Lucas’s face shadowed. “Are you crazy? It tastes like shit.”
I felt my eyebrows shoot up with a smile tugging on my lips. “What? You’ve tried it?”
“Not
tried
it. When you’ve killed as many vampires as I have, it’s only natural that their blood’s gonna get in your mouth. It’s disgusting and wrong. Our blood isn’t meant to mix. But even so, there’s no reason for us to drink it. Vampire blood doesn’t give us any abilities like it does for humans. And it doesn’t make us high no matter how much we ingest, and believe me, I’ve had a lot.”
“Ew. Remind me not to kiss you anymore.”
He leaned over and pressed a kiss on my lips so swiftly I hardly knew it happened.
I smiled at the roguish look on his face. “So no werewolf blood bitches?” I asked.
“I’m not gonna pretend like it doesn’t happen. But it’s rare and usually only occurs when both parties have something to gain. Like a trade-off kind of thing. And no blood is exchanged, since we don’t have any use for it. They trade other stuff. Well, werewolves aren’t allowed to kill humans, right? So the vampire might say, okay I’ll murder this dude for you, if you go out during the day and get this thing for me. Get it?”
I nodded. “But, that’s not allowed is it? Rolf wouldn’t let you guys work with vampires.”
“Damn straight he wouldn’t. Any werewolf that’s found aiding the vampires is sentenced to death.” He slapped the deck and gathered up the cards.
“Calvin said something about me last night,” I said cautiously.
Lucas looked up, alarm written all over his face. “What’d he say?”
“That I was special like his pet.” I dropped a card and slapped it, taking only two measly little cards into my pile.
“Oh, he was probably referring to your otherness,” he said, relaxing.
“They can sense that stuff?”
“Some of them.”
“So Paula had a gift then,” I said. “Maybe she was like me!” But as quickly as the excitement came, it passed. “Oh, no. I could feel her energy. With Yvette I can’t read her vibe. And anyway, she’s dead now.”
“Might’ve been a telepath,” he said offhandedly. “Mind reader.”
“Those exist too?” I said, equally nonchalant. Nothing surprised me anymore.
“Sure,” he said. “Met a few in my time. Granted, that was mostly in the seventeenth century, but still. They must still exist.
You
exist, right?”
I looked down at myself as though checking to see. “Seems like it. And besides, I can sort of read minds. Like, when an emotion is really strong, I can sometimes hear a thought behind it, or figure out the reasoning.”
“Okay, so what if I try to send you a thought. Can you hear it?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I get complete thoughts, but I don’t know if you could
send
me one. Try it.”
Lucas met my gaze levelly, expression calm and intent, but masked, which made me really want to know what he was sending me. I let the sparks between us fuse, hoping I’d be able to hear something, but all I got was a whiff of curiosity and amusement. I pushed deeper, willing myself to hear something.
Frustrated, I shrugged, breaking off the connection.
“We’ll keep practicing,” Lucas said. “What about the blocking thing we talked about? We haven’t even tried it.”
“Try it now.” Maybe this I could do, at least.
“I, ah . . . don’t really know . . .”
I’d never seen Lucas flustered, but it was terribly cute. “I don’t know how you do it either,” I said. “With Derek it feels like a wall in his head. Completely impenetrable. Maybe just visualize a brick wall, or something.”
“I can do that.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “Ready?”
“Yeah.”
I ignited our connection and felt Lucas’s emotions consume me like a category five tornado. Determination. Confusion. Disappointment.
Nice try, babe.
I released the connection, wondering if he’d heard me.
“Damn,” Lucas grumbled. “Do it again.”
We did the exercise over and over again for fifteen minutes straight. Finally, on the last time, Lucas managed to keep me out. It was a weak form of the block in Derek’s head. More like a chain-link fence than a brick wall, but it kept me out and I let the connection drop.
“Yes!” Lucas shouted triumphantly, flinging his card across the room.
I laughed. “Pretty good.”
“
Pretty
good? That was an impenetrable wall if I ever saw one—felt one. Whatever.”
I laughed again, shaking my head. “You’re right. It was impassible. I never could have gotten in if you hadn’t let me.”
He sent me a skeptical look. “How’d Yvette and Rolf figure this out, anyway? What a pain.”
“She probably tried to make him do something and he didn’t want to so badly that he blocked her out of instinct. Yvette said it takes practice.”
“Yeah, well, at least they’re the only ones who know about this, right? Could you imagine the whole pack blocking you out while they were changed?”
I nodded, but felt a frown between my eyebrows. “I don’t know if Yvette is the only one who knows, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember Kevin? The other dude with the sense?”
Lucas nodded.
“Well, the vampires kidnapped him and probably tortured all of his secrets out of him before they killed him. There might be some of them who know how to block me.”
“But you can’t control them, anyway so don’t worry about it.”
I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t like the vampires knowing about my powers. Even if I couldn’t control them, the werewolves were susceptible, and I didn’t want this blocking info to get out.
“Let’s try it again,” Lucas said.
“No, let’s forget it for now. I’m tired.” Really I was just keen on talking about vampires some more. “So about Paula,” I said.
“Back to this . . . ,” he grumbled and crossed the room to collect his cards.
“Yes. Back to this. Melissa drank like, all of Paula’s blood. If she did have a power, does that mean Melissa will get them now?”
“How the hell would I know? Do I look like a vampire?”
I ignored him and worked it out in my head. “Well, I guess not,” I said, answering my own question. “Vincent had some of my blood, and he couldn’t use the sense or control you.”
We were both silent for a while as Lucas continued to destroy me at Slap Jack.
“You know when I first started feeling them?” I said softly. “The vibes, I mean?”
“Hmm?” Lucas slapped the pile, leaving me with one lonely little card left.
“It was right after the surgery when I had to remove the bullet.” I looked up at him and he put his hand on my thigh, right over the scar. He knew the bullet I meant. The one my stepdad sent flying into my flesh in a drunken rage. “I was lying in the recovery room,” I said, “all doped up on morphine and Derek walked in. As soon as he got close, I felt this warm energy smother me. It was so sweet and bright ... like something golden, I don’t know. I told him about it and he just smiled at me and told me I was loopy from the drugs. I believed him at first, but the vibes stayed even after the drugs wore off.”
I glanced up and saw that Lucas was nodding like this all made perfect sense. “You were thirteen right?”
“Yeah.”
“Most supernatural abilities manifest at puberty. It was probably a coincidence that it happened after your surgery.”
I put down my last card, and Lucas slapped it up. I slumped, defeated, and he gave me a smug smile as he reshuffled the deck.
I looked out the window and saw the ashen sky smothering the sun. “It’s close to dusk. We should go up to his room to wait for him.”
“Why don’t you just call him?” he suggested stiffly. He stood and tossed me my cell phone.
I gulped and pressed the speed dial, hoping against all the hope in the world that Derek’s mellow voice would sound through the receiver.
It didn’t.
Instead, I heard the bold, slightly accented voice of Calvin Carnelian.
15
JUST A PULL
“D
erek Turner’s phone,” Calvin said, sounding a lot like a hotel receptionist. I expected him to ask me if I wanted a mint on my pillow next.
“Where’s Derek?” I asked.
Lucas’s gaze was like a razor blade slicing through my throat as he whipped around on me. My breath caught.
“Oh, is this Faith?” Calvin asked, seemingly overjoyed to hear me. “How sweet! Derek is lucky to own a pet so eager for him that she cannot even wait for him to wake.”
I sneered at the phone and opened my mouth to say something snotty, but Lucas motioned for me to be calm. Although I could feel the spark of anger he felt at hearing Calvin’s words.
“Can you please tell him to call me when he wakes up?” I asked in the nicest voice I could muster.
“Certainly,” Calvin said. “Anything else you wish me to relay to your master?”
Again, I started to say something bitchy, but Lucas put his hand on my knee.
“Just tell him I’m waiting for him in the courtyard.”
“It shall be done. Farewell, Faith Reynolds.” He hung up, leaving me staring at the receiver and wondering how he knew my last name.
Lucas and I went downstairs into the snow to wait for Derek. It was freezing and I let Lucas wrap his coat around me and button it up. Snowflakes buzzed around our heads like gnats, landing on my head and cheeks.
Before long, a silver car pulled up beside us. Lucas unbuttoned me from his coat and clasped my hand.
“That’s them,” I said, recognizing the car.
“Stay behind me. If anything goes wrong, run inside and don’t let anyone in. In fact, maybe you should just wait in—”
“No,” I cut him off firmly. “I want to be here.”
Lucas made a low annoyed sound in the back of his throat and pushed me behind his body.
I watched from around his waist as the back door of the car popped open and Derek emerged. His face was flushed, and he wore a giant smile, fangs glistening. He leaned down and said, “See ya later, guys.”
He shut the door and strutted toward us as the silver car buzzed off.
Lucas relaxed slightly, but remained stiff—as though he was holding himself back.
“Hey,” Derek said lightly. “What’s up?”
I stepped around Lucas. “How was your
night
?”
“Great!” Derek said. “The vampires are really cool. Way nicer than the werewolves, no offense.”
Lucas shot me an I-told-you-so look.
“Derek,” I said. “What are you talking about? They practically kidnapped you!”
“Yeah, but once I showed them that I wasn’t lying, they were really, really cool. They took me to their house—lair, whatever—which is basically this huge underground mansion that looks like a dump from the outside, but is really sweet inside. And everyone was so—”
“Ugh, Derek!” I yelled. “Vampires are not cool or nice or sweet. They’re evil, bloodsucking murderers!”
“Not all of them,” Derek said. “Some of them are nice. Melissa is so—”
“No, they’re not,” I cut in. “They just want to get you on their side.”
“
Side?
What side?”
“There’s an uprising about to start and they want you because you’re powerful and unique.”
Lucas put his hand on mine and shushed me, probably because I sounded slightly hysterical.
“Yes,” Derek said to Lucas. “Thank you. She’s being crazy, right?”
“No,” Lucas said. “You’re crazy if you think the vampires are your friends.”
Derek scoffed. “Whatever. You guys don’t know what you’re talking about.” He began walking away. I started after him, but Lucas held on to my hand, preventing me from moving.
“Don’t bother,” Lucas said. “He’s chosen his fate.”
I pried my hand away. “I can’t let him become like them.”
“He’s a leech,” Lucas said. “When are you going to accept that?”
I squared my shoulders against him.
“I’ll accept it when it’s true.”
And I spun away from him. As I walked away, I could feel his vibe roiling with a tangle of mixed-up emotions. Jealousy being the major one. But there was hurt too, and of course my power chose this moment to kick in and allow me to read the reason why: I’d chosen to go with Derek over him. Frustration. He was being controlling again and he hated it, but also feared for my safety with Derek. Stubbornness, as he warred with himself to go after me.
I pulled out of his head, gasping. For once, I was glad he kept his distance. I needed to concentrate on Derek right now. His involvement with the vampires had to end if we had any hope of stopping the uprising and the murders. I went inside his building and knocked on his door. He answered immediately, looking less than happy to see me.