page3 (1/2)
There was only one floor at Chuck E Cheese's, so thatto loo over her She was in the section to the left of the front door, playing Skee-Ball She landed yet another perfect throw into the center of the circles Lights went off while more tickets spat out of the side of the machine Belinda had a pile of the fathers as well as kids clustered around her
But no other vah this Chuck E Cheese had been linked to the disappearance of a fao Not that any of the patrons here knew that It was only because a security ca lot that Don even suspected vampires were involved in the family's odd disappearance
Undead killers liked to hit the sarounds more than once Which confounded the hell out of houls never went back to the same crime scene, my uncle's special department of Homeland Security would be out of business So, never striking the same place twice
My cell vibrated I took it offwas 911, whichlot I kept ave lance when I laid a hand on her arm
"Showtime," I murmured
"Get your hand offher sweet smile
I squeezed instead "If you try anything, I'll kill you And that's only if Bones doesn't beat me to it first"
Belinda's eyes flashed green for a second, but then she shrugged "Ten more years, then I don't have to deal with you anymore"
I let her go "That's right So don't fk up a better deal than you deserve"
"Don't you need to get away from me,Reaper?" she hissed, so low even I could barely hear her "You don't want to scare the fish away, do you?"
I gave Belinda a cool, evaluating stare before I turned my back and walked away I'dthis job and endangered one of thewent, ere giving her enough rope to hang herself Noe had to wait and see if she swung from it
On lanced at it and roaned Another 911 That ood
I reached Ethan, wanting to keep a sharp eye on hi before I sao men walk in with the distinctive skin and purposeful ular person and a vampire
I gave the interior of Chuck E Cheese's another frustrated glance With all the children here, this was the worst kind of place to have a shoith the undead If I were playing bait, I'd try to er to bystanders But Belinda probably wouldn't care enough to do that Well, I'd just have to try and help her out
I grasped Ethan's hand "It's time," I told him
His blue-green eyes widened "The bad people are here?" he whispered
I doubted Don had explained to Ethan-or his parents, whoever those crazy folks were to let their son do this-what sort of "bad people" ere after I wasn't about to elaborate, either
"You don't leave ht, remember?" I said, soft but stern "It'll be okay"
He nodded, visibly e "Okay"
What a good boy
My cell phone vibrated again, with another series of nu across the screen
911-911
"Oh, f-crap," I caught myself just in time
Ethan blinked up at ?"
I got a tighter grip on his hand "Nothing"
That was a lie, of course I looked up in ti in the door Then a fourth I saw Belinda pause in her next Skee-Ball toss, look at them, and smile Widely
This was going to be a hell of an afternoon
Chapter Three
THE VAMPIRES DIDN'T TAKE LONG TO NOTICE Belinda Maybe they even smelled her before they saw her, because they weren't inside the place for a rip on Ethan's hand as I heard Belinda exchange hellos, strainingelse Like,trap orReaper So far, so good Belinda was just being flirty-with a ho anyone here
"Why do you think we're here?" one of the fake mouse"
The others laughed My jaw clenched Bastards
"You here with anyone?" another asked, giving Belinda an up-and-down leer
"Some chick I met and her son," Belinda said dismissively "One of you can eat her, but I call dibs on the kid"
"Point them out," the dark-haired vampire said
I glanced away right as Belinda's hand arced up, putting a false soing to happen to you
"The blonde wearing the black turtleneck sweater and jeans, holding the little boy's hand That's them"
"Pretty," the brunette drawled, then added quickly, "but not as pretty as you, of course"
"Thanks" Belinda's voice said his backpedaling wasn't sufficient, but she'd let it go "So, how do you all normally do this? Just snatch a kid and run?"
"See that guy over there?" The tall, scrawny vae "After a few flashes ofto steal his outfit from him"
"Why would you want to take solanced back over to the that myself