Blood Will Tell (Warriors of Ankh #1) (9 page)

Chapter Eleven

Love or Something like it

Over the next few weeks it felt like she gave up a little. Gave in, maybe. It was not like it mattered here anyway. Ryan had decided that they were moving after Eden’s Awakening Ceremony. The Neith knew where they were now and it was just too risky. So they were leaving. Leaving home. Leaving Salton. Leaving… leaving Noah. But she didn’t care… right?

Eden walked the halls of South Salton delivering death looks at anybody who bumped into her or dared to meet her gaze.

Didn’t they know she was a killer now?

“
Oh look, it’s freak show without her freak mate.” Lucy Stevens smirked at her as she past her in the hall. That was the one drawback from the compulsion. The idiot no longer remembered to fear her. Eden curled her lip up in a snarl just as Lucy’s friend, Shawna Beaumont swatted at Lucy, a little frown furrowing her perfect eyebrows.

“
Don’t be mean, Luce,” Shawna admonished, her lip-glossed mouth quirking up into a smile of apology to Eden. “Sorry.”

Eden looked her up and down, cataloguing the cheerleading uniform and the Gucci bag. “Did I ask for an apology?” She snipped. “Go suffocate yourself inside your Gucci, Barbie.”

Shawna flinched back like she’d been slapped and had to hold Lucy back from attacking Eden. Eden chuckled, feeling mean and bitter.

She turned and walked smack bang into a solid chest. His familiar citrusy scent teased the hunger.

“
You’re being a bitch to nice girls like Shawna Beaumont now?” Noah asked, pushing her back a little.

Eden let her eyes slowly crawl up his face to his eyes. They were narrowed in concentration. His lips pinched tight. His expression warred between disapproval and concern.

“
News flash, Valois. I am a bitch.” She tried to walk around him but his arm closed around her fast, strong. She frowned and tried to break free. What the hell… Eden glared up at him suspiciously. “Been injecting steroids, Valois?”

He glared at her. “Is there any reason why I shouldn’t be stronger than you,
Winslow
?”

What…?

Her heart started racing. “What are you talking about?”

Noah sighed and gripped her arm, tugging her down the hallway and into an empty classroom. He shut the door and leaned back against it, blocking the exit.

“
We need to talk, Eden.”

Oh Jesus, don’t let him know, please no no no no no…

“
What about?” She shifted uneasily.

“
Well among other stuff uh the fact that you’ve been acting like a psycho bitch for the past two weeks, talking to me one minute, dodging me the next. It’s giving me headache.” He shrugged casually. “So… you’re meeting me after school tonight. If you don’t, I’m hunting you down.”

Eden snorted and strode towards him. “You can’t make me do anything.”

“
Eden.” He gripped her by the upper arm. “I’ll come to your house.”

It was like he knew, she thought gazing up at him wide-eyed, like he knew she would do anything to stop him coming to her house.
What does he know?

Noah’s eyes softened and his grip eased. But he didn’t let go. That familiar warmth exploded across her chest and she found herself relaxing into him.

“
I miss you, Eden,” he said softly and for a minute she could have sworn his eyes flickered to her lips and back up to her eyes. At her indrawn breath, his hand tightened again and then relaxed, his thumb caressing her skin unconsciously.

Did Noah…?

No
. She shook her head inwardly
. He couldn’t…

Then again... someone that hot being single for months…? And there was that night at Doug’s party two months ago…

“
I can’t believe you dragged me here,” she muttered, hugging Noah’s side as they made their way through the crowds of teenagers. Doug’s dad’s house was almost as big as Eden’s. Plenty of space to pack in a couple hundred drunk and horny teens.

Noah grinned down at her. “I thought it would be a nice change of pace.”

“
Uh, who invited her?” Lucy Stevens’ voice curled around Eden’s ears as Noah headed towards the ‘bar’ that had been set up in Doug’s back sitting room. The seniors were crowded around the sofas across from it, playing drunken Guitar Hero.

“
Ignore her,” Noah murmured and handed her a red plastic cup full of liquid.

Eden stared down into it, uncertain. “What is this?”

“
Lemonade.”

“
Are you kidding?”

“
You’re underage, Eden. I’m not giving you-” he stopped to take a sip and then rolled his eyes, pulling the cup back from her. “It’s spiked.”

She kept a hold of it. “Let me try. You’re only a year older, Noah. Get off the parental guidance train.”

Not really caring whether she drank or not, Eden let him pry the drink from her. He set the cups down and sighed. “Should have known there wouldn’t be anything alcohol free.”

She laughed. “What is up with the teetotal?”

He shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. He leaned casually back against the ‘bar’, way cooler looking than any of the guys around him who thought they were cool with their beer, pong, and designer wallets. “I don’t get drunk easily. Anyway I’m with you and I don’t want to get you wasted, so we’ll abstain, I think.”

She mirrored his movements, crossing her arms over her chest and eyeing him incredulously. “So, why did we come here if not to get wasted?”

Noah’s light eyes swept the room. “Thought it might be nice to just hang out. Like normal teens.”

“
Huh. I like that we don’t hang out with these cretins.”

He shrugged again. “You might change your mind. Some of this looks… fun.”

Frowning, Eden looked around her. Lucy Stevens had been persuaded to ignore them by her friends and it looked like she had turned her attention to berating one of her minions for something. To Eden’s surprise she caught Lucy’s boyfriend Doug staring at her over the rim of his beer cup. He looked swiftly away when he realised she’d caught him. Not everyone in the room was drunk, but there was a lot of public fondling and tripping over one’s own feet going on. In general, everyone did look like they were having fun. And they didn’t seem to mind that Eden and Noah had crashed. “So what do we do?” She turned back to her best friend.

Before he could answer, a sophomore – Eden couldn’t remember her name – sidled over, her eyes bright with alcohol, a flirtatious smirk on her lips. The girl grazed Noah’s arm, as she greeted him softly.

“
Hey.” He gave her a small smile in return. “What’s up?”

“
Not much. Want some?” She offered him a sip from the bottle of vodka she held.

To Eden’s surprise, Noah nodded and took it, his fingers brushing the sophomore’s, whose face flushed in pleasure with the contact. For some inexplicable reason the interplay between them made Eden want to rip the sophomore’s pretty brown hair out. Instead she smirked at Noah as he took a swig from the bottle. “I’m going to check out the kitchen for some soda,” she told him pointedly. “I’ll leave you to,” she gestured sarcastically, “whatever this is.”

Waving her hand at him dismissively, Eden turned and made her way out of the sitting room. She sighed wearily. Even the halls were crowded with teens. As she past their laughing, chuckling, teasing faces, Eden wondered why on earth she didn’t feel the need to ‘partaay’ like them. It held no interest for her. This drunken, out of control-ness made her shudder. Imagine the damage she could do if she ever got out of control.

She thought bleakly of the brunette coming on to Noah.

The sophomore was now a ten. A definite ten.

The kitchen was surprisingly quiet, compared to the rest of the house. When she saw the bowls of food almost depleted, she guessed why. The animals had already eaten everything. Swiping some M&M’s that had been missed, Eden huffed and nudged a kissing couple out of the way of the refrigerator. They glared at her but moved off pretty fast when they recognised her. She smiled a little at that. Sometimes it paid to be her.

Finding some O.J. Eden began hunting for a clean glass. Why had Noah really brought her here? Had his teenage horniness finally caught up with him and he had decided he needed to get laid, and Eden was his wingman? Wow. That was depressing.

“
You lookin’ for a glasshh?”

Eden spun around as Doug sauntered drunkenly into the room. His pupils were huge and he was wearing this leery smile that made her back up into the counter behind her.

“
Um, yeah.”

He stopped and reached up into a cupboard she hadn’t checked and produced a glass. She watched in total confusion as he brought it over, still grinning that slimy grin. He stopped inches from her, completely invading her personal space. He smelled of beer and Cheetos. The hunger in her chest unfurled, tasting his soul so near. “Here.” He tilted the glass at her.

Warily, Eden reached up and took it from him. “Thanks.”

Doug grinned and stepped even closer, their t-shirts brushing.

“
Hey man, you wanna back it up a little.” She pushed at his chest in annoyance.

The senior didn’t say anything. He angled his head, his eyes narrowing as they peered at her. He licked his lips and sighed. “You know, you’re kind of hot.”

Despite it coming from this moron, Eden found herself flushing a little. “OK. Whatever. Back up, Romeo.”

“
Nah.” He reached out now, his fingers brushing her hair. Eden automatically smacked his hand away. “Hey come on,” he cajoled. “I’m jussht tryin’ to get to know you.” He was slurring badly now. “You’re what they call it? That word?” he clicked his fingers, looking dumber than a post. “An igma. Yeah an igma.”

Eden made a face. “A what now?”

“
An enigma.”

At the sound of Noah’s voice, she peered over Doug’s shoulder and saw him standing in the doorway to the kitchen, scowling at them.

“
Hey man.” Doug spun around and headed towards Noah, tripping over his feet a little. He whacked him on the shoulder and Noah barely moved, glancing over at Doug from the corner of his eye. “Way to go, man. She’s hot.”

With that he tripped out of the kitchen leaving Eden’s cheeks blazing at the insinuation.

Noah threw her a mocking look as he strode towards her, seeming casual. But there was something there. A tightness in his jaw? “Having fun?”

“
I just wanted some O.J.” she huffed.

Like Doug, Noah deliberately invaded her personal space, pressing close to her to reach for the glass and the orange juice. She felt his breath on her neck as he poured the juice into a glass. He pulled back a little to hand it to her. The hunger purred at his nearness.

“
Thanks,” she mumbled, frowning at him as she took the glass. “You OK?”

“
Doug’s a dick.”

Eden narrowed her eyes. “The sophomore’s a slut.”

They stared at one another for a long time, not saying anything, the tension between them coiling tighter.

Finally, Noah stepped back, and the breath whooshed out of her. “You wanna leave?”

She nodded and put the glass back down on the counter. She curled her lip in teasing derision as she brushed past him. “From now on we’re doing what I wanna do on Saturday night.”

“
Let me guess… The Coffee Shoppe?”

She threw him a grin over her a shoulder as they made their way through the crowds. “However did you guess?”

“
I’m just brilliant that way.”

As they stepped outside the house, Eden took in a lungful of cool night air. Then she stopped and glanced up at Noah. “What is a shoppe?”

He shrugged. “I think it’s just pronounced shop.”

“
Huh. Why have you never pronounced it shop then?”

“
Because shoppe sounds funnier.”

She grinned and followed him down the garden towards his car. “It does, doesn’t it.”

“
So we’re sticking with shoppe?”