Blood Type (18 page)

“Okay. Well what about the next night?”

“I can swing that.”

We hung up after finalizing our plans. Then I crawled under the covers and fell at once into a deep, and blessedly dreamless, sleep.

October 27

“No one told me
who and what you are,
” I said
to Josiah
, which was the truth. “I’ve seen you before. Before th
e
night
we met
at The Marauder’s Cove, I mean.
I sort of figured it out on my own.
”

He reached inside his coat pocket for a worn leather wallet and
placed
a five-dollar bill on the table, presumably as a tip for the girl behind the counter
, even though she’d done nothing but steal glances our way
.
No doubt she
thought I looked like some strung-out
meth addict
and wondered what Josiah could
possibly
want with a girl like me.

“
W
hoever saved you did you
no
favor
,” he said
.
“
You’ll be dead before this month ends.”

That caught my attention, and I sat up straighter in my chair.
“
Excuse me
?”

“There’s a strong stench of death about you. I’ve smelled it before. You won’t last the month.”

My mouth went completely dry.
I didn’t anticipate I’d live to see the New Year, but to be told I had less than a week . . .
 

Josiah rose and looked down at me. “
There are
certain laws by which
vampires
must abide in order to remain relatively inconspicuous to the human world. So, on behalf of vampires everywhere, thank you for
the
information
about this Ian
McAvoy.
” He tipped his hat to me. “
If he’s hiding somewhere in the city,
I’
ll
sniff
him
out soon enough
.”

My heart skipped
in my chest
. It took no great leap to appreciate the magnitude of Ian’s mistake, as well as the risk John had taken by protecting him. I hadn’t really understood until that moment. In the heat of anger, I had only wanted to turn Ian
in
—pay him
back,
so to speak
—
for what he had done to me. But I’d very likely made things worse for John
in the process
.

I put my hand over my mouth
in an effort
to get my breathing under control. I realized then that I’d never meant for
John
to get hurt
.
I really did care for him.

“I’m
, I’m
sorry,” I said, getting up suddenly. “My parents are expecting me. I’m already
very
late.”

I pushed past Josiah and out the open door into the alley without another glance behind me, and then quick-walked back to my car. I didn’t have much time, and absolutely none to waste. I dug my phone out of my bag and texted John to meet me at his house.

Are you OK?
came
his
immediate response.

I didn’t even take the time to answer.

.

August 5

Olivia was grounded indefinitely. Her parents had come home from their date to find that one or both of the twins, Olivia didn’t know which, had
somehow
pushed the flat-screen off its stand. Not only
was there
a crack the size of the Grand Canyon in the screen, the station was permanently stuck on Nick Jr.

Because Olivia was
under
house arrest until further notice, I was consequently stuck at home by myself, with no one to talk to or hang out with until
my next date with John
. Out of sheer desperation, I called my mom at work to see if she wanted to grab lunch.

Mom wasn’t in her office when I showed up, so I took a seat behind her desk and powered up Angry Birds on my phone while I waited.

“Blake. What a pleasant surprise seeing you here. How are you?”

An uncomfortable chill crept up my spine at the sound of his voice, and I looked up, trying to keep a neutral expression on my face.
“Oh.
Hi, Mr. Larsen.”

“Andrew,” he
corrected
like he always did
. “How many times have I asked you to call me that?
I feel old when anyone calls me ‘Mister.
’
”

His eyes traveled the length of my body—or what the desk didn’t block from view—and I saw the Adam’s apple in his throat move as he swallowed.

“You look really nice today
.
” His tongue darted to the corner of his mouth, as though licking off a
tasty
morsel of food.
Could he be any
creepier
?

I clenched my teeth. “Thanks.”

He step
ped
into the room, his eyes intent on mine. “You smell really nice, too.”

“Oh.”
Where the heck was my mom?

Thankfully she buzzed into her office before it could get any weirder between Andrew and me. “You’re just the person I was looking for,” she said to
him
, shoving a file box into his arms. “I need you to put together these
promotionals
for this afternoon’s Open House on
Willowbend
.”

“Absolutely,” Andrew said. Before he left the room he glanced over his shoulder and gave me a wicked smile that made my insides twist. 

Twenty minutes later, my mom and I ended up at this little cafe across the street that served the
best
cream of mushroom soup. Mom said I had the palate of an old lady
, which she thought was hilarious
. She
always ordered the same boring thing
, though: spinach salad (hold the dressing) a
nd grilled salmon. Anything with lots of antioxidants and whatever miracle vitamin the media happened to be
currently
raving about.

“Mom, I need to talk to you about Mr. Larsen,” I said once we’d been seated.

“What about him?”
she said
as she perused the menu
, not meeting my eyes
.

“
H
e gives me the creeps.”

That immediately got her attention and she
finally
looked up. “Gives you the creeps how?”

“I don’t know. It’s the way he looks at me. He’s always smiling at me and telling me how nice I look.”

The crease in Mom’s brow deepened. “You think it’s creepy that a colleague of mine pays you a compliment? Honestly, Blake. You’re a beautiful girl. Boys, and men, notice. Stop acting so silly.” She shook her head and went back to looking at her menu
like she might actually order something different this time
.

I should have been shocked that my mom would blow off my concerns, but I wasn’t really.

“So . . . anything interesting to report on the real estate front?” I asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

Mom unrolled her silverware, shook out the white linen napkin, and draped it across her lap. Then she smiled at me, her lips pursed and eyes wide with suppressed excitement. “You know that old Greek Revival I’ve been desperate to unload for the past year, the one that’s sitting empty collecting cobwebs?”

I reached for a yeast roll from the basket sitting between us and nabbed a pat of butter wrapped in gold foil.
“The one with
the great view of the lake and all that land to go with?
I love that house. Did you finally sell it?” 

She clapped her hands in front of her, her brown eyes sparkling. “Not yet, but I may have found a couple who’s interested in buying it. They’re new to the area and have plans to start their own B&B. It needs a considerable amount of work, of course, but they say they’re up to the challenge. We’ll see
if it works out or not
.
Fingers crossed!
”

She took a roll for herself and broke it in two, sticking the bigger half back in the basket. “And if everything goes off without a hitch,” she added, “the sale of that house will bring in a very big commission.”

I sat up straighter in my chair, my knife in one hand and the roll in the other, a
wild
thought suddenly occurring to me. “Then maybe we can take a vacation. We haven’t gone anywhere in ages.”

Mom removed the lemon wedge from the side of her glass and squeezed the juice into her water. She used her spoon to fish out an errant seed.
“Hmm.
A vacation does sound like a nice idea. What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know,” I said, even though I knew exactly where I wanted to go.
“Paris, maybe?”

Mom had taken a sip of her water, and she sputtered as she tried to swallow it down. “Paris? I’ve never heard you say one word about Paris, Blake.
Why the sudden interest?”

I stared at her, my mouth hanging open. “I’ve
always
wanted to go to Paris. Remember years ago when I wanted to be a fashion designer? I’m sure Daddy remembers. He said that’s all I ever talk
ed
about.” I saw her struggling with the memory and added, “I had a folder full of designs? Olivia and I used to put on fashion shows. Any of that ring a bell?”

She took a sip of water. “It must have been Olivia’s mother who watched your little shows
, not me
.”

I took a deep breath and tried not to feel too disappointed. “Well if we can’t go to Paris, can we go to the city? If we wait to go during Winter Break, we could go to Times Square on New Year’s Eve and watch the ball drop. I’ve always wanted to do that.”

She shook her head and took a dainty bite of roll.
“Definitely not.
The city is much too crowded.” Then she looked up and finally met my eyes. “I know. You haven’t seen your grandparents
since they moved
. Maybe we’ll go to New Hampshire for Christmas. Portsmouth is such a quaint little town. I think you’d really like it.”

“New Hampshire? That’s not exactly Paris, Mom.
Or
New York City.
And no offense, but since when do you care about Grammy and Gramps?”

My mother
narrowed her eyes
. “
Don’t be rude
. Besides, you know neither Daddy nor I can take too much time off from work. We’re both very busy. We have commitments, Blake.”

I sat back in my chair, not bothering to argue with her any
more.  The waitress came to take our orders and we waited in silence, neither of us sure what to say to the other.

“So what are your plans for the rest of the day?” my mother finally said. 
“You should go for a swim
at The Mill
.
I know how much you love that place, even though it stinks like fish.
”

I shrugged noncommittally and told her about what had happened with Olivia and the twins the night before, and how Olivia was not allowed to leave the house until her parents were satisfied she’d served her time. They’d also confiscated her cell, so texting was out of the question.

“W
hat about John
?”

I glanced at her as I raised the buttered roll to my lips. “He
has to work
.
” I still couldn’t get over how my mom had all of a sudden changed her tune regarding my break-up with Zach.

“Oh? And where does John work?”

I took a bite of bread.
Here it comes
. I knew that as soon as I told her where John worked, she’d tell me I shouldn’t hang out with him, that he was not
our kind of people
. Zach, after all,
had a job as
a summer intern at his father’s law firm.

“Um, you know that little grill and bar by the lake?” I had no idea if there was an actual grill
attached to the bar
, but I wasn’t about to tell her that.

My mother’s brows pulled together. “You mean The Blue Lagoon?”

I could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn’t exactly approve. The Blue Lagoon was a
pretty swanky place
, actually
—I’d gone there with Zach a few times—if not a little too trendy for my parents’ taste. But it also
wasn’t
the place I was talking about.

“No,” I said, my words muffled around the bite of bread. “Not
The
Blue Lagoon. He, um, works at that other place down
that way
.
The Marauder’s Cove?”

Mom
took another sip of water, a stalling tactic to buy her time in order to think of some response that wouldn’t make her look like a total witch. “Yes, I’ve heard about The Marauder’s Cove. That’s, well
. . .
” She
took another sip
. “
Good for him! It’s nice to see kids these days making their own way in the world instead of being handed everything on a silver platter by their rich fathers.”

I snorted at the irony.
My mom
was a dedicated real estate agent, I’d give her that much, but she’d been born into the business and
left to run it
when Gramps retired
two
years ago.

I cleared my throat and went on as though she’d said nothing at all. “Anyway, he
has to
make up for missing a few days. One of his friends came to town for a visit
. B
ut we’re getting together tomorrow night.”

Mom’s eyes lit up with apparent interest. I
gave
her credit for at least trying. “John sounds like a very responsible young man and mindful of his obligations. You say he’s got a friend in town?”

“Yeah.
Ian. He’s from Scotland and sort of a jerk. But he’s pretty funny, too. I guess I like him.”

She seemed
fascinated
by my rambling characterization of Ian and leaned forward in her chair. “Then why don’t you hang out with Ian tonight if you don’t have anything better to do? I’m sure he’s just sitting around wondering what to do, too.
Take him out. Welcome him to town.
”

I fidgeted in my seat. I hadn’t told her anything of what had happened the night before, and that’s how it was going to remain. Not only was it majorly embarrassing, my mother would flip if she knew I’d been trying to persuade Ian to let me drink. “I don’t think so. I don’t really know him all that well. It would be awkward.”

“Fair enough,” was
all my
mother said. She twisted her wrist to look at her watch
and
then sucked in her breath. “Oh,
drats
! I’m late. I’ve got to go, honey. I’ve got that
o
pen
h
ouse in twenty
and still a few things left to wrap up
. I just hope Andrew has
finished putting together those
promotionals
.
”

“
You’re just going to blow me off?” I said, my voice rising. “
But we haven’t even eaten yet!”

She
placed
her credit card on the table. “
I’m not blowing you off, Blake. I just have work to do.
You stay and enjoy. Ask them
to
box up my lunch and then leave it in the office fridge, will you? I’ll eat at my desk when I get back.”

I slumped in my chair.
“All right.”

“By the way,” she said, turning back. “Daddy and I have dinner plans tonight.”

“Oh.” My heart sank a little. Not only were John and Olivia unavailable, I’d just been ditched by my parents. This was a new low.

“
You’ll have to fend for yourself tonight.
There’s leftover lemon-crusted halibut in the fridge. Make a salad to go with it.”