Revenant in Training (Blood and Snow series) (9 page)

“Every day after school, and after track practice, you will come here, and either myself or one of the boys will train you. Dorian is excellent with the swords. Gabe is the best bowman, and Salvatore is
brillian
t at all of them
. Though, if one of those three aren’t available, any of them are more than exceptional.”

I sighed. “Okay.”

“After a couple of hours of training, you will spend an hour or two studying about the different creatures in the other room, until you’re
acquainted
with
every one
.”

I stood. “What about school?”

He waved his hands
dismissively. “You’ll find your schooling
comes more easily.”

“
I’ll have to see it to believe.” The prospect
excited me. I struggled with several subjects, especially English, Sci
ence, and, Phys-Ed.

“I think you’ll find much of regular human necessities will come
easier
, and you’ll want to spend more and more time in your new world.” Professor Pops took the swords and placed them back on the wall next to the other set.

“Are you sure I’ll be okay going to school?” I thought about Chemistry, and what’d almost happened.

“We’ll give you a double dose of the tea twice a day. Then send you with a dose to school for emergencies.

He walked out of the room, and I followed. Then he locked it.
I couldn’t help but stare at a
female vampire behind the glass case. Her eyes were red and still seemed to glow.

“What happens if I do drink a human
’
s blood?” The words came out without my thinking about them first, and I blushed beet red.

Professor Pops stood next to me. “I understand your needs, perhaps better than anyone. Human blood will increase your powers, making you stronger in every way, except one.” He pointed at my heart. “The more blood you drink
,
the more like a vampire you
’ll
become. It’s like anything in life, if you work to keep yourself as human as possible, that part of you will remain, will be the strongest. If you consume human blood, the way a vampire does, that part of you will become the strongest.”

I nodded.
“I under
stand
.”
I wanted to tell him
I craved
blood, and that I’d almost drank
from Dorian
today. And I opened my mouth, but
nothing came out.
E
mbarrassed
at
the almost sexual nature of my desires
held m
e back
. They seemed overwhelming, and I wasn’t sure how to control them.

He patted my shoulder. “Don’t misunderstand me.
Craving blood is part of who you are now.
The time will come
when you
will
drink.” He paused and his eyes dilated. I saw a flash of what he must’ve been like as a Hunter. The
image
scared me, but the look left his face almost as quickly as it’d appeared. “There are two things you must promise me.”

I swallowed, and cleared my throat. “What?”

“Promise me
you won’t drink from the same human twice.” At his words he held up a finger. “And, two.
Promise me
you won’t drink for more than ten seconds. Any more and there is a possibility you’ll kill the human from blood loss, or
your
blood lust.” While he spoke a second finger went up. “
Can you
do that for me, please?”

I suddenly felt parched. The idea of consuming blood caused my muscles to tense with need.

“Snow?”

“I promise,” I agreed, though at that moment, I would’ve agreed to anything. He hadn’t given me the
green light to bite, but he
said it was bound to happen. I wanted it to happen sooner rather than later.

“And, Snow?” I focused and was met with his piercing eyes.

“Yes?”

“Gabe—”

“I’m what?” Gabe stood in the doorway, looking smug.

I ground my teeth. Why were
the guys
constantly
interrupting Professor Pops when
he mentioned Gabe? Almost as though
they had a sixth sense or something.

“Hi, Gabe,” I said shyly. It was weird seeing him in this room full of supernatural creatures.

Professor Pops cleared his throat, and I turned.
“Why don’t you go home tonight,
get caught up on your school work
, and get some rest
. Come tomorrow, after I’ve talked to the boys, your training will begin.”

Gabe gave Professor Pops an unreadable look.
“Will she be safe?”
Gabe asked, his face tight with unspoken worry.

“I’m fairly certain no one will come after her until she turns sixteen.” He raised a hand, and rubbed it over his face. “Which reminds me, what’s your favorite birthday cake flavor?”

I
blanked. I hadn’t had
cake since my mother died. Right aft
er her funeral I’d decided
I wouldn’t eat anything that had been killed.

“Um,” I
glanced
at Gabe, though I have no idea why. He was a total meat eater. “Can you make cakes without eggs?”

“Someone can. I intend to hire the best. What’ll it be? Chocolate? Vanilla?

A twisted smile spread over my face. “Red velvet.”

Gabe and Professor Pops laughed.

“Perfect. I’ll get on it. And
your
favored
color?”

I didn’t have a
favorite color. I’d always liked purple because
of my mom
.

Gabe answered for me.
“Her favorite color is purple.”

“Purple, or red.” I gazed at my shirt, and then at Professor Pops. “I’ve always really liked glittering red.”

“Excellent. See you tomorrow, Snow.” Professor Pops waved us away a
s he went back toward the Down
y fairy.

“I’ll walk
you
home,” Gabe said, his smile tight.

Chapter
9

“S
ince when did you start liking
red?” Gabe
and I walked side by side at a slow pace toward my house.

I
offered
him a sideways smile. It gave me butterflies to know that Gabe
paid
attention. A glowy, tingly, happiness bloomed in my chest.
“Since the first time I saw Dorothy’s shoes on
The Wizard of Oz
.
Probably at age three or four.
” I stuffed my hands into the front pockets of my jeans. “Then my mom died, and most of the stuff I kept of hers was purple, so I
sort of adopted it as my favorite as well.”

“Huh,” Gabe grunted.

“I’d guess you’re favorite color is…” I
considered
. His car was silver. His room looked like a shrine to the Celtics, but he wore a lot of white, and blue. “Eithe
r green or blue,” I said
.

He smirked. “You were thinking about my room weren’t you?”

I nodded.

“I guess it’s green.” He grabbed my hand, and stopped, so that I turned toward him. His heartbeat pounded rapidly.
With gentle fingers
,
he caressed my cheek, stroked my hair.
“I’ve always loved the color of your hair.”

I blushed, and lowered my head. “You have?”

He played with the ends, twirling a strand in his finger. “It changes color in the light. Sometimes it
’s black, other times
there seems to be
blond highlights. It’s magical.” He released my hair, and lifted my chin. “Like you, Snowflake.”

“I’m not.” My cheeks burned hotter. The bloodlust grew a couple of degrees. Would Gabe offer his blood to me the way Dorian had? At the thought, my heart began to match Gabe’s beat for beat.

“Snow…” he hesitated. Curious, I searched his face. “I’v
e liked you for a long time
.
”

“I’ve liked you, too.” I returned.
The sun gleamed through the thick trees, causing rays of sunlight to streak through Gabe’s face. Half of his face was shadowed, and the other
half shone
in the light.

“No, I mean liked, liked you
.”

I finally got what he meant, and nearly smacked myself in the forehead with the palm of my hand.

“I
didn’t know. I thought you thought of
me as just a sister.”
A mixture of gladness and nervousness swirled in my stomach. I’d only just discovered he liked me. Before we had a chance to find out what that meant, the Hunter
bit
me. It didn’t seem fair.

He grabbed my hands. “I think of you in ways much different than I would a sister.” A mischievous gleam sparkled in his eyes.

I giggled, glancing at my shoes.

He leaned in, and I realized he was about to kiss me, which reminded me I’d kissed Christopher today, which reminded me I’d almost drank from Dorian today, which made me feel like a total sleaze.

“I’ve got to go.”

I turned, and ran. Fast. And I didn’t trip once.

Chapter 10

A
s soon as I unlocked the door, Gatsby was there, weaving between my feet, and meowing like
he was
mortally wounded. “Hi, kitty. I know you’re hungry. Sorry, boy.” I scooped
him up, and scratched behind his ears, the way he liked. Today,
he squirmed in my arms, unhappy.
I put him down. “Okay. Okay.”

Grabbing his bowl, I filled it with kitty kibble
, and set it on the floor. He rushed over, and started eating. I poured
him some water, washed my hands, and snatched
some almonds
from the refrigerator
to sn
ack on while I did my homework.

In quick succession I got my math assignments done, conjugated my Spanish verbs, and studied for Chemistry, and Social Studies quizzes. Then I made myself some whole-wheat pasta, and watched the latest episode of
Survivor
. Gatsby jumped on the couch and into my lap. I was glad he’d forgiven me for ignoring him the last few days.