Cold Blood (20 page)

Miles straightened and met me head on, blocking my fists with his forearms, and driving me back.

“
This is no way to greet your future mate,” he said between blocks. He still hadn’t tried to hit me back.

“
I am not your mate, now or in the future,” I said between heavy breaths. I swung out again, and followed it up with a kick. It landed, though barely, and Miles stepped back.

“
We’re going to rule the races, you and I. You know that, right? It’s what should have been…what would’ve been if my father hadn’t let revenge take over his thoughts. Over a stupid Hunter woman.”

I stopped to catch my breath. “You knew about him and my mother?”

“
Of course. He never made it a secret.”

“
So, you see why this whole vendetta is so wrong.”

He nodded. “Completely. Obviously it’s you and I who belong together. You and I who are destined to lead together. It makes perfect sense, you and I being the half-breeds. And when my project comes together, we’ll have even more on our side. No one will be able to stop us.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off and waved his hand. “Wes, but he’ll be dealt with and then it will be just you and me.”

My blood boiled. “I’m not going to rule with you,” I said, gritting my teeth to keep my voice even, and the bile down. My hands balled into fists at my sides. I took a step forward and swung out, catching nothing but air as Miles stepped out of reach once again.

He didn’t look upset at being turned down. If anything he only looked more determined. “I’m confident you’ll change your mind.”

My earpiece buzzed, distracting me.

“
I’m closing in,” said Alex.

I looked up, but those few seconds had been enough; Miles was already slipping away into the thickest part of the trees. I stood and watched him go, knowing I should do something to stop him but unable to make myself move. I was frustrated at my pathetic fighting skills. They worked so well on wolves; not so much on humans.

I was still standing there, staring at empty forest, when Alex caught up with me.

“
Um, you could’ve made it a little more difficult,” he said, coming towards me. “Maybe tried hiding or something instead of standing here in the…” He trailed off when he saw my face. “What happened?” Just like that, his voice went from friendly-training-exercise to all-business.

I wrenched my eyes away from the direction Miles had gone and forced myself to focus on Alex. “It’s nothing.”

“
Nope. Not working on me. Let’s try it again. What happened?”

I bit my lip. Cambria and Logan had said not to trust him, but I’d seen Alex in action and he was definitely someone you wanted on your side. And the way he was looking at me now… there was a fierceness in his eyes that reminded me of the protectiveness I’d seen in–

“
It was Miles. He – he came to see me.”

“
Who is Miles?”

“
He’s–” I stopped. How did I answer that question? “He’s a Hunter. Or… well, he’s like me. A hybrid.”

“
A hybrid?” His eyebrows went up. The fierceness was turning to amusement.

“
Yeah, like the car, whatever. Anyway he’s the son of the guy I killed at the warehouse that night.”

Amusement faded, and he eyed me intently. “Did he hurt you?”

“
No. He wanted to talk.” I sighed, knowing it had to be said. “He’s convinced himself he’s in love with me and that we’re going to rule the races or some crap.” I shivered because the creep out factor was back, big time.

“
And he’s evidently going to pretend you’re on board with this plan,” he said, piecing it together. I nodded and stayed quiet, both of us digesting the possibilities of that, should Miles actually get his hands on me. Finally, Alex looked up, towards the empty woods. “Which way did he go?”

“
Alex, he’s gone. He’s good at escaping, believe me. Besides, he’s harmless, for now. Until he finishes whatever project he’s got going, he’s going to leave me alone.”

Anger flashed across his face. “Oh, so no problem then. We’ll just wait for him to come back, when we’re not expecting it, and drag you off like a caveman to be his new bride. No wonder you’re always in the middle of drama with a plan like that.”

My temper flared. I raised my voice to match his. “I don’t intend to wait for him to come and get me. I’m doing what I can do protect myself. What do you care anyway? Besides the mark on your record.”

“
I’m in charge of you, and you’re not getting abducted or killed on my watch.”

We were toe-to-toe and I could feel my blood beginning to heat. I tried taking deep breaths but this stupid temper wouldn’t quit. I was going to have to let it out; tell him exactly what I thought of him, his prejudice, and his teaching methods in general.

“
You are an ass–” My words were cut off.

I must’ve blinked and missed seeing it about to happen because there was no time to push him away or react at all before his lips were pressed against mine. At the same time, his hand came around the back of my neck, holding me still. He didn’t come any closer or move in any way; just held his mouth to mine for what could’ve been three hundred years or three seconds, and then jerked away so he was looking down at me again. There was still fire and temper in his eyes. Mine, on the other hand, had evaporated.

Neither of us spoke.

I had no idea what to say. I wondered if that was his problem, too, because the longer he looked at me, the more his anger faded into something else. I couldn’t read what that something was, or maybe I could’ve if we’d stood there long enough, but eventually he dropped his hands to his sides and turned away, making a show of staring out over the woods where Miles had gone.

“
It’s more than a job,” he said, completely surprising me again. “Come on, let’s get back,” he added, when I didn’t respond.

He sounded resigned, and I realized I felt something similar, though I had no idea why.

Chapter Eighteen

Somehow, I made it back to Lexington Hall. I couldn’t remember walking there, but I found myself looking at Cambria and Logan, who were blinking at me and moving their lips. I struggled to tune in. Everything felt foggy and sort of removed.

“…
Can’t believe we got this lucky,” Cambria was saying.

She was smiling and excited and holding something out to me. I looked down and registered that it was a wooden stake, smooth and pointy. I took it.

Cambria frowned at me. “Tara? You okay?”

“
Hmm?” I looked at her and blinked to clear the fog. “Yeah, I’m good.”

I could see she wasn’t convinced, but she let it pass.

She handed another stake to Logan. “Seriously, we got so lucky,” she said, returning to her original comment. “I got there as the deliveries came in and those dudes will never even know I swiped an entire box.”

“
You were careful, though, right?” Logan asked.

“
That’s the beauty of it. I got to the delivery guy before he made it to the front door. I never had to compel any staff or students. And one little human is not going to matter. Easy peasy.”

“
Good girl.” Logan took the stake, stuffed it into his cargo jeans, and adjusted his hat. “Let’s do this,” he said.

I slipped my stake into my boot and we headed into the woods. We’d gone a short distance into the trees when Cambria stopped and turned to me. This time, her eyebrows were raised and she even pushed her bangs out of the way so she could stare at me with both eyes.

“
Okay, what’s wrong?”

“
Nothing is wrong, exactly.” I looked from her to Logan, who was looking more curious than anything else. “Alex kissed me and I saw Miles,” I blurted.

“
What?!” They spoke in unison.

“
You saw Miles?” Logan asked.

“
You kissed Alex?” Cambria asked, her voice raised at least two octaves.

“
Yes, I saw Miles. He was in the woods, waiting for me, I guess. He grabbed me when I was alone and said some weird crap about his project and that he would be back for me when it was ready.” I turned and looked at Cambria. “And no. I did not kiss Alex. He kissed me. Big difference.”

“
Okay, fine, he kissed you but–”

I cut her off with a look and made sure my tone left no room for argument. “And I do not want to talk about that. End of discussion.”

She huffed at me but let it go. I could see it in her eyes, though. She’d corner me later.

“
Fine, but let’s keep moving. We only have a few hours before dinner and we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.” Logan led the way without really waiting for an answer. “Let’s start in the spot you saw Miles earlier.”

I gave them the location, and at their prompting, I went over the full conversation I’d had with Miles. Both of them already knew the history so at least I didn’t have to go back and explain all of that, but neither one knew about the creepy almost-kiss in the warehouse so I came clean about that, and tried not to gag as I said it.

“
He’s crossing a line,” said Logan. His eyes were hard and shiny, and he looked more capable of actually damaging someone than I’d ever seen. “You realize he’s threatening to basically kidnap and rape you, right?”

“
I guess so,” I said.

“
You guess so?” Cambria asked. “Tara, please tell me you’re taking this threat seriously. This is bad.”

“
I know that, guys. I’m not going to leave with him. Alex was right behind me and scared him off. If he hadn’t left, Alex and I could’ve taken him.”

Logan’s expression cooled. “Let’s keep moving,” he said.

We started walking again. For a few minutes, none of us spoke. We made it back to the spot I’d seen Miles but there was nothing there. Not that I’d really expected there to be. It made me think of Alex again, though, and I felt antsy.

“
Now what?” I asked.

“
We should head out closer to the wards and walk the perimeter,” said Logan.

“
You realize that’s going to take hours,” I said. “We don’t have that kind of daylight left. Not in here, anyway.” I glanced up at the thick canopy. Most of the branches were still bare but there were enough pine trees mixed in that only a limited amount of sunlight came through.

“
We could split up,” said Logan.

“
Uh, no way,” Cambria said. “Too dangerous. Even with our weapons, I don’t trust it. Miles is out there, and so are his little friends. And they all know they can get right through the wards. We stick together.”

“
Cambria’s right,” I said. “Too bad we don’t have earpieces, like the ones Alex and I used earlier. Then we could stay in contact.”

“
I can help with that.”

We all froze. No one even went for their stakes because we all knew that voice and we all knew how busted we were. I turned, slowly, and felt my face flame red as Alex got closer. He pretended not to notice, which didn’t make it any less embarrassing.

“
What do you mean you can help?” Cambria asked. Her eyes narrowed and she’d let her bangs fall completely over one side of her face. She looked suspicious and pissed. Apparently, Alex was officially out of the “too cute to be mad at” category for her.

“
I mean, I have ear pieces,” he said. He held them up, one in each hand. The same ones we’d used earlier.

We all waited for him to go on.

“
Okaay,” Cambria drawled, when he didn’t continue. “Why are you telling us? Is Headmaster Whitfield on the other end? So he can lecture us while we’re on the way to his office to get lectured some more?”

“
No lectures. No Headmaster. I’m offering them to you for patrolling.” There was no mistaking it; Cambria and Logan’s eyes lit up. “On one condition,” he added.

Logan still looked excited, like he was ready to agree to whatever came next. Cambria didn’t look so convinced. I continued to stand there, mute, and wishing I’d evaporate or combust or anything to get me out of here.

“
What is it?” Cambria asked.

“
I get to patrol with you.”

Cambria exchanged a look with Logan. He shrugged. They looked at me. I didn’t move.

“
If we let you patrol with us, we can use the earpieces and you promise not to rat us out?” Cambria asked.

“
Absolutely,” Alex said, meeting her eyes dead on.

“
Huh. Well.”

“
Cambria, no!” I hissed at her. “He cannot help.”

Cambria looked at me, her brows drawn in an apology, and then turned back to Alex. He handed her an earpiece and proceeded to show her how to use it. I threw up my arms and stomped away to pace. I caught Logan’s eye a minute later.

“
Sorry,” he said, putting his hands up in defense. “If we don’t take the deal, he’ll talk. And besides, we can cover more ground this way.”

I glared at him.

“
There are only two earpieces,” said Cambria, turning back to us and adjusting the one in her ear. Alex had the other one in his ear already. I knew where this was going. “We’re going to split up into doubles. We’ll cover more ground but still have each other’s backs.”

I opened my mouth, ready to claim Cambria as my partner, but Alex cut me off.

“
Oh, one more condition,” said Alex. He looked at Cambria. “I’m with Tara. It’ll be part of her training for me to see her in action.”

Whatever argument Cambria might’ve had, Alex’s reasoning shot her down. She nodded. “All right. Check in every fifteen minutes. We’ll head east, you head west. We’ll meet at the back line.”

“
See you then,” he said with a nod.

Cambria didn’t answer. Her eyes found mine, and I glared at her with what I hoped were death ray eyes.

“
Sorry,” she whispered. “He is sort of your teacher. I couldn’t say no.”

“
Traitor,” I hissed.

She fell into step beside Logan who started walking without a backwards glance.

I turned to Alex. His face was expressionless. Pretending, then. Okay. I could do that. I started walking, staying a half step ahead of him, and tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t sound completely awkward.

“
How did you know we were out here?” I asked.

“
Lucky guess.” He sounded amused, like he might be smiling, but I didn’t turn to look. If he was, I might’ve punched him.

“
Why are you helping us? If you get into trouble, it could go on your permanent record.”

“
I’m not worried. We’re trying to protect the school. Besides, Vera would have to admit the wards are weak to let us publicly get into trouble for this, and I don’t think she’s willing to do that.”

Damn. I hadn’t thought about that; which meant, we were sort of blackmailed into taking his deal in the first place. I hoped Cambria was really mad at him when she found that out later. I heard a distant voice come through the speaker of his earpiece. I didn’t turn. A minute later, I heard Alex say, “All good here. Check back in fifteen.”

He fell silent and we walked on. The wards were somewhere on our left, but I didn’t bother looking over. If there was a Werewolf nearby, I’d feel it before I saw it, anyway.

“
You feel different,” Alex said, jolting me out of my carefully blank thoughts.

“
What?” I turned to look at him before I remembered not to.

He looked at me with something close to curiosity. “You feel different,” he repeated.

Oh crap, I could feel myself blushing again. Feel different? From one kiss? What did that even mean?

“
I didn’t say anything before now, because I was sure you’d think I was trying to insult you somehow, but I thought you should know.”

I realized he wasn’t referring to earlier and curiosity got the better of me. “What do you mean different?”

“
You know how we can feel a Werewolf nearby, with the tingling? Kind of like that but…. different. You don’t feel like a Werewolf but you don’t feel like a Hunter either.”

“
You can sense me?” I asked, so surprised that I forgot about my earlier embarrassment. “How is that possible? I thought Hunters couldn’t feel each other.”

“
They can’t. Well, some can, but it’s rare. It’s more of a subconscious recognition. We can look at each other and know that we’re more than human. But with you, I don’t know. There’s something else.”

“
Like what?” I was intrigued. No one had ever told me this before. “What does it feel like?”

“
I don’t know. It’s faint. Like a pulse or vibration.” His eyes sharpened. “It got stronger when I kissed you, though.”

I almost tripped over a fallen log. Alex’s hand reached out and steadied my arm.

“
Ow,” I yelped, yanking free of his grip.

“
What’s wrong?” Alex was beside me, frowning down at my arm while I cradled it against my body and rubbed at my shoulder.

“
I don’t know. I think I strained something when Miles–”

I broke off, but it was too late. Alex’s eyes were on me, a lot like Cambria’s had been when she’d forced me to talk earlier. “Miles what?” he prompted. I didn’t answer. “The guy you saw in the woods earlier? The dirty bl–, I mean hybrid?”

I nodded.

“
You said he didn’t hurt you.”

“
He didn’t. Not really. He may have grabbed my arm and held it behind me for a minute. That’s it.”

“
That’s it,” he repeated, looking totally unconvinced.

I nodded again. Alex stared at me and for a second, I thought maybe he was going to kiss me again. Panic shot through me, and I wondered for a second if I would even stop him if he tried. At the last second, he stepped back and his jaw hardened.

“
From now on, I go with you every time you step foot in the woods. If you guys do any more patrols like this, I’m coming. If I find out you’ve been out here alone, I’ll turn you in and get you put on house arrest.” Every single bone of his body vibrated with the sincerity of his words.

“
You can’t do that,” I protested. “I can take care of myself and I will not be babysat.”

“
Tara.” Alex closed his eyes and opened them again, taking care to keep his voice even. “Don’t argue. I have the authority to make sure the house arrest sticks. Possibly for the rest of the year. Don’t push me.”

I glared at him and bit my tongue. “This is blackmail.”

“
Call it whatever you want.”

I was angry enough to want to put him in his place now, whatever it took. “I didn’t kiss you back,” I said. That shut him up. “In case you’re acting this way because you think I feel something for you. I thought I should point out that I didn’t kiss you back.” No need to mention it was due more to shock than attraction or emotion.

Alex stepped closer and leaned down until his lips were only a breath away from mine. “If I’d wanted you to kiss me back, you would’ve.”

He stayed there, his lips so close they were almost brushing mine. I could feel his breath on my face. His eyes were angry and glinting, in a silent dare. He wanted me to close the distance. The worst part was, I kind of wanted to. I could feel myself leaning closer, itching to give in.

At the last second, I stepped back. Alex straightened and his lids drooped, heavy with silent satisfaction. I glared up at him. “You’re a jerk. I think I liked it better when you hated me.”