Page 39 of The Last Vampire
It takes me a moment to notice that my friends are getting up to fill their plates.
“Let’s go,” says Salma, hooking an arm around Tiffany’s elbow and draggingher away, presumably to give William and me some space. I wonder if the vampire can hear my best friend’s pleas to Tiffany to just let me have this one. I may not be able to hear Sal, but I can predict her.
“What are you doing here?”I ask as soon as William and I are alone.
His expression is as close to a grin as I’ve seen on his face. He’sdefinitelyenjoying this. “I am adapting to your schedule.”
“I told you if I ever saw you again—”
“You would share that recording of me,” he says, sounding bored. “Here is my counteroffer: You do not share it, and I do not kill you or your friends.”
I blink a few times, but the mess of thoughts in my brain doesn’t sort itself.What’s happening?Why is he still here, and why is he offering to let me live?
“But— I don’t— Whyare you here?” I sputter. “Why not go, explore, see the world, find others like you—?”
“I do not know the risks, nor do I have a destination. I must first learn everything I have missed.”
“You mean you’re actually planning to go to classes?” This feels like a sick joke. “How did you even pull this off?”
“I used my powers of persuasion—”
“Mind control,” I correct him.
“—to convince the boy to leave—”
“Mateo.”
“—and I made the director accept me in his stead.”
Zach sets his packed plate down on the table, and I snap to my feet before he asks why we’re still seated. When William doesn’t budge, I ask, “Aren’t you getting food?”
“Not hungry,” he says, but his eyes trail down my neck in a way that implies otherwise.
I pick up my plate and stride to the buffet table, where Salma is waiting for me. “He’s totally into you!” she gushes, while Tiffany hovers. “Why aren’t you more excited?”
“I don’t know,” I say with a shrug. “I think I’m sort of in shock.”
“Let yourself enjoy this, Lore. You’re too hard on yourself.”
I nod, but I can’t look at her, so I start scooping some vegetable fried rice onto my plate, even though I’ve never been less hungry. I count down the minutes until my friends finish eating, eager to get them away from the vampire. When they finally push their chairs back from the table, I spring up and grab my bag—
“I wonder,” says William, who remains seated, “if Lorena could spare a few moments to catch me up on what I have missed so far?”
“Of course she can,” Salma answers for me. “Lore, hand me your form, and I’ll turn it in for you.”
My fingers are trembling as I fish the paper out of my bag.
“We won’t wait up,” she adds in a whisper that the vampire can hear.
“What form?” asks William as my friends walk away.
“Um, students are required to join an extracurricular club.”
“Which one are you joining?”
My throat goes dry as I say, “Shakespeare club.”
A strange look crosses his face, something between surprise and…longing? No, that can’t be right.
