Crave (36 page)

I forced a smile. “Everything's fine, Nanna.” I swallowed hard. “Um, did anyone call today?”
Like a really ticked-off descendant?

“Like who?”

I shrugged. “Just wondering if there were any calls for me or whatever.”

“No, dear, I don't think so.”

I tried not to sigh out loud with relief. Dylan must not have found the memory card last night. Otherwise the Clann would be going nuts by now.

Frowning, Nanna glanced at the wall clock near the kitchen. “Aren't you going to be late for lunch with your father?”

I glanced at my watch. “Oh, crap! Okay, gotta run. Love you.” I bent down and gave her a quick peck on her papery cheek. “Don't forget, after lunch, I've got Charmers practice till at least seven, maybe eight or nine. So I'll see you later tonight, okay?”

“Okay, hon. Love you, too. Tell your father I said hello.”

“I will. Hey, nice booties, by the way.”

She grinned, her face lighting up like a little kid on Christmas morning. “Why, thank you, dear! See you tonight.”

 

I arrived at our usual restaurant, Chez Corvet's, faster than I'd expected. My father was already waiting for me at a white cloth-draped table in the middle of the mostly empty restaurant.

He looked the same as always, perfectly polished in one of his usual dark blue suits. And yet the way he stared at me to day was different, colder somehow. The look definitely didn't invite any ecstatic, long-lost reunion hugs from me. Just seeing him staring at me like that reminded me why I'd given up trying to please him and refused to talk to him for months.

I sat across from him. After the waiter took my drink order and left, my father said in a voice so low I had to strain to hear it, “Can you hear me?”

The restaurant wasn't busy at this hour. Most of the lunch crowd wouldn't get here till twelve. Yet he acted as if we were surrounded by tables full of nosy eavesdroppers in
stead of empty chairs and one couple in a booth against the back wall.

Still, if he wanted to act mysterious, I guessed I could play along for the sake of getting some much-needed answers.

“Yes, I can hear you, barely,” I whispered.

“Good. Keep your voice quiet just like that.” He reached into his jacket's inner pocket and withdrew a black-and-silver flask.

“You carry around your own liquor?” I frowned at the flask as he reached for one of the empty wineglasses on our table.

His face remained expressionless as he slowly filled the glass with a dark red wine.

I sighed, getting impatient. Then a scent wafted over from the kitchen that made my mouth water. Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten to eat this morning. And last night, too. Well, I'd definitely be ordering whatever the chefs were making in the kitchen today. My stomach grumbled.

He slid the glass toward me. “Tell me, does this smell good to you?”

Huh? “You know I'm way too young to drink wine.”

“I never said it was wine.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Then what…” I stared down at the dark red liquid. “Oh.” He was a vampire. Of course. So this was…blood. “It doesn't smell right.” But it did smell…good. Ew, gross!

“You mean it does not smell like Tristan Coleman's.”

I froze. He knew. Oh, holy heck.

I stared down at the table between us, my thoughts scrambling. I'd really hoped to leave my relationship with Tristan out of today's conversation and just focus on my latest changes instead. So much for that plan.

One dark eyebrow rose as he leaned back in his seat. “Tell me about last night.”

“It sounds like you already heard about it. Did your council's other spies give you a call?”

“They did report to the council, yes. But I would like to hear your version of it. You two have been spending a lot of time together? Alone?”

It was either lie or tell the truth. And I was really, really tired of lying. After a long hesitation, I nodded.

“You care about this boy.” It wasn't a question. My face must have already given me away.

“I'm sorry. I know I wasn't supposed to. I swear I tried not to. And I've been trying to break things off with him for a while now. But it's…it's harder than I thought it'd be.”

“I know what that is like. I experienced the same difficulty with your mother.”

His understanding tone surprised me. Hope flared too bright and quick inside me to be stopped. I gripped the edge of the table. “Would it really be so bad if I kept dating him? What if I swore to never, ever join the Clann?”

“They could still use him to manipulate you into helping them.”

I closed my eyes, feeling my shoulders sag.

“And then there is the issue of the constant danger you pose to him. Every time you two are together, every time you kiss—”

“Kiss?” My eyes flew open.

He nodded. “Do you not remember? You also come from the incubus. We are able to take energy through a kiss.”

I wanted to slap my forehead. I'd
completely
forgotten. So all the times I'd kissed Tristan, and I thought he was just joking around about feeling light-headed…

“And then there is the small matter of last night's events,” he added.

I closed my eyes against the growing panic, trying to hold
down the sickening horror rising up in my stomach. “The bloodlust.” No point denying any of it now. I was so royally screwed. “Is the council going to make me live with you now?”

When I finally found the courage to look at him, I expected him to be furious. Instead, a hint of a smile tightened one corner of his mouth. “You make such a thing sound like the end of the world.”

I shrugged, too tired and defeated to think of anything polite to say. If I had to live with him, it
would
be the end of the world. Then again, it already felt like my life was pretty much over. I was officially one of the monsters now, complete with cravings for blood.

“Unfortunately, such things are not up to me to decide,” he added. “Which is why we must leave soon. But first, look at me.” He waited until I looked up at him in confusion. “Savannah, you will drink that now.” He pointed at the glass of blood in front of me, all the while staring me down.

“Uh, no, thanks.”

“Savannah, you will drink it this instant.” His tone was weird, like he was trying to compel me to obey him.

“Look, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to drink that.” He'd have to pinch my nose and force it down my throat first. I didn't care
how
much trouble I was in, I wasn't going to drink a whole glass of blood. I wasn't
that
far gone. Yet.

We stared at each other for a long, tense moment. Then suddenly he smiled. “That's my girl.”

“Huh?” Were all vampires this moody and strange, or just him?

Still smiling, he picked up the glass and drained it. I actually had to look away in order to calm my gag reflex. Just because it smelled good didn't mean it was anything anyone in their right mind should be guzzling.

When he finished, he said, “You passed the test. Now we may leave.”

Test? Like a pop quiz? I had to jump to my feet and practically run to keep up with him as he led the way out of the restaurant to the parking lot. “Hey, wait a minute! What test?”

He stopped by his car. “To see what vampire abilities you have now.”

“Like?”

“So far, you are still immune to the elder vampires' ability to control fledgling vampires' wills.”

Some vampire might be able to control me someday? I shuddered. To distract myself from that idea, I asked, “What else did you test me on back there?”

“You have a vampire's hearing, or you would not have been able to hear me at all. According to what the watchers learned from your friend Anne's mind, you have the ability to mesmerize human males with your gaze. Your physical abilities were nearly as advanced as a newly turned vampire when I saw you dance last spring. So you should be fully equal to a vampire in strength, speed and agility soon, possibly after your first feeding.”

Feeding?
I nearly threw up in my mouth.

“And though you may have experienced a bit of the bloodlust last night, you have not lost control over it as a newly turned vampire would. Most would not be able to control themselves so well, even around a normal human with injuries.”

“I will
never
drink blood.” Never mind last night. That was just a few drops. They didn't count.

All human expression left his face, showing the true alienness that I had come from. “If the bloodlust continues to strengthen within you, you may not have a choice eventually.”

We'd see about that. “So what happens now? The council just keeps watching me?”

“I wish it were that simple. But you present a true danger to them now, even more so than before. The council insists on meeting you.”

“Why?”

“Because of the bloodlust. You cannot be allowed to endanger our society's secrecy if you prove incapable of controlling it. The council must meet with you and decide what action to take.”

“When?”

“Right now. I am to take you directly to the nearest airport, and from there, to their headquarters in Paris.” He opened his car's driver-side door then stared at me.

“And if I don't want to go?”

He became so still he could pass for a statue. “That would…not be good.”

Or what, the council would send someone to hurt Nanna and Mom?

Because I wanted to scream, I took a deep breath, held it for five seconds then let it out in a huff and yanked open the passenger-side door. “Fine, let's go. Seeing as how I obviously have no choice.”

“Thank you.”

 

On the way to the airport, I had to borrow Dad's phone because I'd left mine with all the rest of my things at school. I had to do a Google search for the dance-team director's home number before I could call her. “Mrs. Daniels, this is Savannah Colbert. I'm sorry, but I have a family emergency and have to go out of town for a few days.”

“Oh, hello, Savannah. That's fine, I understand. Actually, I
had intended to call you earlier today. Did you forget to lock the foyer doors last night?”

Huh? My mind was being pulled in too many directions at once. I had to blink a few times and backtrack to last night, which seemed a lifetime ago. “Oh. No. I had to ask Tristan to lock up for me because of the…family emergency. Did he turn off the lights?”

“The downstairs ones, yes. But the upstairs lights were still on this morning, and I found your and his things still there.”

I cringed, closed my eyes and struggled for the strength to deal with yet another problem. “I'm so sorry that I couldn't take care of it myself. I'm not sure why Tristan forgot to lock up—”

“I understand, Savannah. I just wanted to double-check with you. I hope everything turns out well for you and your family. Please call me and let me know when you will be able to return to practice.”

“Thank you. I will.” I ended the call with a shake of my head.

Why would Tristan have forgotten to lock up? If he had the strength to run so fast after me when I left, then he definitely had the energy to at least lock the foyer doors before leaving. He knew that was our job now that we'd entered Spring Show season and had late practices every day. I'd explained to him a couple times how the janitors would no longer secure the building for us until after Spring Show weekend, when our need to use the building so late each night would end. He knew how paranoid I was about forgetting to take care of this, because then the school administrators would complain to Mrs. Daniels.

Had Tristan taken off after Dylan when I left and that's why he forgot to lock up?

“Do not forget to call your mother and grandmother,” Dad said.

My heart still pounding with worry over Tristan, I numbly dialed the next number on my list and braced myself for a tougher sell on my upcoming trip.

“I do
not
want you to go with him,” Nanna insisted after hearing about the trip with my father. “It's not safe.”

I glanced sideways at my father, sure he could hear every word she'd said. “I don't think we have a choice, Nanna. Just…try not to worry. I'll stay close to him and out of trouble, and I'll be back in a couple days or so. I love you.”

A long pause. “I love you, too, hon. Please be careful.”

“I will.”

I couldn't reach Mom, so I left a message on her cell phone. I could just imagine her reaction when she got it.

Then, even though it risked further ticking off my father, I had to call Tristan. When I got his voice mail, Dad glanced at me with one eyebrow raised in silence. I hung up without leaving a message. If Tristan had left his phone at home and his parents saw the missed call, at least they wouldn't recognize Dad's number.

Where the heck was Tristan?

 

We flew on the council's private jet, first to New York, where we stopped to refuel, then on to Paris. At first, I was too worn-out to want to talk much. But eight hours of end less worrying about Tristan, even while flying in a jet with a luxurious brass-and-white-leather interior, was enough to drive me crazy. Desperate for a distraction, I moved to the swivel chair opposite my dad's and cleared my throat to get his attention. There was still so much about the vampire world that I didn't know. If I was going to fully turn into one of
them, maybe it was time for me to arm myself with as much information as possible.

He didn't seem annoyed as he lowered the newspaper he'd been reading. “Something you would like to ask?”

“Um, yeah.” I cleared my throat, feeling more awkward than I ever had before. “Do you get paid to help the council?”

“No. Part of my punishment for defying them and marrying your mother is to help them in any capacity they deem appropriate now. Mainly, that role has been to provide them with updates about you and your progress in life.”