Yearn For Blood (Blood Origins Book 1)

by Tiffany Heiser

  all—but a part of me liked it. He was tying the two of us

  together, in a way, including me in his own need for Cecile’s

  consent.

  “Of course,” Cecile said. “Should I get Mom? She’s in

  the basement.”

  “No, don’t,” I said. Maybe I’d have to before this was

  over, but right now the last thing I wanted was to explain the

  situation to Mrs. Danvers. “I’m going to wash my hands. Just

  keep quiet and head upstairs.”

  “I’ll come with you.” She glanced at Cryder. “Make

  yourself at home. There are sodas in the fridge.”

  “Thank you.” Cryder settled on the couch.

  The Danvers’ downstairs bathroom was small, just big

  enough for a wedged-in toilet opposite a sink, and Cecile had

  to perch on the toilet tank with her feet propped on the lid to

  make room for both of us to be in there at the same time. I

  rested my hand in the sink like it was an object and started the

  hot water running, waiting for it to warm up.

  “What’s going on?” Cecile asked. “Should I make him

  leave? He didn’t try anything, did he?”

  “Try anything?” My mind was mired in thoughts of

  BLOOD ORIGINS- BOOK ONE

  death, and for a moment I didn’t understand what she was

  asking. “Oh. No. We kissed.”

  “Well that’s…” I could feel her puzzled frown. “Good?

  Right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So, what’s wrong? You look terrible.”

  I leaned forward, bracing my forehead against the

  mirror, and held my hand under the water. The heat was

  painful, but when I closed my eyes, I could envision sheets of

  blood running off my skin, impurities washing away down the

  drain. “Someone died.”

  “What?”

  “At the park.”

  “What do you mean? Like an accident? What

  happened?”

  “I don’t know, I. .it didn’t seem like an accident,

  Cecile.”

  “I don’t understand. Tell me what happened.”

  “There was a body. Under the bench by the tree. It

  looked. .I don’t know. Mauled or stabbed or something. It

  looked like somebody put it there.” A shudder wracked its way

  down my spine and suddenly I was gagging.

  “Whoa, okay.” Behind me, Cecile slid her arms

  undermine, holding me up, and I spat into the sink. “It’s all

  right. You’re okay? Nobody hurt you?”

  “Nobody hurt me.”

  “And you didn’t actually see this happen? Just the…”

  “Just the body.”

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  “Holy shit.”

  “I know.”

  “What do we do?”

  “We call the police, right? That’s what you do when

  you…” I swallowed hard. “When you witness a crime.”

  “You didn’t actually witness the crime, though. Right?”

  “Does it matter? I saw the body!”

  “No, I’m just saying...you should calm down first, right?

  Make sure you know what you’re going to say? Because if you

  call the police to report a murder…”

  “You think it was murder?”

  “I don’t know.” She met my eyes. “I don’t think there

  are any wild animals in Palermo Park.”

  “But maybe…”

  “Rena, I don’t think anyone, but a human could put

  someone under a bench after they’d died. That sounds really

  deliberate.”

  “But why would anybody do that?” I asked. “If you’d,

  you know, killed somebody, why would you leave them out in

  the open? Isn’t that asking to get caught? Wouldn’t it be really

  easy for someone to have seen what happened, how it got

  there? And it’s probably covered with DNA, right?”

  “I don’t know.” She bit her lip. “You’re right. We need

  to call the police.”

  “Cryder said he was going to. We should talk to him.

  Make sure he mentions all this stuff.”

  Cecile nodded. “Are you ready to go back out there?”

  I took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”

  BLOOD ORIGINS- BOOK ONE

  “Hey.” She hugged me. “I’m here, okay?”

  “Thanks, Cecile.” She really was the best friend anyone

  could ask for.

  She threaded her fingers through mine and led the way

  out of the bathroom and back to the living room. I was

  momentarily shocked to see that Cryder was gone, but a split

  second later I heard his voice. “In the park. That’s right.”

  Cecile raised her eyebrows and pointed toward the

  window. Cryder had gone out to the porch. The two of us

  crossed to the couch and sat quietly by unspoken agreement,

  listening.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Cryder said. “I didn’t even notice

  it at first.”

  Cecile squeezed my hand. “See?” she whispered. “It’s

  under control. The cops know what to do.”

  I nodded.

  “I shouldn’t even be here,” Cryder said.

  Cecile frowned at me. I shrugged.

  “He’s here, Drake. He wants Rena.”

  What the hell? Cecile mouthed at me.

  I was tense now, and my heart was pounding. What is he

  saying? Cryder had promised to call the police, but he was

  clearly speaking to someone else now. Had he already reported

  what we’d seen? Or had he lied when he told me he was going

  to? Who on Earth was Drake? And what did Cryder mean by he

  wants Rena? Who wanted me?

  The murderer?

  My blood turned to ice. Cecile reached out and

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  squeezed my trembling hand.

  Moments later, the front door opened and Cryder came

  back in. He paused in the doorway when he saw us staring at

  him. “Is everything all right?”

  “Who were you on the phone with?” I was expecting my

  voice to waver, but it came out steady, and I felt momentarily

  proud of myself and even pleased before I remembered that I

  might be a murderer’s next target, that the boy I liked (did I

  like him? Oh, God, how could that question even still fit in my

  mind after everything that had happened today?) might be

  lying to me.

  “I wasn’t on the phone,” Cryder said. “I was just getting

  some air.”

  “We heard you,” Cecile snapped.

  Cryder sighed. “It’s complicated. I’m sorry.”

  “You’re sorry? We heard you say Rena’s name. We

  heard you say that someone wanted her. Who wants her? For

  what?”

  Cryder, to his credit, looked deeply uncomfortable. I

  could understand. I’d been on the receiving end of one of

  Cecile’s interrogations myself once or twice. “I can’t explain

  right now, I’m sorry.” He turned to me. “Rena, I need you to

  trust me.”

  “Trust you?” Cecile snorted with derision. “Why would

  she trust you? You’re blatantly lying to us. We don’t even know

  who you are.”

  “I know.” Cryder ran a hand through his hair, raking it

  out of position and into the mess it had been when I’d first met

  BLOOD ORIGINS- BOO
K ONE

  him. To my shock, I felt a sudden tug of attraction. What was

  wrong with me? How could I be so drawn to this person when

  I knew for a fact he was lying to me, when I suspected he

  might even be putting me in danger? No wonder Cecile was so

  angry. If our positions were reversed, I’d have thrown Cryder

  out of the house by now.

  Somehow, though, I couldn’t quite bring myself to do

  it.

  “I don’t know if I can trust you,” I said to Cryder.

  “You can’t,” Cecile said.

  “But I want to.”

  The look of relief that crossed his face made me want to

  get to my feet and put my arms around him. And that impulse

  made me want to lock myself in my room and ban myself from

  dating until I grew some common sense.

  “I have some things to take care of,” Cryder said,

  turning toward the door. “Rena, don’t go anywhere alone,

  okay?” He glanced at Cecile. “Stay with her.”

  “Obviously,” Cecile said, in the same tone she used

  when I reminded her to use her turn signal.

  “I’ll see you again soon, Rena.” He paused. “Thank you

  for the date. I truly enjoyed most of it. I hope you did too.”

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  Yearn for Blood

  Chapter Six

  THE DOOR BANGED SHUT BEHIND CRYDER. I

  sat frozen on the couch, my hands pressed tight between my

  knees, struggling to make sense of everything that had

  happened in the past hour. The cold dead body in the park

  (Oh God, don’t think about that now I wanted to jump up and

  wash my hand again), speeding home so fast I was absolutely

  sure we were going to end up in a wreck and die, and Cryder

  making a mysterious phone call on the porch, admitting he

  had lied to us but refusing to explain himself.

  Me, saying I wanted to trust him.

  Why on Earth had I said that?

  I barely knew him. Today was only the second time

  we’d ever met, and the first time hardly counted, running into

  each other on the sidewalk outside Book City. I’d let him feed

  me that line about fate, for God’s sake—what kind of garbage

  was that? Who was I? Who was he?

  “He could be the murderer, you know.” Cecile’s

  thoughts were apparently on the same track as mine.

  BLOOD ORIGINS- BOOK ONE

  “He’s not the murderer,” I said.

  “It would make sense.” Cecile paced in front of me, her

  hands on her hips. “He’s the one who took you to the park.

  He’s the one who said he was going to call the cops and

  didn’t.”

  “What, he brought me to the scene of the crime on

  purpose? Why would anyone do that?”

  “Don’t ask me to explain how a murderer’s mind

  works.” She pulled back the window curtain. “God, he’s just

  lurking out there. He’s not even leaving.”

  “What?” I spun around and peeked out. There he was,

  leaning against his car, the phone pressed to his ear. “What is

  he doing?”

  “We should call the police,” Cecile said. “This is messed

  up, Rena.”

  “I’m going to find out what’s going on.” I stood up.

  She grabbed my wrist. “Are you insane? Don’t go out

  there!”

  “He’s not a murderer, Cecile.”

  “You don’t know that!”

  I shook her hand off. “Come out with me, then. You

  can bring your phone and call 911 if anything happens.”

  “This is a bad idea.” But I was already moving, so she

  snatched up her phone from the end table, following me out

  the door and into the yard.

  Cryder darted his head up like a bird when the front

  door shut behind us. His hyper-alert stance made him look

  nervous, guilty, and for a moment I wondered if Cecile had a

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  point. Then I shook it off. Cryder was acting suspicious, sure,

  but he couldn’t have killed the man in the park. It just didn’t

  make any logical sense. He’d been with me for an hour before

  we’d even gone there, and there was no way the dead body had

  been lying under that bench for a whole hour in the middle of

  Palermo Park and no one had seen it. It had to have been put

  there right before we arrived. Nothing else made any sense.

  I marched over to Cryder. “Hang up the phone,” I said.

  “I want to talk to you.”

  He held up a finger and turned away. “Look, I’ll call

  you back in a minute,” He muttered. “I need to handle the

  situation here first.” He paused. “I thought I had, too. She’s

  smart, okay? Just let me.. yeah. I’ll call you back.”

  He turned back to me and put the phone in his pocket.

  “Rena, I know this is a lot to process.”

  “A lot to process?”

  “You said you wanted to trust me,” he said, his voice

  soft. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to cut Cecile out of our

  conversation by keeping things quiet, or if this was just some

  kind of tonal attempt at keeping me calm. Either way, it wasn’t

  going to work.

  “You were on the phone with the same person as

  before, weren’t you?” I demanded.

  “Rena, calm down.”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down! That’s such a guy thing to

  say!”

  “What?”

  “Why should I be calm when someone’s dead, Cryder?”

  BLOOD ORIGINS- BOOK ONE

  “I need you to trust me.”

  “I don’t even know you!”

  “Rena.” He moved toward me.

  Suddenly I was seeing spots. The ground tilted

  alarmingly beneath my feet. Gravity—usually so reliable—was

  pulling me forward instead of down, and I was sinking, melting

  slowly through the air, into the earth, which was far too

  close…

  “Rena!”

  Cecile’s voice cut the fog around my brain like a knife.

  Someone’s strong arms were holding me up, resting me against

  the bulk of a torso. Cryder. “Help me get her inside,” he said,

  his voice coming from very far away.

  “What happened?” That was Cecile again. She sounded

  near tears, and I wanted to respond, to tell her I’m fine, but I

  couldn’t make my lips move. I felt utterly weak in the way I

  sometimes did seconds after waking up, before my body

  remembered how to be alert. Why couldn’t I pull myself out of

  this daze?

  God, this was just like after my parents…

  No. Stop. This isn’t that.

  A moment later, my body settled against the couch

  cushions. Cryder’s face swam into focus above me, then back

  out. “Rena, drink this, okay?”

  “Mm?” Drink what?

  I felt the rim of a thermos pressed to my lips; lukewarm

  liquid spilled into my mouth. I swallowed reflexively. The taste

  was unfamiliar, heavy and nutritious. Vegetable juice? I wanted

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  to ask, but it was too hard, so I moved my hand against

  Cryder’s wrist and hoped he’d understand I was saying thank

  you.

  “More,” he said, and offered the d
rink again. This time I

  was prepared and took a longer swallow. I could actually feel

  strength returning as it flowed down my throat and toward my

  muscles. Whatever this was, Cryder ought to patent it.

  He wrapped his arm behind my shoulders and gave me

  slow sips, and I let him. I let myself forget my anger and

  suspicion. In my gut, I realized, I did trust him. I had to trust my instincts, didn’t I? If I couldn’t trust myself, what did I

  have? Besides, I could feel the drink he was giving me making

  me stronger, helping me recover, and if he wasn’t looking out

  for my best interests, why would he bother with that?

  Cryder pulled the thermos away. I must have whined in

  protest, because he pressed a finger to my lips. “Enough for

  now,” he said. “That’s good. Take it slow.”

  I blinked my eyes open. My vision was clear now.

  Cryder was leaning over me, smiling. “Are you all right?” he

  asked, tracing his thumb under my lower lip, and I felt a drop

  of liquid wipe away.

  “I think so.” I began to sit up.

  He placed a firm hand on my shoulder. “Stay down for

  now. Make sure you’re steady first. That might take a while to

  work.”

  “What did you give me?”

  “Yeah.” Cecile’s voice came from somewhere behind

  him, absolutely spitting fire. “What did you give her?”

  BLOOD ORIGINS- BOOK ONE

  Cryder sat back on his heels. Some quiet, insistent part

  of me wanted to grab him and pull him back to me, but I

  resisted. “I can explain,” he said.

  Cecile crossed her arms over her chest. “Good. Do.”

  “Rena hasn’t been well lately,” he said. “Maybe you’ve

  noticed. Dizzy spells? Maybe passing out, and you haven’t been

  able to pinpoint the cause?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with her,” Cecile snapped.

  But I wasn’t so sure. Suddenly I remembered my

  unsteadiness the day I’d first met Cryder. The fact that I’d

  nearly passed out in the school parking lot, and then again in

  class. And there was that voice I’d thought I’d heard. .could

  that have been a hallucination? Was something really wrong

  with me? I thought back to a few years ago, when Cecile and I

  had been obsessed with Grey’s Anatomy, and how unexplained

  dizziness and hallucinations were almost always harbingers of

  brain tumors or cancer and horrible death. What’s wrong with

  me?

  Cryder’s hand settled on top of mine. “She’ll be all