Hotblood (31 page)

“
Thank you Old Peter. What would I do without your succinct portrayal of events?” Lewis asked drily.

I looked around the table at my mother, and her smooth expressionless face, Satan where he grinned from ear to ear, and Old Peter who looked vaguely sleepy, to Lewis where he looked at me with a startling intensity that made my heart pound. “You have my soul?” I asked, still not understanding.

He frowned at his plate and then gave me a forced smile. “I’m afraid it’s true.”

I looked at Old Peter who had his teeth back in his mouth and was busy with some mashed potatoes. I turned back to Lewis. “He said after you kissed me I took your soul.” He nodded tersely. “You kissed me?”

“
Honestly, Dari, that’s hardly the most interesting point now, is it?” my mother said, her emotionless mask cracking as her voice rose.

“
Young girls are interested in kissing,” Old Peter said solemnly. “The frog kissing, and sleeping kissing, and what’s that other story? Anyhow, girls are interested and rightly so I’d say. Truth is that’s the point that bothers me about the whole thing.”

“
Really? The other facts about the soul mess don’t seem a little out of place to you?” my mother asked, gripping the table tightly, and I realized how upset she was.

“
I’ve known Lewis for a bit, and as one of the finest hunters I’ve ever had the pleasure to train, he wouldn’t take lightly to kissing a daughter of a House.”

“
So you think they’re soul mates,” Satan said, nodding like that made sense.

“
No!” My mother had risen to her feet, leaning on the table, looking like she was going to spring across the table at Satan. Everyone stared at her and she glared at Lewis. “Don’t you dare lean me, I’m fine,” she said as she slid back into her chair.

“
Oh, she’s fine,” Satan said with a grin at me. He looked around the table and then shoved away and nodded at Lewis. “Seems we ought to have a conversation.”

“
Satan you said you wouldn’t fight him,” I said, standing up, reaching for Lewis. I grabbed his hand and felt a sudden drop in my stomach as my skin touched his.

“
Dishes,” Lewis said pulling his hand away gently and gathering up plates. “Satan would like me to help with the dishes. Isn’t that right?” He asked smiling mildly at Satan.

Satan sighed and shrugged. “Of course. Why would I want to fight a Hunter when I could do dishes with him?” He winked at me and piled plates together to follow Lewis out of the room. I stared after them then turned to my mother. She had her eyes closed and was rubbing her temples slowly. I felt bewildered. The feel of his skin lingered on my hand. I looked at Old Peter. He appeared to be dozing in his chair. I left the room, walking down the hall, heard Satan’s rough laugh in the kitchen and Lewis’ mild chuckle. I had to get out of there. Nothing made sense. I shoved open the patio door, and stumbled across the grass, the sun warm on my shoulders. I slowed down and finally sat, pulling my knees under my chin, wrapping my dress around my legs. Lewis had kissed me, on the lips probably. I’d taken his soul. I closed my eyes and pressed them against my knees. He was the person I’d left soulless in Sanders. Satan was right; I had hurt someone. He had my soul though. How was that possible? My dad thought the Nether had something… I remembered the dream, the first nightmare with that scream and the pain in my arm as it ripped me to the bone. I rubbed my arm, the ache in it still haunting me. It had been a dream of Lewis and the Nether. That was why I dreamed them both, because Lewis had my soul, and the Nether had given it to him. I didn’t understand how I had taken Lewis’ soul with a kiss any more than I knew why my mother had flipped out when Satan said we were soul mates. Soul mates were the stuff of fairy tales, not the kind of thing you got upset about, weren’t they? I didn’t know; everything seemed impossible to me. My heart had stopped thumping quite so loudly, and I felt a cold nose against my arm. I looked over into Ruby’s eyes and laughed.

“
Impossible. I don’t even know what that means anymore. Hello, Ruby. He kissed me, and I have his soul. Do you know what a Hunter is?”

“
A Hunter keeps order among Hotbloods,” Lewis said from behind me. I stiffened, wishing that Ruby’s smell hadn’t blocked out his so thoroughly. “Wilds step in otherwise and Hotbloods really don’t like that.”

I nodded like that made sense. He settled down a few steps away from me, staring towards the woods, ignoring Ruby’s growl.

“
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about everything. I usually don’t have trouble fixing things, but this…” he shook his head and I had an instinctive urge to comfort him.

“
It’s fine.” He gave me a skeptical glance that made me scramble for something to say. “Okay, it’s not fine, but I took your soul. I guess. I’m sorry about that.”

He laughed. “I kissed you Dari. I deserved the consequence of such a…” He shook his head.

“
What?” I asked and put a hand on the textured fabric on his knee.

He looked down studying my hand for a minute before I pulled it off and started petting Ruby distractedly. “It’s difficult to explain something I don’t understand myself. Dari...” He looked at me intently, and I stared into his eyes, fascinated by the gold and green brought out by the sunshine. “It’s going to be all right.” He smiled at me and I found myself leaning towards him.

“
Dariana, Old Peter is leaving. Would you like to say goodbye?” My mother’s voice made me jump.

Lewis stood up and Ruby butted her head under my hand, walking between us as we moved towards the house growling at Lewis every once in awhile. Lewis looked at Ruby’s silver teeth and rubbed his arm absently. I looked curiously at the fabric of his shirt, wondering what the wound looked like, but there was my mother ushering us into the house as Ruby turned and raced for the woods.

Old Peter and Satan were standing in the hall laughing about something, and my mother thanked them for coming and then they were gone. Our house seemed strangely empty without Lewis and Old Peter. I started up the stairs.

“
Dariana,” my mother said quietly, “do you want to talk about it?”

I closed my eyes, facing away from her. “Not really. I still have homework to do.”

“
All right,” she said quietly, and I left.

In my room I heard the strains of a guitar downstairs. I sat up at first thinking of Devlin, but then a voice was singing, Satan’s voice, wrapped around an old ballad that somehow suited the texture of his voice. I stared at the painting, the colors swirling together seeming to pull me into the darkness behind my eyes.

13 Hotbloods, Bankers, and Demons, Oh My!

On Monday, I was nervous when I saw Lewis, but he was the same, with a smile for me that was only slightly warmer than the one he gave Snowy. I had his soul, but he kept his distance. Maybe that was why he was so careful. If kissing me once had left him unconscious in the woods it was unlikely something he wanted to repeat.

I followed his lead and treated him as much like Osmond as I could. He ate with us at lunch, careful to sit with a good amount of space between us. I told myself I didn’t mind, that it was responsible of him, and I liked that about him. The truth was I liked everything about him. He was funny, nice, and good-looking. Osmond started to get more relaxed around him as the days went by, and he saw that Lewis was indeed not going to break my heart. I wondered what he would say if I told him that Lewis had already kissed me, but not even the shock on Osmond’s face was worth the humiliation. Apparently one kiss was enough for a lifetime. No wonder Lewis had frozen at the Festival when I kissed his cheek. Kissing me was a seriously dangerous prospect.

One day as I was sketching Snowy at lunch, Lewis slid into a chair beside me and watched me over my shoulder. I tried to concentrate on Snowy, but my hand was shaking by the time he reached over and put his hand over mine.

“
Here, that angle is more like this,” he said, and then pulled away leaving me with a pounding heart and a nose full of the scent of his shampoo and skin, like the sun or fresh mown grass, something too good to eat.

“
Thanks,” I said, and for the first time my drawing actually looked a little bit like what it was meant to represent. “How did you do that?” I asked glancing over at him.

He shrugged and forked his noodles. “Practice. I went to a school when I was younger that was very into the arts.”

“
And now you’re in Sanders. Tough life, man,” Osmond said sitting across from me. “Dari, do you have a date for Homecoming?”

I could feel how stiff Lewis had gone beside me. I looked at him curiously then back at Osmond. I shrugged. “I’m just doing a dance with Smoke. I don’t have a date.”

“
Dress,” Snowy said looking up from her notebook. She was less and less talkative the closer it got to Homecoming. “Autumn colored, maybe aubergine or lime.”

“
Lime?” I asked bewildered. I didn’t even know what aurbergine was.

“
Anyway,” Osmond said patiently, “Why don’t I take you? We can have a picnic or something, go double with Snowy, and... Snowy,” he tapped her shoulder to get her attention. “Who are you going with?”

Snowy blinked at him, and her face lost all its color. “I didn’t actually…” she trailed off.

“
Why don’t we all go together,” Lewis said, giving Snowy a slight smile. “That way no one has to worry about getting dates with some kind of expectations. We’ll be a group.”

I frowned at him wondering if he really did like Snowy, and looked at her. Snowy bit her lip and looked near tears. “Yeah. That makes sense. Since none of us are dating anyone we should all just go.” She nodded again and stared at her notebook.

She always went with Devlin. Not as a matter of course, but he asked her in marvelous romantic ways that made every other girl in school envious. Devlin had style Snowy appreciated. I wondered if she even wanted to go without Devlin. I thought to myself that we should have a pajama party at my house and stay in my room playing board games all night and forget about the expectations of high school. Of course, that wouldn’t work since Snowy was still queen of the school with or without Devlin.

Time flew by until the Monday morning before Homecoming. Dance wasn’t on Mondays, so I sat in the kitchen with my mother and Satan eating breakfast.

“
One week,” my mother said between sips of tea, “that’s all the time you have. If you need alterations we’re going to have to get moving.”

“
What alterations?” I asked, poking my lumpy oatmeal.

“
For your homecoming dress,” my mother said placidly.

“
I’m going to the city this afternoon,” Satan said, a little reluctantly. My mother gave him thoughtful look and nodded.

“
It would be a good idea for Dariana to go with you.”

“
I guess so,” I said, but I wasn’t thrilled by the prospect. On the way to school, I hardly heard the scream of the engine over my thoughts. One week. During English I watched Lewis furtively, while I kept track of Mrs. Briggs. I was getting almost competent at following her without really thinking about it.

After class Lewis turned to me. “What’s going on?”

I stared at him wanting to push his hair out of his eyes. He needed a haircut probably, but I liked it like that. “Shopping with Satan today for my dress. I’m feeling a little bit like this is a bad idea.”

He smiled at me and cocked his head. “Shopping with Satan does sound a nightmarish. I suggest you point him in the direction of suits that will bring out his eyes. Maybe a nice pinstripe,” his eyes crinkled as he grinned.

“
Thanks for the advice. I think the only thing he wants is a trench coat. He’s particular about things; they have to be the exact color of sludge. Anyway,” I said shaking my head. “I’m nervous about Homecoming, not shopping.”

“
Ah,” he said, following me out into the hall. “I’m a little bit nervous myself. I haven’t gone to a social dance for a very long time.”

“
It’s going to be horrible for Snowy without Devlin.”

He put a hand on my shoulder, just a brush, but it brought me up short as I turned to him. “What about you?”

I took a step away from him and took a deep breath of the nice mildewy air. “It’s always horrible for me.” I waved and left, feeling weak in the knees.

After school Satan was outside waiting for me, and I climbed in half reluctant, half eager to get this over with.

“
I’m like your personal fairy godmother,” Satan said with a grin. His shirtsleeves were halfway rolled up, and his hat was on, so he didn’t look too crazy, but you could see the madness lurking in his eyes.

“
Sure. Great. All you need is a pink tutu. I need to get some art supplies, too.” I lay my head back against the headrest. I didn’t feel very good. He fiddled with the radio until he suddenly pulled out, pressing me back into my seat. The trip was fast; as the trees flew past us at an alarming speed, I braced my feet against the dashboard.

“
How’s school?” He asked. I glanced over at him, he looked happy and cheerful, comfortable with me like I wasn’t crazy and messed up. I scowled, thinking about Homecoming, and he looked at me then quirked one bald eyebrow. “That good?”

“
Yeah.” I wasn’t sure what to say. “It was okay today, but kind of weird.”

“
Weird?”

“
Life without Devlin takes adjusting to.” I pulled out my knitting and started doing a row. I was getting better and better, except when I was getting worse. I felt tired. I’d gone hunting the night before but I hadn’t seen the Nether, and somehow it was less fulfilling without the mist wrapping around me. If I was honest with myself, I had to admit I looked for him when I went out and felt disappointment when I didn’t see him. It had been weeks since I’d gone hunting with Ruby and seen his shadows in the distance. Maybe he’d moved on, found something more interesting to do.