Awakening (Covenant College #1) (18 page)

“This must be Zoe Lake,” Professor Worth said by way of greeting. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“You have?”

Professor Worth looked surprised by my question. “Of course . . .
“ she
broke off. “You have a great pedigree.”

“I’m sorry, what does that mean?”

Professor Blake shook his head at Professor Worth and then turned to me. “I think she has you confused with someone else.”

“She knew my name.”

Professor Blake glared at Professor Worth for a second. “We have several candidates. She just must have confused your name with someone else’s information.”

“You’re lying.”

The rest of the students gasped in surprise. I guess they weren’t used to anyone questioning Professor Blake.

“I’m not lying.”

“You’re not even very good at it. For someone leading a covert group of monster hunters, you’d think you’d be better at lying.”

“Can we take this outside?”

“No.”

“What?”

“I’m done. I’m not listening to any more of your crap. This is a weird place. You’re a weird guy. This is all just . . . ridiculous.”

I swung around and stormed out of the room. The minute I left I could hear the students murmuring amongst themselves.

I moved quickly down the hall. I could hear Professor Blake saying something to my back as I left, but I ignored him.

I made my way out of the building, exiting the athletics center from the first door I could find. I was surprised when I left. It was dark. I’d spent the entire day with Professor Blake and his lies.

My stomach rumbled. I’d also spent the entire day without eating anything.

I started towards the dorms – the whole time internally lambasting myself for falling for Professor Blake and his lies. There was definitely something going on at Covenant College, but I wasn’t going to ally myself with a bunch of liars to figure out what that was. Professor Worth’s comments about my pedigree were also frustrating. What did she mean by that?

I was so engrossed in my own thoughts I didn’t notice a shadowy figure appear on the sidewalk in front of me. I slammed into him.

The figure grabbed my shoulders to keep me from falling backwards.

“Sorry,” I sputtered.

“No problem.”

I recognized the voice.

“Rafael?”

“Zoe.”

“What are you doing out here?”

“What are you doing out here?”

“Walking back to the dorms.”

“Where are you coming from?”

“The athletics center.”
I didn’t see any reason to lie.

“What were you doing there?” Rafael’s eyes had narrowed as he waited for my answer.

“Working out.”

Rafael regarded me for a moment, taking in my jeans and hoodie, and then shook his head slightly. “You worked out in that?”

“Why do you care?”

“Just curious.”

He was lying. For a second, I wondered if he knew what was really going on at the activities center. Then another thought crossed my mind.
His cold skin.
The fact that I’d only seen him after dark.

“Oh crap. You’re a vampire!”

Rafael looked surprised – but only for a second.

“That’s a weird thing to say.”

“You’re not denying it.”

“You think I look like a vampire?”

“Well, you’re not sparkling or anything.”

Rafael didn’t respond.

“How are you so
tan
if you’re a vampire?”

“I’m from
Spain .
It was summer when I was turned.” He wasn’t trying to hide anything now.

“When was that?”

“
Awhile
ago.”

“Vague much?”

“I don’t know you.”

“So, if you knew me you would tell me?”

“Depends,” he smiled. God his dimples were cute. “If I decide you’re trustworthy.”

“Why aren’t you trying to eat me?”

Rafael looked surprised. “I’m not hungry.” I think he thought I was joking.

“So you’re not mindless eating machines?”

“That would be Great White sharks – not vampires.”

I furrowed my brow in surprise.
“Great White sharks?”

“I like ‘Shark Week.’ You can learn a lot.”

Crap. I liked ‘Shark Week,’ too.

“The vampire I met last night tried to eat me.”

Rafael looked surprised by this. His arm shot out and he grabbed my wrist harshly. “What happened?”

“
Ow
,” I tried to pull my arm away from him.

“What happened?” I felt like his gaze was trying to bore through me.

“What is your deal?”

Rafael looked surprised. He let go of my wrist reluctantly. This time, when he asked the question, his voice had softened. “What happened?”

I told him an abbreviated version of the story, my gaze never leaving his face.

A miasma of emotions seemed to pass over Rafael’s face as I told my tale, but he never interrupted me. When I was done he finally spoke. “You need to be careful.”

“What?”

“You’re getting a lot of attention on campus.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Don’t you?”

The comment about my pedigree flooded through my mind for a second, but I decided not to tell Rafael about that. He was a vampire, after all. “I’m just a girl.”

“You’re more than just a girl.”

“What am I then?”

“I don’t know. You just need to be careful.”

Rafael walked me back to the dorms. No matter how many questions I asked him, though, he refused to answer any more of them. He didn’t even say goodbye when he dropped me off at the front door.

As I watched him leave, though, I noticed that he was prowling around the parking lot like he was hunting. I wondered if he was looking for dinner – or more rogue vampires. I could only hope it was the vampires.

Twenty-One

The next morning I woke up with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. What was supposed to be a simple, fun and exciting time in my life had turned into a huge
clusterfuck
.

I went to breakfast with Paris – but I wasn’t exactly chatty. My mood was dark and dour. She noticed.

“Where were you all day yesterday?”

“Classes.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

I wanted to tell Paris everything that had happened, but I didn’t even know where to start. Plus, there was always the concern that she wouldn’t believe me.

“What are you doing today?”

I sucked down some pop. I had a feeling I would need the caffeine.

“Just classes.”

“You want to meet at the UC for coffee afterwards?”

“Sure.”

That would at least give me more time to think about what I should say to Paris – and how.

We walked to class together in a comfortable silence. I could tell Paris wanted to grill me, but she was oddly silent. Finally, she said something.

“You weren’t raped or anything
were
you?”

The question stunned me. “What?”

“You’ve been weird since I found you in the parking lot last night. I’m worried that something happened to you.”

Something had definitely happened to me -- just not that. “No, I wasn’t raped.”

“Have you talked to Will?”

“No. Have you talked to Mike?”

“No.”

“Are you still going to?”

“Yeah.
I just don’t know what to say.”

“Just be honest.” Look at me giving advice, when my own life was falling apart around me.

“Are you still going to talk to Will?”

“I don’t know.” I was being honest. Everything had changed over the course of the past two days. I didn’t know if I could take anything else in my world shifting.

We separated when we got to the building. I went to my first class of the day and essentially zoned out through the entire thing. I tried to listen during my astronomy class with Paris – but I didn’t have a lot of luck there, either. My next class was Journalism 101 with Professor Blake. I definitely wasn’t looking forward to that.

I plodded down the hallway, dragging the trip to the classroom out as long as possible. I’m not one of those people that
rips
the
bandaid
off. I feel the need to prod and cajole it for
awhile
. When I entered, Matilda waved excitedly when she saw me. “How are things?”

“Fine.”
I really wasn’t in the mood for her particular brand of enthusiasm today.

“Have you seen . . .
”

I cut her off. I couldn’t listen to her Rick No. 1 infatuation any longer. “No. I haven’t seen Rick in the past two days.”

“Not at all?”
She seemed concerned.

“I’ve been busy.”

The class went silent as Professor Blake entered the room. I saw him check my usual seat to make sure I was there, but then he ignored me for the rest of class. He thankfully stayed away from any paranormal assignments as well.

After class, I found myself lingering and I couldn’t explain why.

Professor Blake noticed as well. “Do you need something?”

I looked around. The rest of the classroom was empty. Even Matilda had left. I figured she had caught on to my irritated attitude (thank the Force for small favors) and wisely decided to avoid a tense walk back to the dorms with me.

I opened my mouth to answer Professor Blake and then snapped it shut. I honestly didn’t know what to say.

“Let’s go to my office.”

I don’t know why I followed him, but I did. The walk to his office on the second floor was made in complete silence -- an uncomfortable silence at that. When we made it to his office, Professor Blake unlocked it and then held the door open for me. I walked in silently. He shut the door behind us.

“I wasn’t sure I would see you in class today,” he admitted.

“I’m here for an education. I’m not going to let anyone derail that.  Not even you.”

“I’m sorry about how things went yesterday.”

“What, exactly, are you sorry about? That you purposely took me into that place to make me uncomfortable or that you’re keeping something from me?”

Professor Blake sighed. “You just have to be combative, don’t you? I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“See! That’s what I’m talking about. You have to be cryptic and talk down to me like I’m 12.”

“I’m not talking down to you. You must understand, though, that you’re young. You’re new to this. There is so much you don’t know.” Professor Blake gazed out his window office before continuing. “Why are you here? I thought you were done with us.”

“Maybe I want to know more.”

“Did something happen last night?”

I thought about telling him about Rafael but something deep inside me told me that wasn’t the smart way to go. “No. I made it home fine.”

“Then why, all of a sudden, do you want to know more?”

“Two nights ago I was attacked in the parking lot. I killed a man.”

“You killed a vampire.”

“I killed a man and he turned to ash. I want to know why that happened.”

“I don’t know why that happened.”

“Why does everyone on this campus seem to think they know something about me?”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

“Do not lie to me,” I seethed. “You’re bad at it and I’m sick of your shit.”

Professor Blake sighed. “People think you already know about the supernatural because of where you come from.”

“This Dog Man thing again?”

“It’s hard to believe you grew up in that small town – a town filled with werewolves – and you don’t know anything.”

“How do you know it’s full of
werewolves.
”

“I’ve been there.”

“When?”

“Several times.”

“When was the last time?”

“Last November.”

I wracked my brain, but I couldn’t think of anything that stood out from last November. “Why were you there last November?”

“What do you remember about last November?”

“Homecoming.”

Professor Blake snorted derisively. “What else?”

I thought for a moment. “Not much. It snowed early. We got to go skiing on the first day of deer season.”

“They cancelled school?”

“No. We always get the first day of deer season off. The boys go hunting. The girls go shopping usually. But since we got snow a bunch of us went skiing instead.”