Under My Skin (10 page)

“Your
family
?” Alec asked. “What about the threat he poses to you?” Something dangerous flickered in his brown eyes. He glanced around the cafeteria as if scouting for Wade. He looked like he wanted to do some serious damage to his living/dead person.

I was about to shrug off Alec’s words. I was wolven. I could probably hold my own with Wade. Maybe. But the crew didn’t know that, so I had to be a good-little-scared-human. At the same time I didn’t want them fighting Wade. He’d be way too strong for them.

“Vampires.” Matt snorted. “Always stalking chicks, lurking in their bedrooms. They’re so predictable. Pervy,” he said, making a face. “But predictable.”

Brit slapped Matt’s shoulder as my words sunk in. “OMG! He can get into her house? That’s against the rules, isn’t it?” She paused. “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh, what?” Alec bit out.

“Paige.” Brit’s eyes were wide. “She must have invited Wade in. For a date? To make out?”

I grimaced at the thought of Paige making out with
anyone
in the house I now lived in. “I thought they went out
last
year?”

“Doesn’t matter when she said the words.” Matt fished his backpack from under the pile. “We’re talking vampires, not salad dressing. Once a vamp is invited into your house, there’s no expiration date.”

Lovely. I started a list of things to pick up after school. Crucifixes, holy water. Oh, and lots of freaking garlic. I choked back the tide of hysterical laughter threatening to leap from my throat. I had to pull it together. Losing it in the cafeteria wasn’t going to inspire confidence.

Alec slung his pack over his shoulder with an angry jerk. “We’ll have to move fast. Mom’s friends might be able to help us set up a barrier or a banishing spell. But until then, I’m going to give Wade a little message. Vampire or not, he needs to know Eryn is off limits.” He strode away from the table, leaving us in a charged silence.

“You had to throw in the Wade’s-stalking-me-while-I-sleep bit.” Matt shot me a frustrated glance. “Let’s hope he doesn’t do anything stupid. Alec on a mission is a scary thing.”

As Alec started for the exit, my stomach dropped. So much for not getting involved. My body suddenly felt 100 pounds heavier, like a huge weight had jumped on my shoulders for the mother of all piggyback rides.

After giving me a helpless look, Brit followed the guys.

I could only stand there and watch them go.

*****

A few hours later, the last bell of the day rang. I threw my books into my locker, hesitated, but then tucked my physics text into my backpack. No point in taking the others. Except for physics, I was holding my own. I’d always had trouble with science, but some sadistic part of me wouldn’t rest until I’d at least passed the subjects my father had excelled at.

I slammed my locker shut and started down the hall. What was I thinking? How could I be stressing over a stupid physics class when I should be tracking werewolves, or at least worrying about Wade and his vampy stalking? Only a few weeks out of my father’s strict training schedule and hunter practices took a backseat to theories I’d seen debunked a million times.

A bitter wind blew across the parking lot as I pushed through the entryway doors. I tucked my chin into my jacket collar and blew against the material to warm my cheeks. Since morning, the temperature had taken a nosedive. Good-bye, rainy Vancouver winters. Hello freakin’ frostbite. I’d take the rain any day.

“Eryn, wait up.” Brit joined me on the steps overlooking the parking lot. Her black skull T-shirt offered little protection against the chill. Not that she seemed to notice the cold. Redgrave kids didn’t. They had some built-in tolerance to the low temperatures, or maybe the longer you lived in Redgrave, the more leathery your hide became.

“I can’t believe it’s only October,” I whined, my toes numb. I added boots to my list of must haves.

“Wait till it starts getting dark at three o’clock,” Brit said. She blew on her cupped hands as she scanned the parking lot. “Alec went to get the truck.” She shot me a preemptive look. “And don’t tell me you’re not coming to the ranch with us. If there’s anyone who can find out about Wade and his father, it’s Marie.”

I quirked a brow. “And Marie is…?”

“Alec’s mom.” She spun in an impatient circle. “Matt had to stop at the garage, didn’t he? I swear he loves that mechanics class a bit too much, you know? It’s unhealthy.” She rolled her eyes. “Alec hates waiting around for him.”

Brit glanced beyond the concrete stairs to the nearly empty parking lot, looking for Alec. Her lips formed a silent
Ohhhhh
. I turned to see what had her attention. A red sports car cruised past. An old classic with a custom paint job. Sunlight reflected off its polished chrome surface and zapped my eyes. Someone sure spent a bundle on their toys.

“There goes our monster-on-campus,” Brit said. “Bet he’s nice and warm in that baby. Not that vampires need heat, being dead and everything.”

Wade.

I should have guessed.

Everything about him was smooth. His car was no exception. It screamed, “Hey sweet thing, wanna go for a ride?” Like it had read my thoughts, the car screeched to a halt and reversed. Wade cranked the driver’s window down by hand.

“Can I give you ladies a lift?” he called. His grin emphasized his chiseled jaw and white teeth.

Brit crossed her arms. “Do the syllables ‘ne-’ and ‘ver’ mean anything to you?”

“Not really.” Wade shrugged. “What about you, Eryn?” he asked, a challenge in his eyes. “Or are you one of those girls who lets their friends make their decisions for them?” He rested his arm on the open window, waiting.

Oh, a low blow, and it struck with pinpoint accuracy. How did he know I hated people telling me what to do?

“Unh…” I stammered. I wanted to rush down the steps and hop into his hot little car. Equally as gripping came the urge to give him the brush off, but good. Scenes played through my mind. Most ended with Wade’s fangs tearing a hole in my throat. But wouldn’t going with him serve two purposes? I’d be making my own decisions, and I’d have the perfect opportunity to pick Wade’s brain to find out what he and his father were up to in Redgrave. I could handle a vamp, even a witchy one…couldn’t I?

While I hedged the question, ignoring Brit’s you’re-not-seriously-considering-getting-into-that-car expression, a rusted Ford pickup barreled around the corner. A flash of dark eyes pierced through the truck’s mud-splattered windshield.

Alec.

He glanced from Brit and me to Wade’s suave little car below our perch on the steps. The truck lurched forward at full speed, back tires squealing and smoking.

So much for not doing anything drastic.

“Look out!” I hollered, taking a frantic step toward the impending wreckage, holding my hands out as if I could stop it.

Wade ducked back inside, his gaze fixed on his rearview mirror. He tried to move, gears grinding, but it was too late.
Crunch
. The pickup’s massive grill devoured the trunk of Wade’s car. Wade’s head cracked against the steering wheel, then ricocheted back against the headrest.

A microsecond of frozen silence, then pandemonium as screaming students converged on the mangled vehicles from all directions.

I started down the steps, looking for signs of life from either vehicle. “Brit, get help!”

“I can’t run,” Brit said, near tears.

It took me a second to process her words, then I stopped, remembering her get-out-of-gym-free doctor’s note. “Are you serious?”

She bobble-headed her agreement.

“What kind of hunter are you?” I ground out in her ear.

“It’s complicated.” Brit’s voice wavered.

I sighed harshly and started toward the scene.

“Don’t!” Brit grabbed my arm. “Wait for Alec.”

“Wait for Alec?” I rasped. “Did you see what he did? What if I’m wrong about Wade? What if Alec attacked an innocent human?” I pulled from her grip. “Get help. Call 9-1-1!” I bolted down the steps and ran around the hood of Wade’s car. I yanked on the driver’s door handle, but it refused to open. Wolven strength built in my hands. Too many witnesses. I couldn’t rip the door from its metal frame. I gasped with relief when I spotted a large silver button on the handle. I pushed on it with both thumbs and pulled for all I was worth. The door swung open. I stumbled backwards.

Damn relic.

I hesitated. What if the crash had propelled Wade into full vamp mode? I bent over and peeked inside, half expecting the hideous slack jawed, fanged vamp from my dream to fly out at me. But Wade, fragile, human Wade, still gripped the wheel, his head lolling back at a dangerous angle.

“Wade? Answer me.” I waved my hand in front of his dazed eyes. “How many fingers?” The vision test seemed appropriate. Wasn’t that what movie doctors did?

Wade groaned and knocked my hand away. With slow, cautious movements, he arched his back and rolled his head from side to side. Blood oozed from his hairline and streaked down his face.

A crimson line to his lips that I wanted to lick off his face.

I shifted closer, entranced by the minty scent rising from his blood. Hunger pangs twisted my stomach as if I hadn’t eaten for weeks. I pressed myself against his body. My lips parted. I sighed against his warm skin. Wade turned his face up for me, like he wanted me to take his lifeblood, feed on his flesh.

I almost fell for it.

Vamp thrall.

I gasped, fighting his seductive glamour. His grey eyes stared into mine. Mesmerizing. Inviting…

Don’t forget devilish.
The voice of reason brought me back from the brink.

And evil.

Wade had killed and feasted on his own mother. He’d invaded my room, haunted my dreams. I’d seen his very creation, his downfall.

I cringed away from the car like Superman cowering from kryptonite. Propelled backward, I stumbled on the concrete. The beast in me writhed in protest, outraged, my gut in knots. I doubled over with shock. Risked a glance at the crowd. Where the hell was Brit? I hoped she’d made it into the school for help. Maybe Redgrave police came equipped with nets and tranquilizer darts for random cases of students going
Canis lupus
.

I breathed hard through my nose to expel the pennies-in-a-jar scent of blood from my greedy nasal cavities. Once the scent of blood faded, the pains in my stomach ebbed. I straightened, my stomach muscles tight, but at least I could move again.

Wade swung his legs out of the vehicle.

“Don’t. You’re hurt.” I bolted forward, held out a hand to stop him.

He stood in a fluid motion. “It’s nothing, a scratch.”

“Oh really?” A dry laugh forced its way out of my throat. A scratch hadn’t set my wolven hunger into overdrive. I frowned, staring up at Wade. Not a smidge of red stuff visible on his attractive face.

Wade swiped a hand across his forehead, lifting his hair to reveal a small cut, already clotting over.

What the—?

“You all right, Wade?” The deep voice at my back distracted me from Wade’s one-second-it-looked-life-threatening-the-next-it-wasn’t wound. The desire to chow down at the Wade Deli had ebbed, but it left me drained. Bile flooded my mouth. I swallowed it back.

“I didn’t see your antique parked there.” Alec smirked. “Does your grandmother know you’re driving her car?”

The crowd tittered. Wade glared over my shoulder, teeth bared.

“Alec,” he said with a sneer. “I should have known. You’re lucky my father hasn’t thrown your whole family in jail.”

Ooh, nasty
. I whirled around into a wall of chest. The rush I’d felt when Alec and I raced through the woods was back. His proximity made my heart stutter, my insides quiver. I forgot about Wade and the crowd of students—forgot my first name and date of birth. Alec in full rage was potent, elemental. My wolven hormones surged into overdrive.

“You all right?” Alec grabbed my arms. “Did he touch you?” He stared down at my face. His gaze settled on my lips.

Wade grabbed Alec by the arm, jerked him away, and then thrust himself between us.

“Eryn’s fine. And I intend to keep her that way,” Wade said with a snarl.

“You?” Alec laughed. He pressed close to Wade, his voice low. “Is that before or after you suck all the blood from her body?”

Wade’s eyes flickered. He leaned closer to Alec. Nose to nose. Bodies as rigid as elevator cables, ready to snap.

Since when did I become the bitch in heat, stirring up the boys? The air was thick with their rage, their passion. It settled over me like a dangerous mood. Bones in my back shifted, grinding painfully. Skin stretched taunt, heat built under the surface like I’d been chucked in a microwave and roasted from the inside out.

Kids chanted, “Fight, fight, fight,” as they encircled the scene. I’d seen fights before, but never when my wolf was this close to the surface and the moon almost full in the sky. Its pale outline blended with the clouds, but it called to me. A fine tremor weakened my legs.

Queasy, I squinched my eyes shut.

Chapter 5:
If I Wanted Something Dead Around My Neck, I’d Get a Fur Coat

The chanting faded into a charged silence, broken by the periodic scuffle of shoes on pebbled cement and the sickeningly exciting sound of fists hitting flesh. Alec and Wade were duking it out, but I was fighting a battle of my own.

My system had flooded with wolven adrenaline at the first blow. My breath left me in little gasps, my pulse galloped in my chest. Hunter training told me to back Alec up—he was hopelessly overmatched against a vampire, especially one of Wade’s witchy persuasion. I shouldn’t be frozen on the concrete as if I were pinned, but my she-wolf was thrilled at being the focus of all that male aggression, and I was afraid to move. Afraid to give in. Crazily, presiding over a battle for my attentions was only fitting. My right.

Barbaric.

Yet breathless excitement coursed through my body. The tingling low in my stomach warned me of danger. I tried not to think about what would happen if I stepped closer and surrounded myself with the jolting scent of rage thick in the air. I focused on less arousing sounds, engines revving in the parking lot, the school secretary’s Charlie Brown wah-wah-wah voice making an announcement on the intercom.