“No,” she said. “They’re muscle relaxants. For cramps.”
“Sorry to spoil your brilliant plan, but I don’t think it’s Peter’s time of the month.”
She shook her head. “Trust me, they’ll do the trick.”
“So you’re willing to drug your boyfriend to help me out? You are such a good friend.”
She hugged me. “You’d do the same for me.”
Would I? Yeah, sure, why not?
“Peter will be mad at you after this. I don’t want to ruin your relationship.”
She threw the bottle of pills back into her purse. “Forget it. Besides, this makes up my mind for sure that he’s not the one for me. My real Prince Charming would never mess with my best friend. Peter deserves what he gets.”
We went back to the table. Quinn and Peter seemed involved in an intense discussion. They stopped talking as soon as we approached the table.
“Everything okay?” Quinn asked as I sat down.
“Peachy,” I said without looking at him. I was still fuming that he went out hunting last night.
“Good.” He downed the rest of his beer.
“We went ahead and ordered dinner,” Peter said. “Couldn’t wait forever.”
“Speak for yourself,” I said under my breath.
“Quinn and I were talking about what we should do after.” Peter was staring at me intensely. “Amy wanted to go dancing, but I’m thinking about something a little more intimate. I’d like a chance to get to know Sarah a little better.” He said my name like it was a four-letter word. “Maybe even introduce her to a few of my other friends.”
That was so not going to happen. But I smiled at him, anyhow.
“Only if they’re all as incredibly charming as you are.”
The appetizers arrived. Peter had ordered salads all around, and had gotten himself an order of escargot. Amy would grab him and kiss him every so often to distract him as she slipped a tiny blue pill in with the snails. He tossed them back without even flinching. Quinn was too busy staring out the window or down at his refilled glass of beer to notice what was going on. When dinner was served, I picked at it nervously, noticing that Quinn did the same. I wondered if solid food made him throw up, too. I didn’t want to take the chance tonight. I had too many other things to think about. I glanced over to see Amy push a blue pill into Peter’s mashed potatoes. He scooped them into his mouth without a moment’s hesitation. What if Amy’s plan didn’t work? What was I supposed to do then? I attempted to make some kind of vampire telepathy happen between Quinn and myself, trying to get a message to him about a potential escape plan, but it didn’t seem that telepathy was one of my new talents. He was barely even meeting my eyes anymore.
It would have to be something a little more out in the open if I wanted to get his attention. I jabbed him in the hand with my fork.
“Ouch.” He snatched his hand away and finally looked at me.
“What do you think about Peter’s plan?” I asked. “Meeting his friends after dinner. Do you think that sounds like a good idea?”
“They’re my friends, too.”
“And your point is?”
“I don’t have a point.”
“No, you really don’t.” I was so frustrated with him. Had he forgotten that he was a vampire, too? Or was he completely delusional? I’d almost believed it when he’d told me that he couldn’t stop thinking about me. Obviously, he’d meant that he couldn’t stop thinking about ways to piss me off.
I frowned and looked across the table at Peter. He ate his dinner with a vengeance. Hunting vampires must be hungry work. His finesse with the fork and knife didn’t show any sluggishness, no awkwardness that would hint at successful muscle relaxation. Did that mean the pills weren’t working? I didn’t know what to do next. He was going to take me to meet his friends, and Quinn was going to go along with it all, living “la vida denial.”
I wasn’t happy with that plan at all. The waiter came to clear away the plates and took our dessert orders. I ordered a Spanish coffee. I liked things that reminded me of the trip to Mexico. It was like my shiny finish line. If I could just make it till then, everything would be okay. I tried to be patient while I sipped on my after-dinner drink and waited desperately for Quinn to stand up and defend me. To punch Peter’s lights out, or something. Anything would be nice, instead of sitting there acting like he was afraid to make waves.
“Peter, I want to tell you something,” I said suddenly, desperate for a way out of this.
He didn’t look up from his dessert—a multilayered slice of moist chocolate cake.
“What?” he snapped, and I noticed he had a little chocolate icing on his black eye patch.
“It’s very important. You could at least stop shoveling food into your mouth for half a second.”
He pushed his plate away. “What.” It was a statement, not a question this time.
I took a breath. “What I’m going to tell you is going to change everything.”
He cocked his head to one side. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, it’s so.”
“Then spit it out, darlin‘.” He hesitated and looked at Amy. “I mean, Sarah.”
I glanced at Quinn. “It has to stay a secret.”
“You have my word of honor.” He grinned at me. His word of honor was worth less than squat in my books. Squat minus twenty.
I took another deep breath. Here it goes. “Quinn’s a vampire, too.”
“Sarah!” Quinn knocked his water glass over, gaining us the momentary attention of a couple of neighboring tables. The entire restaurant went silent for a split second, but then the noise picked right back up again. He desperately tried to dry the tablecloth with his napkin, and looked at me with astonishment.
“What in the hell did you say?” Peter hissed.
“Vampire. Quinn is one. Just like me. Has been since the weekend. So that means if you’re planning on killing me, you’ll have to make it a two-for-one deal. It’s only fair, after all.”
“I can’t believe you,” Quinn said, and his voice sounded strangled.
“Believe it, buddy boy. I’m not going down alone.”
Peter shook his head slowly with disbelief and then, after a moment, began to laugh.
“You’re funny. But your lies won’t work on me.”
“It’s not a lie,” Amy said. “She’s telling the truth.”
He turned to her. “And let me guess, you’re a vampire, too?”
“I wish!” She pulled her purse up to her lap and zipped it shut. I guess she was finally out of pills. Dammit.