Cryptic Cravings Read Free Page A

castle. Sebastian, however, was fidgety. Alexander’s best friend repeatedly pushed his dreadlocks away from his face, his many rings catching the candlelight. He didn’t see me; perhaps the glare from the light above them hid me or he was so deep in thought he wasn’t focused on anything else. He tapped his leg repeatedly, like a junkie waiting for a fix. I’d never seen him this frazzled.
    “We’l need to start tomorrow,” Jagger declared, “to get this thing up and running.”
    “So soon?” Sebastian asked.
    “What are we waiting for?” Jagger countered.
    Sebastian drummed his black-painted fingers on the table.
    But Jagger and Alexander now had a truce, and Jagger wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that—or would he?
    “The Coffin Club is a success,” Jagger said. “So there’s no reason not to start one here, too.”
    “This town isn’t fil ed with vampires,” Sebastian said. “Not like the other one, anyway.”
    “This town needs a place to dance,” Jagger said. “For everyone to come alive—at night.”
    Sebastian couldn’t argue with that. “I agree—there isn’t anything to do in this town.”
    “And then the vampires wil flock here. Like we did. Alexander, Luna and me, and now you. Mortals above and vampires below. The Coffin Club was a success and this one wil be, too. We are sitting on a gold mine here in this abandoned factory.”
    “The Coffin Club Two?” Sebastian said.
    “I already have a name for it: the Crypt.”
    “But are the preppy girls in this town going to want to hang out at a place cal ed the Crypt?”
    “I have ways to entice them besides the name alone,” he said in a creepy but sexy tone.
    “And vampires?” Sebastian asked skeptical y.
    “The mortals won’t even know they’re here. Besides, I have surprises planned for this club.”

    “What kinds of surprises?” Sebastian wondered.
    “If I told you, then they wouldn’t be surprises, would they? Besides, that’s weeks away. We have a club to build first.”
    “What about Alexander?” Sebastian asked.
    “He can be a partner, too. But I’m not sure if he’s the type to own a club. He’s very private.”
    “He is my best friend. I feel funny about this—without him being on board.”
    “Is your best friend, or was?” Jagger chal enged. “Wel , you’l have a place to stay here as long as you like.”
    Sebastian paused for a moment. He was the type that traveled constantly, his coffin covered with stickers from countries and cities around the world. It was something I could tel he was contemplating—a place to cal home.
    “But there is more of a vampire culture in bigger towns, am I right? Here it’s just Alexander. And let’s be clear. I think he likes it that way. I think we should respect that,” Sebastian said.
    Jagger cracked his knuckles, trying to mask his frustration.
    “He escaped everything,” Sebastian added. “Persecution from mortals and persecution from . . .”
    “My family?” Jagger sat up. “The irony, you mean. That he’d travel so far away from my family and ultimately we’d wind up settling here, too?”
    “You guys have a truce.”
    “I know. He helped my brother, Valentine. When Valentine was weakened and alone, Alexander cared for him and returned him to me. I’m not suggesting we restart that feud. But does that mean that what’s good for Alexander is good for us, too?” Jagger asked pointedly. “Do we have to live our lives around his? Besides, maybe a vampire club is just the thing he needs. He won’t be so alone on that hil with only a butler to attend to his needs.”
    “I’m just saying. I know he’s stil mad at me for what I did to Luna at his party. I know he thinks it jeopardized his existence here. And more of us coming to town—the kind that might be like me and act on impulse . . . it wouldn’t be good for any of us.”
    “You were just being you. Just being us.” Jagger leaned in. Even from far away, his blue and green eyes were