Vampire Lies (Blood and Snow Season Book 1) (12 page)

“Nooooo.” I ran to my bed, grabbed one of my pillows, and flung myself on it.

Laeddin sighed but didn’t walk away. “I’m opening the door,” he said softly. He poked his head in. “Hey, tell me what’s wrong.”

“Everything.” I turned away.

The bed sank and I knew Laeddin had sat down. He put a hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it off.

“Jasmine?” There was exasperation laced within his concern.

“It’s your blood. How am I supposed to talk to you when all I want to do is sink my fangs into your neck and drink and drink and drink.” My voice was quiet and shaky.

“Ahhhh, now I understand.” He pulled me so that I was leaning against his chest.

“Are you trying to torture me?” I turned so that my lips nearly touched his jaw. It wouldn’t take much to overpower him, grab hold of his neck and drink his blood.

“No, Jasmine. I would never do that.” There was a hint of humor in his voice.

I wanted to show him he shouldn’t be teasing a vampire, especially one such as me. My fangs came out again and grazed his neck. Blood came to the surface. It smelled so good I was almost in a frenzy.

Laeddin pulled away. “Hey.” His face and tone were angry.

I stood, my breathing ragged. “Hey yourself, Laeddin.” I licked the blood on my tooth. My eyes rolled back at the sensation and flavor. It was infused with a different type of magic than I’d ever experienced. Having tasted all seven of the magics, I searched to find which one his tasted most like. It was as though all seven existed inside him at once. I wondered what the genie’s origins were, which reminded me of the demura called Iza.

Laeddin touched his neck at the place I’d grazed. Then looked at it. “How dare you?”
He was angry, furious. His chest rose and fell heavily.

“I could say the same to you. You knew I wanted your b
lood. I just told you again how much it called to me.” I covered my mouth, took a deep breath, and removed my hand. “Yet, you kept pushing. I needed you to see that I could take it if I wanted.”

Laeddin swore. “Okay. You’re right. I’ll keep my distance… Unless you want to use your last two wishes?”

I swallowed and gave a quick shake of my head. I didn’t want him to leave. If anything, after tasting his blood, I wanted him to stay even more. Why couldn’t he just let me have a little? I was about to ask him, but he left the room before I had the chance.

“Whatever.” I slammed the door shut.
Between the demura attack and Laeddin flipping out, I was done. Sydney had told me to dress warm. Had she set me up? Did she and Drake know what was in the woods? Or were they just hoping that whatever was out there would kill me? Living in the human world was confusing. I thought it would be so simple.

I snorted. Definitely not simple.

Tomorrow at school I would confront Sydney.

Tonight though I needed the air and the sky. I changed out of my jeans, sweater, and jacket
and into a pair of black PJs with teal polka dots. I loved the feel of silky material against my skin. Then I washed my face and brushed my hair. Finally I went to the window, threw back the curtains, and opened it. Night sounds filled the silence and I relaxed for the first time all day.

From the window I could see the house next door. It was enormous.
Lights illuminated the entire edge of the roof. I wondered what Mr. Henry was doing and if any of my uncles were still up.

I went to my closet to decide what I would wear tomorrow. I decided on a pair of skinny jeans, red heels, and a white and red ruffled tank with a small red sweater. I was kind of short so I really liked the heels. Plus they were patent leat
her and shiny.

I turned around and s
tifled a scream. A gray cat was perched at the foot of my bed. Its front paws were crossed and it was watching me.

“Where did you come from?” I glanced over at the window. “Did you get in through my window?”

It licked its nose.

“Well, you need to go.” I walked over and moved to pick the cat up. A rumble came from its chest. “Are you purring?” I kneeled in front of it.
“Don’t do that.” My heart softened for the kitty. “Fine.” It moved closer. I reached out and scratched it between the ears. “If you’re going to stay, you need a name.” The cat rubbed its head against my hand. “Let’s see… How about Clifford?”

The cat yowled.

“Okay, no.” The cat rolled onto its back. I scratched its belly. It purred. “How about Isabel?”

It seemed to understand because he yowled again.

“Okay. Okay.” I laughed. It rolled further onto its back. “Ohhh, you’re a boy cat.” He rolled onto his stomach. “Fine no more girl names. How about Jasper?”

He shook his
head.

“Weird. I swear you know what I’m saying.”

He blinked.

“Frank? Isaac? Bill?”

He settled down more firmly on the bed and covered his eyes with his paws. I leaned back, resting my heels on the backs of my legs. “How about I just call you Cat?”

“G
atsby. My name is Gatsby, child.”

The words left the cat’s mouth and I understood him perfectly. That wasn’t normal in the human world. “You spoke?”
I backed away, afraid of what else he might be able to do.

“I
f I hadn’t said something you never would’ve guessed.” He licked his paw.

“Probably not,”
I agreed. “Now that I know you can talk, why don’t you tell me why you’re in my room?” I climbed on the bed and under the covers. Whatever surprise I’d first felt quickly vanished.

“This was my room long before it was yours
, vampire.” He blinked.

An O formed on my lips. “You were my mom’s cat. I remember now. But that was a long time ago. You must be…” I did the math in my head.

Before I could say the total, he interrupted. “I don’t age like normal cats.” He hopped off the bed and walked over to the window. “I know why you’re here and while I don’t agree with your choices, I understand them. I’ll be around.” He hopped onto the sill and jumped. I dashed to the window thinking that surely he couldn’t survive the fall, but Gatsby was gone.

Alone, I went to my desk, and flipped open the laptop Laeddin had provided as part of normal human experience. I turned it on and pulled up the internet. I typed in the word DEMURA. Th
e only listing that came up was about a Japanese guy who was a karate master. That told me nothing. Neither did PARANORMAL MIST and DEMON MIST. The clock on the nightstand next to my bed said school started in four hours. I needed to get some sleep.

Yawning, I turned ou
t the light and climbed under the covers.

Chapter
17

I rolled over and opened my eyes. It was still dark outside. Wind blew the curtains like
teal butterflies in the breeze. My vision became blurry and the bedroom disappeared.

“What’s happening?” I was spinning and falling through different colored rings of light.

Down.

Down.

Down.

My body hit bottom with a thud. A moan escaped my lips
as I rolled onto my knees and then stood. “Hello?” I turned slowly trying to let my eyes adjust to the utter darkness. As a vampire my vision was exceptional, but wherever I was, it was of no use. “Hello?” I shouted.

From a distance I could hear something beating against the air. It seemed to be getting closer. Fear turned my stomach and made my throat dry.

“Where am I?”

The beating stopped. “Hello, Jasmine.”

“Who’s there?” I squinted, hoping that would help me to see better.

“I am
your betrothed.” His voice sounded close.

I reached out to touch him, but only air passed through my fingers.

“No you aren’t. I am promised to no one. Tell me who or what you really are?”

“It pains me to realize you don’t recognize my voice. We’ve spoken together so many times.”

His voice did echo of familiarity, but I couldn’t place where I’d heard it before. “Show yourself.”

A deep laugh rumbled all around me. “Of course I could, but where would be the fun in that? Why don’t you take a guess?”

Fear laced with anger bubbled within my body. “Why don’t you come closer first?”
If I can get my hands on him, I can overpower him, and drain him dry,
I thought.

“Tsk-Tsk,
vampire. Those thoughts aren’t very becoming.”

I froze. He could read my thoughts. Had I still possessed the magic of the seven I would’ve been able to block his tactics.

“Very true, but thanks to the genie, I can hear every thought that goes through your pretty little head.”

I growled in frustration and dove forward, hoping I could tackle him to the ground with the element of surprise.
My arms grabbed air and I face planted.

“How very graceful. I’ll remember that move. Perhaps I can put it to good use.”

“You can’t do anything to me or with me or for me! I don’t know you and I don’t want to know you!” My chest heaved with furious frustration. “Now send me back to my bedroom.”

“Do you mean the one in Sharra? Or the one that used to be Snow White’s? Choose wisely, dear Jasmine.”

For the briefest moment I thought about returning home to my mom and dad, to Sabrina, and the land of Sharra. But I wasn’t ready to go back.

“I want to go back to my room in the human world.” I crossed my arms, forcing myself to take a deep breath.

“I see. You are the most extraordinary creature in the world yet instead of embracing what makes you special, you’ve chosen to bury it, wish it away, like it means nothing. You’ve chosen normal, or at least as normal as a vampire can be. I think you’ll find that normal is overrated.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I turned away, unwilling to listen.

“You don’t have to believe. Soon enough you’ll come to the realization on your own. I just hope it isn’t too late.”

“Oh, it won’t be. I know what I’m doing.”

“Fine,
but before you go back to the human world, and your pseudo life, let me leave you with something. Arms suddenly encircled my waist and I was pulled against a taut chest. A delectable aroma came from him, like apples baked in cinnamon and nutmeg. I pushed, trying to get away, but my body went slack. His lips came down on mine, soft but firm.

Let me go,
I screamed in my mind.

His laugh filled every crevice until I thought I would die at the sound.

My body began to spin and just before I closed my eyes, two red orbs appeared directly in front of me…

Chapter 18

A scream ripped from my throat and I shot upright. There was a thump
, thump outside my bedroom door. I clawed at the covers, pulling them up around my chin.

The door burst opened and Laeddin appeared.

“What’s going on?” His eyes frantically searched the room for danger.

“I—” The worry on his face was replaced by irritation. “Sorry. I had a bad dream.”

Laeddin looked like he wanted to say something. He opened his mouth, but instead of words, he snorted and left.

“Man, graze a genie one time and all hell breaks loose.” I lay back down and stared at the ceiling. Shadows slithered a
nd danced. I thought about the demura and the way it’d left the body of that man like a shadow. Had it come into my room and given me that dream? I jumped out of bed and closed the window and pulled the curtains shut. My stomach twisted itself in knots. Strange sounds seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere. I flipped on the light and glanced around the room.

What had my mom done when she
’d had a bad dream? Did she ever get them?

I walked over to the pictures of my mom,
my dad and his brothers, and Cindy still hanging over the dresser. At first I’d wanted to take them down, but when I actually started, I wasn’t able to go through with it. I liked seeing my mom so carefree. A teenager. That younger version of her knew living as a normal teenager was what I needed.

Seeing all
the smiling faces of my Uncles, Cindy, my mom and dad gave me the courage to turn off the light and go to bed. The dream was just that, a dream. Nothing more.

***

When my alarm went off, I got ready for school. With each task I worked to block out the dream. I put on the outfit I’d chosen last night and did my hair in a loose braid. I decided on thicker eyeliner and a sparkling red lip-gloss. When I was done, I left my room and walked past Laeddin’s. The door was closed. I thought about knocking, but decided against it. I didn’t understand why he was acting this way. I knew I could’ve commanded him to come out, but that wasn’t the kind of person I was. So I went downstairs and opened the fridge. There was a glass of blood just as the day before. I took it and chugged it down. I also checked for peppermint. I knew it had to be in there. I could smell it. I found it in the crisper. I took a bright green sprig, pulled my braid over my shoulder, and tucked it into the ponytail holder at the end.