“That’s only half right,” he replied evenly. “You’re forgetting that they can choose to release the venom or not.”
“I didn’t forget. But she was bitten. Practically half of her shoulder was missing!”
“This is why they were confident she wasn’t poisoned. From what the doctors told me, she was bitten only the one place. Fewer bites implies feeding, not killing. It’s more painful, but it’s actually a good sign that their victim hasn’t been poisoned.”
“That wasn’t in the books.”
“No, it wasn’t. It’s something we’ve only recently discovered and it hasn’t been updated in the Demonology textbook yet. The books don’t cover everything; it’s impossible for them to. Our information on the hybrids is only as accurate as our resources—which, when it comes to hybrids, isn’t always complete. Hybrids are new and hard to figure out. In most cases, even though they’re created from two different demon species and share at least some similar attributes, sometimes they have new ones altogether. We’re still learning about them and, unfortunately, can only predict so much for so long before things change.”
With his hand on my arm, he guided me further away from the crowd. “When demons were first discovered, those who knew of them had many theories. Some were good, some were bad. Most were proven wrong. Hybrids are new species, Miss Hall. They’re as new to us as they are to the world. Take the vampire hybrids, for example. When we first discovered them, we initially believed they’d infect the same way. Until we discovered differently. We thought they’d be killed the same way. Until we tried and failed.”
I didn’t respond. What was the point? Nothing either of us said changed anything or made a difference. Celina was still dead.
Greene’s expression changed. It was still…kind of soft, but his eyes were harder now. “I understand why you came over here, and I know why you felt it was necessary to disobey the rules to do so, but I can’t overlook this. These rules are in place for a reason, and tonight’s activities are a perfect example of why. You could have been hurt, Miss Hall, or worse, killed. The demon could have escaped and gotten into the North Tower.”
“I know.”
Today was not going well. I’d fallen for a stupid prank—one I should have known better than to fall for in the first place—and almost gotten myself killed by the same demon that killed Celina. And now, to make it even worse, I was probably going to be expelled or kicked out—whatever happened here when Prospects were forced to leave.
He glanced down at me and shook his head. “You should be expelled—both of you. Go back to your room, Miss Hall.”
“Am I? Expelled, I mean.”
“I haven’t decided yet. We’ll discuss this tomorrow morning in my office. Be there at nine.”
When he pointed to the door, I started toward it, feeling like I was walking into a demon-infested cage where they were all waiting to chew me to pieces. I didn’t have a demon trying to kill me anymore, yet I felt worse.
“And Miss Hall?”
I turned back. “Yes?” And here comes the ‘have your bags ready’ speech. I knew I shouldn’t have bothered unpacking.
“Might I suggest avoiding Miss Fitzgerald for the rest of the evening?”
I wanted to say ‘duh’ but figured it wouldn’t be the best time to get smart, so I just nodded and kept walking. Outside, I passed a few agents. Some looked at me in surprise; others shook their head slowly, giving me stupid girl glances.
Well, whatever. I’d done bad things before and I’d been sent packing. It was no big deal. I’d adjust. What other choice was there? Been there, done that. I’d adjust and I’d be fine—
Shit!
Hunching over, I braced my hands on my thighs to keep from falling. My breath came out in quick, harsh gasps, and my eyes closed against burning tears.
This couldn’t be happening.
I could call it whatever I wanted and say it didn’t mean a thing to me—when I knew it shouldn’t—but it would be the biggest lie of all time. It did matter. I wanted to be here. Maybe I didn’t fit in with everyone, but I belonged here. Hadn’t Greene moved me forward for a reason? Wasn’t I catching up with my classes faster than my teachers expected? Didn’t that prove I belonged?
Could one moment of stupidity really ruin everything I’d been working for?
What would I do if I had to go back? It hadn’t even been a full month since I’d joined, but it might as well have been a year or a decade. Everything was different now. I had more freedom here than I’d had trapped in Mrs. Gill’s care. Sure, I was still behind someone else’s walls and following their rules, but it was different.
I was different.
I didn’t mind it here. My life was kind of mine again.
I can’t go back there. I just can’t. Not now. Now with what I knew. But if it did happen, I’d still find a way to hunt demons. Getting kicked out wouldn’t stop that; only delay it.
I forced my breathing to slow. In and out, Jade. Finally, after another few minutes, my heart was only knocking against my ribs and not trying to burst clean through. It was still kind of painful, but at least now it was manageable.
I straightened, took another deep breath, and then headed to my room even though it was the last place I wanted to be. Greene was already debating what to do with me because of broken rules—I wasn’t about to go anywhere else when he’d specifically told me to go back to my room.
My legs felt heavy. Each step was harder than the last and took more energy. I made it to my room a few minutes later and closed the door. I was exhausted yet wide-awake. I didn’t want to sleep though I knew I should. Tomorrow would either be a really good day (meaning I didn’t get kicked out), or a really bad one (because I did get kicked out). Either way, I probably needed rest.
I glanced at my bed, sighed. “Not happening,” I muttered under my breath, walking to my dresser instead where I pulled out my personal tablet—the one I’d bought on the New Orlando trip—from the bottom drawer.
If Greene kicked me out tomorrow, I doubted he’d let me keep the tablet with the Demon Database on it, so I needed to transfer my notes. I’d been studying demons for the last two weeks in Demonology, and then searching at night on the Demon Database when I got back to my room. I didn’t have a very extensive list, but I was keeping track of the ones I’d read about. None of them were the demon I was looking for, but I’d narrowed the field a little.
Tonight could be the last night I’d have the DDB at my fingertips and I was going to take advantage.
If I had to leave tomorrow, I was leaving with all the information I could hold.
CHAPTER 11
I woke the next morning, just after seven, with my heart pounding and my hair plastered to my face from sweat.
Last night, I kept falling asleep reading at my desk before I finally forced myself to bed after three. But every time I closed my eyes, I saw a faceless demon coming after me, and then saw my family in our old living room, covered in blood, just like I’d found them when they’d died.
Tears streamed down my cheeks and I scrubbed them away, viciously rubbing my face until it was dry.
Last night was the first time I’d had nightmares since I’d been here, something I’d just realized.
I hadn’t missed them.
Before I’d joined the CGE, I’d had them nearly every night. It was always the same theme. A faceless demon, my family, and me. Sometimes I was lying with them, on the ground, in a pool of blood, and sometimes I wasn’t. Sometimes I was stuck standing there, just staring at them, unable to move or help or scream.
I didn’t know crap about psychology or what dreams represented, but I had no doubt that the thought of leaving had played a part in the bad dreams.
“Ugh!” I half-shouted, pounding my fists on the bed. “Deal with it, Jade. You’ve been through worse. You can get through this.” Somehow. I had to.
I got out of bed and took a quick shower, hoping the water would help clear my head. It worked parti
ally.
Standing in the doorway of the bathroom, I glanced around the room. Everything was packed—I’d taken care of that in between reading, unwilling napping, and note taking. My personal tablet was folded up and in my back pocket. I didn’t know Greene’s kicking-out policy, but in case he was the type to have me escorted off the property with a ‘we’ll send you your stuff’ comment before I was kicked to the curb, I wanted to make sure I had everything I couldn’t live without actually on me. My notes couldn’t hurt anyone, but since he’d made a big deal about the general population not knowing about demons, I wasn’t sure he’d let me leave if he knew I had them.
A quick glimpse of the clock told me it was still too early for my meeting with Greene. And though I wasn’t hungry, I needed to kill time—outside of my room—so I went down to the café.
When I got there, as soon as I stepped inside, I spotted Felecia sitting in the back corner with two other girls and a guy. She saw me and glared, making her friends turn and do the same. Still taking Greene’s advice, I ignored her and stood in line for food I wasn’t entirely sure I could eat or really wanted.
I managed to force one piece of toast down and was busy pushing the eggs on my plate around when Linc sat down in front of me.
“Good morning.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Says who?”
He stole a piece of cold bacon off my plate. “What’s going on?”
“I’m about to get kicked out. I think.” I hadn’t told him. By the time I got back to my room, I’d been in planning stage and hadn’t wanted the company.
“What?”
I made a face.
“What the hell for?” When I didn’t answer immediately, he grabbed my hand. “Jade,” he said, his tone soft.
I felt my eyes heat. You are not going to cry. You’re not. I closed my eyes and kept them closed until I was sure I wouldn’t let loose with the water works, and then I reopened them. “Because I let Felecia pull a crazy prank on me,” I said, and then told him about last night, making sure I kept my tone low so Felecia and her gang didn’t overhear us.
By the time I got to the part about the demon escaping and Felecia all but leaving me there to be killed, his jaw was completely slack and his eyes were wide. He looked over his shoulder, shook his head. “I can’t believe that. Greene knew she was there?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but I didn’t tell him though. He said a guard overheard us talking. I didn’t mention the whole thing about her just leaving me there.”
“You should have kicked her ass, Jade.”
“I think we both pretty much kicked each other’s ass.”
He looked over his shoulder again, tilted his head to the side. “Well, she kind of looks like she had her ass kicked.” He nodded, as if he approved. “But you don’t.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You don’t have a bruise on you that I can see.”
“I don’t bruise easy, or for long if I do. Never have.”
He glanced in her direction again. “I still can’t believe she did that. I knew she was a little off, but damn. That’s just…”
“Wrong? Dirty? Murderous? Psychotic?”
“Pick your adjective. They all fit.”
I managed a small smile and then sighed as I looked at the wall clock. I still had twenty minutes, but I wanted to leave before Felecia. “I’m going to go. Better early than late, right?”
“Come find me when you’re done, okay? We’ll talk.”
“I will.”
When I reached for the tray, he grabbed it from me. “I’ve got this. Go on.”
“You just want the bacon,” I said, trying to force a smile.
He winked at me. “I do like bacon.”
“Thanks, Linc. I’ll see you around.” Maybe. Hopefully.
As much as I’d miss this place if the unthinkable happened, I’d miss him as much—if not more. He was probably the best friend I’d had since…well, ever.
I’d never had friends at the Pond. Mrs. Gill had home schooled us, so I hadn’t had school as an escape or a place to make friends. And at the house, I’d kept to myself to prevent getting into fights. It didn’t help a lot, not since the others really didn’t need a reason to start one with me. If I was quiet or even nice, they thought I was acting better than them or being passive-aggressive. If I made noise, then I was looking for trouble. It’d been a lose/lose situation all around.
I took one last look around the cafeteria and sent Linc another smile. The right side of his mouth lifted in his typical half-smirk.
Yeah, I’ll definitely miss him.
I blew out a breath and made my way to Greene’s office, which was down the hall from the café court.
The door was open so I took a quick peek in and then went inside. There was a woman sitting behind a desk. She didn’t look like Mrs. Barnes at all, but she was just as impeccably dressed. Spotting me, she nodded. “He’s expecting you, Miss Hall. Just go in.”
My stomach felt weird, like it had zombie-butterflies trying to eat away at my insides. “Thanks.”
I went in and started to say something before I realized he was on the phone. He held up a finger. “Miss Porter, I’ll have my assistant send over a team immediately. Someone should be there within thirty minutes.”
Since I’d never been inside it before, I took a quick glimpse around his office. His walls were a dark brown with beige trimming in the middle. He had bookshelves lining the entire right wall with actual books on them—the paper kind that no one had used in…well, before I was born. I couldn’t quite make out the titles, and though I was curious, I resisted the urge to get a better look. Today probably wasn’t the best day for snooping.
There were a few abstract paintings hanging. I didn’t know what—if anything—they were supposed to be. Art was lost on me. His desk was huge and, other than a computer, was clutter-free. There wasn’t even a picture of his family or anything. I hadn’t thought about him having—or not having—a family before. In fact, I’d never even considered where he lived. Did he stay here with the Prospects? Did he have a place somewhere else?
Is that really important now?
I gave myself a mental headshake and kept my eyes forward. Greene looked really director-ish behind his desk. Somehow, it was a complete one-eighty to how he seemed roaming the halls or when he’d picked me up from the Pond. He had that boss-like vibe and attitude down, but he’d never seemed so larger than life.
Or maybe he just seemed that way now because he held my future in his hands.
He replaced the phone and then pressed a button. “Mrs. Matthews, I need a team deployed to Sam Porter's location immediately. She should be sending over her GPS coordinates now.”
The receptionists’ voice rang through. “Yes, sir. I’ll see to it as soon as I have the information.”
“Thank you.” He pressed the button again and then sat straight up. “Good morning, Miss Hall.”
I hope it’s going to be one. “Morning,” I said, trying to force some semblance of cheerfulness to my tone. I failed. Miserably.
“Take a seat.”
Nope. Not going to be a good morning. Telling me to take a seat was like the equivalent of the we-need-to-talk conversation starter, which never ended well. “Okay,” I said, doing as I was told.
“Is Miss Fitzgerald waiting outside?”
“I don’t think so. She was still in the cafeteria when I left.”
“Very well.” He leaned forward. “Tell me, Miss Hall, why do you want to be here?”
“You know why.”
“I do, but I would still like to hear it from you.”
Didn’t he know by now that I actually hated talking? Especially when it mattered, when there was something important on the line. He was just giving me an opportunity to babble and bury myself even deeper, if that were possible.
I sighed. “Because I want the demon that killed my family.”
“Is that the only reason?” When I hesitated, he s
hook his head. “Now isn’t the time to hold things back, Miss Hall. If you have any other reason, I’d like to hear it.”
“I don’t want what happened to my family to happen to anyone else’s family.”
“You want to stop the demons? All of them?”
“If that’s what it takes, yes. I was doing this before you came along.”
“Yes, you were. But if I’m not mistaken, you had yet to find a single demon.”
“I would have.”
“I’m sure you would have tried.”
My eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t have tried. I would have. And I could do it easier now. I know what to look for—I didn’t before.”
“I see.” He leaned back again, looking unimpressed.
For some reason, it pissed me off. I jumped to my feet. “Those things took my family. They killed Celina.”
“Yes, they did. A woman you had no connection to. A woman who, until that day, you didn’t even know existed.”
“It doesn’t change anything. I met her. I knew her. And even if I didn’t, I know she didn’t deserve that death. No one does.”
“No, I suppose they don’t.”
“You brought me here. You proved that demons existed and that you could find them. I can’t just go back now and pretend I don’t know what I do. I can’t sit by and do nothing.”
“And if you leave today?”
My stomach plummeted but I kept my head held high. “Then I’ll do what you were going to help me with. I’ll find the demon that took my family, with or without your help. Without or without CGE training. It’ll take longer, but I’m not giving up.” And I wouldn’t.
“I believe you.”
I shook my head. “I messed up. I get that. I’ll take the responsibility for it because I should’ve known better than to believe her.”
“And if you could do it over, would you do the same thing?”
“I—” I knew what I should say. I knew what he wanted to hear, but I wasn’t going to lie. “Probably. I still would have wanted to find out something about Celina, and if I didn’t have the information, I still would have sought it out.”
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