Revenant in Training (Blood and Snow series) (7 page)

“What is it?”

“
He’s
skilled in the art of seduction
. From what I understand, he also has a
n
unlimited
lust for power. He wants to be the Vampire Queen’s second.
”

At hearing
his words I didn’t blush, but
became angry. Well, more hurt.
I guess I wanted to believe
Christopher
reacted to me the way he did, not because it was his job, but because he felt something
for me. Ugh, I groaned. I would
not be that girl!

Professor Pops pulled into the driveway. After I fol
lowed him into the house, and
sat
at a barstool in the kitchen, he said, “
Your revenant
abilities
are developing a
lot faster than most. And I think I know why.” As he spoke he peeled a banana, and tossed it into a blender. Then he
pulled some soy milk from the refrigerator, and some ice from the freezer, and put them in the blender.

He turned it on, the noise drowning out everything running through my head.
Several seconds later, he turned the blender off, and
poured the smoothie into a tall glass.

“Here you go,” he said, handing it to me.

“Thank you.” I
sipped. It was delicious
.

He handed me a napkin. After I wiped my mouth, I asked, “Why?”

He took a deep breath. “First answer this question. Did you crave Cindy’s blood? Or another female’s blood
at any time this morning
?”

I thought a moment. “No, I didn’t.”

Professor Pops blew out. “Your best friends are
seven
guys, young men who are desirable, and who find you desirable.”

At those words I blushed. “Nu-uh,” I said.

He patted my hand. “You may try to hide it, Snow, but you are very, very beautiful. Truly one of the fairest in the land,” he added
, his face softening
.

My face felt like it was on fire.  “What does that, or the fact that my best friends are guys have to do with anything?”

He waited until I got it. “
Not
every teenage girl
i
s in a situation like yours. Seven young men vying for
her
attention.”

“We’re just friends though,” I said, taking another drink of my smoothie, thankful I had something to do.

“True, but I believe every one of them would gladly be your boyfriend, if you allowed him. I noticed the way you and Gabe
are
together. There’s something going on with you two.”

I stared into the drink
. “I wanted
something
, but ever since my bite, and the note this morning, he’s been
different.” I took another gulp
, worried I should mention
what Christopher
said, but I couldn’t bring myself to
blurt it out
.

Professor Pops sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. It seemed he’d aged
a hundred years in the past few days. “I’ve been training the boys since I adopted them. Gabe, though he’s younger was actually my first.”

I nodded, remembering the day I rode my new bike along Professor Pops
circular driveway and fell
off. Before I
could start to cry, Gabe ran
out, all legs and arms, and thick
curly hair, and helped me up. ‘You’ll be okay,’
he
’d said, brushing off my knees. ‘Shake it off.’

“They’ve been learning, though they didn’t know it, how to kill vampires,
and anything else that comes
after you.”

I lifted my glass to take a
drink and
stiffened
. “
W
hy would
anything else
be after me?”

Professor Pops came around, and stuck out his hand. “Come with me. I need to show you something.”

I set down the glass and rose, hesitantly placing my hand in his. “What?” I asked, my nervousness easy to hear.

“You’ll see.
I’ll
give you your first
vampire
slaying
lesson
.”

I snorted. “Don’t I just stake him through the heart with a wooden stick?”

“Afraid not, Snow.”
He led me down a set of stairs, into the basement. Opening the door to the storage room, he walked over to the furnace, and pressed a button. The wall behind it swung opened, revealing another set of steps leading down. “Come,” he said.

I hesitated. It was dark, and smelled muggy, like dirt, and wet cement.

“You’ll be fine.” He released my hand, flipped on a light, and started down.

I
trailed
him
cautiously. When we reached the bottom, there was another door. He pulled a key from around his neck, and put it into the lock. I heard the click, and he turne
d the knob. Cool air, like
from a
walk-in
freezer, whooshed out and struck us. I inhaled.

“It’s cold,” I said, stating the obvious.

He flipped on another light, and stepped into the room.

I followed, and immediately wished I hadn’t.

Chapter 7

M
y legs turned to jelly, and my first instinct was to bolt back up the stairs.

“Snow, it’s okay. Think about the
Harvard
Museum of Natural History. They
have
skeletons, and animals stuffed to make them look real. The same ap
plies here. Think of this as a M
useu
m for the S
upernatural.” He’d rushed over and seized my arm, helping me stand. What I really wanted was to take a brillo pad to my brain.

As much as I wanted to run away, I wanted to move in for a closer look
even more
. Sort of like when you see a car accident on the road. You feel revolted and drawn to it at the same time. That’s how I felt.

The room reminded me of a
gallery
with so much to see I wasn’t sure where to begin. Scanning the room, I
went from one fairytale beast to another.

“Why? What? How did you get these down here?”

He chuckled. “It was easy. I’m a professor of religion at Harvard. I’m always studying strange phenomena. Or miracles, if you’d prefer.”

“Makes sense,” I said, moving
toward a creature that looked like a tiny angel. Its feathery
white
wings pinned
opened
to a corkboard
. Its skin sparkled like glitter. It wore a white tunic, and white sandals that laced up its very human looking legs. Hair was long, and blond with streaks of red.

“A
Downy f
airy,” Professor Pops
said, coming over, and bending so that his face was
even
with mine
. “She died more than five hundred years ago. I haven’t seen another like her.”

I searched his face, having noted the sadness in his voice. “If you haven’t seen another like her,
how do you know she’s a Downy f
airy?”

“Very perceptive you are, young one.”

I snickered at the Yoda impersonation.

“She died in the service of our cause. I was there when it happened.”

“Oh,” I mouthed. Then said, “I’m sorry Professor Pops.”

“It’s alright. I’ve had many years to mourn her loss. She was a
good friend, a valiant warrior, and she died for what she believed in. It was honorable.
”

“
How did she die
?” I asked, intrigued.

“That is a story for another
time,” he said, straightening. Underneath the platform where the corkboard stood was a drawer. Professor Pops touched a knob, and the latch released. Inside was a leather-bound book. He reached in and pulled it out. In the center of the room stood a thick, plastic-looking music stand. Professor Pops walked over, and set the book on it. Then he waved me over. When I stood in front of the book, the first page turned, on its own. “You must never touch any of the pages.
Touching them will increase
their speed of deterioration.”

“Then how?” I began.

Professor Pops said, “Chapter one.” The pages
instantly
flicked
to the page that said,
Chapter One
.
“Page one-hundred-thirty-six.” Immediately, the pages flipped until it reached said page.

“Wow,” I uttered.

“Exactly. Inside this book is everything you’ll ever want to know about fairies, including the Downy fairy.” He motioned around the room.
“Under or beside each creature is a boo
k that will teach you what you need to know
,
plus
how to kill them.

I couldn’t help the shiver that
ran
the length of my body. I didn’t want to kill anything.

“But some creatures are good, right?” I asked, nervous.

“Every creature can be good or evil. Just like with humans, they have their freedom to choose.”

“Got it
.”
But it was creepy.
A
t least a dozen make-believe creatures
were
enclosed in glass, on pedestals
,
or standing.
There was
a werewolf, a little sprite, a large troll, a black unicorn, and an enormous dragon.
All of them intriguing, and I wanted to study them. Most compelling was a
very human looking guy with glowing red eyes.

“A Hunter,” I said, enthralled.

“That’s right,” Professor Pops agreed, placing the leather book back in the drawer under the Downy fairy. “Follow me,”
he said, moving over to another
door, and unlocking it
. He went inside
.
It was small compared to the room
we’d come from
.
Filled with
weapons. Professor Pops walked over to a pointy wooden stake. “You mentioned staking a vampire.”

He picked
the stick
up and handed it to me. It was heavier than I imagined.