Blood and Snow Volumes 1-4: Blood and Snow, Revenant in Training, The Vampire Christopher, Blood Soaked Promises (25 page)

A smile touched her lips as she began to shimmer. A reddish glow emanated from her, and then she was gone.

“Pava?” I shouted, standing.

The librarian came around the corner. “Everything alright?”

I searched, frantic, a second longer. “Y-yes. Sorry.” I swiped my backpack, brushed away a tear and left the library.

I needed to talk to someone, but
who
?

Professor Pops, of course, my inner voice admonished.

No, I couldn’t talk to him.
But what about the Museum of the Supernatural?
There might be something about the necklace in the book on pixilettes. I’d check it out tonight, right after school. Skip track, and head over to Professor Pops. I could do some reading before training. My insides froze at the thought of practicing with the wise old Hunter.

What about the laptop? If you quit track, your dad and stepmother won’t buy you one, my inner voice said sarcastically.

So what. If I wanted a laptop, I’d just buy myself one. What would my dad and stepmother do? Ground me? They never stayed around long enough.

Chapter 5

A
fter school I went over to Dorian’s locker to wait. Out of everyone he was the one person I felt most comfortable with, even with thoughts of sinking my teeth in his neck. He allowed me to be myself. He accepted me, liked me. And he
wanted
me to drink from him. My knees trembled.

“Snow. Can we talk?”

My body tightened. The hall blurred. An angry craving for Cindy’s blood strained my heart. I had to get out of there. Taking off, I hollered, “Go away. I-I can’t be around you right now.”

I knew she followed. I’d zoned in on her heartbeat, the aroma of her blood. My canines pressed against my lips.

Out in the crisp fall air, I searched the school parking lot for Dorian’s car. The mustang still sat in the same spot he’d parked in that morning. Relieved I rushed over, hoping Dorian would come soon.

When I arrived at the passage door, I stopped. Trapped. Cindy stood a few feet away, her face screwed up with sadness. My heart sank. “What do you want?”

“I miss you,” she whispered, her bottom lip trembled. “Ever since I went to the Cape you’ve been weird. Different. Did I do something to make you mad at me?” She stepped closer.

The pounding of her heart forcing blood through her veins made the back of my throat ache. “No. You didn’t do anything. I—” This wasn’t her fault. Gabe chose Cindy. He returned her affections.

You don’t deserve Gabe. You’ve been making out with Christopher, my inner voice rebuked.

I tried to calm down. I closed my eyes, thinking about the necklace resting between my breasts, near my heart. A reminder of Christopher, of the pixilette that’d died in my hand in the library. Being jealous of Cindy was the least of my worries. Inhaling a deep breath, I forced myself to relax and opened my eyes.

Her face was inches from mine. A frightened scream escaped my lips. How had she done that?

“Cindy?” I gulped, pressing my back against the doorframe.

“I’ve changed too, you know. We should talk.” A glint of humorous annoyance flickered in her eyes.

“O-Okay,” I sputtered. Her face seemed slightly different, more angular. Her cheeks hollow, her blue eyes more dazzling blue.

“Cindy,” Dorian barked. “Get away from her.”

Cindy seemed to move back faster than I believed possible. She turned on her heel, and started to walk off. A moment later she paused and looked back. “Tomorrow night? Let’s get together. K?”

“Sure,” I agreed, swallowing a strange panic that’d crept in.

After she’d gone, Dorian pushed a button to unlock the door. I climbed in, and waited for him.

“You okay?” he asked

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. What is up with her?”

He seemed about ready to tell me, but changed his mind. “I don’t know.”

“You’re lying, Dorian.” He was a terrible liar.

“Yeah, I am, but I can’t say anything. Professor Pops asked me not to. Not yet.”

My mouth hung open. “Why? Does he really think anything can shock me at this point?”

Dorian started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. When we were headed toward home, he said, “There’s still a lot that can surprise you. Just be careful.”

Chapter 6

D
orian dropped me off at my front door. I figured I should probably let my dad know I’d be at Professor Pops so he didn’t worry. It seemed like the responsible thing to do. Tossing my backpack on the table, I went to the refrigerator and grabbed
a bottled
water.

“I’m home,” I called out after taking a sip. The cool liquid soothed my parched throat.

No one answered, so I went into the living room, then upstairs where I knocked on
their
bedroom door.

They weren’t home.

I made my way back downstairs. On the kitchen counter leaned a folded piece of paper. It just said they’d gone out and would be back later.

“Fine. Two can play this game.”

If I’d had a phone they could’ve left me a message or texted me. I’d at least know when they were coming home. Grabbing a pen, I flipped the paper over and wrote:
Next door
at Mr. Henry’s. I’ll be back around nine.

In my bedroom I changed into a pair of black sweats, brushed through my hair, and walked over to Professor Pops. Salvatore answered.

“You’re early.” By the look on his face he’d expected me. Dorian probably filled him in.

At the bottom of the stairs he patted my back. “How are you doing with all this?” He motioned with his hands around the room.

“Fine. A lot to learn.” I swallowed.

“Yeah, I’ve had years to learn about all the creatures and it still blows my mind.”

I was stunned. Had I expected them to find out about the Museum of the Supernatural at the same time I did? That wasn’t right. Professor Pops said the guys had been trained. “How old were you when you found out about these creatures?” I walked over to a lemon yellow pixilette. At the sight of her—dead—I thought about Pava. Poor thing. This creature was in a case behind the dragon.

Salvatore followed closely behind.

“Professor Pops revealed this room to us when we were twelve and thirteen. But we trained with the swords, arrows, and such from the day I arrived.”

“Really? Wow. What did you think?”

Salvatore laughed. “The truth is most of us came from...” he paused and ran a hand through his shiny black hair before going on, “less than perfect households. We’d lived in horrible foster homes, or facilities that kept us like prisoners.

“Training with Pops, the things he taught us about life, about respect for others, and ourselves, the world.” He shrugged. “I don’t know about the others, but I’d do just about anything for Pops. So when he showed us the room, a couple of the brothers,” he let out a self-conscious laughed before continuing, “freaked I guess is the right word. For me, it’s hard to explain, but it was like I already knew these creatures existed, and Pops confirmed what I believed.” He laughed again. “Silly, right?” He looked embarrassed.

“Not at all.”  I certainly could understand why some of the brothers freaked. If I weren’t bitten I probably would be a basket case. As it was I kept meeting new supernatural beings and dealt with them as it happened, which reminded me of the beast I’d seen in my room last night.

“Have you ever seen a creature about this tall,” I marked my leg at the knee as I continued, “his entire body is brown, like mud. He sort of looks like a frog, but the eyes are more like those of a cat. Plus it can talk.”

Salvatore’s face paled. “You saw one?”

I nodded. “Last night. In my room.”

“Did you tell Professor Pops?” He seemed alarmed.

“No.”

He balked.

“What? A lot’s happened, and I forgot.”

He exhaled. “They are despicable creatures called gremlins.” He spat. “I’ve encountered one before. Evil, and vile, but easy to kill.” He walked past the pixies. “They can morph into anything, so we call them changelings. All are loyal to the Vampire Queen, but only a select few can see the creatures when they are in their true form.” He stopped in front of a small case. It was only about eight inches square. Inside was what looked like a moth; only it had two yellow eyes, like a cat. Salvatore pulled out the book, took it to the pedestal, and said, “Appendix D.”

The old pages flipped to the back on the book. When it stopped I gazed at the pictures. On the left page sat the gremlin in its true form, and on the facing page were pictures of a wasp, an elephant, a beautiful woman, and a small puppy. The one telltale feature was the eyes—in all its forms it retained the yellow eyes of a cat.

“What did it say to you?” Salvatore asked.

“Hmmm.” I paused, scared. Should I tell him?

You can trust him
,
my inner voice huffed
.

“He seemed to be talking to someone else, and commented that I had magic.” I shrugged, peering into his dark chocolate eyes.

“We’d better tell Pops for sure. Come on.” He put the book back, and grabbed my hand, pulling me up the stairs.

My stomach tightened in knots. Kenmei would be here soon, if he wasn’t already, and I had a feeling our conversation would be about more than my fighting stance. I grabbed at the necklace, and felt its warmth enfold me.

Where are you, Christopher, I thought, wishing he was here.

Chapter 7

W
hen Kenmei arrived, he took one look at me, and pulled me in Professor Pops’ office.

“You’ve changed, Shiryo-san,” he said as soon as the door closed behind him.

I gulped down my fear.

“Have I?”

“No sense playing coy, revenant.” His voice sounded harsh, his eyes hard with anger. “If you intend to survive another month you’ve got to trust Adam Henry, the brothers, and me.” He sat in the chair next to mine, and took my trembling hands. His eyes softened. “I can help, Shiryo-san. Talk to me.”

I nodded, pushing back threatening tears. Warmth spread from his hands into my skin. With my new abilities I listened for his heartbeat.

He didn’t have one, though I sensed his innate goodness.

“Start at the beginning.”

And I did. Told him everything. The more I talked, the more relieved I became. I hadn’t realized how much of a burden I carried, keeping all that happened, and there was a lot, a secret. As I spoke, Kenmei nodded occasionally, but kept quiet. He didn’t ask questions, as though he didn’t need to, and didn’t add interjections. He listened.

When I finished I pulled the pendant from beneath my shirt.

“This is the pendant Christopher left me,” I said, and added, “He told me not to take it off, as did Pava, the pixilette I saw in the library today.”

He released my hand, and took the gem between his fingers. It flared red, the essence permeating his fingers so they glowed. From the light of the pendant I watched his eyes fill with admiration. So close I could smell the spicy scent of my bloodlust tea on him, and guessed he still carried it on his person, somewhere within his royal blue robe.

After several minutes, he dropped the pendant, and sat back. “I’ll bet you believe you’ve lived a lifetime these past days,” he said quietly.

I nodded too overcome with emotion to answer.

Even quieter, he added, “Let’s see how you feel after you’ve lived a century, or two.” A sad smile, almost more of an echo of a smile formed on his lips. “After seven thousand years I’m tired, Shiryo-san.” His voice was filled with melancholy, his eyes glassed over, like he was far away, in another time.