Third Strike by Heather Brewer Read Free Book Online

get all defensive in the name of Vlad and vampires everywhere. It wasn’t a conversation that Joss wanted to have at all. But especially not one he wanted to have on no sleep and hardly any caffeine.
    Henry nodded. “I’m in.”
    â€œBut . . .” But. Joss needed a but. Because Henry couldn’t go with him. How was he supposed to investigate a potential crime by vampire with his girl-crazy cousin hanging around? He scrambled for something—anything—to keep Henry from tagging along. “You haven’t had breakfast.”
    Henry slipped his Converse on and tied the laces before meeting Joss’s eyes. “Dude, ice cream
is
breakfast.”
    â€œHow ya figure?” Desperation gave way to panic. He wasn’t certain how Henry would react if they got attacked by a vampire. He only knew that it wouldn’t be good. For either of them.
    â€œTwo words. Bacon. Sundae. Let’s go.” Henry opened the back door and gestured for Joss to go first. As Joss did, still trying to think of some way to get Henry to remain behind, Henry lowered his voice so that neither of Joss’s parents would hear. “Besides . . . there’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight after what you did to my best friend.”
    An image crept into Joss’s mind without his permission. That of blood pouring out onto Joss’s palms. Vlad’s blood. He blinked it away and met his cousin’s gaze with a stern jaw. “What you don’t know about that is that I saved him. I saved Vlad’s life.”
    Henry grabbed Joss’s shirt collar and yanked him closer. His face was flushing red, and Joss could tell by the way his chest was rising and falling that it was taking every ounce of his cousin’s self-control not to strangle him right then and there. Not that Joss blamed him. Not really.
    Henry’s grip tightened on Joss’s shirt until his knuckles turned white. His words were more than a whisper, but just less than a growl. “You
stabbed him
through the heart with a hunk of
wood
.”
    If it had been anyone besides Henry, Joss would have removed their grip and taught them a good lesson on why they shouldn’t invade someone’s personal space like that. But this was Henry. They were more like brothers than cousins. And even though it had torn them apart for Henry to learn Joss’s darkest secret, he was relieved that Henry had found out. At least that lie wasn’t standing between them anymore. At least, in that sense, anyway, Joss was free. Before he could summon an excuse in his mind, the truth came pouring out of him in whispers, like the rambling of a madman. “I moved it. The stake. I moved it. At the last minute. To the side. So he’d survive. I had to stake him. The Society would have . . . they would have done horrible things if I didn’t. But I was willing to make it look like I missed by accident, Henry. Because it’s Vlad. He was my friend, too.”
    Henry winced at the word “friend.” His eyes looked furious, but his grip released slightly. And in that moment, Joss saw hope. Hope that maybe someday, somehow, he could make his cousin understand. Maybe they could be friends again. If Henry didn’t kill him first, of course.
    Henry released him, shoving him back a little with a grunt. “You tried to kill him, Joss. Nothing can change that.”
    â€œI
had
to try. It’s my
job
to try. It’s my
duty
to try.” Joss made certain that Henry met his eyes then. He waited for his cousin to look at him, so that Henry could see the absolute sincerity in his gaze. When that moment came, he said, “But I didn’t succeed, and I didn’t succeed on purpose. He lived, Henry. Vlad lived. Because of me.”
    The corner of Henry’s mouth twitched. It was the only response he gave.
    Joss stepped forward, brushing by Henry on his way out the door. Just as he’d