“Too bad.”
“I really liked him. So what if he’s a vampire hunter? You and Quinn managed to work past that, didn’t you? He likes you even though he’s a hunter.”
“That’s different. And I’m not sure how much he likes me anymore anyhow, since I believe I bruised his ego earlier. Also, he’s not a hunter anymore.”
“Quinn is hot,” George commented.
“Besides, remember Peter?” I said. “You’ve dated a hunter before, and how did that turn out?”
She stuck her tongue out at me. Very mature.
I was examining the thick rope, which was like netting, that hung around the smoking area. They’d obviously set it up so people couldn’t sneak into the club through this entrance without paying the hefty cover. Or, in our case, sneak out.
Some of the smokers were heading back inside. Actually, most of them, steadily moving back into the club until there was nobody left out in the cold, smog-clogged air but the three of us. Amy was pouting and had her arms crossed.
“Some birthday. This totally blows.”
“Your birthday isn’t even till tomorrow. Listen, we need to go out the same way we came in,” I said.
And we turned to the entrance.
A pale-faced Chad the vampire hunter was staring at me.
“I thought I told you to get out of my face?” I said, thrilled that I managed to sound adequately brave.
“That’s her.” He pointed at me. “The Slayer of Slayers.”
“That’s right, jerk. And I’m going to—” I looked past Chad to see that he was flanked by several other guys who all had their arms crossed and their eyes narrowed. They were all wearing University of
Toronto jackets. Tall, young, all very cute. Fraternity guys, maybe.
Chad was pushed to the side and the huge frat boy behind him grinned at me. “Well, isn’t this our lucky night? I’ve heard all about you. This is an honor.”
I blinked at him. “Gee, thanks.”
“It will be an honor to end a celebrity vamp like yourself.” He felt at his belt and pulled out a wooden stake. “The other guys will be so jealous.”
I took a step back. “You have the wrong person.”
Where the hell were Lenny and Janie? Wasn’t this exactly the kind of situation they were being paid to protect me from? I strained to look past him and into the club but couldn’t see anything.
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Chad here’s my boy. And if my boy says that you’re the Slayer of
Slayers, then that’s just who you are.”
My stomach dropped. I suddenly wished I hadn’t drunk so much Moonshine. My lack of foresight, not to mention lack of bodyguards, was seriously going to be the death of me.
Which, according to the look in Frat-boy’s eyes, was going to be in T minus ten seconds.
My goodness, that was an excellent cigarette I just inhaled into my very human lungs,” George said loudly. “I guess my human friends and I should head back inside now.”
I eyed him. “Really?”
He shrugged. “It was worth a shot.”
Frat-boy shifted his stake to his other hand. “Somebody get the camera. This is worth documenting.”
My eyes widened. The camera?
Come on, Janie, I thought.Time for you and your lovestruck partner to save my ass .
I waited.
Any time now. That would be super.
“Here it is,” one of the other guys said, after fishing a digital camera out of his pocket. “The card’s almost full and the batteries are running low, so let’s make this quick.”
“No problem,” Frat-boy said, and took a step closer to me.
Janie?
Lenny?
Did they get in a fight and leave? Did they quit? Was that necklace guy right when he said that Janie was not to be trusted? If that was the case then we were completely screwed.
I braced myself. I was going to have to put my self-defense lesson, such as it was, to immediate use. I only hoped I’d learned enough to . . . disable five fully grown men with weapons.
It could happen. Sure.
I glanced at George and Amy, hoping one of them had a plan to get us out of this.
They looked back at me blankly.
Self-defense. I wracked my brain. What had I learned?
Frankly, not a whole hell of a lot.
I jumped as the flash went off. Frat-boy handed the camera to his buddy, and they produced wooden stakes out of nowhere.
“Who takes a wooden stake to a dance club?” I said aloud.
He smiled at me. “I just like the way it makes me feel.”
Great.Think, Sarah, think .
“All right, let’s do this.” He took a step toward me. “The Slayer of Slayers and her evil minions.”