Page 6

“And the curse?” Caitlin asked.

“That only a vampire who is good of heart can save Fiona from the curse,” Stasio said.

Everyone smiled.

“So you are that vampire?” Jasmine asked Arman, sounding surprised.

“I’ve been having the visions.” Arman knew he had to be the one.

“Tell us exactly what you see again,” Caitlin said.

“It’s Halloween. I’m at a party. I see her. I try to get her to go with me. But it doesn’t work out. The next thing I know, I’m at the Peckinpah home and I’m trying to entice her to leave, but it doesn’t work either. But I have to get her away from them. The dream is in a different order each time, one time at the party, one time at the house first.”

Stasio said, “An Egyptian girl is living with Tobias. She’s bad news and works with them, doing anything they ask of her. She’s our age and you better believe that they’ll use her to watch Fiona’s every move, so no one can get to her.”

“Then you’ll need us to help you out.” Levka appeared a bit exasperated with Arman for even thinking he could do this alone.

That was decided then. Levka often made the decisions for the group, though he did listen to everyone’s suggestions, and they were not only ready to go, but everyone insisted on it.

Arman sighed. “If this is all a mistake?—”

“Then we’ll have had a great adventure out of it,” Caitlin said, “and I’ve never been to Portland, so maybe we can do some things there if this turns out to be nothing at all.”

“I agree with Caitlin,” Jasmine said. “I don’t have any cases right now. So I’m free to go and take care of these vampires.”

Arman sighed. “If I don’t save this girl, it’s on your heads.”

Levka slapped him on the back. “If you don’t save her, it’s because one of us do the deed instead. We will free her and protect her, never fear.”

2

Dreaming, Fiona Wilder tossed and turned. She’d been having weird dreams, well, weirder than usual. A blond-haired man told her to get out of the house as soon as she could. That a man would come for her. A man she’d met before. But who?

“You’ll know him when he comes for you. He’ll be persuasive, intriguing, and have your best interests at heart. You must trust him,” the blond man said to her.

“Who?”

“They’ve lied to you. Regina and Tobias. They’ve lied. They want you for their dark purposes. You have to get out of there while you can.”

“Who is coming for me? What has Regina lied about? I don’t know any Tobias.”

No response.

“Hello? Who are you?”

Again, no response. But then she was visited again by the guy from the mall. She was two years older, but he looked the same age as before. She’d been seeing him now for some time and every time he was just as intriguing. She wanted to kiss him again. Wanted to hug him and never let go. Only in her dreams did she escape her home life, and she welcomed seeing him again. But no matter how much she wanted to speak with him, she couldn’t. Just like he would look at her with his riveting gaze and wouldn’t say a word.

“Arman,” she wanted to say. “Take me away.” If she could leave Great Aunt Regina’s home for good and join her brother in Dallas where he was in college, she would be thrilled.

Arman was holding out his hand to her, willing her to go with him, bright lights flashing all around them. Where was she? Where were they?

Off in the distance, she heard a car’s engine, the garage door rolling up, waking her, and she opened her eyes. She blinked. She had been having the weirdest dreams of late. She got dressed and headed into the kitchen and found a note from her great aunt.

Gone shopping for Halloween. R

Yes! Fiona loved it when her great aunt left the house and Fiona was alone. She rarely did, and the only time Fiona could really be away from her was when she went to school.

Before she went to her high school-sponsored Halloween party that night, Fiona Wilder worked on some of her social studies homework, not wanting to do either. The only good thing was that her Great Aunt Regina wasn’t at home right now. Fiona still couldn’t believe Regina would give her permission to go to the high school for a party. Normally, once Fiona was home from school, her great aunt didn’t want her to go anywhere—not even to get a part-time job, and certainly not to socialize with anyone. But Fiona had convinced her she needed the extra credit for a class. Which was true, but it was like having to accept the lesser of two evils—attending a Halloween party at her high school with people she didn’t care for, or attending her great aunt’s party, and that could be even worse.