Cryptic Cravings (Vampire Kisses 8)

"What's wrong?" I asked. Suddenly Scarlet was staring at my mouth. "Oh no," I said.

Her eyes were a weird shade of red. Something had come over her. It was the scent and presence of blood. I backed away.

Scarlet took my arm. I was moments from a struggle. She was my friend and I knew she was fighting her internal impulse. I wasn't about to go down without a fight.

My mind raced. Instead of being turned by Alexander, I was going to be mauled by Scarlet. There was no one to defend me. She was a little bit bigger than me, and with her underworldly powers, I wasn't sure how I'd fare. "You aren't going to attack me, are you?" I asked. "No - why would you think so?" She did her best to close her eyes. She turned away from me and covered her face. "Could you please just fix it?"

I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and pressed a tissue to it. Trevor was suddenly standing in the woods. "What's going on in here?" he asked as I held the tissue to my lips. "I thought you'd at least wait for me!" he said. "Don't be gross," I said. Scarlet lit up in Trevor's presence.

"Why are you covering your mouth?" he asked me. "Grrr," he growled like a tiger. "Catfight? Don't stop on account of me."

"Cut it out," Scarlet said. "We were just in the neighborhood." "In the high school's woods?" he asked suspiciously. "You shouldn't hang out here. Without me, of course." "We wanted to see you," Scarlet said. "I wanted to see you." She gave him a hug, her hands fiddling with his back pocket. "What are you doing?" he asked. Scarlet turned to me and held out her empty hand. Then she fiddled with the string around his neck. "What's this?" "A necklace," he said. She brought it out from his shirt. The key dangled below her hand. "What's this key for?" she asked playfully. "Nothing."

She pulled him tightly to her and planted a major kiss on his lips. As she did, his hands wrapped around her waist. She folded her arms around his neck and within a moment had unlaced the cord. Trevor turned to me. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Red lipstick was smeared across his skin. For some reason I was resentful, but I didn't have time to think of that now. "We have to go," I said, pulling Scarlet away. She slipped the necklace into my hand.

"Jealous?" he asked. "Can't stand the sight of it?" "Yes," I said. "I can't stand the sight."

I headed up the hill as Scarlet continued to say good night to my nemesis. Trevor's key hidden in my hand, I wondered what it led to and why it bothered me to see him kiss another girl. * * * It seemed like an eternity before Scarlet caught up with me by her car. Her hair was a little messy from her mortal make-out session.

"That was fun!" she said. "Let's do that again." "Yeah . . . fun." "He didn't even know I took his necklace." We hopped into the car. The tunes were still blasting and she sang, but I was silent. She turned down the music. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Nothing." I was staring out the window, watching the trees as we passed them by. "You seem weird. I shouldn't have been so PDA, sorry. I'm not into that, really. It was just that I had to get the key." "I know." "So what's up?" "Nothing." I continued my zombielike staring. "Do you . . . like Trevor?" she asked suddenly. "No - are you crazy?" I was stunned by her accusation. "Of course, you have a thing for him," she prodded. "No, I don't!" I said with a laugh. "I didn't know. You guys used to date?" "No! Yuck! Are you kidding?" "There's something between you two. I could feel it. Like a magnet." "I'm in love withAlexander, if you haven't noticed."

"I didn't say you were going out with Trevor. I just thought you might have dated. There's that sexual tension between you two."

"I can't believe you just said that. He's such a creep! I mean - not to offend you or anything, but me and him?" "Opposites attract in a big way. Why do you think he likes me?" "Because you are gorgeous and fun. What's not to like?" I asked.

"Thanks," she said sincerely. "But I'm not at all like those girls he normally goes after. Pink nails and luscious blonde hair. And now that I think of it . . . I'm like . . ."

"Yes?" "You!" "Me?"

"Duh! Why didn't I get it sooner!" Scarlet laughed. "He likes you because of you," I said. "But didn't he like Luna, too? Now this all makes sense." "He likes girls. That's his thing. That's why I didn't want you to go out with him. He likes a lot of girls." "No, with him it's more." "Maybe he likes goths." "Yes, because they remind him of you!"

"Stop!" I was close to covering my ears. I couldn't stand the thought. I was so in love withAlexander, nothing else mattered. No one else mattered.

"He's in love with you. Trevor Mitchell loves you," she teased. "Please. Do you want me to be sick?"

"Sucks for me. I finally found a guy I'm crazy for and he only likes me back because he secretly wants to be with my friend."

"Enough, Scarlet. If you say any more, I'm going to jump out of this car!" I was only half-joking. "So you don't mind if I continue to see him?" "No, I don't," I said. "And guess what? If you want, I'll come to your wedding."

My blood was boiling by the time we got back to the factory. I was trying to shake off our conversation and also trying to figure out how we'd be able to see if this key was bogus or real without Jagger finding out.

"We need to have Onyx distract Jagger," I said when we got inside. "Hopefully she can like I did with Trevor. But she's a lot shier than I am. So I'm not sure that is going to work." "Hey, where were you guys?" Onyx asked. "We went to see Trevor. Didn't you get my text?" "Yes, but I was hanging out with Jagger." Onyx grinned. "Speaking of Jagger. I need to ask a favor," Scarlet began. "Sure, anything," Onyx said in a cheerful tone. "We need you to keep Jagger occupied while we check out a few things here." "You can't do that. This is his place. We are here to help, not snoop around." "Not me," I said. "That's exactly why I'm here - to snoop around." I let out a laugh, but Onyx wasn't amused. "If he finds out that I am tricking him, he won't want to see me anymore," she argued. "You aren't tricking him. We're not going to steal anything. Besides, we'll take all the blame," I said. "Trust me." Scarlet put her hand on Onyx's shoulder. "He'll still want to see you. If I have my say." Onyx paused for a moment. "Please?" Scarlet asked. Now she was just as curious as I was.