Lucas (Immortal Blood) (7 page)

I didn’t need my vampire hearing when the storm broke.

“Where have you been?” Dane shouted accusingly.

“What do you care?” Sam snapped.

It became eerily silent for a few seconds before I heard someone, probably Sam, rushing up the stairs, stamping her foot on every step. A heavier set of footsteps followed, just as upset as the first. Sam appeared at her window with Dane just behind her. The window was slightly open, so now I could hear them even better. I grinned, satisfied.

“I care about what happens under my roof,” Dane said.

Sam laughed harshly. “Well, I wasn’t under your roof, was I?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Do I?” Her voice sounded strained. “How could I possibly know what you mean when you don’t talk to me anymore? Not after what happened to Kate’s dad.”

I sharpened my ears. Now we were getting somewhere. I heard someone moving a chair and then sitting on it.

“One minute you’re kissing me and the next you’re telling me to get lost.” Sam said through gritted teeth.

Dane was silent.

Sam exhaled theatrically. “Typical. Just stay quiet and pretend there never was anything between us.” She moved restlessly and I could see her pacing about. Like a wild animal in a cage. “God, you’re frustrating.” She turned and Dane put a hand on her shoulder. She shook it away and disappeared from view.

“Well, I’m here now, aren’t I?” Dane said wearily, and I could almost see him raking his hair.

“Yes. Accusing me of something I didn’t do.”

“I wasn’t accusing you!” he snapped. “I simply asked where you’d been. We were worried.”

“Sorry,” she said guiltily. “I was with a friend.”

I laughed dryly. You could put it that way.

Dane stood up and started to pace the room. I didn’t hear Sam moving.

Dane’s steps stopped. “A friend.”

Sam didn’t answer. I heard clothes rustling and Dane stepping closer to her.

“Really. It’s okay.” He tried to sound calm, but even I could hear he was so not okay with her being out all night with some mysterious friend. “Sam?”

She snorted and I heard more rustling.

“What’s this?” Dane voice arose alarmingly.

Okay, apparently some of her marks hadn’t faded yet.

Sam stayed quiet and I heard glass shattering.

“Answer me!”

“Nothing,” Sam said and moved to the window, facing my way.

I stepped into the shadows of a huge oak. Sam’s face was strained and I could see that she was suffering. I felt virtually nothing.

Dane came up behind her and moved her shirt, revealing her shoulder. I flinched. Even I could see the faint, reddish marks on it. I felt a deep grasp of desire in my lower stomach. Images of her body filled my mind and I had to work pretty hard to push them away and to concentrate on the play before me.

“You were with him,” he spat.

Sam nodded almost imperceptibly and turned to look at him. “But it was nothing.”

“Really?” he asked sarcastically.

She swallowed. “Really.”

He stared at her, pain twisting his face.

Sam touched his shoulder, but he swiped it away as if her touch burned him. She took a step back, her back stiff and her hands dropping to her sides. “Dane?”

He glanced down, gathering himself before meeting her eyes. “You know what?” he said slowly. “I can’t stand to see you right now.” He took a step closer to her, his hand reaching for her, but his fingers curled into a fist and his hand dropped. He backed away.

Sam fixed her shirt, trying to save what possibly could be saved. “Okay,” she breathed, “what do you want me to do?”

“I want you out of my house,” he hissed.

She inhaled sharply and her head jerked back as if he had slapped her, but she kept her ground. I had to give her credit for that. “No.”

“What do you mean no?” he spat. “This is my house and you’re not welcome here anymore. How hard is that to understand?”

“No,” she spat back, finding at least some of her spirit. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my house, too, and if you can’t live with me around, that’s your problem, not mine.”

They stared daggers at each other.

“Fine,” Dane said eventually. “If you’re not going, I am.”

He gave her one more glance before turning his back on her and hurrying away.

“Dane!” Sam shouted, “Dane!”

But he never answered.

After a few minutes, he rushed out of the door, banging it closed so hard that the windows either side of it rattled.

I dug my cell from my pocket and played with it. A part of me wanted to call Sam, but another, much colder part was smiling.

I’d barely avoided Dane and I knew I needed to get out of there before anyone saw me. For a second I thought about walking back to my hotel, as right then all of the free taxis had decided to take another route and the street was empty except for a few parked cars. My eyes rested on a brand new black Jaguar XF. Glancing around one more time, I stepped boldly next to the car, crouched down and grinned impudently when I found the car keys on the left back tire.

I slid into the driver’s seat and had just started the engine when Kate rushed out of the house and headed straight towards me.

I hoped she wouldn’t see me. Fat chance. Her eyes met mine. Damn! She walked around the car and
plonked herself in the passenger seat.

“Are you stealing a car?”

“No. I’m borrowing it.” I pointed at the keys.

“Is that so?” She narrowed her eyes. “’Cause I thought this was Mrs.
Carrigan’s car, and as far as I know she’s lying on the beach somewhere near Aruba right now.”

“So?” I shrugged. “We’re friends.”

Amusement bubbled on her lips for a moment before she burst into uncontrollable laughter. I kept my face straight, like there was nothing funny about me being friends with this Mrs. Carrigan.

“Mrs.
Carrigan,” she giggled, “is not a fancy young banker.”

I gave her a face. “So?”

“So I’m sure Mrs. Carrigan is anything but your friend. And I’m sure you’d imagined the owner of this car to be something other than what she is.”

I raised my brow.

Kate inhaled and exhaled rapidly and when she was calm enough she breathed normally. “She’s a cat lady.”

I paled. “I know.”

She blinked in astonishment, but after staring at my face for a while I saw laughter starting to bubble at the corners of her mouth again. “I doubt that,” she managed to say before she totally lost it and fell about in hilarity.

I sat stiffly, trying to look bored but wishing she would just disappear before someone else bumped into me and started asking unwanted questions. However, she didn’t seem to be in a hurry, which left me with two options. One, kick her out of the car and let her tell everyone she saw me stealing a car just outside their house. Two, sit nicely and wait for her laughter marathon to stop and hear exactly why she had climbed into the car with me. I sat nicely.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and tried to calm down, but every time she looked at me she started to laugh again, making weird half-giggling noises mixed with choked hiccups. Finally, after at least five minutes, she seemed to be settling down.

“Are you finished?” I looked at her down my nose.

She nodded, taking a deep breath. “What are you doing here? And don’t say you came to see that old, fat lady whose car we’re sitting in, as I believe we both know that’s a big, fat lie.”

I tilted my head, staring straight into her eyes. “I think you know perfectly well why I’m here.”

“Sam,” she breathed. Her jaw tightened and she looked like an angry kitten. “That’s why Dane…”

I nodded.

She turned her eyes away from me and stared right in front of her. I studied her, fascinated. So, she had claws after all. I was curious to see what she would do next.

“I thought you were okay,” she whispered. “After what happened in the garden, I really thought you were okay.”

“I am okay.”

She smacked me. Hard. “Don’t play with me, Lucas. What are you really doing here?”

“Going home.” I smiled and played stupid.

“Uh-huh.”

I arched my brow and the corner of my lips twitched.

She sighed heavily. “Drive.”

I did as she asked and looked at her questioningly.

“Just drive,” she sighed.

I drove to the furthest corner of the nearby park and stopped. Kate didn’t say anything, and as curious as I was, my patience was running out. “Care to explain why you’re accusing me of something?”

“Look.” She turned to me and bit her lower lip. “Sam didn’t come home last night and after hearing her fight with Dane I have a strong feeling your fingerprints are all over this. Especially when your name was mentioned quite often during their fight.”

“My name?”

She nodded, her eyes full of hidden hurt. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but will you just stop, okay?”

“And why would I do that?”

“Why?” she asked, stunned. “Are you really asking me why?”

I nodded and stretched my arms, placing them behind my neck. Her gaze slid to my trained biceps before stopping at my tattoos.

“She’s single, I’m single, so why the buzz?” I asked lazily.

She opened and closed her mouth, which looked kind of funny. I was wise enough to keep my mouth shut, though.

“She loves him,” Kate said quietly.

I felt a stab in my almost nonexistent conscience as the next words streamed out of my mouth. “Does she? She loved me quite thoroughly last night.”

“Bastard!”

“Why, thank you.” I bowed theatrically and glanced at my ringing cell. Placing my finger on my lips, I answered. “Talk.” Kate was too stunned to move and after a while I almost forgot she was there. “Uh-huh. Yes, everything is fine. I understand.” My cheeks flamed red. “I’m sorry, too, Séasan.” I breathed. “We’re good. I know. Yes, I remember. Okay, talk to you soon.”

“Who was that?” Kate asked, making me half jump.

“My creator.” I revealed my canines. “Now, excuse me but I need to run.”

“Fine. Whatever. Just leave Sam alone.”

“Can’t do that.” I grinned cockily.

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both.” I started the engine and drove back to the house. Kate looked as if she might burst into tears, but I didn’t care. Settling things with my creator had put my priorities right again, and even if she was my own flesh and blood, I didn’t care. I couldn’t.

Kate got out of the car, lightning fast, and slammed the door. “Be sure to return Mrs.
Carrigan’s car before she gets home!” she shouted to the air so loudly that at least half of London must’ve heard her.

I didn’t bother to answer. I had no intention of keeping the car longer than a few hours. So Mrs.
Carrigan would find her car properly parked, keys neatly placed on the tire, whenever she decided to return home.

Kate marched inside without looking back, and I didn’t bother to wave or honk. I didn’t dare. She might’ve pelted me with rotten eggs or something, she was so pissed off.

I thought I’d be okay about hurting Kate, but her words were haunting me, bothering me a lot more than I cared to admit. And as I had nothing better to do I decided to try another angle to find the killer. I thought about everything I knew so far and opted to concentrate on the boys instead. I knew for sure that
the girls hadn’t done anything - well, except being at the murder scene - but I was pretty sure one of the boys had finished the job. But which one? After scribbling down some facts about them I only had three names on my list. Jonathan, Dane, and that rough, rugby player-looking guy, Alex.

I was fairly sure it was not Alex, but from where I stood, fairly didn’t count. And until I was one hundred per cent sure, I couldn’t wipe him off the list. I had to question him, too. I thought for a minute about how to trick him into meeting me and came up with a perfect plan.

I grabbed my cell and texted: ‘Need to know Alex’s cell number.’

The answer came immediately:
‘Which one of those idiot brothers is Alex?’

‘The one into Kate,’ I
texted and could imagine my creator’s pouty face for dragging him into helping me with something so minor. However, he texted me Alex’s number within seconds.

“Cool.” I smiled and
texted Alex. ‘Got information about Kate. Meet me at Regent’s East H.’

I stared at my cell, waiting. Nothing happened. I gritted my teeth. I thought he’d at least be curious to know who had sent the message, but no, I got no reply. Feeling all wired up, I decided to go running. So I changed my clothes, put on my earphones, and ran outside. My hotel was quite far from the school but that didn’t matter. With vampire speed I’d be there in no time, and even if I had to pretend to jog like a lazy human, I could speed up enough to be there in half an hour.