Nightshade (26 page)

BLOOD MOON. SAMHAIN. BLOOD MOON.
Samhain. I made my way to class, unable to think of anything else. They were so close now, and I felt less certain than ever about both.

When I walked into Organic Chemistry, Ren flashed a broad smile.

“Lily.”

I couldn’t resist the challenge in his eyes. I aimed a kick at his shin, and he darted out of the way.

As we set up the lab, I glanced at the alpha. “Ren, what do you know about Samhain?”

He put on an overly thoughtful expression and wandered toward me. “Let’s see, it is my birthday and yours. But of course, you already know that.”

I blushed when he stepped behind me, encircling my waist with his arms.

His lips brushed against my ear. “I believe the answer that will not get me in trouble with you is: the happiest day of my life. Or something along those lines. Definitely not the end of my carefree days or when I get a ball and chain. Hmmm, I’m just realizing that I’m going to have to buy you birthday and anniversary presents at the same time. What a pain.”

“Oh, please.” I pushed him off with sharp jabs of my elbows.

His smile remained impish as he sidled back to the table and began to measure tea leaves. I flipped open my workbook.

“So we’re extracting the caffeine from tea?”

“Looks like.” He pulled out a set of scales.

I handed him a beaker and toyed with the pleats of my skirt. The folds kept rippling against my knees in a distracting way. It was one of Naomi’s additions to my wardrobe. I quickly decided that I hated it.

“I was being serious. Samhain. Do you know anything about the rites?”

“Nothing besides the usual stuff,” he said. “Spirit world, veil thins, blah, blah, blah.” I ignored his wink. “But my father did say it’s a dangerous night, that spirits are unpredictable when they have so much power.”

I shuddered, wondering what sort of spirits might be present at the union.

He reached for the calcium carbonate.

“It was the day my mother died,” he said quietly.

I froze in the midst of my attempt to light the Bunsen burner. Ren remained focused on the lab. Other than the tightening of his jaw, he gave no indication of distress.

“Your mother was killed on Samhain?” I breathed the question, thunderstruck. I had no idea that our union had been arranged to take place on the anniversary of Corinne Laroche’s murder.

He kept his eyes on the scales. “It was a Searcher ambush . . . You know the story. An attack that successful hasn’t occurred since.”

I did know the story; all the young wolves did. It was the stuff of legends. The Searchers had attacked the Bane compound on the west side of the mountain. The ambush had occurred before dawn, while Corinne was home alone with her infant son. Several Bane Guardians, including Ren’s mother, had been killed before the Keepers realized what was happening. The counter-assault against the Searchers had been brutal: the Keepers waged a six-month campaign to seek out and destroy the insurgents, who they’d discovered in various camps near Boulder. Before the incident outside Eden had occurred, the Searchers’ blow against the Banes had been the last major attack in the region.

I felt goose bumps rising on my arms.

Ren glanced at me and smiled when he saw I was shivering. “It’s all right, Calla. I barely remember her. And my job is to kill the people who took her away. Not a bad deal. That’s justice, in a way.”

I bit my lip, waiting for him to continue.

“Why are you trying to ruin the big surprise?” His lighthearted tone surprised me. “I thought you were a fan of the Keepers’ rules.”

“It would be nice to know
something
about what we’re supposed to do,” I muttered.

He pointed at the Bunsen burner. “Are you going to light that? We have to heat this for twenty minutes”—he looked down at his workbook—“while stirring.”

“Yeah. Sorry.” I grabbed the lighter, hurrying to start the flame.

“Do you want to stir?” He placed the beaker over the wire gauze.

“Sure,” I said. He handed me a glass rod.

Stirring proved rather dull. I sighed, leaning against the lab station. Ren reached out to catch one of the many pleats of my skirt between his fingertips.

“This skirt kind of looks like an accordion.” He laughed. “Not that it isn’t lovely on you.”

“Thanks,” I replied drily. “I believe they are actually called ‘accordion pleats.’ At least that’s what my mother tells me.”

“So I’ve been thinking about how we’re supposed to be officially dating now.”

“What about it?”

“Would you like to have dinner with me?”

“You mean go on a date?” I focused on stirring instead of my suddenly racing heart. “When?”

“Before the union. Have dinner with me and I’ll take you to Blood Moon for a couple of hours until it’s time for the ceremony.” His fingers moved from the pleats to the hem of my sweater, his hand slipping under the pale blue cashmere to stroke the skin of my lower back.

I gasped, caught his wrist in my fingers, and pulled his hand away from its provocative exploration.

“We are in class,” I hissed at him through clenched teeth.

I glanced around and noticed several pairs of eyes quickly averted. Ashley Rice kept her glare on me. I couldn’t bring myself to look in Shay’s direction.

Grinning, Ren tried to free his hand from my fierce grip. “You’re supposed to be stirring.”

“Behave yourself.” I released his wrist, giving him a final warning pinch before I returned to my task.

“Not likely,” he answered, but contented himself with clasping my free hand. A warm glow spread from my fingers to the crown of my head.

“So would you like to have dinner and go to the ball? I thought it would be nice to have some time alone.” His thumb stroked the back of my hand and my knees buckled.

I cleared my throat. “Alone?”

“Yes,” he said. “I had to live with Dax as a hunting partner after you shot me down. Though I can’t claim the hunt itself was disappointing—he took down a twelve-point buck on his own.”

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s impressive.”

“Definitely,” he said. “All the same, Dax wasn’t the partner I was hoping for. You’ve been so busy taking care of Logan’s boy that I haven’t had any time with you at all.”

“Be nice.”

“I just think we deserve a real date, don’t you?”

“I suppose we do.” I could hear the strain in my own voice; I was already anticipating Shay’s reaction to this development.

“You wouldn’t like that?” The playful note in his voice began to fade.

I fumbled for a response. “No. I mean—yes, I would like to have dinner with you. I’m just surprised. I thought the whole pack would go to the ceremony as a group.”

He leaned toward me, murmuring, “I think one-on-one sounds better, don’t you?”

His teeth gently caught my earlobe. All my muscles turned to liquid. I dropped the stirring rod and grabbed the edge of the table so I wouldn’t collapse.

Ren straightened in alarm. “Are you okay?”

I just nodded, not trusting myself to speak. He smiled, turning back to the workbook. “Okay, what’s next? We’re supposed to have a cheesecloth. Where’s our cheesecloth?”

He searched the table while I tried to remember how to breathe.

I kept a safe distance from the alpha for the remainder of the lab. He was in a dangerously playful mood, and my reactions to his attention were erratic enough that I worried he’d startle me into spilling flammable liquid and igniting our entire station.

When I was walking from class to collect my lunch from my locker, Shay fell into step beside me.

I glanced at him. “Are you walking with me to the cafeteria?”

He kicked a discarded Coke can, sending it clattering down the hallway. “Ren was friendly today, wasn’t he?”

Great.
“You don’t have to watch us all through chemistry.”

“I didn’t have to be watching to notice.” He made a disgruntled noise. “He was all over you.”

I blushed. “Ms. Foris didn’t say anything, so I think you’re exaggerating.”

“Ms. Foris would never say anything. She’s terrified of both of you.”

I shrugged. He was absolutely right.

An awkward silence descended as we walked to my locker. I was relieved when Shay finally spoke.

“Do you want to go to a coffee shop or something tonight? I assume the library is out.”

“Definitely out,” I said. “But I can’t get coffee.”

“Why not?”

“My mother is having a thing,” I mumbled. “Some union stuff I have to do.”

“Oh.” He leaned against the locker next to mine while I hunted for my lunch. “What kind of stuff?”

I wanted to crawl inside my locker and hide. “Girl stuff.”

“Sounds enthralling,” I heard him say, though I’d buried my head in my jacket.

I stopped imitating a frightened ostrich and grabbed my lunch bag. “Okay. Let’s go eat.”

Shay strolled alongside me, humming “Here Comes the Bride,” until I punched him in the kidney.

“OW!” I JERKED AWAY FROM SABINE’S PINFILLED
fingers. It was the third time she’d stuck me and I was convinced she was doing it on purpose.

“Sorry,” Sabine said, not sounding sorry at all.

“Calla, you must keep still,” my mother muttered. “Sabine, be more careful.”

“Yes, Naomi,” she replied, bowing her head, but I saw her smirk. If I hadn’t been weighed down by fabric, I would have kicked her.

Bryn stood in front of me, assessing the progress of the gown. “I think it needs to be gathered here.” She pointed at my left shoulder.

My mother stood up. “Good eye, Bryn. Sabine, we’ll need more pins up here.”

I grabbed Sabine’s shoulder. “If you stick me again, I’m going to make your head my personal pin cushion.”

“Calla, that is no way for a lady to address her liege,” my mother clucked. “Cosette, how is that hem coming?”

“Nearly there,” Cosette said from somewhere beneath me. I couldn’t see her for all the swells of taffeta.

“Damn it, Sabine!” I rubbed the new stinging spot at my shoulder. “If I bleed all over this gown, you’ll be sorry.”

“I’m not breaking the skin.” Sabine didn’t cover her smile.

“You’ll probably end up with blood all over it anyway,” Fey said from the corner she’d tucked herself in. She’d stayed as far from the dressmaking activity as she could, acting as though touching silk might infect her with the pretty princess virus.

My mother bared fangs at her. “Fey!”

I swayed on the pedestal that Mom had brought to my room for the dress fitting. Bryn grabbed my waist to keep me from falling.

“Ow,” I said weakly as more pins pushed into my skin.

“Sorry,” she said, loosening her grip.

“What is she talking about?” I looked at my mother, who was shaking her head.

“How do you know about the ceremony?” She glared at Fey again.

“Sorry, ma’am.” Fey stared out my bedroom window. “Dax overheard Emile talking about it with Efron.”

“Dax should learn to use more discretion,” my mother said.

Bryn stayed where she was, seeing that I was still unsteady.

“Mom, please,” I murmured. “Can’t you tell me anything?”

My mother ran her tongue over her lips, looking over the anxious girls in the room.

“I can tell you a little,” she said quietly. “And I assure you, there will be no blood on this gown.”

I started to breathe again. “Oh, good.”

“Because you’ll be a wolf when you make the kill,” she finished.

“Kill?” I caught my reflection in the tall mirror. I looked like one of Henry VIII’s wives who’d been told she’d soon be replaced.

“Come on, Cal.” Fey grabbed a tattered teddy bear from my dresser, and I worried she’d rip its head off. “The kill is probably going to be the only fun part of the night.”

“Until Ren takes her to bed,” Sabine purred.

Fey’s laugh was like a roar. Even Cosette’s muffled giggles floated up from under the layers of fabric.

“Shut up, Sabine.” Bryn kicked her and I grinned.

“Honestly, girls.” My mother put her hands on her hips. “You’re acting like barbarians.”

She reached up and held my face between her palms. “Calla, the ceremony is beautiful. We’ll wait for you in the sacred grove—except for Bryn, who will guide you to the ritual site. She’ll leave you alone. Drums will raise the forest spirits, and the warrior’s song is the last thing you’ll hear before you’re called to join us.”

“Who calls me?”

“You’ll know,” she murmured, smiling. “I don’t want to give everything away. The mystery of the ritual makes it special.”

Special?
I stared into her misty eyes, not feeling special, only anxious. “What about the kill?”
This is what my parents were worried about.

She took her hands from my face, folding them in front of her. “It’s a trial, a public demonstration that you and Ren have the mutual skill to lead your pack.”