The Xoe Meyers Trilogy (Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series) (49 page)

Suddenly uncomfortable, I turned towards the sink to wet a washcloth. Never having cleaned a wound before, I decided to start small with the bloody skin around the missing flesh. He’d already almost stopped bleeding, so I just had to clean up the blood that hadn’t been absorbed by his shirt and jeans. I patted the skin around the wound and glanced down at the jeans again. The jeans could stay bloody, no way those were coming off while I was around.

“That's not your blood on your face, is it?” Chase asked.

Crap, Maggie's blood was still on my face. I quickly grabbed another towel and started scrubbing at my face in the mirror.

“It's not my blood,” I answered. A sudden, horrible thought dawned on me. “I can't get anything from vampire blood, right? Like, nothing bad can happen?”

Chase gave me a weird smile. “Well, as far as I know, vampires don't carry blood-borne diseases. You probably couldn't get one even if they did, since your blood is far different from a human's. Also, demons can't become vampires, even if just getting some vampire blood in your nose could cause someone to become a vampire. I think you'll be fine.”

I started to feel a little silly for asking, but hey, I hadn't known any of that stuff, so now I did.

Chase was still staring at me. I put down the bloody towel and looked at his wound again. “I’ll get the first aid kit,” I announced nervously.

I never used to carry a first aid kit around with me, but somehow I knew we’d need it at some point . . . imagine that.

When I entered the bedroom, Jason was sitting on the edge of our bed with his face in his hands. Lucy was sitting beside him silently, refusing to look at me. Abel was on his cell phone, murmuring to someone quietly.

Jason looked up when he realized I’d entered the room. “Xoe, I’m so sorry-” he began.

I smiled weakly. “Later, okay?”

He nodded then looked down at the elderly woman's body still crumpled where Abel had left her. I was leaving that one to someone else. I was not in the business of hiding bodies. Maybe Abel would do it. He'd done if for us before.

I realized I still had some of Chase’s blood on my hands. My clothes had soaked up some too from helping him into the bathroom. I wiped my hands on my jeans, then proceeded to shuffle through my suitcase. I found the first aid kit at the bottom and stood to go back into the bathroom.

“Is Chase okay?” Jason questioned weakly.

I nodded. “He’s fine. We’ll all be fine.”

I went back into the bathroom without another word.

Chase was standing, examining his wound in the mirror. He didn't look pale, and seemed cognizant enough, so I assumed he hadn't lost a dangerous amount of blood. Demons may be tough, but they can still die from blood loss, just like anyone else.

I pushed him gently to sit back down. “Stop messing with it,” I lectured.

Chase smiled, but then his smile quickly faded as I soaked a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol. “No way!” he exclaimed.

I put my free hand on his good shoulder and met his eyes. “Now now,” I soothed. “Be a good boy and you’ll get a lollipop afterward.”

“It’ll heal fine,” he argued.

Not listening I began to dab the cotton ball on his bite. She’d really done a number on him. Even with his increased healing abilities it would take a while. There was just too much flesh missing.

Chase let out his breath at the initial sting, but didn’t complain any further. Only when I really started focusing on the wound, did I realize that yes, I was staring into a big gaping hole in someone's shoulder. I started to feel dizzy.

Before I could stop myself I swayed to the side. Chase reacted before thinking of his pain and raised both his arms to catch me around the waist. He pulled his arms back down when the pain hit and I went down.

I ended partially leaning against Chase’s chest as I tried not to hurt him, while at the same time I tried in vain to get to my feet. Some blood had pooled on the floor, preventing me from getting enough traction to stand. I kept slipping back down and landing on Chase.

Someone cleared their throat from the doorway behind me. I braced myself and turned. Devin had his hand over his mouth to hide his smile. Great, just great. I hadn't heard him come in the room. Jason had propped the nearly shattered door back in place while I was cleaning Chase's wounds, so I would have heard him moving it to come in.

Chase finally got his good arm around my waist and helped me stand with him.

Devin grinned, no longer trying to hide it. “Did somebody call room service? I’m told we have a body or two.”

Abel must have called him, and I was grateful for it. I really didn't want to see the body again.

I squinted at Devin suspiciously. “How did you get in?”

“Abel let me in through the adjoining room,” he explained, still trying to hide his laughter. “I thought you might be hesitant to open the door to this room. Now about the bodies . . . ”

I pointed out into the main room. He knew that was were the bodies were, he just wanted to give me grief. After Devin walked away, I realized that Chase’s arm was still around my waist. He squeezed me a little closer and I felt blood soak into the bottom of my shirt. I might have been mad if it wasn't already ruined anyway.

I stepped away. “I need a shower.”

“Thanks for doctoring me,” he replied.

“Any time,” I mumbled.

He nodded, a small smile playing across his face.

I was just so damn amusing today.

I
left the bathroom to find Devin and Jason wrapping the elderly woman's body in a rug. That’s right, they were seriously wrapping her up in a rug. A second rug had been procured and Maggie's sister was already wrapped up tight. Jason and Abel lifted the ends of the now rolled up rug with only a little visible effort and walked it into the girls' room.

Abel didn't even have to put down his end when he used one hand to grab the knob. The door shut behind them, and I heard another door open and shut as they went out the girl's room and into the hallway. I wasn't sure where they were going with the bodies, it looked pretty darn suspicious, but I figured they had it covered.

It was my turn to go into the girls' room so I could shower. Before I went through, I had a thought, and I turned back to regard Devin as he gathered up the other rug all by himself. “Tell Abel he's doing a bang up job on
protecting
me so far. I might just have to reconsider the whole deal.”

Devin's eyebrows raised. “So that's why he was here?” he questioned. “He offered you his protection?”

Apparently it was a secret. Oh well.

“Yes,” I answered, “and I took it. Now tell him to do a little better.”

Devin smiled politely, something changed in his demeanor and I didn't know what or why. “Of course, I'll get the message to him right away.”

I really should have just gone into the other room already, but letting things go is not one of my strong points. “What does Abel offering me his protection mean to you?”

Devin smiled again, the picture of a perfect gentleman, except for the corpse burrito in his arms. “Nothing, nothing at all.”

He was lying, but short of threats I couldn't really make him tell me anything. I took a deep breath and went into the girls' room without another word.

Lucy was sitting on the edge of one of the beds. Lela, Max, and Allison still weren’t back. I imagined rumors would be circling soon enough and they’d find their way back to our rooms in a hurry.

“Is Chase okay?” Lucy asked.

“Fine,” I grumbled. I grabbed my forgotten shampoos and headed into the bathroom.

I wasn't sure if Lucy deserved my grumpiness, but my adrenaline had faded and I felt like crap. She probably deserved it . . . maybe. I'd think about it later. I just wanted a few minutes alone.

As I had suspected, my clothes were completely ruined. I felt dizzy for a moment thinking about how all that blood had come out of Chase. I sat on the edge of the bathtub to try and steady myself. As I sat I peeled my bloody shirt off and tossed it into the trashcan.

I stood and turned the shower on, then finished undressing. My jeans wouldn’t fit into the little trashcan so I put them in the sink.

After stepping in, I waited for the shower water to run from pink to clear before I shampooed my hair. Ick. I had blood stuck under my fingernails, and I couldn't quite seem to get them clean.

I gave up on my nails and finished showering. Then I got out to find that I once again forgot clean clothes, only this time I was way too tired to care. I wrapped a towel around me and ventured out into the bedroom.

Everyone was huddled in the girls’ room, making it seem smaller than it already was. My suitcase had been placed right outside the bathroom door. I crouched down and picked out some new jeans and a plain white tee-shirt. New bra and undies, and back into the bathroom I went.

I got dressed and came back into the room to find several newcomers. The newcomers in question were dressed in all black, two men and one woman. Their attire and stance practically screamed bodyguard.

“Let me guess,” I said sarcastically. “You're here for our own good.”

I got three curt head nods in response, all in unison. Well at least Abel had chosen to take his job seriously. I decided to ignore our new friends and regarded the old ones so that the inevitable questioning could begin. Lela, Max, and Allison had to have already heard the story from those that were there, but they apparently needed to hear my perspective.

After my recap everyone went silent.

“Why are we all in this room?” I asked.

Max shrugged. “Chase bled all over ours. They’re cleaning it.”

I looked at Max skeptically. “Who’s they?”

“The inn’s staff,” he replied. “Apparently they know.”

I looked to Lela for confirmation.

She shrugged. “The entire staff is one type of supernatural or another. I thought you guys knew.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “How would we know.”

Lela held up her hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, but it’s kind of obvious if you paid attention.”

I shook my head. “Whatever.”

I looked around at the room, everyone was staring at the floor dejectedly as if the world had ended. Chase had put on a blue plaid, button up shirt over his bandages. Jason wouldn’t meet my eyes.

I turned away from them all to search the room for my purse. I found it on the night stand by the room’s phone. I tossed it over my shoulder and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Lucy called from behind me, a tinge of anger in her voice.

“Dinner,” I replied curtly, not bothering to turn around. “As soon as you guys are done wallowing, you’re welcome to join me.”

Max was by my side in a split second. We were out in the hall and about to shut the door, when Chase raced out to join us.

I raised my eyebrow in question at him. “I don’t think you’re in much shape for bodyguard duty.”

Chase shrugged, then winced at the pain. “Jason seems to think you don’t want to be around him right now.”

I couldn’t argue with that. Hell hath no fury and all that . . . but had I really been scorned? I didn’t think so, but I was pretty set on acting like I was.

I was hoping that by leaving the room we would escape the bodyguards, but there was a whole other set of them waiting outside the door. I mean, I was grateful for the extra protection and all, but it felt weird having strangers watch us. The bodyguards fell into step behind us without a word. I felt like patting them on the head and saying, “good bodyguards” but I'd probably lose a hand.

I continued down the hallway without another word. Max, Chase, and the bodyguards followed in my wake. We walked down the stairs and past the semi-upscale restaurant that was part of the inn. There was no way we were eating in there.

I almost made it to the front door of the lobby. I was
that
close, when I noticed Darla walking towards us. Her tight curls had been braided back away from her perfectly sculpted face. She was still in the same clothes she had worn earlier, and I realized with a start that I had just met her that morning. It seemed like days ago.

She came to stand before us with arms crossed. Instead of acknowledging anyone else in the group, she just looked directly at me and asked, “Where are you going?”

I smirked up at her. “None of your damn business.”

She sighed loudly like I was wasting her time, when really she was the one that was wasting mine.

“Did you need something?” I asked snarkily when she didn't speak again.

“Abel wants to speak to you in private,” she said, frustration coloring her voice.

I raised an eyebrow at her, but she simply turned around and started walking away. I almost didn't follow her, but thought it might be stupid not to, given that he'd just hidden two bodies for me . . . even though one was his fault.

Darla went into a conference room and shut the door behind her, either assuming that I'd come in behind her, or not really caring either way. I'd go with not caring.

I peeked in the little window to make sure Abel was actually in there, and it wasn't some sort of trap. He was there, and I was surprised to see that Devin wasn't.

“You'll all wait right here?” I asked our little group.

Chase's mouth was set in a stubborn line. “I'd rather come in with you.”

I sighed. “You know that's just going to delay the process. He's going to try and make you leave, and then we're all going to have a nice argument about it. Finally you'll leave, because I actually do want to hear what he has to say.”

Chase nodded, clearly not happy, but it was good enough. I went into the room and shut the door behind me.

Abel and Darla were already sitting on the far end of the long conference table. Without being asked, I walked over and sat down across from Darla with Abel in the end seat.

“I would like to hammer out the details of our arrangement,” Abel announced. “I want to make sure you understand everything Alexondra.”

I nodded. “Sounds good to me, though I'm not fully understanding why Darla is here . . . no offense,” I added, looking at her.