Page 164 of The Last Vampire
“I wrote it down and saved it to a drive that Salma delivered to Zach for me.”
Salma’s eyes widen with surprise. “The fuck?”
Tiffany played us both. Zach stays uncharacteristically stone-faced, and I can’t tell if he’s actually angry or compensating for something he doesn’t feel. After all, it would be hard to believe Tiffany without proof.
“Is someone going to tell me what the fuck’s going on?” asks Trevor.
“Lorena will,” says Tiffany.
“I can’t,” I say, giving him a pleading look. I’m not going to endanger his life or betray William. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
“Does this have to do with what happened to the LUB?” asks Trevor. “Is this why none of you were surprised? You’reallkeeping a secret from me?” He turns to Zach. “Seriously, man?”
But Zach says nothing.
“Fine, I’ll tell him,” says Tiffany.
“DON’T—!”
“William is a vampire,” she cuts across me.
I don’t even breathe as I stare at Trevor, awaiting his reaction.
He stares back at Tiffany blankly, then he looks to me and Salma, like he’s waiting for someone to make it make sense. Maybe he’s not as informed about what the Legion does as I feared.
“Tell him,” Tiffany says to me.
“Okay,” I say with a sigh. “I’ll tell you. The truth is, Tiffany hasn’t been making a lot of sense lately, and Salma and I think she should see the nurse.”
Tiffany looks at me like she’s never seen anything so abhorrent in her life. Neither have I, and I hate myself for what I’m doing, but it’s for everyone’s protection.
“Salma,” says Tiffany, the fury in her voice barely restrained. “Tell them she’s lying.”
I look at my best friend, and for the first time, I’m not sure if she’ll have my back. We used to like telling people that if one of us killed a man, the other one would bury the body. We said it often mostly because Ma hated it, and Pa would offer to be our lawyer. But I never thought we’d have to actually put those words to the test.
“Tiff, you need to drop your anger at Lore,” says Salma in a placating tone.
Tiffany looks at her with the revulsion she usually reserves for me, then she turns to Zach. “You believe me, right?” she asks, looking at him imploringly.
“Youalready knowI’m on your side.”
Even though it’s not technically an answer, there’s an implication in his statement that’s even more concerning. It sounds like he’s already done something to prove his trust.
“But youbelievewhat I told you, right?” she presses.
He looks like he wants to agree, but the yes never comes.
Tiffany’s dark eyes flicker like embers, and she looks from me to Salma. “Fuck you both. You’re the biggest liars I’ve ever met in my life—you deserve each other.”
Then she storms off, and Zach runs after her.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me about Tiffany?” asks Trevor when it’s just the three of us.
“We were trying to protect her,” I say, looking at Salma and wishing she would jump in and help me out. But she’s staring at the floor, and she looks dangerously close to crying.
“So what do we do?” asks Trevor.
“We only have a couple of days of school left,” I say. “We’re going to call her parents and give them a heads-up.” I tug on Salma’s arm to shake her out of it.
