Drake Chronicles: 03 Out for Blood (17 page)

She went straight to Chloe’s secret schnapps in the closet. Jason and I slid down to sit on the floor with Jenna as she opened the bottle and passed it around. I took a sip and the overly sweet peach liqueur ran down my throat.

“Disgusting,” Jason spluttered.

“Total y is,” Jenna agreed. “Quit hogging it.”

“No more for me, you guys.” I waved away the bottle and lay on my back, staring up at the ugly beige ceiling. The continuous loop in my head of Wil as he crumpled was exactly what I deserved. I shouldn’t try to forget it or dul it with alcohol. Or the fact that Spencer might possibly be fighting for his life right now. And it was a battle we couldn’t help him with. We didn’t have his back. It felt awful. And I should feel awful.

“Hey, eighteen is the legal age in Quebec.” Jenna waved the half-empty bottle at me and the liqueur sloshed over the edge. I wiped it off my cheek. She giggled.

“Oops. Sorry.”

“We’re not
in
Quebec.” And it was an automatic suspension if you were caught drinking on campus.

“Stil . You’re gonna make a real y good hunter,” she added. “Like, real y. You know?”

“You wil too.”

“No, it’s different,” she insisted. She nudged Jason with her foot. “Isn’t it different?

It’s different.”

“Yup.” He nodded enthusiastical y. “Hunter’s a hunter!”

“Ha!” Jenna laughed so loud she startled herself and fel over. Jason and I looked at each other, looked at her, and then laughed so hard we were panting for breath.

Chloe groaned.

“What’s going—hey,” she mumbled groggily. “That’s my schnapps.”

“Spencer got bitten by Wil and then Hunter staked Wil ,” Jenna told her, trying to look serious but just going cross-eyed instead.

Chloe blinked. “Shit.” She held her hand out for the bottle. “Gimmee.” She fished a pil out of her pocket and swal owed it down with the alcohol.

“Dude, what is that?” Jason gaped at her. “A horse pil ?”

“It’s a vitamin,” she informed him loftily.

“Not you too,” he groaned. “Al the Niners are suddenly obsessed with vitamins and protein powder. There’s some rumor going around that it’l make them strong.” I rol ed over to frown at Chloe. “I thought you took one already today. And you shouldn’t drink when you’re on pain meds.”

“I’m doubling up now.” She propped herself on her elbow and took another mouthful. “I’m injured. I need my strength.”

“Does it make you pee fluorescent yel ow?” Jenna asked. “Vitamins always give me Day-Glo pee.”

Chloe shook her head and eyed the bottle. “You guys owe me twenty bucks.”

“Twenty bucks! No way does that nasty crap cost twenty bucks.”

“It’s a delivery charge.” She grinned and then winced. “Ouch.”

“Don’t lean on your stitches like that,” Jason offered helpful y.

“Duh.”

“I hope Spencer’s okay.” I reached for my cel and texted Kieran and Quinn to tel them what had happened. I hiccuped on a sob that snuck up on me.

Jenna blinked at me. “Nuh-uh,” she said, making a grab for the bottle. “Nasty peach booze, stat!”

I made a face. “No way. I’l throw up.”

Jason shifted over a foot. “Not on me.”

I lay back down. The sound of my friends giggling helped a little.

But not as much as what suddenly occurred to me.

I sat straight up.

“I have a plan,” I announced.

Chapter 17

•

Hunter

“Did you hear me?” I repeated louder. “I said I have a plan.” Everybody groaned except for Jason, who was already snoring. I nearly stepped on his head when I stood up. “Let’s go!”

He jerked awake. “Mmfwha?”

Jenna helped him up. “Hunter’s on a mission.”

“It’s four o’clock in the morning,” he groused.

“Chloe, come on,” I insisted from the doorway.

She opened one eye. “I am injured.”

“You have stitches,” I said, unconvinced. “Come on, already. You’l miss al the fun and then you’l bitch about it for the rest of the year.”

“That is true,” she agreed, final y getting up. She clutched the bottle to her chest.

They moved in an exaggerated slow huddle across the carpet, stopped when they realized we were stil in our room, and then burst into muffled giggles. The fact that Jenna sounded like a hyena made us al laugh even harder. My stomach hurt. It was a nice change from my brain.

I just couldn’t think about what I’d done or worry about Spencer al night. I’d go mental. This was better. This was a goal. This was action.

Chloe was the last into the hal . She tripped over the threshold as the door slammed shut behind her. “Shhh!” she practical y yel ed. Jenna slapped her hand over Chloe’s mouth to shush her, then pul ed away squeaking.

“Did you just
lick
me? Gross.”

“Teach you to grab my face.”

This was going to be a disaster.

“Cut it out,” Jason tossed over his shoulder. “I feel like we’re back in kindergarten.

Let’s go.” He stopped in the foyer, under the remnants of the broken chandelier.

“Um, Hunter?”

“Yeah?”

“Where are we going exactly?”

“Eleventh-grade floor,” I mouthed. “And watch the cameras.” We hurried up the steps, avoiding the creaky stairs, the corner with the camera, the loose floorboard. The common room was empty and al the doors were shut tight. Everyone sane was asleep.

“Anyone know which one’s Wil ’s room?” I asked.

Jason stared at me. “Great, you’ve got a dozen demerits so now you want us to get them too?”

I lifted my chin. “I’m going to find out what’s going on. You can go back to bed if you want.”

Jenna snorted so loud she coughed. “Forget it,” she added. “I want in.” She poked Jason hard in the shoulder. “And so do you.”

“Yeah, al right,” he muttered. He grabbed the bottle from Chloe. “I need to be drunker.” He swal owed, crossed his eyes. “Nope. Bad idea.” He tripped over nothing. He hadn’t even taken a step. “He was in room 209, the one at the end by the back staircase.”

“That was obliging of him,” I whispered back, cheered.

“Obliging? Who talks like that?” Chloe shook her head. She was right. I’d been reading too many romance novels. But now probably wasn’t the time to wonder about it. “You’re getting weird, Wild.”

“You’re already weird, Cheng.”

She slung her good arm over my shoulder. “That’s why we’re such good friends.” After shooting her a grin, I touched the door. “Anyone know if Wil ’s roommate is here yet?”

There were a lot of shrugs.

“You check,” Chloe suggested. “You’re our fearless leader.” I stuck my tongue out at her, which was terribly leader-like of me. But she was right, though. This was my stupid idea so I should take point. I turned the doorknob slowly but pushed the door open an inch in one quick motion. If you went too slowly, which was the temptation, it actual y had more of a squeak. The room was dark. I couldn’t hear any snoring but that was hardly conclusive proof.

I took a step inside. The others giggled behind me. I shot them a look over my shoulder. There was a hush and then more giggling. They’d wake up the entire floor if we didn’t hurry. I took another step inside and hit the Indiglo light on my watch, cupping my hand over the light. I needed just enough to see if the beds were empty, not so much that it might wake up any roommate.

The beds were empty. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

“Clear,” I whispered. They tiptoed inside with such exaggerated care that I snorted out a laugh. “This isn’t a slapstick movie.”

Jason shut the door behind him and flicked the light on. We blinked at each other for a moment, waiting for our eyes to adjust. The room looked like any other room

—two beds, two desks, two chairs. There was no roommate. There were also no posters on the wal , no books on the shelves, no clothes on the floor.

It was empty.

Wil had only just turned. Half the staff wouldn’t even know about it yet. None of the students would either.

“Okay, that’s weird.” Jenna turned a circle on her heel.

“Are you sure this is the right room?” I asked.

Jason frowned. “Yeah. I came down here to give him back a video game I borrowed at the end of last year. He was already unpacked and everything.”

“So his roommate hadn’t arrived yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“Al right, so maybe they didn’t put anyone in this room because he was in the infirmary and it’d be weird.” I looked under the bed, which was swept clean. “But that doesn’t explain why they’d get al his stuff out before he was even out of quarantine.” I rubbed my arms, suddenly chil ed. “Unless they knew he wouldn’t recover?”

“Educated guess,” Chloe said. “It’s possible. We al know
Hel-Blar
venom is nasty stuff.”

“So what do we do now?” Jason asked, perplexed. “What were you looking for?”

“I’m not even sure,” I admitted. “It’s just that the
Hel-Blar
who got him mysteriously turned to ash. And Wil mysteriously mentioned something about a vitamin. That’s too many mysteries.” I wouldn’t look at Chloe even when she hissed out a disgruntled breath. I went over to the desk and opened al the drawers. “Nothing.”

“Closets are empty,” Jenna confirmed.

I did final y look at Chloe.

She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that?” She was going to be pissed at me for asking. No help for it. “You’ve been hiding your vitamins, haven’t you?”

She frowned. “What?” She backed up a step. “You saw me take one like an hour ago.”

Jenna and Jason watched us as if we were a tennis match.

“Why would she hide vitamins?” Jason wondered.

“Because I’ve been bugging her about them,” I said, not glancing away from Chloe. She shifted from foot to foot. It was her nervous tic so I knew my guess had been right. “So if you were Wil , where would you hide your vitamins in this room?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged.

“Chloe, please. This is important.”

She gave a long, suffering sigh. “Okay, but you have to get off my case.” Not a chance.

She surveyed the room thoughtful y. The first place she looked was the desk drawers, feeling for a false bottom. Nothing. We helped her check under the mattress, but there was nothing there but dust.

“This is stupid,” she muttered.

But I real y felt like we were onto something.

She sat on the edge of the bed and checked under the lip of the night table.

Nothing.

Jenna and Jason were starting to shoot me weird looks.

Chloe lifted the lamp and stuck her finger inside the iron stand. She pul ed out a smal plastic bag with little white pil s.

“Damn,” Jason whistled.

Chloe and I met each other’s grim gaze.

“These don’t look anything like my vitamins,” she said quietly.

Chapter 18

•

Quinn

I hit the ground just as the stake sliced past me. I grabbed for Nicholas’s ankle and he slammed into the dirt, kicking me off before he’d even landed. The second stake landed in a wil ow tree. The
Hel-Blar
paused. Lucy didn’t move.

“Lucy!” Nicholas was back on his feet before I could grab him again. I went for the nearest
Hel-Blar
, cracking my fist across his face, taking care not to get too close to his mouth. His answering punch nearly dislocated my shoulder.

So the
Hel-Blar
from earlier tonight had been tired because Solange had been kicking their asses.

Smal consolation.

I broke a kneecap and used my last stake until there was dust on my boots.

Nicholas flipped into the air, somersaulting over an attacking
Hel-Blar
, and landed in the river, blood-tinted water arcing up around him and splashing us. A human wouldn’t have noticed it in the darkness but it had the rest of us distracted, thirsty.

One of the
Hel-Blar
licked his lips, studded with puncture marks from his fangs.

And then the frenzy hit.

The hissing was nearly loud enough to ripple the surface of the slow-moving river.

Lucy became the focus of such gut-burning hunger, I wondered why it didn’t wake her up. She stil wasn’t moving. I didn’t know how badly she was hurt. And there wasn’t time to wonder about it. I ran downstream and leaped over the water, coming back around to block access to Lucy from the other side. Solange, Nicholas, and I formed a ring around her, like petals to her blood-soaked center. Then Nicholas fel to his knees, shouting her name. She stirred once, faintly.

“Incoming!” I yel ed at him. He knew better than to stay there, distracted and vulnerable. He final y rose to his feet, his eyes searing hot enough to have one
Hel-Blar
stumbling in his tracks. The rest just laughed.

“If she’s dead, you’re dead,” he promised darkly. He smiled. “Wait, you’re dead anyway.”

I’d worry about that smile later. Right now I had two crazed siblings to deal with.

And no more stakes.

“Shit, give me your pack,” I said to Nicholas. He tossed it to me over Lucy’s body.

Solange looked at her and bit back a sob. Her fangs elongated farther until I thought they’d fal right out of her head. Her flying roundhouse cracked a
Hel-Blar
neck. The woman fel , snarling, facefirst into the water. Solange turned her over and staked her in one move. There was blood on her clothes and I wasn’t sure how much was hers, Lucy’s, or various
Hel-Blar
s’.

This was turning into a hel of a night.

To human eyes, the fight probably looked quick, colors smearing with the speed of our movements. Inside the fight, it felt like forever. Lucy needed help and she needed it now.

Try tel ing that to the
Hel-Blar
currently trying to chew on my face.

“Ow, son of a bitch!” He’d nearly taken a fang off. I hated to admit it but I’d been fighting vampires al night and dawn wasn’t far off. It was taking its tol . I kicked, I punched, I staked. The thick
Hel-Blar
ashes resembled a mist on the river. Solange took a blow to the kneecap and stumbled, going down. She flipped to her feet before either Nicholas or I could reach her. The last two
Hel-Blar
ran, scuttling off between the trees. Nicholas scooped Lucy up into his arms, pink water dripping from her hair.