Vampire Secrets: Book 2 (Blood and Snow Season Two) (4 page)

“Okay, so tell me.” I wiped my face with the sleeve of my shirt.

“First of all…” he paused, his head tilting. “You’re about to have company. I’ll come back later.” He jumped off my bed and was out the window in seconds.  

“Hey,
Jack.” It was Zoe. I’d been upstairs at least fifteen minutes so I was surprised she hadn’t come up sooner. I also wondered what Laeddin told them about the elf and Drake, about how I watched another person die in front of me.

I whimpered. “Go away.”

“Okay, I will. But…” Her voice trailed off and I wondered if she’d left mid-sentence.

She hadn’t.

“May I touch your scars?” she asked, sitting on the edge of my bed.

That was a w
eird request, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. When my wing outline had looked like a large black tattoo, everyone had wanted to touch it. Why should ugly, red scars in the same shape be any different?

“I guess.”

There was the tiniest touch as Zoe traced a finger along the scars. “Laeddin told us what happened today. Well, the part he saw. About Drake. And the female.”

I pressed my face deeper into the comforter. I didn’t want to talk about it.
None of it. I didn’t like Drake, but I felt bad for him and for those who loved him. He’d been a chayot. I realized I should probably tell Professor Pops about it. The chayot would want to know about the elf, too.

But as Zoe outlined my scars, I relaxed and forced myself not to worry. The scars should’ve
disgusted her. That was how I felt. I tried not to look at them if I could help it. In fact I’d seen the winged scars all of twice in the last several weeks. But as Zoe’s finger skimmed across the thickened skin, I felt lighter. The dull pain that constantly plagued my back regardless of Laeddin’s magic lessened. And my energy came back in full. I felt better. Stronger. I knew it wouldn’t last, but for the briefest moment it felt like my wings had returned.

I glanced at Zoe,
wanting to thank her. I didn’t know what she was doing with her finger but l liked it. I appreciated it. She looked so sad though.

“I’m
sorry this happened to you,” she whispered. I wasn’t sure if she meant the thing with Drake or was talking about me losing my wings, but I chose to believe she meant the latter.

“It
isn’t your fault. It’s mine.” I didn’t want her to stop, but I needed a shower before I went with her, Peter, and Troy to do whatever we were going to do tonight. Pressing my shirt more tightly against my chest, I climbed off the bed and walked to the bathroom. “Did you still want me to go with you guys?” I asked hesitantly.

“Of course.” She stood. “When you’ve finished showering, come down. We’ll wait
downstairs. I texted Troy to meet here instead of his house.” At the door to my bedroom she paused and looked around. “I love what you’ve done with the space.”

Bef
ore I could respond she’d closed the door. “Thanks,” I whispered anyway.

I turned on
the water and undressed while I waited for the water to warm. For reasons I couldn’t explain I turned my back toward the mirror, a sudden need to see the scarred whisper of the grandness that used to be my wings overwhelming my heart.

The scars were raw and red. They looked fresh, like the wound had just closed. Certain areas looked swollen and puffy. But most of the pain was gone. So there was that, at least.

I quickly showered.

When I was finished I rubbed the towel through my hair, especially at the roots, and then
went to my dresser. I put on matching gray bra, undies, and socks. I opened my closet doors and froze. I had no idea what we were doing. Professor Pops mentioned recon, so I figured it wasn’t going to be anything fancy. It was warmer than usual outside during the day, but at night the temperature dropped a great deal. Making a quick decision, I chose a pair of
rag & bone
skinny jeans, a gray pullover shirt, and a navy tweed jacket. Opening a box, I took out my exclusive
Eloise
boots. They were dark brown and soft like a baby doe’s fur and had a cool golden emblem about mid-calf and a gold buckle at the ankle.

I decided against any jewelry, but still needed to work on my face and
hair. I went into the bathroom, put some tinted lotion on my face followed by a quick brush of powder, and then lined my eyelids with black liner. I was about to apply some sparkling taupe gloss when I realized I hadn’t brushed my teeth since that morning. So I quickly did that, then applied the gloss and a thick coat of mascara to my lashes. Finished with my face, I put a large dollop of mousse in my long wet hair and rubbed it in. Then I turned on the blow dryer and scrunched my hair with my hand while putting warm heat on it. The effect was messy, wavy black curls. As a final touch I took a comb and worked out any pieces that were too tangled, and sprayed it with hair spray.

In the full-length mirror I turned back and forth, checking my reflection. I looked good, sexy without showing any skin.

Right before I left the bedroom I took my O-phone from the pocket of the jeans I’d wore to school that day. I opened the fake gold genie lamp sitting on my dresser and took a twenty from inside, sprayed some
Tory Burch
perfume on my neck and wrists and then opened my bedroom door.

As soon as I was in the hallway I heard arguing. It was low, as though they were trying to keep what they were saying from me.
Laeddin also had the TV on, which he hardly ever did. Something serious was up.

I walked
to the end of the hall, furious I didn’t have my vampire abilities, and strained to listen.

“You are way too old for her.” That was Peter. I guessed his words were aimed at Laeddin and that they were about me. It bugged me that he thought it was his place to decide who I should like, regardless of the age.

Laeddin responded, but I didn’t hear what he said.

Zoe’s soft voice said, “We just want what’s best for her.”

Laeddin mumbled something else.
I nearly shouted with frustration. With every fiber of my being I wanted to know what he was saying. Since he’d brought me back from his realm, Laeddin and I hadn’t been on great terms. We were cordial to each other, almost overly so, but we weren’t intimate. Not like we’d been when he first took me to his realm. He’d kissed me for goodness sake. And it hadn’t been a sweet, chaste kiss either. It’d been deep, sensual, and passionate. A kiss to end all kisses.

I’d believed we’d moved to the next level. That maybe we might actually date, hold hands, something. But we hadn’t done any of it. We talked over breakfast. He drove me to school. Occasionally we turned on a movie we both wanted to watch, but there hadn’t been any romance. There’d been zilch. It was like we’d gone backward. Definitely not forward.

“Maybe she should come and live with us.”

“I don’t think so,” Laeddin hissed.

“You can’t control her,
genie
.” Peter again.

“Of course not,” Laeddin snapped.

I figured it was time to get down there and rescue Laeddin. Placing a large, fake smile on my face, I bounced down the stairs. “K, I’m ready,” I said in a high singsong voice that sounded nothing like me.

Peter and Zoe looked up. Peter put a hand on Zoe’s shoulder and squeezed. Their expressions were pinched.

Laeddin gave me a gloriously sincere smile. “You look beautiful, Princess.”

“Thank you, Laeddin.” I stood next to him, pulled on his shoulder so that he was forced to bend down and kissed him on the cheek. “And thank you for taking care of my back
earlier. It feels much better.”

He smiled “You’re welcome.”

I turned to Peter and Zoe. “So what are we doing?” I wanted to change the subject. Get them to stop talking to Laeddin about me, about stuff that was none of their business.

Zoe gave me a tight grin.

Peter cleared his throat. “There’s been some bizarre… uh, activities happening around Salem since…” He pointed at me. I was surprised. It didn’t feel right to have him be so tongue-tied.

I rested a hand on the counter, a vine of fear winding through my stomach. “Just spit it out, Peter.” I said the words because I wanted to know,
but I was also anxious about what he would say. Bizarre activities? What did that mean?

Zoe spoke up. “The first night yo
u came back without your wings was when the first demonic creature appeared.”

“Demon
ic creature?” I asked, even though I heard her right.

“We’ve learned from the few we
’ve caught and questioned that they are called Akuma,” Peter chimed in.

“A-coo-ma,” I said, wrapping my mouth around the
odd word.

“That’s right. Professor Pops spoke with his
friend Kenmei and found out the word is Japanese for demon,” Zoe said.

“We have n
o idea who they’re working for or what they want, but it seems they might be here because of you.” Peter’s voice wasn’t accusatory, but his words sure felt like it.

“Because of me?” I was shocked, but I could
n’t help remembering what the elf lady had said. “When Drake was… being a jerk, this woman appeared…”

“She was an elf,” Zoe interrupted.

“Yes,” I nodded.

“I couldn’t tell she was an elf from behind,” Laeddin said to Zoe and Peter.

“Go on,” Peter said to me.

“She said that Drake was a bad chayot and that—”

“Hold up, Drake was a chayot?” Peter asked. He looked stunned.

“Yeah, but the elf said evil flowed through his veins. She also said that
she was sending Drake to ‘the Mistress’ and that he would return, better than ever.” As I spoke, the vine of dread that had begun infesting my stomach reached up through my ribs. It tangled between each bone, taking hold and squeezing.

“
Did she say who the Mistress was?” Zoe moved closer, her eyes focused keenly on me.

I shrugged because I didn’t know. “
No.”

“And she just appeared in the front of the school?” Zoe took my hand in hers. I felt the warmth. But more than that, I felt familiarity. For not the first time I questioned not only who she was but also what she was.

“Yes, she did.”

“What about her name? Did she tell you her name?” Peter interjected.

“No,” I said, wishing I could be more help
and still feeling that hurt they thought the Akuna were in Salem because of me.

“She did say I would be taken care of soon enough.” On second thought maybe Peter was right. If he was that meant I needed to find out
what the demonic creatures wanted. And, I needed to figure out who the Mistress was.

“Anything else?” Laeddin took my hand and twined it with his. I wanted to melt, to fall into his arms, lean my face upward and feel his lips on mine. I wanted… “Jasmine? Did the elf say anything else?” His words snapped me back to reality.

“Oh, gosh.” I stepped back, feeling my face flame up at the thoughts I’d just had. “No. That’s it.” I turned away, going into the living room, focusing on the TV. The news was on. There was a picture of the sky and then numbers. I tuned out Laeddin, Peter and Zoe, and focused on the newscaster.

“Let me preface this by saying that there is no need to panic. The
President is scheduled to confirm this later tonight, and he has assured us there is nothing to fear.” The newscaster was almost too handsome, too perfect. He smiled into the camera. Perhaps to settle down the millions of people he’d just told not to panic. Even my heart was racing.

The newscaster continue
d, “Scientists are puzzled by the extraordinary phenomena that began occurring nearly five weeks ago.”

That was right after Maleficent took my wings.

He was still talking, “It has been confirmed that Earth is losing five extra minutes of light per day. Scientists predict that at this rate darkness will completely consume the planet in one hundred and eleven days.” He took a long pause, obviously for effect, to let it sink in. That was crazy. In less than four months Earth could be completely dark.

“
They know it isn’t the moon or a planet blocking the sun’s light. Scientists have ruled out meteors, a dead star, or any other space singularities. Satellite data has also confirmed that the Earth, Sun, Moon, and surrounding planets are orbiting normally, that it’s business as usual. As far as they can tell nothing from space is causing the darkness.

“
For now they’ve turned their efforts inward, focusing on Earth itself. So far testing hasn’t revealed anything unusual.

“
At this time what they know for sure is that the sun is still putting off as much heat as ever. Usually with the dark comes cooler temperatures, but that hasn’t been the case. In fact Boston and surrounding areas have been having an unseasonably warm winter.”

I couldn’t believe it. Were the others hearing what he was saying?

“Sweet unicorn blood. Hey, are you guys listening to this?” I turned and saw that Laeddin, Peter, and Zoe were directly behind me, listening. “What does it mean?” I had a feeling I knew what it meant.