Blood and Snow Volumes 1-4: Blood and Snow, Revenant in Training, The Vampire Christopher, Blood Soaked Promises (27 page)

Cindy sat with me at lunch in a different section of the cafeteria. When she asked why we weren’t sitting with the guys, I told her it was so I could concentrate on learning how to text. Another reason was I didn’t want to see Cindy and Gabe together. At the moment, Cindy was my only friend and I didn’t want to be mad at her too.

She’d obviously given the guys my cell number though because I recognized their numbers. They called and texted throughout the day, but I ignored them, deleting their messages and texts without reading or listening.

You’re acting like a baby, my inner voice scolded.

I knew that was true, but I didn’t want anymore of the drama. I couldn’t be what they wanted.
Me. Klutzy Snow White.
I wasn’t super smart, nor was I incredibly pretty, like Cindy. I was average.

You are so much more than that, a male voice whispered in my mind. It sounded like Christopher, but I shook the thought away. He’d left. Without giving me a reason.

I wanted things to go back to the way they were. Sure people laughed at my clumsiness, made up jokes about me, but I didn’t mind. I knew where I fit in.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Viv asked, interrupting my thoughts. Her eyes appeared sad, as though I hurt her feelings by not eating. 

I glanced at the salad on my plate. Picking up my fork, I stabbed a cucumber, and shoved it in my mouth. “Thanks for dinner,” I said once I swallowed.

“Yes, thanks,” Cindy added. “The cacciatore is delicious.”

My dad grabbed Viv’s hand and squeezed. “You’ve outdone yourself dear.” He kissed her cheek. Then cleared his throat. “Snow, we have some news.”

I was in the process on putting another cucumber in my mouth, and stopped. “You do?” Anxiety twisted in my stomach.

He cleared his throat again. “Your mother and I have to leave for Tahiti tonight, right after dinner. There’s an emergency, and I’ve got to go help out.”

I dropped my fork. “But you just got here. I-I haven’t even had a chance to spend time with you?” I glared at Viv. “And
she
is not my mother.” Grabbing my plate, I pushed back my chair, and placed the plate in the sink.

“Snow,” my dad said, shocked.

Why didn’t he ever ask me to go with him? I could homeschool, or he could get me a tutor.  “Can I come with you?” I asked, working to control my trembling bottom lip.

Cindy gasped. “Don’t leave me.” Tears made her eyes shiny. I hadn’t thought about how my going would affect her, but I had a feeling she’d be fine.

“What about school?” Viv asked.

My dad stood and came over. He placed a hand on either of my shoulders, and I dove into him, hugging him tight. “Dad, I need you. Please take me.” I knew I sounded like a child, but I couldn’t help myself. He was my dad, and all the family I had. I didn’t want him to leave me again. He returned my hug briefly before pushing me back.

I saw the worry in his eyes, and the way his forehead scrunched together. “Snow, I can’t. You have your school here, your life. I won’t take you from the only place you’ve ever known.” His words sounded sincere, but I felt him bristle. He didn’t want me around. I listened to the rapid beating of his heart, smelled the fear overpowering his aftershave. Didn’t he love me anymore? A part of me wanted to shout that my life could be wherever he was, if he would just love me, treat me like his daughter. But I stepped back. My shoulders slumped and I thought I might fall over. Small, warm hands wrapped around my shoulders.

“I’ll take good care of her.” Cindy’s words were filled to brimming with protection, and something else.

Magic, my inner voice whispered.

No way, I thought as the fountain of tears I kept fighting poured out.

I heard Vivianne heave an annoyed sigh. “I guess dinner is over.”

Had I not been so heartbroken I might’ve flashed my fangs, and shown Viv that dinner, at least for me, had just
begun.
Instead, I pulled away from Cindy, and ran upstairs. Gatsby, and Cindy followed.

Chapter 9

C
indy closed the door, and whispered, “Man, your stepmother can be kind of a bitch.”

“I know, right.” I sat on my bed, and pulled my pillow into my arms. A part of me always believed Viv liked Cindy more than me, and I thought Cindy liked Viv. Her relationship with her mom and dad was good, but they were older, and Cindy was their youngest, so her parents didn’t do much by way of relating.

A naughty gleam lit Cindy’s face. “I could cast a spell; cover her face in boils. What do you think?” She sat down next to me, pushing a strand of hair away from my wet cheek.

I laughed. “Might be fun,” I said noncommittally.

She went over and picked up her backpack. After she’d sat again, she unzipped her backpack, and removed a small book. As soon as I saw it, the air in the room changed. It hummed as though alive. The book possessed some serious energy. 

It appeared to be bound by a leather chord. Most of the jacket was covered in a rusty red material. Cindy held it out, and nodded for me to take it.

“What is this?” I asked, feeling hesitant. Creepy, or weird didn’t fully describe the book. Bizarre was close. In the center of the cover was an eye. It looked real, like a lizards. A scaly face, in combination of violets and reds, surrounded the eye. “Can the eye… see me?”

Cindy laughed. “Probably. The book is known as the Eye of Abernathy, the first, and most powerful dragon ever to have lived on Earth.

“A dragon?” I rubbed my thumbs over the edges of the cover, staying clear of the eye.  Soft, sleek, and smooth, like a lizard’s skin. “What’s inside?”

Cindy gave me one of her famous looks. “No duh,” this one said. Out loud, she added, “ Abernathy’s spells. This is the oldest, most powerful book on the planet.”

I snorted. “Really? Why do you have it?” Immediately after the words left my mouth I regretted them.

Hurt, she said, “Harsh.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it the way it came out.” I scooted closer and hit her knee with mine. I didn’t know how to ask her where the book came from or when she got it. Something told me the book was related to the pendant. I was still ignoring that part of my new life, and didn’t want to tell Cindy any of it, so I waited.

Cindy took the book from me, and slowly started turning pages. A sweet stench rose from the pages, like dried flowers. “Remember the other day, when I left school?” Her voice was soft, filled with wonder.

“Yes. You scared me.”

“Sorry.” She looked at me, sorrow on her face.

I smacked her knee with mine again. It was no big deal now that I knew she was safe. “Anyway, my mother’s aunt showed up at school, and said she needed to talk.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, it was weird. She
said
…” her voice trailed off. “Don’t freak out, okay? Promise?”

“How can I freak out if I don’t even know what you’re going to tell me?”

Cindy laughed nervously, and brushed her hair off her neck. “It’s just…” She drew in a deep breath. “You know how I’m a descendent of the Towne sisters?”

“Yeah,” I said slowly.

“Well apparently they really were witches, and powerful.” She crossed her legs.

“I thought we decided if the sisters were real witches they would’ve kicked some serious townspeople butt, and escaped, or at least turned the accusers into frogs.” That was the story Cindy and I told each other since second grade when we first found out she was a descendent. Our teacher, Miss Field taught about the Salem Witch Trials, and the Salem Hysteria in social studies. We knew most of the craziness happened in the town now known as Danvers—not in Salem.

Cindy cleared her throat. “It turns out when the town accused them, the sisters made a pact to fake their own deaths, if necessary, and allow the townspeople to think they died so they could move on, and live their lives elsewhere. My aunt says she believes they may still be alive.”

“Wait, so did they hurt those people? Make them crazy?”

Cindy huffed. “Of course not. They were to important, their magic too special for such trivialities.” The words sounded rehearsed. “The sisters used their magic more subtly, for a greater cause.”

“Oh, okay.” My mind went back to Kenmei’s words. He’d said the pendant never worked for anyone the way it worked for me.

Cindy continued, “The book is passed down to the next closest female descendent in their sixteenth year. So she gave it to me.” Her hand stopped flipping pages, and I read the words across the top.

“Locator spell,” I said aloud.

“Yes, it’s so cool. If you lose anything, even a person, you can use this spell to find it or them.”

For some reason the fact she chose that particular spell made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. What did she hope to find?

The Seal of Gabriel, my inner voice whispered.

“R-Really?” I closed my eyes, and quickly opened them. I certainly didn’t want the responsibility of the necklace, but every cell in my body told me it would be bad, very bad, if Cindy got her hands on it. Tomorrow I’d give it to Professor Pops. Surely there was another Marked who could restore balance, and destroy the Vampire Queen.

“Want to help me give the spell a shot?” Cindy pulled a candle from her backpack.

“Um, yes. Okay,” I said, trying to think of a way to postpone what was about to happen. No part of me doubted her words. I sensed the book’s power. And if she said she could do a spell, I believed her. I wondered briefly if that was what Dorian meant at school earlier. Did the guys know something about the sisters?
About Cindy’s family?
About the Eye of Abernathy?
.

“What should we try to locate?” Cindy asked.

Before I answered, Viv poked her head in. Her eyes zeroed in on the candle, and the spell book simultaneously. “We’re leaving, Snow. You should come down and say good-bye to your father.”

Anger—at her, at my dad, at Professor Pops, and the brothers, at Kenmei, and even Cindy—overwhelmed my body. I felt my canines grow, and without thought I ripped open the door, and grabbed Viv, her neck and shoulder exposed.

Viv gasped.

That’s right, I thought. I’m not some little kid you can push around anymore. As suddenly as I thought the words, darkness began to creep through my mind.

Someone chanted sounds in a strange language. Peace enveloped me, and I closed my eyes.

“Sleep, young one. You’re almost ready.”

Chapter 10

T
he next morning, when I woke, I felt different. Stronger. More relaxed with what I was—a revenant— and nothing more.

Sure my dad left. And, I’d pushed away the people most important to me, namely my seven best friends and their adoptive father, Professor Pops, but I could handle the situation. I just wanted to feel like myself again.
A normal, if klutzy teenager.

Certainly not some Deliverer for the supernatural.
 

The necklace wasn’t created for me. It was made more than seven thousand years ago.

Kenmei’s been alive that long, my inner voice whispered.

No. I refused to believe in a sea of billions the gem was meant for me.

After my shower I put on the usual—jeans and a white t-shirt, along with my Converse, and a black belt.

And even though I refused to wear the Seal of Gabriel, after last night I knew the necklace needed to be kept safe. Reaching behind my lavender dresser, I felt for it, but couldn’t reach. So I pulled the dresser away from the wall. Other than a few dust bunnies, and a pencil, the necklace wasn’t there.

I went over in my mind exactly how I’d thrown it. For sure the chain hit a perfume bottle. I shifted all five of the pretty bottles, their scents permeating the air as I moved them. Then, thinking maybe I was mistaken, I rummaged around in my closet, checked under my bed, in my covers, and behind my window curtains. By the time I finished I was sweaty and still empty handed.