Cold Blood (13 page)

“
Home where?” I asked, trying to keep my mind on the conversation.

“
You said you wanted to go somewhere that got a signal, so you could make a phone call. Here you are, but you’re not on the phone, so I assume nobody’s home.”

“
Oh, right. Yeah, that’s what happened.”

Alex stood directly in front of me now, looking down at me with an amused expression. He’d showered, and I caught the scent of soap and something musky.

“
What are you doing up here anyway?” I asked, hoping to take the attention off of myself.

“
I come up here most nights. It’s a good place to sit and think without interruptions. Unless of course, you’re hoping to be interrupted.” His amusement turned to plain evilness and I already knew where this was going. “By, let’s say, voices on a balcony.”

He sidestepped me and went to the edge, where I’d been standing. He peeked over and then walked back over to me, wearing a mischievous grin. I’d never wanted to punch anyone more. Not even when I’d lost it with Cindy Adams and busted her nose.

“
Quite a show, huh?”

“
I wasn’t spying. I heard something and–”

“
Are you talking about now or the first time you were up here?”

I pulled my jaw shut and glared at him, debating whether to break his nose or kick him in his man-parts again. But I could feel the red heat of humiliation creeping into my face, and I knew it would be better if I made a break for it. I spun on my heel and headed for the door.

I’d gone two steps when I felt a hand on my wrist, pulling me back.

“
Tara.”

“
Let go of me.” I spoke without turning, hoping my tone was scary enough. Apparently it wasn’t. The hand didn’t budge. If anything, it got tighter.

“
I was teasing, you. I’m sorry.”

I was about to let him have it for grabbing me but those two words surprised me more than anything else he could have said. I turned to face him. “What did you say?”

“
I was being an ass. I’m sorry.” The evil smile was gone; I looked really hard for a trace of it, but his apology seemed genuine.

“
Not the first time.” I allowed my voice to soften by a few degrees. “But thanks for the apology.”

“
You can handle it. I knew that the first time I saw you in that warehouse. Whatever people throw at you, you can handle it.”

I didn’t really know what to say. The edge in his voice was gone. He was being friendly, and I wasn’t sure how to deal with that. “Thanks.”

He didn’t respond, just continued to look at me with an openness that left me a little nervous. I felt his hand drop from my wrist, but I didn’t move. He stepped toward me, close enough that I could feel his breath on my face, and I felt my knees tingle. Yeah, of all things, my knees tingled. It was weird enough to clear my head, though, and I stepped back.

“
I should, uh, get back. Before curfew,” I said.

The moment evaporated, and he stepped away, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking unsure. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I nodded and power walked to the door that would take me back down and out of here. I didn’t stop until I reached my room.

Chapter Twelve

It didn’t actually dawn on me until later the next day that I never called Wes. I thought about trying to get away and do it that night, but I was too scared to try in case Alex was there again. I’d seen him at training that afternoon but he’d pretended nothing had happened, and we’d run in silence. I went with it, since I had no idea what to say anyway. Like the day before, he tossed me a water bottle at the end and disappeared into the woods.

I spent the evening with Cambria and Logan, wandering the grounds and making up names for Cambria’s relationship with Phillipe, like Cam-lippe or Phil-bria. I did my best not to think about Miles, or home, or where Victoria could be going for the weekend. I didn’t see Vera again, or Professor Kane, which was good. I was still trying to get the picture of them out of my head.

Victoria left on Thursday, which was nice even if it was a mystery. I got a lot of my extra work done since I was able to spend time in my own room without fear of committing murder. I even managed to send an email to Sam and Angela, detailing my social standing and my class load for each of them, respectively.

I got re-partnered in Defensive Maneuvers, with some kid named Raj, who I could’ve easily beaten in a freestyle – or “street,” as the kids here called it – fight, but since I couldn’t remember the combinations we were supposed to be doing, I kept getting kicked in the shins when I didn’t pivot like I should’ve.

The only good thing that came out of it was that Raj, along with a couple of other kids, came up at lunch and asked if we wanted to go to some bonfire on Saturday. Cambria and Logan seemed to know what he was referring to, and I let them do the talking about time and place and everything. I watched when he sat down again; one of the girls at his table was the one who’d made a nasty comment about “letting mutts into school” on my first day. When she saw me looking, she smiled and waved and then went back to her lunch. All I could do was stare at her suspiciously.

Training on Friday went exactly the same as the rest of the week. We ran until I hated my feet, and then Alex handed me water and went on his way. Like before, he acted as if our rooftop moment hadn’t happened. I didn’t press the issue. It was starting to feel like maybe it hadn’t happened, or maybe I was imagining the fact that he might’ve been about to kiss me. Maybe he’d been about to say something or just hadn’t realized he was standing so close. Whatever. I was determined not to think about it.

After training, I showered and hurried to get dressed. I was due in the library with Logan five minutes ago; we were supposed to start on my Lineage project. It sounded about as much fun as running with Alex. Okay, wait, running was worse. Barely. The Draven was still in my suitcase, buried underneath what was left of my clean pajamas.

I pushed clothing aside and pulled it out, brushing it off with careful fingers, even though it was already clean. Unlike the one Fee had given me, which had been covered in dust and smelled of mothballs, this one had a leather cover that shone with the evidence of regular polishing. It smelled of oil and crisp paper. I tucked it inside my bag and headed for the stairs.

Cambria was coming out of her room as I passed. She fell into step beside me, and I caught a whiff of some fruity smelling perfume. She wore a black lace top over a red tank and jeans with faux rips running over the knees and thighs. Her bangs fell over her eye, in their usual place on her forehead, and the rest of her hair bounced and shone from all the gel.

“
Hot date?” I asked, bumping her with my hip.

“
You think I get dressed up like this for just anyone?” I had to smile because, aside from the extra perfume, this was how Cambria always looked. “You’re in a good mood. What’s up?”

“
Maybe because I am roommate free for the weekend.” I’d already informed Cambria of Victoria’s upcoming absence, but with all the homework and training with Alex, I hadn’t had a chance to tell her about the real reason for Victoria’s trip. Or what little I knew of it.

“
Good point. I’ve been thinking about that, actually.”

“
What?”

“
Well, this could be a good time to get some payback in, find out her weaknesses and all that.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “You mean go through her stuff. No way.”

“
I mean, you can find a way to get back at her.”

I shook my head. “No way. I’m not going down that road.”

“
Oh, so you’re just going to wait for her to piss you off so much that you haul off and break her face? That’ll work out really well.” She rolled her eyes.

I sighed. “Good point.”

We were both quiet until we reached the top of the stairs.

“
What do you want to do?”

“
Yes!” Cambria clapped like she’d won something. “Okay, meeting in your room tomorrow. Before the bonfire. We’ll strategize.”

“
Whatever.” I was pretty sure I already regretted this idea. I shifted my bag higher up on my shoulder and caught sight of the time on the wall clock overhead. “Crap. I gotta meet Logan. You coming?”

“
Eww. Allergic, remember? And I have plans.” She winked and then headed for the lobby.

I turned and went up the stairs, bypassing the cafeteria and walking all the way to the end of the hallway. Large double doors sat propped open on my right, and I hurried in, scanning for Logan. There were a few empty tables near the front, a high counter to my right, and rows and rows of floor to ceiling shelving blocking my view of anything further.

I spotted an older lady behind the counter, so short you almost missed her. She threw me a polite smile and went back to stacking books. Other than that, the place was basically deserted. I scanned the reference signs and headed for the ‘Lineage’ section, passing markers that read ‘Hunter History’ and ‘Weaponry’. Not your typical human library, although there were sections marked Fiction that displayed Harry Potter books on the end caps. Some things transcended race.

The lighting grew dimmer in the back of the stacks, and I found Logan at a table in the corner, between “Lineage” and the “Reference” section.

“
Sorry I’m late,” I said, sliding into a chair and setting my bag on the floor.

He looked up from a massive volume that lay on the table in front of him and waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it. I got caught up.”

It was sort of funny, seeing a tan-skinned, hat-worn-backwards, surfer looking guy with his nose in a book, all alone in a library on a Friday night. Talk about a contradiction. I looked down at his book and he spun it around so I could read the title. “Physics, As It Relates To Battle Technique,” I read. “Wow. Light reading before we get to work?”

“
It’s interesting. You could probably use it to perfect your sparring defense. Not get kicked in the shins so much.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Yeah, if it was in English. Two words in and I feel like I’m reading Russian or something.”

Logan shook his head and closed the book, sliding it away. “Okay, where is it?” He held is hands out.

“
Oh, right.” I reached into my bag, pulled the Draven out, and handed it across the table.

Logan took it and stared, running his hand carefully over the cover. “Wow,” he whispered.

“
What?”

“
It’s really cool to be holding a book like this.”

“
Aren’t all Dravens pretty much the same?” I was looking at Logan like he’d lost it, but he didn’t notice. He was still staring down at my book like it was the Bible, original print, or something.

“
Well, the first sections are. They all talk about our history and famous battles and basic fighting techniques. But after that it gets pretty personal to the family it belongs to. Not only family tree stuff but information about each generation and their role in our society. What they accomplished in their life, their legacies, special abilities, stuff like that. You feel how heavy this is?” I nodded, but he wasn’t looking at me. “Your family line must be traced back pretty far. My Draven is only about half as thick as this one. Yours is definitely a lot older, too.”

“
Fascinating. Which means this family tree project is going to take twice as long, isn’t it?”

“
You’re supposed to go back as far as you can.”

“
Right. Let’s do this.” I pulled out a notebook and a pen.

Logan opened to the page that listed my family line and read off the first few generations. “Elizabeth Godfrey, born 1971, daughter of Edith Godfrey, born 1948. Married to Lowell Godfrey, born 1945.” Logan paused and scanned the page. “Huh. That’s weird.”

“
What’s weird?”

“
Most Dravens list marriages and deaths, at least when the family remembers to update them. And yours is pretty well-kept because I see where they listed your grandfather’s death in 1991, which was right around the time you were added. But it doesn’t mention your father, or his parents, which is tradition since it lets you know where to go to trace his family’s Draven…” Logan trailed off and looked up at me, his face reddening a little in the dim lighting. “Oh, yeah. Your dad wasn’t a Hunter.”

“
Let me see,” I said, ignoring his reaction. I refused to feel embarrassed about what I was, even with Logan.

I took the book and twisted it around so I could read the names. Sure enough, there was a line drawn from my mother’s name, but it led to a blank spot. I shoved the book back across the table, confused. “I wonder why, though. I mean, Grandma has always seemed fine about it all. Neither of them talks about him much, but I get the impression he was accepted by my grandparents.”

Logan cleared his throat, looking awkward again. “Typically, this project includes a section about your father. I guess you can talk to Professor Lopez about it if you want.”

“
Logan, I’m not going to be embarrassed about who I am. If I act ashamed, it will give people like Victoria more ammunition. I know my father’s name was Jeremiah De’Luca. I’ll have to dig up what I need to know on my own.” I stopped. Logan’s eyes had gone wide. “What?” I demanded.

“
Your dad was Jeremiah De’Luca?”

“
Yes. Why?”

“
We learned about him in freshman history. He was a founding member of The Cause and a kick ass scientist. He did a lot of research on the differences in DNA between Hunters and Werewolves. It led to a breakthrough in the way we use metal against Werewolves.”

I looked up sharply. “What do you know about metal?”

Logan blinked. “Um, just what every Hunter knows?”

It came out as a question, and he was staring at me with raised eyebrows, surprised by my ignorance, no doubt.

“
Which is?” I prompted.

“
It kills Werewolves faster and cleaner than a lethal blow landed in hand to hand combat. How do you not know this? It’s basic.”

I rolled my eyes, impatient. Ever since the moment I’d killed Leo and felt the weird vibration stemming from the metal, I’d wanted to know more about this. Unfortunately, it was one of those things my mother had shut down over. She’d insisted I wait until I’d reached that point in my studies to learn about it with my classmates – which, I’d learned, didn’t officially happen until senior year. And in the whirlwind of almost dying I hadn’t exactly had the extra time to ask someone like Grandma or Fee, who would’ve actually told me.

I sat back in my chair, completely forgetting about the family tree assignment.

“
No details, remember?” I said, pointing to myself. “Start from the beginning.”

“
Oh, right,” he said. He cleared his throat, and his voice took on this lecture-like quality that reminded me way too much of Professor Olbermeyer from Science. “Metal is a chemical element that conducts two things. Heat and electricity.” He counted them out on his fingers as he talked. “It also attracts and forms bonds with non-metals. Which means, when it comes in contact with a Werewolf spirit, which are transient enough to begin with, the metal bonds with the second spirit, and is able to slice through it or pull it from the Were’s body, making it a more effective kill.”

“
Uh-huh.” I straightened in my chair. “I understood everything except second spirits being transient and forming bonds and pulling a spirit from the body.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What did you understand?”

“
And. Is. When. Kill.”

Logan shook his head. “Look, I’ll dumb it down. Werewolves have essentially two spirits – or souls – where we have one. You can kill a Werewolf by killing the human part of them, but it’s not easy, which is why Hunters were created in the first place. We can actually compete with their physical strength and stamina. But their second spirit, the one that makes them a Werewolf, is susceptible to more than brute force. Its transient, which means it passes in and out of the body very quickly. That and the way it bonds to metal makes for a cleaner–and easier–kill, when done right.”

“
Huh.” I chewed my lip, thinking back to those last few minutes with Leo. “So, why aren’t we taught to fight with it until senior year?”

“
Besides the side effects?” He shrugged. “They want to make sure you don’t use it as a crutch in battle, obviously. I mean, metal’s not always available to you. Fists and feet are.”

“
What are all the side effects?”

“
Not many, if you do it right. You do feel it, though. You’re essentially absorbing another living thing’s life force into an object in your own hand–killing two living things at once–so you’ll always feel something. If you do it right, it’ll be a lot of vibrations, maybe some dizziness, elevated heart rate.”