Hunter Moon: A Grazi Kelly Novel #2 (24 page)

He bent down and picked up some loose dirt.
He let it fall through his fingers and rubbed his hands on his
pants. I couldn’t help but notice the way his shirt tightened over
the muscles on his chest. He really was strong and his physique was
perfect.

I guess the Wolf in me liked that too. He was
taller than me and that in and of itself was a welcome relief. I
never paid much attention to muscular boys before, but I was
beginning to have quite an affinity for them.
Redheads
too
.

“So,”

“So,” I squeaked out the word and laughed a
little.

“You going to get some rest then?”

“I was going to read some more tonight.”

“Did you want company?” His tone was blank.
Maybe I was reading too much into it. I mean,
I did
, I
wanted his company. So very much, but I didn’t think I could trust
myself alone with him.

Even now I wanted to reach out and touch him.
Breathe him in. Make sure he was real. But I needed to straighten
things out with Sebby first. It wasn’t fair to either of us to do
anything until that was settled.

“Um, I’m fine.”

“Alright then.” He left the way he came. A
small jump over the fence and he landed soundlessly on the other
side. Disappearing into the night. I headed to my room much the
same way. I never tried it before but I crouched and sprung up to
my windowsill in one leap.
I’m glad I left it open.

“It’s just the dentist, Grazi. It will be
fine.” Nonna walked me into the office of my pediatric dentist. The
same one I had been going to since I was three. The walls were
covered in hand painted murals of plaque and cavity fighting
superheroes. I used to love it when I was a kid.

The sterile smell of the office filled my
nostrils and underneath it I could pick up each person’s unique
odor. The poor little boy walking out of the room with his swollen
face and gauze stuffed mouth made me feel sad for a second.

Then I realized
he
wasn’t unhappy. It
was his mom. She looked even worse than the boy who was proudly
holding a little plastic dinosaur from Dr. Goldwyn’s prize box. He
held it up and I gave him a thumbs up.
Cute kid
.

“Grazi Kelly.” The hygienist called my name
and I got up and followed her into the brightly painted room. I sat
in the lemon yellow chair and waited while she fastened my bib.

“Just a cleaning and some pictures, okay?”
She was young, maybe her early twenties and had a cheerful smile.
Her bright pink uniform had cartoon characters on the top and she
paired it with lime green Crocs on her feet. She covered me with
the heavy led apron and positioned the camera next to my face.

“Open just a little bit and bite down.” I
did, not realizing my strength, and bit the little plastic film in
half.

“Oops. Hmm. Must have been broken. Sorry
about that let’s try it again.” This time I barely held the fragile
film between my teeth. She left the room and flicked the
switch.

“Um, the doctor will be in shortly to review
your x-rays. In the meantime I’ll have you, uh, rinse and spit.
Yeah, okay.” She sounded nervous and when I inhaled I could tell
she was.
A whole lot nervous
. I turned and looked at the
x-rays when she stepped out. That’s when I saw what she had seen.
Maybe coming here wasn’t the best idea.

It was as if my Wolf teeth were superimposed
over my human teeth in the x-ray. Like a spoof or something. Huge,
sharp fangs were floating over my normal ones like a photo-shopped
picture of a ghost you’d find on the internet.

Except I knew that those fangs along with
their complete set of razor sharp smaller teeth were totally real.
I tried to get out of the seat and get my hands on them. But it was
too late. Dr. Goldwyn walked in.

“Hi there, Maria. How are you and your
grandmother?” He wore his usual white doctor’s coat with a
hideously printed shirt underneath. It was a white Hawaiian style
shirt with pink and orange hibiscus flowers everywhere.

“Let’s see what’s going on here. Jenny was
speechless. Huh. Looks like this film must be corrupt. Do you mind
if we try again?” His calm tone warred with the acidic odor he was
giving off.

Four more times
. He took the x-rays
four more times. It was pretty exhausting having to close my mouth
as gently as possible so as not to break the plastic film with my
teeth. Sheesh, I was sweating by the time he gave up on them. Four
more times and they were all the same. As I knew they would be.

“This is just the silliest thing, Grazi. I
tell you the more advanced the technology, the more dependent
society becomes, and of course, the less reliable they make these
things!” He waved the box of films towards me then dumped it into
his assistant’s hands.

“Jenny, send these back along with the entire
case and make sure our supplier knows that these films are all
corrupt. Unbelievable. Hmph.” Dr. Goldwyn performed my cleaning
himself. Unsurprisingly, I had no cavities. I left the office with
an appointment for a check-up in six months. I had absolutely no
intention of keeping it.

“
Finito
?”

“Yes, Nonna.” We left together and I did not
tell her about the difficulties I had. I did intend to discuss it
with my uncle though. After the dentist, I went to school. I had
missed homeroom, but was just in time for a pop quiz in Algebra II.
Yay.

For the first time in my life, I think I may
have gotten lower than an
A
in a math class. I was
disappointed in myself, but I hadn’t had a lot of time lately for
homework and extra assignments. I’d have to learn to manage my time
better or I was going to be stuck in junior classes and have
nowhere to go next year.
Ugh.

I was irritated and really hungry by the time
lunch came around. Not eating in the morning had been a mistake,
but I couldn’t before my appointment. I stacked two turkey BLTs on
my plate along with a honey mango yogurt, a Powerbar, a protein
water and a milk. Whole not 2%.
Grazi, you are such a
rebel.

I shook my head at my inner sarcastic voice
and ate half of one of the sandwiches while I waited to pay. I slid
my student ID through the machine after inputting my choices on the
display. I loved the whole self-serve thing. The school installed a
camera right by the register so you couldn’t lie about what you
took. Not that I would anyway, but some people aren’t so
trustworthy I guess.

The student ID cards had a magnetic strip on
the back where our meal credits were stored. They were like debit
cards that were only any good at school. Each food item cost a set
dollar amount and you could put up to a hundred dollars on your
card at a time. Most students wore their IDs on a SHPS lanyard
around their necks or had them on their key chains. I usually
stuffed mine in my backpack.

I sat at our usual table. Angela was there
and smiled when she saw me. Her lovely eyes bulged when she saw my
tray.

“Whoa, Grazi! When was the last time you
ate?”

“I’m starving.” Was all I said before
finishing the second half of sandwich number one in two bites. I
just glared at Angela as she continued to stare.

“Okay, okay. Sheesh. How come skinny girls
always eat so much and never gain a pound!” I shrugged and kept
eating. I sympathized with her as she ate her small bowl of maple
flavored oatmeal and an apple.

I probably shouldn’t eat that much in front
of her, but I did anyway. I mean what was the alternative? I was
only liable to get grumpier if I didn’t get some more food in my
belly.

Sebastian walked in with Tyler and Mike. They
sat at the adjoining table, giving me and Sebby some space. I
noticed the cheerleaders hadn’t come in yet. For some reason Tyler
was glaring at me.

He seemed to catch himself and looked down at
his cold piece of pizza. He pushed it away and left the cafeteria.
Sebastian followed him with his eyes and a curious frown before he
noticed where he was.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” I felt shy and a little embarrassed. I
ate both sandwiches already, but there was still the Powerbar and
yogurt and drinks on my tray. I opened my milk and took a sip.
Sebby looked down at his tuna wrap and smiled.

“So, how was the dentist?”

“Okay. No cavities.” I smiled. Great.

This was so
not
how I wanted this to
go. Angela cleared her throat and I looked up at Julianna and her
clones coming into the cafeteria. Each one of them wearing their
crocheted scarves perfectly draped around their necks and their
hair swept away from their freshly scrubbed faces.

No one should look that good on a Monday. I
think my lip curled because Sebastian raised both his perfect brown
eyebrows. He quickly looked down at his tray when I focused on him.
Oops, easy there girl.

“Um. Look, I think we should talk-” I began.
Ooh. Awkward.

“Grazi, I know things have been weird since
the other night. I haven’t been feeling well and we haven’t spent
any time together, but why don’t we wait for the weekend before we
make any decisions. You know, let’s hang out or something.
Okay?”

He looked so hopeful and so adorable that I
didn’t know how to refuse him. It’s not like I had gorgeous guys
striving for my attention on a daily basis. I’m only human.
Sort
of.

“Sebby, I don’t think so.”

“Come on, please?”

I knew I had made a mistake by not being
harsher the second Ronan walked into the cafeteria and saw us
sitting together. I mean we had been sitting together for months so
why this bothered him I don’t know. His green eyes met mine and I
saw his upset before he averted them out of respect.

I saw his Wolf. He was angry and territorial.
I
didn’t
blame him for that. I
did
blame him for the
way he cozied up to Julianna and sniffed her neck playfully before
snagging a lock of her perfect blonde hair and whispering something
to her.

She giggled and bit her lower lip. The
perfect image of flirty teenager. I felt like a giant idiot next to
her and he knew it. Why make it so obvious he wanted to hurt me?
That would have to wait for later. Now I’d get even.

“Okay, Sebby. Meet me after school.”

Ronan looked at me. I knew what he was
thinking. I didn’t care. Two could play at this game.

“Grazi! Please pay attention, girl. I am
trying to teach you something here.” Uncle Sean’s lesson was a bit
more boring than I would have usually found it. Maybe it’s because
I ditched practice yesterday to hang out with Sebby. At least
that’s what I let Ronan think. He wouldn’t even look at me
today.

True, I did meet Sebby after school. And I
calmly told him we could now and always only be
friends
. He
seemed relieved. In fact I was sure of it. I smelled it on him. My
heart was sad only for a minute. I mean one minute the cutest boy
in school was my,
even if
in rumor only
, boyfriend
and the next he couldn’t get away from me fast enough. I thought
about our meeting as Uncle Sean droned on about pilgrimages and
saints.

“
So Grazi, I wanted to tell you, this
rumor, about us. Tyler started it. I don’t know why, but-” Not
exactly the truth. But whatever. Sebby had his reasons I was
sure.

“
I can’t be your girlfriend Sebby, I’m
just too focused on my work.”

“
Yeah, I, um, figured that. As long as you
don’t hate me after the other night?”

“
No, I don’t hate you. Friends?”

“
Yeah, friends.” He hugged me and kissed
my cheek before we had parted ways.

“Grazi?”

“Huh?”

“Listen, just read the book okay? Maybe you’d
do better at sparring today.”

“Fine.”

I got up and went to change in the hall
bathroom. I came out in my newly acquired sparring gear. I was
learning to be less self-conscious. Besides the guys all wore pants
and nothing else. I could certainly wear a tank top and leggings
without feeling embarrassed.

“Santa Lucia’s day is coming soon.”

“Da.”

Sascha and Dimitri were talking as they
sparred. They moved quickly for such big guys. The rest of what
they said was lost on me. They spoke Russian. A few English words
here and there.
Battle of Light and Dark
.
Tree of Saints.
Prophecy.

I tried to focus on the targets set up on the
other side of the room. I couldn’t lose focus thinking about a
bunch of words that meant nothing to me.
Prophecy indeed.
I
felt the blade on my hip and took it out of its sheath. It vibrated
in my hand. I threw it.
Bullseye.
I was ridiculously pleased
with myself.

“You were looking. And standing still. Try
running, blindfolded, make it a little more fair.” I turned back to
see Ronan with a practice blade.

His chest was bare and his gym pants tight.
Oh boy.
He put a blindfold on and took a knife from a back
holster he had strapped around one arm. He ran did a tumble and
loosed the knife.
Bullseye
. Well, my small feeling of
victory went right in the garbage.

I took the blindfold from him and walked to
retrieve my knife. I went back to my starting position and tied the
fabric around my head. Good and tight. I backed up, jogged two
steps and loosed the knife. When I took my blindfold off I could
see my aim was more than off. I had failed to visualize my
target.

I looked back at Ronan expecting to see a
snide smirk or nasty comment on his lips. He only went to get the
knife and handed it back to me.

“Again.” His demeanor was professional to the
point of being impersonal. It drove me nuts. We worked out with the
knives for two hours. I was sweating and ridiculously pleased with
myself at the end. I had learned to throw the knife blindfolded
from all areas of the room after being spun around and the target
being moved repeatedly. The exercise required I take in my
surroundings in the blink of an eye and retain the memory in my
mind. Apparently another perk of being a Werewolf.
Cool.