Blood Crave

by Jennifer Knight

  I let my arms fall along with my mouth, outraged. Lucas was totally in control of himself when it came to us, and with my power to back him up, there was no reason he couldn’t touch me, even tonight. He was pushing me away for another reason. I tested his vibe and found what I had suspected.

  Jealousy.

  Over nothing.

  Lucas finished packing and we headed down to the driveway, where Derek already stood with a bag slung over his shoulder. He was covered in a layer of sleet, and his hair was blown straight back from the wind. It was shaping up to be a blizzard.

  “You’re late,” Derek called as we approached, shaking his coat free of the snow.

  “Sorry,” I said loudly over the wind. I gave him a brief hug and looked him sternly in the eyes, which was difficult given the sleet. “You be safe. And don’t hurt anyone.”

  He only smiled halfheartedly and started off toward the parking lot.

  Lucas came up beside me and put his hand over mine. I felt it shaking slightly.

  “Come back safe,” I said, curling into his warm arms.

  I heard him heave a sigh. His voice was buttery-soft in my ear. “I’ll always come back to you.”

  He placed a kiss on the top of my head and sauntered off after Derek. His words, while sweet, were probably just a reminder to wear that necklace he’d given me. I took it from my coat pocket with numb fingers and fumbled the clasp around my neck. The swirling snow created a hazy film in the air, like looking through a fogged glass. All I could see of Lucas and Derek were their silhouettes as they dipped into his tiny car. Over the wind, I listened to the engine rev as they drove out of the lot and faded from sight.

  Fitful snowflakes wilted on my eyelashes, but I didn’t blink and let them drip down my cheeks.

  What if they kill each other out there?

  What if I never see either of them again?

  In my mind’s eye I could see them fighting, tearing at flesh and keening those high-pitched shrieks into the night. If it happened, the pack would defend Lucas. A deep coldness rang through my bones as I imagined the fury of the pack descending upon a lone white wolf—my Derek. If tempers got out of hand tomorrow night, there was no telling what would be awaiting me when day broke.

  Finally, I shook myself, feeling the thin layer of ice that had accumulated over my body crackle and shatter. I had to do something besides this or I’d drive myself crazy. I was about to go up into Lucas’s room to grab my phone and call Katie, when I realized she’d probably be heading up to Gould, too.

  Why are all of my friends werewolves or a viran?

  Wait, I still had a human friend. The thought of spending the night with Heather watching chick flicks and studying for classes brought a warm, brownies-straight-out-of-the-oven feeling to my heart. We’d spent precious little time together since making amends, but that wasn’t because we weren’t close anymore. Between Heather’s concert schedules for band, and my running around trying to stop a vampire uprising, we just hadn’t found the time to hang out. Sure we talked on the phone a lot, but that didn’t satisfy the craving for a connection—especially a connection to someone human—that I longed for.

  Nobody else was outside in this weather, so I was alone in the courtyard. There were lamps to illuminate the area, but the snow smudged out the light and turned everything a murky navy blue. I made it to Heather’s building without turning into an ice sculpture, but I didn’t have a key to get inside. I’d also left my cell phone in Lucas’s dorm room so I couldn’t call her to let me in.

  And, I realized a little too late . . . it was full-on nighttime. A very bad time to be loitering in the open, totally unprotected. I was about to go back to Lucas’s room and forget visiting Heather, when suddenly, a vibe hit me hard like a slam to the back of my head.

  A feral, crazed vibe that could only mean one thing: a werewolf.

  A changed werewolf.

  19

  BLOOD BITCHES

  I froze in the doorway, too frightened to move. It couldn’t be Lucas or Derek; they were long gone by now. And why would they change?

  “Julian?” I whispered. “Katie?”

  Then a shadow materialized in the distance. Its hulking midnight form drew closer, eyes glimmering in the phantom light of the moon. I pressed myself against the wall next to the door, unable to even think.

  It was the heather-gray wolf. The vibe was so familiar, the unique mix of hunger and malice. I tried to connect to it as I had before, but this time there was something in the way—something impassible. I tried again and again, panicking, but each time something shoved me back out. Why? Why can’t I connect? Finally, I’d used up all of my power and all I could do was watch the werewolf come closer and closer, so very slowly, as if reveling in this quiet moment before the kill.

  Then a miracle. Someone opened the door. A boy started to come out, but as soon as the yellow light of the hallway illuminated the stoop on which I stood, I darted for it. I slammed into the boy, forcing him back into the hall. I yanked the door closed behind us, holding on to it with all of my strength.

  The werewolf could easily overpower me, break down this flimsy glass door and kill both me and the startled boy beside me. But it didn’t. I squinted out into the whirling snowstorm and found the looming body of the beast gone.

  “Are you okay?” the boy asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

  I jumped and released the door handle with a jerk.

  “Yes,” I said, panting. “I—ah, I was just ... cold.” I turned toward him, watching his face crumble in concern. “It’s really cold. Out . . . there . . .” My cheeks flushed as I realized how crazy I sounded.

  “Okay . . . ,” he said, moving to brush past me.

  “Be careful!” I said, jumping after him. He turned to look at me, confused. “Of . . . the cold.” And werewolves.

  The boy made a she’s-a-psycho face and said, “Okay.” He left, probably wondering whether or not I’d gone off my meds.

  I stood in the hall for a moment, trying to gather myself. There was a werewolf stalking me. That much was obvious. But why? And who was it? I didn’t have a feud going with any of the werewolves to my knowledge. Julian had said they were scared of me, but somehow I didn’t think that was cause for murder. Rolf may have wanted me dead if Yvette had broken her promise, but I knew Rolf’s vibe. And that werewolf was not Rolf. Rolf was strong and poised, even when changed. This werewolf was unstable.

  Part of me had been convinced that the last encounter was a fluke. A random run-in with a runt or some other family member. But now, it was clear that there was definitely something going on.

  I was pretty much stuck in Heather’s building for the night since there was no way I was entering the courtyard again to get back into Lucas’s building. I hoped Heather would let me crash in her room, because those lounge chairs in the common area didn’t look too comfy.

  I took the stairs to the fourth floor and went to Heather’s room at the end of the hall. I hoped I’d remembered the room number correctly, since she had only mentioned it once a long time ago. I knocked, and to my relief, Heather answered.

  She looked surprised to see me. In fact, she looked a little scared.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hi . . .” She closed the door slightly so I could only see her face.

  I grinned. “What, do you have a guy in there, or something?”

  A boyfriend was exactly what Heather needed to get over her idiotic Pete obsession. Please let him be gorgeous and sickeningly nice to her.

  She laughed, but it sounded like the squeaky hinges of a door, or something. I gave her a look. “Are you okay?”

  “Sure, yeah.”

  “Okay, well, I was wondering if you wanted to do anything tonight? For once, I don’t have homework—” This was usually my excuse when she called to hang out while I was stuck at the werewolf mansion or busy getting my neck gnawed on. “And you don’t look busy, unless there really is someone in there with you.”

&nbs
p; Someone shrieked from inside her room and then cackled—straight-up cackled like a witch.

  I frowned.

  “Someone is in there,” I said. But it didn’t sound like a dude.

  “Yeah,” she said, not meeting my eyes.

  “Well, do you want me to leave?” It was kind of hurtful that she didn’t want me to hang out with her friends, but that was definitely the vibe I was getting from her.

  “No, I want to hang out,” she said. “It’s just—”

  “HEATHER!” someone screamed from inside. “JOSH IS SMOKING ALL THE POT!” An explosion of laughter followed as well as a crash, and then more screams.

  I stared at Heather, who was doing anything but looking at me.

  “Are those the same girls we met at Zydeco’s?” I asked, trying to keep the accusation out of my voice.

  She nodded reluctantly.

  “I thought you said you weren’t going to hang out with them anymore.”

  Man, I sounded like her mother. This sucked.

  She remained silent.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  She just shrugged. “I got lonely.”

  She could have slugged me in the gut for how hard that hit. She’d been lonely because I’d been too busy to hang out with her. Well, that was all going to change. Starting now.

  “Look, let’s get out of here,” I said. “We can go to that—that Career Night thing they have going on in the Union. I know it sounds lame, but maybe not, right? I still haven’t picked a major, and—”

  “I can’t,” she said stonily.

  “Can’t?”

  “I mean, I don’t want to. I’m fine here.”

  “Heather—”

  “No.” She finally looked up at me and I could see she meant business. I could also see her pupils were dilated. “I’m having fun, which is pretty hard to come by these days, so I’m staying. You can stay, too, if you want.”

  My first instinct was to refuse her, since pot was so not my thing, but then I couldn’t exactly leave her, could I? These chicks were blood bitches with the potential for some very real danger. Heather, God love her, was being a little dumb, and she needed me to keep her from taking dumb to death.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll hang out for a little while.”

  Heather looked somewhat shocked, but let me into her room. Inside, were the same three skanky girls from the Zydeco’s bathroom, as well as two boys. Everyone was arranged in a loose circle on the floor between the beds, chatting and smoking pot. Danni wasn’t there, I noticed.

  “Hey, guys,” Heather said, “This is my friend, Faith.”

  A few people gave me groggy waves. Heather muttered all of their names to me, but I promptly forgot them all. There was nobody I was interested in knowing here anyway.

  Heather plopped herself down next to one of the guys and reached over to take a puff of his joint. I folded myself down next to her, hoping I was as invisible as I felt.

  “I didn’t know you smoked pot,” I said.

  “I don’t,” she said, coughing. “This is my first time.”

  Awesome.

  She must have seen my face because she rolled her eyes. “Don’t judge, okay? You’re not so perfect.”

  “I know that, but I don’t do pot to fix my problems. Or vamp—whatever that stuff was from Zydeco’s either.” Crap, I’d almost said vampire blood. Supersmooth. I mentally smacked myself.

  “Yeah, well, maybe you should do a drop or two,” Heather said. “You’re so uptight. Like every little problem is the end of the world. Maybe getting vamped would chill you out. Wanna try it?”

  “No. I do not want to try it. I want you to stop doing it.”

  “I don’t—”

  A knock sounded at the door, cutting her off, and Heather jumped up to answer it.

  “Hey, babe,” came a raspy voice from the doorway. “Mind if I crash?”

  “Sure,” Heather said. She held open the door and Danni pushed past her, emerald eyes as piercing and beautiful as ever. She surveyed the room and a small quirk appeared on her glossy lips as though amused. Instead of plopping on the floor with the rest of us, she rested her back against Heather’s bed, looking down at everyone. A queen among the blood bitches.

  She looked down at me, and the amusement on her face intensified.

  “Faith,” she said. I was surprised she knew my name, but Heather must have told her. “How’s it hangin’?”

  I wanted to go over and tell her she was a gigantic ho-bag for getting Heather involved in vampire blood, but I wasn’t even entirely sure that Danni knew it was vampire blood. The way she’d acted that night in Zydeco’s had made me think she knew something, but with her weak vibe it was hard to tell for sure. I tested it again, reaching across the room to feel her energy, but found it was still fuzzy. The only thing I got from her was what I could already read on her face: amusement.

  “I’m fine,” I said at last, hearing a clipped edge to my voice.

  She waved me over with a lazy flick of her wrist and hopped up onto Heather’s bed. She let her long legs hang over the edge and leaned back on her elbows.

  I went and stood beside the bed as casually as I could manage. Heather clambered onto the bed as well, giggling shrilly when she slipped and hit her head on the desk. Danni cracked a smile, but helped her up.

  “Take it easy,” she warned. “You might need those brains one day.”

  I smiled despite myself. Serves you right, you big idiot.

  “Hey, Danni?” Heather asked. “Do you have any of that stuff from the other night?”

  “I already gave you some. Free of charge, no less. Don’t tell me you used it all?”

  “No,” Heather said, picking at the pilling fibers of a purple throw pillow.

  “Well, go use your own stash,” Danni said, waving her off. I watched her wrist peek from behind her leather jacket and saw her charm bracelet. The bloody fang glittered among the beads.

  “What’s it called?” I asked. “That drug you all were using?”

  Danni’s piercing stare turned on me, studying every inch of my face, as if trying to find ulterior motives. I strained to keep my expression innocent. Finally, she said, “Anything you wanna call it.”

  Hmm, how convenient.

  “So why don’t you use?” I asked.

  “Doesn’t gel with me.” She fiddled with her nails, which were surprisingly filthy.

  “Why not?”

  “Just doesn’t do anything for me.”

  I eyed her profile, trying to figure out whether she was lying.

  “If you’re so curious, you should try it,” Danni said.

  “Why is everyone so intent on me trying this junk? I don’t want it, all right?”

  Danni’s smile fixated. “Got it.” The finality in her tone made me believe she wouldn’t offer it again. “You’re missing out, though. It’s a hell of a ride, so I hear.”

  Heather snickered into her pillow.

  “So do you go here?” I asked Danni. “To CSU?”

  “Nope. I work at a restaurant in Old Town.”

  “So you’re graduated?”

  She shook her head. “Dropped out.”

  “And turned to drug dealing?” Oops, that slipped out.

  Danni’s petite jaw flexed; her gaze slowly turned to mine, and I felt a flare in her vibe, making it stronger for just an instant. But her expression wasn’t angry or offended, merely interested. “Is that a problem?” she asked.

  “No,” I said, covering. “I bet you make a lot of money doing it. Especially on a college campus.”

  “I do it more for the connections than the money.”

  Connections to the vampires? Why would she want to get closer to them, especially if she didn’t actually do vampire blood?

  I watched Danni as she picked at her nails again. What was her deal?

  “So who was that dude you were with the other night?” Danni asked. “Boyfriend?”

  I faltered, not wanting to discuss Der
ek with someone I suspected of involvement with the vampires. But if I didn’t answer, Heather would, so I said, “Just a friend. His name is Derek.”

  Danni grinned, exposing pearly white teeth. “Friend, right. He’s a little too drop-dead gorgeous to be just a friend.” She shot me a wicked look. “Is he available?”

  “No,” I said instantly. Not for you.

  Her smile faded, gaze like needles into my skin.

  “You should see her boyfriend,” Heather chimed in, taking a drag off a joint and choking on it.

  Yeah, that’s real sexy, Heather.

  “Oh?” Danni said, hiking up a spindly brown brow. “Spill.”

  Damn it. I didn’t want to talk about Lucas either. I threw Heather the stink eye, but she wasn’t paying attention. “There’s nothing to spill,” I said, dodging.

  “He’s like, the hottest thing on the planet,” Heather said, still gagging. “I couldn’t believe it when they started dating. He looks like the cover of a romance novel.”

  “Oh, thanks,” I said flatly.

  Danni let out a soft chuckle. “So have you and Fabio been together long?”

  “His name’s Lucas,” I corrected without thinking. Why was everyone always calling him names?

  “Right, sorry,” Danni said and turned away to say something to Heather. I thought I felt another small flare of her vibe, but I couldn’t be sure. All the smoke in the room was giving me a headache and numbing my power. I was also fairly certain I was getting high off the secondhand smoke. I wanted to go downstairs and brave the uncomfortable lounge chairs for the night, but I just couldn’t bring myself to leave Heather here alone. These people didn’t look dangerous, but I so didn’t trust them. Heather was in distress, and everything inside me said I had to protect her. Maybe it was because I’d been hanging out with overprotective werewolves and a viran for so long, but I just felt I had to stay with her tonight. And in the morning, I could try and fix everything.

  20

  NEGOTIATION

  I ended up sleeping over at Heather’s place, and woke up to find the blood bitches gone and Heather conked out on the bathroom floor, where she’d spent the latter part of the night throwing up.