Six.

JASON HEADED UP to his car . . . and sat there, his mind shifting back and forth between the Sienna situation and the strangeness of Goatee showing up at the pier.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of movement down on the beach. Goatee guy? Had he circled back?

Jason squinted into the shadows by the pier. The figure looked too tall to be either of the guys from the speedboat. The hair looked too dark . . .

The figure moved out of the shadows. It was Brad.

What was he doing down there? n.o.body from school came to La Costa beach. That was the whole point of Jason and Sienna meeting there. Jason noticed that Brad was carrying fishing gear. The silhouette of the pole was pretty easy to make out. Jason hadn't been fishing since he moved to Malibu. Maybe this was supposed to be a good spot for it. It kind of made sense, with the old pier and everything.

He watched as Brad continued down the beach and then started cutting up the side of the cliff to the highway. Jason realized that Brad's car was parked further down the road on the opposite side from Jason's. It definitely hadn't been there when Jason arrived.

Jason put his key in the ignition and started the Bug. He wanted to get out of here. If Brad noticed him, he might come over. And Jason didn't want to have to come up with a reason for what he himself was doing there.

He started the car, then impulsively turned right on PCH instead of left. He wasn't ready to go home. He'd only end up staring blankly at the tube or wasting time studying when his retention capacity was a complete zero. He'd drop by Adam's instead.

'Jason, hey,' Adam's father said when he opened the front door. 'You came on the right night. I just made my ten-alarm chili.' The guy was wearing an ap.r.o.n that said BACON IS A VEGETABLE on the front. Jason was starting to feel a little better already. 'Adam's eating in his room,' Chief Turnball continued. 'I couldn't pry him away from his computer. Grab yourself a bowlful from the pot on the stove and go on up.'

'Cool. Thanks.' Jason obediently headed into the kitchen. Just the smell of the chili made his eyes and nose start to water. What is this stuff gonna do to my stomach lining? he wondered, serving himself up a big bowlful nonetheless. How could you turn down chow made by somebody with a BACON IS A VEGETABLE ap.r.o.n? Then he made his way to Adam's room.

'Oh, man, you came on the wrong night,' Adam told him from his seat in front of the computer. 'Ten-alarm chili is dangerous!'

Jason flopped down on Adam's unmade bed, and caught sight of the image on his computer screen. 'Is that a chicken drinking that woman's blood?' he sputtered.

'It's one of the Vampire Chickens of Borneo, according to the believe website,' Adam replied. 'Me, I'm inclined not to believe. Even I draw the line somewhere, and that somewhere is bloodsucking poultry.'

'You haven't seen any more info on that reward for killing vampires, have you?' Jason asked.

'I checked that site again after we got followed by our friends in the speedboat,' Adam answered. 'A few people had posted messages on the bulletin board: exchanging vampire kill methods, asking if anyone had spotted any of the undead, that kind of thing.'

'Anyone mention Malibu?' Jason asked.

His friend spun his desk chair around so he was facing Jason. 'OK, tell Uncle Adam. What's going on?'

'Sienna and I are going to have to keep our relationship a secret from now on, since her parents don't approve. We were supposed to meet under that old pier on La Costa beach this evening.'

'Romantic! The smell of mold, the thrilling possibility that you'll die together as the pier collapses on top of you,' Adam commented. 'So what happened?'

'Sienna didn't show. Her mom made her go early to some charity auction. But I saw the goateed dude from the speedboat.'

'Did he see you?' Adam demanded quickly.

Jason shook his head. 'I managed to stay out of sight.'

'Good.' For once, Adam sounded serious. 'We don't need you to get shot by another vampire hunter. And Sienna had a close call last time too. I'm kinda glad her mom kept her out of commission tonight.'

'Yeah,' Jason said. 'I'm glad she wasn't there when Goatee came sniffing around. And later I saw Brad. Wouldn't that have been fun me and Sienna and her ex, watching the sunset together?'

Adam raised one eyebrow. 'Brad showed up? That's . . . interesting,' he commented.

'I did think it was a little strange that he was there,' Jason admitted. 'But he had a fishing pole. People fish there, right?'

'People used to fish from the pier all the time, before it started falling apart,' Adam answered. 'I'm sure people still fish around there, but . . .' He did the one eyebrow thing again.

'Can you use actual words to say whatever it is you're trying to say? Instead of attempting to communicate with your facial hair?' Jason demanded.

'OK, OK. But I don't know if I even have anything to say,' Adam answered. 'Maybe I'm just going all Son-of-a-Cop.'

'Spit it out,' Jason ordered.

'Well, you might want to consider the possibility that Brad is keeping his eye on you and Sienna. Maybe even feeding intel to Sienna's parents,' Adam said.

'I did think that maybe Sienna's parents had found out that we were meeting, and that that was why the whole charity thing had come up,' Jason admitted. 'But Brad? That makes no sense. Brad said he was cool with me and Sienna getting together. He even said he and Sienna were better as friends.'

'Again, Son-of-a-Cop here . . .' Adam put in. 'But people do this thing sometimes . . . It's called ly-ing.' Adam said the last few words in a whisper.

Jason shook his head. 'Why would Brad lie? Why bother?'

'Pride maybe,' Adam offered. 'It was clear Sienna wanted to be with you, so it was less embarra.s.sing for him to act like he was pretty much done with her, at least in a romantic way.'

A fragment of memory flashed through Jason's mind. Him and Sienna texting each other at lunch. Brad in the lunch line between them. Could he have read the text messages over Sienna's shoulder?

Still, they were talking about Brad here. Pretty much the most decent guy Jason knew. 'I don't buy it,' he told Adam. 'But I guess I should keep an eye on him. I'm more worried about Sienna's parents though. They're the ones who could really mess things up between me and Sienna.' Jason started to spoon some chili into his mouth.

'Really. Don't eat it,' Adam warned, watching him. 'Those wasabi peas I had at your place? Jelly beans compared to that stuff.'

Jason felt his eyes begin to water as the chili came closer. He hadn't even put any in his mouth yet! Maybe Adam was right. He put the spoon back and set down the bowl on Adam's nightstand. 'So what am I supposed to do?'

Adam pulled an energy bar out of one of his desk drawers. 'Eat this. It's not a great dinner, but-'

'What am I supposed to do about Sienna and her parents, doofus?' Jason demanded, unwrapping the bar anyway.

'I don't think her parents should be making calls about who she goes out with,' Adam said slowly. 'That's messed up . . .'

'But?' Jason prompted.

'I didn't say "but",' Adam protested.

'Yeah, but it was there anyway. Out with it,' Jason urged.

'I've been reading a lot of stuff about vampires, ever since I started getting suspicious about our, you know, special friends. And now, with trying to find out what other kinds of vampire-hunting freaks we might need to know about . . .'

Jason circled his hands in the air in a come-on, come-on gesture.

'Well, basically, there's a lot of tragic c.r.a.p that goes down when vampires and humans hook up. Like the whole aging thing. I mean, I'm guessing Sienna and her crowd live a lot longer than we do, if not forever. Am I right?' Adam asked.

'Yeah. From what Sienna told me, they aren't immortal, but they can live for centuries,' Jason confirmed.

'So at some point, you'll be this old man, and Sienna will be . . .' Adam let his sentence trail off.

'Still young and hot,' Jason finished for him.

'So, hey, you could be like Michael Douglas to her Catherine Zeta-Jones. Not a bad way to go,' Adam joked, but his eyes were solemn.

'It's really hard to worry about what's going to happen years from now. I probably should, but right now all I can think about is how I'm going to see her today, you know?' Jason took a bite of the energy bar. Stale.

Adam nodded. 'And you're already OK with her having to drink blood. That's the other biggie.'

'It doesn't thrill me,' Jason confessed. 'I mean, I understand that she has to do it. But it's a little weird when you stop and think about it.'

'A little weird?' Adam grinned. 'You've been in Malibu too long, my man. Most people would consider the drinking of the blood a lot weird. But what about the bit where she has to make out with other guys to get it?'

'That was hard at first,' Jason confessed. 'But I'm used to it now. Hey, look, I love Sienna. She needs blood to live. Therefore I want her to drink blood. It's simple. I just have to accept that every few days she's going to have to make out with another guy.'

'Would it help if she drank exclusively from a friend someone you like and admire? Say, Adam Turnball? Because your baby she's hot.'

'Thanks. That was an image I really needed to have in my head,' Jason sighed.

Adam laughed. 'Sorry. Just pulling your chain.'

'Somehow I don't think Dani would be OK with her boyfriend making out with other girls, though,' Jason said thoughtfully.

'Whoa. Brain whiplash. Dani? Huh?' Adam asked.

'I think Dani might be into Ryan Patrick. They might even have gone out the other night,' Jason explained. 'If anyone should be cool with it, it's me. But it kinda freaks me out. What if someone goes after Dani with a crossbow?' He gave a groan of frustration. 'I sound like Sienna's parents.'

'No, I can see why you're worried about Dani,' Adam said. 'It's better if they never get things started. That way they'll never end up in the situation you and Sienna are in.'

'But I wouldn't want to go back and warn myself not to fall for Sienna. If time travel were possible and all that,' Jason answered. 'Whatever the risks, it's worth it. She's worth it.'

'I think-'

Jason's cell beeped, interrupting Adam. 'That's a text. Maybe it's Sienna,' he said, pulling his cell out of his pocket.

'Is it?' Adam asked.

'Nope. It's my mom, calling me home for dinner,' Jason said, deflated.

'Look on the bright side. You're probably not having ten-alarm chili,' Adam consoled him.

Jason took a bite of his peach cobbler and tried to focus on what his mother was saying, instead of thinking about Sienna.

'I've left three messages for my sister in the last week and a half, and she still hasn't called me back,' Mrs Freeman was complaining.

'Maybe she's out of town,' Mr Freeman suggested.

Yeah, out of town on vampire business, Jason thought. Aunt Bianca was high up in the vampire . . . he wasn't sure what to call it: the vampire political scene? He'd seen her take charge of the DeVere Heights Vampire Council.

She hadn't seen him, though. Jason still wasn't sure what would have happened to him if she had.

'According to her a.s.sistant, she is away,' Mrs Freeman agreed. 'But how is that any excuse? You know she calls in to the office every day, which means she's got my messages.'

'Where's Aunt Bianca this time?' Dani asked eagerly. She was fascinated by her aunt. She'd already decided that she wanted to be a casting agent like Bianca someday. And have a house on each coast. And a huge walk-in closet on both coasts to hold all her fabulous designer wear.

'Who knows?' Mrs Freeman snapped. 'Even her a.s.sistant isn't sure. Bianca calls, barks out some orders to Jacinda, and hangs up.'

'Maybe she's in Paris,' Dani suggested. 'Paris is supposed to be awesome.'

According to Ryan Patrick, recently returned from a semester in Paris, Jason thought.

'Maybe,' Mrs Freeman said. 'Jacinda did say that on one of Bianca's latest calls she insisted that from then on they always answer the phone at the office in French. I think even Jacinda's becoming concerned about her erratic behavior.'

'Your sister has never been exactly predictable, Tania,' Mr Freeman reminded her.

'True.' Jason's mom stared down at her dessert plate. 'True, but predictable isn't the same as weird. The French thing is just weird.'

'I don't think it's so weird,' Dani said. 'Maybe Bianca wants them to speak French because it reminds her of Uncle Stefan.'

'But why now?' Mrs Freeman asked. 'Stefan has been dead for almost two years.'

'Delayed reaction, maybe,' Dani suggested, but even she sounded doubtful. 'Maybe it's suddenly hit her that he's gone forever and she just really misses him.'

'Maybe.' Mrs Freeman sighed, frowning. 'But that doesn't quite ring true to me. I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong with Bianca. Really wrong.'

A quick triple knock sounded on the front door.

'That could be Bianca now,' Mr Freeman suggested. 'She's got all your messages, she's in L.A., and she decided to drop by. She loves the drop by, your sister.'

'I'll get it,' Jason volunteered. If it was his aunt, he wanted the chance to sound her out in private and find out if she was the one who had restocked his college account.

He swung the door open and time seemed to stand still. Every thought about his Aunt Bianca, his money, everything . . . disappeared.

She stood there. In a strapless crimson dress. Her dark hair cascading over her bare shoulders.

Sienna.