Fire with Fire (Demonblood Series #2) (9 page)

She nods. “I felt something.”

“I’m right, aren’t I? It’s something supernatural? Something bad?”

Tatiana pauses, choosing her words carefully. I’m fuming inside. I
hate
when she does this… tries to keep me in the dark, shielded like a pitiful child who can’t handle the dangers of the big, bad world.

“There is something, yes. But I cannot see what it is. Remain vigilant, and promise me you’ll stay away from there until I can see more clearly what is happening. I sensed you went there yesterday, but please do not return again.” She turns back to the stove and starts loading food on a plate.

“We didn’t make it to the mines. They stopped us and sent us all to the McKenzie Boarding House.” I grudgingly poke at the eggs and sausage Tatiana has placed before me and force myself to eat some because I need my strength. But the way I feel now, all I want to do is go back to bed and sleep all day.

Tat raises an inquisitive eyebrow. “Who is this ‘we’ you speak of?”

“Tristan drove me since I didn’t have my car.”

“Who?”

“Tristan…you know, my new friend… I’ve mentioned him to you before…” I add when her expression remains blank.

“Refresh my memory,” she says thoughtfully.

I stare at her, confused. Tatiana never forgets a single thing, not
ever
. She remembers the most mundane detail of a meaningless conversation we’ve had years before. But now she’s blanking on something as significant as me actually having a new friend? What’s this about?

“He moved here a few weeks ago with his sister…” I start slowly. “She’s kind of obnoxious, but he’s really nice. I think their family might be really rich, ‘cause he has an amazing car. He’s tall, good-looking, slightly too-long blondish hair and a huge scar on his face…remember?”

“Ah, yes,” she says, not very convincingly. She turns away. I focus on forcing some food down, and try not to be too freaked out by what she just said. I know she wouldn’t lie about not remembering Tristan, but I’ve told her plenty and talked about him almost every day. How could she forget? Is something wrong with her? Is she going senile?

Truth is, I have no idea how old Tatiana is, and I’ve never asked. Sometimes she seems like she could be in her thirties, other times she seems like she’s over a hundred. Despite her great wisdom and powers, she
is
still a human. And all humans, magically gifted or not, eventually succumb to the fate of
all
mortals—old age if they’re lucky enough to make it that long, and eventually, death. But in all these years I’ve known her, I’ve never actually thought of Tat as being a
real
human. She seems so much stronger and more powerful than any mere mortal. Somehow it seems like she should live forever, and never die. I know that’s impossible. One day she will start to deteriorate, mentally and physically. But in all the craziness that has been my life, she’s been the one to keep me grounded. She’s been my anchor…my one source of stability. I pray this isn’t a bad sign. Hopefully she’s just been preoccupied with other events lately. Maybe Lucky is stressing her out more than I’m aware.

I eat all I can manage…which isn’t much. Tatiana moves nimbly as ever around the kitchen as she begins clearing away the dishes. She
seems
fine. “How are you feeling these days?”

She pauses to look at me. “I feel fine. Never better. Why?

I shrug. “No reason. Just checking.” I push my plate away and get to my feet. “Gotta go. Don’t wanna be late.

I run to my bathroom to get ready, and give her a quick kiss on the cheek on my way out the door. I pause, staring at my car keys on the hook. I debate for a moment before grabbing them. “I have an errand to run after school,” I say over my shoulder, answering her unspoken question.

I don’t want to tell her where I’m going, even though she’ll figure it out soon enough.

I don’t want to admit how weak I am, and that I’m only torturing myself.

If I want to spend my afternoons in a cemetery, reading poetry all by my lonesome and thinking of Kieron, that’s my right, isn’t it?

I really don’t care how pathetic it is.

~~~

“Hey, Liora, come here. I wanna talk to you for a sec,” Tristan calls out, waving me over with his hand and flashing an adorable smile. I stop my conversation with Corrine mid-sentence and turn his way.

The quad is nearly empty. The only students ‘officially’ excused are those with immediate family working at the mines. Everyone else is expected to be here. But it seems as if half the school is gone. I can’t help but wonder how many of my classmates are actually affected, and how many are just taking advantage of the crisis.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell Corrine. She frowns, but I ignore it. I can’t help but feel she’s been a little
too
happy Kieron disappeared. Now she has me all to herself. But it’s not my fault no one else really wants to talk to her, and I’m not going to ignore Tristan just because Emme and Skye aren’t here today to keep her company.

A slow smile spreads across my lips as I wander over to meet Tristan. “Hey, you. What’s up?” I can’t hide my pleasure at seeing him.

He brushes his windblown hair away from his face and leans against the wall. As I get closer, he slowly runs his gaze up the full length of my body, and a half-grin tugs at the corner of his mouth. A light flutter of chills races down my spine, but not like when I first saw him. These are more of the ‘excited chills’ variety.

“Wanna play hooky? I got us off campus passes for the rest of the afternoon,” he says coyly.

“How’d you do that? And why?” I ask, not unhappily. School is still utter torture and
such
a complete waste of time. Some days I manage to get through okay, but other days are nearly intolerable. Today is one of those days. I need a distraction. I need
something
to skip my brain out of repeat, out of dwelling on Kieron…of replaying every moment we ever shared together… every word he ever said to me.

Tristan shrugs and flashes a charming smile. “Why ask why? We’re free. Just go with it.”

I laugh and nod my head. “Just let me say bye to Corrine real quick.”

I choose to ignore the questioning disapproval in her eyes when I tell her I’m taking off with Tristan. Things have been kinda weird between us lately, and I don’t want problems. She’s still my friend. Other than Tristan, my
only
friend…I certainly don’t want to lose her. But right now Tristan gives me something that she can’t. Something I need.

Escape.

After a quick stop at our lockers, Tristan and I head for the parking lot. The air is cool but the sun is shining through the wispy layers of clouds. I can’t wait for winter to be over—spring cannot come soon enough. Then I can graduate, and I’ll be free from this prison once and for all.

Just thinking about something as innocent as hating school makes me think of Kieron. Like the expression “all roads lead to Rome”, all my thoughts go back to him. I remember how he’d confided to me how much it hurt him to be in school.
Physically
hurt him, not just mentally like it does me. Since Dove Creek High School resides on sacred grounds, anytime Kieron crossed its boundaries he told me it felt like he was being stung all over by hundreds of bees. The only way he could tone it down some was to project a strong mental shield around himself. Strangely enough, the side effect of this was that everyone became more attracted to him, as if they were being sucked in by his powerful, protective force. I’d been immune to some extent, but apparently not enough. Not an hour passes that I don’t think of him, no matter how hard I try. Why would someone who willingly subjected himself to physical pain just to be with me, leave and never come back? It just doesn’t make any sense.

“What’s wrong?” Tristan asks as he opens the car door for me.

I fake a smile. “Nothing.”

“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” he asks softly as he settles in beside me.

I shrug and look out the window. Tristan pushes a button and the top of the car retracts, noiselessly tucking itself in the trunk. I feel better already. Normally I don’t much like being inside a car. I blame it on Lucky—she hates them with a passion. But riding along with Tristan, the top down, my hair blowing in the breeze…I feel
free
.

Once we hit the highway heading out of town, I remember my earlier plan to go to the cemetery and read from Kieron’s poetry book. But now, I brush aside any guilt I had about spending so much time with Tristan. Maybe this is how it’s supposed to be. Maybe I should just be with a nice, normal boy like Tristan, not a demon bounty hunter who had once planned to kill me.

The wind rushes around me as the Jag sails down the open road, and my long hair whips my face. Without thinking, I pull it back in a high ponytail and start twisting it into a makeshift bun.

Tristan glances over at me and does a double take. He automatically reaches his hand over. “Whoa, that’s a cool tat. Didn’t know you had one—”

I quickly jerk away before his hand reaches me, frantically letting my hair fall back down and clasping my fingers tight around the back of my neck.
What was I thinking?
How could I be so stupid?
If Tristan had actually
touched
my Mark…felt how hotly it burned compared to the rest of my skin…

He laughs at my hostile reaction. “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”

“I
hate
it.” I grit my teeth and look away.

“Well, I think it looked pretty cool, from what I saw. I’ve never seen a design like that before. And the color was so bright and fresh looking…did you just get it?”

I roll my eyes, knowing he can’t see me. The Mark of my sire, branded at my birth. But it’s not like I can just come out and tell him that. “Yeah. I was drunk a few months ago and got it on a dare. Really stupid. I’m hoping to have it removed soon.”

“Well, I like it. And it’s not very conspicuous, hidden beneath your hair like that. I’d keep it if I were you. ”

I don’t say anything and stare straight ahead, my hair flying in every direction. With a deep sigh, I pull it back again and twist it up in a high knot on my head. He’s already seen it; the damage has already been done. As long as he never actually
touches
it, I should be fine.

I catch his eyes smiling at me, and my stomach does that annoying jumpy thing that until now had only happened when I was with Kieron. I
know
, more than anything, it’s important that Tristan never touches me on my neck…or anywhere, for that matter. I
know
it’s important he never gets too close to me, physically or emotionally.

But I can’t help hoping he will.

Suddenly, Tristan takes a surprising turn.

“Wait…we’re going back to the
mines
?” I exclaim.

“Yep.”

I close my eyes, thinking how Tatiana will tear me a new one when I get home. I should tell Tristan to take me back, but I’m a little embarrassed to tell him I’m not allowed to go there. Besides, my curiosity is aroused.

“Why do you want to go
there
?”

“You’ll see.” His face is stoic as he stares straight ahead. He cuts off the main road to Flintridge and down a narrower, lesser-used path. The sporty convertible bounces over the bumpy road, and dust flies everywhere. I cover my mouth with my hand and try not to cough.

“What’re you doing? This isn’t the way!”

Tristan glances over at me and smirks. “I’m sure the main route is still blocked off. This is a service entrance… we can sneak in from the side. It’s a strategy I’m quite fond of…”

“Huh?
”

He glances around but doesn’t say anything, just drums his fingers on the steering wheel. Yellow patches of weeds spot the acres of surrounding dirt as the blackened mountain looms closer, but other than a few wooden structures and an abandoned Chevy pick-up truck, the road ahead is clear. Soon we’re climbing up the backside of the mine hill.

“What do you mean you’re fond of a sneaky strategy?” I ask again. I like Tristan and I trust him. But he’s kinda weirding me out right now.

“If you want to get to something that’s difficult to reach, sometimes the indirect approach is best. If attention is focused in one direction, come at it from another.” He turns to me and grins, raising an eyebrow. “Strike where they aren’t expecting it,” he adds cryptically.

I continue to stare at him. Finally he chuckles softly and rests his hand on my knee. “Relax. I just figured it’s best to come this way and avoid the hassle. Everyone is focused on the front part of the mine. That’s why we’re going in the back. Don’t worry; it’ll be fine. Promise.”