Revenant in Training (Blood and Snow series) (4 page)

“
There are several
. Not all of us
are
Hunter’s. Some
are
Worker’s. Others
are unusual creatures that know of the Queen
. All of us have pledged our promise to destroy the
Vampire
Queen.
”

I
tucked my hands in my back pockets, and started pacing.
“Can you thou
gh?
S
he’s been alive
thousand
s
years. You’ve been
fighting against
her
for like, forever.
What hope is there that you can accomplish this? I mean really?” I felt bad for stating it so bluntly, but facts were facts. Might as well get them into the open.

“
You’re rig
ht, of course. The task seems
bl
eak, but we belie
ve we’ve figured out a way.
”

“How do you plan to stop her?”
Gabe asked, moving further from me.
I guessed he was
rethinking his
crush on
me. The whole “consume his heart” line in the note was pretty
disturbing
, and then there was m
y dream. Gabe hadn’t been
with his brothers
. Was he my true love? At the thought, my heart beat faster.
The
blood had
tasted better than anything I could imagine. My knees
quaked,
weak.

“Yes, how do you plan to stop her
,” I repeat
ed, forcing back the thoughts I’d been entertaining
of tasting Gabe’s blood.

Professor Pops
regarded
me. “You must receive true love’s first kiss.”

Gabe perked up
. And I blushed.

“So his heart will turn me into a vampire, and his kiss will what?” I cleared my throat.

Professor Pops said, “His kiss
will free you, and you will once again become completely human.”

“A
wesome,” Daniel shouted. He was usually so quiet, we were all stunned, and turned to
gawk
at him. “Well it is.”

“Why don’t you e
at something, Snow? The waffles
are vegan.” He seemed distracted
, plucking his reading glasse
s from his pocket, and reread
the letter
.

I went over, grabbed a waffle
, and took a bite. It tasted like paper. I knew what I wanted—blood. But that was out of the question. Angry,
I shoved the rest of the waffle
in my mouth, and chewed.

The brothers
watched
me. I was too upset to be embarrassed. After swallowing I said, “What, we’ve got to get to school.”

“Should she be going to school?” Heathcliff asked, his words hesitant.

“Yes, yes. Go to school. Keep an eye on her.” Professor Pops waved in my direction. “After school, go to Track practice, and then come here.
I need to get your input on some birthday plans.”
He glanced at me over his glasses, an incomprehensible look in them. “
Now, if you’ll excuse me,
I’ve got to make a few
calls.” He walked out of the kitchen without a backward glance.

“Birthday plans?” Dorian asked
.

I shrugged. “Professor Pops wants to throw me a birthday party here.”
How could he still be considering
my silly birthday
?
Did he expect me
to go on with my life like nothing happened?

“Whoa,
your letter has Pops worked into quite a tizzy
,” Salvatore said, sliding up to me. He
grinned
, and I
guessed
he wasn’t afraid
. In fact, he wanted to kiss me. It was weird
I
could tell.
It was pretty obvious though. His focus
rested
on my lips. He licked his, moistening them.
“In fact,
” he continued, “
I think this will be fun.” He placed his hands on my arms, a little awkwardly.

“What are you doing, Salvatore?”
I asked, snickering.
This close, it was like I could taste
his aftershave, the sweet syrup on his breath, and the fabric softener on his clothes.
I didn’t want a kiss, but to
sample
him
…
I shuddered at where my mind
headed. Ugh.

He answered,
“Well, if true love’s kiss will turn you back into a human, I say it’s our duty
,
our responsibility,
as your friends
,
to
kiss you.”

Gabe shoved Salvatore. “Get away from her!” He
breathed
heavily.

Salvat
ore waved. “I’ll catch you later, Snow
.”

I laughed. At least he
joked
with me.

Gabe headed toward the garage. “I’ll drive Snow.”

I
regarded the guys
. “Guess I’m getting a ride with Gabe.”

They chuckled, and
each patted, slugged, or ruffled my hair. Absently, I noticed each o
f them had a distinguishing scent, and it wasn’t their
cologne.

“See you at school,” Dorian said.

“Right, see ya.” I hurried after Gabe
doubting
whether school
was a good idea.

Chapter 4

O
n
the way to my locker, Gabe
stopped, and
said, “I
’ve got to get to class. See you at lunch.” He squeezed my hand
, and I squeezed back. A gnawing
nervousness
swelled as I watched him walk away.

My first class was Chemi
stry, and I was totally unprepared
for the quiz on Matter
.
I also had an assignment due in
Algebra II,
and verbs that needed conjugating for Spanish.
While
I emptied my backpack into my locker, I made a mental
promise
to talk to my teachers about extra cred
it, or a way to make up the work
.

“
Bonjour, Snow.
Where have you been?” Cindy asked
using the French word for ‘hello,’ despite the
ring
of
agitated
irritation
I detected
in her words
.

“Hey, Cin
. Your French is coming along nicely
,” I
returned
, wondering if she’d
discern
anything different about me. Closing my locker, I turned to face her
annoyance
, which I
knew I deserved
.

She’d said she
’d call me on Sunday, when she got back
from the Cape, but I hadn’t been home. When I
’d
picked up my backpack
from home this morning,
I
noticed
several messages flashing on our dinosaur
of an
answering machine
. I gathered they were from her.

“Sorry. I—” I paused. Did I tell her? Professor Pops hadn’t said I
should keep what
happened to me a secret. B
ut, seriously, if I did
, she’d probably
think
I’d gone batty
. “I spent the weekend over at Professor Pops, with the guys.” I finished, and started walking toward class.

“Lucky,” she pouted. “I went to a party with my parents.
Totally
lame.” I watched her roll her eyes.

She looked gorgeous as ever. Dark jeans. A sky blue, cashmere sweater
. Strappy black wedge heels
made her almost as tall as me, and
showed off her perfectly French pedicured toenails. Her hair had been pulled into a
high
ponytail
and
bobbed when she walked.

I
smell
ed
our classroom way before we reached it
, a
combination of vinegar,
sul
fur, sugar, and sweat
. The odor was strong, and stung my nose. That, along with the hundreds of
thunderous
heartbeats, and the scent of so much blood,
it
might
be the
spark
that caused me to sink my revenant teeth into someone. I just knew it.
I ground
my teeth,
only half listening to Cin talk
about the drama
from
the party
over the weekend
.

When we
entered
class,
Cindy took a seat. We shared a table second row from the front, and next to the
wall full of
window
s.
After d
ropping my backpack
on the floor near my seat
, I
propped
a
window
open
ed
, and dragged in a long, cleansing breath.

“Snow, what are you doing?”

“Needed some fresh air is all,” I said, sitting on the stool next to her.

Unzipping my bag, I pulled out my
notes, hoping I could do a quick review before Mr. Wallace passed out the quiz.