Night World 1 (28 page)

W
hat happened then was interesting. Mary-Lynnette got to see the sisters do all the things she'd missed earlier in the clearing. All the hissing and the clawed fingers. Just like the movies.

Except that when a vampire hissed, it sounded
real.
Like a cat, not like a person imitating a cat. All three girls jumped up and stood ready to fight.

There wasn't any weird grimacing. But Jade and Kestrel were showing teeth that were long and beautifully curved, coming to delicate feline points that indented the lower lip.

And something else. Their eyes changed. Jade's silvery-green eyes went even more silvery. Kestrel's golden eyes looked jewel-yellow, like a hawk's. Even Rowan's eyes had a dark light in them.

“Oh, boy,” Mark whispered. He was standing beside Jade, staring from her to Ash.

Ash said, “Hi.”

Don't look at him, Mary-Lynnette told herself. Her heart was pounding wildly and her knees were trembling. The attraction of particle to antiparticle, she thought, remembering a line from last year's physics class. But there was another, shorter name for it, and no matter what she said to herself, she couldn't keep it out of her mind.

Soulmates.

Oh, God, I really don't want this. Please,
please,
I didn't ask for this. I want to discover a supernova and study mini-quasars at the Gamma Ray Observatory. I want to be the one who solves the mystery of where all the dark matter in the universe is.

I don't want this.

It should have happened to someone like Bunny Marten, someone who spent time
longing
for romance. The only thing Mary-Lynnette longed for was somebody to understand…

…
to understand the night with you,
a distant part of her mind whispered.

And instead here she was, stuck with a guy whose own sisters were terrified of him.

It was true. That was why they were standing poised to fight, making threatening noises. Even
Kestrel
was afraid of him.

The moment Mary-Lynnette realized that, anger washed out the trembling dismay inside her. Whatever she felt about Ash, she wasn't afraid of him.

“Don't you ever
knock
?” she said and walked toward him.
Strode
toward him.

She had to hand it to her new family. Both Jade and Kestrel tried to grab her and keep her from getting close to their brother. Protecting her. Mary-Lynnette shook them off.

Ash eyed her warily.

“Oh. You,” he said. Unenthusiastically.

“What are you doing here?”

“It's my uncle's house.”

“It's your aunt's house and you weren't invited.”

Ash looked at his sisters. Mary-Lynnette could just see little wheels turning in his head. Had they already told about the Night World or not? Of course, if they hadn't, their behavior should be giving somebody a clue. Most human girls didn't hiss.

Ash held one finger up. “Okay. Now, listen—”

Mary-Lynnette kicked him in the shins. She knew it was inappropriate, she knew it was uncalled-for, but she couldn't stop herself. She just
had
to.

“Oh, for God's sake,” Ash said, hopping backward. “Are you
crazy
?”

“Yes, she is,” Mark said, abandoning Jade and hurrying forward to take Mary-Lynnette's arm. “Everybody knows she's crazy. She can't help it.” He backed up, pulling. He was looking at Mary-Lynnette as if she'd taken all her clothes off and started to dance the mambo.

So were Kestrel and Jade. Their eyes had gone ordinary, their teeth retracted. They'd never seen anyone treat their brother quite this way. And to have a
human
doing it…

If the girls had superhuman strength, Ash was undoubtedly even stronger. He could probably flatten Mary-Lynnette with one blow.

She
still
couldn't help it. She wasn't afraid of him, only of herself and the stupid floating feeling in her stomach. The way her legs wanted to fold under her.

“Will somebody just tell her not to do that anymore?” Ash was saying.

Kestrel and Jade looked sideways at Mary-Lynnette. Mary-Lynnette shrugged at them, her breath coming quickly.

She saw that Rowan was looking at her, too, but not in the same dumbfounded way. Rowan looked worried and surprised and sorry.

“You've met,” she said.

“I should have told you,” Mary-Lynnette said. “He came to our house. He was asking my stepmother about you and your friends—saying that he needed to approve them because he was head of the family.”

All three girls looked at Ash with narrowed eyes.

“So you
have
been around,” Kestrel said. “For how long?”

Rowan said quietly, “What are you really doing here?”

Ash let go of his shin. “Can we all sit down and talk about this like reasonable people?”

Everyone looked at Mary-Lynnette. She took a deep, calming breath. She still felt as if her entire skin was electrified, but her heart was slowing down. “Yes,” she said and worked at looking normal so they'd know her temporary insanity was over.

As he helped her to the couch, Mark whispered, “I have to tell you, I've never seen you act so immature before. I'm proud of you.”

Even big sisters have to have some off time, Mary-Lynnette thought. She patted him vaguely and sat, feeling tired.

Ash settled in a plush-covered chair. Rowan and Kestrel sat beside Mary-Lynnette. Mark and Jade shared an ottoman.

“All right,” Ash said. “Now can we first introduce ourselves? I presume that's your brother.”

“Mark,” Mary-Lynnette said. “Mark, that's Ash.”

Mark nodded. He and Jade were holding hands. Mary-Lynnette saw Ash's eyes drop to their intertwined fingers. She couldn't tell anything from his expression.

“Okay. Now.” Ash looked at Rowan. “I'm here to take you back home, where everyone misses you violently.”

Jade breathed, “Give me a break.”

Kestrel said, “What if we don't want to be taken?” and showed her teeth briefly. Mary-Lynnette didn't find that strange. What she found strange was that Ash didn't return the smile. He didn't look lazy or sardonic or smug right then. He looked like somebody who wants to get a job over with.

Rowan said, “We can't go home, Ash.” Her breathing was slightly irregular, but her chin was high.

“Well, you have to come home. Because otherwise there are going to be some fairly drastic consequences.”

“We knew that when we left,” Jade said, with as little emotion as Rowan. Her chin was high, too.

“Well, I don't think you've really thought it
through.
” Ash's voice had an edge.

“We'd rather die than go back,” Jade said.

Kestrel glanced at her quickly, one eyebrow raised.

“Oh, well, fine, I'll just make a note of that,” Ash said tightly. Then his expression darkened. He looked more determined than Mary-Lynnette would have thought he
could
look. Not in the least like a big blond cat. Like a lanky, elegant pale tiger.

“Now, listen,” he said. “There are a few small things that you don't understand, and I don't have any time to play games. So how about we send your little friends home and then we can all have a family talk.”

Mary-Lynnette's hands clenched into fists.

Mark clutched at Jade, who pushed him away slightly with her elbow. She was frowning. “I think maybe you'd better,” she said.

“I'm not going to leave you.”

Rowan bit her lip. “Mark…”

“I'm not
going.
Don't try to protect me. He's not stupid; sooner or later he's going to find out that we know about the Night World.”

Rowan drew in her breath involuntarily. Kestrel's expression never changed, but her muscles tensed as if for a fight. Jade's eyes went silver. Mary-Lynnette sat very still.

They all looked at Ash. Ash looked heavenward.

“I know you know,” he said with deadly patience. “I'm trying to get you out, you poor sap, before I find out how
much
you know.”

The sisters stared. Mary-Lynnette opened her mouth and then shut it again.

“I thought you didn't like humans,” Mark said.

“I don't; I hate them,” Ash said with brittle cheer.

“Then why would you want to cut me a break?”

“Because if I kill you, I have to kill your sister,” Ash informed him, with a smile that would have fit in perfectly at the Mad Hatter's tea party.

“So what; she kicked you.”

Ash stopped tossing answers back like footballs. “Yeah, well, I may change my mind any minute.”

“No,
wait,
” Jade said. She was sitting with legs folded under her, staring at her brother fiercely. “This is just too weird. Why would you care what happens to a human?”

Ash didn't say anything. He looked at the fireplace bitterly.

It was Rowan who said softly, “Because they're soulmates.”

An instant of silence, then everybody started talking explosively.

“They're what? You mean, like what Jade and I are?”

“Oh, Ash, this is rich. I just wish our father were here to see this.”

“It is
not my fault,
” Mary-Lynnette said. She found everyone turning toward her, and realized that her eyes were full.

Rowan leaned across Kestrel to put her hand on Mary-Lynnette's arm.

“You mean it's really true?” Mark said, looking from Mary-Lynnette to Ash.

“It's true. I guess. I don't know what it's supposed to be like,” Mary-Lynnette said, concentrating on making the tears go away.

“It's true,” Ash said moodily. “It doesn't mean we're going to
do
anything about it.”

“Oh, you've got
that
right,” Mary-Lynnette said. She was glad to be angry again.

“So let's all just pick up our toys and go home,” Ash said in the general direction of his sisters. “We'll forget all about this; we'll just agree that it never happened.”

Rowan was watching him, shaking her head slightly. There were tears in her eyes, but she was smiling.

“I never thought I'd hear you say something like that,” she said. “You've changed so much—I can't believe it.”

“I can't believe it, either,” Ash said bleakly. “Maybe it's a dream.”

“But you have to admit now that humans aren't vermin. You couldn't be soulmates with vermin.”

“Yes. Fine. Humans are terrific. We all agree; now let's go home.”

“When we were kids, you were like this,” Rowan said. “Before you started acting like you were better than everyone. I always knew a lot of that was just show. To hide how scared you were. And I always knew you didn't really believe a lot of the horrible stuff you said. Somewhere inside, you're still that nice little kid, Ash.”

Ash produced his first really
flashing
smile of the evening. “Don't bet on it.”

Mary-Lynnette had listened to all this feeling shakier and shakier. To conceal it, she said to Rowan, “I don't think your aunt thought so.”

Ash sat up. “Hey, where is the old hag, anyway? I need to have a talk with her before we leave.”

This
silence seemed endless.

“Ash…don't you know?” Rowan said.

“Of course he knows. Ten to one, he
did
it,” Kestrel said.

“What is it that I'm supposed to know?” Ash said, with every sign of being about to lose his patience.

“Your aunt's dead,” Mark told him.

“Somebody staked her,” Jade added.

Ash looked around the room. His expression said he suspected it was a practical joke. Oh, God, Mary-Lynnette thought numbly, when he's startled and bewildered like that he looks so young. Vulnerable. Almost human.

“Somebody…murdered…Aunt Opal. That's what you're telling me?”

“Are you telling
us
that you don't know?” Kestrel asked. “What have you been
doing
all night, Ash?”

“Banging my head against a rock,” Ash said. “Then looking for you. When I walked in you were talking about me.”

“And you didn't run across any livestock tonight? Any—let's say—goats?”