Jenny caught her first glimpse of the girl at school the next day. She knew it was her the moment she saw her. She didn't need Mari there to confirm it. She could tell by the way she walked, the way she looked. The girl was definitely a vampire. She didn't walk, she glided. She was beautiful, inhumanly beautiful. Jenny felt the urge to whip out her knife and go after her right then and there. She felt insulted. This . . . creature was invading her territory. Her skin crawled.
No, she told herself. That's not the assignment. She tailed the girl to her next class, ironically, European Lore. The class where they taught humans that vampires weren't real. She probably got a kick out of that. Jenny hurried to her class and spent the hour wondering what had brought the vampire here. What were her reasons? Were there more of them?
Jenny looked for Mari after class, but she was nowhere to be found, so she decided to approach the girl alone. She found her in an upstairs hallway, stuffing books into a locker. Jenny was again struck by how beautiful she was. Long, shiny black hair fell in soft curls down her back. Her skin was smooth and unblemished, creamy. She exuded exotic appeal. Jenny noticed no guys had passed her yet without glancing at her, doing a double take, and looking back at her again. Jenny felt a twinge of jealousy. She wished she had the looks to make guys take a second look at her. Most guys walked past her without even one glance. The girl paid no attention to her surroundings. She shut her locker door and stood. Jenny knew she had to act now.
She took a deep breath and walked up to the girl, pasting a friendly smile on her face. The girl noticed her coming and looked at her. Jenny blinked when she made eye contact. The girl's eyes were a pale, icy blue with a ring of violet around the outside, very strange looking. Combined with her black hair, the girl looked positively out-of-this-world. Some vampires still managed to look fairly human, but this girl . . . nothing about her was human at all. Jenny understood why Mari thought she was Lamia, a naturally born vampire. Made vampires just didn't have that much of a supernatural aura. Jenny wondered for the first time if the girl was a Redfern, descended directly from Hunter himself. If she was, they were in for some trouble. Jenny gaped at the girl, completely blowing her cover of ease.
The girl nodded as if she understood. "I know. They're very strange, aren't they?" she asked, gesturing to her eyes. "Everybody is surprised the first time they see them. It's okay, I'm used to it." She smiled and stuck out her hand. "I'm Ashton Silverwind."
Jenny bit her lip, and grabbed Ashton's hand, praying the girl couldn't sense the real reason she was uneasy. She had never shaken hands with a vampire before, not without using it to throw them to the ground. "I'm Jenny. Jenny Carlson."
They shook hands and stood staring at each other. Ashton finally cleared her throat, "Well, it was nice meeting you, but I should get to lunch." She gave Jenny an odd look, then turned to leave. Jenny kicked herself mentally. Come on, girl. Get a grip on yourself.
"Um, wait!" she called after her. Ashton turned and waited for Jenny to catch up. "I'm sorry, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to eat with me and my friends, seeing as how you're new and all." What was she doing? Inviting a vampire to lunch? Great idea. The Executioners would love it.
Ashton smiled, showing perfect white teeth. Teeth, Jenny knew, that included canines that grew to a few inches longer than normal. "Sure. I'd like that."
Jenny smiled wanly, and they walked to the cafeteria together. Raina and Mari sat at the usual table. Carl normally didn't eat with them and Gunther had tutoring during the lunch hour. Michael usually ate with them, but Jenny didn't know where he was at the moment.
Raina's eyes looked about ready to pop out of her head when she saw who Jenny was bringing to the table. Jenny smiled triumphantly and said, "Guys, this is Ashton Silverwind. She's new here."
Mari took the cue and stood up, reaching her hand out to Ashton. "Hi Ashton. I'm Mari. Nice to meet you." Ashton smiled and sat next to Jenny, across from Raina.
Raina narrowed her eyes at Ashton, looking her up and down.
"Ashton Silverwind. That's a very . . . unusual . . . name." Lamia names usually were based on nature, and therefore were often different from normal human names.
Jenny flashed warning looks at Raina. What was she trying to do? Ruin everything before it even began? She looked at Ashton, alarmed.
Ashton didn't appear to notice anything out of the ordinary. She shrugged. "It's just my name. I got it from my parents."
Raina didn't give up. "But Ashton? Where on Earth did they get that from?"
"It's very simple really. When my mom was growing up, she idolized her cousin Ash. When she had me, she named me Ashton as sort of a tribute to him."
That answered Jenny's question. Ashton did have Redfern blood in her, if fairly diluted. And that made her a dangerous opponent. Jenny hoped Ashton wasn't close to Hunter Redfern, the original lamia. His line of vampires had always been the strongest, and Hunter, along with the council, basically ran the Night World. He was not known for his kindness. If Ashton was kin to Hunter, The Executioners were asking for big trouble. At the same time, it thrilled Jenny's blood to think of the possibilities Ashton opened up for them. Instead of mostly made vampires, The Executioners might actually be able to get at some Redferns. Now that would be a blessing on humanity. The less Redferns in the world, the better.
Jenny had heard of Ash, the cousin Ashton had been speaking about. She knew she was talking about Ash Redfern, one of Hunter's favorite right-hand men. Although, lately, Jenny had been hearing rumors about Ash and a human girl. Something about them being soulmates. Jenny didn't believe in soulmates, but she did believe something had happened to Ash, for he hadn't caused any real trouble for the humans recently. Maybe he was dead. That was probably asking for too much.
Raina apparently had been having the same thoughts as Jenny, because she suddenly backed off. "Isn't that sweet?" she muttered, then turned to her lunch.
Jenny attempted to make eye contact with Mari, trying to transmit her thoughts to the other girl. Mari was slightly wide-eyed, staring at Ashton. Jenny cleared her throat and Mari looked at her, her normal expression coming back. Jenny gave her a look, and turned back to Ashton, who didn't look like she noticed the sudden awed silence from the group.
"Don't worry about Raina," she said softly to the vampire. "She's not always that friendly to girls she considers rivals."
Ashton nodded, not seeming worried about it at all. "That's okay. I understand. I try not to let first impressions rule how I view people."
Jenny couldn't help thinking that this vampire had more character than a lot of humans she knew. The thought surprised her. She didn't think she'd ever have anything good to say about any vampire.
Michael suddenly appeared. He sat next to Raina, waving hello to everyone. His hair was wet, Jenny noticed, as well as the shoulders of his shirt. She wondered where he'd been. Then he saw Ashton. Jenny had been about to introduce him, but paused when she saw him staring at Ashton. Ashton smiled at him, looking very interested.
Michael raised an eyebrow. "Why, hello. And who might you be?"
Jenny thought her heart was going to break. Couldn't he see that she was a vampire? A very beautiful vampire at that. Jenny's self-esteem took a nosedive.
"Ashton, this is Michael Scherer. Michael, Ashton Silverwind," she found herself saying in a flat, emotionless voice. Michael nodded at Ashton, then turned questioning eyes to Jenny.
"Is this, ah, the new girl I, ah, heard about?"
Jenny nodded. "She just got here from . . ." She stopped and looked at Ashton for the answer.
"Las Vegas," Ashton supplied, flashing another smile at Michael. He smiled back, but noticeably less enthusiastically, Jenny noted with a flash of triumph.
"She was named after her cousin Ash, before you ask," Jenny told Michael deliberately, meeting his eyes. His eyes widened slightly to show he understood.
"What made you come here?" Mari asked, leaning around Jenny to look at Ashton.
Ashton paused, her smile fading. "Family problems," she said shortly, shrugging her shoulders. She obviously wasn't going to elaborate any. Jenny raised an eyebrow at Mari. Problems with the fam? What kinds of problems? Las Vegas was pretty far away, probably close to 1500 miles. They must have been pretty bad problems. Jenny wondered if it had anything to do with the Redfern side of her family. After all, Hunter was a strict, "all humans are vermin" leader, and Las Vegas was the location of Lord Thierry's mansion. Thierry Descouedres was an elder in the Night World, one of the ancient leaders, and also the suspected leader of Circle Daybreak, a secret society that believed certain humans should be told about the Night World. Many Night World members and their so-called human "soulmates" belonged. If Ashton's family was somehow involved with Circle Daybreak, Hunter would not be happy about it. Jenny glanced at Michael and knew he was thinking on the same lines.
"Are you here alone?" Raina asked, leaning forward, a vicious smile on her face.
Good question, Jenny thought, but she wasn't about to say it aloud, especially not to Raina.
Another pause. "Um, no," Ashton said slowly, as if trying to decide how much to tell. "I'm staying with my grandfather." She looked distinctly uncomfortable now.
Jenny stepped in before they pressed Ashton too hard. They didn't want to clue her in to the real reasons they wanted to know. She changed the subject. "Michael, why are you all wet?"
He shrugged. "It's raining outside." He didn't offer the reason why he had been outside in the first place.
***********
After that, lunch went uneventfully. Raina went off on the arm of a bulky football player, tossing her hair and swaying her hips seductively. She sent a triumphant look at Jenny before she went. Jenny kept a bored expression on her face to show she didn't give a care.
When the bell rang, Jenny said goodbye to Ashton and walked to her next class with Mari. Keeping their heads close and speaking in low voices, they discussed the new assignment.
"So what did you think?" Jenny asked.
"I think there's definitely more going on than meets the eye."
"Me too. Did you catch that thing about Ash Redfern? That girl has got to have Redfern blood in her!"
Mari nodded. "I wonder how close her family is to the Redferns. Must be pretty close if her mom named her after Ash. Do you think the family trouble she was talking about might have something to do with Hunter Redfern?"
"I don't know. I think it's worth finding out." Jenny leaned against the wall next to her classroom, thinking. "What are you doing after school?"
Mari shrugged. "Nothing, I don't think. Why?"
"Because I'm going to follow her and find out where she lives. Did you want to come?"
"Sure!" Mari frowned. "No, wait a minute. I forgot. I have a doctor's appointment after school." She stuck out her tongue in distaste. "My mom thinks I have an unhealthy pallor about me."
Jenny laughed. "You look the same as you always do to me!"
Mari shook her head and sighed. "I know. I do. But my mom hasn't seen me for a month, so to her, I'm sick."
"When is she leaving again?" Jenny asked. Mari's mother was a Japanese translator for a big law firm in South Bend. She was always being sent out of the country, leaving Mari with her elderly grandmother, a nice old lady, but sometimes a few cards short of a full deck. This was to Mari's advantage when she needed the privacy to be able to carry out gang orders, but Jenny often felt a little sorry for her. She knew Mari adored her mother and sometimes wished she could see her more often.
"She's leaving on Friday. She'll be gone for three weeks." Today was Tuesday. Mari had three days to visit with her mother. She sighed again and picked up the book bag she had set on the floor next to her. "I better get to class before I'm late. Be careful this afternoon, okay?" She looked sternly at Jenny.
Jenny nodded. "Yes mother." Then she grinned. "I promise I'll try not to kill anyone tonight."
Mari shook her head and walked down the hall.