The Bite of Winter (International Monster Slayers Book 2)

by Bethany Helwig

  “Anyway,” Peter continues. “Matt was really going off on Jason—”

  “Why?” And why does Jason’s name always pop up when things go wrong? “Why is he so set on bullying Jason?”

  Peter shrugs. “I’m not sure. Matt was saying Jason’s going crazy and he’s bananas and he needs to lay off the crazy juice because he’s got mad eyes and—”

  “Yeah, I get the picture.”

  “So, Hawk was there and he intervened. Punched Matt in the jaw and everything.”

  And that’s the surprising part. Hawk’s good at winning fights with words. He doesn’t get physical—well, unless someone’s seriously trying to hurt me. He only acts out when he’s really angry, meaning it’s something deeply personal. I am the one that goes around punching people on a whim. But this is Jason we’re talking about. Hawk wouldn’t attack someone to defend the kid that bite me, the one that went on a rampage at the school dance, the one that captured me and Ben and brought us to Dasc to be killed.

  Yet this isn’t the first time Hawk’s stood up for Jason now that I think about it. He always volunteers to do Jason’s probation scans, to talk to him when there’s an issue, and to pass Jason a friendly greeting when no one else will. I always figured Hawk did it for my sake so I wouldn’t have to. Is there more going on here that Hawk isn’t telling me? That worries me more than Matt being a jerk.

  “Thanks, Peter,” I say at last to cover my overly long pause. “I owe you.”

  His face brightens again and he moves for his seat with a skip in his step. Instead of taking a seat myself, I move very purposefully up to the teacher’s desk, which is in clear view of Matt and his friend. I plant both hands on the desktop and lean in towards my balding biology teacher.

  “Mr. Koop?”

  He looks up from a paper he’s grading and gives me a wide smile. “Well, Ms. Mason! I’m glad to see you’re back with us. No more trouble I hope?”

  He raises his eyebrows and I know he means more than my health. Mr. Koop was one of those turned during Dasc’s uprising. Mr. Koop was pretty cool even before he was a werewolf. Now he lets me and Hawk do whatever we want because he knows who and what we are. He’s easily my favorite teacher.

  “Actually, is it okay if I step out for a while? I need to go check up on someone.”

  He looks confused but says, “Yes, of course. You’ll need a hall pass. Just a second.”

  “Thanks.”

  As he fills out a little pass slip, I turn and glare in Matt’s direction. He notices and gives me a cocky smile for a second before it melts off his face and he swallows as if he’s afraid. Good. He should be afraid of me.

  Mr. Koop hands over the pass and I try to keep my stride at a normal pace as I walk out of the classroom. I dump my book back at my locker and head for the rear of the building where I know Jason will be. I really only know his schedule so I can avoid him—wow, it’s gotten bad, hasn’t it? Knowing his schedule in order to adjust mine. It’s not like he’s Dasc. My footsteps falter for a moment before I pick up speed again.

  Near the back of the school is a series of classrooms where the “rowdy” students go. I swear Principal Tippy would love to throw me back here one of these days since I’m so “disruptive.” Apparently the school finds it best to wrangle them all together and try to help them through their issues away from the normal students so they don’t interrupt their studies. After the whole werewolf fiasco with Dasc, Jason got a one-way ticket to these special classes.

  I slow and pause fifteen feet down the hallway from the closed classroom door and lean against the wall to watch the class through the paneled window in the door. I spot Jason sitting by himself at the back of the room. The rest of the class must be doing some kind of team exercises because everyone else is sitting in groups, but not him. No, he’s always been the loner. I watch for a few minutes, studying the back of his dark shaggy hair, when the teacher sits down beside him to have a private conversation. It looks like she’s trying to coax him to join the others but he shakes his head.

  I’m not sure what I’m expecting to see or gather from this little bit of spying. It’s not like I’m going to solve the riddle of who and what Jason is by staring at the back of his head. My heartbeat picks up as I remember that night when Dasc revealed himself and tried to kill me. Jason was the one that caught Ben and me in the forest. He claims he was under Dasc’s sway at the time but I have my doubts.

  As soon as I get the chance, I need to corner Hawk and figure out what’s been going on with him. But for the moment, I’m content to keep an eye on Jason from a distance.

  The teacher eventually leaves Jason alone at his solitary table. After another minute or so, he slowly raises his head and swivels towards the window where he spots me leaning against the wall with my arms crossed. He stiffens and one hand grips the back of the chair like he’s ready to launch himself out of it and start running. I let him soak in that terror and all the horrible possibilities of why I’m watching him—oh yes, I want him to know I have my eye on him—before I push off the wall and go back the way I had come.

  When I return to my biology class, several heads turn in my direction but I ignore them and sit silently in the back of the room, contemplating the enigma that is Jason.

  I’m in a bad mood through third and fourth period and certainly not ready for bumping into Ben when I enter the cafeteria for lunch. His face instantly turns red and he gives me an over the top goofy smile. For a split second I don’t understand why he’s acting odd, before I remember he tried asking me out at the soccer game. Oh, someone shoot me.

  “Heeeyyyyy, Phoenix,” he says, once again over the top. I have a feeling it’s his instinctual defense for dealing with awkward encounters. “You’re back.”

  “Yup. I’m back.” I enter the shuffle of students holding trays for today’s meal. Unfortunately, Ben follows right behind me and tries to keep up a conversation.

  “Everything’s good with you?” he asks. “Wow, your face—”

  “I’m fine. I’m a unicorn on a rainbow.”

  He laughs louder than necessary. He doesn’t know that I actually mean I’m in a really bad mood but that’s sort of the point. He had to go and make everything awkward. Our friendship was perfectly fine with me. I can’t waste any brain power trying to worry about having a boyfriend. There’s no time for that and I don’t need it.

  Food is plopped onto my tray, I pay my lunch fee, and hunt for a table that’s mostly full so Ben can’t join me. He must be especially determined to ask me out again because he’s still dogging me.

  “There’s a couple of open spots over there,” he says and points to a table on the opposite end of the hallway. “Hey, are you busy this weekend?”

  “I don’t know yet,” I say. For all I know there could be another hunt for the vampires in Duluth or interrogations with Dasc.

  “Well, if you’re free, the senior class is putting together a black out night in the school.”

  “A what?”

  The fact that I asked makes his smile widen. “We spend the night in the school and play laser tag, watch movies, basically just hang out and mess around.”

  “Seriously? The school lets you do that?”

  “Oh, yeah! There’ll be a few teachers around to supervise, obviously, but it’ll be fun. You should come.”

  I nod and reluctantly sit next to him at the far table. “I’ll think about it, but like I said, I don’t know what’s on my schedule.”

  “Too busy saving the world?” He nudges me with his elbow.

  A voice says loudly behind me, “Are you kidding? She’s doing it single handedly.”

  I spin around on the bench so fast I almost knock my tray of food to the floor. Charlie stands over me in his tailored peacoat, a gray scarf trailing down between the lapels, and black dress pants. Does he ever not dress like he’s a high fashion model? He winks at me and starts to wiggle between me and Ben, pushing Ben to the side to sit backwards on the bench.

 
“Pardon me,” Charlie says and leans back with both elbows on the table top. His face is less than a foot away from mine but I don’t move. I’m still recovering from the shock of Charlie appearing in the middle of lunch.

  “What on earth are you doing here?” I hiss.

  “You think I’d miss out on seeing you in your natural environment?” His smile is cocky. It makes me want to punch him in the face. He inspects the trays of food over his shoulder and other students around us. “Look at this place. The badly cooked meal, the smell of body odor, the prevalence of acne, the suffocating air of judgmental stereotypes. How can you stand it here?”

  I can’t formulate words to express the train of anger and surprise in my head. “What—you—can I talk to you privately?”

  “Excuse me,” Ben interrupts. “Who are you?”

  Charlie’s crooked smile lands on him next. “Oh, I’m sorry. Mason here’s never mentioned me?”

  I have a bad feeling this is going to end in a train wreck. I sling an arm in front of Charlie to pin him against the tabletop so I have a clear line of sight to Ben.

  “This is Charlie. He’s a . . . an acquaintance.”

  “Companion,” Charlie interjects.

  “Colleague.”

  “Oh, don’t be modest.” He shrugs his arm out from under mine and holds a hand towards Ben. “I’m her boyfriend.”

  The entire table has fallen silent by this point, mostly from everyone being curious of this bizarre newcomer, but when he drops that false bombshell, I can see the hormonal instinct to gossip light up in the eyes of everyone around me. Ben’s face has frozen in shock and he doesn’t move to take Charlie’s hand at all. It takes me three whole seconds before I can compose myself. I grab the lapels of Charlie’s jacket and yank him up.

  “I need to talk to you,” I snap and drag him away from the table of gawkers.

  “Of course, honey,” Charlie says loud enough for all of them to hear.

  My face is on fire and I speed up to a jog still dragging Charlie along behind me, until we turn down a hallway and are out of sight of the lunchroom. The second we stop Charlie yanks away from me and smooths out his lapels.

  “Geez, Mason,” he says. “I think you almost ruined my jacket.”

  “What in the name of the six majestics are you doing?” I say, nearly popping a vein in my forehead trying not to shout.

  He shrugs and doesn’t appear the least bit concerned. “Anyone could see that kid was bugging you. Was he hitting on you?”

  “For the love of—” I clamp a hand to my forehead and pace away then back again. “And that was your grand plan to intervene? Say you’re my boyfriend?”

  “Are you . . .” He steps closer and points at me, humor dancing in his eyes. “Are you embarrassed?”

  “Of course I’m embarrassed!” I actually do shout this time. When a door starts to open further down the hall, I take Charlie roughly by the arm and march him away to another empty hallway. “What could possibly compel you to say something like that?”

  “Imagining your reaction for one. By the way, you really delivered on that.”

  When I slug him in the shoulder he flinches and scowls.

  “Well, aren’t you a hard hitter.”

  I glare at him. “I was holding back. I could have broken a bone if I wanted to.”

  “I’m touched. You didn’t want to hurt me.”

  I jab my finger in his face. “Shut up. Is there a reason you’re here?”

  “Of course there is,” he says and rubs his shoulder, angling himself away from me defensively in case I decide to strike again. I certainly haven’t ruled it out. “Melody and your brother uploaded surveillance video to the server. While they’re out collecting evidence they want us to keep an eye on the feeds.”

  “You couldn’t have called? Or have Jefferson come get me?”

  He holds up his hands in innocence. “I texted but you didn’t respond, and Agent Barnes is off doing something.”

  “Doing what?”

  “You think he told me? He just drove off.”

  “Weird,” I say under my breath. Maybe Jefferson got an emergency call? He usually lets me know, though. I shake my head. “I can’t up and leave.”

  “Why not? I hate to break it to you, but I’m pretty sure the school can run itself while you’re gone. This is important.”

  “School is also my cover. I’ve been gone enough as it is.”

  He throws his hands up and slaps them back down against his sides. “Okay, then come up with an excuse.”

  “To leave in the middle of the day? I’ve already used every excuse in the book and then some. In fact, I’ve got to talk to a truancy officer in a couple of days.”

  “Ha!” He holds a hand over his mouth to cover up the rest of his laughter and then heaves a sigh. “Well, I could kidnap you.”

  “You could try,” I growl. This is getting us nowhere. He’s right though. Checking those surveillance feeds is more important than babysitting the werewolves who are clearly doing fine. Moose Lake runs smoothly most days. I don’t need to be here. I don’t want to be here. I want to find that vampire.

  “Okay,” I grumble. “I think I can do food poisoning again.”

  He cocks his head. “Again?”

  “I had bad shrimp the other day for my excuse. Come on.” I grab his arm again but this time I pull it around my waist and then sling my arm over his shoulders. “I’ll need your help to sell this.”

  For the first time he looks startled. “What? What are we doing?”

  “Just follow my lead. You may have to carry me.”

  “Excuse me?”

  We walk back into the cafeteria arm in arm. I cover my mouth with my free hand then hunch over and making groaning sounds. Heads turn in our direction and I keep us moving on through towards the hallway that’ll take us to the exit.

  “I said you shouldn’t have eaten anything after that shrimp!” Charlie says in a mock condescending tone. “The food here’s going to kill you!”

  “Over-actor,” I mumble.

  One of the paraprofessionals starts heading in our direction but Ashley appears out of nowhere and misdirects the adult before we’re intercepted. We make it to the doors just as Ashley jogs over to help escort us out. Once we’re out of the cafeteria I start to straighten but Ashley pushes me back down into a hunch.

  “You might run into some other teachers.” Her eyes slide to Charlie and she clenches her jaw.

  “Oh, hey,” Charlie says. “It’s you. What’s your name again?”

  I swivel my head to level a glare at him. “You can’t remember the name of the person you arrested two days ago?”

  “Meh, I’m terrible with names.”

  We make it down the hallway without incident and stop beside my locker. I quickly grab my jacket and backpack. Charlie—still pretending to be a gentleman and my boyfriend—helps me into my jacket and slings my backpack onto his shoulder.

  Ashley pats me once on the back. “I’ll let the office know. You should go before Principal Tippy wants to have you checked out. You’re going to need a doctor’s note to convince him this time, I think.”

  “Thanks, Ash,” I say. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

  Charlie and I hustle out of the school together and, after making sure the coast is clear, jog over to Charlie’s SUV. The tires spin a bit on the ice before they find traction and we move slowly through town towards the cabin. I heave a sigh once we’re free.

  “I’m so getting kicked out of school,” I say under my breath.

  “So what?” Charlie responds. “I don’t know why you guys didn’t go with a home school cover or no school cover at all. This really binds you up.”

  The truth is I need to stick close to the werewolves in case some of Dasc’s influence has lingered. Obviously, I can’t tell Charlie the truth. My abilities are a secret and I plan on keeping it that way for the time being.

  “It’s how we discovered Dasc,” I say. “We can’t just d
rop the act now.”

  “I guess.”

  When we reach the cabin, I hurry inside to drop off my things, grab something to eat since I didn’t even touch my food at lunch, and meet Charlie in the barn. He’s already logged himself into Jefferson’s computer. I sit at my own computer and log into the IMS servers as I scarf down a sandwich. A new message pops up from Melody and allows me access to old surveillance video and live feeds.

  “One of us should comb through the old stuff and the other should watch the live feeds,” I suggest. “Rock, paper, scissors for the old footage?”

  There's no argument from Charlie, which is a relief. I thought for sure he would think I'm being unprofessional or something. Of course, he hasn't been very professional himself—just uptight. My paper beats his rock so I open the log of dated video and scroll through. I open file after file until I find the closest view of the warehouse. It overlooks the parking lot that I chased the vampire from. Skipping ahead to that night, I watch myself run after the vampire as he hops into his car and then tries to run me over. Moments later, Charlie slides to a stop in the SUV beside me and we take off together.

  “It was kind of cool though, wasn’t it?” I say aloud. “Being in a car chase.”

  Charlie doesn’t say anything but looks like he’s fighting a smile.

  Once I’ve got an idea of the timeframe I’m looking at, I start rolling backwards through the videos to try to retrace the vampires’ steps. While I do that, I notice Charlie has some other document up on his screen apart from the live feeds of downtown Duluth. I lean over and can make out the top of a medical report.

  Charlie notices and gestures to the file. “Gillian’s physical examination.”

  “Anything useful?”

  “One thing. She had track marks on the inside of her elbow.”

  “Track marks?” I lean forward in my chair. It’s not completely uncommon for magical individuals to use drugs like your average smoking Joe, but it’s not what I’m expecting. Needles don’t just inject things though—they take, too. “So, either Gillian likes hard drugs, they were injecting her with something, or taking her blood. Did she have anything to say about that?”