am a murderer? What are you?
Hesitant, Riley raised the knife. “Ready?”
“I—”
She is vampire, Thomas said, cutting him off. You are a human. All you’ll ever be to her is a blood-slave, addicted to her bite. And still you kill for her?
Flickers of fury ignited in his chest. He was more than Victoria’s blood-slave. He wouldn’t believe otherwise. “Yes. For her, I’ll do anything.”
For my brother, I will do anything. You might kill me, but you’ll never break me. And Haden? Somehow I’ll make you pay for this, even from the grave.
“Ready?” Riley repeated then. Determination radiated from him, but that determination was waning. “I want to get this done before I change my mind.”
Deep breath in, hold, hold, slowly release. Aden was tense, which would cause more pain, but that wasn’t going to change the final outcome.
“Ready?” Riley repeated a third time. Sweat dripped from his hand.
“Ready.” He could do this. He would not chicken out. “Do it. Do it now!”
“I’m sorry.” The blade fell, a blur. Plunged deep. Cutting through bone, muscle and into the vital organ. Burning, stinging…destroying. Aden screamed, loud and long, and his voice soon broke from the strain.
The heart, though, continued to beat. At first. Each pump slid the knife deeper, cut worse, burned more. Blood flowed from the wound, soaking his chest, the mattress. Droplets even bubbled up into his throat, choking him, before rising into his mouth and spilling out, warming his cheeks.
Rivers, Elijah said, as if in a trance. Flow.
Caleb, Julian and Thomas were howling. They weren’t feeling Aden’s agony, he knew from experience, and he was glad to spare them that. But they were feeling the residual effects of his mental anguish.
Calm down, he told himself. For them.
But the pain never eased. Not when it felt as if every drop of life had poured from him. Not when his limbs chilled, so heavy he could no longer lift them. Aden could have abandoned the body at any time, but he wanted to spare Thomas every bit of pain he could. Besides, he had to know. For his peace of mind, he had to know when it was over. He had to know what he would one day have to bear himself.
A few moments later, Aden died for the second time that day.
FOUR
A few minutes earlier Crossroads High
MARY ANN PLOPPED HER TRAY on the lunch table and settled across from the too-beautiful Victoria, who had just sat down herself. Shannon, Aden’s friend from the D and M, was beside her, a gorgeous black boy with green eyes that reminded her of Riley’s. Once, she’d even thought he was the wolf dogging her every step.
Beside Mary Ann was Penny Parks, her stunning best friend and next-door neighbor whose platinum hair, blue eyes that were prettier than sapphires and pale, freckled skin had fueled the wet dreams of many Crossroads High students.
A (regular) girl could get a complex, surrounded by all that perfection.
Victoria focused her own baby blues on Shannon. “Question. Did you see Aden this morning?”
Shannon had just taken a big bite of his pizza. He chewed as he shook his head, then swallowed. “He was gone before I woke up.”
“But you saw him last night?” Mary Ann asked.
Another nod.
So where was he? What was he doing? She sighed.
“So. What’s your deal?” Penny suddenly asked Victoria, changing the subject. “You don’t even pretend to eat. Or drink, for that matter. Are you anorexic? Is that how you stay so skinny? ”
“Penny,” Mary Ann said, slack-jawed. Loosely translated: Rude!
“What?” her friend asked, all innocence. “I’m curious. Ask any teacher here. Curiosity is for the learning-inclined.”
Victoria glanced between them. “American food is…unappetizing.” Another translation: Because it wasn’t blood. “I prefer to eat at home.”
“I dig.” Penny nodded, clearly buying the misdirection. “Where’re you from, anyway?”
“Romania.”
“Spooky. Your accent isn’t thick, though. Lots of traveling? One parent from someplace else?”
Victoria nodded, noncommittal.
Blithely Penny continued. “So why’d you move to Oklahoma, of all places? Isn’t that, like, hickville to someone like you? ”
“Enough with the inquisition,” Mary Ann said on a sigh. Victoria had only attended the school for a few weeks, but the vampire had held herself aloof from everyone except Aden, Mary Ann and Riley all that time because she hadn’t known how long she would be here or what her father, Vlad, would order her to do. And really, she considered humans a food source, not a playground of friendliness. Though Mary Ann liked to think the vampire was softening because of Aden.
Aden. Where are you? Had Riley found him already?
Riley. Hurry up! Every minute he was away, her worry for him increased. And for Aden, of course. With that dumb death curse hanging over their heads…oh, God. She hadn’t needed the reminder on top of everything else. Couldn’t…breathe…
She’d been on edge all day. She’d been distracted, too, and had no idea what her first three classes had even covered.
Victoria’s gaze met hers, and they shared a moment of silent communication.
Entertain me, Mary Ann mouthed.
I can’t. You entertain me, Victoria mouthed back.
This sucks.
I know. And not the good kind. A joke. The first she’d ever heard Victoria tell, though she doubted Victoria realized the humor of her statement. Mary Ann’s lips twitched into a grin. Entertainment achieved. Intended or not.
“When will this day end?” an exasperated Victoria asked everyone at the table.
“Not soon enough,” Penny muttered.
Why was she muttering now? She’d seemed so carefree only a minute ago.
“I—I—like it here,” Shannon said, stuttering slightly. He’d admitted to being teased about that stutter his entire life, but it was getting less pronounced every day. “You know how r-rare it is to meet someone who accepts you for who you are? ”
Now she did. Now that she knew she merely calmed people with otherworldly powers, and they weren’t actually charmed by her. But whatever. Riley liked her
