Blazing the Trail (10 page)

“I know she’ll love it.” I met his gaze. “It must have cost you.”

He shoved a hand through his hair again and grinned, as nervous as I’d ever seen him. This was saying something. Nick does confidence like he invented it. “Yeah. I had the jeweler make it special. I wanted it to be right.”

I looked down at the pendant, awed and wary, too.

I had to say it. “It’s not a trinket, though, Nick. You shouldn’t give it to her unless you’re going to see her more than you do now.” He looked worried when I said that. “Isabelle—well, anybody—would think this was a pretty serious gift. A declaration, maybe.”

“Yeah, I know.” He shuffled his feet again. “I guess that’s what I really wanted to see you about. You know that night after the big fight with the Mages, before your birthday?”

“Yeah.”

“I went back to her room at the dorm and we sat and talked.…”

“Uh-huh.”

He grinned. “Really. We talked all night. It was awesome.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and heaved a sigh. “It was easy, but electric, too.” He grimaced, but I knew exactly what he meant. “I don’t know, Z. I don’t know what to do. Can you see some future for me?”

That was not an easy question to answer.

The hall had emptied out and Nick’s stomach growled right on cue. “You hungry?” I asked. “Let’s get something to eat while we talk about it.”

“Good idea,” he said, and slung an arm around my shoulders. We headed to the cafeteria, grabbed some pizza, and sat in the corner together, talking—which gave all sorts of people all sorts of things to speculate about.

Nick is the kind of guy people notice.

No:
girls
notice him.

I felt every female eye in the place on us, even after we sat down. In fact, I felt more than one gaze boring into my back. I bit into my pizza—they actually had my favorite combo today, feta and green pepper, a sign from heaven that I was intended to eat lunch in the cafeteria on this day—and glanced over my shoulder.

Suzanne and her cronies were obviously talking about Nick. I knew this because Fiona and Yvonne were looking our way, Trish was snickering, and Anna was whispering something to Suzanne that made the Queen Bee smile. I also could hear what Anna said, courtesy of my sharp
Pyr
hearing.

Her comment made Nick and me smile, too. We exchanged a glance at the conviction that he must be my cousin to be seen eating with me.

“Right,” Nick said with a teasing grin. “I should kiss you just to mess them up.”

“Who cares what they think?” I said, dismissing them. “Anyway, a few months ago you were sure it wouldn’t be fair to spend more time with Isabelle, in case you have a firestorm with someone else.”

“In case destiny isn’t on our side,” Nick agreed, making a slice of pizza disappear in record time. He met my gaze. “But what if it is?”

“Something changed your mind,” I insisted. “Was it really a night of talking?”

“I can’t stop thinking about her.” Nick flung out his hand. “It pisses me off a bit. I’ve never had this happen before.”

“Could it be love?” I teased, and he flashed his usual confident grin.

“Well, doesn’t it make sense to find out?” He leaned closer. “I mean, maybe I’m blowing a chance to find out for sure. She finishes her year here and goes back to England in two months, you know.”

“It’s not another planet. You could go there sometime.”

Nick sat back and drummed his fingers on the table with impatience. “But I’ve got this feeling, Z, that I’m screwing up an opportunity. It just keeps getting stronger, like—I don’t know. This sounds stupid.”

“Tell me.”

He looked right at me. “Like someone or something is trying to kick my ass before it’s too late. I thought maybe it was you, since you’re the Wyvern.”

“Not me. Not yet.” I smiled at him. “Maybe it’s the Great Wyvern.”

He rolled his eyes at that.

Maybe it was the last Wyvern. Sophie. Hmm.

“So, maybe you
should
find out. Go and talk to her.” I nodded at the pocket where he’d shoved that jewelry box. “But I’d keep that in my pocket until I knew for sure.”

He was cocky then, maybe because I’d convinced him that his instincts were right. “I’ve got two weeks to figure it out.”

“Wait a minute. Are you cutting school for this?”

“You’d better believe it.” He leaned across the table to whisper, mischief in his eyes. “But I told my dad I had to come and defend you while your folks are away.”

“I am not your cover story!”

“Sure! It turned out to be true before I even got here. You’ve got to tell me all about this morning and those ShadowEaters.” Nick cocked a finger at me. “But first, promise to cover for me.” And he smiled at me, his auburn hair tousled, his amber eyes gleaming, and even though I didn’t have a crush on him anymore, I still couldn’t say no to him.

“All right, I’ll cover for you.” I shook a finger at him when his grin widened. “But you owe me big-time.”

“Tell you what. I’ll get you another slice of pizza.”

“More than that!”

He looked at me in mock horror. “You want
two
more? Z, you’re not going to have a skinny butt for long if you eat like that.”

I threw the wadded-up paper plate at him, and he laughed all the way back to the line.

Then I smiled to myself. I knew this was going to work. Maybe not this month or even this year, but this would lay the groundwork for their future together.

Nick and Isabelle, together at last. It would be perfect.

The thing was that now I knew exactly what I’d give to Isabelle for her birthday. I’d wanted to give her the drawing I’d done of her and Nick at the lake the previous spring, but with Nick AWOL, it had seemed inappropriate.

I’d better get the final touches on that drawing before her birthday.

N
ICK INSISTED ON GOING TO
check out the vacant lot after I finished school. Visit the scene of the crime, as it were, and see the evidence. He was adamant that everyone had to gather and hear my story right where it happened, as well as look for clues about the ShadowEaters. I was afraid Trevor and the ShadowEaters might still be there, but Nick was ready to kick their butts immediately if they were.

He was acting like a protective older brother, and I couldn’t argue with him very easily, especially after he got Liam and Garrett on his side. They wouldn’t be here, but they agreed with Nick. Nick thought Isabelle’s instincts would be helpful and I thought her presence would suit him well, so I pinged her and asked if Nick could pick her up. She agreed quickly, which I had to think was a good thing. My job was to tell Meagan and Derek and find Jessica before the end of the school day.

Overall, I was less than thrilled about this plan but could see the logic of it. At least we’d all be together. I was deeply afraid that we’d find a welcome committee there, one that wasn’t very welcoming, but they couldn’t take us all down at once.

Could they?

We’d beaten them before.

But I was afraid the rules might have changed.

Or was I just being chicken because I’d made one mistake already?

We’d go in with the full alliance, and see if we could save the day.

I took a deep breath when Nick took my car keys and went to get Isabelle, his heart obviously in his throat. We bumped fists before he headed out, and I was well aware of Trish watching from her locker on the other side of Meagan’s.

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I caught a glimmer of golden spell light. When I turned to look, Trish was whispering to Yvonne and sashaying down the hall and there was no spell light at all.

Great. I was so exhausted that I was hallucinating.

Belatedly, I tried to remember what homework I should have done at lunch. Being hunted was messing with my academic performance, that was for sure.

“Hey,” Derek said, appearing silently beside me as he always did.

I ignored him.

“I don’t want to fight with you.”

I was still mad about his crack that I’d deserved to get in trouble.

I straightened and looked him in the eye. “How could I tell?” I asked, then bent to get my books.

But not before I saw him flinch.

“She’s already upgraded,” Trish shouted, taunting him from down the hall, and Yvonne giggled.

“If you change your mind, freak, you can toss the new boy to me,” she said, rolling her eyes as she sighed. “What’s his name?”

“Where does he live?” Trish added.

“What’s he see in the freak?” they asked together, then collapsed in laughter and left.

“Their work here is done,” I muttered, and dug for my books again.

“I’m trying to apologize,” Derek said, sounding a bit hesitant.

“Try harder,” I suggested, but my own tone had softened. “I made a mistake and I know it. I won’t do it again. Don’t you think tasting death was enough negative reinforcement?”

He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the lockers, watching me intently. “What happened?”

I glanced up and down the hall. “It was a lot like my dream. Adrian conjured the ShadowEaters and they were trapped in an orb, like in my dream.”

Derek didn’t say anything.

“But the difference was that Kohana was there with the NightBlade, and they intended to sacrifice me. Kohana pretended to play along, but cut me free instead.”

Derek’s eyes brightened but he was still listening.

“We ran, but the NightBlade—this is going to sound weird—struggled free and went to the ShadowEaters. It flew into the air and cut the orb and they swarmed out. They ate the shadow of a Mage recruit, then dispersed over the city.” I grimaced, remembering the sight. “Hey, have you seen Jessica yet today?”

He shook his head, and I could tell he wasn’t that interested in Jessica.

“So, you were saying thanks to Kohana?”

I met his gaze. “I didn’t kiss Kohana. He kissed me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Why does he do anything?”

Derek exhaled shakily. He looked up and down the hall, and I could almost hear him thinking. “Okay,” he said, and
I wondered who he was trying to convince. “Okay. Sorry I came down so hard.” He fell silent as Meagan arrived at her locker beside mine.

“Hey, Derek,” she said, then turned to me. “Have you seen Jessica? She’s still not answering her messenger and I’m getting worried, since you said the ShadowEaters are free.”

“How do you know that?” Derek asked Meagan.

“Zoë sent me a message.”

“Really?” he said, giving me a hard look. I had a sense of a barrier solidifying between Derek and me. “When?”

“Before lunch.” Meagan smiled and opened her locker, while Derek seethed.

I tried to make it better. “I couldn’t send you one,” I said to Derek. “I was waiting on Muriel, and after I told the guys, my messenger went crazy with incoming messages.”

“The guys?” he echoed, clearly incredulous. “So you told Liam, Garrett, Nick,
and
Meagan, but not me?”

It did sound bad when he said it that way. “I told you in person.…”

“An hour later and only because I asked.” He folded his arms across his chest and glared at me. “Is this about getting even?”

I felt as if I were trying to hold on to something slippery, something that was wiggling out of my grasp despite my efforts.

“No! I just couldn’t do it right then.…”

Meagan looked between us, watching my total failure to win Derek’s understanding. “Don’t argue about details. We need to find Jessica and stick together.” She turned to me. “I don’t understand how they could free them without the NightBlade.”

“Kohana was there with the NightBlade.” I hesitated, knowing she wouldn’t like this bit. “He was supposed to make the sacrifice, but he bailed on them at the last minute.”

“At least he lies to everyone,” Derek muttered. “Points for consistency.”

“But the NightBlade flung itself back at the apprentice Mages. It freed the ShadowEaters, like it had a will of its own.”

Meagan’s eyes widened in horror at that, and she pushed her glasses up her nose to peer at me. “Really?”

“The NightBlade was doing what the ShadowEaters wanted.”

“Or Kohana threw it,” Derek muttered. “Whose side is this guy on?”

“No,” I said. “They summoned it.”

Derek shook his head, apparently believing that I was covering for Kohana.

“We wildcards have to stick together—” I started, but Derek interrupted me.

“Convince Kohana of that first.” He glared at me, and the air was charged between us.

Meagan cleared her throat, obviously trying to help me hold things together. “I don’t understand why Kohana would even be here.”

“He thought it was turning his elders against each other, so he exiled himself until he destroyed it.”

“I’d say he failed,” Derek commented.

I ignored him because I was having no luck changing his mind. “He said that he needed to know more about how it worked to find a weakness, because he couldn’t even scratch it himself. He figured the apprentice Mages were the only ones who would know, so he tricked them.”

“You don’t actually believe this garbage, do you?” Derek asked.

Meagan was watching me closely and I knew she knew there was something more I wasn’t saying. I thought about
telling her, but didn’t think it would help anything for Derek to know that Kohana would have happily sacrificed him in my stead if it had meant learning more about the NightBlade.

I was thinking, actually, that the NightBlade itself might have been twisting Kohana’s thoughts in that arena, too.

“Do you think he’s telling the truth?” Meagan asked.

“I do.” I shrugged. “Even though he’s been known to be less than straight with me.”

“There’s an understatement,” Derek said.

I turned on him. “Look, it’s not to Kohana’s advantage for the ShadowEaters to be on the prowl, either. I don’t think he expected that to happen. And I think he’s in as much trouble as we all are.…”

I saw that Derek wasn’t really listening to me, but I kept talking all the same. I guess I was hoping that I’d say
something
he’d find persuasive.

But I realized suddenly that Derek was very still. It was more than not listening. He was looking at someone behind me, and I swear his nostrils flared.