Blood Warrior (28 page)

In history class, while the teacher was giving her lecture, I scribbled down a list of things I knew. If I was going to keep missing meals, I might as well try to figure out what was really going on around here. Writing things down always seemed to help me work things out in my head, but I used abbreviations for everything that I wrote so that no one would see it and raise eyebrows. Maybe I was just paranoid.

But this is what I knew: Two Rivers was an extravagant city out in the middle of nowhere that was flanked on all sides by very high walls. It sat in the middle of two rivers that I assumed were to keep out the Lamia, who can’t cross over running water. Also, everyone here was either wolf or vampire, and no one I’d met had mixed blood. Everyone here was decent looking and very few were old enough to be a grandparent. So, basically, there were no elderly or “unfit” people here.

However, within these same walls, between the same rivers, there was a village of the greatest poverty I’d ever personally been witness to. The people at this village ranged in all ages, and many were either very old or very young. As far as I knew, they had mixed races among them; Soraya was an example of that. These people were what seemed like castaways, people that wouldn’t fit in at Two Rivers, with all of its youth and beauty. People who weren’t treated like people at all, but instead, like food. They were made to give blood to an unknown tyrant source, or face dire consequences. They were people who needed help. Help I wasn’t sure I could give.

But these two places, within the same walls, had similarities. They both seemed to believe that they were in need of rescue, despite their extreme differences. It was obvious that the village people needed saving, but was it possible that both peoples were slaves in different ways?

Last but not least, they both thought that I was going to deliver this freedom.

They all seemed to understand things that I didn’t, and they all were afraid to speak about it. I needed to find out what was going on at Two Rivers first. I needed to find out if the people who were no longer useful were sent to live as blood slaves in poverty stricken villages,
and
I needed to know why they would be milked for their blood when human blood supplied the city. But I needed to do this without drawing attention to myself, and that was the hard part.

There were a few other things I needed to figure out too. And most of them involved Kayden. I knew I should just go talk to him, but I hadn’t had time yet. I wanted to do it before the weekend, which meant that I needed to do it tomorrow.

But really, I didn’t want to seek him out at all. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answers to the questions I knew I had to ask. It made me feel cowardly, but I was afraid. Afraid to hear him confirm one of my greatest fears; that I held something inside of me that was similar to a ticking bomb, something that he alone could tame. It’s not that I didn’t like him; it’s that I liked him too much. I felt so vulnerable around him, so dependent. But that wasn’t the problem; the problem was that I also felt ecstatic around him. I felt like I should just wrap myself up in his arms and stay there forever, with him forever. And, now, I knew that whatever I thought he felt toward me was just a result of our genes. He only wanted to be around me to ease the fire inside of him, not because he just liked me. I was baffled at how sad that thought made me.

But really, I just needed to talk to him about Soraya. It may have been misplaced, but I wanted an explanation. I wanted an explanation as to why his niece was living in such horrid conditions, while he was here living a plush life. I knew that wasn’t entirely fair. Hell, I had known about the village for a couple of days now and hadn’t come up with any ideas on how to help, so what should I have expected him to do? All I knew is that something had to be done, and he was my best hope as to figuring out what that something was. So whether I liked it or not, I was going to have to talk to him. And I needed to do it before my body completely gave out for lack of food. Classes were already becoming painfully difficult for me.

“Do you know the answer, Miss Montgomery?” the teacher asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I hadn’t even heard the question.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Redman, the answer to what?” I asked.

She smiled at me, teeth gleaming behind red lipstick. “Do you know why Warrior Basil would lead a revolt against the people he had long protected?” I had read about this Warrior on that day I’d spent in the library doing research on my people. Basil was an infamous Warrior that had led the revolt of my race against the other races when they’d tried to enslave the Warriors. He’d given his life in taking a stand against the king of his time, and he’d died for it. He’d been the first to die, actually.

“Because he felt that no one else could do it,” I said. “And one life is worth sacrifice when it’s given for the lives of countless others. He did it for freedom, so that his people could live out of the reach of slavery.”

Mrs. Redman nodded slowly and her smile grew. “Very good, Warrior, very good.”

Yeah, that was just great.

Chapter 53

By lunch time, I was unsurprisingly famished. I felt as though my feet were dragging cinder blocks and my muscles seemed to be reluctant against the command to walk.

But, I knew I was so close to figuring things out, because while my body was weak, my mind was clear and strong. If I could just keep fasting for a little longer, maybe I would find my answers. I just hoped I didn’t die of starvation first.

At the lunch table, Nelly shot me worried looks as I pushed my food around on the plate. I’d lied and told her that I’d eaten already, but like always, Nelly knew something was up. I was never one to skip meals. My pale skin and drooping eyes probably didn’t help either.

“You okay, darling?” Jackson whispered to me. “You look a little sick.” I gave a weak smile. “I’m fine, just been having trouble sleeping.” Concern filled his features. “Is there anything I can do?” I shook my head. “No, but thanks. I really am fine.”

I turned to the others, who were engulfed in conversation. “Do you guys want to go to the fight this weekend?”

Tommy leaned back in his chair and gave a sly smile. “Yeah, Alexa and I are going.”

Jackson’s eyes narrowed slightly and I was pretty sure that was Tommy’s intention. I tried not to sigh in frustration. I didn’t have the energy for this right now.

Right on cue, Nelly came to the rescue. “Sure, we’ll go.” She looked at Daniel, who nodded, and then at Jackson, who nodded as well.

“Great,” said Nelly, “I was hoping to spend some time with you this weekend.” I smiled. “Me too.”

After lunch, Jackson walked me through the courtyard as the others split to head to their next classes. I broke the silence first.

“What’s up, Jack?” I asked, though I had a feeling I knew what.

He ran a hand through his hair and his green eyes looked down at his feet. “I don’t want you to think that I’m the jealous boyfriend type or anything, but…” I raised an eyebrow and gave a half smile. “But, you kinda are?” When he didn’t respond I placed my hand on his cheek. “You have nothing to worry about. Tommy and I are just friends.”

A small smile came over his handsome face. Pulling me into a tight hug, he said,

“Sorry, I should have known that. It’s just the wolf in me. We tend to be a little territorial.” I laughed. “Well, you don’t have to pee on me or anything.” His smile turned genuine. “I’m not interested in Tommy that way, so you have nothing to worry about,” I repeated. It was only half a lie.

He kissed my forehead and stepped back. “I better go before I’m late. See you later, darling.”

I gave him another quick kiss and headed off to my next class, which was conditioning. I had a feeling that it might be a little more difficult for me to keep up today. I just hoped that we weren’t running up stairs this time.

We ended up just doing a circuit of weight-lifting exercises, and I struggled through with less than impressive efforts. The instructor even asked me if I needed to see the nurse, but I declined, using my lack of sleep excuse. He gave me a suspicious look and just told me to take it easy today. I didn’t tell him that I
was
taking it easy.

At the end of the day, I was cutting across school grounds to go get some sleep. I felt so drained and exhausted that I only wanted to go lay down in bed, even though it wasn’t sleep I needed. I was
starving
, and it was really beginning to take its toll. I didn’t even really want to smoke a cigarette, so I knew I was getting sick.

As I passed around a building that I thought was home to the wolf students, I spotted someone I wanted to have a word with. I forgot about my weak state as I approached Victoria, who was walking by herself, with her back to me.

There were many ways to do what I was going to do next, but I decided to take the non-violent approach, as hard as that was for me. Just seeing her made the anger in me flare, and the heat of it warmed my stomach. Taking a deep, calming breath, I strolled up so that I was walking alongside her.

She jumped at the sight of me, and a little fear passed behind her heavily made-up eyes. She recovered quickly though, her expression turning into a sneer. “What do you want?” she spat. Glancing all around her, she said, “I see Jackson isn’t here to come to your rescue. Lucky me.”

I got an overwhelming urge to grip her by the throat again, but I clenched my fists tight and tried to ignore it. “I came to call a truce.”

Her pale blond hair whipped to the side and her blue eyes snapped to me. Seeing that I was serious, she laughed. “You’re scared, aren’t you? Well, you should be. If Jackson hadn’t jumped in, I would have killed you.”

My nails bit into my palms hard enough to draw blood. “Don’t flatter yourself,” I said, as calmly as I could manage. “You could never beat me at anything. I’m not suggesting friendship. I’m saying you leave me alone, and I’ll leave you alone.” Laugher erupted from her yet again. “You’re as much a coward as that little sister of-“

I slammed my fist into her face, cutting off her words mid-sentence. I just couldn’t hold on to it anymore, I didn’t want to. It felt wonderful to see her hit the ground and knowing that I had done that to her. I didn’t even really feel bad; this girl had it coming. She’d tried to kill me, and now, she had the nerve to insult Nelly after I’d tried to make peace with her. I guess I hadn’t really expected this to go smoothly, but I was going to get my message across to her one way or another. Luckily for her, my strength wasn’t at its best, so the strike didn’t knock her unconscious. I’m sure it hurt like hell though.

Her nose was streaming blood as I went to stand over her. Her eyes lit up with fear and the sight of it along with the blood made me lick my lips involuntarily. A dreaded, welcome feeling came over me. I was once again a hungry predator, that other me pushing itself to the front of my being. I held her eyes and forced the murderous beast inside of me to back down. This wasn’t who I was, it wasn’t the reason I’d approached her.

Swallowing hard, I spoke in a quiet voice. “Consider this your last warning. Don’t test me, Victoria. You have no idea what you’re provoking.” A look of pure hatred came over her bloody face, but I turned around and walked away. It was harder than it should have been; everything in me wanted to do something terrible and eliminate any future threats.

But this was the third time I’d almost lost it and it confirmed my suspicion that I was indeed losing my battle for control. Also, I wasn’t quite sure if I’d just made a very serious mistake by letting Victoria live; she’d already proven that she was playing for blood.

My mother’s lessons flooded back to me at this thought.
Never underestimate
your enemy.
I hoped that my message had gotten through to Victoria. Instead, I think I only managed piss her off.

Chapter 54

I went to my room and promptly collapsed on my bed. I still planned on talking to Kayden tomorrow, but tonight, I just needed to sleep. As usual, I didn’t get what I wanted. At least it was the next best thing.

Nelly came by to visit me.

She knocked on the door about two minutes after I had fallen down on the bed. It was perfect timing, because any later and I would have already been asleep. As it was, I barely had the strength to tell her to just come in.

She entered my room and her hazel eyes lit up with concern. Typical Nelly; always worried about me. She sat down beside me and pressed the back of her hand to my forehead. “Are you sick?”

I shook my head. “I don’t get sick.”

She gave me a stern look. “I know. That’s why I’m worried.” When she kept staring at me, waiting for an answer, I decided to tell her the truth. After all, I couldn’t trust anyone if I couldn’t trust Nelly. “I may have missed one too many meals, that’s all,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

Her brow furrowed in confusion, but then, a look came over her face that suggested she’d known this. “I knew you were lying earlier when you said you’d already eaten.

Why the heck would you stop eating, Alexa?”

I smiled a little at her unwavering refusal to use a curse word, and again, told the truth. “I needed to think clearly.”

“How will not eating help you think clearly?”

I made the decision quickly, and told her about my theories. I told her about everything except Soraya and the village, and only because I’d promised Soraya that I wouldn’t say anything. But, I did tell her about Kayden being a Libra.

When I was finished, she sat silently, giving me a look that said she was seriously worried about me. “Oh, come on,” I said. “Don’t tell me you don’t think that something strange is going on here.”

Her eyes searched mine for a moment before she spoke. “Of course it’s strange, Lex. It’s a world we never knew anything about, with people much different from the humans we grew up with. It’s supposed to be strange, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad.” I shook my head stubbornly. “What about the fact that everyone here is virtually perfect? I mean, seriously, have you met or even seen anyone who is old or ugly or handicap or overweight?”