What Lies Inside (A Blood Bound Novel, Book 1) (12 page)

I will
never
live a normal life.

The depressing statement couldn’t have been truer. Turned vampires could live for around half a millennium. And according to our mom, born vampires, Pure Bloods, could easily double that. After what she and Caius had done to Dorian and me, our lifespans could be closer to a Pure Blood’s than a turned vampire’s. So as the humans around me aged at a regular pace, I would not. Eventually those who knew me would notice. So an existence of constant moving and new faces, of pretending to be normal when I was anything but, was what lay ahead for me. For all of us.

“Ugh,” I sighed. Without the distraction of Vanessa’s incessant chatter on all things fashion, my mind wandered back to the unbelievable and still crystal clear dream of Ty.

The familiar sound of heeled stilettos clinking against the polished concrete floor cut through the muddled mess in my mind. I looked up to catch Vanessa strolling into class, late. She was dressed in a short tartan skirt and ankle boots. Her long red hair hung in loose, bouncing curls over her shoulders. She stepped around me, eying my portrait. “New direction?”

Wondering what was encouraging her critical expression, I turned back. My eyes widened. In place of my own silvery-flecked, blue eyes, I had painted iridescent gold ones. They were the same eyes I had dreamed of and seen in the flesh as his lips connected with mine. They were the same unusual and changeable eyes that belonged to Ty. I snatched a moist sponge from the paint rack and swiped away the evidence, smearing gold across my painted face. “Just experimenting,” I said, turning my sights back to Vanessa. “You weren’t at lunch.”

Vanessa shrugged with a look of indifference and took her seat. She began organizing paints onto a pallet. “I was studying in the library. God, I hate being so perfect.” She turned her sapphire eyes onto me. There was a disapproving edge to her tone. “So, your date with Ty… How was it?”

Tightness constricted my chest and my fingers rose to my mouth. I could still remember the heat of Ty’s burning lips pressed to mine. Just recalling my thirst for his blood had my gums tingling. “It was, um…different.”

Vanessa’s lips twitched as though she were about to respond, then thought better of it.

“By the way,” I said, trying to keep my tone light to mask the anticipation that dyed my throat. “Where is Ty today?”

Vanessa’s eyes narrowed at her own canvas. “Camping in the White Mountains. He and Troy take off school with their fathers sometimes, to experience
the wilderness
.”

Was she lying? I frowned, uncertain. With the constant power-struggle between Ty and Troy, I doubted they could stand any amount of time camping together. So if he wasn’t with Troy and their fathers, was he even camping at all? “When do they get back?”

Vanessa waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, they should be back in a few days.”

Unconvinced, I resettled into painting, fixing the gold that was now smeared across my canvas. Conflicting thoughts ran through my head. There was Ty’s absence, our date, the dream, Vanessa’s excuse for Ty being away, and the mysterious boy from the alley. What did it all mean?

By the end of class my head was throbbing from my racing thoughts. I retreated back to the main building, stomping through the packed corridor to my locker. I retrieved my iPhone—thinking of Kendrick at seeing its Three Days Grace case—and dialed Ty’s number. The progressing ring in my ear caused an uncontrollable flutter of my heart. I knew calling him like this after our strange date was rash. But I had to know where he was, and with who, and
if
Vanessa was covering for him, why.

“Amelia?” Ty’s surprised voice echoed through the speaker.

“Where are you?” I demanded, tone impetuous but kept low to avoid attention from passing students.

“No, ‘hey how’s it going’?” God, I could hear the mocking in Ty’s voice.

I slammed my locker shut and slumped against it. A few kids turned to stare before swiftly averting their eyes at the venomous look plastered across my face. “Just tell me where you are.”

“Okay,” Ty said with audible hesitation. “I’m visiting my brother at boarding school, in New Hampton. Why?”

Liar! The voice inside my head held no uncertainty this time. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but there had been something in Ty’s hesitant voice that was a clear tell. Ty was the one lying, not Vanessa. Agitation grew like flames up my neck, enveloping my face. I hung up and shoved the phone into my pocket before I could crush it in my hand. Secrets, lies… What was he hiding?

By Wednesday, Ty still hadn’t returned to school. But when I stepped into my psych class after lunch, I froze. The scent of chlorine and
his
blood filled the air around me.

My eyes raked over the classroom. Posters of psychological jargon covered the walls and each of the desks—set in twos—were occupied by other students. Ty usually sat up the back. He wasn’t there. Then I found him, sitting at the desk beside my regular spot. His training bag was on the floor at his feet. The sight of him, looking so casual and so freaking laid-back, boiled my blood. I yanked my earbuds from my ears, cutting off Red’s song
‘Mystery of you’
. How could he act so normal, when he was so full of it?

Sucking air I stalked across the room, passing the desks of whispering students, to stand before Ty. I could sense the critical sneer from a few girls around the room. Our names were on their hushed, flapping lips. They’re jealous? Ty was hot, seriously hot. But with the hostility my body language was currently propelling at him, their jealousy was laughable.

Ty glanced up, face lit by a confident smile. “You’re mad?”

I dumped my textbooks and iPod on the desk and planted my hands on my hips. “Shouldn’t I be?”

Footsteps reached my ears as the classroom door swung closed. “Seats please everyone. Let’s get started,” Mr. McKenna instructed, pushing his glasses up on his nose. When I didn’t move he pointed to the desk beside Ty. “Sit down, Miss Lamont.” He turned to the blackboard and began writing up a list of read-through chapters.

With a groan, I begrudgingly stepped around Ty. I shoved open the windowpane, breathing through my mouth in an effort to clear the aroma of his blood from my nostrils. A slight, icy breeze floated through the crack. The effectiveness was fractional. Tingles still cascaded across my gums, prickling with the threat of fangs.

“You have every right to be mad,” Ty whispered beside me.

My hands were shaking with anger and restraint. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. “So glad I have your permission,” I spat, sarcasm dripping from my words. “So, where were you, really?”

“It’s complicated.”

Blowing out an exacerbated breath, I glared out the window at the gloomy, ashen sky. If I were lucky, the impending storm would hurry up and bring with it a gale force wind of fresh air. “Whatever. I don’t care.” But I did. For some unfathomable reason I needed to figure Ty out. I needed to know where he had been and what dark secrets he was keeping. I needed to know who or what he really was, and if he was anything like me.

“Yes you do.” Ty sounded so sure of himself. He flicked through his textbook to the instructed reading. Then he paused, cocking his head sideways. “How about this… Go to the party this Saturday with me.”

Was he kidding? I turned my narrowed gaze to Ty. He was watching me with anticipation. “And why the hell would I do that?”

Ty didn’t even flinch at the edge in my whispered tone. Instead, his bright-hazel eyes gleamed intently. “To have
some
of your questions answered.”

“Now?”

“No,” Ty said shaking his head. “At the party,
after
we arrive.”

I contemplated the pros and cons. Uncover the mystery of Ty, versus lunging at him with bared fangs. I slumped back in my seat, noticing what I swore were new thin, whitish scars across his arms. Unable to suppress my curiosity, I decided that figuring Ty out was worth the risk of attacking him. “So, all I have to do is go to this party with you, nothing else?”

Ty’s lips lifted at the sides. “I can add conditions,
if
you’d like me to.” I narrowed my eyes, causing him to chuckle. “No,” he said more seriously. “I wouldn’t do that. Just come to the party and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

I bit my lip. This was a bad idea. But my inner voice couldn’t change my mind. “Fine, I’ll go.”

~

“Give me a sec, gotta tidy up.”

I darted inside my room and yanked the door shut behind me. With my heart pounding, I flew to my bedside table. I snatched up the empty glass that was tinged with dried blood, and shoved it sideways into the top drawer.

After a few, quick, calming breaths, I let Vanessa in. “Sorry about that, come on in.”

Vanessa shimmied out of her Gucci button coat, handing it to me as she strut across my room. In calf-high boots, shorts and an eye-catching top, she looked like a model. A second later she disappeared into the long rectangular space of my walk-in. She had followed Dorian and me home in her dinged-up Corolla after school this Friday. It’d been her idea to help me figure out my wardrobe for the party tomorrow night. According to her, my style lacked enthusiasm and finish, something she seemed more than willing to assist me with when she invited herself over. Not that I minded. Ty had promised to offer answers to my many questions at the party. Still, prying
some
info about him from Vanessa in preparation couldn’t hurt.

“Seriously?” Vanessa’s voice drifted from the walk-in even though I couldn’t see her. “This closet is huge and you’re taking up—what, one freaking draw?” She muttered under her breath at how dismal my clothing selection was.

I leaned against the wall in wait, dread searing though me. What outfit would she inflict on me?

A progression of clothes flew from my walk-in, hitting me in the face before falling to the carpet. Finally Vanessa emerged with a much-too-short, black ruffled skirt, and a red and white silk top sporting a plunging neckline. It was the only daring outfit I owned. Mom had given it to me as a gift. “With your pitiful resources,
this
is the best I can do.”

I mumbled, “More like a curse.” Then, unable to entertain the thought of ever wearing such girly, revealing clothes, I began to argue, but froze mid-sentence. Beside the white-painted, antique dresser across my room was a waste-paper basket. Just poking out of the top along with a chocolate wrapper was an empty blood baggie. It was the same one I had squeezed out this morning.

“What’s wrong?” Vanessa began to turn, following my line of sight.

I clutched her shoulders, trying not to inflict pain. “Nothing, the clothes are great! I was just wondering, um…will my Vans match?”

“God no!” Looking mortified Vanessa rushed past me. She flung the skirt and top onto my bed before disappearing back inside my walk-in. “Purple-laced shoes with a red top aside, those shoes are hideous.”

With Vanessa out of sight, I abandoned her coat and shot across the room. In less than a second I snatched the blood baggie from the basket and shoved it into the dresser’s top drawer. That was close, too close.

Struggling to control my breathing, I turned to catch Vanessa re-emerging from my walk-in. She was carrying a set of black-suede, over-the-knee boots which she thrust into my face. Another Mom
present.
“You have to wear these. They’re perfect!” she almost shrieked. “Man, Ty’s going to have a heart attack when he sees you. Oh, and you’ll want to bring bathers, there’s a heated pool.”

With a silent groan, I took the boots from Vanessa’s hands and hurled them onto my bed. My opportunity to probe her for info on Ty was limited. “So, Ty’s um…different.” I coiled my arms around my waist and pinched my sides. I sounded like a moron. Vanessa’s eyes narrowed. “I mean, he just doesn’t seem like a regular teenage guy.”

“He’s not,” Vanessa confessed. She moved to the tall, arched window and plopped down on the ledge.

“Oh?” I couldn’t hide the eagerness my voice betrayed. Was Vanessa actually about to offer a revelation?

“He’s a private person.” Vanessa eyed me up and down. The speculation in her expression was clear as day. “Well, he was until you came along.” She turned her head, causing her hair to fall over her shoulders as she gazed out the window. Heavy rain pelted down. It sheeted everything it touched in glimmering monotones. “He’s different around you, less restricted, less
controlled
.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Vanessa blew out a long breath, head twisting back to me. “When he’s around you, his guard is down. It defies his…
religion
.”

The way her voice grated over the word
religion
only confused me further. It almost seemed like she had opted for that word in place of another. “So, Ty’s not allowed to date, or something?”

A chime sounded and Vanessa pulled her diamante-studded phone from her boots, looking at the screen. “This should be interesting,” she said under her breath. Then she slid the phone back into her boot. “I’ve gotta bounce. Cash job. But what were we, oh right.
Dating…
” Her voice turned sharp while her sapphire eyes pierced through me
.
“Is
that
what you and Ty are doing?”

Feeling my stomach turn, I shook my head and dropped onto the foot of my bed. My arm curled around one of the tapestry-wrapped posts for support. “No, of course not, it’s just…” Unsure of how I felt or what I wanted to say, I broke off. I couldn’t very well tell her that my agreeing to attend this party with Ty was solely to interrogate him. And that was the only reason. Wasn’t it?

“Look.” Vanessa rose from the window ledge and almost stomped in her boots to my bedroom door, swooping up her jacket before clutching the handle. “I’m saying this as Ty’s friend, for both of your sakes. Stay away from him. This can only end badly.”

“Is that why you insisted on coming here?” My accusation stopped her in her tracks.

Vanessa shrugged. “I love fashion, and you need help. Dressing like a guy is
not
okay.” She frowned at my casual jeans and tank top. “But Ty is like a brother to me, and I know him. You two can’t work.”