Tainted Blood (44 page)

He was so very wrong. Judging by his nervous smile and the expression on Amber’s face; I was
very
interested in that book.

“What was that book?” I asked Amber quietly.

She blinked and focused on me. “Nothing to concern yourself with.”

I didn’t believe her.

Carter and I gathered our backpacks, and I considered pulling Oliver’s sweatshirt out so I could smell it, but I could just imagine the look on Carter’s face, so I didn’t.

Amber walked us out to the main classroom, bid us good night, then headed down the opposite hallway to her “chambers” as she would say.

As Carter and I had followed Amber toward the main classroom, we’d noticed a partially opened door halfway through the hall. The room held dozens of monitors surveyed by a couple of vampires. We exchanged a look, and it was one of the many things we rambled about as we got into my car and headed home.

We also compared demon info. Even though we’d both read the same section, we had different takes on it. Once we were done comparing, I asked about Amber’s place. Since Carter is a guy, he didn’t have much to tell me except that it was clean and smelled of vanilla.

After that, we chatted about the security room in the hallway again, and traded theories and concerns. By the glimpse we’d gotten of those monitors, it was clear that there were cameras almost everywhere. We agreed that we’d always feel like there were eyes on us no matter where we went outside our home.

Chapter
24 - A Traitor amongst Us

I missed Oliver so much. It was awful waiting for him to get out of solitary confinement. I wasn’t even sure what solitary confinement meant, but I knew I definitely didn’t enjoy the idea of him stuffed in a hole by himself somewhere.

Missing him so terribly and being so worried if he was okay—if he’d be okay, if we would be okay—and if he would be back soon or at all, made it hard to get out of bed. It also made it hard to sleep, especially when thoughts of what might have happened between him and Avery played through my mind. It was a real Catch-22. But I pulled myself out of bed on this particular morning because it was raining, and Carter was begging for a ride. In hindsight I should’ve just given him my car keys and stayed in be
d
—
te
rrible thoughts and all.

I forced myself to get ready for the day, pulling my hair into a ponytail and slapping on some rumpled clothes. Through the pouring rain, we hurried to my car and then headed to the college. Both of us were dreading bio and especially dealing with Ashton and Avery. Me more so than Carter, considering I had to sit right next to the sleazy, conniving, dirtbag that was Ashton. Plus, I wasn’t sure how I would react to seeing Avery. Would I lose it and jump her or would I be able to control myself and pretend she didn’t exist? Guess we’d find out because surprisingly, I was heading to class.

Rain poured down on Carter and me, along with the rest of the student body, as we ran to our classes. I was wet and cold when we reached bio, but I was relieved to discover that Ashton and Avery were both missing. Their seats were empty and my day brightened—if that were even possible considering the gloom outside and in my heart.

Carter and I took our seats with a whole new attitude, and I even laughed at something silly he said. All that faded as the clock ticked forward and the Weslins entered the room followed by Professor Morgan who closed the door behind himself and promptly began speaking to the class.

Ashton strutted toward our shared table, and I glared down at my hands resting on the desk in front of me. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do this, to make it through the entire class beside him. Ashton took his seat on the stool next to mine and scooted his closer. I didn’t move, didn’t even shift my eyes. I sat there silently as the overwhelmingly, rank smell of cologne filled my nostrils.

Ashton leaned even closer and I grew sick to my stomach as he began to whisper to me. “My parents seem to think your boyfriend…ex-boyfriend?” I flinched inside. “Doesn’t matter, they seem to think he’s a very nice and polite young man.”

That hurt. I closed my eyes. This was a low blow even for Ashton. He’d seen how badly this Avery/Oliver—it made me sick to put their names together—thing had hurt me and he was salting the wound. And he was enjoying it.

“My parents,” he continued to whisper very close to my bare ear, “might have been fooled by your…
ex
-boyfriend’s nice guy show, but I’m not.” I could feel his warm breath on my neck. He was too close. Way too close. I felt my body start to tremble with anger. “I know his secret,” he continued and my eyes snapped open, my stomach hitting the floor. “I know how to end him, Laney.”

I quickly turned to him and glared. “And I know how to end you,” I growled. I grabbed my backpack and I left.

“We all have secrets, Laney. I’ll keep yours,” he called after me.

Professor Morgan paused in mid-sentence. He watched me as I made my way to the front of the class and I fixed my stare on the floor hoping he wouldn’t speak to me. Avery said something as I passed her though, and I stopped cold.

“Your boyfriend left his sunglasses in my car,” she said in her usual, fake, sugary-sweet voice.

It felt like my blood was literally boiling inside my body. I wanted to hurt her but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself once I started.

After a deep breath, I walked away. I sat in my car and pulled Oliver’s hoodie out of my bag. He didn’t do this on purpose, I reminded myself. He didn’t hurt me on purpose. I held the sweatshirt to my face, breathed deep, then screamed into it at the top of my lungs.

The rain had stopped, for the moment, and I found myself standing at the gates of the cemetery. The constant pit of pain from missing Lilly felt even more raw without Oliver. He was my light in the darkness that I was continuously trying to keep at bay.

I followed the path that led to my aunt’s plot, noticing that many of the headstones had flowers on or beside them. I felt guilty for not bringing Lilly flowers. I stuffed my cold hands into the front pockets of Oliver’s sweatshirt. I’d put the hoodie on before I entered the cemetery. It was the only item I had of his, that smelled like him, and I wanted it wrapped as closely around me as possible. It was baggy and soft, and it was as close as I could get to the real thing at the moment.

I trudged onward into the heart of the cemetery and found Lilly’s grave, the bench beside the tree empty. A small part of me had hoped that Phen would be there, but the rest of me knew he wouldn’t be. That poor kid was probably locked up at Brookehaven too.

The ground was too wet to sit on so I sat on the cold, damp, marble bench that I’d shared with Phen. I leaned back against the tree and pulled my knees to my chest, wrapping the hoodie over them, and hugged them with my hands tucked into the sleeves of the sweatshirt.

“I miss you, Lilly,” I whispered. Tears worked their way to the surface and blurred my vision. I brushed them away with the sleeve of Oliver’s sweatshirt and wondered if he was okay.

I sat there for a long while, in the cold, with drops of leftover rain dripping on me from the tree branches above, thinking about the past couple of months and the events that had led up to that very moment. There were many things that I wished I could change, and many things that I wouldn’t change for the world.

I suddenly heard the faint sound of a man’s voice. I scanned the cemetery from where I huddled on the bench and spied a man several headstones away. He didn’t look like a threat, but I’d been a poor judge of that in the past.

The man was standing in front of a headstone with a travel mug in his hand. I could see the steam of his drink escaping through the hole at the mouth of the mug. He was wearing work boots, jeans, and a plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up partway, just like I’d often noticed Felix do with his button front shirts. His outfit was completed by a puffy blue vest and a trucker’s hat.

I could just make out his faint words. “The kids miss you,” he said in a strained voice, and it tugged at my heart. He continued to speak, telling the headstone things about his two kids, his work, and some things about a garden he and the kids had planted the previous spring. Then he fell silent. From my hidden spot beside the magnolia tree, I watched him as his shoulders began to shake and he choked out, “I miss you so much, honey.” My heart ached for this poor man who was obviously raising his young children without their mother.

It made me think of my own father, and how much he must miss my mom. If my father was a vampire, like I half suspected (okay, maybe more than half suspected), that meant that he would have bonded with my mother, and if what Oliver had told me was accurate, most vampire mates do not do well after their mate passes. So my father was possibly crazy or dying. But that didn’t make sense. My mother died seventeen years ago, and if vampires don’t make it long after their mate dies…

What if my dad wasn’t the vampire? What if my mom was a vampire, or had been? I didn’t doubt that she was gone; the ghost of her had been too convincing, and although every part of me wished she was still alive I knew that she wasn’t.

Watching this man talk to his deceased wife also made me wonder if my father ever visited my mother’s grave, and then I wondered where my mother was buried because if I knew, I’d visit her.

I cleared my head of the mess of thoughts that I was trying to sort and watched the man, who had just unknowingly spilled his heartache to me, leave the cemetery.
I was alone again, so it appeared, with hundreds of headstones. It was suddenly eerie and I decided to go. I kissed my fingers and placed them on the beautiful headstone that Felix had picked out for my aunt, whispered that I loved her, and headed home.

The sky burst open as I was driving. It was a nasty day and I was in a nasty mood as I marched up the steps to my apartment. Things didn’t get less frustrating as I stepped inside. Kiera was there, and she’d finished boxing up her portion of our residence.

“Hey, Laney!” she called over a new stack of wedding magazines. “Come sit with me! I want to show you a couple things.”

Dammit.
I forced a smile and kicked off my wet shoes and pulled off my damp socks. Then I took a seat beside her at the dining table.

She showed me more than a couple of things. I think there were about six wedding dresses that she was interested in, at least five different pairs of shoes, and probably ten different bridesmaid dresses. She also pointed out several different flower arrangement and cake ideas, and I reminded myself, once again, that if I ever got married it was going to be flip-flops and jeans. Maybe some cupcakes.

“So,” she said, “what do you think?”

What do I think? I think my head might explode. “I’m sorry, Kiera. I just can’t do this right now.” As I stood I saw her face fall. She had that sad little pixie pout and everything. I exhaled loudly. “Fine,” I said. “I like that cake and those flowers.” I pointed to two totally random pictures on a page and hoped they were actually flowers and cake.

Her smile returned “Really? I was leaning more toward these flowers, here.” She pointed at a picture and then seemed to get lost in the slick pages so I left the room. I quietly closed my bedroom door hoping she wouldn’t notice I was gone, and I slipped on a dry pair of socks and shoes. I decided I was going to try to get in some extra paranormal studies. I still wanted to check out the section on angels and find out what that other thing was.

Kiera didn’t make much of a fuss when I left; she was too engrossed in her wedding planning. Zoey was on her way to pick Kiera up anyway. They had plans to hang out and I recalled something about a test Kiera was helping Zoey with or
vice versa
; I couldn’t really remember nor did I care. I did know that Kiera was bound to whip those magazines out once she was at Zoey’s, and I was sure Zoey would actually enjoy helping. Maybe if my life wasn’t so upside down at the moment I may have too, but I just didn’t have it in me.

Students dashed to their cars, covering their heads with jackets and umbrellas, as I pulled into the university parking lot. Gray storm clouds raced across the darkening sky and they dropped big, heavy raindrops onto the earth. As if that weren’t enough, the wind was blowing something fierce, smacking me in the face with my own ponytail liked I’d ticked it off or something. Then the wind hit me so hard I had to steady myself on one of the stone pillars of the hallway as I headed to the English department.

It was a Wednesday evening and the last of the night classes were coming to a close, meaning the last of the students were trickling out of classrooms and heading home or out to the bars, clubs, or whatever party promised to be the rager for the night. I pulled Oliver’s sweatshirt tighter around my shivering body and continued down the dimly lit hallway as students passed by me, chatting excitedly about their prospects for the evening. Studying was what all of us should have been focusing on, considering midterms were quickly approaching. But even bookworm Kiera was distracted by her wedding details.

A brilliant stab of lightning rippled across the sky, lighting up the campus for a brief moment as I headed for Professor Amber’s chambers. I was excited to talk to Amber about paranormal studies and what options lay open to me in that department. And I wanted a few more minutes alone with our textbook:
The Book of Paranormal Knowledge
. For once I was finally excited about school and what lay ahead of me. I could finally see a future. A crack of thunder startled me and I jumped.