Mirage (23 page)

We stood and shuffled into the aisle. Aidan and Jack moved away from the rest of us, their heads bent in quiet conversation.

“I’m going back to the dorms,” Sophie said.

“I’ll go with you,” I said. “Just let me say good-bye to Aidan.”

Sophie laid a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, speaking of Aidan, he looks awful. Well, by Aidan standards, at least,” she amended. “Did he have another bad reaction or something?”

“Yeah, over the break. Maybe you could … you know, do your thing with him. See if you can sense what’s going on.”

“Do you think he’ll let her?” Cece asked.

“I don’t see why not. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.”

Sophie nodded. “Only problem is, I’ve never touched him before. Which means I don’t have a baseline to go by. But I can still give it a try—can’t hurt, right?”

“I’ve really got to run,” Cece said, looking almost apologetic. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Wait for me,” Marissa said, hurrying to Cece’s side. “I’m supposed to meet Max at the café.”

Kate set off too, not-so-coincidentally timing her exit to match Jack’s, I noticed.

“Hey,” Aidan called out to me and Sophie, “you two heading out?” He quickly closed the distance between us.

“Yeah, but first we’ve got a proposition for you,” I said.

He smiled, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “Hmm, now that sounds intriguing.”

I looked entreatingly to Sophie.

“Here’s the thing—would you mind if I took your hand for a second?” she asked him. “I just want to see if I can … you know, sense your condition.”

His eyes narrowed a fraction, but he was still smiling as he looked back and forth between the two of us. “She put you up to this, didn’t she?” he asked, tipping his head in my direction. “Because of the reaction.”

“Maybe,” Sophie answered with a laugh. “But honestly, I
am
curious.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” He held out one hand to her. “Do you want one hand or two?”

“Two usually works best,” she said. “I get a better read that way.”

He complied, extending both hands in her direction.

For a moment, Sophie seemed to hesitate. She bit her lower lip, a shadow flitting across her face. Finally, she extended her own hands, grasping his firmly as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Not ten seconds passed before she snatched her hands back, her eyes flying open. “Oh my God. Wow.” She suddenly looked a little pale, slightly shaken.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her, a knot in the pit of my stomach.

She swallowed hard. “It’s just … I don’t know, my readings were all over the place. Some were totally flatlined, like he’s … you know, dead. But his heart’s still pumping, and there’s this systemic infection in the blood cells.” She shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“You sure you’re okay?” I’d never seen her react like this after applying her gift.

She nodded, covering her mouth with one hand. When she let it fall, her fingers were visibly trembling. “It’s just that when I was touching him, my mind was flooded with fear. Just … pure, undiluted fear.” She turned toward Aidan, as if she’d just remembered that he was still standing there. Her cheeks were splotched red now. “God, I’m sorry, Aidan.”

“Hey, no need to apologize,” Aidan said softly. “Considering the circumstances, it’s not surprising. You know, just nature’s way of telling you to get away, and fast.”

Sophie nodded, looking as if she wanted to do just that.

“Hey, Sophie,” Joshua called out. “Can I ask you a huge favor?”

“Sure,” she said, moving toward him, still looking a little dazed.

“Can you take a look at my wrist?” he asked. “I think I might have sprained it playing basketball.”

I watched the pair move off toward the back of the chapel, talking quietly. She would feel better after a more “normal” diagnosis. Somehow, Joshua always seemed to know how to step in and rescue a situation.

Grateful, I turned back toward Aidan. “You still don’t look good,” I fretted.

“I’m fine,” he said absently, taking a seat in the front row. He held out a hand to me and I took it, sitting down beside him. “So, apparently Jack’s work in the lab with your little friend is going well.”

“With Tyler, you mean?” I shook my head in annoyance. “Would it really be so hard for you guys to call each other by name?”

Aidan ignored that jab. “Jack says he’s highly skilled at compressing molecules. I think I’m going to ask him if he’ll help me out this week. That is, unless you have any objections.”

I shrugged. “Why would I care?”

“I just thought I’d ask. You know, in case there’s some drama going on with him that I’m not aware of.”

“Oh, there’s always some sort of drama going on where Tyler’s concerned.” I briefly wondered if Jack knew that his lab partner was busy hooking up with his ex. “But no, no objections from me. He’s
all
yours.”

“Thanks. I think,” he quipped.

“Hey, Violet?” Sophie called out, and I turned toward her. “Joshua’s sprain is really a hairline fracture. I’m going to walk him over to the infirmary, okay?”

“Sure, I’ll catch you later. Feel better, Josh.”

“I hope I didn’t throw off her sensors or anything,” Aidan said, smiling ruefully. Suddenly his expression turned serious. “I’m supposed to give you a message from Mrs. Girard. She wants to see you.”

My heart gave a little leap against my ribs. “What? When?”

He looked at his watch. “Right about now, actually.”

“Great. Do you know why?”

“No idea, Vi. Just … be careful, okay?”

“I hate it when you say things like that,” I said, shaking my head. After all, I was
always
careful. I didn’t need reminders.

“Do you have your stake with you?” He gestured toward my bag, and I couldn’t help but widen my eyes.

“You want me to take my stake with me to meet with the headmistress? Seriously?”

He nodded. “I think you should probably have it with you wherever you go, yes.”

I carried my stake with me in my bag whenever I left campus, but back on school grounds I usually left it in my closet, away from prying eyes. “Fine. I’ll stop by my room and get it on the way.”

“Thank you. Want me to take you?”

“Sure, why not,” I conceded. “Whatever Mrs. Girard wants to see me about, it can’t be good. You know that, right?”

“There’s only one way to find out.” He stood, pulling me to my feet.

“You sure you can do this?” I leaned into him, tucking my head beneath his chin. “In the shape you’re in right now?”

I felt his lips in my hair. “Two days ago, I couldn’t. Luckily, this particular ability seems to rebound rather quickly. Anyway, hold on tight.”

So I did.

A hiss and pop, and we were there in my dorm room, standing near the foot of my neatly made bed.

“Huh. So this is your room.” He released me, taking a step away from the bed. I watched as he turned in a slow circle, examining the small space. “Pretty nice,” he said at last. “It
feels
like you.”

“You’ve been in here before,” I reminded him. Once, last year.

“Yeah, but just over by the window. I didn’t get a chance to look around.”

I glanced around the room, trying to see it with fresh eyes. Much of the wall space was covered with artwork—mostly music posters, interspersed with a couple of prints from our favorite movies. Everything else—the lamps, bedding, plastic bins, and fabric-covered corkboard—was done in our favorite colors, pink for Cece and lavender for me. We’d gone with a shabby-chic look, I supposed. There were sheer, fluttery curtains trimmed in grosgrain framing the room’s single window, and distressed floral slipcovers on the love seat. Gran would have called it a “hot mess,” but I thought it was perfect.

“The messy side is Cece’s, by the way,” I said, noting her unmade bed and the unruly stack of magazines on her night-stand. Luckily, she hadn’t left any undies lying around the floor. At least, not today.

A smile danced on his lips as he reached for my shoulders and pulled me up against his chest. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

“I hope the door’s locked,” I murmured. “We’re engaging in some serious rule-breaking here. “

Behind me, I heard the lock click. “We’re good,” Aidan said, taking a step back. “But yeah, I guess I should let you get over to Mrs. Girard’s office before she comes looking for you.”

I nodded, exhausted. It was like it all finally hit me at once—the new
Sâbbat
stuff, the lockdown, the curfew. Not to mention the murder, right here on school grounds. That’s what freaked me out the most, I realized—the fact that it had happened here, in what was supposed to be a safe haven. I sank to my bed, feeling queasy all of a sudden.

“You okay?” he asked, sitting beside me and wrapping one arm around my shoulders. “I know it’s been a pretty unsettling couple of days.”

I let out my breath in a rush. “It’s just … that poor woman. I mean, I realize she was just some junkie, but still.” I shook my head. “She didn’t deserve to die like that.”

“Don’t worry, Vi. We’ll figure it out. All of us, working together.”

I laughed uneasily. “Yeah, our little Scooby Gang.”

“Our what?”

“Didn’t you ever watch … never mind.” Of course he didn’t. “You’re right—I should probably get going.”

He nodded, and we both stood. “Want me to take you?” he offered.

“No, I’ll walk. You should go, though.” I headed into the closet, standing on tiptoe as I reached up to the shelf above my shoes. “The last thing we need is Mrs. G. coming to look for me and catching you here.” My fingers closed around the satiny shaft, and I hurried out, crouching down to stuff the stake into my bag. “I’ll see you at dinner, okay?”

When I didn’t get a response, I stood, my gaze sweeping across the room—the apparently empty room—and let out my breath in a huff.

I really
did
hate it when he did that.

Just as I’d done so many times in the past, I settled myself into the chair across from the headmaster’s desk. The headmistress’s, in this case.

She smiled at me, looking as chic and poised as ever, not a hair out of place. Her pale brown gaze was direct but kind. Despite Aidan’s warnings, it was hard to remember to remain wary in her presence. She still seemed exactly like the kindly dorm mistress I’d first met at Winterhaven, not a powerful, centuries-old vampire.

I thought of her predecessor. Dr. Blackwell’s strength had been mind control—apparently his powers had been unparalleled among their kind. I wondered what Mrs. Girard’s strengths were. Whatever her powers, I just didn’t feel the alarm in her presence that I knew I should. Where was the reaction that I experienced with Trevors?

“Thank you for coming, Miss McKenna. Better late than never, as they say.”

“I’m so sorry—”

“No need to apologize,
chérie
,” she interrupted, waving one hand in dismissal. “This isn’t official school business, not precisely. I was just thinking that perhaps it’s time we had a little chat. I spoke to Mr. Gray today, and he tells me that your
Sâbbat
tendencies remain mostly latent.”

I nodded. “I’ve noticed some slight changes, but nothing significant. Nothing that’s affected my relationship with Aidan, at least.”

Again, she smiled. “The connection you share is particularly fascinating. I can only wonder if your feelings for him will somehow neutralize your hatred for our kind in general.”

“I wish I knew. When I’m with Aidan, even with you, I don’t feel anything unusual. But other vampires … well, I do feel the stirrings of
something
.”

“Hmm, interesting.” She leaned back in her chair. “Though I must admit, I wasn’t aware that you’d encountered any others.”

“Just Trevors. You know, Aidan’s … his … butler.”
Butler?
I felt stupid just saying it.

“Of course. How could I forget Trevors? I wonder, then, if you’d feel similar stirrings in the presence of another vampire? One with whom you aren’t familiar.”

“It’s possible,” I said. “The feelings were pretty intense. If I hadn’t known Trevors and hadn’t been sure that he was someone I could trust, well …” I shook my head. “I was pretty desperate to get my hands on my stake. It actually took a lot of restraint to ignore my instincts. And I
know
Trevors. I like him.”

She nodded, looking pensive. “So, let’s say that this so-called Vampire Stalker crossed your path. Do you think you could sense his or her presence?”

I sucked in my breath. “So you think the Stalker is really a vampire?”

“Other members of the Tribunal don’t agree with me, but yes, I do. A clumsy one—one who doesn’t care about discovery, it would seem. My best guess is that it’s a newly turned vampire, someone young, perhaps. Anyway, winter break is almost here. I presume you’ll be spending the holidays in Manhattan?”

I just nodded.

“Well, you see my concern, then? If you were to somehow cross paths with this murderous vampire, well … I realize you’ve already slain three vampires, but they were threatening your friends’ lives. Would you be able to act so swiftly, so decisively, without such an incentive as saving your friends?”

I shook my head. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

“It could be a dangerous situation, Miss McKenna. Far too risky. Conversely, what if you encounter a vampire on a busy Manhattan street, and your instincts
do
kick in? I can only assume that a
Sâbbat
newly into her powers might find herself struggling with control much in the same way a newly turned vampire does.” She visibly flinched, presumably imagining me going all Buffy, right in the middle of Times Square.

I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling, just imagining it myself.

Mrs. Girard’s gaze met mine. “You must see why I’d feel more comfortable if Mr. Gray accompanied you whenever you ventured out.”

“You mean all the time?”

“Whenever possible. Admittedly, he’s compromised his own abilities with his work toward the cure. But together, I think you’ll be safe.”

So basically she was just asking me to spend as much time as possible with Aidan over the holidays? Hmm, okay. I was down with that. “No problem,” I said with a nod. “We’ll stick together like white on rice.”