Cold as Ice (5 page)

Finally, she admitted, “I wouldn’t mind getting to know them. I don’t want to live with them and their mother, though. That would just be awkward
for all of us, I think. And I’m fine with living here . . . I like it here.
”

Benjamin flashed her a toothy grin. “I’m glad that you’re agreeing to this, Alexandria. It will mean a lot to them.”

Lexi smiled back. “It means a lot to me, too.” Really, it meant a lot to her to know that she wasn’t disappointing her father for once.

Chapter 7

“Vampires always know where their offspring are. Also, the more frequently a vampire sees his or her offspring, the more in touch they
become
with their whereabouts,” Veronica Hart said, her heels clicking against the tiled floor as she paced in front of the Vampire Geography and Tracking class she was teaching. She glared at Lexi. “Right now, for example, I could tell you
where
one of the
vampire
s I’ve turned is and what he i
s doing.”

Lexi rolled her eyes. They were doing a review for their upcoming quiz, but it seemed like the only information Veronica wanted to review was to remind Lexi that she had created Gabe. What Veronica didn’t realize was that she didn’t get under Lexi’s skin anymore, but that was probably because she’d barely had time to think about Gabe’s creator lately.

She knew, just from looking into his eyes, that Gabe still loved her. No matter what happened or didn’t happen between him and Veronica, somewhere deep down, he still had feelings for Lexi. But she wasn’t sure if that was enough.

Even though she knew that he still loved her, Gabe had been acting really distant lately. It almost felt like he was hiding something from her, but she wasn’t sure what it was exactly. It may have been that he had cheated on her with Veronica like she thought, even though he had denied that it had ever happened. But she got the feeling that it was something else—something even more complicated than that, if that was possible.

Gabe hadn’t even told her that he was going to find his mother. Why wouldn’t he tell her that? Was he afraid that she would be upset with him for leaving when she needed him to be at Huntington the most, or did he just not want to risk the possibility that she would want to go with him? Or maybe he was upset that she was spending so much time and energy trying to bring Dan back. Gabe had never liked Dan, even though they were technically supposed to be on the same side as each other.

Just thinking about Dan made Lexi’s stomach twist into knots; she hated to think about where he was or what he was doing right now. Even if he was alive, he could be lying hurt on the cold ground somewhere. If the sun was shining, he might be getting badly burnt again.
There wouldn’t be anyone there to help
soothe his burns.
. . .

She tried to shake the thought away. Maybe once she took the potion and had Belinda’s powers, she would be able to figure out some sort of way to get back inside of the book—or a way to get Dan out of the book
safely
.

The new smartphone that Austin had given her that morning vibrated and, glancing up at Veronica, whose back was turned, she pulled it out of her pocket. There was a new text message from Anna.

Lexi, we’re going to go to the grocery store. I told Austin we shouldn’t, but he really wants caramel. Like he needs it, LOL! It shouldn’t be that risky, though, do you want to come with us?

Lexi hesitated. On the one hand, it would be nice to get away from Huntington for just a few hours, but even with her bat pendant on, she felt like she would be too
exposed out in public. As much as she didn’t want to be afraid of Greg Lawrence, Mary-Kate’s father and the mayor of Briar Creek who had murdered her mother, or Aunt Violet and Uncle Tommy, she
had to admit that she
was
scared of them.

No thanks. I actually have something I need to do here
, Lexi texted back before sliding her phone back into her pocket.

When Lexi glanced back up at the blackboard, Veronica’s cat green eyes pierced through hers. Her red lipstick-covered lips were twisted into a smirk.

*

The library at Huntington was filled with some of the strangest books Lexi had ever seen. There were books about werewolves, ghouls, goblins, trolls, and even fairies (who knew that faeries really existed?) in addition to the shelves of vampire books. It took her a while to find the two books that she was looking for, but they glared at her from the shelf that they were resting on, side by side, as though they were just waiting for her to pick them up.

She plopped down on one of the cushioned chairs that sat around a round table and began flipping through the pages of the first book, which was titled:
Witchcraft: Then and Now
.

The beginning of the book reminded her of one of the history books that she’d had at her old high school in New Jersey. There was a long section about the history of witchcraft, as well as an overview of the Salem witch trials. Once she got further into the book, there was information about the incantations that witches practiced.

Her eyes lingered on one of the incantations; it was an incantation to keep vampires away, and it consisted of many of the same ingredients that she’d heard Belinda mention when she’d used an incantation to create the bat pendant that Lexi now wore around her neck. Grabbing her notebook from her bag, she scribbled the incantation down, just in case she didn’t remember i
t once she did drink the potion
. Although Belinda had mentioned that she wouldn’t need spells at all once she possessed
her
powers, she figured it was better to be on the safe side.

Lexi continued flipping through the book, making note of any interesting spells that she might later deem useful. Many of the spells were love potions, though, and she knew she would never use something like that. It just didn’t seem ethical to force someone to fall in love with you and if Belinda was right, she’d never have to worry about it, anyway. She had a vampire soul mate; she just didn’t know
who he was
or if she had even met him
yet.

“Hey there, stranger.”

Lexi glanced up just as Craig sat down across from her. Motioning to the pile of books in front of her
, he asked, “
Find any interesting books to read
?”

She smiled. “I guess you could say that. Just doing some research.” She pushed the books to the side, hoping that he wouldn’t ask her any questions about what the books were about. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you might want to hang out sometime later,” Craig said. His eyes were filled with a look of hopefulness that made her stomach drop because she knew that what she was about to say next was necessary.

“Craig, if you want to hang out, we can. But you should know that I’m not looking for a relationship with you. I just want to be on my own right now,” Lexi told him. At least she was partially telling the truth. A relationship wasn’t on the top of her to-do list; finding Dan was.

Craig’s face fell, which made Lexi feel guilty. She probably had been sending him all sorts of
mixed signals, but then again, she was confused herself. The last time she’d spent any time with him before she’d traveled back in time, she’d thought that he could have been the one for her.

Now, she wasn’t really sure who fate was going to land her with, but she was fairly certain it wasn’t him.

“I understand,” Craig replied coolly, shrugging his broad shoulders. “I just thought we could hang out as just friends. Maybe watch a movie and have some popcorn. Would that be innocent enough for you?”

Lexi laughed. “Yes, it would be innocent enough for me.” She paused before adding, “I’ll be at your dorm room around eight?”

“Sounds good,” Craig replied, standing up and eyeing the books on the table. “I hope you find out all you need through your research.”

“Thanks,” Lexi muttered. She watched as he exited the library, glancing over his shoulder at her as he strolled out of the open door, before she opened the second book that she had lying on the
table. This one was called
Immortal: An Exploration of Life and Death
.

The first page explained the concept of immortality—nothing that Lexi didn’t already know. It gave an overview of all of the scientific studies for and against an immortal lifespan, pointing out why many mortals are skeptical of the idea that one could survive until the end of time.

When she got to the second page, Lexi found exactly what she was looking for.
Signs of Immortality
. It was all there in a numbered list:

1. The inability to die. Immortals often find themselves in situations that should lead to death, but don’t. One immortal, John Chisholm VI, survived being hit by an oncoming train that should have killed him. Another immortal (name unknown) was able to survive
while
trapped in a car with no food or water for nearly four months in Canada.

2. An unchanging physical appearance. Since immortals do not die from natural causes, such as old age, they do not have any changes in their physical appearance over time. If an immortal is born that way, they will reach the age of eighteen before the aging process stops. Immortals who become that way later in life, such as through a spell, curse, or incantation, will not change in appearance past the age in which they were changed. If they are forty-five years old at the time
in which they are changed, their appearance will never change past the age of forty-five, for example.

3. A lack of pulse. The heart stops beating when a person assumes a life of immortality.
A
n immortal will be unable to find a pulse or heartbeat
immediately after becoming an Immortal one
.

Lexi breathed a sigh of relief; she had the answer she was looking for now. She had been wondering if she would feel any different once she drank the potion that would make her an immortal, or if she would simply have to wait to see if she
would die
to know for sure that she was no longer a mortal. It was relieving to know that there was a way to check for sure, though.

Now there was a decision she had to make that she wasn’t truly prepared for: when should she drink the potion?

Chapter 8

As Lexi knocked on the door of Craig’s dorm room that night, she glanced around the empty hallway nervously, hoping that no one would walk by and see her. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been in his dorm room before. The last time, it had been on a more intimate level, too. But it still felt wrong—probably because he was her professor.
Was this against the school’s rules? All of her anxieties were taken away when Craig flung open the door.

“Lexi!” Craig smiled warmly at her. “Come on in.”

She went inside his room and glanced around; it looked the same exact way it had the last time she’d been inside. Nothing had changed . . . except for her feelings for him.

“Do you want to watch Jurassic Park or Mrs. Doubtfire?” Craig asked, holding up two DVDs for her to choose from.

Lexi raised her eyebrows. “How very old school of you,” she laughed.

Craig shrugged. “They were my two favorite movies when I was a kid. So, pick one.”

Opting for Mrs. Doubtfire, Lexi sat down on his bed and waited for him to turn the DVD on.

Once the previews were rolling on the flat screen TV, Craig turned to her. “So, what’s going on with this Dan guy?”

“He’s stuck back in the 1800s,” Lexi replied with a sigh. “I don’t know what to do to get him back. I’m hoping that once I drink the potion and I have my powers, I’ll be able to save him.”

“Powers?” Craig raised a bushy eyebrow at her.

Realizing that she had said too much, Lexi cupped her mouth with her hand. She hesitated. “I haven’t told
many anyone
yet, so promise you won’t say anything to anyone?”
That wasn’t completely true—she had told Anna and Austin, but what Craig didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt him. She wasn’t even sure if Belinda would have approved of her telling her friends, but she trusted Craig.

“Of course not,” Craig replied, shaking his head. “I’m your friend, Lexi. You can trust me
with anything,
no matter what
it is
.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, Belinda—the witch—is giving me her powers. Once I become an immortal, I’ll also be a witch.”

“I see.” Craig’s face clouded over with a look that Lexi couldn’t identify. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

Lexi nodded. “I-I don’t think I have much of a choice. It’s that or let the whole town of Briar Creek stalk me down for the rest of my life. I definitely don’t want that.”

Craig stared at her intently for a moment before looking away. “As long as you feel that you’re doing what’s best for you.”

“I do,” Lexi replied
quietly
, trying not to sound like she was snapping at him. “Let’s watch the movie.”

As Craig darkened the lights and they each stared into the television screen, she couldn’t help but notice the strange tension that had crept in the room. Deciding to ignore it, she focused her attention on the movie, which only made her wish that she could have a normal, human life. It was only going to be less human than it already was soon.

*

When she got back to her own dorm room that night, Lexi was fully prepared to go to sleep. She and Craig had watched the movie in complete
awkward
silence, and now she just wanted to
curl up under her covers
. Once she was in the hallway outside of Anna’s dorm room, though, she knew that wasn’t going to be a possibility.

Anna’s high-pitched giggling drifted into the hallway, and Austin laughed loudly—and obnoxiously. Lexi rolled her eyes as she opened the door.

Once she was inside, their laughter didn’t stop. In fact, it escalated after they glanced over at her and Austin went back to tickling Anna.

“Guys, I don’t think now’s the right time—” Lexi started to say, but she trailed off when both Austin and Anna ignored her. It was as though they were the only ones in the room; it made her feel annoyed that she was being ignored.

How could they even continue to laugh and have fun at a time like this? That was the only thing Lexi could think of as she climbed into bed. Pulling her comforter over her head, she wished that Dan would come back home.

She sighed when nothing happened. Not that she had been expecting anything
more
.

Lexi decided that it was time. First thing tomorrow morning, she was going to drink the potion. It might be the only way she could save Dan—if it was even possible, at this point.

*

The water flowed fluidly around Lexi and Dan, as he moved in closer to her. She could feel his breath against her neck, and he kept his eyes locked on her lips.

Inching closer to him, Lexi tilted her chin. The butterflies swarmed around
inside
her stomach, and a shiver ran down her spine. Her lips came down on his, just as he pulled away from her.

“Lexi, wake up,” he told her.

“What?” Lexi asked, her mind feeling sort of foggy. She figured that it was just because she was captivated by him.

“Wake up,” he said again
.

This time, Lexi cracked open one of her eyes.

Anna was standing next to her, shak
ing her arm roughly.

“What’s going on?” Lexi asked groggily, rubbing her eyes. It took her a moment to realize that she had only been dreaming about being in the river alongside Belinda’s house with Dan. He hadn’t actually found his way back from the past yet.

“We need to hide,” Anna whispered.

Bringing herself to a conscious level of being awake, Lexi realized the fire alarm was blaring in the hallway.

“What’s going on?” she asked,
bolting
up in bed
, her heart rapidly pounding inside her chest
.

“They’re here,” Anna told her quietly. She didn’t even have to say who ‘they’ were because Lexi already knew; Greg Lawrence, Aunt Violet, Uncle Tommy, and possibly other vampires from Briar Creek were at Huntington High. That meant that they probably
had found out
that Lexi was here, too.

Holy shit
, she thought, as she climbed out of bed and followed Anna, who was climbing i
nto the walk-in closet.

“Why are we hiding from them?” Lexi whispered. “Aren’t we supposed to be vampire hunters? We should be vampire hunting.”

“We need to make sure they’re not in the school before we do anything,” Anna replied. “The school has a protocol for what to do when there’s a massive vampire attack.” She paused. “I don’t know how many of them there are, but there’s obviously enough for them to sound an alarm.”

Lexi held her breath. “Do you think they’re in the school?”

Anna shook her head. “No, there’s a different alarm for that. I’ve never heard it before
except during our practice drills, but . . . I think they must be
outside still. Besides, they’re going to have a hard time getting past the
guards.”

Lexi nodded, remembering that there were werewolf security guards who manned the school to make sure that no one suspicious got on campus. She knew that the werewolves were really strong, but what if the vampires brought silver bullets or whatever else could kill a werewolf with them? She didn’t even want to think about that possibility.

Anna pulled a bag out of her closet and handed something to Lexi. It took her a moment to realize it was a stake. She didn’t have to question Anna about it; if one of the vampires came near her, she was going to have to use it. Luckily, she had done pretty well in Stakeology class and her family had a history of vampire hunters, so she felt pretty confident in her ability to kill a vampire by piercing his or her heart.

“All students are to report to the auditorium immediately,” a voice said over the loudspeaker.

Lexi and Anna climbed out of the closet and, meeting up with Austin in the darkened hallway, scampered off in the direction of the auditorium. A swarm of other students followed them, the looks of panic on their faces obvious.

“Why do you think they’re here?” Austin whispered to Lexi and Anna. “Do you think they know?”

Lexi wasn’t sure if he was referring to her being at Huntington High, or if he was talking about the fact that he was still alive (since his parents were still supposed to be clueless about it). After the run-in he’d had with Mayor Lawrence’s friends, he had been panicking about his parents finding out the truth in the near future. Not that it really mattered. They had tried to kill him, after all
, and he was somewhat safe within the boundaries of Huntington High
.

Anna shook her head. “I don’t know. They might know.” Even though she was standing up taller than usual lately, Lexi couldn’t help but notice that she, too, looked more nervous than she normally did. It was obvious that she was just pretending to be strong—whether it was for Austin’s benefit or her own, Lexi didn’t know.

Wrapping her arms around herself to try to keep warm, Lexi noticed that goose bumps had shot up all over her skin. The auditorium was mostly empty, so they sat in the front and watched as the
rest of it filled up with students and teachers
.

And just as suddenly as the alarm had blared through
the school’s walls, it was quieted.