Bloodmark (20 page)

“I was just wondering about you,” I said.

He smiled, opening the limo door. “Ladies, your chariot awaits,” he said. Emma giggled as she hopped in. Mund pulled a container from behind his back, revealing white orchids. “I thought you could use this,” he said, pinning the delicate flowers into my hair.

“Thank you, Mund.”

“Let’s go!” someone called from inside the limo.

“Where’s Baran?” I asked. “He said he’d be here.”

“Something came up.”

“What?”

“Nothing to worry about,” Mund said.

Nothing to worry about? With them, it was always something to worry about, but I decided to wait and give it my full attention later. Tonight was about enjoying this human ritual, the homecoming dance.

We arrived at the dance about twenty minutes after it had already started, making our grand entrance. The darkness made me nervous, but luckily the strobe lights made it impossible for anyone to notice our glowing eyes. The gymnasium was decorated with paper streamers and gossamer. It seemed the entire senior high was actually there, even Lacey. I could have spotted her a mile away . . . even if she wasn’t standing in front of Grey, jumping up and down, screaming like a groupie. She was dressed in a nauseating pink strapless dress with a bow on the side, as though she were a little pink present, her bleached-blonde hair piled on top of her head.

The song ended, and Lacey and Nikki headed off to the refreshment table. The dance floor cleared, leaving an opening from Grey at the front of the gym to me at the very back, standing alone. He wore an exquisitely tailored black pinstriped suit coat and pants with a white dress shirt, collar tips flipped up, and a loose, straight-cut black tie. He looked delicious, and my heart was beating so loud in my ears, I couldn’t hear anything around me. All I could see was him. They started playing another song, and his voice penetrated my mind. It felt as if my blood were being replaced by an intoxicating drug, tingling every inch of my body. His guitar swung at his hip as he walked the length of the gymnasium toward me, singing. His jacket swayed with each step of his strut, enticing my soul.

I couldn’t hear the words he was singing; my erratic pulse thundered through my body as I watched the movements of his perfect lips. I knew everyone was watching him, but I didn’t see any of them. Only Grey. He fell to his knees, sliding to my feet with six bright-red roses in his hands. His lips curved up into a mischievous little grin, and his eyes were wild. He studied every inch of me from the top of my head to the bottom of my toes.

“May I have this dance, my lady?” he said.

I slipped my hand into his and let him lead me to the center of the dance floor as he sang to me. Everyone watched us, but to us, the room was empty, only our love remained. The song came to an end, and the room stopped spinning—or we stopped moving. I wasn’t sure which. He leaned forward, kissing me on the cheek.

“Love you,” he said as he winked and ran back up to the stage.

I had to escape. Everyone was staring at me, and it made me apprehensive. I darted to the bathroom for shelter. I needed to breathe and have a moment to myself away from the scrutiny of their prying eyes.

After regaining my ability to think and breathe on my own, I relinquished my hiding place and exited into the hallway, where I promptly ran right into Lacey. Her face matched the color of her dress. “I hate you!” she said, ripping the roses from my hands. Petals fell all over, creating cascades of red that covered the floor. It looked like blood. The glorious flowers were destroyed, but I knelt down to scoop them back up.

“You’re nothing more than a fling,” she sneered. “He’ll dump you when he’s done using you up! He’ll come back to me, you know.”

I looked up at her contorted face. “I’m sorry you feel that way,” I replied, and I went back to collecting all the petals from the floor, trying to put back together what she had destroyed. Lacey slapped the broken flowers from my hand. With the second assault, anger started to flow through me, and my vision flickered, but I had to hold the wolf at bay. No matter how much she deserved my wrath, I had to remain calm. This wasn’t the place to lose control.

Standing up, I put myself face to face with the little waif of a girl, looking her right in the eyes as she continued her verbal assault. “Why don’t you go back where you came from, you
dog
!” she said.

At some point, people had started to notice what was going on and were beginning to circle around us. I almost laughed at the spectacle she was making. And to think, I had hid in the bathroom so I wouldn’t be the center of attention. Now here I stood, in the middle of a silly fight over a boy, just like a teenager. I finally got what I wanted, to feel like a normal sixteen-year-old girl.

I stood in a pool of broken flowers as Grey walked over to us. He wrapped his arm around my waist and started to pull me away from Lacey and her hate. She grabbed my arm, pulling me back, then pushed me with all her might into the wall. I hardly felt the impact, but rage churned in my body.

“What the hell, Lacey,” Grey said.

“She’s not good enough for you, Grey. She’s not like us,” she said.

“You’re right about one thing,” he replied. “We’re not like you.”

“Little cat fight?” Mund asked, suddenly appearing.

“Hardly,” I said.

Grey said, “Come on, let’s get some fresh air.” He led the way out the front doors to the picnic tables, leaving Lacey in her embarrassing mess of pink and red.

“You okay? Did she hurt you?”

“I’ll be fine,” I said.

“I’ll buy you more flowers,” he said.

I poked him in the nose with my index finger and smiled. “I don’t need flowers. I only need you.” He smiled back, kissing my forehead, and we gazed up at the stars in silence.

Suddenly, Mund ran out to us. “We have to go,” he said.

“Why?” I replied.

“Baran.”

Instantly both Grey and I were up and ready to run. Emma came out after Mund. “Where are you going?” she asked, batting her eyes. Her infatuation with him was starting to annoy me.

“Ashling isn’t feeling well. So we’re going to take her home,” Mund said. “Will you be a dear and tell everyone?” He knew how to put on the charm when he wanted to.

“Oh yes,” she said. “Feel better, Ashling.
Bye
, Mund. . . .”

We made our way to the side of the school, out of sight. “We have to run,” Mund said.

“Okay,” I replied.

“Can he keep up?” Mund asked.

“Yes,” I said, slipping off my high heels.

“We have to get home to Baran—something isn’t right,” Mund said to Grey. “I trust you.”

Grey nodded. With one shoe in each hand, I started running for home with Mund and Grey flanking me on either side. Flying past houses at incredible speeds, I could see Mund watching Grey’s agile movements. It had to blow Mund’s mind to see a human with such strength and agility.

We reached the house in a matter of minutes. Bursting through the front door, the rush of a human’s scent washed over me. Mund recoiled from it, blocking both Grey and me from entering any farther. He was instantly on the defense, only a split second from shifting at any sound.

“What is it?” Grey said.

“The Bloodsucker,” Mund replied.

Grey looked confused and worried. I remembered what they had said about the Bloodsucker killing a wolf to trap the others. Was this a trap? As scared as I was, Grey looked worse. His face was pale, and his palms began to sweat.

Baran leapt into the living room as a giant salt-and-pepper gray wolf. He was a dire wolf, alpha in every sense of the word despite his current position as a nomad. Robert lunged in after Baran with a large silver blade, barely missing Baran’s back leg. Baran snarled at Robert and slowly backed up closer to us, keeping a cautious distance between Robert and us. Robert’s expression changed from enjoyment to rage when he finally saw his son. I could only stare at his silver blade; one prick of our skin would make us temporarily mortal. Fear crept through me as I finally realized it was Robert’s scent that I had smelled that day on Baran. Only it hadn’t registered as Grey’s father then . . . but there was no doubt that Robert was a Bloodsucker.

“Get out,” Mund said to Robert.

The authority rang off each word Mund spoke, but Robert didn’t move. He stared from me to Grey and back again. Neither Mund nor Baran seemed to notice the difference in Grey, but he was motionless in his father’s presence.

I was sure Robert recognized me from the forest, and he had concluded that the shoes left in his son’s room were mine. He was the Bloodsucker and Grey was his son. Dread filled my mind, slowing my reactions.

His father was a murderer, his mother the victim. That was what Baran couldn’t say earlier. I could feel the truth vibrating in the air. Robert was bred to kill our kind. It was his sole purpose on this earth, and his son was my love and my executioner.

“Grey, what are you doing here?” Robert said.

Mund finally realized the situation. He was desperate to pull me away from Grey’s side; I could see it in his eyes. But he didn’t dare move and give Robert a chance to attack Baran. It was all happening so fast. I didn’t know how to make it stop.

Grey held my hand tightly, straightened his posture, and he faced his father.

Robert choked back a twisted laugh. “Do you realize what she is?!”

“I love her.”

“You can’t
love
a filthy dog.” Robert spat out the words.

“I love her,” Grey repeated.

“It’s time for you to leave,” Mund said to Robert.

“Not without
my
son,” he said, his words cutting.

“I’m staying with Ashling,” Grey said.

“They are nothing more than a pack of wild dogs! Infesting the human race with their disease!”

Grey didn’t respond. He stood his ground next to me, intertwining our fingers, holding my hand firmly with his. Mund looked as though he were about to rip out of his skin to silence Robert, but one movement from him could set off events with consequences we hadn’t even imagined.

“You listen to me, boy—if you stay here, you renounce everything your mother stood for. You will shame her life,” Robert said.

Grey hung his head in disgrace. He actually believed the heinous words that came from Robert’s evil mouth.

“Your mother died to protect you from this filth,” Robert said.

Baran growled and snapped at Robert, and I could feel his bitter rage at Robert’s lies. Grey wasn’t looking at anyone, his eyes cast to the floor. I felt desperate. After several long seconds, he said, “I’m sorry, Ashling.” Before anyone could say anything else or look at anyone, he was gone; the love of my life turned and walked out the door without even giving me a second glance. In one moment, everything changed. The shoes fell from my hand, clattering on the floor. My cold, empty hand ached for his touch. One simple lie destroyed everything.

14

Fake It

The sobs came from somewhere deep inside
. I fell to the floor, unable to hold myself up. Baran lunged at Robert, chasing him out through the back door. But Mund stood guard by my side; he needn’t have, there was nothing left. No reason to breathe. Grey was gone, and I was empty. Each breath my body took cut my soul. I couldn’t move; I just lay there on the floor, tears streaming down my face.

I cried so hard, I started to gag. I wanted to die. I never wanted to feel again. This was the worst pain I could endure. Wasn’t I good enough to love?

I smelled Baran return, but I couldn’t see him through my tears. I only heard murmurs of their conversation. I wondered if he caught Robert. Would Baran hurt Grey? The thoughts tore me apart—loyalty to my family, or to my love for Grey? Was this really the choice Grey had made? The deep, unrelenting pain in my heart thickened and slowed with each beat.

“I want to die. . . .” I said, barely a whisper.

“No, Ash,” Mund said.

“I can’t live without him.”

“You can and you will,” Baran said.

“He made me feel like a princess,” I cried.

“You
are
a princess,” Mund said, smoothing my hair out of my face. “You don’t need him to make you feel anything.”

But he was wrong, I did need Grey. I had never lived before I knew Grey—he was my match and I was his.

“I knew he couldn’t be trusted. He’s a murderer,” Mund said.

“I should have known better,” Baran said. “I knew something was wrong with Robert, but I didn’t want to see what it was. I was too busy trying to be Grey’s friend to see him clearly. And then he was so different with Ashling. I thought she had brought him to life, but I overlooked the obvious danger.”

Like a jolt of lightning, my body suddenly heaved under pressure, and a small whimper escaped my lips. Grey. Someone had struck him across the face, but my face stung from the pain. I doubled over from the overwhelming feelings. His emotions were changing quickly. More intense than my own feelings in my own body, his took over every cell, consuming me.

Mund was at my side. “What is it? Are you alright?”

“No . . . no. It’s nothing,” I said. But it was something. Something was wrong with Grey. I felt his emotions shift quickly, and his anger pulsed through my veins. My face still stung from the impact. “I’m going to lie down,” I said, excusing myself to my room. I felt sick to my stomach. Grey’s father was beating him—punishment for being with
me.
Why could I feel him so strongly now, when I couldn’t before? Why, now that he had chosen to not be with me?

I gasped for air on the cold floor of my room. Every assault on Grey’s body registered pain on mine. My ribs felt bruised and my face felt swollen, but no visible wounds showed on my skin. Every pain, every impact, every nauseating blow, was mine to endure. He didn’t fight back, I could feel it. He just took the punishment upon himself. His sorrow rippled through me. I crawled to the window seat, resting my tear-drenched face on the cushion, gasping for air, waiting for the pain to stop. “Grey . . .” I whispered.

How could he leave me? Only to be beaten? He had betrayed me. He betrayed me for the love of his mother, I reminded myself. Robert had lied to him, but Grey had still made his choice. I couldn’t tell him his own father was nothing more than a liar. He had to figure it out for himself. I couldn’t force him to love me, even if I wanted to.