Hotblood (30 page)

Satan pulled me out of bed before it was light the next morning. He must have put my shoes on me, because I had them on as I followed him out the sliding door. I felt groggy, unbalanced and my usually clear senses were sluggish.

“
What are we doing?” I finally asked, pulling my arm out of his grip. I might have shoes on, but I was still in the long white nightgown I’d permanently borrowed from my dad’s house. It wasn’t the kind of thing I wanted to wear walking around in the dark.

He gave me a look like it was obvious. “I don’t think this day is going to be too relaxing for you. I don’t want you to nibble on the guests, so I figured we should go hunting.”

The guests? Oh, Old Peter and Lewis. I nodded, and tried to shake the sleep off of me. The thought of Lewis worked like a bucket of ice on my senses. I took a deep breath and filled my body with the crisp early morning air. He handed me my bag with my knife, and we left the lawn, stepping into the trees.

A growl from the darkness, and then two burning eyes had Satan reaching for a weapon. I knocked the knife out of his hand more capably than if I had been more awake. It was Ruby. She was greeting me, not threatening me.

“
I think,” I said, speaking slowly, looking into those ruby red eyes, “That I’m going hunting with the hound this morning.”

“
Dari,” Satan sounded like he was going to argue, but then he shrugged and sat down on a log, taking his time to sheath his knife. “You think that hound is going to be enough to protect you from the Nether?”

“
Are you?” I asked bluntly. I shouldn’t have said that, but I wasn’t thinking about Satan. All my senses were concentrated on the hound. She was anxious to begin as dawn was not far distant.

He shrugged easily. “Probably not if he really wanted you. The hound will keep you from getting too close, from tasting its blood, and that should be enough. I’ll be here, take your time.”

I nodded, still focused on Ruby. She was waiting. I pushed off of the loose earth and moved with the hound. There was no wrestling, no playing, only the focus of the hunt. It was exhilarating to fly through the woods silently, my body responding to instinct, feeling my way through the undergrowth without hesitation. It felt good, and for a while I forgot how much I hated that part of me.

We caught the scent at the same time. We ran as one, and I could feel her as she hesitated and let me pull ahead. This was my kill. I had learned caution, and my knife was in and out before I touched it. The fox ran a few steps before it slid to a stop, and I had it, consuming it’s life. I heard something then, Ruby’s growl, but I was occupied with the final heartbeat, and the taste of death: so sweet. When I pulled away from the limp body, the smell of him struck me like a blow. I gasped then pressed my hands to my face while I stared at the darkness that stood in the trees watching me. Ruby continued the low growl, and I turned my face to her, held my cheek to her fur, absorbing the smell, the feel of her. After a few breaths I stood and faced him.

I had every right to be here; these were my woods, my darkness, although the darkness was fading with the coming dawn. “Good morning,” I said. It sounded almost like a challenge in my ears. He made no sound, but I could feel his eyes on me, and I found myself clutching my knife tighter in my fist until he turned and disappeared. I looked down at Ruby. She stared where he had been. I put my hand on her head, and smoothed the coarse hair down, soft, but rough. I found my breath suddenly shaky. I turned back the way I’d come leaving Ruby at the edge of the woods where Satan stood waiting for me.

“
How did it go?”

“
Great. I saw the Nether but he kept his distance.” Why did I mind that? I should be thinking of the coming day, and Lewis.

“
Good.” The sky had begun to lighten as we walked to the house.

“
Satan?” I hesitated outside the doors. He looked at me, waiting. I tried to think of some way to say this gracefully. “Don’t fight Lewis, okay? Try not to say anything that would humiliate me, please?”

He laughed and slapped my back, not hard enough to kill me, but pretty close. “No problem.”

Well I’d tried.

I worked on my homework, then came down to help Satan put together dinner.

“
So,” he said throwing me a knife that I barely managed to catch by the handle. He ignored my glare while he continued. “How was your trip to the city? I can’t see your mom going to your dad’s art show with you. You weren’t wandering around the city by yourself, were ya?”

“
Satan, no one else throws knives at me. The only scary part of the whole day was at Slider’s shop when mother almost killed some punks.”

His eyes widened and he got a thoughtful look on his face. “You were attacked in daylight outside Slider’s shop?” I shrugged, concentrating on chopping the carrot without slicing my fingers. “Well that does sound interesting. Why don’t you give me a run-down of the day, I don’t remember Slider’s shop being one of the planned stops.”

I gave him a long suffering sigh but he only grinned at me as he beat ingredients together in a bowl. “We shopped with mother and then when she left us at the mall…”

“
You were with Snowy when your mother left you two alone?” He interrupted.

“
Yes. I was with Snowy at the mall and I ran into some friends from school who told me about dad’s show so I went to the gallery with them.”

“
And Snowy went with you?”

I shrugged. “Sure. She hated it. I should probably call and apologize or thank her or something. I left her and Smoke together for way too long while I stared at the painting.” I felt a sudden need to go to my room and see if it was still there.

“
Uh huh. So did anything happen at the gallery?” He started thumping some meat with a mallet.

I paused, remembering the weird guy. “I think a Hotblood hit on me.”

Satan grunted. “This trip sounds more and more exciting. What color were his eyes?”

“
I’m supposed to remember the color of his eyes? Honestly Satan, it was just some random guy.”

He snorted. “Hotbloods do not blend in. How old was he? What was his voice like? How did you feel around him?”

I stared at him and barely kept from laughing at his intense interest. “He was darkish, kind of cute I guess, college age maybe? Satan I don’t get what you…”

“
You were attacked outside of Slider’s? Dariana, I hate to sound cocky, but stuff like that does not happen in a city belonging to Slide. If someone were dealing with Slider, no one in their right mind would have touched that person. Not unless they were suicidal.”

I stared at him, still bewildered by what he was saying. “I thought suicidal people were considered out of their minds.” He scowled at me in a way I didn’t like. “Well what do you want me to say? I’m sorry someone broke the rules and attacked me. How could they be so inconsiderate?!”

“
Your mother didn’t mention it.” His voice was quiet on that, and he shook his head. “I don’t like that. I am here for the sole purpose of keeping you safe. Why would she keep quiet about an attack?”

“
Maybe she doesn’t trust you.”

He grinned at me. “Of course she doesn’t trust me. I wonder if she told your father.”

I shrugged and finished working in silence. If Satan didn’t understand what was going on, I wasn’t exactly the person to enlighten him. I didn’t remotely understand the dynamic between my parents.

I was sitting on the white stairs reading Lewis’ book when the doorbell rang. I had time to put a bookmark in and stand up before my mother was there throwing open the door and greeting Old Peter in tones of charming exuberance that grated on my nerves.

“
I’m so delighted that you made it Old Peter. How is the farm? Hasn’t the weather been lovely? Does the cold bother your arthritis? Oh Lewis. Welcome to our home. Dariana should be…” She looked around and saw me where I stood on the stairs, barefoot in my dress with my book. I should have done something with my hair, I thought, shoving strands out of my face. “Ah, there you are. Dinner isn’t quite ready. Why don’t you show Lewis your new painting while Old Peter and Saturn get reacquainted?”

I looked past my mother to Lewis where he stood behind Old Peter, a funny smile on his mouth. He raised his eyebrows and I nodded. “Sure. I guess.”

My mother escorted Old Peter into the living room leaving, me to stare at Lewis. He held up something in his hands, a dish of food that my mother had apparently missed. “Oh. Let me take that to the kitchen,” I said, glad to have something to do less weird than show Lewis my room. I hurried down the steps and reached for the pan but he shook his head.

“
Lead the way. It’s hot.” I walked to the kitchen, aware of the delicious scent wafting from the pan.

“
You didn’t have to bring anything. We have tons of food,” I said once we were in the kitchen.

He laughed putting it on the counter. “I like cooking.”

“
You made it? What is it?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing really. You have a new painting? Is it your dad’s?”

“
Come see it.” If he wasn’t going to explain things to me I wasn’t going to either. He followed me up the stairs and I wished he could go first. I had the most irresistible urge to glance back at him. At my room, I was glad it was mostly clean when I threw open the door. “What do you think?” I asked turning to the wall with my Axel on it.

His sharp inhale was the only sound he made for a long time. Finally he shook his head and gave me a curious look. “That’s an Axel.”

“
Yeah. Do you like it?”

He turned his head to the side and squinted his eyes. “It’s great.” He turned his attention to the rest of my room. “I love your rug, and your bed. Your room doesn’t look anything like the rest of your house.”

“
I take that as a compliment,” I said dropping on my bed. “My mother hates color.”

He raised his eyebrows and smiled a nice smile that made his eyes crinkle around the corners. “I don’t suppose she’s terribly crazy about your painting then.” He sat carefully on the edge of my bed and looked at it again. “It’s better from this angle.”

“
Actually,” I said leaning back against my pillow. “It’s best from here.”

He raised his eyebrow skeptically. “I don’t see how it could possibly be better. Maybe it’s just different.”

“
Oh no,” I said and put a hand on his shoulder to pull him down beside me. “Better.” He stared at me, his face inches from mine as I lay there on my bed and suddenly the whole situation struck me as very dangerous. I could hear his heart beating in his chest, his pulse beating rapidly in his throat.

“
Dariana,” he said quietly, staring into my eyes. “I can’t see the painting from this angle.”

“
Oh.” I said and sat up abruptly. I looked at the painting, and for some reason it wasn’t nearly as compelling as Lewis’ eyes had been. “Do you think dinner’s ready? I think it might be.” I slid off the bed and hovered near the door as Lewis studied me from his position on my bed. I looked away but the picture of him looking so at home on my bed didn’t go away.

“
You tell me. Your senses are sharper than mine,” he said idly reaching to my bed table where I’d put his book. “You’re almost finished.” He opened it and began reading to himself.

I looked around and finally perched on the top of my dresser watching him read. I loved watching his face change expression, an amused smile turning into a melancholy sigh before he closed it and put it down while he got off the bed. “I think dinner is ready now,” he said.

In the dining room, probably the least used room in the house, I took a helping of Lewis’ Indian curry and didn’t miss his smile when I put it in my mouth. It was indescribably perfect; I ate it too quickly and reached for more.

“
Lewis always was a good cook,” Old Peter said, his rough chuckle turning into a cough. “Excuse me.” He leaned back in his chair for a moment. His shock of white hair stuck around his head as he looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. “This is probably the most pleasant time I’ve had with Wilds for a very long time.”

“
I’m sorry it’s taken so long for us to invite you,” my mother said politely while Satan snorted.

“
What are your plans for straightening out this soul business?” Old Peter asked.

Lewis choked on what he was eating and Satan leaned over to thump him a few times on the back.

“
From what you said,” Satan said cheerfully, “There aren’t a whole lot of options Lewis hasn’t already tried.”

Lewis smiled at Satan, holding tightly to his silverware. “It isn’t the sort of problem that I’ve had to solve before.”

“
What?” I asked, aware of the tension between Lewis and Satan, the way Old Peter was not looking at anyone, and my mother was watching Lewis closely.

“
I appreciate what you’ve been doing, Lewis. We all do. Of course we would have liked to know about the circumstances sooner, but with tensions between our breeds no one’s blaming you,” my mother said reassuringly.

“
Excuse me?” I dropped my fork to my plate with a clatter. “Does someone want to tell me what’s going on?”

“
You have each other’s souls,” Old Peter said helpfully, gesturing his knife from Lewis back to myself. “He kissed you, you took his soul, and then—Lewis you should show them your arm—he got your soul.” He smiled and popped out his false teeth to suck on his gums.