The Book of Lost Souls (16 page)

Ivy wanted to run, to leave both of them standing there. Nick and Dean stared at her, waiting for a reply. If she said she had plans, which she didn’t, Dean would walk away. Again. If she said she didn’t have plans it was as good as accepting a date with Dean in front of Nick.

“I—” she faltered, shifting her panicked gaze from Dean to Nick. This really was one
hell
of a morning.

“See you around, Ivy,” Nick said and walked off in a huff. Several lockers rattled noisily, their dials spinning. The fluorescent lighting flickered and buzzed.

“Wow. Such a temper!” Dean said in mock distaste. He brought his flawless face closer to Ivy’s, the smell of his cologne intoxicating. She backed up, bumping into the lockers.
 

“Guess I’d be a sore loser, too, though.” Dean moved closer still. Ivy felt helpless to do anything except stare at his beautiful blue eyes. The whites really did look glacial in comparison.

Without warning, he leaned down and kissed her.
 

This
was what she’d waited for, worked so hard for. She returned the kiss, letting her lips feel the warmth of his. It felt wonderful.
 

And yet inexplicably and
terribly
wrong.
 

Ivy pushed against him, resisting. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.
 

“Don’t tell me you’re hung up on Marcelli,” Dean murmured in her ear.

Ivy squirmed out of his grasp. She wanted to tell him she wasn’t, but something stopped her. Doubt? Was Shayde right? “Are you still interested in dating Tara?”

Dean seemed to think about this. “Well, yeah. Sort of. Don’t go getting all jealous on me, okay?”

Ivy glanced at the clock on the wall. They were both late for class.

She should have been jealous, but she wasn’t. In fact, she wasn’t sure what to think. He’d been all she’d dreamed about, and now that Dean had become a reality, it wasn’t at all what she’d imagined.
 

So much for Adonis. Along the way, somehow, she discovered that legends—Greek, Roman, or otherwise—weren’t all they were cracked up to be. It had been a really good kiss, but it had been missing something, some spark. Her thoughts went back to Nick.
 

Damn it, Shayde! It’s your fault for putting that thought in my head and ruining what should have been a perfect kiss.

But, hadn’t it been there all along?

“I’m not jealous, Dean.”
 

Dean looked puzzled. “You’re not?”

Ivy backed away, already setting off for class. She shook her head, then turned and ran down the hall, fully aware Dean was staring after her.
 

For once, she didn’t care.

Ivy slipped into Chemistry a full five minutes late, pleased to see that Mr. Evans wasn’t there. She slid in next to Raven and quickly stowed her book bag under her chair as though she’d been in class the whole time. Mr. Evans seemed oddly temperamental lately and barely tolerated breathing in his class much less being late.
 

Raven didn’t look up from doodling in her notebook. Her sketches were always complex and completely awesome. Ivy made a note to ask if it was a natural talent developed over the years or some vampire ability.
 

“Matthews, or Marcelli?” Raven asked, still sketching.

Ivy frowned.
 

“The reason you’re late. You’re never late. So, which one was it?”

Ivy let out a heavy sigh. “It’s just been one of those days. Nothing more.”

Someone snickered in the back of the class.

“That’s not what I overheard,” Raven said. “You’ve got two of the hottest guys in school on a string. That makes
you
Ms. Popularity. It’s totally pissing Tara off.” With this, Raven grinned.

“Is
nothing
I do private?”

“Nope.”

“Nice,” Ivy said sarcastically. She turned away from Raven and thumbed through her book quickly, tearing one of the pages.
 

“So. Which one ticked you off?” Raven asked, setting down her pen. “With your growing reputation as a dark witch, you’d think they’d know better.”

“I’m
not
a dark witch,” Ivy snapped.

“Just kidding there Ivy. Yeesh. One black magic spell and you lose all sense of humor. You’re getting as moody as Mr. Evans.”
 

Ivy shot her a dark look, but considered Raven’s previous comment to be spot-on about one thing—one of them really had ticked her off. Nick. If he hadn’t... well, if it weren’t for Nick she’d be happy with Dean. It occurred to her that Nick was the one she was angry with instead of Shayde. She was
not
falling for Nick. She wouldn’t let it happen.
 

“At least you’re not the only one late.” Raven motioned to Kevin, a dark-haired Regular who strolled in and took the empty seat behind Ivy.
 

“I don’t think Mr. Evans will be here anytime soon,” Kevin said. “And neither will Kim. Looks like the Kindred are in the spotlight again. There’s been another murder.”

Ivy spun around in her seat.

“Yeah,” Kevin said, leaning forward. A lock of hair fell over one eye. The entire class was perfectly quiet, everyone tuned in to the conversation at the back of the class. “Kim’s sister, Angela, was found murdered this morning.”

For a moment, Ivy couldn’t breath. It was happening. Again. Another murder. “She’s dead? Are you sure?” Ivy asked, although there wasn’t any need to doubt Kevin. His dad was a cop. Kevin wouldn’t joke about something like this, either. No one would.

“Not just dead. Murdered. “In the hotel on Walnut. They found Angela next to a tub filled with blood.
Her
blood from the sounds of it.”

Raven’s eyes went wide. “Blood? Someone drained her in the tub?”

Kevin brushed back the lock of hair, his eyes meeting Raven’s. He spoke louder to compensate for the ongoing murmurs of their classmates. “She wasn’t drained
in
the tub. Just over it, then she was dumped on the floor, hands and feet bound. But, from what I overheard my dad say, someone
bathed
in her blood. Pretty freakin’ gross, huh? There was a washcloth in the tub.”

“Was it the same guy that attacked Mr. Nash?” Ivy asked.

“Nope,” Kevin replied. “Not a dude at all. From the bloody hand and footprints prints they found in the bathroom, and a single eyewitness who saw the murderer leave, it was a woman dressed in costume, just like that other guy was. Well, not like the other guy, since the woman was wearing a gown and that’d be
really
weird if they’d both dressed alike. Still, I bet they’re in on it together.”

“Let me get this straight,” Raven said. “A woman in costume kidnapped Kim’s sister, bled her out over a hotel tub, then bathed in her blood with the body growing cold on the floor next to her? Man. That’s brutal.”

“So. It’s a vampire, right?” Kevin asked.

Raven gave Kevin a hard stare and ran her tongue over an incisor.
 

“Or not.” Kevin nervously retrieved his things and moved to Kim’s empty seat.
 

The class grew noisy with talk. Ivy scribbled down a name on a piece of paper and slid it over to Raven.
 

Countess Elizabeth Báthory

Raven frowned.
 

Ivy leaned closer, whispering into Raven’s ear. “From
The Book of Lost Souls!
It’s got to be the Blood Countess! Reportedly, she bathed in the blood of young maidens thinking it’d keep her from ever growing old.”
 

Raven let out a sigh. “Well, that’s a relief.”

“
Relief?
”

“Yeah,” Raven replied. “The killer isn’t a vampire. Just a vampire wannabe.”

CHAPTER 19

It was nearly an hour before Ivy could pry herself free from a small group of admirers who Shayde and Bane had started to refer to as the
Ivy league
. Life before popularity had been so much easier. Before school let out, she’d turned down an invite to go to the mall in Burlington from one of the girls on the cheerleading squad and another from a group of sophomore witches who had started their own spell casting practice club and wanted Ivy for their president.

Ivy called Nick on his cell phone once she reached the school’s parking lot, which was now mostly empty. He had to know what had happened to Angela. She dismissed the idea that it would also be a good excuse to see him. After the third ring, she thought she’d have to leave a message, but then Nick answered.
 

“Nick, hey, it’s me—”
 

“I’m a little busy,” came his curt reply. He sounded angry, but Ivy also detected that he was hurt. She wondered if he knew Dean had kissed her, and that she’d kissed him back.

“I need to talk to you about what happened today.” She considered the significance of her choice of words and added, “About the book. I know who else has been brought back from the dead.”

“Oh.” His voice seemed less distant now, but the anguished undertone was still detectable.
 

Why did he make this so hard? Why did he make
everything
so difficult? His continued silence made it all the worse.
 

“You still there? Can I meet you someplace?” Ivy could hear people talking in the background. No answer. “Nick, I need to see you,” she pleaded. “Where are you?”

“Are you bringing Dean?”

“No.” She’d answered so quickly that there had hardly been a pause after his question.

“I don’t know, can we talk about it tomorrow?” he asked.

“Don’t be like this. Please? Where are you?”

There was a long pause, then Nick sighed. “I’m at Saludo’s.”

“I’m on my way,” Ivy said enthusiastically, and snapped her cell phone shut. The restaurant was just around the corner. She slid behind the VW Bug’s wheel and the engine came to life. It’d been months since she’d actually turned the keys in the ignition. How had she ever managed life before mastering automation spells?

A few minutes later, Ivy walked into Saludo’s. She spotted Nick and his uncle sitting with one of the waitresses—and Phoebe. No wonder Nick hadn’t wanted her to stop by. Boy, was this going to be awkward.

Ivy made her way over to them just as the waitress slid out from the table and disappeared behind the kitchen doors. Nick’s Uncle Joe leaned across the booth, speaking softly. Phoebe hung on his every word. As much as Ivy would have liked to find fault in Phoebe’s actions, Ivy couldn’t blame her. Nick and his Uncle were discussing who might have had motive to set Vlad the Impaler loose on Northwick.
 

Phoebe gave Ivy a
you are such a loser
look that any hope Ivy had of Nick
not
knowing about the kiss went right out the window. Demons banded together and Phoebe was far from over Nick. Ivy noticed how close Phoebe sat next to him and she fought off the urge to glare back.
 

It wasn’t jealousy. It was the principle of the whole thing.

Sure. That was it. A glare like that deserved one in kind. Especially from Phoebe.

Nick’s uncle looked up at her and brought their conversation to a quick close. “Can I get you two anything else?” he asked Nick and Phoebe. When they both shook their heads, he turned to Ivy. “How about you, Ivy?” he asked politely enough.

“Sure, a Coke, thank you,” she replied, and he left the booth to get Ivy’s drink. Awkwardly, Ivy slipped in across from Nick. Phoebe continued her
I know what you did
stare. “Hi Phoebe,” Ivy said.
 

Phoebe didn’t reply. Instead she slid out from behind the table and placed a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back. You two need to have a talk.” With another chilly glance in Ivy’s direction, Phoebe strutted off to the ladies room.

“What’s all that about?” Ivy asked, not really wanting the answer.

“I know about the second murder,” Nick said. “Don’t get any more involved in this. Maybe you need to let us demons handle it. I know you found the other books and all, and you’re really bent on the idea someone meant for you to find them, and that’s great, but let the last book be a demon matter.”

“I thought you said it was both witch
and
demon. And I’m in this, Nick. Everyone thinks I’m a dark witch. I’ve done a couple things that have made me start to think they’re right.”
 

Aside from the glamour on Tara, she hadn’t told anyone about the night she almost hurt Devlin, and couldn’t bear to. She didn’t want to tell anyone that the book had started to talk to her—to recognize her, or her own
need
to keep the book nearby. “I need to find out who’s behind this before the book
really
starts to affect me.”

Nick reached across the table, briefly touching her wrist before withdrawing his hand. Clearly, he was still upset, maybe even a little angry. He looked around the restaurant, as though the words he wanted to say could be seen somewhere. He let out a deep sigh.
 

“I can’t be near you. I can’t do this. You don’t know what you do to…” He paused and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry that you’ve got me all wrong. The only reason I’ve never dated anyone for very long is that it didn’t feel right. I’m not nearly the player you think I am. And the things I’ve done, it’s like you when you changed Spike. I never meant to hurt anyone.”

A group from school ushered in.

“I don’t know what to do, Nick,” Ivy said softly.

“About the missing book or us?”

It took a second to answer. “Either,” she said honestly.

“But you do know what to do, Ivy. On both counts.” His voice was gentle, yet firm. “I need to go help my uncle.” And before Ivy could say another word, he slid out of the booth and walked away, shoulders slumped.
 

Ivy stared after him.

“I’m trying to make him forget about you,” Phoebe said.
 

Ivy hadn’t seen her approach.
 

“He’s pretty hung up on you. He knows about you and Dean in the hallway. Guess I let it slip. He’s going to need some consoling. You got what you originally wanted, Ivy. You have Dean. I want Nick. Do as he says and stay away from him. I don’t need much more time to make him mine.” Phoebe leaned forward and whispered, “I’m
real
close.”