Book of Revenge by Abra Ebner

place, and could only assume— hope —I knew where we were going.
    Jake started the car by pressing a button on the dash, no key needed.
    “How did you do that?” I gushed.
    Jake winked and leaned back, revealing a button that had a key symbol on it. “Magick.”
    A sharp breath escaped my lips. “Whatever.”
    I would not be lying by saying that this car didn’t suit Jake’s stereotype, because it didn’t. The windows were tinted as dark as was legally allowed, the leather plush and black. Guns and Roses played on his radio, sophistication and class oozing from every fiber of aluminum. I always imagined him driving a mini-van, the cloth seats torn and books crowding the back seats—this was no van, and this was not the Jake Santé I thought I knew.
    Jake smiled. “Wouldn’t be caught dead in a mini-van.”
    I snorted, forgetting he could read my thoughts as much as I could read his, of which there was nothing. “How do you hide your thoughts like that?”
    “Hide my thoughts? It’s not that hard.” He reached across my lap.
    I froze. “What are you doing?” I demanded, scrambling to push myself as far against the seat as possible.
    Jake smirked, his mind opening up and releasing as a series of rude images that flooded my mind. He clicked open the glove box. “Getting this.” He pulled out a plastic container that was shaped like a half circle.
    “You didn’t have to lean so far into me,” I challenged. He knew just what to do to get a rise out of me.
    Jake shrugged and winked. “Gotta get it where I can.”
    My mouth fell open. This was definitely not the Jake Santé I’d known since I was little. No more shyness, nerdiness, or even clumsiness—not by a long shot. What was going on? What had made him suddenly, normal?
    Jake popped open the blue plastic box—it was empty.
    “There’s nothing in it,” I stated the obvious.
    Jake looked sideways at me, opening his mouth as he reached for his braces. He gave them a tug and they slid right off, revealing a row of perfect, white and—
    “What the… Hell?”
    “Hell doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Jake commented quickly.
    “I… What…” I couldn’t finish my thought, staring— gawking —at the obvious.
    “Cool, huh?” His voice was sharper now, unhindered by the— whatever it was —that had previously crowded his mouth.
    Jake placed the fake set of braces and teeth into the box and clicked it shut. Smiling wide, he revealed the telltale indicator of what he was. Was it some sort of animal?
    “Those things hide what I am, at least part of it.” He removed his glasses then, throwing them in the cup holder. Lifting his brow as he looked at me, I saw that his eyes, which were once a calm green, where now as reflective as newly, minted coins. “That’s better.”
    My mouth was still hanging open, watching as Jake became better and better looking by the second—and yes, that thought was impossible not to have.
    Jake smiled smugly. “I never thought I’d hear you think that.” He rolled his eyes.
    My lips still refused to move as a million images flooded my mind. “What are you?”
    Jake laughed coolly to himself. “I’m a part of the Phyllostomidae family of mammals, descendants of the Desmodus Rotundus.”
    I really wanted to know what the heck he was saying, but I didn’t. “What?”
    He held me in suspense, relishing my confusion. “In other words, Emily, I’m a vampire.” He said it with trepidation and annoyance, picking fun at the fact that they’d become so bourgeoisie. “But not the kind of vampires you think of.” He chuckled. “Artistic types…” He murmured. “They have it all wrong.” He shook his head.
    “Wrong?” I chimed.
    Jake backed out of his parking spot. The movement startled me, forcing my gaze away from him. Watching the road move below us, my hands clenched the seat. If I was going to bail, this was my chance, but then again, did I really want to?
    I looked between the road outside and