14. Amber

The skateboarder skidsto a smooth stop, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Show’s over.” He kicks up his skateboard, catches it, and pulls it close to his side.

The crowd claps and cheers for more.

Instead of indulging them, the skateboarder looks around and glares at them, silencing them with his sharp gaze.

The humans might not know he’s a vampire, but they can instinctively sense when they’re facing an angry predator.

“Want to get out of here?” the guy in the NYU shirt says to me.

“No,” I say simply.

“Suit yourself.”

He’s gone in a blink. Everyone else is dispersing as well.

Everyone except me.

The vampire saunters over to where I stand, the air between us crackling as he scrutinizes every inch of me.

Goosebumps prickle my arms. But I stand strong, unwilling to let him see any signs of weakness.

I’ve got this.

He stops about two feet in front of me, and it’s like we’re at a standoff, neither of us saying a word.

I glance back down at his wrists. “Nice tattoos,” I finally say.

“A compliment from the star touched.” He grins and brushes some of his floppy hair off his forehead. “I’m honored.”

“You know who I am.”

“Lucas has been keeping tabs on this area,” he explains. “There’s always one of us here, waiting for you. You see, we know what you look like, Star Touched. Your picture’s been passed around to every member of the clan.”

I shiver at the thought of the downtown vampires studying my photo, memorizing every detail about me.

“Is Lucas here?” I get to the point, not wanting to chat with him for any longer than necessary.

The lustberry won’t stay in my system forever. The sooner I see Lucas, the better.

“I’ll let him know you’re asking for him.” He drops his skateboard back to the ground, steps back onto it, pulls out his phone, and starts texting. After a few seconds of silence, he puts his phone away and refocuses on me. “He’ll be here in ten minutes.”

I cross my arms over my chest, hoping to look unfazed. “And what are you supposed to do in the meantime? Babysit me?”

He chuckles, a low, throaty sound. “Something like that,” he says. “Though I prefer the term ‘ensure your safety.’ I’m Dylan, by the way.”

I don’t bother introducing myself. He clearly already knows who I am.

Instead, I glance around the park in an attempt to seem indifferent, despite the unease coiling in my stomach.

Dylan, meanwhile, seems content to watch me with an unreadable expression, leaning casually against his skateboard.

“So, Amber,” he finally breaks the silence. “How’d you enjoy the show?”

He can’t be serious.

But, as he waits for my response, I get the feeling he is.

“It was thrilling,” I say. “I’ll be sure to give it five stars on Yelp.”

He smiles approvingly, which somehow pisses me off even more. “You do that,” he says, and thankfully, he stops making any more attempts at conversation.

Finally, Lucas makes his way through the arch and strides toward us. His dirty blond hair is swept back, his eyes gleaming with mischief and defiance when they meet mine.

“Amber,” he greets when he reaches us. “Running to me now that you’ve seen evidence of Damien’s incompetence?”

“You’re referring to the attack on his people.” I remain calm, making sure to call them his people instead of our people.

At this point, a small mistake could cost us everything.

“I was hoping it would help you see reason,” he says.

“Then mission accomplished.”

He watches me with that hawk-like gaze of his, studying me, scrutinizing me. “And why should I believe you’re switching sides so easily?”

Dylan rocks back and forth on his skateboard, listening as if this is the best entertainment he’s had all day.

“Can we speak alone?” I ask Lucas.

Lucas nods, then turns to Dylan. “You did well,” he says. “Now, leave us.”

“Sure,” Dylan says, and he rolls away with a whoosh of air trailing behind him.

A few people watch him leave. One even gives him a thumbs up, complimenting his earlier show.

“I guess you’re not a fan of flying under the radar?” I ask Lucas once Dylan’s gone.

Lucas simply gestures toward a secluded pathway that leads off to the side of the park. “You look particularly stunning today,” he says, changing the subject. “Let’s talk somewhere more private?”

“How private?”

Has the lustberry worked so well that he already wants to take me back to wherever he’s been camping out?

“How private are you looking for?” he asks in return.

Disgust rises inside me at the way he’s leering at me, but I push it down. “I want to go back with you,” I say simply, the bold statement lingering between us.

His smile widens. “A lovely proposition,” he says. “If not a bit forward for our first opportunity to be truly alone together.”

I watch him, waiting, drawing calmness from the sun’s afternoon rays shining brightly overhead.

I need it.

Because it’s taking everything in me to resist scorching that arrogant smile off Lucas’s chiseled face.

“What did you have in mind?” I ask, not wanting to seem overly eager by pushing too quickly.

“There’s a park bench over there that I’m particularly fond of.” He motions toward one of the paths leading away from the fountain. “Shall we?”

“Sounds great.” I plaster on a smile and follow him until we’re surrounded by towering trees, off to a side where a few homeless people have camped out for the day.

Once seated on one of the few empty benches, Lucas turns to me, serious now. “So, Star Touched,” he says. “Care to share what’s going through that beautiful head of yours?”

I move close to him and take a deep breath, which only seems to entice him further.

No, it doesn’t seem to. It does entice him further.

This close to him, the lustberry will be starting to lure him in, especially with his heightened vampire senses. I hate doing it—every instinct in my body urges me to pull away, not wanting to think about Lucas so much as touching me—but I stay strong.

The entire plan depends on it.

“I assume you’re wondering what happened to the potion after Viktor ran away and left me for dead?” I ask.

“The thought has been on my mind.” He breathes steadily, not moving away from me, waiting for me to continue.

“Then you’ll be interested to know that it’s inside of me now,” I say, and then I clarify, “I drank it.”

“You drank it?” His eyes scan over me, and I can’t tell if he’s amused, shocked, impressed, or horrified.

Probably a mix of all of them.

I level my gaze with his, daring him to dig into me like Damien did back when it first happened. “I did.”

In the silence that follows, I hold my breath, ready for anything.

When I release it, satisfaction crawls over Lucas’s lips as he inhales more of the lustberry’s pull.

“Well, then.” He nods in what could almost be approval. “That’s certainly an unexpected turn of events.”

“What can I say?” I smile, trying to ignore the way my skin’s crawling at how close I am to him. “I enjoy keeping people on their toes.”

Lucas’s expression shifts, the amusement fading into something more calculating, more predatory. “It changed something in you,” he observes, as if he’s looking deep into my soul.

I want to move away from him. To tell him to not get close to me, to not touch me. Every bone in my body is urging me to get out of here and never look back.

But this is it. The moment when I might be able to snare him in, or lose him before the plan can truly get started.

And if there’s one thing I’ve always known about myself, it’s that I hate to lose.