“I already know that she’s wonderful. She’s my mom.” I scowl.
David sighs. “Look. What I’m trying to say is I like your mom very much. And now that the assignment is over I’d like to be allowed to continue dating her. If that’s okay with you.”
I scrunch up my eyes, still not quite sure. “Well, we’ll see,” I say. “Maybe. If she still wants you.”
“Thanks,” he says. “I’ll take what I can get. Don’t worry,” he adds, “I’ll prove to you that I’m a worthy suitor.”
His words bring me back to reality and the fact that I won’t get to see how this relationship plays out. Because I’ll be dead. Long dead and buried, with worms crawling out of my eye sockets.
I turn back to Jareth. He’s staring at me with such concern. I wish the two of us could be alone. I’ve got to tell him about my impending doom. Let him hold me as I cry in his arms.
Then I remember. “Magnus!” I cry. “We’ve got to warn Magnus!”
“Warn him?”
“Rachel and Charity are infected! If he drinks their blood he’s going to lose his powers, just like the others.”
Jareth pulls out his cell phone and dials Magnus’s number. After a moment’s pause he greets his boss and tells him what happened, warning him not to drink from his donors.
He clicks off the phone after saying good-bye. “I reached him in time,” he says. “Rachel and Charity had just arrived, but he hadn’t taken a sip yet.”
I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Thank god.”
“Okay, we’d better get out of this place, pronto! Before Maverick’s minions see what we’ve done here.” Jareth rises to his feet. He turns to David. “Do you know of an easy way out of here? I hardly think we should walk out the front door.”
David shakes his head. “This place is like a maze.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll lead you out.”
We all whirl around at the voice in the doorway.
“Frannie!” I cry.
“So did you do it? Did you get the virus?”
“Yes,” I said. “And I dusted Maverick, too.” Hm, this probably means Francis is out of a job. Hopefully vamps have good unemployment benefits.
David nods over at the pile of ashes formerly known as Maverick. “Thanks to Rayne here, he is no longer a threat to vampkind.”
Francis walks over and takes my hand in his. “Thank you, Rayne,” he says. “And I’m sure Dana will thank you, too.”
“I told you we’d become friends, Frannie,” I say with a half-grin, while inside I feel like bursting into tears. It’s not fair. All these innocent people and vampires, destroyed because of one vampire’s quest for vengeance against an alleged wrong that was committed years and years before.
Francis squeezes me into a big, rib-crushing hug. The guy would have been strong pre-vampire. “You were right,” he says, thankfully releasing me. “And now, if you’ll just follow me, I’ll get you guys out of here.”
We follow. He leads us through twisty underground passages and up a set of creaky wooden stairs and through a door. We step out into a warm summer night. The stars are shining. The moon is full. It seems so unfair that in two nights I’ll be dead.
“Good luck,” Francis says. “I’m going to inform the other vamps what Maverick has done. I’m sure Magnus will have a lot more followers by morning. He turns to me. “And thank you again, Shaniqua.”
“My real name’s Rayne,” I say, reaching up to give him a big hug. “I was using a fake ID to get into the club.”
His eyes twinkle. “Really? I never would have known.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
We say our good-byes and head to Jareth’s BMW. David says he’s going to go by our house to check on my mother, guard her against any possible repercussions of the slayage and distract her from the fact that her daughter is out way past curfew. I thank him and watch as he walks off into the night. I’m really glad that he turned out to be one of the good guys. Maybe my mom will finally have a chance to be happy.
Jareth and I get into his car; the heated leather seats feel nice against my aching body. He turns the key and then looks at me. “Do you want to go somewhere in particular?” he asks.
“Can we go to the ocean?” I beg, for some reason getting the strangest desire for the sea. Maybe it’s because I know I’ll never get a chance to see it again. Hear the waves crashing against the shore, smell the salty air, feel the sand crackle between my toes.
He nods and unquestioningly pulls out of his parking space and into the night. We ride silently, as if both lost in our own thoughts, until we get to the beach, about twenty minutes away. We step out of the car and walk down to the end of the boardwalk, toward the ocean. I kick off my shoes and dig my toes into the cool sand. Jareth slips his hand into mine and strokes my fingers.
“So you did it,” he says, staring into the blackness of the nighttime sea. There are a thousand stars out and they twinkle like diamonds in the sky. “You accomplished your mission. You’re a real slayer now.”
“I guess.” I shrug. Time to break it to him. “Though a lot of good it’s going to do me dead.”
Jareth jerks his head around to look at me. “What?” he cries. “What are you talking about?”