“What’s more important, your profit or keeping us from getting stabbed?”
“If we stab them first, we won’t have to worry about it!”
“Well that sounds very nice in theory, doesn’t it—”
A knock sounded at the door. We froze.
“Is it them? The bad guys?” Aaron whispered.
“Bad guys wouldn’t knock,” I said.
“You don’t know that!”
The knock turned into a pounding, and the handle rattled, someone trying to get in. More pounding, and Jack shouting, “Sam! Aaron! Geez, let us in!”
“This is a trap,” Aaron said.
I grabbed a broken broom handle and peered through the peephole in the door. And there was Jack, looking like he was trying to press himself bodily through the door. Alas, his vampire powers weren’t that strong. Ginny stood beside him, looking worriedly over her shoulder. A sense of relief turned my legs to jelly.
Maybe Aaron was right and this was a trap. Ginny was working for Carter, or Jack was, or both of them were, and this was a ploy to get us to open the door and get rid of us. Thing was, a stake through the heart would kill anyone.
I threw the bolt and swung open the door. Jack and Ginny spilled inside.
“What the hell did yo
u lock the door for!” he yelled.
“Because you said we’re about to get attacked by a bunch of vampires!”
He slammed the door shut, threw the bolt again. “Yes. They’re right behind me.”
I wanted to give Ginny a hug. Instead, I hooked my hands in my jeans pockets. “Are you okay?” I asked her.
“I’m fine,” Jack said.
“Not talking to you,” I answered.
Ginny smiled. Her heart was beating fast; she smelled of sweat and nerves. But her smile was honest. “I’m fine.” She was wearing jeans and a Blue Sun T-shirt, her hair was in a ponytail, and she was the prettiest woman I’d ever seen in my life.
“Sam, what are we going to do?” Jack was stalking around the living room looking like he wanted to break something.
“Well, they can’t get in here unless you invite them, right?” Ginny said.
“I’m not sure that works on a vampire house,” I said. “I think that’s a human thing.”
“Well, I’m here,” she said.
“But you don’t actually live—” I stopped. I had this sudden vision of being normal, having a human girlfriend, and moving into an apartment together, sharing normal stuff. Everything I didn’t get to do before this all happened. How the hell had I gotten into this? And I realized, if I hadn’t been turned into a vampire, if I’d lived my life normally, I’d be forty years old and Ginny would be too young for me. We’d never have met. This was so confusing.
But I smiled, because who cared?
“Wait,” Aaron said, blinking as if he’d just seen Ginny for the first time. “There’s a stranger in our apartment. We talked about this—”
“Aaron, calm down,” I said. “Ginny, this is Aaron, our other roommate.”
“Hi—”
“Aaron, Ginny. There, now you’re not strangers.”