Mirage (3 page)

“Sandra and I always met on Saturdays at eleven,” I offered. We’d met in my dorm room, which I supposed wasn’t an option with Dr. Byrne, considering the “no guys on the girls’ floor and vice versa” rule—even if he
was
a teacher.

“Okay, then. Eleven on Saturdays it is. We can meet in my office. It’s in the science wing, corridor C. I’m on the fifth floor. Probably more comfortable than a classroom.”

“Sure,” I said with a shrug, going for nonchalance. But oh my God, my friends were going to
die.
Truly, I was never going to hear the end of this one. Because they all had crushes on Dr. Byrne—pretty much the school’s entire female population did.

Unaware of my current train of thought, Dr. Byrne nodded, pushing off from his desk. “Great. We’ll start this Saturday, then.”

I nodded, a little too stunned to do much else.

After a pause, he glanced down at his watch. “You should probably get over to the auditorium. The senior meeting’s just about to begin.”

“Sure, thanks,” I managed to mumble, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. I reached for my bag and slung it over one shoulder, suddenly anxious to get out of there, and fast.

I hurried out, my sneakers squeaking against the tiles as I made my way through the now empty hall toward the auditorium. For the, oh, perhaps fiftieth time that day, I wished Aidan was there beside me. The anticipation was driving me nuts. I could feel it—a living, breathing thing pulsing through my veins, making my heart beat faster. After an entire summer apart, Aidan had never felt so close yet so far away.

He should have been there at LaGuardia to meet my plane; he should be at school with me now, suffering through orientation like the rest of us. Instead, he was out hunting murderers and rapists, drinking their blood to slake his thirst so that he could come to me completely sated and not at all tempted to drink
my
blood. Not that he’d ever really had the urge to do so, except when we were making out.

Of course, he had no idea about
my
urges—the ever-increasing desire I had to feel his teeth against my neck. I couldn’t understand it—it went against all my natural
Sâbbat
tendencies. And I’d certainly never admit to it, especially to Aidan. It would only alarm him, and probably rightfully so. It definitely alarmed
me
.

Increasing my pace, I made a sharp right turn and hurried down the corridor till I came to the last set of doors on the right. I stepped into the auditorium, scanning the crowd for my friends. I saw them near the back, a row of familiar heads all bent toward each other in conversation. As if she sensed my presence, Cece turned. Spying me just inside the door, she waved me over.

A slow smile spread across my face. Aidan or no, it was awfully good to be back home at the ’Haven.

2 ~ England and Scotland and France, Oh My!

H
ey, the Sorbonne is on this list!” Kate exclaimed, plopping down on the little loveseat next to Sophie.

I glanced down at the sheet of paper I held in my hands. “Yeah, there’s a couple of schools in France listed. England and Scotland, too.”

Kate kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet beneath her. “Cool. Can you even imagine going to school in Europe?”

Marissa perched on the edge of my bed beside me. “Nope. My parents would never let me.”

“Yeah, mine either,” Sophie agreed glumly. “But hey, at least they’ve got most of the Ivies covered. Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell. No Yale or Penn, though. Interesting.”

I flipped the page over and scanned the back. “I’m surprised there’s so many.” The two-page sheet included all major universities with faculty members who were “sympathetic to our situation,” as they’d termed it in the senior meeting. An asterisk by the school’s name meant a significant psychically gifted population. A cross meant psychically gifted faculty members on the admissions committee. Schools with both an asterisk
and
a cross would be a best-case scenario. Still, Dr. Ackerman, the senior adviser, reminded us that we were free to apply anywhere we chose. The list was just a helpful guide, she said.

I was kind of leaning toward Columbia or maybe NYU—both on the list—thinking I’d like to stay in New York City, close to Aidan. I was hoping to convince him to apply too, though I knew that if he hadn’t gotten any closer to finding his cure, he’d think it was pointless.

Still, I harbored this crazy little vision of the two of us living cozily together in Aidan’s town house on the Upper East Side while studying at Columbia. Of course, my step-mom, Patsy, would never in a million years allow it—but still.

Once the happy glow of the daydream wore off and I was faced with reality, I had no idea what our future together held. If Aidan didn’t find his cure, he would remain a perpetual boy—like Peter Pan—while I’d continue to age, to mature into an adult. I knew he’d never stick around if that were the case. Or worse, he’d try to convince me to destroy him. I didn’t want it to come to that.
Ever.

“Well, we don’t have much time left to decide, do we?” Kate said, then let out a sigh. “I wish we could just freeze time and stay here at Winterhaven forever.”

“Me too,” I murmured. That way, I’d never have to worry about the future—about my developing
Sâbbat
tendencies or anything like that.

“Anyway,” Kate continued, setting aside the list, “did the rest of you see how fast Jenna got out of there when the meeting ended? I was trying to get her attention, but she totally blew me off.”

Sophie nodded. “Yeah, she definitely doesn’t want to talk to us. I don’t get it—it’s not like we’re going to spill her secret. I mean, c’mon. If it wasn’t for her …” She allowed that thought to trail off, and we were all silent. I’m sure we were all picturing it—that bloody scene beside the chapel where we’d fought Julius, the rogue vampire who’d tried to force me to kill Aidan.

“She’s got to talk to us at some point,” Marissa said. “You don’t just save someone’s life”—she swallowed hard—“and then refuse to tell them why you did it.”

Because it had been Marissa’s lifeblood staining the grass when Jenna had appeared in wolf form and started ripping out the vampire’s throat. It had been that action that had set off a new chain of events, events I hadn’t foreseen in my gruesome vision. Jenna’s unexpected appearance had been the catalyst, the turning point that had allowed us to change what I’d seen. Because of her we’d won and Aidan was still alive.

Finally Marissa spoke again. “Hey, where’s Cece?”

“Student council meeting,” I said, my voice thick now. “Declaring her candidacy for senior class president. She thinks Stacy Dalton is going to run against her.”

Kate raised her brows. “That should be interesting. I guess Stacy’ll lock in all the clairsentient votes.”

“Except for mine,” Sophie put in cheerfully.

“Well, we’ve got the tellies,” Kate said. The telekinetics, she meant. “More of us.”

“And I assume the shifters are in too, thanks to Joshua,” Sophie added. “Which way do you think the empaths will go?” she asked Marissa.

Marissa shrugged. “Dunno. Either way, I guess.”

It still amazed me the way kids grouped into cliques according to their psychic abilities. As far as I could tell, my group of mixed-ability friends was the exception rather than the rule. And what a diverse bunch we were, especially when you counted a vampire in the mix.

I glanced down at my watch, willing away the hours till tomorrow. When I looked up again, Marissa was watching me closely, her brow furrowed in concentration.

“What?” I asked her.

“Just trying to figure out if you’re counting down the hours till you see Aidan again or until your first training session with Dr. Hottie.”

I shot her a scowl. “Ha-ha. Very funny. What do you think?”

“I just can’t believe your luck. I mean, c’mon. Why couldn’t he have been an empath? You’ve
got
a boyfriend.”

“You
do
realize he’s a teacher, don’t you?” Sophie asked. “First off, that’s, like, totally illegal. And even if it wasn’t … ewww.”

Marissa looked mortally offended. “What do you mean, ewww? You were drooling over him last year, just like the rest of us.”

“Yeah, well.” Sophie’s cheeks pinkened. “Still. He
is
a teacher. It’s one thing to lust after him in secret, but he’s definitely not boyfriend material.”

“Well, duh. Thanks for enlightening me.”

I was happy to see that Marissa hadn’t changed much, despite her near-death experience.

“Okay, Marissa, take it down a notch,” Kate said. “You’re starting to suck all the happy out of the room.”

Marissa’s emotional state could affect us all. It apparently worked in reverse, too. Pretty interesting, but sometimes it could be a drag.

“Sorry,” she said, though she didn’t sound it. Still, I felt the tension in the air dissipate. “Hey, did anyone notice the new guy? Brown-haired surfer dude sitting in the front row during the senior meeting?”

Sophie nodded. “Yes! Transfer student from Summer-haven. I heard his name is Tyler something or other.”

I’d only recently learned that Summerhaven was our “sister school” in California—in Malibu, right on the coast. Turns out there’s an entire network of schools like ours scattered across the country.

“Poor guy, transferring his senior year,” I said. “That’s gotta suck.”

Kate shrugged. “I dunno. Did you get a good look at him? People will be falling all over each other trying to cozy up to him.”

“Yeah, the really shallow people,” Marissa said with a scowl.

“I prefer the term ‘aesthetically inclined,’ if you don’t mind.” Kate stuck her tongue out at Marissa before continuing. “Anyway, since he’s coming from Summerhaven, he knows exactly what’s going on here. It’s not like you last year, Violet.”

I winced, remembering my first day. To say that I had been caught completely off guard by Winterhaven’s secrets would be a gross understatement. At first I’d thought they were lying to me. Then, once I realized they were telling the truth, I’d cried like a baby. I’d kinda hoped they’d forgotten—I know I wish
I
had.

“I should finish unpacking,” I said, tilting my head toward the open duffel bag in the room’s corner, the contents spilling out haphazardly.

Kate rose with a yawn, stretching her arms toward the ceiling. “Yeah, I’m supposed to meet up with Jack in a little bit, anyway.”

“Will you tell Cece to call me when she gets in?” Marissa asked, getting up from the bed and moving toward the door. “I want to make sure we’re signed up for the same English section.”

“Sure,” I said. “Soph, you’ve got third period with Ackerman too, don’t you?”

Sophie nodded. “Yep. Looks like we’re starting with the gothic novel, then doing the romantics second semester. Fun, huh?”

“Maybe we’ll read Bram Stoker’s
Dracula
,” I said, raising my brows for emphasis.

Sophie laughed. “Now, wouldn’t that be ironic? You think Ackerman knows?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea who knows what anymore.”

“Yeah, it seems weird around here without Dr. Blackwell, doesn’t it? Sometimes I almost forget … well …” Sophie trailed off with a shrug. She didn’t need to finish the sentence; we all knew exactly what she meant.

Dr. Blackwell had been Winterhaven’s headmaster, and we’d all been involved in the events that had led to his demise. But it had been Mrs. Girard, together with the vampire Tribunal, who’d ultimately destroyed him. I didn’t know the details—didn’t want to know them. All that mattered was that he’d betrayed Aidan and paid the price.

“Anyway,” Sophie continued, “see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, later,” Kate called out, opening the door—without using her hands, of course—and stepping out into the hall, Sophie and Marissa following behind.

“Hey, you awake?” Cece whispered as she tiptoed across the floor toward her dresser.

“Yeah,” I said, rubbing my eyes as I sat up. “You can turn on the overhead light.”

“Nah, I’m fine,” she answered, rummaging around in her drawers. “Sorry I’m so late. Todd and I were having the ‘maybe we should see other people’ talk, and time just got away from me.”

“Uh-oh. How’d it go?” I propped my pillows behind my head, watching Cece as she pulled out an old, ratty T-shirt and boxers, her usual sleep attire.

“A lot better than I expected.” She headed into the closet, where she stripped off her clothes and deposited them into her hamper. “Sounds like he was having some doubts too,” she called out, her voice muffled as she pulled the T-shirt over her head. “I mean, being apart all summer really gives you some perspective, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.” I missed Aidan like crazy.
That
was the perspective I’d gained over the summer.

Cece strode back in and started gathering up toiletries. “I bet you do. Speaking of which, when is Aidan planning on gracing us with his vampiric presence?”

“Tomorrow around lunchtime,” I answered, butterflies fluttering in my stomach at the mention of his name.

“Ah, now I get it.” There was a wicked twinkle in Cece’s dark eyes. “Why you’re in bed way before curfew, I mean. The faster you fall asleep, the faster tomorrow comes, right?”

I couldn’t help but laugh—she knew me
so
well. “I swear it feels like Christmas Eve. I’ve just been lying here, staring at the ceiling.”

“Awww, that’s so cute,” Cece teased, sliding on her bunny slippers before heading toward the door. “I’m going to wash my face. Be right back.”

“Okay. But when you get back, you’ve got to give me the play-by-play of your talk with Todd.”

“Deal,” she said.

“Oh, and Marissa wants you to call her!” I shouted toward Cece’s back just as the door slammed shut.

With a yawn, I reached for the clock radio beside my bed and flipped on the switch. Clearly the station dial had been moved in transit, and some weird new-age music droned out. Actually, it wasn’t too bad, I decided. It reminded me of the time that Patsy had taken me to a spa in Buckhead for a massage and facial—a girls’ day out, she’d called it. The music was supposed to be relaxing, and I guess it was, considering how heavy my eyelids suddenly felt.