Feral (The Irisbourn Chronicles Book 1)

by Victoria Thorne

  And at that moment, everyone simultaneously stopped breathing.

  “But,” Cecelia continued obliviously, “I managed to scare the thing away – intimidate it. And I ran all the way back home. Daddy says it’s a miracle I survived, that I’m a hero.”

  Arisella rolled her eyes. I was grateful for Cecelia’s simple mind, though. She had probably only seen two living things in her life with violet eyes, and somehow she hadn’t managed to connect the two.

  “So, you told your parents?”

  “Of course, silly. Who else is going to file a report?”

  “A what?”

  “Adrian, I know you heard me. Are you playing with me?” Cecelia said coyly.

  “Can you blame me? Things just sound so much more interesting when you say them,” Adrian answered, his voice practically dripping with adoration. My stomach turned a little.

  “Oh, Adriannn.” I could practically hear Cecelia blushing through the phone over her disgusting teasing. “Daddy’s talking to someone from the police or animal control over the phone now. He’s going to put me on the phone, so I can tell them what happened, so they can put up a notice and warn everyone in the area.”

  “Oh no,” Arisella whispered.

  “Are you sure?” Adrian pressed.

  “Of course I’m sure, Adrian. I’m always sure about what I want.” Cecelia was clearly over being shell-shocked and ready to flirt openly now. “And I’d like for us to spend some time together tonight. It’d really make me feel better after everything that happened.”

  “As much as I’d love to, I’m afraid I can’t. I’m very busy with an assignment tonight.” Adrian lied skillfully. “Although, just a bit of advice, don’t tell anyone about the purple eyes. Of course, I trust you, but other people may not know you as well as I do. And I wouldn’t want you to be judged.”

  Cecelia produced a ridiculous, shrill laugh. I wasn’t sure Cecelia was taking Adrian’s advice seriously. “Thanks, babe. It’s lovely, this sudden interest you’ve taken in me. But are you sure you can’t come out tonight?”

  “Completely sure. I really must be going now. Remember about the eyes.”

  “But Adrian, I’d really like to talk to you some more,” Cecelia whined.

  “Bye.” Adrian hung up the phone without even waiting for her to reply. He turned to his sister with grave seriousness and suppressed panic in his eyes.

  “We’re screwed,” Arisella laughed emptily.

  “Why are we screwed?” Dylan demanded.

  “Because,” Adrian sighed, “as soon as that report is filed, and people discover that a massive panther not native to this area has been roaming the woods, we’re bound to arouse the suspicions of the Bloodbourn. Caeci have died here. We already know they’ve been watching.”

  “And if it gets into the report that the panther had violet eyes, there won’t be a chance for us.” Arisella fluidly rose to her feet and walked to the window to stare out into the night. “Unlike Cecelia Stone, the Bloodbourn are very perceptive. They’ll know it was an Irisbourn.” She turned to glare at me. “Why couldn’t you just have let her die?”

  I shook my head. “Leaving her there would have been the same as killing her myself. She may be stupid and shallow, but she doesn’t deserve to die. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.”

  Arisella stalked over to me and lifted my chin with her finger, forcing me to look straight into her eyes. “If you want to survive, you’re going to have to learn how to live with much worse.”

  And suddenly Adrian was there, removing her hand from my face. I could feel stinging where her nails had dug into my jaw. “Stop,” he growled. “You’re hurting her.”

  Arisella scowled at her brother and left silently.

  “What happens now?” Dylan resumed.

  “We’ll be leaving,” Adrian said resolutely. “Tonight.”

  “No!” Dylan and I blurted at the same time. I had risen to my feet in front of Adrian, so we were face to face. He looked slightly shocked by my abrupt movement.

  “My family – I need time. I have things I still need to tell them.” I could feel my face grow flushed and my eyes dampen at the sudden reality of leaving my family. But now was not the time to be emotional. “Please, Adrian. Just a few days. That’ll give us time to prepare.”

  “You can’t afford to let your emotions cloud your judgment right now. A few days could be the difference between life and dea-”

  “No.” The cold force in my voice surprised even me. “I will not leave my family right now. And if you intend to take me against my will, I will never, ever forgive you.”

  “Fine,” Adrian snapped. “I’ll give you three days.”

  “Thank you.” The air had suddenly grown very tense, and my skin shuddered with adrenaline and heat. “Dylan, let’s go.”

  I hurried out of the house with Dylan at my side before Adrian could change his mind.

  “Three days?” Dylan said with disbelief, pulling me to a stop on the sidewalk in front of our house. “Amber, you don’t have to go anywhere. We can keep you safe right here. We can call the police. And I sure as hell am not going to let those two nut jobs steal you away to fairyland.”

  “I have to leave. If I don’t, they’ll find you and Heather and Matt, too. Besides, I trust those ‘nut jobs’ with my life.”

  “How could you do this to me again? How could you leave me alone again?” I could hear the anguish in Dylan’s words. “How could you do this to your family? To Heather? Don’t you remember the state Heather was in after your parents died? What do you think would happen to her if you left too?”

  “I don’t have a choice.” Tears streaked my cheeks, and my voice faltered as the walls I had so carefully constructed to conceal my emotions came toppling down.

  “Amber Rose Tesse,” Dylan articulated coldly. “If you intend to leave this house in three days, I will never, ever forgive you.”

  Having used my own words against me, Dylan strode into the house and slammed the door behind him.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “You know I care about you a lot, don’t you?” I murmured, as I brushed a stray golden tendril of hair from Heather’s forehead.

  I had slept in Heather’s bed that night, like the way we used to when we were little. We had some time before we left for school, and all I wanted was to be near her.

  “Mmmm, sure,” Heather groaned, her eyes still closed. She hadn’t really woken up yet.

  “Remember when Mom and Dad died?”

  Heather’s eyes fluttered open, and she sat up. That had woken her up. “Of course.”

  “I know that was hard for us, but we got through it.”

  “Why are you bringing this up?” Heather asked suspiciously.

  I sighed. “Because, well, sometimes bad things happen. Really bad things. And there’s nothing we can do. But I know you can get through it, because you’re strong.” I held one of her soft, warm hands in mine.

  “You’re being really weird. Is something wrong?”

  I produced a weak laugh that almost died in my throat. “No, no,” I reassured her. “I’ve just wanted to tell you that for a while.” I bit down hard on my lip. There was so much more I wanted to tell her, but so little I could.

  “Oh,” Heather shrugged. “Thanks.”

  “Just stay strong for me, Heather. What happened to us when Mom and Dad died – that can’t happen again. We have to be stronger than that.”

  “I know,” Heather agreed seriously, which surprised me. Had she been thinking about our parents’ deaths recently? “Anyway, I was wondering,” Heather began with new animation, “if we could go see this new spy movie next week. Dylan and you and I could all go – it would be so fun.”

  I suppressed an unanticipated sob that tore through my chest. I hadn’t had a chance to rebuild the emotional wall yet.

  “I think I might be busy,” I said, turning my face away from her. “You and Dylan should go see it, though.” I swung my legs over
the side of the bed. “I’ve got to get ready for school.”

  I hurried out of her room without looking at her, so she wouldn’t have to see me cry.

  Matt had left early that morning for some sort of business in Dallas, so I didn’t have to answer any questions about the bulging backpack Dylan helped me haul out of the house in addition to our normal school bags.

  After I had returned to my room last night, I found a message from Adrian on my phone, much to my surprise, instructing me to prepare an emergency bag. I was to deliver it to his house before school.

  Dylan had even helped me pack, even though he refused to talk about what we were packing for. We had stayed up late that night stuffing a travel backpack with my clothes, nonperishable food, a sleeping bag, and first aid equipment.

  After we had finished doing that, Dylan fell asleep sprawled across my bed. But I couldn’t sleep, so I sat at my desk, penning my goodbye letters to Heather and Matt by dim lamplight.

  I told them I needed a change, that it was too hard to live with them anymore, and that I was leaving for another city. I told them they may never hear from me again, and that they shouldn’t try looking for me, but that they shouldn’t worry because I knew what I was doing. Each lie was harder to write than the last. I shoved the letters into a small cubbyhole on my desk, knowing that they would only look there when they searched my room for answers after I had disappeared.

  I found Adrian waiting in front of his gate the way he did every morning, except this time without Arisella. His blue eyes looked paler and more drained than usual, his clothes a little more untidy than their usual immaculate state.

  “Where’s your sister?” Dylan asked rather impolitely and passed the bag to Adrian. Dylan strained under the bag’s weight and had to use both hands to keep from dropping it onto the concrete, but Adrian lifted it with one arm, as if the bag were lighter than a feather.

  “She won’t be coming to school with us again,” Adrian answered. “She’ll be running patrols for signs of the Bloodbourn during the day.”

  “Oh,” I mumbled. So much had already begun to change, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

  When we got to school, the halls were already abuzz with the story of how Cecelia had nobly fought off a rabid, bloodthirsty panther. A report had been filed and a public warning released, and somebody for the school blog had even written a story based on Cecelia’s completely inaccurate account. Gossip-hungry people flocked to Cecelia’s side, voracious for the new details she kept churning out – all lies, each one more ridiculous than the last, fabricated to keep the school’s attention. At least there would be a silver lining in leaving – that I would never have to see Cecelia Stone again.

  Fortunately, though, I didn’t hear anything about purple eyes.

  I hadn’t realized just how little I slept the previous night until I was in math class. I had to fight to keep my eyelids from sagging under invisible weights.

  With a leaky neon gel pen, I sketched nonsensical patterns in the corner of my math notebook. Some time during the last thirty minutes, my head had dipped and my body had arched over my desk, emphasizing my evident disinterest for the lesson. I furtively scanned the room for Ms. Garner, and found her castigating another student for throwing a marker across the room. She would be preoccupied for at least another ten minutes, enough time for me to take a brief nap.

  I turned around to glance at Dylan. He was already snoring softly on his desk.

  With a curt sigh, I sank my head into my arms and drifted off, only to be yanked out of semi-consciousness by a resounding crash from the front of the room. But my fatigue overpowered my curiosity, and, aside from a slight flinch, I remained motionless with my head down.

  “Amber! Where’s Amber? I need to talk to her.” An urgent voice pierced through the class’ shock.

  The familiarity of the voice snapped me out of my lethargy. What the hell was Adrian doing interrupting my pre-calculus class? As my eyes adjusted to the light, I noticed a splintering crack running down the entire length of the door to the room. Oh my God. Adrian, the prodigal child who had just lectured me on controlling my emotions, had smashed school property. In front of over twenty mortal witnesses.

  Before I could see why Adrian had suddenly developed the urge to publicly humiliate the both us, Ms. Garner launched a merciless verbal assault against him.

  “What in the world do you think you are doing in my classroom, breaking my things, interrupting my students?!” Ms. Garner spat with burning hatred. From the look on her face, she was clearly considering strangling Adrian.

  “Amber — I need her. She takes this class,” Adrian responded rapidly, paying no regard to Ms. Garner’s rage. His eyes were still scouring the room for my face.

  “Listen, child. I don’t tolerate insolence. So, congratulations, you just earned yourself and Miss Tesse in-school-suspensions,” she snapped ruthlessly. She stalked over to her desk to write the corresponding notes to the attendance office.

  “You can’t give Amber an in-school-suspension for something that idiot did!” Dylan jumped to my defense without a moment’s hesitation.

  “Idiot?” Adrian scoffed under his breath.

  “Don’t you dare question my authority, Mr. Winters!” Ms. Garner screeched, undoubtedly unaccustomed to not being able to squelch disobedience. With every second, she seemed to be slipping further into wild insanity. Before the class could collapse into hell, I quickly chose that moment to rise from my seat.

  “Okay, everybody stop!” I bellowed. I saw the burning intensity of my eyes reflected in the shocked faces of my classmates. When even the notorious Ms. Garner momentarily cowered under the authority of my gaze, I wondered if this was part of the Irisbourn power I had been given through birthright.

  “Adrian, what do you want?” I sighed, satisfied that the arguing had stopped.

  “It’s time,” Adrian said, as his eyes begged me in silent desperation to listen to him. And for the first time, I found fear in his fearless eyes. I froze as the reality of his words sank in.

  My three days.

  What had happened to my three days?

  I shakily got to my feet and shrugged my backpack on.

  “Miss Tesse, where do you think you’re going?” Ms. Garner snapped. “If you leave my class now, don’t you dare return.”

  I glared at her with all the pent-up loathing I had accumulated for her over the weeks. “Perfect. Because I have no intention of coming back.”

  I heard a few brave souls laughing and clapping as I turned my back on my stunned teacher and stalked out the door to join Adrian.

  “We need to go,” Adrian said, pulling me toward the closest exit. He looked rattled by the aftershocks of my outburst.

  “Hold on!” Dylan shouted. The cracked door to the math class swung open, and he came flying out of it. “I’m coming too.”

  “Dylan, no. Stay here,” I pled, looking back toward Dylan while Adrian ushered me away. “You can’t come.”

  “Amber, we have to move. We have no time,” Adrian pressed.

  “I’m coming,” Dylan said, dead set in his decision. “I’ll follow you. If you try to stop me, I’ll call your sister. She’ll get back to the house before we do, and she’d do anything to keep you from leaving.”

  “You wouldn’t,” I gasped.

  “I would.”

  “Amber, we have to go. Now!” Adrian roared. His new surge of urgency snapped my body into movement. Unable to stop Dylan and unable to argue with him, I sprinted alongside Adrian out of the school. Thanks to Dylan’s heavy breathing, I didn’t need to look back to know he was following us.

  When Dylan and I arrived at Adrian’s house, we were half-dead, sweaty messes. The fact that Adrian barely looked winded just made me feel worse about myself.

  As much as I wanted to collapse onto their blood red living room carpet and take a nap, Adrian urged me forward, supporting half my weight.

  “What happened? Why are we leaving now?” I
asked. I had been dying to know ever since Adrian burst into my math class, but I had only gotten the chance to now.

  But Adrian had barely opened his mouth to answer before Arisella appeared on the stairs, covered from head to toe in thick, black liquid that reeked with the stench of death.

  “This happened,” Arisella thundered with a disgusted look on her face. “Caeci are everywhere now. Newly sent, well-fed caeci. They saw me, and I couldn’t kill them all. The Bloodbourn will be here any minute.”

  “I thought we had three days,” Dylan pointed out.

  “We didn’t expect word to spread about Cecelia’s panther attack so quickly.” Adrian was stuffing weapons of all kinds into a pouch in a black, heavy-duty backpack. “We have to leave now,” he said when he had collected a sufficient number of weapons. He led me to the back of the house toward the garage. “You’ll need to drive.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “Natchez, Mississippi,” Adrian responded without thinking.

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “That doesn’t sound like Fallyre.”

  “We’ve been planning this ever since we discovered you were Irisbourn. The drive is long enough that we’ll be able to lead the Bloodbourn away from here for the sake of your family. Then we’ll lose them. While they’re looking for us in Mississippi, we’ll already be in Fallyre.”

  We all followed Adrian into the garage and watched him fluidly toss a spotless white sheet onto the ground, revealing a brand new silver Mercedes-Benz SUV.

  “Holy crap,” Dylan murmured.

  “Our guardian dropped it off last night,” Arisella elaborated. “I told you she brought us everything.”

  “The rest of the bags are already in the back.” Adrian popped open the driver seat door and motioned for me to enter. “It’s time.”

  “I haven’t said goodbye to Matt yet,” I remembered suddenly.