Unbelievable.

Or else totally believable and just a continuation of what had happened yesterday on the yacht. Have Sienna's parents decided to try and keep her from seeing me? Jason wondered.

He took a deep breath. He couldn't let himself get all bent about this until he knew for sure what the deal was. Sienna's parents were really into the local charity scene. Maybe Sienna had just forgotten about one of the million events her parents expected her to attend. Maybe it was just a coincidence that this was happening the day after Mr Devereux had ordered the yacht back to sh.o.r.e.

Jason flopped down on his bed and kicked off his shoes, then flipped on the TV. He should probably study, but he was so not in the mood. He channel-surfed all the way up to the pay-per-view stuff and all the way back down again. Nothing held his attention for more than a few seconds.

Finally, with a growl of frustration, he gave up and s.n.a.t.c.hed his chemistry book off the nightstand. He might as well get something slightly worthwhile out of his evening, even if it was just a few more points on the next chem quiz.

The thing was, four hours later, when he heard Dani coming up the stairs, he couldn't remember a thing that he'd read. He hadn't really been able to stop thinking about Sienna.

Jason couldn't stop himself from grinning, though, when he heard Dani singing as she walked by his room. At least somebody had a good time, he thought. He leaned over to switch off his bedside lamp and a twinge of pain vibrated through his chest muscles where the crossbow had wounded him.

The grin slid off his face. If Dani had been hanging with Ryan a few months ago, she could have been the one who'd ended up with a crossbow bolt in her chest. It's dangerous for her to get involved with any of the vampires, Jason thought. Life-and-death dangerous.

Five.

SIENNA GAVE A little beep on the Spider's horn as Jason walked through the school parking lot the next morning. He hurried over and swung himself into the pa.s.senger seat, leaning in for a kiss before he'd even closed the door.

But Sienna's grave expression stopped him. 'What's wrong?' he asked, brushing her long hair away from her face.

'My parents sat me down for a talk when we got home from that charity dinner last night,' she said. 'They don't want me to see you anymore.'

'What?' Horror rocked through Jason's body.

'I know.' Sienna sounded miserable.

'But I don't get it. What's changed?' Jason asked. 'It's not like we've been hiding the fact that we're together. I'm over at your house all the time. Your parents seemed fine with it.'

'I know. I thought my parents liked you, even,' Sienna answered. 'And they do. They kept saying that last night. They think you're a really good person. They are so grateful to you for the way you went after Tamburo when he was going to kill me. They know you saved my life, but . . .' Her voice trailed off.

'But I'm not a vampire!' The statement came out harder than Jason had meant it to, fueled by frustration and sadness.

'Yeah.' Sienna stroked his arm. 'Yeah.'

'I still don't understand why they suddenly want you to break up with me. It's not like they ever thought I was a vampire,' Jason pointed out. 'It's not new information.'

'I know. I said the same thing,' Sienna told him. 'Basically, they didn't think you and I were ever going to get that serious. They figured that if they just left the situation alone, time would take care of the problem.'

Jason ran his hand through his hair. 'Problem,' he repeated. 'And what exactly is the problem? Did they say? If we knew exactly what they were thinking, maybe we could find a way to change their minds.'

Sienna let out a sigh that seemed to come from the very depths of her soul. 'They just kept telling me that there were too many risks. They don't think it's safe for me or for you either.'

Jason took a moment and forced himself to consider things from her parents' point of view. 'OK. I get how there are risks for me,' he said. 'Like Tamburo coming after me because he thought I was a . . . one of you. But I'm willing to take whatever risks there are. I want to be with you no matter what.' He shook his head. 'What I don't understand is why your parents think going out with a human is any kind of risk for you.'

'I think they finally realized we're really in love,' Sienna told him.

'And that should be a good thing, right?' Jason asked.

'It should be. No, it is,' Sienna said, her voice cracking a little. 'But now that they've really accepted that, I think they're afraid that we're going to want to be together forever.'

'And what if we do?' Jason demanded.

'Forever. Like hundreds of years,' Sienna explained. 'Which would mean me making you a vampire. Turning you. And that's forbidden. By the DeVere Heights Vampire Council and the Vampire High Council.'

'What about my aunt? She was turned,' Jason argued.

'That was only allowed because her husband was so powerful. He was on the Vampire High Council. No one could stop him.' Sienna took Jason's hand. 'It's not about you and me. It's about humans and vampires. Transformation brings our two worlds together, and my parents my parents and everyone else think that's hugely dangerous for all vampires. And for humans too.'

'So transformation is the big problem. OK. So we go to your parents and we promise them that that won't happen,' Jason said, staring intently into Sienna's eyes. He could see that she wasn't convinced he'd found a solution.

'There's something else,' she admitted after a moment's hesitation. 'And this is what they think. It's not what I think . . .'

Jason nodded.

'They think another vampire is always going to be better at keeping our secrets, because they share the same secrets,' Sienna tried to explain.

Jason could feel anger welling up inside him. Sienna's parents thought he couldn't be trusted not to expose them just because he was a human? Even after everything he'd been through in order to protect their vampires' secrets.

'I would never do anything that could possibly hurt you. Or your parents. Or any of you. Haven't I proved that?' he demanded. 'After stopping Tamburo? After being attacked by Luke Archer when he was consumed by the bloodl.u.s.t and not going to the cops or even to my own parents!' He slammed his fist on the dashboard.

Sienna winced.

'Sorry,' Jason told her. 'I know it's not what you think. But your parents are way out of line.'

'Jason, my parents think that the DeVere Heights Vampire Council might even decide to take some action against both of us if they find out how serious we are about each other. I don't know if they're right or not. No vampire has got really involved with a human for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure what the Council would do if they thought . . . well, if they thought our whole community was in danger of being exposed.'

Jason stared blankly out at the parking lot, trying to absorb this new information. He'd watched the DeVere Heights Vampire Council discuss his friend Tyler's fate. He'd seen them talking about Tyler as if his life was theirs to take if they wanted to. Half the members had wanted Tyler put to death even though he didn't have a clue that they were vampires. He was no real threat to them. He'd stolen from them, true, but he couldn't really hurt them.

What would the Council do to Sienna if they thought she was endangering all of her kind?

'So I really am a risk to you,' he said slowly. 'I don't want you brought before the DeVere Heights Vampire Council because of me. But we need a plan. There has to be some way to prove to your parents and the Council that I'm trustworthy.'

'My parents aren't going to change their minds,' Sienna answered. 'And they would have a mutual meltdown if they thought we were going to try to talk to the Council.' She fell silent, and suddenly Jason realized what had just happened. She'd said it was over. She'd broken up with him. The truth slammed into him like a killer wave.

Sienna locked eyes with him. 'But I'm not giving you up. I'm not.'

Jason laughed, relief spiraling through his body. 'That's good to hear.'

'We'll just have to act like we're going along with my parents,' Sienna said thoughtfully. 'So, no making out in front of your locker,' she went on with a grin.

'Or in my car. Or in the cafeteria line. Or in European History,' Jason added.

'Yeah, because I'm always making out with you in the middle of cla.s.s,' Sienna teased.

'You know you want to,' Jason laughed. 'So, we keep things secret?'

Sienna nodded. 'At school we act like we broke up but stayed friends. We only talk to each other if there's at least one other person around. And we don't even do that too much; you know how everyone gossips at this school. Plus and I hate to say it about my own, but vampires gossip worse than anybody.'

'Yeah, I've seen that grapevine in action.'

'Starting now, we go underground,' Sienna went on.

'So after this, we go underground,' Jason corrected, pressing his lips against hers.

He had meant the kiss to be short, fast, sneaky. But the taste of her, the soft warmth of her lips made it hard to pull away. Sienna was addictive. No doubt.

'This whole "not talking to each other too much" thing is going to be tough,' he told her at last.

'Complete torture,' Sienna agreed. 'We have to meet up tonight.'

'Where?' Jason asked, already mentally sorting through the possibilities.

'Someplace no one goes,' Sienna answered. 'But now we have to move. Looks like the first bell already rang.' She nodded toward the people suddenly streaming into the mission-style main building of DeVere High. 'We'll have to figure it out later.'

'OK. We'll text.' Jason took her hand and brought it to his mouth. 'And we'll ignore each other.'

Sienna's breath quickened as he kissed her palm. 'That won't be easy,' she murmured.

Jason reluctantly let go of her. When she'd hurried into the school, he climbed out of the car and walked into the building alone. As if they'd broken up. He strode down the crowded hallway, telling himself not to miss Sienna. This was what they had to do to keep the fact that they were still a couple a secret.

He wasn't going to do anything that might bring the Council down on her. He loved her too much.

'5. UNDER PIER. LA COSTA BEACH,' Sienna texted him between first and second period.

'SWIM PRACTICE. SUX. SRRY.' Jason texted back.

'8. MOVIE ABOUT THE MATH GENIUS? NO 1 WE KNOW WILL SEE THAT,' he suggested in another text message between second and third.

'AUCTION FOR SOME WORTHY THING. PARENTS INSIST. SUX,' Sienna instantly answered.

'MDNGHT. FTBALL FIELD. BLEACHERS???' Jason offered in his next message as he got in the food line at lunch. Only Brad and two guys from the diving team separated him from Sienna. But Jason didn't want to risk talking to her. Not on day one of Operation Secret Couple.

'IF CAUGHT SNEAKING IN, GROUNDED 4 LIFE,' Sienna answered by text.

'B4 SKOOL A.M. BAD DNUT PLACE?' Jason shot back.

'TOMORROW? BUT IT'S TOMORROW!' Sienna replied. 'CANT W8 THAT LONG.'

Jason laughed and shook his head at his phone. Then he typed, 'SKIPPING SWIMMING. SEE U UNDER PIER.'

Sienna glanced over her shoulder and smiled at him by way of reply.

Jason checked his watch as he sat on the beach waiting for Sienna after school. He'd been waiting for more than an hour under the beat-up fishing pier. Had something gone wrong? Had her parents found out about their plans somehow? The vampire grapevine couldn't be that good. Could it?

Sienna's usually late, he reminded himself. She ran on girl time, the same way Dani and his Aunt Bianca did.

He looked around and noted with satisfaction that under a half-rotten pier, in February, with the sun about to go down, was the perfect choice for an Operation Secret Couple meeting. Other than some fish and some seagulls, Jason seemed to be the only living creature for miles.

He checked his watch again. Sienna was seriously late. Even on girl time.

The sky looked as if it were on fire over to the west as the blazing red ball of the sun got ready to hit the water. Sienna should be here to witness this, Jason thought. It was one of the best sunsets he'd seen since he'd moved to Malibu.

He pulled out his cell to text Sienna. Before he'd gotten two letters in, he heard a creaking sound above him.

Jason froze.

Rotten wood creaks, he told himself. But he kept his body motionless, waiting for another sound.

Creak!

Footsteps? Jason wondered. Sienna? But they'd agreed to meet under the pier, not on it.

Jason slowly stretched out on his back. He stared up at the warped planks that made up the pier. Shafts of light filtered through each s.p.a.ce between the planks. But with the next creak, some of that light was blocked.

The creaks were definitely footsteps. Somebody was up on the pier. And it wasn't Sienna.

Jason felt his heart start to race. He'd been on the beach when Tamburo shot him with a crossbow bolt. On the beach, alone, at sunset. Just like now. And Adam thought there might be more hunters around. Was a vampire hunter up on the old pier now, looking for him? Or, worse, looking for Sienna?

Jason flipped onto his stomach and combat-crawled down the beach toward the surf. When he got to the end of the pier, he put one foot in the V of a support beam and swung himself up to take a quick scan of the pier.

Goatee guy from the speedboat was walking in his direction, looking about him as if searching for someone. He certainly didn't seem to have Sienna. Jason ducked his head, determined to keep out of sight. You're in the perfect spot, he told himself, wrapping both arms around the beam. Even if he looks under the pier, he won't see you unless he circles around and actually stands in the surf.

Jason held his position until his arms ached and his legs started to cramp, then he allowed himself another quick look over the edge of the pier. It was empty now. Cautiously, he pulled himself up onto the rough planks. In the last bit of light from the sunset he saw a black Mercedes race away down the Pacific Coast Highway.

When it was out of sight, he pulled out his cell and dialed Sienna.

'Sorry. I couldn't get there,' Sienna's voice filled his ear, low and breathless. 'I'm helping Mom unload the floral arrangements for the auction. She'll be back any second. I'm stuck here. She insists she needs my help setting up because someone got sick or something.'

Jason's galloping heartbeat began to slow. Sienna was OK. If Goatee was a hunter, he hadn't found his prey. 'You think your mom knows we were planning to meet?' Jason asked, choosing not to tell Sienna about Goatee; he didn't want to terrify her until he knew what was going on.

'I guess it's possible,' Sienna whispered. 'But I don't know. She and Dad might just be trying to pack my schedule so full that there's no way we can sneak off somewhere. My father actually signed me up to play in a father-daughter golf tournament this weekend. And I so don't golf!'

'Then when-?'

'My mom's coming back. I gotta go,' Sienna muttered and hung up.

Jason slowly folded his phone. Then he sat and stared at the sky until all the color had drained away and the beach and the pier and even the waves were all shades of gray. Is this how it's going to be? he couldn't stop himself from wondering. Is this going to keep happening?

Is this the end for me and Sienna?