"I know," I say, slumping into my chair. "I mean, I under-stand what you're saying. We can't let them continually ravage the town every full moon. But at the same time, there's got to be another alternative to just killing them."
"Like what?"
"Like ... an antidote. I mean, that town in England. The one the cheerleaders stayed at after their competition. If that's where the biting occurred, maybe the townspeople know some way to reverse the curse."
Teifert is silent for a moment, then he nods. "Very well, Rayne," he says. "If you'd like to go to England and find out if there is a cure, Slayer Inc. will support the move. After all, we have a month before the next transformation. But if you can't find anything on your travels, then we will be forced to proceed with our plan."
"Great!" I exclaim. "Thank you so much. You won't be sorry. I'll find the cure. We'll get them back to their old fur-free selves."
"I hope so, Rayne," Teifert says, wearily. "Because I'm not sure our town can take another night like last night."
Right. Once again it's all up to me, Rayne McDonald, to save the world.
How do I get myself into these things?
+++
After school, I head to the beach. I find Jareth there, wearing brightly colored Bermuda shorts and lying on a Corona beach towel. Oh, how cool. Not. I still can't believe my beautiful crea-ture of the night has suddenly become tackier than a bottle of Super Glue. But how do I tell him he's lost all sense of style and dignity? Especially when he looks so radiantly happy?
"Rayne!" he cries, scrambling up to greet me. I jump back to avoid being hugged by a six-foot sand monster. I mean, I'm happy to see him, but have you ever had sand in your un-derwear? It's so not worth the affection.
"Hey, Jareth," I say, opening my black umbrella and holding it over my head to avoid any late-afternoon rays. Some of us vampires still have standards.
He looks hurt at the hug rejection and I immediately feel bad. This is my boyfriend, the love of my life.
So why am I feeling so icky around him lately? Why can't I just be happy that he's happy? Why does he suddenly annoy me so much?
And the worse thing is, we're stuck together! Forever. This isn't like a regular BF/GF kind of thing where we can break up and never speak to one another again. Jareth gave up everything to be with me—to become my blood mate. And we are supposed to be together forever with no chance of a divorce! Scary. So very scary.
But whatever. I can't think of this now. Not when Oakridge High cheerleaders are chomping on football players. Relationship stuff can be figured out at a later date.
"So," I say, seating myself daintily on a beach chair, care-ful to avoid as much sand as possible. "I think I know where the cheerleaders became infected."
"Oh?" Jareth asks, plopping down on his towel, back to business as well. At least he's not so sunstroked that he can't concentrate on the task at hand. After all, he was once the guy who led a vampire army.
"Where is that?"
I tell him what Shantel told me, about the cheering com-petition in England, the small spooky village, and the bonfire in the woods they don't remember leaving.
He nods thoughtfully, grabbing handfuls of sand and streaming them through his long fingers. He does have very elegant hands. Though they're tanned now, instead of their former beautiful, pasty white.
"It makes sense," he says at last, "that there is some kind of pack over there. But why would they infect American cheerleaders?"
"Well, why not?"
"True Lycan packs are very much like vampires and live under the same kinds of rules. The packs have to remain small and unobtrusive. In fact, I believe usually the only way to become a Lycan is to be born one."
"So then why . . . ?" That's so weird. Why would a pack of Lycans want to infect a squad of cheerleaders, only to send them on their merry way?
Jareth shrugs. "I don't know. But we need to find out. And fast."
"Can we go to England? Check out the village and see what we can learn?" I remember how jealous I was when Sunny went to England last year to find the Holy Grail and turn herself back into a human. I can't help but be excited that now it's my turn.
Jareth strokes his chin. "Yes, I think that's a good idea. We'll stay the first night in our sister coven.
You'll get to meet some of the English vampires this way. And they should know where we can find the pack. I'll charter the coven plane for tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow night?" I scrunch up my face. "But we have practice—" I stop, realizing how dumb I sound.
I've only been a pseudocheerleader on assignment. Now that I've figured out the mystery, there's no reason to keep showing up in uniform.
Still, that said, the girls are depending on me. Cait's de-pending on me. And Shantel. Until they can get someone else, I'm an essential part of the pyramid.
"Jareth, let's go on Friday night instead," I propose. "I've got. . . things to do. And after all, we have until the next full moon to figure this out. There's plenty of time."
Jareth shrugs and agrees, luckily not asking why. 'Cause how embarrassing would it be to tell him the truth?
That I can't go on saving the world if it means neglecting my duties as a cheerleader.
11
The next day after school we have cheerleading practice. And let me tell you, it's more than a bit weird to chill with girls who you know have a habit of turning into wolves, devouring football players, and going house on your home-town each full moon. But since I know they can't remember all their extracurricular activities, I have to remind myself that in all actuality, I'm pretty darn safe.