What Lies Inside (A Blood Bound Novel, Book 1) (8 page)

Knowing he was waiting for me to respond, I drew in a deep breath. “Because, I’m not someone you want to know.”

Ty’s smile didn’t waver, nor did his forehead crease with misunderstanding. It was like my response hadn’t confused him, almost like he had expected it. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

My stomach churned. What did he want from me? The notion that Dorian could have been right crossed my mind. That Ty was, for some unconscionable reason, attracted to me. Just as fast as the thought flooded my mind, I shook it away, laughing internally. No, I told myself. He can’t be. Dorian was wrong. Because if Ty
did
watch me the same way I watched him, then that would mean that
I
would have to be attracted to Ty, too. Me, a monster, drawn to my prey for more than just its flesh and blood.

I shook my head. “Please, Ty.” I hated having to say the words. But I had to. It was the only way. My arms clamped over my chest, almost bracing as I glared through the trees and into the surrounding mountainside. It was so beautiful and peaceful, a stark contrast to how I felt. “Just leave me alone.”

“Fine,” Ty said, picking up his pace beside me. That one word as he half-stalked away from me stung, like pins poking through my flesh and into my stomach. I stumbled, pulling to a stop, coiled arms lowering to tighten around my gut.
You don’t like him. You want to kill him. This is best for everyone.
The words did little to reassure me, or to lift the discomfort I felt. I took a ragged breath and forced my body to straighten, arms dropping to my sides. Non-tainted air swirled through my lungs, washing away some of the sting from my insides. It was just his blood, I assured myself. Still a little voice inside my head that I couldn’t quite dislodge whispered that I was deluding myself, believing only what I wanted to believe.

Needing a distraction to quell the contradicting voices in my head, I pulled my purple-cased iPod from my pocket. I sighed, missing Kendrick. Then I plugged in my earbuds and blasted the words to Red’s song
‘Fight Inside’
. The sting of their words reflected my constant struggle to hide the monster inside of me. The monster I would always be.

Slowing my pace helped dull the scent of the group’s blood, including his. After walking for almost an hour, I began to relax, began to believe that maybe Dorian had been right. Maybe I could do this.

When the group neared the summit, the taste of salt in the air intensified from their perspiring bodies. The group had paused for a break at the lookout, and everyone was peering out over the timber railing. I paused further down the track, keeping my distance while watching the group. Ty stood to one side of the students before a damaged piece of railing. There was bright yellow ‘caution’ tape cordoning off the hazard. Troy stood by his side. His face as usual, was strained as he spoke to Ty with clear agitation. I felt tempted to remove my earbuds. Picking up their conversation even from this distance, a good sixty feet away, would be easy. But I decided I really didn’t want to hear what Troy was bitching about. Even if I did suspect it had everything to do with me.

When the group resumed their course, following the now rocky path back into the depths of the forest, I ambled up to the same spot Ty and Troy had been standing. I pulled my earbuds from my ears, peering out into the plunging valley. Splashes of green, gold and deep-russet covered the treetops with the progression of fall. Above, a single Falcon soared through the air. Its repetitive call was like a fire alarm on overdrive as it dipped and dived beneath a cloudless, pastel-blue sky.

The air around me was crisp and perfectly clear. Time to move on. I craned my head. The other students were making ground down the path. Ty was tailing a few feet behind. I was about to take after them, when I stalled. The fiery and sweet smell of blood,
his blood
, reached me.

Before I could speak or move, Troy appeared before me. His expression was dark and his scent wrapped around me. “Don’t even think about it.”

Had he seen me looking at Ty? Folding barricading arms over my chest, I took a much needed step back. “Think about what?”

“Trying your luck with Ty,” he practically snarled. His hand hovered over the pocket of his jacket as if about to pull something free.

I stole a glace down the long pathway, but it was empty. The group and Ty were already gone.

“It’s not like he actually likes you,” Troy went on, hatred poisoning his words. “Anything nice he says to you is pure pity. You’re a freak of nature. He regrets not having dealt with you when he had the chance.”

Freak of nature? Dealt with me? Irritated confusion brought fire to my face. And the smell of him so close had my fangs peeking through the top of my gums. Sick of this guy’s cryptic bullshit, I unfolded my arms and clenched my hands. “Look, you steroid-jacked jerk. I don’t know what your problem is or what the hell you’re talking about…”

“I’m warning you,” he grated, stepping close enough to poke me in the chest.

My fangs broke free and I darted back, knowing I’d lunge and bite him if I didn’t. Wrong choice. My Vans slipped on the loose stones at the edge of the cliff. Then my back hit the ‘caution’ tape, snapping it on impact. Instantly my mind and body came alive. Everything was happening in slow motion. A good thirty feet down was a small outcropping. Not enough to kill a vampire, but a human? Definitely. I could leap forward, clearing Troy and saving my skin. But at what cost? My cover would be blown. No, the only human option was to fall.

Suddenly a hand shot out of nowhere, collecting my wrist in a heated vice-grip. I blinked, bewildered as Ty hauled me to safety. My body flew forward through the air until my feet hit solid ground. “Are you okay?”

No, I’m not okay. I almost had to fall off a cliff because your so-called friend got in my face
, I thought, struggling to retract my fangs with the double-up of their scent. Instead I said, “Where the hell did you come from?”

Ty narrowed his eyes over his shoulder at Troy. “Leave us.”

Troy shrugged. “Whatever.” He turned without a word or even a glance at me to jog down the beaten track.

Ty threw a glance down the path. “I heard arguing, and when I came back around the corner I saw you and Troy. I’d almost reached you when you stepped back into the caution tape.”

I remembered looking down the empty path before the fall. Could Ty have gotten to us that quickly? Doubt weighed against my mind. He was apparently a good swimmer, but was he a fast runner too?

Ty’s lips parted with a broadening smile. “So, how are you going to repay me?”

Wrinkling my nose, I frowned. “Repay you for what?”

Ty arched one eyebrow. The honey of his irises appeared brighter, reflecting a pale shadow of my face. “For saving your life.”

“Oh,” I said, trying to ignore the still lingering cloud of his scent. “Thanks.” I looked up as Ty brushed the tousled hair from his eyes. “I guess I owe you my life.”

Ty smiled but shook his head. “No. Just a date…”

Late on Friday afternoon, I stood outside the double doors to the indoor pool. My forehead pressed against the small, square window. Time between the excursion yesterday and this very moment had flown by in the blink of an eye. My paranoia over Troy’s words,
“You’re a freak of nature,”
and something about Ty dealing with me, pressed on my mind. Everything he said was cryptic. But could he really know our terrible secret?

Overshadowing that mind mess was that fact that I had, with much reluctance, agreed to Ty’s date, as long as my mom agreed. And surprise, surprise, she had, stating that at sixteen most girls had already been on their first dates. Thanks to that, I hadn’t been able to sleep last night. Now I was stuck with a problem, and it was all catching up with me. Ty and Dorian were about to race. Then straight after, I’d be expected to go on a date with Ty.

With a deep, preparatory breath, I pushed through the double doors and instantly almost fell back against them. The thick, chlorine-soaked air hit me like a face full of boiling water. It was so lung-burningly pungent, that it almost drowned out the scent of human blood. Almost. Worried my weird behavior was drawing attention, my eyes darted around the room. The swim team with their matching speedos took up the three bottom right rows of bleachers. A few held black and gold banners. They matched the ones strung around the metal-clad walls, with
‘Go Sharks’
and
‘Ty is Number One!’
printed across them. Vanessa sat on the other side of the bleachers with Troy, holding a fashion magazine and whispering. Ty, thank God, was nowhere in sight.

I rushed up to Dorian who was at the starting blocks and revving himself up for the race. A fresh wave of trepidation flooded my chest. It was a long shot, but I had to try one last time to get him to reconsider. “Dorian,” I whispered, confident the swim team’s chatter would keep my words from being overheard.

“Wow,” he said, looking a little surprised. “I thought you were just tired this morning. Now it’s the end of the day and you still look like shit.”

I frowned at the insult, but I knew his words held truth. I couldn’t stop worrying about my date with Ty. I’d barley slept at all last night. And with the swim-off fast approaching, even when awake my mind had been racing. “Thanks, just what I needed to hear.” The weight of Troy’s sneering eyes tunneled into me, and I turned away. “Dorian, please,” I whispered, eyes pleading. “Pull out of the race. I have a terrible feeling.”

Dorian stretched out his swim cap, and molded it over his head. “Step out of the spotlight?” he asked, tucking in a few escaping locks of chocolate-brown hair. “Never. But I will do you one thing.”

I planted my hands on my hips, skeptical. “And what’s that?”

Dorian’s lips curved up at the sides into a cheeky smile. “I promise to win by only a hand’s length.” His eyes softened as he ran his hand up and down my arm. “Have some faith. I can do this. You know I would never expose us.”

“Come to wish your brother luck?” Ty’s distinct voice startled me, echoing from behind. “Coz he’ll need it.”

Ty’s scent bloomed, poisoning the air. It almost brought me to my knees. Then he was standing right beside me, scarcely dressed in his black speedo and smiling. At the sheer sight of him, my breath caught in the back of my throat. I swallowed hard, trying to force the sensation back down while spear-winged butterflies flooded my stomach. His sculpted chest, like his arms, were also marked by small irregular scars. I frowned, eyes traveling down to his abs then gliding further down. Indents ran diagonally from his hips, dipping below the low-lying fabric of his speedo. Warmth flashed across my face. My eyes shot up to find Ty’s expression lit by amusement. I mentally shook myself. Stop freaking starring!

As my eyes darted away, Dorian stepped beside me. He was looking at Ty with a cocky smile tugging at his lips. “You wish, Malau. I’m gonna wipe the floor with you!”

“We’ll see,” Ty said raising an eyebrow. “Though you should know…” He pointed to a maple trophy cabinet. It was positioned between the door to the male and female locker rooms at the other end of the pool. I narrowed my superior sight. The cabinet was packed with polished, gleaming trophies. Most were awarded for state championship, and every single one had ‘Ty Malau’ etched into the metal plate. “I never lose.”

I gulped. This was not gonna go down well. Dorian refused to bow out of the race. And Ty, evidently, had never lost. Feeling defeated, and tempted to ogle Ty’s naked flesh again, I turned away. “Good luck,” I mumbled, retreating to a spare seat centered evenly between Troy and Vanessa and the swim team. It was on the top row, leaving a good forty feet between me and them. It also gave me a clear view of Troy, just in case he decided to get in my face again.

In the seconds of my retreat, an overweight man had appeared at the sidelines. With a whistle in hand he must have been the coach. “One lap, up and back, freestyle all the way. Come close to beating our shark and you’re in.”

My sight shifted to Ty, who stood watching me with a mesmerizing smile. I took a ragged sigh of relief. The distance separating us somewhat pacified the frenzy of volatile butterflies still swarming my stomach.

Without any hesitation, the coach put the whistle to his lips. The shrill sound gained everyone’s attention. There were eight starting blocks heading each side of the four, twenty-five-meter lanes. Ty and Dorian stepped onto the first two. They froze in perfect suspense, then the whistle chirped, shrill and ear-piercing.

Both boys exploded off the blocks in flawless freestyle form. At first, Ty led by two feet. But I knew that wouldn’t last. Dorian was biding his time, keeping just behind Ty until they flipped to finish the fifty-meter sprint. Dorian burst off with wall. He shot past Ty and took lead position.

With my gaze locked on the two boys, I felt somewhat surprised. For a human, Ty was doing a remarkable job at keeping in toe with Dorian, who was so close to pushing his speed past an acceptable level that it made my heart race.

Now they were closing in on the finish line. My sight locked on Ty. Water erupted around him, glassy droplets reflecting light from the domed fluorescents above. The sight obscured my view of his body, which blurred, almost seeming to darken.

I blinked then zeroed back in on Ty. He was rising for his last breath. His eyes were open, and looking at me. The honey of his irises glowed brighter, turning gold and iridescent. His body beneath the rippling water quivered. Then he shot into lead position, hand collecting the wall just an inch before Dorian’s.

Cheers boomed from the swim team, while the two boys emerged from the pool. Above their deafening cheers, the persistent and loud echo of my heart pulsed through my ears like crashing waves. My jaw hung open in shocked horror. Ty won?

For a split second I wondered if Dorian had taken my plight seriously and let Ty win. Only that couldn’t be the case. The total shock encompassing my brother’s face was a mirror reflection of my own. My breath was coming in short, sharp bursts. My lungs began to ache. What the hell!