Lycan Blood (Alex Vane: Demon Stalker #1)

Lying is an Art Form

Both of us spent the ten minutes or so it took Jacey to get there trying to make the place more presentable. Scott had left a couple of his weapons lying around which I had to quickly hide, while he disposed of the evidence from the last few days of junk food binging. And of course, I was also trying to think of a reasonable excuse for all this at the same time. The most important thing was making sure there was nothing which suggested I’d been staying here. Maybe then I could pretend that the break in had only just happened and I’d gone to Scott for help. Then again, if that were the case then why wouldn’t I call the police? And would Jacey be offended I hadn’t gone to her?

“This is it,” I moaned, the panic starting to kick in, “I’m going to have to tell her everything, aren’t I?”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Scott scooped up plates, throwing them into the sink like Frisbees. Amazingly, none of them broke.

“Of course I don’t!” I snapped, “But it’s not like I have much of a choice right now.”

“Hey, calm down!” He held up his hands in mock surrender, “Look, it can’t be that difficult to explain this. Just lie to her.”

“Oh sure, it’s that easy. Let’s see...we have a flat that’s been broken into and a dead fox. Nope, nothing fishy about either of those things!” I was borderline hysterical and I knew it, but I couldn’t bring myself to calm down. The thought of Jacey learning the truth was terrifying. The worst case scenario, she’d think was crazy and I’d lose the only person left in the world who I could trust. The best case scenario, she believed me which would put her right in the firing line of future attacks. Either way, no more Jacey. No more endless chatter and playful teasing and nagging about my choice of clothes. It didn’t bear thinking about.

“Alex!” Scott said my name so sharply that it snapped me out of it, “Relax. You can explain this. We just need to think of something.” He sounded so sure of himself that I was almost convinced he was right. Maybe everything would be okay. Maybe-

The doorbell rang.

“Oh god.”

“Act normal!” He hissed, going to open the door. He pulled at his clothes a little uneasily before he did so, the same way he had before we’d entered Sarah’s house. I took a deep breath. Act normal, right. Because that was so easy for me.

“Oh my god Alex!” Jacey was like a whirlwind. The second the door opened she rushed right through it, embracing me in a crushing hug. She was panting slightly like she’d ran all the way here. Knowing Jacey, it was a possibility.

“Hi Jacey,” I said lamely, waiting patiently for a few minutes before trying to pry her off me. She was like a limpet when she got into these moods, “Erm, how are you?” It was a stupid question at the best of times. Right now it was quite possibly the worst thing I could have said.

“’How am I? HOW AM I?’ How do you think I am Alex? First of all I find out that someone else has been found dead in the woods and then I go over to my best friend’s flat only to find something out of a horror movie!” I was wrong before-I’d been nowhere near hysterical. This was hysterical. My stomach churned with guilt. I should have been able to protect Jacey from this kind of stuff. The fact it had happened may not have been my fault, but it was certainly my fault that she’d been dragged into it.

Those wide eyes were staring up at me, demanding an answer. My brain refused to cooperate.

Come on, think of something. Anything! Anything that doesn’t involve demons or werewolves or Scott being your new roommate…

“So,” I began, completely winging it, “You saw my apartment then.”

“Yes! I saw the door kicked down and a freaking dead fox right there on your table! What’s going on? There was blood everywhere.” She started to retch and for one awful moment I thought she was going to throw up on Scott’s carpet. That would have been the perfect end to the perfect day. Thankfully she managed to stop herself, though her pale complexion suggested it took quite the effort.