Vampire Lies (Blood and Snow Season Book 1) (11 page)

“Yes?” I turned around so that we were facing each other.

“Have we met somewhere before? You seem familiar.” His eyes twinkled with genuine interest.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so.” I shrugged my backpack further onto my shoulder. “Unless you’ve been to Las Vegas.”

Mr. Henry chuckled. “The last time I was there would’ve been way before you were born.” He took a stack of papers and straightened them by banging one edge on the desk. “Let me know if you need any help.”

“Thanks. I will.” As soon as I was outside the room, I took in a big gulp of air and immediately regretted it. The scent of blood pounded in my veins. That
reminded me, I needed to ask Laeddin what he was thinking, giving me human blood. And on top of that, where had he gotten it?

Chapter 15

Laeddin waited
for me exactly where he’d dropped me off several hours before. If I hadn’t watched him drive away I would’ve wondered if he’d ever left.

As I started down the stairs Sydney fell into step beside me.  “Hey, Jack. Sorry about Drake. He’s such a jerk.”

“It’s okay. Thanks again for all your help. I couldn’t have made it without you.”

She waved a hand in front of her face. “Sure. Sure. So listen. A bunch of us are getting together tonight. Just a little party to start the week of
f right. Want to come?”

I glanced at Laeddin who was watching me.

“I’d love to.” I smiled. My first party.

“Cool. Here’s the instructions. Wear something warm.” She went down the rest of the stairs. “And Jack?”

“Yeah?” I clutched the paper she’d given me. “Is that your dad in the car over there?” She pointed at Laeddin.

“Gah, no. He isn’t my dad. He-he works for my mom and dad. He’s staying with me until they can join me.”

“Oh, lucky. Well tell your hot babysitter that you need a phone.” She laughed.

“I will.” I finished walking down the stairs and made my way over to the ca
r.

“Jack?”

“Tell no one about tonight. K?”

“I won’t.” I said, tucking
the note into my backpack.

“Cool.” She turned down the sidewalk and made her way to the parking lot. Drake was leaning against a tree and when she passed him, he pushed himself away from the trunk and fell into step with her.

“Everything set?”

“Yep. She’s coming. Tonight’s going to be fun.”

“What?” I whispered, a strange prickling feeling making hair on the back of my neck stand of edge.

“Jackie?” Laeddin looked at me impatiently.

“Hey Laeddin.” I climbed in the car and buckled up.

“I see you made a friend. That’s good.”

I turned to look at Laeddin. He was smiling happily.

“Yeah, I guess I did.” No point telling
Laeddin that I was suddenly unsure if Sydney’s friendship was sincere or part of something more sinister. I hoped I was wrong, but I’d never been one to back away from a challenge. If a couple of high school students thought they could hurt me, they’d be sadly mistaken.

“What’s that look on your face?”

“What look?” I quickly smiled as Laeddin pulled into traffic.

“The I’m-ready-for-a-fight look.”

I laughed, trying my best to make it seem like he had no idea what he was talking about. “You don’t know me well enough to know my looks. It could’ve been my I-need-to-pee face.”

“You forget I’ve been watching you for years. Tell me what’s wrong.”

I was stunned. He was right. I hadn’t known he existed until just a few days ago, but he’d known about me for a lot longer. I didn’t want to talk to him about it though. So I changed the subject. “Why did you give me human blood this morning?”

He gave me a bright smile. “I wondered how long it would take for you to figure it out.”

“You’re an idiot. What if I’d bitten someone? Did you ever thing about that?” I huffed. “Human blood tastes amazing, better than unicorn blood even.”

He got serious. “I just wanted to make sure you could be satiated without blood from the seven magics.”

“Well, I appreciate the thought. But there is no magic in human blood. It’s kind of like those Pixy Stix you told me about the other night. You said they were like sugar crack, but that you couldn’t survive on them. Human blood is like that for me. The taste is highly desirable, but it won’t sustain me, at least not for long.”

“Well you can’t blame a genie for trying.” He turned on the radio and we rode home without talking. When we got inside, Laeddin sat down on a stool. “Do you have any homework?”

“Yeah, I do. And I’d better get to it. That girl you saw me talking to?”

“Okay.” He bit into an apple.

“She invited me to a party.”

“Tonight?” He chewed, swallowed and took another bite.

“Yes, tonight. I won’t be gone long, but I do want to check it out. My first party invitation. I can’t miss that.” I was so excited I practically bounced, my earlier trepidation forgotten.

Laeddin searched my face. “I guess.” He turned and picked up a newspaper and started flipping through it. “Have you heard about the dead guy?”

I was halfway up the stairs and I paused. “Yes.”

“Stay out of the woods. Deal?”

I continued up the stairs and walked down the hall to the room that used to be my mom’s. I let Laeddin sleep in my grandfather’s old room.

“Deal?” he said louder.

“Yes, it’s a deal.” I closed the door and fell back on my bed. Even after hours of meetings as the princess in Sharra, high school was still more challenging. I ran over the events of the day in my mind. It’d been very emotional but I’d survived, even made at least two new friends—Abby and Cam. I thought again about Sydney and what she’d said to Drake. What did they intend to do tonight? Some kind of initiation?

I opened the piece of paper. Sydney’s handwriting was neat but loopy. Some of her words were hard to decipher. She’d drawn a map though. I thought I could figure it out. It didn’t look that far from my house.

Chapter
16

I’d been walking for ten minutes. I wasn’t winded and I could see fine in the dark, but I was tired of getting around on two legs. I wanted to fly. The thought shocked me. I’d always believed I’d be perfectly happy without
my wings. Happier even.

I shrugged the thought away. I needed to give myself more time to get used to life without them. I could do that.

At the end of the road was the forest, the one I’d promised Laeddin I would stay out of. I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised. Sometimes Sabrina and I would do things the grown-ups told us not to do. Nothing too serious. It was the way of children, I guess, to rebel against the wisdom of time.

I thought that if there were a party, I would’ve heard
it by now. But the forest was so quiet. The night was still. There wasn’t even the sound of insects. In the distance I could hear cars rushing by and the flicker of a streetlight, its hum sounding as it went off and on.

If Sydney and her friends were waiting within, not even my
vampire hearing could discern where they were. I focused on a different sense. Breathing in, I searched for the aroma, the scent of their blood.

There was none. Not even that of animals. How was that possible?
Unless they’d changed their minds about the party. Was I early? I checked the note. It said nine o’clock. It was only ten minutes after.

I walked to the edge of the forest. There was a large boulder near what appeared to be a trail. I sat on the rock
, cautious of the rough edges. It wouldn’t hurt to wait until ten. I could do that.

The sky was lit up with so many stars. I searched for the constellations I’d seen from the night sky in Sharra. The placement was different. Still beautiful though. The wind blew gently, rattling the leaves still hanging on to their branches. I watched them turn and sway.

Until a shadow appeared on the trail. I gasped, surprised. He stood with his feet apart. I looked closer. A red glimmering seemed to emanate from the area where his eyes should be.

“Hello?” I called.

The man took a step forward. “Come closer, little one. I can’t see your face.”

His voice was low and carried along like a ghost. I was almost surprised when I heard it. “Nah.” I climbed off the boulder. “I’m going to go home.”

Before I could move, he was there. Behind me. There was a blade at my neck. With him so near, I could smell his sweat, the stench of his breath, even the steel of the blade. I realized the reason I hadn’t recognized he was there was that his scent was off. Like there was oil in his veins instead of blood.

“You picked the perfect night to die.”

He pressed the sharp edge of the knife against my throat.

It pricked lightly
, but it didn’t hurt. It just angered me. I put my hand over his. “I’m not the one doing the dying tonight.” I grabbed his fingers and twisted, pulling his fingers from the blade.

He let out a curse and tried to grab me with his other
hand. I twisted from his grasp and shoved the edge of my palm upward into his chin. His head flipped back with a crack. I turned to get away but he was on me again.

“You can’t leave, little one. You’re too much fun to play with.”

I growled and head butted him, fighting back a grin of satisfaction as I felt the back of my head connect with his nose.

He screamed at the pain and then started to l
augh. “You aren’t a human child.” It was a statement not a question.

I faced him. “What are you?”

“This body is human, but his soul is no longer of this world. I’ve taken it over.  My name is Izu. I am a demura. And this forest is my hunting ground.”

I bent low
, sliding into a fighting stance. I had no idea what a demura was, but he should know that I was not his prey. Opening my mouth, I released my fangs. The man’s blood smelled rotten. No way I would drink from him, but my fangs were razor sharp and made a great weapon.

“
Izu, you picked the wrong girl to attack.” I lunged. As soon as I landed on his back, there was a high-pitched squeal and then dark energy emerged from the man’s body. I watched it curl and coil into a shape with horns before it wisped upward.

“You haven’t seen the last of me,
vampire. Prepare yourself for suffering.” The demura disappeared into the thickness of the forest.

With the ghost
-like creature gone, the empty corpse dropped like a rock in a pond, taking me with it. In seconds the body shriveled, the skin, muscle, and soft tissue disintegrated, leaving only the man’s bones. 

Shuddering,
I untangled myself. The dry bones clacked together like a musical instrument. “Creepy,” I whispered, standing up and brushing off my pants.

The sounds of th
e forest slowly returned. Crickets. Little animals rooting around in the dirt. An owl hooting in a tree near the edge of the forest. Whatever the demura was, it was gone for now.

And the poor dead man. I needed to tell someone. I ran back to the house, up the sta
irs, and threw open Laeddin’s bedroom door.

He sat up with a start. “What is it?
” He blinked, bleary-eyed. “Was the party fun?”

“Well,” I began, my breathing coming rapidly. “If that’s how human parties really are, I don’t want to go to another.”

He pulled off the covers and sat on the edge of the bed. It was then that I noticed he wasn’t wearing a shirt and his pajama pants were white with navy stripes.

Moonlight shone through the windows. It seemed strange
to me that the curtains were open instead of closed. I wondered how he slept with all the light. But the light made his body gleam. And his blood? Spicy sweetness with a tang of copper. My fangs were still out, which made the smell even more delicious. My mouth watered. It took every ounce of effort not to jump on him and sink my fangs into the pulse at his neck.

“What happened,” he asked, seemingly oblivious to my thirst. He patted the spot next to him on the bed.

I retracted my fangs and closed my mouth. Then sat. He rubbed his jaw and I heard the scratchiness from his unshaven beard.

“Jasmine?” Laeddin
really looked at me. “What is it?” He scooted closer.

I tried to hold my breath but his scent had me drooling. I covered my nose and my mouth, but still smelled him. Standing, I ran to my room, and slammed the door. It was like I was five again and couldn’t control myself. I knew I couldn’t have his blood, but the fire burning in my throat didn’t care.

“Jasmine?” There was a knock on the door.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine.” I could smell his blood through the door.

“Can I come in?” His voice took on a softer tone.