Page 26 of Kissed the Mark
My heart rate increased as I noticedmovement out of the corner of my eye. Something moved outside thewindow, visible in the dim light of the kitchen. I stood from thecouch and crept over to the kitchen sink. The faucet drippedsteadily onto a dirty dish as I lifted the blinds to seebetter.
The object flitted in front of the windowagain and remained still. I squinted at it. A car drove past, itsheadlights illuminating the side of the house for a few brief,tantalizing seconds, and I saw the face.
Leandra. She waved at me and her mouth brokeinto a coquettish smile. I watched with wide eyes as she blew me akiss.
Then she began to run. And without thinking,I began to run, too.
Chapter Fourteen
Reunion
I RAN UNTIL MY LEGS ached. Leandra’s were noticeablytaller than mine and her vampire powers made her way faster. Ichased her right through downtown, until I couldn’t catch mybreath, just barely keeping her in sight the whole time.
Finally, Leandra dashed down the stairsleading to The Bluebird’s front door, bypassing the bouncer. Clubmusic and lights filtered out into the street from the undergroundclub. I pushed past the line of people waiting to get in.
“ID?” the bouncer asked.
“You’re kidding me,” I said. “I’m almost30.”
“That’ll be $20.”
“Excuse me?”
The bouncer shrugged. The girl behind metapped her heel irritably against the pavement. “Are you going topay it, since you just cut us all in line?” she asked snottily.
I closed my eyes.Do not lose yourpatience with these humans today, Olympia,I told myself.They don’t even think you’re real.
“What’s that? Does that guy have a gun?” Ishouted, pointing to a young man mid-line. The bouncer’s faceturned stern and he went to check the person’s alleged weapon. Idodged under his beefy arms and lost myself in a crowd of sweatybodies. A blue light periodically blinded me as it flashed aroundthe room. It smelled like pot and booze, and a fog machine oozed asmoky blur into the room from where the DJ pumped his fist.
Someone’s bare midriff brushed against me asI pushed through the crowd to electronic music that was too loud toask anyone if they’d seen a vampire. As though any of these peopleeven knew what a vampire looked like. I was immediatelyoverwhelmed—my clubbing days were long over, not that I’d ever goneto one like this for fun. The Bounty Hunters’ Guild connected tothe club was delightfully soundproof and had its own entrance, sowe didn’t have to cut through this area while it was open often(unless we wanted a beverage).
My boots sucked at the sticky floor withevery step. Someone sloshed a violent fuchsia drink over my pants.“LEANDRA!” I screamed over the crowd. Someone near me covered theirears and shouted something rude back to me—or it seemed rude, if Icould’ve heard it.
The blue strobe light flashed in just theright spot. I recognized the back of Leandra’s head from across theroom. Using a less-than-polite level of elbow action, I pushed pastthe grinding bodies to get to her.
“LEAAAANDRA!” I shouted again, right behindher. The woman turned to me. Her face was distinctly the wrongshape for Leandra’s, and she was human. She wore the same kind ofexposing halter top Leandra would’ve worn, though. “SORRY!”
“CAN I BUY YOU A DRINK?” the girl shoutedback.
“NO THANK YOU!”
“WHAT?”
“NO THANK YOU!!”
“OKAYHAVEANICENIGHT!” She went back togrinding against some other woman, throwing her long hair back andhitting people in the face. I dodged out of range to avoid beingwhipped by it.
My head swum with all the activity. I wasn’tgoing to find Leandra in this crowd, if she was even still here. Ipushed my way out a side door and scooped up a handful of pebbles,heading for the bathroom and carefully placing them in a circlejust large enough for someone to step into. No more playingnice.
I waited at the entrance to the alcovelabeled RESTROOMS with my arms crossed. Leandra had shown herselfto me at the Gallos’ place deliberately; she wanted me to know shewas there. She would come to me.
At least that was what I told myself. Thesmells and noise were making it hard to think properly.
Just when I was about to give up and gohome, convinced I’d been tricked yet again, someone pulled measide. I was face-to-face with Leandra, and she was laughing. Shesaid something to me I couldn’t hear. I pointed to my ear.
“I said, do you come here often?” she saidright in my ear.
“Where have you been?!” I shouted back. “Youowe me an explanation.”
