Blood and Snow Volumes 1-4: Blood and Snow, Revenant in Training, The Vampire Christopher, Blood Soaked Promises (15 page)

I forced back a sigh. “I
do
.” This conversation wasn’t going to end well.

“Since your…
bite, and what
occurred
in
your dream, and the note… well, you have a lot going on.”

I waited for him to finish, my hands clenching into fists in my lap.

He let out a giant breath. “I think we should put whatever might be happening between us on hold.” His hands gripped the steering wheel until they turned white with blood loss.

Tears dampened my lashes. Casually, I
tried to wipe them away. He was right. I needed to focus on training
. Also, I had a
…
situation
with Chace
, but wow, hearing Gabe say the words hurt.

I deliberated
whether
Gabe somehow knew what I’d been doing last night. If he could tell a vampire Hunter kissed me thoroughly, drank from me multiple times, and I’d liked it. Actually more than liked it, delighted in it. Ugh!

Pushing my back into the black, leather seat, I said, “I agree. We’ll still be friends, right?” The words sounded strained, not like me.

Gab
e didn’t seem to notice. “Right.”

We rode in silence until we got to school. As soon as he put the car in park, I bolted without saying good-bye. I needed some fresh air, and some space.

Chapter 3

M
y body teetered between
conflicting emotions—excitement, and sadness. Excitement because… I’d see Chace in a few minutes. And sadness because I still had feelings for Gabe.
He’d promised he wouldn’t leave. Memories of the night he’d stayed with me surfaced, weighing down my heart. I missed that Gabe.

He
hasn’t exactly left, but he doesn’t want you anymore,
my inner voice huffed.

Sighing, I pulled open the front door to Sale
m High, h
ome to more than sixteen hundred students
. I made my way through the overflowing commons, and
to my burgundy locker.
After dialing in the combination, I opened it, and
realized
I held my breath, so I wouldn’t smell blood. Slowly, I blew out, and snuck another timid breath. A delicious blood-tinged aroma swirled with sweat and perfume. A symphony of hearts beat all around me,
but I didn’t have the slightest twinge of a
craving. Something had changed.

Was it the do
uble dose of bloodlust tea, or
drinking Chace’s blood? I’d have to ask him when we had a moment alone, and if I could look
him
in the eyes without blushing.

I switched books from my backpack to my locker, and
ran to chemistry, barely acknowledging the posters announcing the football game Friday, or the Halloween dance coming up next month.

Cindy
and Chace were already in their seats, chatting like BFF’s. Seeing Cindy being so flirty, and Chace responding, well it annoyed me. I dropped my backpack, and slammed my
hefty chemistry
book on the table in a huff.

Cindy gave me the eye, one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows rising in irritation. “Hey, Snow. In a mood?” She smacked her bare knee against my thigh.

“No,” I grumbled, stealing a look at Chace. He’d rolled his chair toward me.

“Hi, Snow.” He had a tone. One that told m
e he was thinking about what we did
last night.

I blushed, the heat burning my cheeks.

“What’s going on?” Cindy asked, tugging on my scarf.

That girl was way to
o
intuitive. She could read people from a hundred feet away, through concrete, and twenty feet of dirt.

Sheesh! “Nothing,” I said, from behind my book
, jerking my scarf from her hands
.

“Hmmm-
mmmm
,” Cindy responded, and I knew we’d be having
an
uncomfortable conversation later. I
debated
what I
should
tell her though. It wasn’t like I could say, “Yeah, so last night Chace
took me to
another realm where we made out, and drank each other’s blood for a few hours. It was awesome, and so sexy.”

Chace made a noise that sounded a lot like a groan, wh
ich caused my cheeks
to burn hotter than a firework on the Fourth of July.

Before Cindy or Chace
said or did
anything else, Mr. Wallace came in and saved the day.
I’d never been happier to see a teacher.

That gladness was short-lived.

“During today’s lab we’ll be determining the relative reactions of copper, magnesium, zinc, and hydrogen. You’ll work with a partner, as usual.” Mr. Wallace glanced in our direction. “Mr. Charming, since you are without a partner, and,” he
searched
the room,
let out a grunt,
and continued, “since Sheila is absent today, why don’t you work with
Misssssss
,” he drew it out, like a snake debating which prey to devour. Cindy sat up straighter in her seat, and I knew she wanted him to pick her. Finally he continued, “White. Mr. Dooley, you and Miss Croswell will partner up. Everyone else, you have your partners, so get busy.”

Cindy deflated, and scowled. “I don’t want to partner with Eddie. He smells like onion rings.”

“Maybe that’s because he works at Onion Ring Heaven,” I whispered, stifling a nervous giggle. I stood as Eddie
looked
over, his braces
-filled smile taking up most
of his freck
led face. “Be nice,” I said in
her ear.

Cindy
harumphed
. “
Merde
! This isn’t fair. And you owe me an explanation about what’s going on between you and
Charming
. Lunchtime!”

“Okay,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows, and moving over to Chace.

Cindy laughed, and I felt better about leaving her with Onion Ring Eddie.

I picked up my chair, and placed it next to Chace.
He
already had the droppers, and was in the process of organizing the test tubes. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

He grunted. “Once or twice. Lovely scarf, by the way.”

I
fiddled with
it
, making
sure it still covered my neck, and sat on the stool, watching him. He looked seventeen or eighteen, but I was curious about
his real age
. I didn’t know much about vampires, but I did know they weren’t supposed to
age. At least that was part of the myth
. Would I age as a revenant, I wondered. I wanted to ask Chace
, but c
hemistry
class wasn’t the place
. I supposed I could ask Professor Pops.

Focusing, I said, “Well,
you’d better let me do something
.”

“I can think of several
something’s
I’d like you to do.” His voice had gone low, and was filled with sensual implication.

I colored. “Seriously, Cindy already
smells a story. The girl is like a Bassett Hound on the trail of her favorite bone.
S
he’s probably already figured out we kissed, and is planning our wedding, including the cake, and my wedding dress.” I moved one of the beakers,
put a droplet of iodine in it, and scrawled the results in my notebook.

He
sat on the stool next to me, fixing me with an amused
gaze. “
Wow, she’s impressive.” I tried to scowl. He didn’t know her the way I did. That was how her mind worked.

“We haven’t even been on a date,” I whispered.

“I suppose we can’t consider what we did last night a date?” He wore his signature smirk.

I blushed the color of currant berries. “No!”

“Are you embarrassed of me, Snowflake?”

“Don’t call me that.” I smacked
his arm. Only Gabe was allowed to call me that.
Besides,
what
did he think was going on
?
Were we an item?

You were kissing him like you were prepared to have his babies, my inner voice clucked, disgustedly.

“Whatever you command, my Queen,” he inclined his head slightly.

Self-conscious, I searched the room, and caught hold of Cindy’s
perceptive
glare. She mouthed, “What the hell?”

I shrugged, and turned back to Chace.
His words, “my queen”,
made me think
of another question. I, technically, wouldn’t be his queen, my body would, but it’d still be her… what?
Spirit, inside my body.
I filed the question in the thickening folder labeled
Seriously Wacky Stuff
. “You need to stop.”

He laughed. “
Fine. I will. For now.” Then he winked. “Can I call you Frosty?”

I lifted my brow. “You can call me
Frosty
when Hell freezes over
. M-Kay
.” I gave him a sinister look, but laughed to take the edge off.

“Snow,” he spoke my name like we were lovers. “Want to hang out after school today? We can see what sort of skills you’ve developed.” He gave me a conspiratorial look. “The way we’ve been trading blood I’ve no doubt you’ll be as strong as I am in no time.”

“Will I
?” I nudged his shoulder with mine.

“
Y
ou’ll be amazing.”

I really did want to hang out with him, but I had track practice, revenant training, and then homework. “Hey, you made the track team. You’re going to practice, right?”

“Yep, and you have to run today. I want to see if you can manage once around the track without tripping.” He laughed.

“Harsh,” I murmured. But I wanted to see if it were possible too. “I have…” I paused. Professor Pops wanted me
to go over to his house after
practice. I’d be learning how to kill different supernatural creatures, including vampire Hunters like him.
Did I
want to tell Chace? He worked for the Vampire Queen.

Holy apple butter on toast, he
worked
for the Vampire Queen! Why hadn’t
that
hit me before now? I hadn’t asked Professor Pops what would happen if I drank the blood of a Hunter.

Chace glanced over, his gaze unreadable
. “You’re training with Adam Henry after practice.”