Oh God. It's him. I can't believe I'm finally seeing him in the flesh…
Well, his son, anyway.
He's more handsome than I ever imagined. Golden-haired and blue-eyed, with movie star-perfect lips and shoulders a mile wide. He's tall, too-although most guys are tall-compared with me.
Still, if he is anything like his father, well, then, I get it. I finally get it.
I guess. I still don't-
Oh God. He's sensed my gaze. He's turning this way-
It's now or never. I raise my bow:
Good-bye, Sebastian Drake. Good-bye forever.
But just as I have the bright white triangle of his shirt front in my scope, something unbelievable happens: A bright bloom of cherry red appears exactly where I've been aiming.
Except I haven't pulled the trigger.
And his kind doesn't bleed.
«What's that, Sebastian?» Lila shimmies up to him to ask.
«Dammit! Somebody»-and I see Sebastian raise his stunned cerulean gaze from the scarlet stain on his shirt to Lila's face-«shot me.»
It's true. Someone has shot him.
Only it wasn't me.
And that's not all that doesn't make sense. He's bleeding.
Except that's not possible.
Not knowing what else to do, I duck behind a nearby pillar, pressing the Vixen to my chest. I need to regroup, figure out my next move. Because none of this can really be happening. I couldn't have been wrong about him. I did the research. It all makes sense… the fact that he's here in Manhattan… the fact that he went after my best friend, of all people… Lila's dazed expression… everything.
Everything except what just happened.
And I had just stood there, staring. I had had a perfect shot, and I'd blown it.
Or had I? If he's bleeding, then that must mean he's human. Doesn't it?
Except if he's human, and he's just been shot in the chest, why is he still standing?
Oh God.
The worst of it is… he saw me. I'm almost sure I felt that reptilian gaze pass over me. What will he do now? Will he come after me? If he does, it's all my own fault. Mom told me never to do this. She always said a hunter never goes out alone. Why didn't I listen? What was I thinking?
That's the problem, of course. I hadn't been thinking at all. I'd let my emotions get the better of me. I couldn't let what happened to Mom happen to Lila.
And now I'm going to pay for it.
Just like Mom.
Crouching in agony, I try not to imagine what Dad's going to do when the New York City police ring our doorbell at four in the morning and ask him to come to the morgue to ID his only daughter's body. My throat will be gouged open, and who knows what other atrocities will be done to my broken body. All because I didn't stay home tonight to work on my paper for Mrs. Gregory's fourth-period U.S. History class (topic: the temperance movement in antebellum Civil War America, two thousand words, double-spaced, due Monday), like I was supposed to.
The music changes. I hear Lila squeal, «Where are you going?»
Oh God. He's coming.
And he wants me to know that he's coming. He's playing with me now… just like his father played with Mom, before he… well, did what he did to her.
Then I hear a strange sound-a sort of whoosh-followed by another «Dammit!»
What is happening?
«Sebastian.» Lila's voice sounds bemused. «Someone is shooting ketchup at you!»
What? Did she just say… ketchup?.
And then, as I carefully turn to try to get a look past the pillar to see what Lila is talking about, I see him.
Not Sebastian. His shooter.
And I can hardly believe my eyes.
What's he doing here?
Adam
It's all Ted's fault. He's the one who said we should follow them on their date.
I was like, «Why?»
« 'Cause the dude's trouble, man,» Ted said.
Except there's no way Ted could have known that. Drake had basically turned up from out of nowhere outside Lila's Park Avenue apartment building just the night before. Ted had never even met him. How could he know anything about the guy? Anything at all?
But when I mentioned this, Ted said, «Dude, have you looked at him?»
I have to admit, the T Man has a point. I mean, the guy looks like he walked straight out of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog or something. You can't trust a guy who's that, well, perfect.
Still, I'm not down with following other guys around. It's not cool. Even if, like Ted said, it was just to make sure Lila didn't get into trouble. I know Lila is Ted's lady-ex-lady now, thanks to Drake.
And okay, she's never been the shiniest fork in the drawer.