I shut my eyes and shook my head to clear it. Had Jesse actually tried his vampiric hypnotism on me? The bastard . . .
“There he is,” Trevor murmured and stalked toward him. Jesse spotted him. His eyes widened, and he turned and walked out.
“Wait a minute—” I ran after Trevor.
“What—” Sadie ran after me. I assumed Ben followed as well.
In a foot race between a vampire and a mortal human, I’d put money on the vampire every time. Trevor must have known he couldn’t win a straight-up race, so in the ballroom lobby he veered to a side door while Jesse charged out the front. I kept after Jesse.
“Jesse, get back here, you jerk!” I shouted.
This was almost exactly what had happened at senior prom, which made me even more furious. You cannot escape the past, you can only repeat it. I pounded out the doors to the lighted nighttime parking lot and caught him just about to round the corner of the building. Wolf loved this. This was a chase. We had him in our sights. Next was the pounce, the grabbing him by the throat, the ripping—
No. I just wanted to talk.
“Jesse!” I yelled, and it must have come out partly like a growl, because he pulled up short. Slowly, he turned around.
Jesse couldn’t have been a vampire for more than a couple of years—he looked to be in his mid-twenties. Now, if this had been the twentieth reunion, there’d have been questions about how well preserved he appeared.
Still, I had a lot of questions.
“Hey, Kitty.” He scuffed his foot, tried to smile.
I had to take a moment to slow my breathing down so I didn’t, like, freak out and sprout fur. A reunion to remember.
“What . . . what is this?” I gestured vaguely at him, his condition, unable to formulate a concise question to take it all in. “Although this is pretty much the first time I’ve met a vampire and known exactly how old he is.”
“Good to see you, too,” he said, chuckling.
That moment, Trevor came around from the other side of the building, aiming a handheld crossbow loaded with a wooden bolt. Without thinking, I sprang, getting between Trevor and his target. I ended up pushing my ex-boyfriend into the wall, covering him with my body. A wooden stake would barely scratch me.
“Kitty, get out of the way!” Trevor ordered.
That was the moment Ben jogged up with Sadie and saw me and Jesse locked together.
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“This must be the famous Jesse,” Ben said evenly.
Great. Just great. “Trevor, put that thing down!” I said. He didn’t. I bared my teeth. “Trevor!”
He lowered the crossbow. Jesse relaxed, just a bit.
“Put it on the ground, now!” I said. He did. I stepped away from the wall, straightened my dress. I was blushing. I resisted an urge to pour out apologies to Ben. This isn’t what it looks like . . . I trusted he knew that.
“What the hell is going on?” Sadie demanded, her voice edging into panic.
I looked back and forth between the two men, the vampire and the apparently professional vampire hunter. “What are the odds, really?” I muttered. “Trevor. Why are you trying to kill Jesse? I mean, is this something you make a habit of, killing vampires? And Jesse . . . why the hell are you a vampire!”
“You’re a vampire?” Sadie said, taking a step back.
“Who is that?” Jesse said, pointing at Ben. “I don’t remember you.”
“We’ve never met. Hi, I’m Ben, I’m Kitty’s husband.” He stepped forward, offered his hand and, a slave to social conventions, Jesse shook it. Ben appeared to squeeze extra hard.
“Husband?” Jesse said. “Oh. And you’re a werewolf too. I guess that makes sense.”
Sadie stared at Ben. “You are?”