"That explains why it's called the Wilderness Club."
He laughed. "I should let you get back to finding your friend. I'll see you on Monday. Let me know if you need any help getting out of your other class."
"Will do," I said and walked away. Something was going on with that teacher, and I was glad that I was going to be his TA so that I could more easily dig a little deeper.
I ran through the woods, still searching for Amanda. I was able to cover a mile around the perimeter of the party in a short amount of time and I couldn't find any sign of her. I went back to the main area again. Clara and Amanda were sitting by the campfire talking as if nothing was wrong.
I marched up to them. "Having a nice time?"
"Are you okay?" Amanda asked.
"I was going to ask you the same question. I've been all over these woods looking for you, worried sick. What happened?"
"I hit it off with Mark and we went to his car because I was cold. I didn't mean to worry you. I saw you go off with Tanner so I thought that you were busy yourself."
I frowned. "I wasn't that busy. We were just making s'mores with the other football players." I glared at Clara. "Were you too busy to give me a text to let me know that she was safe? You knew that I was looking for her."
"Sorry. I figured that you'd be back soon, which you were. She's only been back about five minutes."
"Are you ready to go? I sure am."
SEVEN
I was in Mr. Foley's classroom grading algebra quizzes. We hadn't mentioned our meeting in the woods the other night, it was all business. Grading was easy; I didn't even need the answer sheet. It was like grading papers for kindergartners. It was nice to have a break from all of my honors classes.
The intercom behind him buzzed and someone told him that he needed to go to the office.
"I shouldn't be gone long, do you have any questions about those quizzes?" he asked.
"No, they're easy," I replied without looking up.
Shortly after he left, I heard a buzzing sound from his desk. I ignored it at first, but it kept going. Curiosity got the best of me, especially since I was on a mission to find out what he was hiding. I looked around, ran to his desk and saw his cell sitting out in plain sight. It showed four new texts. I wondered what could be so important.
I went back to grading the quizzes and it buzzed again. I jumped up and looked at the phone. It showed the message: need 2 meet w/ u asap - somethings really wrong. Then it started blinking: Five new messages. I heard some footsteps and returned to my seat before I heard the next step.
He came back into the room. "How's the grading?"
"Easy. I can't believe high schoolers have such a hard time with this stuff."
"Not everyone has the brainpower that you do," he said with a smile.
"I'm not trying to be mean. I really just can't believe that kids my age have a hard time with such basic concepts."
"Like I said, not everyone has your gifts."
I raised an eyebrow. "It's not a gift. The other honors kids are way beyond this too."
"You're way beyond even the honors students," he said, and then added quickly, "from what I hear."
I shrugged my shoulders. "My dad wanted to put me in a school for the gifted, but my mom didn't want my sister to feel bad."
"I'm sure that you would have been at the top of the school there, had you been given that opportunity."
"How is that you know so much about me?" I asked, putting my pen down.
"People talk," he said, looking me in the eyes. "They seem to like to talk about you a lot because you're so different from everyone else."
"Story of my life." I sighed. "Although it does seem to be working in my favor now. Before, I was just a smart nerd to make fun of, but now that I'm in fashion, suddenly everyone likes me. Even the honors kids almost like me."
"The honors kids didn't like you before, either?"
I shook my head. "No. I'm the one who kills the curve every time."
He nodded knowingly. "Even popularity has its disadvantages because people get jealous, especially when you start encroaching on their territory."
"Are you referring to Emma and Hailey?"
"I heard about that before I started working here. You were all over the news when you were kidnapped. They went over every detail of your life, trying to figure out what might have happened to you."
"I guess people just like to talk."
"And everyone loves a good mystery."
I looked at him; it was strange that we were talking like equals. I also had the feeling that he knew more about me than he was leading on. How was that even possible? He was very much alive, but it was possible that he talked with vampires. Samantha was proof that vampires could use humans to get to me.
There could be others and I needed to be careful because now that I had beaten Vince Moretti, it was no longer a secret that the Sonnast was alive and well. I knew very little about common vampires or what they were capable of.
"I should get back to grading these for you," I said and got back to work. His phone buzzed again and he picked it up. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him scrolling through the messages.
"Why can't they handle this stuff on their own?" he muttered, quiet enough that if I was a human, I would never have heard him. He may as well have been talking right to me, because that's how clearly I heard him. "I know I'm their leader, but they should be able deal with some of this on their own." He slammed his phone on his desk.
"Is that from your Wilderness Club?" I asked.
He didn't look surprised that I'd heard him. "Yes. I'm teaching them to be leaders, but they don't act like they want to be. I have to hold their hands all the time."
The bell rang and I handed him the stack of quizzes. "I didn't get these finished yet. Do you want me to come back after school?"
He looked as though he wanted to say yes. "No, just finish them tomorrow. Go to your CSI club today. The quizzes can wait."
"Okay, see you tomorrow," I said. I grabbed my backpack and I walked out into the hall. How did he know that I was in the CSI club? Things were not adding up and I wanted answers. I would have to think of ways to dig for more information. I was so deep in thought that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.
I bumped into someone.
"Hey! Watch where you're—" Hailey's face went white when she saw me and her bad attitude dropped.
"Sorry," I said. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
She looked shocked that I had said that. She must have been expecting me to throw her against a wall or something. "Uh, okay. See you around." She turned around and ran quickly down the hall. I was impressed at her speed for a human. If she and Emma were afraid of me, I was glad for at least one less thing to worry about at school.
On my way to my next class, I stopped cold because I felt Francine's heavy presence again. I clenched my fists. Why was the highly powerful vampire spending so much time in a high school? As I kept walking, the presence became stronger until I could hear her talking with the same boy as before.
The door to the study room they were in was cracked open and I stood a few feet away.
"Am I going to have to find someone else to work with, Wes?" Francine demanded.
"N-no. Just give me a little more time, please. We've got our big night coming up. I'll get him alone and talk to him. I'll convince him of the importance of joining forces with you."
"Why should I trust you? I've given you more than enough time. I should take you out right now."
"Don't do that! Give me another chance. I think he's starting to warm up to the idea."
"Look, boy, I don't have time to wait on you. Either you can do the job or you can't. It won't be long before she's back at the castle. I'm told it'll be this summer. We need the war to be over before then."
My eyes narrowed. She wanted to have a war, and finish it, before I could even spend the summer with my parents!
"Okay, I know.
Don't hurt my family. I've been talking to Toby and I can see he's softening to the idea. It's going to take a little more time. Especially since he wants peace so much. I can see in his eyes that he's starting to understand it might not be possible. He can't deny there's a reason for the increase of our kind."
What was his kind?
"You have until a week after your upcoming meeting. If you haven't convinced Toby by then I'm going to start rolling out the consequences. This is your last warning. I'll see you then."
I ran to my next class before they had the chance to exit the room.
***
That afternoon, Cliff and I were studying again. He was telling me about the rules of conduct for vampire royalty. I was amazed at how much was expected.
"Why so many rules?"
"It keeps everyone in line. Or it's supposed to; there are those who don't care about the rules."
"Like Samantha?"
"No, not like them. Your uncle's line was removed, so they're basically common vampires with royal blood."
"Could they revolt and take over the castle? He's the first son in the line of Alrekur Vidarsson."
"Technically, your uncle could try to fight it. He's still so head over heels in love with his wife that he'd rather live with her forever rather than be king. His daughters are half-bloods, so they have no right to the throne."
"That's not what Samantha said when I traded places with you before the battle with the Moretti's. She told me that she was the destined to marry you and rule the kingdom."
He laughed. "I knew that she was delusional, but now there is no room for doubt. Only full-bloods in the line of the Fyrsturae can be on the throne. Her mother is a common vampire, so she's out of luck. You can't believe anything she says. She's a master manipulator and she knows that you don't have all of the knowledge of how things work yet."
"But she thought that she was talking to you, not me. Why would she say that to you?"
"She was probably trying to get me to doubt. She's so desperate to be on the throne, she'll try anything. Why do you think she was involved with the plot to hand you over to the Moretti's? She knows you're the rightful heir."
"Here's another question for you: if vampires are supposed to live forever, or at least for many centuries, then why are we even in training for the throne? Our parents are 800 years old and have at least as many that they'll be reigning for, right?"
"Hopefully, yes, they'll be around for at least another thousand years. It's always good to have someone in line that is ready to take over. Maybe they'll become sick or they'll choose to retire."
"They can retire from the throne?"
"Of course. Being on the throne is a lot of work. You already know how much they travel. They get very little rest and at some point they're going to want to enjoy life. That's when we'll step up."
"What about your parents? Aren't they next in line?"
"Sort of, but not really. They're more of a second in command. If there was no one else to take over then they would, but it's not their place. Their place is to be second because they're in the line of Halldor. They'd still be second, if your parents stepped down and another couple took over."
"Then why am I not supposed to marry someone from the first line?"
He gave me a half smile. "I'm not good enough for you now?"
I laughed. "You know it's not like that. I'm only trying to understand how everything works. It's not at all like anything that I'm familiar with from the human world. Obviously, there have been a lot of monarchies in human history, but this is different from the ones that I've studied."
"I know that it takes some time to understand how it all works. If there were another unmarried, direct descendant in your line, then he would be the one who you would marry. What matters most is that those on the throne are directly descended from the Fyrsturae. Everyone on the throne to this point has been from the first line. I will actually be the first king from the second line—the line of Halldor."
"Really? That must be why your parents are so eager to make sure that you reach the throne. Speaking of which," I said, stopping myself from saying the witch, "did you speak to your mother about the visit that she paid me?"
"I kept my word and visited her that night. She won't be bothering you again; she knows that if she does anything like that again, she'll face some serious consequences."
"Were you really able to talk to her like that? She was so concerned about being respected."
"We both know that she was in the wrong to go to you in secret like that. I didn't have to say much beyond the fact that this one indiscretion would be kept silent. Beyond that, the silence will be broken. If she comes to you in secret again, you must let me know right away."
"Trust me, I will. She has been back to Delphic Cove since then, only it hasn't been me she's been visiting."
His pupils shrank as small as they could and he furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? Who has she been visiting?"
"She's been going to school and talking with some kid named Wes."
"Who's Wes—and why has she been talking to him? And how do you know about it?" he demanded, eyes flashing red.
"I don't know who Wes is. I've just happened to overhear her talking to him. I can feel her presence like a thick cloud. You're probably used to it and wouldn't notice it."
"What has she been discussing with him?"
I narrowed my eyes. "They're planning a war. Today she said she wanted it over before I visit my parents this summer."
"What?" he exclaimed. "Are you sure?"
"I heard her with my own two ears. She wants my family off the throne."
"This is unbelievable! I've got to do something about this. I can't believe she's trying to plan a war against the king, queen and you!"
"We'll have to find a way to get to the bottom of this. But don't let it ruin our time together. It's not like they're going to start the war today. She's mad at Wes because he hasn't gotten his leader on board yet."
He sighed. "I suppose you're right. We need to be careful, I can't act rash and expect anything good to come of it."
I put my hand on his arm. "Exactly. So, when do I get to learn more about the Fyrsturae? There were nine of them and I know nothing about any of them, except for the names of the first two. What were they like? How did they discover all of their abilities? How did the throne get set up? When did the—?"
He laughed. "Slow down. We'll get to all of that, I promise. I'm glad you're so interested, it'll make it fun to teach you."
"How could I not be interested? This is hidden history of the world, and it's our history. I know that there are fascinating stories of strength, victory, backstabbing, and more. I can just feel it. It's like staying up too late to read a story that you can't put down, only this isn't just a story."
He hugged me and kissed the top of my head. "I love you."
***
Amanda and I were sitting outside, eating our lunches at school. She was wearing a thick coat, but still shivering. "I don't see how you can wear that light jacket and not be freezing."
"I like the cold," I lied.
She shook her head. "I can't believe how much has changed over the last few months. Before homecoming, Emma was part of our group and we were all invisible. Now, you two are both popular and hate each other. You had no interest in boys, and now you have your own love triangle. And my parents are getting divorced." She sighed.
"How are you doing with that, by the way?"
"I did like you said and I started telling them that I won't get in the middle of their arguments. They kept trying for a couple of days, but then they saw that I wouldn't play their games and have backed off a little. My dad's supposed to be moving out today, so when I get home he won't be there and I have no idea what stuff he's taking with him."
"At least that's less stress for you. You shouldn't be in the middle of their fights. Don't back down; I'm sure that they'll try to pull you back in."
My phone buzzed. I picke
d it up and saw that I had a new text message from a blocked number: I'm still watching you.
"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Amanda said.
"I just got a weird text. I think it's a wrong number."
"What does it say?"
I deleted it. "Nothing. So, whatever happened with that guy from the party?"
She blushed. "I've been seeing Mark every night. It might be more difficult with my dad out of the house now. With the two of them fighting, sneaking out has been easy."
"I'm glad you met him! You definitely need something good in your life. He's good to you, right?"
She nodded. "I can talk to him and he listens. He's also very good at distracting me from my problems."
"I saw a piece of that at the party."
She giggled.
"Why aren't you spending your lunch with him? What are you doing with me?"
"He goes to the other school. Why aren't you with one of your guys?"
"I only have one guy. Cliff's my boyfriend and Tanner's my friend, although I don't think that Tanner is going to give up that easily. He seems pretty convinced that he can win me over."
"Who would have guessed that you would have the two hottest guys in school fighting for you and that I would have a boyfriend too?"
"Get some contacts and you might just find yourself popular!" I winked and shoved her slightly.
She rolled her eyes.
"But be careful what you ask for. Popularity isn't all that it's cracked up to be."
"You don't have to tell me. I never realized it before, but after watching everything that you've been through, I see it."
"Let's get together with our guys. I'd like to meet Mark. We should set up dinner with them."
"That would be awesome! I'd love any excuse to spend time with him! Let's make it tonight."
***
"This place is sweet," Mark said. "I've never been here before."
"We came here for my birthday," I told him.
Amanda smiled at me. I'd heard her thoughts and she'd almost told him that we'd been here for homecoming, but didn't want to tell him because she had been with a different guy.
The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5 Page 42