Page 12 of Blood and Bonbons

“Did you find a way out?” Vena called.

I heard the tinkling of metal and looked over to find her shoving shiny things into her backpack.

“What in the hell are you doing?” I yelled. “Help me!”

She closed her pack and hitched it on as she scrambled off the hoard, slipping on the uneven pile.

“I’m taking what I can get. I doubt Miles will get a good bounty for this location,” she said as she began searching for an exit. “Most hunters don’t want anything to do with a vampire.”

I glanced uneasily at the man who was unmoving on the rock slab. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if he woke to find us in his cave.

What was he doing here anyway? Like the majority of the public, I knew next to nothing about vampires other than that they existed and lived in secret. I’d always pictured the attractive ones in secluded posh houses, though, and the weathered old ones in mountain caves.

What was Mr. Hot-n-Dusty doing here? And why was I thinking about how handsome he was? Handsome still had fangs.

“Found it,” Vena called, ripping me from my thoughts.

She stood near the narrow end of the cave, peering into a crevice.

I hurried to her side and squinted into the space, seeing a faint light farther in. The space was maybe two feet high and a little more than half as wide.

“I’ll never fit through that,” I said.

“If Fangs can, you can, too.”

I glanced back at the man’s broad-shouldered form and supposed Vena was right. And, really, did I have any other choice? Sending her out to lower a rope wouldn’t do us any good. I didn’t have the upper body strength or agility to climb up, which was part of the reason she kept bribing me into rock-wall climbing. It was completely different with a harness though.

Swallowing hard, I looked at the opening again. If I didn’t want to stay down here with him alone, I had no choice but to try.

“You go first,” Vena said.

“Why me?” I’d face-plant into every cobweb in there.

“Just go,” she said, glancing back at the vampire.

I shrugged out of my pack and slid on my side into the opening. The awkward angle made it a tight squeeze and hard to move. But I was able to worm my way along. Vena was right behind me, pushing me to go faster.

As I’d anticipated, every cobweb lodged in my hair and along my face. She owed me big time after this.

The light grew brighter. As I was about to reach the opening, a miniature blue devil flew in. My scream echoed in the small space. The fairy’s beady little eyes went wide, and it zipped back out the way it’d come.

“Go, Ev,” Vena said, pushing at me

Pulse racing, I scrambled the last few feet and fell out of the opening. Vena emerged more agilely from the side of the moss-covered hill.

She tossed my pack at me and looked up at the sun.

“Let’s meet up with Miles. He’s going to want to know what we found.”

“No. No more Miles. No more fairies. No more hunting.” I stood and glared at her.

“What about cheesecake? I have one waiting for us at home.”

I picked up my pack, shouldered it, and gestured to the trees.

“Lead the way. No more detours, though, or I’m calling your mom.”

A smile played on her lips at my weak threat. “Your hair looks like cobweb cotton candy.”

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