Initiation (29 page)

“Jeez, don’t make me hurl!”

“Sorry.” I laughed. “Anyhow, he seemed to be entranced by Faustine.”

“Really? I thought it was Martha he had his eye on. Faustine? Isn’t she a bit young?”

“Yep. Gotta keep an eye on that. Oh, here come Quinn and Octavia.” I got up as they approached, to give Octavia some room.

Jagger waved at me. “Cordelia, you and Quinn should leave. You don’t want to watch this.”

“Why not? I want to stay to make sure you’re okay. Besides, you’ll need our help to get back in the building. In fact, how are we going get back in? It’s past curfew. The doors will be locked until morning.”

“Call Jewel and ask her to get some help. We’re going to need one of the other faeries. She’ll know who to ask. Now go.” Jagger glared at me.

I pursed my lips. I was so watching Jagger until he was better. I knew Octavia was going to feed him. Her blood has amazing healing properties, better than any medicine. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why he didn’t want me to watch. I had learned the basics in health class. Octavia was going to give him some of her blood, and then the healing process would start almost immediately.

Jagger and Octavia threw us a look. Sheesh.

“Come on. Let’s get going, Cordelia.” Quinn pulled me away from them. “What’s so fascinating about that anyway?”

“I don’t know. It’s just that I’ve never seen a live vamp healing before. Have you?”

“Nope.”

“Aren’t you a little curious?”

“Yeah, I guess. We could sneak over there behind the bushes and peek…”

Perfect. “Awesome, let’s do it.”

We doubled back when we saw Octavia kneel beside Jagger. Rushing behind the bushes, we stood at an angle where we could see them clearly. I put on my night vision goggles again, so I could see even better.

“Good idea,” Quinn whispered, putting his on as well.

Octavia was chatting with Jagger, and I considered listening in, but decided against it. I wanted to concentrate on the visuals. She stroked his forehead tenderly, and bent to kiss it. I nearly exploded in a fit of jealousy, but managed to keep myself together. It would be a total disaster to go all demon on her while she was trying to help him. But she better get on with it already….

She pulled up the right sleeve of her shirt. Then she rubbed her wrist and hit it a couple of times. Her fangs came out. Wow, I had never seen her with her fangs exposed. They were awesome. She dug them into her wrist. I could see–and smell–drops of her blood trickling down her arm.

After a moment, she pulled her fangs from her wrist and put her bleeding arm to Jagger’s mouth. I wasn’t sure if I should be grossed out or jealous. I was flipping starving, and the sound of Jagger’s sucking made me even more ravenous. Not that I wanted any of that blood. What I wanted was a slice of juicy, tender, st–

Wait! What the heck was happening?

I watched in shock as Jagger’s mouth moved from Octavia’s wrist to her lips. Or had Octavia moved her wrist away from his mouth and decided to slobber all over him? Not that it mattered. The result was the same. Their lips were locked; they were totally consumed by each other. I watched in horror as Jagger moved his tongue over hers, and then slid his hand under her blouse.

“We should go.” Quinn pulled at my shoulder. “That looks… ahem… personal. No wonder Jagger asked us to leave.”

“Do you think they’re going to…?” I couldn’t get the words out.

“Duh. Yeah. Come on. Let’s go find Jewel. Someone’s got to get those lovebirds to safety.”

“We better not tell Jewel what just happened. I think she and Jagger are dating. She’ll be mortified.” I tried to remain outwardly casual, but inside, I was being eaten up by images of Jagger making out with that bloodsucker.

“You think? Octavia’s just helping. I’m sure Jewel will understand.”

“Hmm.”

Quinn called Jewel while we walked toward our part of the school. “She’s sending someone named Debra to help us out. She said she’d come with.”

A girl? What we needed was a really strong guy. Jagger was enormous. He’d be tough to carry. Not that I cared about rescuing Jagger anymore. He could rot out there with Octavia for all I cared. Quinn and I needed to get back inside, though.

“Where are we supposed to meet them?”

“She asked us to go back to where Jagger is, under Mrs. Stone’s window.”

“Ugh. Do we have to? What if they’re still in the middle of…?”

Quinn laughed. “I doubt it. They’ll know we’re coming back for them. Let’s walk slowly, though, to make sure.”

We turned back. I was hungry and fed up.

“You seem gloomy. What’s up?”

“Just hungry.”

“Yeah. Me, too. Let’s head over to the mentors’ lounge as soon as we get back in.”

“Dressed like this?”

He looked me up and down. “I guess not. And the ski mask doesn’t help. Tell you what, I’ll try batting my lashes at Jewel. Maybe she’ll bring something up for us.”

“I can’t see her leaving Jagger’s side. But it’s worth a shot.”

“And we need to figure out what to do with Mason. We’ll at least need to feed him if we want to keep him alive.”

“Why bother?”

He shrugged. “He may have some more useful info, or we might be able to use him against Tad, if it comes to that.”

“How?”

“Who knows? I just think it’s worth keeping him around, just in case. What is it eagles eat anyway?”

“Who cares? Just give him a rat.”

“Gross.” He laughed.

Back by the bush we’d hidden behind, we peered over it to make sure that they were done. They were sitting up and talking. Jagger must have gotten better; his cast was even gone. Quinn took my arm, and we made our way over to them.

“Hey! Looking good, Jagger!” Quinn shouted.

All I wanted to do was rip off Jagger’s arm and stuff it down Octavia’s throat, but I smiled and waved instead.

“Yep,” Jagger agreed, not seeming the slightest bit remorseful. “Octavia’s blood works wonders.”

“You’re very welcome, Jagger. I had fun.” Octavia’s eyes glistened. Then, she stole a glance at me. “You know what I mean. It’s always fun helping out a fellow student.”

I nodded half-heartedly, then turned and glared at Jagger. “Jewel and Debra are on their way. I guess you don’t need me for anything, so I’ll head off.” I turned to leave.

And smacked right into Jagger. Sheesh. He was back to his normal, annoying self. I put my hand on his chest and pushed him real hard. He fell backward onto his bottom.

“What the heck was that for?” He looked up at me, shocked.

“You need to learn not to get in my way,” I said venomously.

“Jeez, Cordelia. Simmer down. I know you probably need to eat, but still…”

Octavia eyed me intently. “May I have a word? In private.”

“No. I really want to go back to my room now. Jagger’s fine. We’re all fine.”

“Babe, how exactly were you planning to get back inside?” Quinn asked.

He had me there. We had to wait. I was definitely not getting a ride with Jagger. “Yes, you’re right.” I went over to Quinn and put my arms around him.

The air above us fluttered as Jewel arrived and gracefully landed. She went over to Jagger and planted a kiss on his forehead. If she only knew….

Moments later, another girl arrived. She was enormous. I recognized her and hugged her in delight. “Debs, I wasn’t expecting you. Awesome!” Debra was one of the tennis coaches.

“Hey! What the heck are you doing out here? Jewel didn’t tell me. I could get fired for this.” She thumped me on my back. “Good to see you’re all safe, though. So who’s first? Let’s get this show on the road.”

“Take grumpy first!” Jagger laughed, pointing at me.

Debra raised her eyebrows. “Never known you to be a grump; you must be hungry. Hop on, we’ll fly past the food station and grab a steak.”

Perfect.

I
t was phenomenally awesome to be doing something completely boring again. Like waiting.

“How much longer do you think she’s going to be? I hate waiting,” Faustine whined.

I checked my watch. Professor Bern was running about forty minutes late. I wasn’t surprised that Faustine was getting antsy; I would be as well, normally. But that morning wasn’t
normally
. It was the day after far-from-normally.

I tried to blank my mind and enjoy the quiet, but I kept seeing images of Jagger and Octavia sucking each other’s faces. Ugh. It was time to stop thinking about him. As far as I was concerned, he was officially history.

And I would enjoy the waiting, because during waiting, nothing happened. I got to just sit and veg out. And listen to Faustine tap her foot impatiently. But even that was kind of relaxing.

“Why do you think she’s so late? She should’ve called us. Maybe we could do the test another time.”

“Faustine, Cordelia! I’m so sorry to have kept you. I had to deal with an unexpected crisis. But I’m ready now, if you are.”

We jumped out of our seats, ready to go, and walked along with Professor Bern.

“Is everything okay?” I couldn’t help but be nosy. “I mean with the crisis?”

“I really shouldn’t discuss it, but no. Everything is not okay. In fact, Frau Schmelder would like to see you as soon as possible. She asked that you come to her office after Faustine is done with her test.”

“Oh! Is it urgent? Should I go now?”

“Well, she’s still in a meeting, so just do what she asks and head over after the test.”

Sheesh. Way to ruin my morning of wanting to do nothing. I wondered what had happened. Had she figured out that I was the one who had broken into Mrs. Stone’s office and messed around with the folders? Probably. I bet they’d been able to identify us from the surveillance videos. I was so screwed. I wondered if Quinn and Jagger had been recognized as well. I guessed I could kiss mentoring goodbye if that was the case. That sucked. I had really enjoyed my time with Faustine.