Cold Blood (17 page)

Had Miles sent someone after me?

“
We need to know what it wanted in the first place,” Logan said.

“
And we need to know how the hell it got through,” Cambria added.

The problem was that none of us had any clue about either.

“
What’s really weird is Vera not sensing it,” said Logan. “Any Hunter with the ability to work wards should be able to feel that. It’s the whole point of wards. She should’ve felt that before she felt you.” He looked at me.

“
You think something’s wrong with her ability to work the wards?” I asked.

“
Or she’s lying,” Cambria said. Logan and I looked at her, letting that possibility hang in the air.

“
So, wait. Vera’s a traitor?” Logan asked.

“
No way,” I said. “She’s a leader of The Cause. She wants peace. Letting a Werewolf through her wards to terrorize a high school is the opposite of what she stands for.”

“
I don’t know,” said Cambria. “It would explain a lot about her denying that she felt it and how the Werewolf got through in the first place. I mean, what is she doing back? I thought she was gone on a mission with Victoria.”

“
Victoria.” I groaned. “This means she’s back, doesn’t it?”

“
And just in time to have a Werewolf come though her wards,” Cambria went on, ignoring me.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I was getting a headache, and I didn’t want to think about Vera being evil. “There’s got to be another explanation.”

“
So, we’re back to needing proof,” Cambria said. “Any ideas?”

“
None that don’t involve those consequences Headmaster was talking about,” Logan said. “And I really don’t want to get expelled. My parents would kill me.”

“
All we can do is wait for an opportunity. Keep our eyes open,” I said.

“
We need to get out of here.” Cambria stood. “But we all agree that we need to find a way to prove this, right? And none of this information leaves this room.”

We all agreed, and Cambria and I slipped out.

Chapter Fifteen

Victoria was back.

And she wasn’t ignoring me, or giving me space, or skipping out of our room early to avoid me in the mornings. She was there. All the time. With her acidic smile, and nasty comments, and at least two minions beside her at all times. She seemed to be extra full of herself after being away on whatever secret mission Vera had taken her on and more determined than ever to make my life miserable.

I’d come to realize being a junior had saved me from the outright hazing the freshman got because I’d overhead enough stories to know what I was missing. Midnight walks into the woods wearing thin pajamas with nothing but a broken compass to guide you back; being woken at three a.m. so you could perform your best karaoke version of ‘Twinkle ,Twinkle’ using your bed as a stage–and getting yelled at by half the dorm floor when you woke them up because of it.

Those were just the girls. The guys had it even worse. Something called liquid sit-ups sounded particularly horrific. A group of freshman lined up on the ground, single file, and began doing sit ups, while the upper classmen slowly poured water on their face. I was really glad I wasn’t a freshman.

So, I understood it could’ve been worse. And since I’d managed to miss all that simply by being in the eleventh grade, Victoria was forced to think of new and creative ways to torture me. Dirt in my suitcase led me to finally unpack on Monday. Tuesday was worms in my bed. Wednesday morning, I woke up to Demi and another girl, Merona, leaning over me with a razor in their hands and evil smiles on their faces.

They were staring at my eyebrows.

My reaction wasn’t pretty.

I’d jumped up so fast I’d knocked Merona over in her haste to get away. Demi was faster than her friend and made it out of reach, but Merona wasn’t so lucky. My temper flared in a way that was so automatic it was primal. I was still half asleep when I reached down and plucked Merona up by her hair.

“
What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I demanded.

“
Victoria said–” Merona broke off and bit her lip. She was trying not to cry.

Behind her, near the door, Demi leaned against the wall and watched, cool as ice. Merona definitely wasn’t cut out for evil.

“
Stay the hell out of my room,” I yelled into Merona’s face. She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded vigorously. I jerked my eyes to Demi’s and stared her down.

“
Message received,” she said. She sounded bored.

It was all I could do not to bruise her flawless face with my knuckles. I let go of Merona’s hair, and she sank to the floor like a ragdoll. That’s when the water works started. I rolled my eyes. No way was I going to feel bad. They were going to shave my eyebrows! But Merona wasn’t moving and Demi made no move to help her. She was eyeing her with annoyance and looked ready to leave her there. Victoria was, of course, nowhere to be found.

I sighed and grabbed my shower bag. I stomped to the door, pausing to glare at Demi.

“
Be gone when I get back,” I said. I jerked a thumb at Merona. “And take her with you.”

“
Whatever.”

I marched out, seething.

*

The rest of Wednesday, and into Thursday, remained incident free but I was on edge even without Victoria’s torturing. Knowing a Werewolf stalked the woods nearby and being able to do nothing about it was making me crazy. Cambria and I had talked about patrolling on our own, but there wasn’t time, between classes and my training with Alex. Three of us wouldn’t have been sufficient to cover the entire perimeter anyway.

By Friday, classes were getting easier, and I could feel myself adjusting–if that were possible–to life at Wood Point. I learned the names of more of my classmates and people were saying hi to me in the hallway. The paper bag incident was already forgotten. Based on the gossip I got from Cambria, everyone was talking about a fight that had gone down between Levi and Jeremy – a kid from my Defensive Maneuvers class. Both were sporting serious bruises so I didn’t doubt it. I was glad the gossip train had moved on from me.

Even Defensive Maneuvers was getting easier, which was still the hardest of all my classes. Raj had assured me he wasn’t going easy on me, but I noticed he was landing fewer hits during our sparring exercises, and I could feel a rhythm in my movements that hadn’t been there before. It felt good. Now if only Algebra was that easy. Then again, that was universal and had nothing to do with being at a school designed to ready you for combat. If all I was going to do was fight Werewolves for the rest of my life, why did I need to know what x equaled?

In the back of my mind, I knew the comfortable feeling was an illusion. It wouldn’t last. For one, I still hadn’t heard from Wes. Not that I had time. Most of my free time was still taken with training. Alex had added an extra half hour to our time this week for toning. I never knew until then, but I hated lifting weights almost as much as I hate running. Alex thought it was hilarious–he’d never met a Hunter who hated exercise as much as I did. I let him give me a hard time because even though he snickered whenever I complained, it was friendly between us and that was progress.

He’d been keeping me updated on anything he heard in patrols about any breach or Werewolf sightings, which was zilch, and even though I knew he believed me about the night at the bonfire, he’d made it very clear I should be letting the senior patrols handle it from here. I wasn’t sure I could do that, but I kept my mouth shut.

When training ended that afternoon, I left Alex in the gym. He’d decided to stay and do some extra reps of his own on some machine he called the Bodycraft. The name alone sounded sweaty and painful, so I got out of there as quick as he’d let me go–partly to escape the exercise and partly to escape the view. At first I’d chalked it up to being stressed about Wes and our lack of communication since I’d arrived at Wood Point, but I knew it wasn’t that. And I caught myself staring more and more lately, especially when he got going on the free weights. The sight of all those muscles bunching and moving along his back and shoulders was mesmerizing. I told myself it was more of a general appreciation for toned anatomy and not physical attraction, but even I knew I was full of crap.

On the way back to the dorm, I was so caught up in lying to myself about Alex’s toned abs that I turned the corner and ran smack into Vera.

“
Oh, sorry,” I said, stepping back and wiping the stray hair out of my face.

Her lips tipped up in a polite smile. “Tara, it’s good to see you again. Settling in okay?”

I nodded, suddenly nervous. Cambria’s biggest theory still pegged Vera for a traitor. I couldn’t see it, but standing in front of her, speaking to her now, I couldn’t help but wonder.

“
I wanted to touch base with you again about our conversation last weekend,” said Vera.

“
What about it?”

“
You said you thought there’d been a breach in my wards.”

“
I didn’t
think
there was a breach, I know there was,” I said, frustrated at her choice of words.

She went on without acknowledging the difference. “I want you to know I looked into it. I’ve been checking on the wards daily, and I can tell you that everything is intact. There’s been no break, authorized or not. We are completely sealed here.”

“
You keep saying that, but I know what I felt.” I was determined to make her believe me. “Is there some other way that someone could come through, without you feeling it? Any possibility at all?”

Vera frowned, and I knew I’d hit a nerve. Then her expression cleared and became neutral again, unreadable. “The only way to come though without my body reacting is with the bypass phrase.”

“
What’s that?”

“
It’s a backdoor of sorts, through the fault lines.”

“
Like a password?”

“
Precisely. But no one, save a few trusted friends, know it.”

“
Is it possible someone who knows it gave it out?”

Vera’s frown deepened and she straightened, peering down at me. “Tara, you can’t go around making accusations simply because you think you felt something. I know what it’s like to be your age with all of those hormones. You can’t tell one feeling or emotion from another. I assure you there’s nothing to worry about with the wards.”

“
And I assure you there is.” My hands knotted into fists at my sides, and I was literally biting my tongue to keep from snapping back. She was blaming this on teenage hormones? “Either someone close to you is a traitor or there’s another way in. I’m not imagining things.”

Vera sighed and the polite, distant look she always wore dropped away, revealing an expression of frustration and an exhaustion I hadn’t noticed before. “I don’t want to believe you’re imagining things, Tara, but you’ve given me limited information to go on. I’ve been out to that spot every day since. There’s no sign of a breach. Except for you. I felt you and your friends the second you stepped over the line. Which is as it should be. The bypass phrase is a possibility I honestly hadn’t let myself consider, but I will. Will that suffice?”

I nodded; surprised at the small glimpse of honesty she was giving. “Thanks.”

She blinked, and the mask was back in place. No emotion shown in her eyes, and the tired lines had been smoothed over. “Now, how is that Lineage project going?” she asked.

“
It’s fine,” I said, instantly nervous again. “Why do you keep asking me about that, anyway?” She didn’t answer; I thought I knew why. “Is it because we’re related?” I blurted.

“
What?” Her only reaction was a slight widening of her eyes. I had to give it to her, she was always composed. Even when I’d seen her gunning for Benny, come to think of it, she’d remained cool and calm. “No, I’m not asking about the project because we’re related.”

“
But you didn’t want me to know,” I pointed

“
I didn’t think it mattered.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because you barely know me. How is knowing that I’m your great aunt going to help you trust your destiny?” I didn’t answer. “I wasn’t trying to lie to you, but your mother made it clear a long time ago that she wanted nothing to do with her family. She thought it would protect you. I had to respect her wishes.”

“
But that’s over now. I’m here, aren’t I?” I waved an arm around, gesturing to Wood Point–and my life in general.

“
You are.” She nodded. “But for the rest of these kids, being here is the end of their education as a Hunter. For you, it’s just a beginning. I’m also trying to respect that.”

“
Then why do you keep asking me about the project?”

Her eyes glazed over, and I finally realized the real reason for her questions. “You had a vision.”

She stayed quiet for several seconds, her eyes glassy and faraway as she relived whatever images she’d seen before, and then her eyes came into focus again. “Yes,” she said simply.

“
Well? Are you going to tell me what it is?”

She shook her head. “It was a mistake to tell you the first one. Destiny is something better left unknown. It needs to be discovered in layers, not run at like a finish line. This one is much better left unknown, but it will be a piece to your puzzle. Without it, you will not become the leader you need to be.”

“
What does that even mean?”

She smiled a tight smile, and I knew that was all I was going to get. “You should get going. Dinner is already being served.”

She turned to leave and then stopped, looking over her shoulder at me. “And Tara? You should try getting a better handle on that temper. It will get you into trouble if you’re not careful.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. It was no use even asking. When she was gone, I turned and headed for the dorms, and a shower.

*

“
I missed you too, honey.”

The sound of Victoria’s baby talk wafted into the hallway, and I halted before I reached the door to my room. I had a pretty good idea what I would be walking in on and there was no way. Not again. I stood there and debated while my wet hair dripped onto my shoulders. Deciding to chance it, I leaned over, so I wouldn’t have to actually see into the half open doorway, and knocked.

“
I’m giving you a warning. I’ll be back in ten. Be done,” I called out.

“
I can be done in five,” Levi called back. “Want to come back early and test me?”

I made a show of gagging, and Levi laughed.

“
Get a life, mutt. Come back tomorrow,” Victoria called.

I sighed, knowing full well she’d still be in there two hours from now, just to spite me. I shuffled down to Cambria’s room and had to force myself not to stop at Mrs. Fincham’s office and report her for being physically unsanitary.

Cambria let me in and shook her head when I told her why I was here.

“
My roommate is out. God knows where. She has a better social life than you and I put together so you can hang here ‘til later,” she said.

“
Thanks.” I used her desk mirror to pull my hair back and then we sat on her bed. “You’ll be interested to know I talked to Vera.”

“
Did you call her auntie and everything?”

“
I told her I know we’re related.”