Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles 2)

A silhouette.

Someone was standing in front of my window. It could only be one person, who wasn’t actually a person at all. I bolted upright in bed. Macon was standing in my room, and Lena was under the covers in my bed. Weakened or not, he was going to kill me.

“Ethan?” I recognized his voice the second I heard it, even though he was trying to be quiet. It wasn’t Macon. It was Link.

“What the hell are you doing in my room in the middle of the night?” I hissed, trying not to wake Lena.

“I’m in trouble, man. You gotta help me.” Then he noticed Lena curled into a ball next to me. “Oh, jeez. I didn’t know you were—you know.”

“Sleeping?”

“At least someone can.” He was pacing, full of nervous energy, even for Link. His arm was in a cast, and it was swinging erratically. Even with only the dim light from the window, I could see his face was sweaty and pale. He looked sick, worse than sick.

“What’s up with you, man? How did you get in here?”

Link sat down in the old chair by my desk, then stood up again. His T-shirt had a hot dog on it and said BITE ME. He’d had it since we were in eighth grade. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

The window was open behind him, the curtains blowing inside as if the breeze was being drawn into my room. My stomach was beginning to twist into a familiar knot. “Try me.”

“Remember when Vampire Boy grabbed me on Hell Night?” He was talking about the night of the Seventeenth Moon, which would always be Hell Night to him. It was also the title of the horror movie that scared the crap out of him when he was ten.

“Yeah?”

Link was pacing again. “You know he could’ve killed me, right?”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear where this was going. “But he didn’t, and he’s probably dead, like Larkin.” John disappeared that night, but no one actually knew what happened to him.

“Yeah, well, if he is, he left a partin’ gift. Two actually.” Link leaned over my bed. Instinctively I jumped back, bumping into Lena.

“What’s going on?” She was half asleep, her voice deep and gravelly.

“Relax, man.” Link reached past me and switched on the light next to my bed. “What does it look like to you?”

My eyes adjusted to the dim light, and I saw two small puncture wounds on Link’s pasty neck, the distinct mark made by two evenly set canines.

“He bit you?” I jerked away from him, pulling Lena off the bed and pushing her against the wall behind me.

“So I’m right? Holy crap.” Link sat down on my bed, dropping his head in his hands. He looked miserable. “Am I gonna turn into one a those bloodsuckers?” He was staring at Lena, waiting for her to confirm what he already knew.

“Technically, yes. You’re probably already Turning, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to be a Blood Incubus. You can fight it, like Uncle Macon, and feed on dreams and memories instead of blood.” She pushed her way out from behind me. “Relax, Ethan. He’s not going to attack us, like a vampire in one of your lame Mortal horror movies where all witches wear black hats.”

“At least I look good in hats.” Link sighed. “And black.”

She sat down next to him on the edge of my bed. “He’s still Link.”

“You sure about that?” The more I checked him out, the worse he looked.

“Yeah, I gotta know this sorta stuff.” Link was shaking his head, defeated. It was pretty obvious he had been hoping Lena was going to tell him there was some other explanation. “Holy crap, my mom’s gonna throw me outta the house when she finds out. I’m gonna have to live in the Beater.”

“It’ll be okay, man.” It was a lie, but what else could I say? Lena was right. Link was still my best friend. He had followed me into the Tunnels, which was the reason he was sitting here now with two holes in his neck.

Link ran his hands over his hair nervously. “Dude, my mom’s a Baptist. You think she’s gonna let me stay in the house when she finds out I’m a Demon? She doesn’t even like Methodists.”

“Maybe she won’t notice.” I knew it was a stupid thing to say, but I was trying.

“Sure. Maybe she won’t notice if I never go out durin’ the day because my skin’ll fry off.” Link rubbed his pale arms as if he could already feel his skin beginning to peel.

“Not necessarily.” Lena was working something out in her mind. “John wasn’t your average Incubus. He was a hybrid. Uncle M is still trying to figure out what Abraham was doing with him.”