until the chirp of crickets and the lapping water were deafening. “All right, then. What do you know?”

Esther pulled at a loose string on her hoodie’s sleeve. “I’ve been trying to think of some way to explain you since that time at my uncle’s.”

Ashley nodded encouragingly. This was it. Esther could say it, and it would be out there. Esther and her observant gaze, seeing through all the shields Ashley put up. She could be one person Ashley didn’t have to hide from. But she was also terrified of Esther’s reaction when—no,if—she confirmed her suspicion. She dug her nails into the log to keep her hands from shaking, hoping Esther didn’t notice this detail as well.

“And do you have any guesses?”

“One.” Esther lifted a shoulder, letting her hair shield part of her face. “But it’s ridiculous, and you’d probably laugh.”

Something about this moment felt déjà vu. The lake, the trees, the conversation. When it clicked, and the quiet piano from the movie came to mind, Ashley had to use all her weak willpower to keep from laughing. Should she say the line? No, it was too cheesy. But this might be the only chance anyone in the history of time had to use the quote properly.

“Say it,” Ashley said, trying her best to keep a serious face. “Out loud.” She covered her mouth to hide her snickering.

Esther looked away, clearly embarrassed by what she was going to say and missing Ashley’s hidden laughter. “A genetically modified human from a government experiment.”

“What?” Ashley jumped from the log, shaking it enough that Esther had to hold on while Ashley stared down at her. “You think I’m Spider-Man?”

“I think Captain America is a more accurate comparison.” Esther looked past her to the lake, but pink crept across Esther’s cheeks. “But I haven’t crossed out injection of radioactive venom yet either.”

“Wow, you’re messing up the movie reference so much right now.”

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