“What?” I asked, grinning too.
“Anything happened lately you want to tell me?”
Oh, nothing much, just evading death at every turn and trying frantically not to fall for a guy who is totally and completely wrong for me. You know, the usual.
If only I could really tell her that. It would have been such a relief to have someone to unload on. But I’d made a promise to Lucas, and I wasn’t about to break it.
“Nope,” I said, returning my attention to my ill-fitting boots and wrestled them off with a grunt.
“Nothing . . . in the romance department?”
I smiled down at the floor. So that’s what this was about. She wanted me to tell her about Lucas. This was the first time I’d seen Heather in over two weeks. She had to know something was up. I just didn’t know if I was ready to admit that there was something going on between Lucas and me.
“Derek and I are talking again,” I said, stalling.
Heather rolled her eyes. “Obviously,” she said. “But I meant with that guy. Ashley says his name is Lucas?”
I wrinkled my nose and faced her. “He’s nobody.”
“He doesn’t seem like nobody. Ashley says you sleep over in his dorm room every night.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Exactly,” Heather said earnestly. “I don’t know. You haven’t spoken to me in weeks. And now you’re sleeping with this random guy.”
“I’m not sleeping with him!”
Heather crossed her arms. “I’m not an idiot, Faith. Don’t treat me like one.”
I looked dead at Heather to show her just how serious I was. “And I’m not lying. I’m really not sleeping with Lucas.”
She seemed to believe this, but she still looked upset. “Then what are you doing sleeping over at his place?”
I faltered. I really didn’t have an excuse ready for this.
“We’re . . . just close,” I said lamely.
“So you’re dating him?”
“No.”
Heather scoffed. “Sleeping at his place, but not dating him.”
“It’s . . . complicated. Why do you even care? It’s really not a big deal.”
“I care because I’m your friend. Because I haven’t seen you in, like, a month. And because you seem to be pretty serious about a guy you just met.... I just don’t want you to rush into anything you might regret.”
“You mean like with you and Pete?”
Her face fell.
Why am I acting this way—picking fights with all of my friends? Heather is only trying to be nice.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s just—”
Heather thrust her chin out. “Pete and I are better now,” she said. “He apologized a long time ago and I forgave him. You should too.” She eyed me pointedly.
I looked away. The way he’d treated Heather was unforgivable in my eyes.
Heather stood up and grabbed my boots from me.
“I just want you to be happy, Faith. And I want to be friends with whomever it is you like so much that you can’t spare a moment to talk to me anymore. Maybe that way we could all hang out together.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I’m a lousy friend. Lucas and I . . . We’d love to go out with you.” I looked away. “And Pete.”
Heather’s face brightened considerably.
“But not as a date,” I said hurriedly. “We’re not dating. We’re just friends.”
“If you say so,” she said over her shoulder.
As she walked away to get some more boots for us to try on it occurred to me that I’d had to declare Lucas as just my friend twice since exiting his room and entering the real world, and it had only been a couple of hours.
Maybe if I kept saying it, eventually it would be true.
Once we were all geared up, we tottered out to the bunny slopes. Heather knew how to ski already so she taught us, which saved us the expenditure of lessons. We spent a few hours not learning to ski so much as falling over. But toward the end, Derek, Pete, and I got the hang of it. So after a late lunch, we hit the real slopes.
There was a lift right next to the rental place and we all got on, me next to Derek. My heart was rattling around in my chest as the lift brought us higher and higher over the woods. It had stopped snowing, but the trees were blanketed in sheets of white powder. It looked like someone had dusted the entire world with sugar.
I glanced at Derek, who was bent halfway over the edge of the carriage, peering down at the wonderland below.
“Derek!” I screeched and pulled him back up. The carriage gave a sickening swing, and I felt my stomach drop. I elbowed him in the side. “Believe it or not, I’d rather you didn’t plummet to your death right now.”
Derek smiled impishly. “What? Like this?” He tossed his upper body over the railing and I screamed.
“Stop it! Stop it!” I grasped at his parka.
Derek laughed and righted himself on the carriage. “You’re such a worry wart.”
“And you have zero sense of self-preservation.”
Derek snickered under his breath.
We both eyed the upcoming end of the line with unease.
“I’m nervous,” I admitted. “I’m going to fall.”
“Just keep the skis in line like Heather said.”
I gulped and put my skis straight out in front of me as the carriage approached the snow-covered mountaintop where a ski lift worker stood, assisting people off the lift. As he came closer and closer, I sat up straighter, readying myself. Then the carriage sloped downward to the ground, and both Derek and I glided off. The ski lift helper grabbed my arm and steered me out of the way. I glanced over at him to say thank you, and my breath caught in my throat.
This man looked almost identical to Lucas—same straight nose, same square jaw, same slanted eyes, except this man had freckles dusting his olive-toned cheeks and his eyes were bright green. He had a kind vibe about him, easygoing, like water flowing. But an undercurrent of lunacy tainted his energy, and I knew in an instant that he was a werewolf. This had to be Julian, Lucas’s pack brother. I stared at him and he winked at me, nodding for me to continue on my way. Suddenly I felt much safer, knowing I had a mythical creature at my back. I should have been terrified by the thought of werewolves hanging around at the full moon, but I knew they would be the least of my worries tonight.
Derek noticed my exchange with Julian and he put his hand on my back possessively.
“Who was that?” he asked in a low voice.
“No idea,” I lied. Inside I was screaming, He’s a werewolf!
Pete and Heather glided up next to us, looking excited. Well, Pete looked slightly ill, but whatever. I felt ill, too. If I made it down this hill alive, it’d be a miracle.
We seemed to be on top of the world. Around us, people on skis and snowboards whizzed by and launched themselves down the steep slope of the mountain. Far below were the ski rental shop and the beginner’s slope I wished I was still on. Then I saw a small girl rocket down the slope and I felt like a wimp. If she could do it, so could I.
“Ready?” Heather said, grinning widely. She didn’t wait for a response. She popped a kiss on Pete’s cheek and sped down the slope. I watched, amazed, as she weaved expertly through the people.
Pete gave us a frightened glance and then shrugged. “You only live once, eh?” And then he pushed himself over the edge, screaming like a little girl.
Derek and I laughed and looked at each other.
“What if I fall?” I asked.
“Then you fall,” he said. He leaned down and kissed me on the lips. I jumped back. He beamed at me and tossed himself down the hill.
I glared after him and then mustered up some courage. I followed Derek down the slope. At first I moved slowly, controlled. Then I began to pick up speed as the slope steepened. Trees and people blurred past my vision, and my lungs stung from the glacial air. I concentrated on my skis, keeping them in line, skating aro
und those in my way. I saw Derek up ahead of me, going way too fast.
Then he fell.
My heart dropped and I sped up, pitching myself forward as Derek rolled. He slowed to a stop at the bottom of the hill, and I rushed to his side, half falling myself.
“Derek!” I gasped, unlocking my skis from my boots and kneeling down next to him. “Oh, my God, please don’t be hurt.”
He pulled his sunglasses off and wiped the snow out of his face. He was laughing.
I started hitting him. “What is wrong with you? You scared me. I thought you cracked your spine!”
Derek laughed harder, fending off my punches. But soon I was laughing, too. I fell on top of him and gave him one last swat. “You suck.”
I sat up. Pete and Heather were staring down at us with these annoyingly knowing looks on their faces.
I flushed and let Heather help me up. Derek righted himself and said, “Who’s up for another run?”
We went down the mountain what felt like a hundred times. It was late afternoon and Derek and I were on the lift again when I finally said, “Okay. I can’t move my legs much longer. This is the last time.”
“Yeah,” Derek said, rubbing his thighs. “Me either. I’m beat.”
“Are we going to make it back before dark?” I hated to bring up the subject again since it had made Derek angry earlier and we were getting along so great, but I had to make sure we’d be back in time. And I still had to figure out a way to keep Derek inside all night. My only thought was either to stay in his room or to have him stay in mine. I didn’t care which way it went so long as he was safe.
“Yeah, we should be all right,” Derek said. “As long as this is the last run.”
“Okay.”
“You wanna tell me why you have to be back before dark?”
“Not really.”
“I won’t get mad,” Derek said, fiddling with the zipper on his parka. “I’m just curious.”
“I just have a lot of work to do,” I tried lamely.
Derek’s eyes hit mine, searching them for the lie I’d told. He’d be able to recognize my deception. He always could. I had to distract him.
“Do you want to, I don’t know ... study with me?” I asked. “You know, tonight?”
Derek’s eyes brightened. “Yeah,” he said, his lips tugging upward at the corners, as if he wanted to smile but wasn’t sure he could. “I’d love that.”
“Cool.” I looked away from his hope-filled eyes and said, “Head’s up.” We had approached the end of the line and we glided onto the mountain. I caught Julian’s eye and nodded discreetly. Hopefully he understood that to mean I was leaving now. He gave an infinitesimal nod back.
Heather and Pete came up next to us again.
“Hey, guys,” Derek said. “This is our last run. Me and Faith are beat.”
“Us too,” Heather said. “Mind if we just take off when we get down? We have a rehearsal at six, and we’re already going to be late.”
“No problem,” Derek said. “See ya.”
They both said good-bye and raced down the mountain, leaving Derek and me up at the top again. I stared down at the thick pines below thinking how tranquil it all seemed from so high. It was hard to imagine that the woods were teeming with werewolves, poised to change at the first sign of night. Not to mention the vampires.
“Ready?” Derek asked.
“Okay,” I said wearily.
“After you.” Derek dipped into a little bow and motioned for me to go. I rolled my eyes from behind my shades and launched myself forward. I slid down and down, enjoying the ride as best I could despite the burning in my thighs.
Then a little boy swerved in front of me. My heart rate exploded as I tried to dodge him, but my skis got all tangled up and I fell, rolling sideways into the trees. Somehow I became righted again and I started careening through the forest, out of control. I screamed, ducking and dodging branches. Then a tree hit me.
Okay, no. I hit the tree. I bashed face-first into the harsh bark of a massive spruce and went sprawling. I must have lost consciousness then, because the next thing I remembered was hearing my name and being shaken roughly awake.
“Faith!” Derek yelled from above me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” I said, gathering my senses. I smiled weakly. “Well, that’s one way to stop.”
Derek laughed hoarsely and held my face. “You sure you’re not hurt? You’re bleeding.”
I touched my fingers to my nose and brought them down to see a flood of crimson. My cheeks were scraped, stinging. “This is going to look fabulous tomorrow.” I pinched the bridge of my nose to try and stop the bleeding. Then the adrenaline wore off and I could feel a shooting pain in my ankle. I winced, trying to unfasten my skis.
“Let me see.” He reached down, unbuckled the ski boot and pulled up my puffy pants. He yanked off his glove with his teeth and gently touched my ankle, massaging it and rotating it tenderly. “Any of this hurting you?”
“It’s sore, but otherwise no.”
“Okay. It’s gonna be fine.” He smiled at me and put my sock and boot back on. “Guess all my football injuries paid off, huh? I should be a doctor.” He stood and helped me up, his hands hovering around my waist.
“I’m fine,” I said, though I was woozy. “We should get back.” I looked around nervously at the trees expanding in every direction, all frustratingly identical and useless. I looked up and saw the light was fading.
Fast.
My heart began to throb and not in a good way. “Which way do we go?” I asked, looking at Derek for help.
He glanced around and pointed to the right. “That way ... I think.” He grabbed our skis and we started walking, too afraid to ski lest we get out of control again. Plus, my ankle was killing me. After fifteen minutes I had to stop.
“Derek, I don’t think this is right. We’ve been walking too long.”
Derek stopped and tossed the skis down. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned around in a circle. “I thought this was right. I got turned around when you fell.”
“Why didn’t we just follow our tracks back out?”
“I dunno. Didn’t think about it.”
“Well, why not?” I asked, hearing a note of hysteria tainting my voice.
“Why didn’t you?” Derek yelled back. “I was flustered!”
“So was I!”
“Stop yelling, just stop.” Derek came to me and wrapped me in a hug. “Let’s just turn around and go back the way we came, and then we can follow our tracks out, okay? It’ll be fine.”
“Derek, we have to get out of here before dark. We can’t be outside once night falls.”
Derek shushed me and kissed my forehead. “I’ll get us out of here,” he said surely—probably more surely than he felt. “Come on. Let’s keep moving. It’ll keep us warm.”
We walked back the way we came, but within minutes it began to snow—snow hard. It was like a wall of white paint had clouded my eyesight, and it wasn’t long before we couldn’t see our tracks anymore. Daylight was running low and the night was creeping in on us. I saw it between the trees, peeking around branches, and snickering in the wind. I saw eyes, smiling teeth, heard laughter whispering through my hair. We didn’t have much time. Vincent could probably run so fast he’d be here minutes after nightfall, and he knew my blood. He would be able to track me easily. I began to walk faster, not even caring where I was headed, just so long as I was moving.
“Do you think Heather and Pete have noticed we’re gone yet?” I asked, breathing heavily.
“They left,” Derek said flatly.
“But maybe they waited. Maybe they sent someone to search for us.”
“Maybe.” He didn’t sound like he believed himself. “Do you have your phone?”
“I left it in the car. I was scared it would fall out of my pocket.”
“Yeah . . . me too.”
I moved faster, keeping my eyes on the snow. “I can’t see our tracks.
” My voice was shaking.
“I know.”
“What do we do?” I stopped walking, my entire body shaking now. “Derek we have to get inside. We can’t be out here!”
“We’ll find a way out soon. Don’t worry.”
“You don’t understand! We can’t be caught out here alone!” I began running now. I heard Derek behind me, calling my name, but I couldn’t stop. Everything looked the same; everything was so cold. Trees, trees, snow, green, brown, white. So much white everywhere. My lungs screamed. I had to find a place for us to hide. The night was coming!
Then someone grabbed me. I let out a shrill screech and beat against a pair of iron arms.
“Shut up!” said a deep, growly voice. “Faith, stop it!”
I stopped and looked up. How did this person know my name?
Oh, because he wasn’t a person.
He was a werewolf.
14
NIGHTFALL
I sagged into Julian, so relieved I didn’t even care that he was a stranger, that he was minutes away from changing into a creature that could kill me with a single deadly claw.
“Who the hell is that?” Derek asked from behind me.
“Julian,” my savior said. “You guys need to come with me. Now.”
“Why?” Derek asked, sounding suspicious. Then realization dawned on him. “Hey, you’re the ski lift guy! Oh, man, thank God. We were so—”
“Shut up,” Julian said. He pried me from his coat and grabbed hold of my wrist. “We have only minutes, so just follow me and don’t ask questions.”
I nodded, too scared and relieved to speak. Julian started running, tugging me along with him. Derek ran after us.
“Where are we going?” Derek yelled. “What’s the big deal about it getting dark?”
“Shut up and run!”
A minute later we hit a clearing. Inside was a decrepit wood cabin. Julian didn’t stop to let me take it in. He dashed to the door and tore it open. He threw me inside, shoving Derek in behind me.
I gave Julian one last desperate look. His big angular eyes were acid green and the pupils were slits of gray. His body was beginning to quake, but he returned my gaze and said intently, “Do not leave. Not for anything.”
Blood on the Moon Page 18
