Amelia Atwater-Rhodes: Demon in My View

Jessica was about to leave when Alex glanced up for a moment, meeting her gaze over Shannon's shoulder. His eyes were jet-black and shadowed by dark lashes. Jessica smiled wryly in response to the amusement she saw in those eyes—no doubt a reaction to Shannon's not-so-subtle advances.

Then something Shannon said caught his attention and he looked away from Jessica, returning his gaze to his more assertive admirer.

A bit reluctantly, Jessica headed down the hall, leaving Alex at the mercy of Shannon the Conquerer.

JESSICA WANDERED into the courtyard at lunchtime, having no desire to sit alone at a table in the cafeteria so that she could be assaulted by the stench of the day's mystery meat.

Her thoughts traveled for a moment to Alex; she remembered how he had caught her eye. Then she mentally chided herself for focusing on a guy who probably had already forgotten she existed. And even if he hadn't, he would never be desperate enough to risk his social standing by associating with the leper of Ramsa High.

She pulled an unlined notebook and a mechanical pencil from her backpack and proceeded to sketch, simply for something to do with her hands, as she discreetly watched the people around her.

Shannon was standing with a few of her friends, but instead of talking to them, she was staring intensely across the courtyard at Alex. Alex, leaning casually against a tree, was smirking slightly as another boy berated him. Jessica recognized the guy as Shannon's boyfriend, and she judged by his posture and tone of voice that he had heard about Shannon's conversation with Alex that morning.

Finally Alex seemed to lose his patience. He locked eyes with the other boy, who, though a few inches taller than Alex and much broader, took a step back. The boy said something Jessica couldn't hear and left quickly.

Jessica shook her head, not surprised. Something about Alex made it evident he wasn't someone to mess with.

As Jessica had watched the confrontation, she had continued to draw. Now she looked down at the pencil sketch and felt a chill run through her.

Even though her model had been nearby, the likeness was remarkable. But the thing that struck her the most was the pendant, which she hadn't yet been able to look at closely but had somehow drawn in careful detail.

The cross was upside down and carefully molded with a viper twined around it. It was the same design as the one that Aubrey wore, and it startled Jessica to see that she had drawn it into her portrait of Alex.

"Mind if I join you?" someone asked.

Not just someone. Alex. Jessica recognized his voice and whipped her notebook shut. His tone was confident, unmarred by adolescent awkwardness. Hearing his silk-smooth voice made her shiver, because she was once again assaulted by a wave of familiarity.

Snap out of it, Jessica ordered herself. Over her mental argument, she heard her voice calmly reply to Alex, "Go ahead.'

Suspicious of his motives, she couldn't immediately come up with anything more to say. The last time any guy had tried to talk to her, he had done so only on a dare. With that painful memory in mind, she kept her expression cool, waiting for Alex Remington to explain himself.

As he sat down near her, she studied his appearance. The pendant was exactly as she had drawn it—exactly like Aubrey's.

"Do you always keep to yourself out here?"he asked.

"Do you always go out of your way to talk to people who look like they want to be alone?" she answered, instinctively defensive. She bit her tongue after speaking the words. If Alex actually wanted to get to know her, she was an idiot to try to chase him off.

He just looked amused. "Would you prefer to be alone, or are you avoiding someone in particular?" As he asked this, he glanced over at the windows of the cafeteria. Jessica followed his gaze and noticed Caryn sitting inside with a group of other seniors.

"If I was trying to avoid anyone, it would be Caryn," she answered truthfully. "She seems convinced that my inner child needs a friend."

A mixture of empathy and annoyance crossed Alex's features. Jessica felt confident that the annoyance was reserved for Caryn.

"It's her nature to try to draw people out of the dark," he said.

"You two know each other?"

"Unfortunately," he answered. The scorn in his voice was palpable.

He silently watched Caryn for a moment, until she looked up as if she could feel his gaze. When she saw Jessica and Alex sitting together, she stood, gathered her belongings, and hurried away.

"She sure doesn't try to draw you out of the dark," Jessica commented.

"They've tried, and they've failed miserably," was his reply.

CARYN HAD RETREATED to the school library after seeing Jessica with the creature who was calling himself Alex. She had a study hall there soon, anyway; other students were already spilling out of the cafeteria and going to their classes.

She had been staring out the window for about five minutes when she suddenly saw Alex and Jessica walk past. It seemed there was no escape from them.

"Are you stalking me?" she heard Jessica say to Alex in a light, maybe even flirtatious, tone. Caryn frowned at how easily Jessica seemed to trust him. Alex was the last creature on Earth that any human should trust.

"Why would I do that? " Alex asked with pretend innocence.

Why indeed? Caryn thought. Maybe because you're a manipulative leech? If only Jessica knew what she was talking to.

"Anyway, I'm not quite so obvious when I'm stalking someone," Alex was saying to Jessica, amusement in his voice.

Caryn shook her head. Of course you are, she thought. If they don't know you're there, they aren't afraid.

Suddenly she heard his mocking voice clearly in her mind. I s uppose you would know from experience?

She threw up her mental shields, even though she knew they were little better than glass against his kind. Get out of my head, she thought angrily. Alex laughed in return.

Meanwhile, he and Jessica had continued to speak. It was obvious that Jessica had no knowledge of the silent conversation that had been going on. Her tone was jovial and unguarded, as if she was speaking to a friend.

Friends with the leeches but not with the humans, Caryn thought bitterly.

She couldn't exactly blame Jessica, though. Even knowing the truth about Alex, Caryn herself could barely sense his bubble of mental control. Without conscious effort he kept humans in thrall, so that they were comfortable around him despite their instinct to avoid his kind.

Only twice during the day had Caryn seen him let down his guard: with Shannon that morning and with the boy who had insulted him at lunch. Shannon had quickly stopped her flirtation and slunk away but had managed to laugh about her sudden unease when describing the situation to Caryn later.

Caryn forced herself to start her homework rather than think about Alex and Jessica any longer. She had no fighting skills with which to defend Jessica physically. And the girl had made it clear that she wanted no part of Caryn's friendship, so she certainly wouldn't be willing to heed her warning.

Caryn was not going to get in Alex's way—especially here, surrounded by so many defenseless humans. Arguing with a vampire in the middle of a crowd would only get people killed.

AFTER SCHOOL Jessica took the bus to the center of town. She walked to the bookstore, hoping to find Tiger, Tiger on the shelves. The book was supposed to have come out more than a week before, but this was the first chance Jessica had had to look for it. The advance copies she had at home didn't hold quite the same allure as the sight of her work in a bookstore display.