Elise looked around before finally taking a seat on one of the benches. She lay back along its hard length and padded the back of her head with her twined fingers, staring up at the moon through the crisscrossing branches above her head.
“Might as well get comfortable, daughter. One thing I know? Human teenagers don’t rise any sooner in the morning than they have to. One might think they were part vampire or something.” She was too weary to laugh at her own pun. Instead she lay back, listening as her daughter joined her. She hated the waiting; had never been good at it. But she knew enough of human activities to know they had some time ahead of them before anyone came to see them—if they did at all.
#
I parked my behind on one of the hard-backed chairs, tossing my books down in front of me and rifling through the outer pockets for my pens and pencils to take more notes. The scowl on my face should have warned anyone around me I was off limits in the social department. But then there was Nancy, who never seemed to recognize the wondrous qualities of shutting up.
“Hey Sadie, Last day! Wanna catch lunch after?”
I refrained from rolling my eyes or gnashing my teeth, both of which were tempting.
“Sleep. After, I wanna catch sleep. You, um… go on ahead of me, okay? I’ll catch you another time.” Like after break, maybe. Nancy was nice enough, but she wasn’t my people and I had enough trouble keeping track of them.
As it was, I was sore that ours was the only class still in session. It was our last day, but it was still two more days after the bloody weekend than anyone else had been required to attend. This Dragon Shifting business was work!
At the front of the room, Wendy Seul rolled into the room. I stared at her in surprise. Her normally neat appearance was missing. Her messy bun looked like a suitable haven for mice and her make-up had been applied with a heavy, or desperate hand. It failed to conceal the dark circles beneath her eyes. She looked like she’d been up all night running around in the woods. I concealed a snicker. Maybe she had been.
But it surprised me when she looked out at the fifteen of us that sat grumpily in our chairs, waiting impatiently for the last class to be over. Most of us had places to go and vacation to spend. Her eyes landed on me, bright blue and speculative. With a small grim smile, she crooked a finger in my direction.
My stomach flipped in panic. I’d failed the test and she wanted to tell me in private. That was it. Why else would she single me out like that? Dread pooling, I got up and walked to the front of the room. The rest of the class was still settling in as I bent way down over her wheelchair so I could hear what she had to say and nobody else could. Whatever she had to tell me was for my ears alone and nobody else’s.
She stared at my panicky expression and rolled her eyes with a grin. “Relax Cross, you passed—barely. You’ll need to up your game next session, though. Less late nights wandering around in the woods might help.”
I stared at her with one fine brow rising, taking in her mussed hair and the faint smell of small dog. Her eyes narrowed. “I need you to gather your things. I’m excusing you from class today. I was only planning to keep everyone long enough to pass out tests and go over them anyhow. There is somebody who is looking for you. I left them cooling their heels by the fire pit sometime last night.”
I stared at her in astonishment. “Who is it?” I thought was the obvious question.
Wendy Seul’s expression darkened further. “How the heck do I know? But they asked for you by name. That’s all I know.”
I wanted to growl. Instead, I had to ask. “So, how close is close? On the test.” She rolled her eyes and looked down to rifle through the pile of papers in her lap. She pulled mine free and handed it to me.
I took it from her and looked at the score at the top, circled in angry red. 91% was about as close to having to repeat the session as I was going to get. Oh man, she hadn’t been kidding.
“Go on now, you can pour over all the questions you missed and shouldn’t have if you’d been paying better attention later. I don’t know how long they’ll wait for you. It’s been a good handful of hours already.”
I looked up, my lips pursed, and nodded before turning to gather my things and pack them back up.
Nancy glanced at me in horror, eyes widening in panic. “They kick you out if you don’t pass?” She squeaked, eyes horrified.
I rolled mine so hard I was afraid they were going to end up staring at the inside back of my head. I waved the test at her. “No, I passed silly. I just have somewhere I have to go. I’ll see you, okay?”
She seemed to deflate into her seat with palpable relief. “Yeah, okay. Sure.”
#
I stared at Elise. One part of me was thrilled to see the crazy she vamp. Another part of me reeled with all the horrifying possibilities for why she was waiting for me on a bench in the woods in Drae Hallow when I distinctly remembered seeing the last of her silly backside in Wyndoor a year ago. None of the reasons I came up with were good and I wanted to groan. I was never going to catch a break.
Another figure, much smaller, sat up at my approach, staring at me in curiosity from the brightest green eyes I’d ever seen on either vampire or human.
Elise met my gaze with an unwavering one of her own. She’d lost weight, I realized, looking gaunt and scared, which alarmed me more than I cared to admit.
“Hello Elise. I’d say it’s great to see you, but we both know this isn’t a social call, is it?”
Elise shook her head, her eyes warming up with emotion. “No. It’s not. Never could fool you Sadie Cross.” She added dryly.
I nodded to the young girl who had yet to speak, though she smiled at me easily enough. “Who’s the girl?”
Elise started. “I forget. You aren’t familiar with Vampire genetics, are you? Remember, I told you that natural birth of vampire babies is rare? Well, the growth rate during the years leading up to puberty are off the charts fast compared to any other race. This is my daughter, Emerald.”
She nodded and spoke to her daughter, “And this is Sadie Cross.”
I stared in astonishment at the child, easily eight or nine—and just over a year old.
“Crikeys!” I managed.
“Momma told me stories about you Sadie, and your friends. More entertaining than any book for sure.” She added with an almost adult sense of humor.
My eyes narrowed on her childlike figure, fast approaching womanhood with her fall of brilliant copper hair and eyes that glittered with an odd green fire that bore watching. Something about her sent my radar pinging big time.
I returned my attention to Elise. “So, what do I owe the pleasure your company to this time. Please, whatever you do, tell me this has nothing to do with Will Bennett? I’m so sick of dealing with him.”
She gave a short, unamused laugh. “No. This is all me. Something has happened in Wyndoor at the castle…”
By the time she got done explaining the situation, my head was reeling and I could feel a headache coming on.
She finished with her flight to her grandfather’s home and the trip across the plains, avoiding the Juggat dragons. I had goosebumps just remembering all the wonders she described. I hated Juggat’s, the huge slobbering, fanged lizards from hell. I remembered Morei as well and shivered. I figured Dracula had nothing on him.
“Okay, that’s horrible. Every bit and I feel for you. Jorta was a great man…” I started. I didn’t have much good I could say about Ab’et.
“Is…” she corrected me stubbornly.
I didn’t respond. I figured the chances of both of them still being alive after everything she’d described to me was minimal.
“… but how does any of this affect me?” I offered, straddling a neighboring bench and parking my pack beside my feet.
Elise told me. “Something has to be causing the madness, the hysteria. We were a castle housing multiple families in at least a dozen apartment wings in that castle. Human and vampire workers worked side by side and we all go
t along and nobody tried to eat anybody, okay? It was civilized. And then, Poof! Overnight everyone turns on everyone else, the humans are running for their lives and the vampires are out of control and attacking everyone, including each other. There has to be a reason.”
I nodded, “True. But I still don’t see what that has to do with me. And why weren’t you and Emerald affected? That’s odd, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. We think so too. I’ve had some time to think on it. At first I thought someone might have poisoned the wine. But now that I’ve considered all the facts, I think it was the blood.”
I frowned. She still wasn’t making sense. “Okay… but don’t the two of you require blood too?” I’m sure she didn’t miss the sarcasm in my voice. Her family had tried to make us the dessert on more than one occasion.
Elise sighed. “Yes, that’s right. But for a vampire, blood type is like your food groups. Some humans are allergic to peanuts, right? Well, Emerald can only have AB-. It’s very rare. After I gave birth to her, my metabolism changed and anything else makes me sick as well. It would probably kill Emerald.
“I’m wondering if maybe someone poisoned the supply in the blood bank. Maybe they didn’t get to our case… I don’t know, maybe whoever it was was interrupted…”
I shrugged. She had a lot of ideas, but they were all based on speculation. “One more time, this is terrible, and affects me how?”
“You can tell us where to find Jerry Waverly to start. He’s a scientist, right? We are hoping he will help us find out if I’m right, and maybe if he can develop I don’t know… an antidote or something to reverse it?”
I waited for her to finish, one eyebrow cocked. I knew she wasn’t done.
“And… we, I, was hoping you might help us deliver it?”
I ground my teeth. Finally, she’d gotten to the part that involved me putting my neck in a noose and risking my life and the lives of my friends all over again. How was I not surprised?
“You have got to be kidding, right? When does it end? I’ve barely been in school for like a year and a half and so far I’ve dealt with energy sucking Macu, mangy Demon wolves, blood-sucking Vampires—sorry, the likes of Will Bennett, twice, and let’s not forget the Hunter’s Guild that have made it their lifelong goal to eradicate every Magical in existence because we might be dangerous. Have I left anything out? Probably.”
She blinked at my long tirade, but the fire in her eyes ramped up. “Yeah? I haven’t exactly been sitting around on my bum either, Sadie Cross. Don’t forget, you wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for our help. My grandfather…”
I hadn’t forgotten Morei for a moment. “… tried to eat me!” I finished, my dragon’s ire rising to the fore in the small bronze scales erupting along my arms and neck.
Emerald stared at them in fascination. “Wow, that is so cool!” she admitted. I shot her a less than kind glance she promptly ignored.
Elise stared at me, her face ablaze with rage and determination. I knew mine was no less heated. Her ire I could combat, but before my eyes hers suddenly welled and tears overflowed and ran down her cheeks as she looked away.
Leaving me to feel like a massive pile of crap for making her cry and being a great friend. Because despite our differences, we had been that once.
For the first time, Emerald spoke up, her mouth pulled down in a small moue of sadness. “What happens Sadie when they come through the portal and into Drae Hallow. Imagine a hundred starving vampires crazed with blood lust loose in the middle of this Valley.”
I stared at her. She might look like eight, but she sounded years beyond that.
I heaved a sigh that ended on a groan. “Dammit, do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a vacation that didn’t end in a war? I’m not making any promises, okay? But I can talk to Jerry Waverly for you. Tell him what you said.” I held up a hand when she looked like she was about to protest. “Listen, I think you should know, that judge that sentenced you is here in Bitterroot for some reason. I saw him the other day and he didn’t look happy. This is not a good place for you right now. If you think you have problems back in Wyndoor, imagine what will happen if he gets his hands on you?”
Elise’s teeth ground together audibly and she nodded, “I think we saw him too, on the way in on the steps of the Commons.”
I frowned in confusion. I hadn’t seen him anywhere near Rule 9 Academy.
“I don’t think it’s safe for you here. Can you meet me at the portal into Wyndoor by Bane lake tomorrow evening? That should give me enough time to have a talk with Jerry and see if he has any ideas? If he does, I’ll share them with you then.”
Elise considered. Emerald interrupted them.
“Momma, I think we should get great grandfather first. I think he’s in danger.”
I stared at the child. Mother and daughter exchanged a look I couldn’t decipher.
She nodded, “We’ll go get grandfather then and be back in time to meet you this side of Drae Hallow at the portal tomorrow evening. Thank you Sadie. I know this isn’t your fight. But it very well could be if we don’t do something to stop it.”
I stood and yanked my pack on, lips in a thin line. I didn’t like the fact that she might be right.
#
I was out of my mind for deciding to visit Nick first. We weren’t exactly on cozy speaking terms. He was still sore at me, and I didn’t apologize well. But somehow I couldn’t convince my feet to go straight south to Jerry Waverly’s new Cabin. Instead, I waited on a bench in the quaint little park in the middle of Bitterroot for him to arrive at an insane 7:45 in the morning. I’d sent him the text when I got up, almost hoping he wouldn’t answer or that he would refuse my request. I was wrong on both counts. I hadn’t told him what I wanted to talk to him about. No sense spoiling his appetite for the breakfast I’d missed.
Right on cue, my stomach growled and I grabbed a slightly outdated protein bar from the deep pockets of my hoodie. Bon Apetit.
I was three quarters of the way through and wishing I’d remembered a bottle of water when I saw him approaching along the sidewalk that lead down a side street to his family home.
He hadn’t combed his hair and it stuck up at sharp angles. His hands were thrust deep in the pockets of his worn jeans, making the lean muscles of his arms and shoulders pop out. Dark eyes studied me from afar and something in my stomach flipped sideways. I scowled in reaction. I hated how silly he made me feel. I was no idiotic schoolgirl with her first crush. At least I wasn’t going to admit to it.
When he reached me he nodded, mouth in a thin line. He didn’t bother to sit down.
“I’m going to presume there is a significant reason for you to wake me up at the crack of dawn and drag me out of a warm bed to, what did you say? Talk about things?”
The butterflies in my stomach threatened to erupt at the mention of his bed with him in it. I tamped the wayward thought down with a fierce scowl.
“If you were sleeping so well, how come you answered the text at all?” I asked, one fine brow raised in his direction. His dark expression threatened to explode. When would I learn?
“What… do… you… want?” he ground out, teeth grinding in frustration.
I stared at his angry face and rigid posture, and suddenly the hurt was back. I stood abruptly and turned away.
“Never mind. It was dumb and I was wrong. Go back to bed.” I moved away, desperate to hide the threat of stupid tears.
His hand snaked out and grabbed my arm and I froze, my heart slamming in my chest. So many emotions all at once I couldn’t separate them roiled through me. Being a teenager sucked.
I jerked my arm free and took a step back.
“Sadie, please.” I would have kept on going, but something in those two paltry words made me hesitate. I refused to meet his eyes, staring through the waterfall of my hair, grateful it hid my expression.
His hand brushed my arm once more, hesitated, and fell. “I don’t want to fight Sadie. Damn, I wish I knew why we we’
re so good at it.” He expelled a frustrated breath, the sound rattling in the air.
“Because I’m always right, and you don’t like to admit you’re wrong?” I whispered. I slapped my hand over my mouth as soon as I uttered the words. I was sure he wasn’t in the mood for my off the wall strange girl humor. But to my surprise, he chuckled.
“Cross, you drive me mad. And no, I’m sure that’s not it.” I risked a peek through the part in my hair.
He looked exhausted; I realized. And unhappy. I knew the look because too often of late I wore the same expression since our fight. And I was tired of biting everyone’s head off with my grumpy moods.
“I’m sorry I canceled our date. The party wasn’t much fun without you, but I passed the class.” I murmured.
His reply made my head snap up and my eyes flash.
“You should be, what were you thinking?” he asked, deadpan.
My wayward mouth was open to blast him all over again when I caught his eyes and realized he was teasing.
“Idiot,” I hissed.
“Look. I’m tired, I didn’t sleep much last night, I’m starving and I have money. Can we go have the rest of this conversation at Iliad’s? I want pancakes.”
As if it were listening, my stomach groaned in answer. His grin widened.
I nodded and reached down to grab my pack off the bench.
“Oh, and one other thing?”
I looked up at him in question as his head swooped down and one arm reached out and pulled me closer. His mouth was hard on mine for just a second as all the butterflies in my stomach took flight.
He stood back up and threaded our fingers and squeezed.
I gave him a bemused look. “Eew… morning breath.” But I was smiling. He rolled his eyes.
“I missed you, Cross.”
I thought I heard him whisper under his breath as he gave my hand a tug.
#
“Are you out of your ever loving mind?” he shouted, well into his third pancake and as many thick slices of bacon. The restaurant was crowded and at least half of them turned to glare at us.
Rule 9 Academy Series Boxset: Books 3-5 Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy (Rule 9 Academy Box Sets (3 Book Series) 2) Page 31