Hotblood (38 page)

I stared at Satan and he looked back at me with a frown. “Yeah. It’s lethal too. He won’t live very long if there’s enough Nether in his body, it’ll eat him away but, in the meantime, he’ll need more.”

I stared at them and shook my head. Lewis was not this person they were talking about. He couldn’t be. He’d been around me enough times and never looked slightly interested in my blood. I’d been much more likely to rip out his throat than he was to pierce my skin with a knife.

“
How many blood workers are there? Do you have any idea who it is?”

Grim and Satan exchanged thoughtful looks before Grim said, “Too many to know for certain. The only old Hotbloods are blood workers who get longevity from a different breed, but they’re also the ones who have enough control that they aren’t eliminated by other bloodworkers, not to mention Hunters. Maybe there are one hundred to two hundred on this continent. Satan?”

Satan nodded. “There are more down south. There are always fewer Hotbloods in cold climates although you’d think they’d prefer the cold when they get so hot all the time.”

I sort of stopped listening at that point. There was no way that Lewis had killed Devlin, not if that meant he’d be out for my blood. He hadn’t wanted me to see his scars because it wasn’t something he was proud of, but it wasn’t any worse than my Netherkind nature and my need to taste death. I felt a lump in my throat that I couldn’t swallow. He must hate me for how I’d treated him. He would probably never forgive me. I had to find him, to explain everything to him so he would understand. I wasn’t sure what there was to understand. He must understand that I took him for a psycho killer who wanted my blood. How could I be so stupid? I made some excuses about my headache, not really excuses since I had a very real headache pounding behind my eyes, and went to stare at my painting until I finally fell asleep.

The next morning I went to school in Satan’s car with Grim at the wheel while Satan sat shotgun. He looked like he should have a shotgun. “We’re going to the city for the day, so if you kill anyone you have to take care of the body yourself,” Satan said as he dropped me off.

I rolled my eyes and slammed the door behind me before adjusting my bag and walking towards the building. I looked towards the parking lot, automatically searching for the purple Mustang until I forced myself to focus on the old cathedral.

“
Your dance was amazing,” the first girl who saw me inside gushed. I forced a smile and nodded but I couldn’t stop the tension in my belly as I went to my first class and sat down. I knew Lewis wasn’t there. I knew he wasn’t going to be there, but every time Mrs. Briggs asked a question, I expected his warm voice to answer, those eyes to glance at me quickly then away when he’d said something clever. By the time class was over, I felt more tightly wound than a spring. I forced myself to walk the hall, to not look for his face on every guy I passed. I made it to lunch, focused determinedly on my casserole while Snowy dropped beside me with her usual grace.

“
So, how are you?” She asked with so much cheerful enthusiasm I knew she already knew about Lewis.

“
Great. Homecoming was so fantastic I didn’t think my life could ever find a moment to surpass that bliss, but amazingly enough, my weekend kept getting better and better.”

“
Ouch. Do you think you could tone down the sarcasm a bit? It’s not like you’re the only one who had a hard time. I had to get a ride with Smoke. I mean, come on, in that wagon, in my dress? And he kept going on and on about how fantastic you are to dance with. It’s not like you weren’t great, but like that’s what I want to hear after having a run in with Valerie, who ended up going home with Lewis. Maybe you did desert him, but I was his date too. Good riddance,” she muttered into her casserole and I stared at her bent head trying to still the rage triggered by hearing Lewis, Valerie, and ride all in the same sentence.

“
Lewis gave her a ride home that night?” My voice was quiet, and that was good, but I was burning very hot, as I clenched a carrot stick in my hand.

“
Dari, how was your weekend,” Osmond said sitting across from me.

“
Gotta go,” I mumbled and left the table, the sight of Osmond, who had started this whole nightmare, was too much to take. My head pounded and my body was so hot I could feel heat rising off my skin. I left through the nearest doors and walked outside aimlessly until I remembered where Valerie usually spent her lunch.

I circled the school slowly, studying the brown grass intently, the way the leaves piled up against one side of the building, the way the shadows fell across the sidewalk. I noticed the color of the stone, the way it looked cold, and the way I’d felt on the rooftop with the wind on my shoulders when I’d learned the awful truth. I blinked and looked around the parking lot until I found her.

Valerie was perched on the hood of a car with a guy, throwing back her hair as she laughed. She was as bad as Snowy, as pretentious and manipulative, only what were her motives? Snowy always wanted the greater good. Even if that wasn’t my good, at least it wasn’t completely selfish. What did Valerie want? Maybe she set up the entire thing at the dance because she wanted Lewis, or simply didn’t want him here. I walked towards her, not bothering to keep a smile on my face. She watched me come with an amused look and said something derisive to her companion who looked at me nervously. He was on unsure ground with me, Devlin’s zombie sister who was something like the school mascot, and Valerie, who he thought might be his girlfriend.

“
Valerie, I’d like a word,” I said brusquely. “You can go.” I dismissed the boy and leaned against the car, glaring at her.

“
Go on,” she said in a low seductive voice to the guy who was wavering. “I’ll see you later. Now what,” she said once he’d gone out of earshot. “Can I do for you?”

“
Why did Lewis give you a ride home?”

Her eyebrows arched prettily in mock surprise. “Who?” I growled and she shook her head slightly. “Do you know the meaning of the word subtlety? You’re mother’s the legendary Helen of Slide, you’d think something would have rubbed off. I’ll tell you because you look like you want to hurt someone and frankly, I’m not in the mood. Violence isn’t really my thing. Lewis took me home because he wanted to lecture me on chatting with you at the super fun dance. He didn’t like me interfering. So now I have a question for you, honey. What happened that night that got that oh-so-in-control boy in knots?”

I blinked at her and felt a little bit better. Lewis did not like Valerie and had not gone rebounding in her direction. Of course he hadn’t. How could I even think that? I closed my eyes and exhaled, feeling more stupid than usual. “Thanks for telling me. Lewis and Osmond got in a fight.”

She raised her eyebrow and looked interested, but that was all I was going to say. “Over you? Yes, I can see that. Osmond goes for the protective brother role and ends up as a surprise leg in a love triangle. So Lewis hurt Osmond, and naturally you had to leave with him, which put Lewis in an even worse mood. Oh, I like that,” she gave me the kind of smile that made me doubt her declaration against personal violence.

“
I don’t. Sorry for intruding on your lunch.”

She batted her eyelashes at me. “Not at all. A word of advice Dariana; stay away from puce.”

I stared at her, then down at my shirt and left her laughing behind me. I felt better even though I was certain she’d gotten the best of that conversation. Lewis hadn’t liked her talking to me, no, of course he hadn’t. Letting down his guard and letting me feel, really know what it was like to be with him had been something he’d worked at avoiding for weeks. I felt a wash of dizziness at the memory of dancing through the darkness before I got a grip.

In Sewing, I was assaulted by wild applause as I entered the room. “There she is,” Smoke said dramatically, “The best Homecoming display this school’s ever seen.”

I rolled my eyes and walked to Ash’s desk then perched on the edge ignoring the rest of the room. “Is he always like this?” I asked nodding towards Smoke who was still going around the room getting everyone worked up, or just annoyed.

“
I guess.” His response was quiet, but his voice, like always, made me want to hear more. “You look better than I expected.”

I winced then smiled brightly at him. “It must be all the sleep I’ve gotten this weekend, or the time I spent staring at my Axel painting. You know, Ash, you’re really observant.”

“
Hey, what are you guys talking about?” Smoke said cheerfully, coming up to us.

“
My painting,” I said and slid off Ash’s desk.

“
Oh that reminds me.” He pulled out his bag and fished around for a minute before pulling out a scrap of paper. “You dropped this in my car that time in the city.”

“
What?” I asked and he handed me the paper. I remembered the first time I’d seen the Axel, the guy who had flirted with me, and crumpled the paper up into a ball.

“
I thought it sounded pretty cool,” Smoke said making me hesitate before I threw it in the garbage. I smoothed it out and read an invitation to an exclusive Axel exhibit with the chance to meet the painter. A week before I would have been excited, now I shrugged and threw it in the trash.

“
Good,” Ash said so low I could barely hear him.

“
Why?” Smoke asked. “I thought Dari would be stoked. I mean, she loves that painting, right?”

Ash shook his head but Smoke kept pressing until finally Ash said, “It would be dangerous for someone like Dari to go to a place that’s likely crawling with Hotbloods.”

“
Hotbloods sound cool,” Smoke said, but Ash shook his head and focused on sewing two green pieces of fabric together.

I went back to my desk thinking about what Ash had said then went to the garbage and fished out the invite. If Hotbloods would be drawn to an Axel exhibit then maybe that was where I could find Lewis. I checked the date. It was on Halloween, only a week away. The address was a place in the city I would have to look up. I could go, check out the painter and maybe run into Lewis. It wasn’t much, but it was something, and I needed a chance to see Lewis again, to find out what had happened. After only three days, the ache in my chest was only getting worse.

I went hunting that night, but there was no sign of the Nether, and the death tasted flat to me. I’d only had one dance with Lewis without him leaning me. One dance, but the feeling of it stayed with me, leaving everything else dull in comparison.

“
So,” Snowy said as she drove me to school the next morning.

“
So, sewing. Who knew it could be so complicated. Smoke is such a great sewer, I think I should ask him to help me after school some time.”

“
If you must,” she said rolling her eyes. “So what are you doing for Halloween? There’s a great party, well, maybe not great, but half decent anyway. You should go.”

“
I’m sorry Snowy, but I’m busy that night.”

“
Oh, really?” She looked at me skeptically. “Right, because your thriving social life is the envy of Sanders. Come on, Dari, you have to do stuff.”

“
I don’t have to do anything. Since when did you become the personal activities committee for my life?”

She argued, whined, threatened, and finally I admitted that I was going to the city, really had something to do so she would lay off. I should have known it wouldn’t work.

“
You’re going to a high scale showing? What are you going to wear?”

“
Puce. What does it matter?”

She looked at me like I’d committed some heinous crime and shook her head. “If you’re going to an art gallery for Halloween, I’m coming with you.”

“
Snowy, you hate art. The last time you went was memorably not your best time. You have fun at that great party…”

“
This isn’t about art,” she said cutting me off. “It’s about the people who will be there. I may meet someone interesting. Anyway, there’s no way for you to get to the city by yourself unless you’ve gotten your license in the last two days.”

I sighed, but she’d won the argument. I was a little bit glad to have her. The idea of running into Lewis without any kind of moral support had me feeling sick, and for the first time since I’d gotten a soul, I did want to look good, and no one was better for that than Snowy.

The rest of the week passed tortuously slowly. Without Lewis to lean me, I came to know the bewildering depth of my attachment. I missed him every time I woke up. At school, every time I turned a corner, I would look up and feel the pain that he wasn’t there, every time, but I kept going. My mother watched me closely, spending every evening at home, instead of at the office like she usually did. I tried to appreciate it. Satan spent time coming and going but didn’t try to chat again. I almost missed the chats. The truth was, I was getting tired of being brave, of being strong and feeling less and less whole. The only thing that kept me trying was the gallery opening.

On Friday afternoon, I sat on my bed knitting, hearing the sound of trick-or-treaters out the window. It was Halloween and my mother would be leaving soon for the elementary school where she would be dressed like a good witch and read them stories. She’d asked me if I wanted her to stay, or if I wanted to come with her, but I’d passed. I hadn’t told her about the gallery opening. I could not let her know where Lewis was in case they found out that he was a blood worker and jumped to the same conclusion I had.

It was finally time for me to go to Snowy’s, and I threw my knitting in my bag along with my knife, just in case. When I got to her house she led me to her room and after a brief overhaul announced that I was ready for the art world. I looked in the mirror at the edgy, asymmetrical-skirt-wearing girl, all in black with textured tights and tall boots, and wanted to roll my eyes. I looked dangerous and interesting. Snowy dressed in all black, but with her hair for contrast, she looked more striking than I did.