Vampire Beach: Legacy by Duval Alex Read Free Book Online Page A

He strode down the crowded hallway, telling himself not to miss Sienna. This was what they had to do to keep the fact that they were still a couple a secret.
    He wasn’t going to do anything that might bring the Council down on her. He loved her too much.
     
    ‘5. UNDER PIER. LA COSTA BEACH ,’ Sienna texted him between first and second period.
    ‘ SWIM PRACTICE. SUX. SRRY .’ Jason texted back.
    ‘8. MOVIE ABOUT THE MATH GENIUS? NO 1 WE KNOW WILL SEE THAT ,’ he suggested in another text message between second and third.
    ‘ AUCTION FOR SOME WORTHY THING. PARENTS INSIST. SUX ,’ Sienna instantly answered.
    ‘ MDNGHT. FTBALL FIELD. BLEACHERS ???’ Jason offered in his next message as he got in the food line at lunch. Only Brad and two guys from the diving team separated him from Sienna. But Jason didn’t want to risk talking to her. Not on day one of Operation Secret Couple.
    ‘ IF CAUGHT SNEAKING IN, GROUNDED 4 LIFE ,’ Sienna answered by text.
    ‘ B4 SKOOL A.M. BAD DNUT PLACE? ’ Jason shot back.
    ‘ TOMORROW? BUT IT’S TOMORROW !’ Sienna replied. ‘ CANT W 8 THAT LONG .’
    Jason laughed and shook his head at his phone. Then he typed, ‘ SKIPPING SWIMMING. SEE U UNDER PIER .’
    Sienna glanced over her shoulder and smiled at him by way of reply.
     
    Jason checked his watch as he sat on the beach waiting for Sienna after school. He’d been waiting for more than an hour under the beat-up fishing pier. Had something gone wrong? Had her parents found out about their plans somehow? The vampire grapevine couldn’t be
that
good. Could it?
    Sienna’s usually late
, he reminded himself. She ran on girl time, the same way Dani and his Aunt Bianca did.
    He looked around and noted with satisfaction that under a half-rotten pier, in February, with the sun about to go down, was the perfect choice for an Operation Secret Couple meeting. Other than some fish and some seagulls, Jason seemed to be the only living creature for miles.
    He checked his watch again. Sienna was seriously late. Even on girl time.
    The sky looked as if it were on fire over to the west as the blazing red ball of the sun got ready to hit the water.
Sienna should be here to witness this
, Jason thought. It was one of the best sunsets he’d seen since he’d moved to Malibu.
    He pulled out his cell to text Sienna. Before he’d gotten two letters in, he heard a creaking sound above him.
    Jason froze.
    Rotten wood creaks
, he told himself. But he kept his body motionless, waiting for another sound.
    Creak!
    Footsteps
? Jason wondered.
Sienna
? But they’d agreed to meet under the pier, not on it.
    Jason slowly stretched out on his back. He stared up at the warped planks that made up the pier. Shafts of light filtered through each space between the planks. But with the next creak, some of that light was blocked.
    The creaks were definitely footsteps. Somebody was up on the pier. And it wasn’t Sienna.
    Jason felt his heart start to race. He’d been on the beach when Tamburo shot him with a crossbow bolt. On the beach, alone, at sunset. Just like now. And Adam thought there might be more hunters around. Was a vampire hunter up on the old pier now, looking for him? Or, worse,
looking for Sienna
?
    Jason flipped onto his stomach and combat-crawled down the beach toward the surf. When he got to the end of the pier, he put one foot in the V of a support beam and swung himself up to take a quick scan of the pier.
    Goatee guy from the speedboat was walking in his direction, looking about him as if searching for someone. He certainly didn’t seem to have Sienna. Jason ducked his head, determined to keep out of sight.
You’re in the perfect spot
, he told himself, wrapping both arms around the beam.
Even if he looks under the pier, he won’t see you unless he circles around and actually stands in the surf.
    Jason held his position until his arms ached and his legs started to cramp, then he allowed himself another quick look over the edge of the