Fangs for Freaks (Book 2: Half-blood vampire series)

Chapter Ten

Once outside, I realized that although I’d swiped Thomas’s keys, I wasn’t about to steal his car. I was awfully tempted though so I dumped the keys in his mail slot and walked down the street. After I was far enough away from his building, I pulled out my cell phone and debated who to call.

Piper was out of town and it was way too late to call my parents. I scrolled down the list of numbers and thought that I should really get a car or something. I paused over Carl’s number and after much debate, hit the speed dial. Carl would pick me up with very little questioning. Because he was extremely professional or really didn’t want to know, I wasn’t sure. I just knew I could count on him and that’s what I needed right now. Someone I could count on.

Carl arrived in twenty minutes. His gray Saab perfectly accented his dark good looks. It’s a shame he and Piper didn’t go out again after Homecoming, though they seemed quite fond of each other. Dating a vampire was so complicated.

His tinted window rolled down as he pulled up to the curb and said, “Someone call for a pickup from this address?”

I smirked at him and climbed into the car. He might not ask questions but he would make wisecracks the whole way home. At the moment, it was a small price to pay for a lift.

We’d made it safely onto the freeway before he asked, “So, how are you holding up?”

I snorted, my arms crossed as I kept my eyes glued to the side window, as though engrossed in the view.

“O-kay, then,” he murmured and we drove the rest of the way in silence.

Once we arrived at Psi Phi House, I felt bad about how I was treating Carl. After all, it wasn’t his fault that his partner was an arrogant know-it-all and he had gone out of his way to pick me up. When he parked the car I thanked him for coming to get me.

“Is there something I should know about?” he asked in a concerned way. All of a sudden I needed Carl’s take on the situation. I mean, he was here and Tina still died. Did that mean Thomas thought he was incompetent as well? I highly doubted that because he trusted Carl with everything, including Psi Phi House. It was only me that Thomas thought was a bumbling idiot.

“Do you think we could have done something to save Tina, to keep her from dying?”

“Colby, don’t beat yourself up about this. Sometimes good people die. You of all people should know that. If we knew something…”

“But we did know,” I interrupted. “We knew there was a spy somewhere and we didn’t stop Tina from being killed.”

“Knowing there was a spy who told other vampires where you were going is not the same thing as knowing one of the girls in the house was going to commit murder.”

Carl was absolutely right. We didn’t know that. No one knew that or Tina might still be here. Thomas wouldn’t have done anything differently with the same information we had. It wasn’t my fault Tina died because I left Thomas in California.

He was such a friggin’ control freak (and I should know ’cause I was Type A as well) that he’d assumed he could have saved Tina had he just been there. Nothing like piling a little pressure on one’s self. And Thomas thought I had issues. Hello?! That was certainly the pot calling the kettle black.

“Thanks, Carl, you’ve really helped me clarify some things.”

Carl looked more confused than ever. “Glad I could help. Mind telling me how I enlightened your evening?”

“By making me realize I’m not perfect—” He raised an eyebrow at my declaration. “—and neither is anyone else.”

My explanation did nothing to alleviate the confused look on his face. I added, “You know, if Piper decides to stay in England you can totally have her job as my best friend.”