After discovering the TV had been parentally locked, the computer password changed and all the electronics missing, I ate my cereal on the porch. At least there, I’d feel not so cooped up.
“Whatcha doing?”
I jumped in my skin and swiveled around. All I could see was Phil’s blue-eyes peeping through a knothole in the gate. “Aren’t you going to let me in?”
“Holy crap. You freaking scared me.”
Though I was still in my jammies, at least I had the smarts to put a bra on. Walking over to the gate, I flicked the latch open. In our prior life, Phil could just fly wherever he wanted to go. Now, though he could roam freely in the sunlight, he was grounded, so to say.
Of all things, I thanked God my dad wasn’t still in the undercover paranormal spy business, or Phil’s arrival would be another blemish on my tarnished record.
“What are you doing here?”
He stood in a crisp white T-shirt and jeans with his flip-flops on. Nothing short of adorable.
“Here to check on you. You totally went dark on us and Sam was worried.”
Sam. Knowing her parents, they felt sorry for her and let her off easy.
I returned to my chair and pulled my feet up, hugging my legs.
“I’m grounded from the world with a chore list a mile long, thank you very much. Only working item in the house besides the vacuum cleaner is the house phone, and I’m sure my parents are tapping it. Like it would do me any good anyway. I don’t know anyone’s phone number by heart.” The tech age left me useless without my contact list.
Phil’s lips perked up. “You don’t know mine, Parker? I’m hurt.”
“Now why would I know that?”
He winked and gracefully took the seat on the opposite side of the fire pit. Then I remembered I was supposed to be mad at him for putting me in this mess. “Why are you here anyway? Haven’t you done enough?”
Phil held up his hands. “Parker. Brewster is totally blowing this out of proportion and you know it. It’s not like I’m enjoying this. My mom cancelled my surfing trip.”
“Oh. Poor baby.” I chuckled evilly. The fact my parents were about to force me to break up with Nicholas if I couldn’t find a way to redeem him in their eyes was way worse, but I wasn’t about to tell him about that. “Let me play my violin for you.”
“Forget about that. I have a plan.”
I pinched my eyes shut, like I didn’t want to hear it. Then the reality he’d just picked up where we’d left off shocked me. No lecture. No hurt feelings. Instantly, I popped my eyes open to give him some respect for that. “Okay, what?”
“Katie called Sam and asked about you. We all figured you were taking the heat a lot worse than the rest of us, so she felt bad. Apparently, she let the cat out of the bag and told Sam that there’s a party at Cain—”
“You can’t call him Cain,” I interrupted.
“Fine, Cruor. Mooer. Loser, whatever. He’s throwing a party at his house this weekend since the class lost by two donors. I guess he’s got some pretty swanky digs off Highway 1.”
My mouth opened. “Really?” The fact we had totally ruined the class’s chance of not having to take the final hit harder than Mr. Cruor’s house. The retaliation would suck when we returned on Monday.
“Yeah, well. I think we should go find out what’s happening.”
“Crash the party?” I pushed out a breath and shook my head. “Uh, no. What part of dead-grounded-never-leaving-the-house-again in-trouble don’t you understand? I’m not going anywhere until I’m at least thirty.”
Phil tsked. “What? I don’t get to see your sexy catsuit? I mean I know you loved to ride D’Elia Air, but my Audi works pretty well.”
His insinuation made my stomach tingle. Yeah, I knew he meant being a passenger while he flew me around, but I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering. “Having your powers would have helped sneak me out, but then again, that life only ended in disaster, so… go have fun. Send me your report by owl.”
“You’re so cute when you’re angry.”
“Cute? Really? After making out in the parking lot with my best friend, you’re going to come over here and flirt with me.”
“Don’t judge me. You’re the one who acted like nothing had happened, except when it came to you and Nick. What did you expect me to do?”
I sighed. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be mean. I was just…”
“I get it. Boy toy’s back. We don’t exactly get along. It’s not like we could suddenly be the Fab Six. Where is he anyway?”
I hugged my arms tighter around myself. “He went home and now I don’t know what’s going on. So… I don’t have any way to talk to him.”
“I see.”
“So, awkward would be a great description of what happened. I felt it best not to say anything. I was afraid I’d jinx it or something. You don’t know what it was like to see everyone I love die.”
Phil stood up and took a seat next to me. He put his arm over my shoulder and squeezed. “Parker. I get it. It’s okay.”
I leaned into him. It felt good to have everything out in the open and to have him in my corner. Actually, the irony he was in my corner when Nicholas was missing stung once again.
“You need to stop admitting how much you love me,” he snuck in.
I elbowed him in the side. “Brat.”
“Now there’s the Parker I know and adore.”
I felt my cheeks heat, and I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for checking on me.”
Part of me wanted to ask him to fill Nicholas in on what had happened, but then I feared how that would look, and worried what Phil would say. Considering I’d broken our pact not to let Phil know we knew, a message from him wouldn’t go over well. Hopefully, Nicholas would just show up at school so he could hear I was suspended.
“So, about this weekend…” Phil started.
“My parents will be here, remember, so have fun.”
“I know. Don’t worry. I’ll find a way to spring ya.” He popped off the bench and headed toward the gate. “Just be ready for me.”
I gritted my teeth. “Phil, don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t,” he said with a wink.
Before I could say anything about the fact my bedroom wasn’t the master anymore, he was gone.
“Oh, crap.”
CHAPTER TEN
Saturday came and I’d cleaned every inch of the house from top to bottom, hoping to at least get my phone back for good behavior. Nicholas had to be at the point of complete rage at my unreturned calls, texts, and emails. The small fact he hadn’t shown up at my door told me he wasn’t in town yet. I could only assume the worst had happened in Texas, which made me sick all the more.
“Anna?” Dad called in a rush as he entered the house through the front door.
I slid into the hall bathroom, afraid his tone meant he’d found out something else to be mad about. I shut the door and gripped the knob, waiting for the bad news.
“In here,” Mom called from the kitchen.
I pressed my ear to the thin door.
“You’re home early. Get the project finished in time?” Mom’s sudden worry elevated my fears.
“Yeah, we did. Where’s Julia?”
“She’s upstairs, I think. Do you need her?”
“No.” Dad hesitated, and I held my breath. “You know I work with Jim D’Elia, right? He’s the father of the boy who was suspended with Julia. Phil.”
Oh dear lord. At the mention of Phil’s name, his plan to kidnap me tonight so we could spy on the party came to mind and my fear skyrocketed. Please, please, please… don’t tell her that Phil was going to sneak me out.
“Yes.” Mom’s tone changed to a serious monotone. “I’m sure he and his wife are just as frustrated as we are.”
“Yeah, well, funny thing. We were talking today and it came up that he and Beverly feel horrible their son got Julia in so much trouble. They also think the punishment was a little harsh, considering it
was a blood drive. He’s actually petitioning the school board for an investigation and with his pull, I’m sure he’ll be able to reverse the situation.”
“Really?” Hope filtered into Mom’s voice and I held my breath.
“Anyway, how would you feel about going to D’Angelo’s for dinner tonight?”
Mom burst out laughing. “You’re joking right? Our reservation isn’t for months.”
“No joke.” I could hear a smile in Dad’s voice and let my breath loose. “Looks like the D’Elia’s know more than just a few higher ups at the Department of Education and they’ve invited us to join them tonight.”
Her silence spoke volumes. When D’Angelo’s opened a few months ago, my parents had placed their reservation right away and still had three months left to wait.
After a few giggles and kissing noises, I assumed the answer was yes and took the cue to leave. No need to listen to their gross make-out fest. The irony Phil promised to create a diversion snuck into my thoughts as I left the bathroom. How did he put his parents up to this?
“What about Julia?” Mom asked breathlessly, freezing me in place in the hall.
“What about her?”
“She’ll be home alone since Rachel will be at a slumber party.”
“And she’ll have to prove she can be trusted,” Dad said with conviction.
Quietly, I tiptoed up the stairs and slipped into my room, my heart pounding. More than anything, I wanted to earn their trust back. No matter what Phil had done to lure my parents away, there was no way I’d be leaving my house tonight. No way!
~|~
After a stern lecture and a promise my parents would call me on the house phone sometime tonight, Mom and Dad strode into the night dressed in their finest. Thankfully, they’d unlocked the TV so I wouldn’t be completely bored out of my mind. Dimming the lights, I snuggled on the couch in my pink poodle pajamas. Dirty Dancing was on and I planned to devour my Chocolate Chunk Brownie ice cream and enjoy every minute of it.
The rapping knuckles on the door shortly thereafter startled me, and I lowered the volume of the TV and held my breath. Then with the thought Nicholas might be here, I popped off the couch. Why hadn’t I’d worn something cuter and done my hair? I tried to rub out the drizzle of chocolate on my shirt before I looked through the peephole.
Phil stood on the other side and leaned forward toward me. My hopes deflated.
“I see your eye,” he said. “Open up.”
“No,” I called through the door. “Go away.”
“Come on. We’re wasting time.”
“I said go away!”
“Open the door, Parker.”
Worried, Mrs. Walters, our neighbor, would hear us arguing, I finally opened the door. Sam peered at me from the passenger seat of the car, slunk low with her dark sweatshirt hood over her head.
He eyed me up and down. “You’re not ready.”
“I’m not going.”
“Why not?”
“Because my parents will be calling to check up on me, and you don’t need me to go with you… so there.”
Phil pushed past me and strode to the phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen. He took the receiver off the cradle and pulled on the stretchy cord. “Wow. This is totally old school.”
“What are you doing?”
He listened to the receiver, then pressed in a few numbers before hanging up.
Sam appeared at the doorway. “What gives?”
I sighed and shook my head. “You guys need to leave. I’m going to be so busted if my nosy neighbor sees you.”
“Get dressed,” Phil demanded.
“No!” I crossed my arms.
“Look, Jules. You need to come with us—” Sam started.
“No, I’m in enough trouble as it is. I’m not going.”
“I think you’ll want to go.” Sam dipped her head to the side, her eyes apologetic. “Nicholas is at the party.”
The floor to my stomach gave way. “What?”
“Yeah. Katie texted me. He’s there and he wants to know why you’re not.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
After a quick check to make sure our house phone truly forwarded to Phil’s cell, I changed clothes and asked Phil to move his car around the corner, away from Mrs. Walter’s inquiring eyes.
Sneaking through our backyard and around my neighbors trellis, I popped out on the other side unseen.
Dusting off the tree dander, I piled into the backseat. Phil took off before I’d a chance to buckle my seatbelt. When we returned, I didn’t think I’d have the same luck, forced to use the front door. For now, all I cared about was finding out why Nicholas hadn’t come to check up on me.
At the red light, Phil flicked a quick look over his shoulder and gave me a once over. He smirked. I wore jeans and a dark jacket. There was no way I would indulge his catsuit fantasy, not now, not ever.
“It’s green,” I barked before he could make a snippy comment.
Staring out the window, I peeled the paint off my nails.
“What have you been up to the past few days?” Sam slithered around in the front seat to look at me.
I let out a huff. “Trying to get out of solitary confinement so my parents will give me my phone back.” I turned to Phil. “What’s this I hear about your parents petitioning the board?”
Phil straightened. “My dad pulled some strings. Cain will get the bad news on Monday when we stroll in, untouched.”
“It’s Cruor,” I mumbled under my breath, “and I doubt we’ll be untouched. This whole thing will explode once finals get here.”
“Not really.” She turned around and pulled a face. “Mr. Cruor caved. All those who gave get a free pass on the final.”
“What?” I laughed. “Typical.”
“So…” Sam started, “you haven’t talked to Nicholas this whole time?”
“How could I?” I said, exasperated. “My parents took everything away and I’m so lame in that I don’t even known his cell number by heart.”
“Do you think he gave blood?” she asked.
“I hope not.”
“Then how come he’s at the party?”
I clenched my fists. “That’s a good question.”
If after everything, he gave Mr. Cruor his blood, I don’t know what I’d do. The memory of the ex-vamps lining the wall in the RV lurched into my mind once again. My best guess was Cruor had been collecting everyone’s blood. For what, I had no idea. If he was looking for ex-vamp blood, he’d need Phil’s and Sam’s. Taking mine didn’t make sense, considering I was the Seer and my blood had been poisonous to him.
Phil took off down Highway 1 and then slowed once we reached the address. In the distance, a mansion loomed on the cliff face. The driveway was blocked by two huge iron gates.
“How are we getting in?” I asked, tempted to remind him he couldn’t fly.
“We break in.” Phil pulled the car past the driveway and parked along the side of the road with all the other cars. “These people all found a way in.”
“Geez. It’s like the entire school is here,” Sam said, shocked.
“Does Katie know we’re coming?” I asked.
“No.” Phil parked and turned off his lights. “I Google mapped the place. If we walk along the property line, I’m pretty sure we can come up from the cliff side and sneak in through the back.”
“Cliff side?” I suddenly felt woozy. Heights and I had issues.
“Don’t worry, Parker. It’s cool.”
Cool? How could falling be cool?
The three of us stepped out into the chilly night air, and I wrapped my arms tightly around myself. Phil encased Sam’s hand with his, and I tried not to let it bother me that I was the third wheel. Finding Nicholas and getting back before my parents came home was the plan.
Salt clung to my face and cheeks as we traversed down the rocky path adjacent to Mr. Cruor’s enormous iron fence covered in vines. Beyond, we could barely see his palatial estate. “It seems a
little overkill.”
“He’s definitely ready for the zombie apocalypse,” Sam said with a chuckle.
When the three of us couldn’t walk side by side anymore, I slipped behind them. Their shadows from the moon light hid the path, and I stumbled. The music and chatter of whatever shindig Cruor was hosting grew louder with each step. Then a large vehicle covered by a tarp came into view.
“That’s the RV,” I whispered.
“How do you know?” Sam asked over her shoulder.
I pointed to the sideboards where the bottom of the red lettering that read, “Love To Give Blood,” peeked out. More than anything, I wanted to sneak inside and see the wall to confirm what I saw the other day. If it weren’t for the darn fence, I would have.
Phil noticed I’d stopped and motioned we keep going. Around the bend, a side yard came into view. Beautifully manicured trees and bushes filled in the space. Just beyond the corner of the house, bright lights poured into the night sky as the music boomed from some unseen spot. The bushes, too thick to see through, blocked our view.
“We have to go there.” Phil pointed to the cliff edge and my stomach tightened.
My feet halted in their spot. Phil and Sam walked to the edge like it was nothing. Then they squatted down and jumped out of sight.
I lurched forward, worried they’d fallen, then watched their disembodied heads reappear and move left. Gathering my courage, I walked to the edge. Just below was a rock ledge that jutted out from the cliff—a very tiny rock ledge.
Lightheaded, I shifted backward and sat down. I couldn’t do it. To my left, though, I could see half of the backyard. Everything was bathed in red light, from the lights in the pool, to all the ambient lighting on the trees. Tall, lanky women dressed in white shirts and short black skirts served hors d’oeuvres on trays to the students flocking them. Katie sat on one of the many couches scattered around the perimeter, cozying up to Tyler.
I slunk lower when three students walked toward me, all holding glasses filled with red liquid. I gagged. Was it blood?
Blood Wars: Book 4 (The Talisman Series) Page 5