The smirk melted off Tyler's face. "Sorry, Professor. I wasn't thinking."
"I remember you as doing a relatively good job of keeping yourself in check last year. I'm going to assume that summer made you forget, and so today, I will settle for you apologizing."
I could see a muscle tick in Tyler's jaw. His mean gaze cut to mine. "Sorry."
I considered telling the guy that he should be apologizing to Charlie, but I had a feeling that forcing Tyler to apologize to the scrawny freshman would only cause the kid a world of trouble.
"Forget about it," I told the younger guy. In my three types of bullies theory, I was guessing that this kid was the type of bully who'd bring a knife to a fistfight, except this guy would bring a bazooka.
Dispelling disbelief was by far the hardest part of zipping. Professor Sharp told us to forget our usual speed capabilities, direct our energy where we wanted to go, balance and center ourselves, and then simply let our bodies take over.
When Professor Sharp came around to me, I whispered, “Should I be doing the same steps?”
She nodded sharply. “According to headquarters, you should be able to keep up with the class and surpass us all. You should have all the same powers and several more.”
Why did Elites and I have such similar powers? It felt like the answer to that question was essential, but before I made up my mind to ask, Professor Sharp blurred away from me and appeared on the other side of the amphitheater.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Wednesday flew by. It was like time was slipping past me, time where Justin was missing, time that I had to prepare for this hunt. Unless some mystical dhampir power woke in me as soon as the vampire attacked me, I didn’t have the strength and ability to kill a vampire that was tied up, bound, and gagged, let alone one who was actively attacking me.
Mitch and I kept each other’s silent company all day, two ghosts only going through the motions of being alive. Every single one of my teachers seemed to want to pull me aside after class to give me a piece of advice. My Supernatural Anatomy teacher, Professor Hamilton, a large man with short-cropped gray hair and a weatherworn face, even said in a harsh, breathy whisper, “I don’t know if anyone has told you, but hunters have won before by stabbing the vampire in the back while the vampire is distracted with another hunter. Do you know where the heart is from the back?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” I told the teacher as I backed toward the door. I regretted not having the professor tell me later in the day when I realized that I might need to pull a sleazy move like that to win.
The problem was that I didn’t even want to think about hunting a vampire like sport. The concept was anathema to my mind just as much as the idea of saving human victims rang true to who I was.
The moment I arrived at my internship, Sebastian Holter greeted me with, “As punishment for you attacking me, I pulled all of your mother’s security away for the night. She got lucky. There were no attempts on her life. It was the first time in a week that’s been true. I reinstated her security … for now.”
I didn’t say a word to Sebastian as I ran through his exercises. Every time he baited me, I responded with absolute silence and obedience. When it was time to leave, I yanked the door open and walked out.
“What does your brother have to blackmail you with?” I asked Mitch as we pulled into the Academy lot.
When he didn’t answer, I turned fully to the guy I couldn’t quite hate anymore, but I couldn’t fully respect either.
He worked his jaw back and forth. “Alderwood Reformatory.”
“And what’s Alderwood Reformatory?”
“It’s where they send the supernaturals. If headquarters arrests or kills parents, they send their kids to Alderwood. It’s run halfway like a prison and half like a military base. It’s not a good place to be a sab—even an Elite. You basically walk in with a target on your back, and the supernaturals have a whole range of ways to torture and murder you without getting caught.”
“Vampires?”
“No. Vampires they kill. It’s witches, werewolves, half-demons, fae, and shit like that. I spent a week there. My parents wanted to scare me onto the straight and narrow.”
“You’re on the straight and narrow now?” I asked.
“They don’t care about my grades or how much I party. They care if I obey them, and I do.” His hands squeezed around the steering wheel. “Out there, the Hawthorn Group doesn’t care if the herd thins itself out, and it does. The death rate is about once a month or so, and my parents could give a fuck if I was buried out behind Alderwood.”
“That’s hard to believe,” I said, his parents seemed like horrible human beings, but he was their son. I couldn’t even fathom anyone so reprehensible that they wouldn’t care if their kid was dead or alive.
“I’m useful to the family, or I’m not.” His hand hit the radio, and the sound of a fiddle filled the car. The drums and singing came in, and Mitch turned the dial up so loud that it was clear our conversation was over.
Unexpectedly, I had an urge to pat Mitch on the shoulder or offer him my hand, like I would do if Zack or Lucas had told me something similar. I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be welcome though. And when I really thought about it, Mitch was saying that he was going to do what he was ordered for self-preservation, and I’d guessed he might be ordered not to incapacitate the vampire if it was going to kill me.
I kept my hands to myself and remained quiet for the rest of the drive. Exhaustion took me nearly as soon as I entered my door, and then it was the day before the Senior Hunt. Time was sliding by too fast. It kept jumping forward. I was walking my dog to the kennels in my sleep shorts, and then suddenly, I was showered, dressed, and stabbing the torso model with a stake again. As fake blood once again splashed onto me, I knew that I’d done everything in between walking my dog and gym class, but maybe I was locked on autopilot with only moments where I was at the wheel. This morning, I’d slipped the fake passports and documents into my running shoes. They were stiff against the arch of my foot, and I was probably sweating on all of the important papers.
I didn’t even know why I was carrying them around with me. Running away from the Academy would mean basically handing myself to the vampires and leaving Nana, Mom, and Justin to who knew what kind of fate. And yet, every time the papers brushed against my soles, I felt comforted. Time slipped again, and then I was unsuccessfully attempting to zip in Mystical arts.
“January,” Professor Sharp said from inches away.
I startled and glanced over. She stood right in front of me. Her purple hair looked a little tousled around her sharp, large features. The woman reminded me a little of a finch, petite, colorful, and always ready to take flight. Even as she stood before me, she continuously switched her weight from one hip to the other.
“How did your other power come to you?” she asked. “Was it a slow process, or did you just wake up with the ability to see in the dark?”
“Just woke up.” Well, it had just happened with the thermal vision and the healing, but when I threw that fifth-floor guard down the hallway, I’d been so angry that it had almost been like my rage had made me stronger. “I’m not sure.”
“Well, sight-based powers are the easiest when it comes to mind powers because seeing is believing. You see in the dark; you realize that you can see in the dark, and you accept it as fact. It’s harder to accept something that you need to do consciously, like running at a speed that shouldn’t be possible or seeing the future. You need to forget that you can’t do it, or your brain will limit your ability.” She chomped on her gum for a second. “I wish you weren’t joining this hunt. Is there a way you’d back out of it? Because your sole power isn’t going to do you much good in that amphitheater.”
I shook my head. “I can’t get out of it.” I thought about telling her that it wasn’t my only unlocked power. I also had healing. But the instant healing thing took a couple of minutes to activate, which was probably plenty of time for a vampire
to rip my head off. “When the vampires attacked the fifth floor, our security guard tried to stop me from warning people. He grabbed me, and I shoved him down the hall. He went airborne for a second.”
“Have you been able to do that again?”
“No,” I said.
“Well, when you just accept inhuman strength as part of your reality, like your ability to see in the dark, it will start to happen.”
I peeked around the room, finding all of the other first and second years halfway across the structure maze, doing their best to zip. Charlie was definitely ahead of the game, and he kept zipping back and forth. Cynthia’s form blurred a few times before she crashed into a wall with a loud bang. “Why do I have the same powers as these guys? Did Elites descend from dhampirs or something?”
“The official sab belief is that God granted a select few humans the ability to fight vampires and remove undead evil from the face of the planet.” Her mouth pulled into a straight-lipped smile. “Your theory seems a little more scientifically sound, but science definitely doesn’t explain everything in our world. Your guess is as good as mine. Regardless, I fully believe that everything we can do here, you can do if you just dispel your disbelief.”
“Thanks.”
“But probably not by the hunt tomorrow. For that, I suggest you do your best to keep out of the way.”
“Thanks,” I said again, even though I knew that I couldn’t do that.
Her figure blurred, and suddenly, Professor Sharp stood before the other first and second years, her purple hair even more tousled than before. Time slipped again, and then suddenly, I was drinking blood at my internship, throwing down my blood bags and heading for the door. Sebastian and I hadn't said a single word to each other, and the moment I fell into the seat beside Mitch, I said, "Can we go to the Roberts’ house, I need to see my nana."
When we arrived, my grandmother wrapped me in her arms, and I burst into tears. She tried to coax the source of my sadness out of me, but there was nothing that I could tell her that would do any good. She was in the safest possible place, and from what I could tell, my grandmother was happy. Mitch sat awkwardly at our table, chowing down on a box of cookies my grandmother brought out for him. His eyes were only half open like his energy was literally draining from his face.
"You know, honey, they say that it can take up to six months to get used to any new living arrangement, and you've had to adjust to two new situations in as many months. I fully believe that you'll feel more comfortable if you give it some time. I'm not worried about you. You are the most resilient and capable person I know—and I hope you notice that I'm not saying the most resilient kid I know—I said, person." She raised her salt and pepper brows and regarded me with a stern look. "You're stronger than you think."
"I hope so." I swallowed hard and sunk deeper into the couch. "What did the Roberts tell you about Justin?"
"That he's in some legal trouble." She continued to regard me with raised eyebrows. "He's a bit of a wild one. I'm not surprised, though. They say that if you turn out like one of your parents, you’ll look for someone with a personality like your other parent."
"Who are these ‘they’ that keep saying all this stuff, Nana?" I asked, shaking my head.
She waved a hand in the air. "I don't know, honey. But I remember your father as being funny and charming and steady. He was the roots that kept your mother on the ground. You're more like him, smart, careful, and thoughtful, whereas your mother was always wild and reckless. It makes sense that you'd look for someone like that. But your mother was always getting your father in some kind of trouble or another, and he would take responsibility for her issues. Don't let that happen to you. You need to let people get themselves out of their own troubles. I learned that lesson the hard way."
"I wish it was that easy," I mumbled.
"Well, you don't need to listen to my advice, but I hope that you respect that it comes from a place of wisdom."
I nodded because I wasn't going to disrespect her by telling her that the situation was so much more complicated than she could understand with her limited knowledge of our world. "You've never talked about my father."
She tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear. "You never asked about him."
"He loved my mom?"
"Past reason or sense, and she was the same. They were young, probably too young. Your mother needed my permission even to get married. I'd hoped he would help her mature and grow up after they had the baby, and then he died, but she never really grew up. You grew up instead and started taking care of her. I wish she was a better mother to you," Nana said.
I always hated talking to my mother or Nana about the other. They each just had a slightly distorted picture of the other, and it always made me feel defensive. Even now, I had to bite back the defense I wanted to make for my mom that she did raise me. She didn't always do a great job, but she kept me alive, fed, and dressed for the majority of eighteen years. But I didn't want this moment with Nana tainted with a fight where I'd defend my mother, and she'd double down on whatever she said about her.
"You look more like him than you do her, too," Nana said. "You look a little like my mother, but much more like your own father. He would have been so proud of you and the young woman you've become."
The king of the vampires—proud of me for joining a school for vampire hunters? I doubted it. But maybe the father who once existed would have.
"I should probably get to sleep, sweetheart," Nana said as she ran her fingers through my hair once more. I didn't want to let her go. My insidious thoughts were whispering that this was goodbye. This was the last time my grandmother would run her fingers through my hair and smile with her eyes. She rarely, if ever, smiled with her lips, and I wondered if I'd ever earn a smile from her again.
"I love you," I said in a rush, and then I jumped to my feet and spun for the door.
"I'll see you Sunday, sweetheart," Nana called down the stairs as Mitch and I exited the house. "I hope you know that you're welcome too, Mitchel."
Mitch lifted a hand. "Yeah. Thanks."
The night was warm as we headed for Mitch's black car. Crickets chirped loud all around us as the sky darkened to a deep purple hue. I looked out at the faint outline of trees surrounding the property. For just a moment, I hesitated with my hand on the handle of Mitch’s car. I knew where stacks of bills were in Justin's pool house. I still had the fake papers in my shoe. I could run. I could grab my grandmother, jump in her newly repaired van, and head for the rehab center. Then I could bribe the guard with a stack of cash and take off. It was the worst escape plan ever. There were vampires stalking my mother and Hawthorn Group soldiers guarding her. I'd either get caught or, more likely, get everyone I loved killed. But for just a second, it was so fucking tempting.
"You're thinking of doing something stupid. I can see it in your face." Mitch came around the car and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“What would happen if I ran?”
"The HG would catch you before you left the property. If you somehow made it past them, the vampires would track you down and kill you before you left the city limits. It's a coward's move anyway, and you're not a coward."
"Careful, Mitch, that almost sounded like a compliment."
Mitch tilted his head. "If you're not going to stay for yourself or your family, do it for fucking Justin."
"Do you really think that your brother is going to give Justin up after this hunt when he went to all this trouble to frame him? What is Sebastian going to say? Oops, I accidentally fabricated evidence framing Justin, but now I'm clearing his name, and everything's fine? Justin is gone for a reason, and that reason isn't going to evaporate."
"Fuck no, Sebastian isn't going to give up Justin. But Justin did everything in his power to keep you safe and throwing that away would be a damn shame. Sebastian isn’t the only one who asked me to look out for you, okay? And as long as you're going about your regular schedule at Blackburn Academy, my brother can'
t just shove you into a van. Too many questions will be raised if a student vanishes from campus or heads off to her internship and never returns. You run into the forest; all bets are off. Sebastian can say you ran away, never to be seen from again. Fuck, he'll probably have witnesses. As of right now, Sebastian has to hide that he's murdering people left and right, or he's not going to stay in power very long. Even he understands that. Every time he kills someone, there's enough doubt to get him off the hook. Play my brother's twisted games or tell him to go fuck himself but keep the Academy's protection around you while you do it. That's what I fucking do. That's how I made it through the last two years. Never fall completely into my brother's power. Do you know how quickly Sebastian could make you disappear?"
"Maybe he'll take me to Justin."
"January." Mitch rubbed his chin, almost violently, but when he talked, his voice was softer. "We both know that Justin is probably dead."
"No." A hard lump formed in my throat. "I don't know that."
"What use would Sebastian have to keep Justin alive? I knew as soon as Sebastian hinted that he took him. He was taunting you to see your anguish, knowing that you couldn't do shit about it. Sebastian set the whole situation up so the truth would die with Justin."
Mitch's words made so much sense, but everything in me rebelled against them. "No," I managed, my voice coming out harsh. "You're wrong."
Mitch held up his hands. "Maybe I am." He didn't sound like he meant it, and I knew that this was probably the first time that Mitch was deliberately kind to me, and I wanted to hit him for it. "I could be wrong. I guess you could win the hunt and see if Sebastian gives him up. Now, can we stop talking out in the open?"
Sebastian could probably hear our whole conversation. And yet, I didn’t care what Sebastian heard any more. I hoped that didn’t mean that some part of me agreed with Mitch that Justin was dead.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The best thing about the Friday of the Senior Hunt was that I knew that I wouldn't have to go to my internship with Sebastian Holter. It was a grim sort of comfort as I walked around my Supernatural Anatomy lab with the rest of the class, looking at different samples from various types of shifter blood. Apparently, dragon shifters, wolf shifters, and bear shifters all lived in North America. Professor Hamilton also mentioned that these were the most common of the local shifter groups, which could mean that there were more than these.
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