Descend: Book Three (The Bloodline Trilogy 3)

by J. P.

  “I understand Mr. Post. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Hopefully.

  “Are you sure nothing happened? I can’t help but notice you seem a little down today.” He sits back on his desk and crosses his ankles.

  “Yeah, just stupid drama.” I wave my hand like it’s no big deal.

  “Okay, if you insist.” He shrugs as the bell rings.

  “No,” I groan as I tilt my head back.

  “What? What is it?” Mr. Post looks around the room as if something bad is about to happen.

  “I’m late. I was late yesterday to Mrs. Torres’s class, and she kicked me out.” I run a hand through my hair, stressed out. How am I going to pass pre-calc if I can never get in the class?

  “No big deal, Ms. Blair. I’ll write you a note.” Mr. Post jumps up and opens his desk drawer.

  “I appreciate that Mr. Post, but I’m not sure it’ll work.”

  “I needed your help after class. Mrs. Torres can’t possibly blame you for that. It’s my fault.”

  What is he talking about? He didn’t need my help. “But you didn’t—”

  He silences me with a look. “Just go with it, Ms. Blair. We don’t need you failing a class your senior year.” He tears a piece of paper off his pad and hands it to me. “If she gives you trouble, come back here and get me. I’ll escort you to class if I need to.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Post,” I say, grateful for his kindness.

  “Anytime. Now hurry up,” he says as he nods towards the door.

  I rush to pre-calc and hand Mrs. Torres the note. She takes a look at it and sighs.

  “Fine. Take a seat, Nina.”

  I start my trek to the back of the room. I scan the students for Tyler and find him sitting on the opposite side of the room. A pretty blonde is next to him, her body turned away from the teacher and towards him.

  I watch as the blonde keeps glancing at Tyler, waiting for him to notice her. She takes her pencil and drops in on the floor at Tyler’s feet. Tyler snaps out of whatever train of thought was having and leans down. He finally looks at the blonde and gives her a tight smile as he hands her back her pencil.

  “Tyler, Jamie, do we have a problem?” Mrs. Torres snaps.

  “No, Mrs. Torres. I dropped my pencil. I’m sorry,” the blonde, Jamie, replies.

  Mrs. Torres holds her stare for an extra few seconds before she goes back to teaching. This teacher is tough.

  Just like in the last class, I’m unable to concentrate. I try to follow what Mrs. Torres is talking about, but I can’t figure out what’s going on.

  Finally, the bell rings, and I start to pack my things up. I glance over at Tyler and notice Jamie going over to talk to him.

  “Thanks for picking up my pencil,” Jamie says with a flirtatious smile.

  Tyler’s brows knit together. “Uh, sure. Don’t mention it.” He stands and throws his backpack over his shoulder before heading for the door.

  Jamie stares after him, disappointed before she packs her things.

  I sigh in relief when I see Sean waiting for me at our table in Physics.

  “Hey,” he says with a grin as I sit next to him. “How’s your day been?”

  “Alright,” I answer, honestly. “How about you?”

  “It’s been fine.” Sean shrugs before he leans in. “I spoke with Tyler this morning.”

  We both glance over at Tyler and find him talking to some guy from the soccer team.

  “He’s devastated,” Sean finishes.

  Immediately, I deflate.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad,” Sean says with a frown.

  “It’s alright.” I sigh. “I feel bad, but at the same time, I know it was the right thing to do.”

  “Totally,” Sean agrees.

  The teacher comes in and starts class as I struggle, yet again, to concentrate. By the time the class is over, I feel like I absorbed no information.

  “Walk around the field?” Sean asks as he stuffs his notebook into his backpack.

  “Sure,” I agree as I stand.

  “Nina.”

  I glance up, and my jaw practically drops when Tyler is standing over me.

  “I need to talk to you.” His face is like stone, giving away no emotion.

  “Oh, um…” I glance at Sean, who shrugs. “Okay.”

  29

  I follow Tyler out of the room and into the hallway. Students are everywhere, getting ready for lunch as they speak loudly and slam their lockers. Tyler leads me to one of the patios at our school. There are only a few other people around, and Tyler picks the bench furthest away from everyone else. He sits, and I sit next to him a few feet away. I angle my body into his, but he faces front, away from me.

  Silence hangs in the air as I wait for Tyler to say what he has to say. He might be trying to collect his thoughts, and I don’t want to disturb him. At the same time, though, the silence is driving me nuts. I decide to stay quiet, and wait for him to speak, which feels like it takes an eternity.

  “I’ve been thinking about everything you said yesterday.” He pauses as he bites his lip nervously. “I just can’t really wrap my head around it. I can’t believe you want to throw away what we have.” He looks at me, and the pain in his eyes pierces my chest.

  “Tyler—”

  “And for you to move on with Luke so quickly…how can you lose your feelings for me instantly?”

  “It wasn’t instant for me. In Laguna Beach—”

  “I already told you Laguna Beach was a mistake. I told you you can take all the time you need to heal. You don’t even want to. You don’t want to try and fix this. You want to throw it away for a guy that’s the son of our enemy.”

  I stare at him, trying to figure out what I can say. I know he’s hurt, and I know arguing with him won’t help. What am I supposed to do?

  Tyler laughs, humorlessly, and shakes his head. “I thought you loved me.”

  “I do—”

  “No. You don’t. Clearly, you don’t since you’re frolicking around with that traitor right after you break up with me.”

  “You’re not being fair. You’re not seeing this from my side.”

  Tyler stares at me for a few moments. “I’m trying. I’m really trying to put myself in your shoes. If I were you…” he trails off, thinking about it. “I would’ve never been interested in Luke. I would’ve been broken if I thought you were cheating on me with another guy, sure, but after you explained yourself, I would’ve forgiven you instantly. I would never have picked another girl over you, Nina. Never.” He scoots closer to me, closing the space between us. “Because I love you. I’m completely in love with you, and I know you felt the same way.” He shuts his eyes for a moment and lets out a deep breath. His eyes flutter open and bear into mine. “I don’t understand how you could fall out of love with me. I thought we were on the same page.”

  “I—I’m not sure what to say,” I admit.

  Tyler lets out a frustrated sigh. “You don’t have to say anything.” He stands up suddenly. “You know, in a few days, Luke is going to hurt you. He’s going to betray us again or cheat on you or break up with you just because he’s bored. That’s just the kind of person he is.” He puts his hands on his hips and shakes his head. “And you know what’s so messed up? You’re going to come crawling back to me, and you know what? I’m going to take you back.” His voice cracks on the last word, and he frowns. “That’s how in love I am with you. I’m desperate to have you back.”

  I want to tell him that I don’t think that’s realistic and that I think he’s still too upset to even understand what he’s saying, but I doubt it would be helpful.

  “Tyler!”

  Both of us turn to look at Danny running across the field.

  “Dude, Coach is flipping that you’re ditching our meeting. He sent me to find you.” Danny stops when he reaches Tyler and points behind him, back to the school building.

  “I’m coming,” Tyler says solemnly as he grabs his backpack.
>
  “Hey, Nina,” Danny says with a dopey smile and a wave.

  I force a smile at him before he rushes to keep up with Tyler, who’s practically sprinting inside.

  What the hell just happened? He just flipped out on me for five minutes straight. Hopefully, he said what he needed to say, and now he can heal. I don’t know if I can take another confrontation like that.

  Guilt swims in my stomach as I slowly stand and go to find Sean on the field.

  “Yo, NB!” Sean calls as he waves his arm back and forth from the bleachers.

  “Nina, thank God. I need someone else around. Sean is driving me crazy,” Olivia says with a sigh of relief.

  “Hey!” Sean says with mock insult.

  “What’s up?” I ask as I sit on the other side of Olivia.

  “Olivia just told me about her very first fight at school.” Sean raises his eyebrows in disapproval.

  “Nina already yelled at me. I don’t need round two.” Olivia rolls her eyes.

  “She was trying to protect me. I can’t really be mad at that,” I tell her as I force a smile.

  “See, Sean? Nina gets it.” Olivia sticks out her tongue at him.

  They continue to bicker as I try to shake off the guilt from the conversation I just had with Tyler.

  “Hey, Nina?” Olivia asks, suddenly. “Would you mind if I start dating your brother?”

  My eyebrows shoot up, and my jaw drops. “Paul?”

  “No, Jake,” she says sarcastically.

  “Aw, puppy love!” Sean shouts, and Olivia shoots daggers at him with her eyes.

  “Yes, Paul,” she says.

  “Oh, um, yeah. I just didn’t know you guys were into each other,” I say, still surprised.

  “Yeah,” she says with a shrug. “Okay, good. I’m happy I have your blessing.”

  “Will Luke approve?” Sean teases.

  “Oh please,” Olivia says with a laugh. “He won’t care.”

  “I hope not, or else Paul is a dead man.”

  “We should get going,” I say, checking my phone for the time.

  “Oh crap,” Sean says as he looks at his own phone. “Jake just texted that Marcy wants to have a meeting with all of us after school today.”

  “A meeting?” Olivia asks as she stands. “About what?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” Sean says with a shrug. “Wait, I got another text. Jake says that Luke found a family for Tate. He’s bringing her there now.”

  I look to Olivia, who’s face drops.

  “Aw. I wish I could’ve said goodbye.”

  “Maybe you’ll get to visit her,” I offer as I throw my arm around her shoulders.

  “It’s probably better if I don’t. She should try and forget about me and Luke and vampires. It’ll make life a whole lot easier,” Olivia says.

  “Until she turns into one,” Sean interjects.

  Olivia nods in agreement. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

  We start to make our way to the school, and Olivia heads in the opposite direction as Sean and me to get to her class.

  “So? Are you alright?” Sean asks as he elbows me in the ribs.

  “Yeah.”

  “You sure?”

  I shrug. “I think so. I’ll get back to you.”

  Sean grins at me as he pulls me into a side hug. “Alright, Nini. See you after school.”

  I can’t help but smile at his ridiculous nickname as I separate from him and go to class.

  We meet Mason at the end of the day, and the five of us pile into the car before he pulls away from the curb.

  “So, what’s this meeting with Marcy going to be about?” Paul asks the car.

  My dad sent out a text to all of us about the meeting, letting us know Marcy would be at our house at four o’clock sharp.

  Mason shrugs as he slows the car to a stop at a red light. “Who knows? Marcy probably just wants to make sure that we’re all okay.”

  “Yeah, probably,” Sean agrees.

  As soon as we get home, I beeline to my room. I want this day to be over already, but I have a feeling that with this meeting with Marcy happening in a few minutes, a lot more is about to go down. I know everyone thinks she’s just checking on us, but why would the head of Chrome personally come visit when she can just call? Something’s up.

  I lay on my bed and hug a pillow into my chest. The conversation with Tyler plays in my head for the hundredth time today, and tears spring in my eyes. I know he’s hurt and he’s not thinking rationally. I don’t know what I could’ve done differently. Hide my feelings for Luke? That’s insane. I flip to my side and wipe the tears off my cheeks. Everything is so much more complicated now that he’s living in my house and I have to see him all the time.

  My door swings open, and Luke steps in. I jump, surprised, and his jaw drops.

  “What’s wrong?” He makes it over to me in two huge steps and plops down onto my bed, pulling me into his arms. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

  “No,” I mumble into his chest.

  “Why are you crying?” He pulls back and wipes my tears off my cheeks for me.

  I meet his eyes and debate on whether or not I should tell what Tyler said.

  “Just tell me.” Luke inches closer to me.

  I let out a deep breath and frown, going back to our conversation. “Tyler asked to talk to me today.” Luke doesn’t flinch, so I continue. “He basically just kept questioning me, asking how I could do this, how I could move on with you so quickly, how I could fall out of love with him. He was painting you as this bad guy and said that in a week, you and I would be done, and I would go crawling back to him, that he would take me back when that happened.”

  Luke furrows his brow as he listens to what I’m saying. He nods along to show me he’s listening, and then he takes my hands. “Babe, he’s clearly losing his mind. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Everyone keeps saying that, but why do I feel like I did?”

  “Because, you hurt him, but you did what you felt was the right thing to do.” Luke brings my hand up to his mouth and kisses the back of it.

  I nod as I bite my lip. “I’m sorry if any of that was hard for you to hear.”

  Luke shakes his head. “I feel like ripping Tyler’s head off for making you so upset, but for now, I’ll let him live.”

  The right side of my mouth pulls up into a small smile, and Luke grins.

  “You need to smile more,” Luke says as he leans in and kisses my cheek. “The real reason I came up here is because your dad wants to talk with everyone before Marcy gets here.”

  “Why do you think she wants to have a meeting?” I ask Luke.

  “I’m not sure.” He stands and holds his hand out for me. I take Luke’s hand, and he helps me off my bed. We walk down the hallway, and Tyler walks out of his room as we’re passing by.

  Tyler freezes and opens his mouth to say something before he shuts it again.

  “Wise decision,” Luke says to him with a wink as we pass.

  “What was that?” Tyler snaps.

  Luke spins around, and lets go of my hand. “All your talking already did enough damage today.”

  Tyler looks at me, betrayal painted on his face. “I didn’t realize our private conversation would be shared with the whole house.”

  “Hey!” Luke snaps. “I’ve been letting Nina handle this on her own, but I’ve had enough of your bullshit. She broke up with you. Fuck off.”

  Tyler’s jaw drops as he stands there, speechless. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Tyler finally says.

  Luke laughs. “You’re fighting for a relationship that’s already over.”

  “This is all your fault!” Tyler erupts. “From day one, you had your eye on her. You’re an evil asshole that just sees her as a conquest. Congratulations, you did it, Luke. You got the girl. What are you going to do now? Wait, I already know. You’re going to get into her pants and then dump her for the next girl that co
mes along.”

  My jaw drops as I stare at Tyler, shocked at what he’s saying.

  Luke scoffs. “You’re in denial, Tyler. You gave up your relationship for a mission. Deal with the choices you made and move on.”

  “Why don’t you mind your own damn business? This is between Nina and me,” Tyler snaps.

  Luke takes a step closer to Tyler. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m with Nina now. You’re taking this all too far. Take all the time you need to realize that you fucked up big time by letting her go, but don’t fuck with her anymore. You fuck with her, you fuck with me,” Luke says in a hauntingly calm voice.

  Tyler steps into him, his chest puffed up.

  “Enough,” I say, finally finding my voice. “Tyler, we’re done talking about this. We’re broken up. I’m sorry if that hurts you, but that’s what I want.”

  Tyler opens his mouth to speak when Luke interrupts him.

  “Dude, she just said she’s done talking about—”

  Luke is cut off when Tyler pulls his fist back and punches Luke in the jaw.

  “Tyler!” I scream, shocked that he just did that.

  “What’s going on out here?” my dad asks as he steps out of his room.

  “Tyler will fill you in,” Luke answers quickly as he walks back over to me. He takes my hand and pulls me away from my dad and Tyler without another word.

  30

  “Are you okay?” I ask Luke as we make our way into the living room. Sean, Jake, Paul, Mason, and Olivia are already there, all engaging in an animated conversation.

  “Yeah,” he says with a shrug.

  We sit on the couch across from the other five.

  “You’re upset,” I guess.

  Luke turns to face me. “I lost my temper. I just couldn’t stand that he was upsetting you. He’s lost it.”

  “Alright, everyone,” my dad says as he walks into the room with Tyler and Elliot trailing him. “Marcy is going to be here any minute. Whatever she is coming here to tell us or propose to us, we are going to handle together. That means if there is a decision to be made, we will take a vote. We stick together.”