Tainted Blood (46 page)

“It’s got to be Morgan,” Carter deduced. “Him or that tall slayer dude…or both.” He was thinking hard about this one, but I had a different theory.

“Or neither,” I added. “Maybe they’re only pawns. They’re out in the open where they could easily get caught. What if someone is setting them up so that the vampires will come after them?”

“It’s a trap,” Carter breathed.

“They probably know we’re here,” I said quietly, but if they already knew we were there it didn’t matter how quiet I was. We huddled closer.

Kiera piped in. She rambled some long-ass plan that made no sense. When she’d finished, we all just stared at her. “Kiera, honey. You’re spiraling,” Zoey said sweetly and patted her arm. Kiera did that when she was nervous or overwhelmed: she’d spiral and ramble.

“Five points for trying, though,” Carter told her with a crooked grin. She smiled back.

Headlights swept past us from the parking lot causing the four of us to shrink back into the shadows of our hidden spot, closer to that smelly trashcan. We heard footfalls and murmurs, and I pushed past my friends to get a closer look. I peered over a nearby shrub. I was able to see the parking lot and Avery’s powder blue Beetle parked under one of the lamps.

Through the misty rain I could see all of the men that had been in Professor Morgan’s classroom gathering near Avery’s car. Carter popped up beside me, and soon so did Zoey and Kiera.

“What are we looking at?” Carter whispered. I pointed to the scene unfolding. Unfortunately, we were unable to make out what they were saying.

“Okay,” Carter began with much enthusiasm. “See that trash can over there?” he pointed to a garbage can at the edge of the parking lot about twenty feet from where Avery and the others stood. “I’m gonna sneak over there and hop in that can to get a closer listen.” The visual of him doing this was enough to make me snicker. When we didn’t respond I think he took that as a good thing and said, “See, I’m a genius!” He made like he was going to execute the plan, and Zoey grabbed his arm as he began to rise.

“You keep telling yourself that you’re a genius and maybe, just maybe, it will come true.”

He crouched back down. “What’s so wrong with my plan?” he asked, sounding a bit defeated.

“For starters,
genius
, how the hell are you going get close enough to the garbage can to get in it? And, if you do somehow manage, how are you going to get out of the can and back to us without being seen?”

“I didn’t say it was a perfect plan,” he said quietly. He frowned like he was crushed.

Kiera patted him on the arm. “Five points for trying, hun.”

We peeked over the bush some more, and Zoey and Carter continued to bicker. “Get your puffy-ass hair out of my face!” Carter hissed.

“Get your face out of my luscious locks!” Zoey retorted.

I shushed them.

Finally silent, we watched Professor Morgan hand Avery that mysterious book, and Carter and I shared a look. Why on Earth would Morgan give Avery the book that had the list of vampires to be offed?

I sat back on my heels, and my brain reeled but came up with nothing. A cat padded up beside us, and when it meowed we all jumped. One of us, or all of us, may have yelped a little too loudly. The cat hissed and ran off, but not before Zoey poked fun at Carter a little more.

“Hungry?” she questioned him with a wicked grin.

He stared at her for a moment, then said, “I’m beginning to think you’re picking on me.”

“You’re a sharp one, Caption Obvious. Give me a minute while I go get you your cape.”

Although Zoey and Carter’s playing was comical and lightened the very dreary mood that was looming over us, it was distracting us from what was important and at that moment, what was important was staying alive.

“Hey, guys,” I whispered urgently as the three of them quietly joked with each other. They stopped and crouched beside me, peering over the shrub. Avery and the group around her had their attention turned in our direction. I was pretty sure they’d heard us.

“Shit,” Carter whispered.

“Okay,” Kiera said very seriously.
Oh, no. Not again.
“Plan A, we make a run for Zoey’s car. It’s parked over there.” She gestured away from the main student parking lot to an area closer to the surrounding neighborhood, opposite a large, open, grassy area that we would have to cross. Challenging, but not bad… “Or,” she continued, “Plan B, we try to make it to Laney’s car.” That one did not sound good at all. “Plan C, we find an unlocked classroom and hide out until Felix or someone else can come for us. I favor plan C,” she finished.

Plan C gave me an idea. “I say we skip the plans and head for Amber.”

Carter was in favor of this idea, and even though Kiera had no clue who Amber was she said, “Or that, I like that plan.” I think she was caught up in the moment and the fact Carter was so gung-ho about this plan.

We watched the crowd around Avery and her car, waiting for a good moment to run. Waiting for their attention to be drawn away from us. Then I saw Avery eyes settle on my car parked near the front of the lot, not far from where they all stood. She pointed and I saw her say the words, “Isn’t that Laney’s car.”

Shit! I scrambled to my feet. “Go, now!” I said in a low command.

I have no idea if any of the guys from the parking lot came after us or not. I suspect they heard us though. We weren’t quiet as we ran for our lives.

Other than the flat tire I received from one of my friends as we ran for Professor McBaldy’s old classroom, we made it there safely. We rushed down the steps to the main part of the class then into the passageway that led to Professor Amber’s place.

The first door was unlocked and the four of us ran down the dimly lit corridor to the door at the end. I tried the handle as we reached the second door, but it was locked. I pounded so hard that my fist throbbed as I quietly muttered, “Hurry, hurry, hurry.”

A surveillance camera above the door adjusted over the four of us as we waited nervously for Professor Amber to answer. It may not have been the brightest plan. If she didn’t answer and Professor Morgan and his followers found us, we were screwed. There was nowhere to go from here. We’d be trapped.

The lock clicked and Professor Amber opened the heavy door with grace. “Delaney, how can I help you and your friends?” Her eyes settled on each one of us in turn.

I looked back down the passageway anxiously then returned my attention to Amber. “May we come in?”

“Oh, well I suppose.” She stepped aside so we could enter. Then she glanced down the hall before closing the door and sliding the heavy lock into place. She turned her back to the door and faced us. “Now, tell me what this is about?” she said with a hint of an unfamiliar accent.

All at once, the four of us began rambling out our version of the story.

“Please,” she said lifting her hand in a gesture to stop us. “I do not understand. Let us sit and you can each have a turn.” She gestured for us to take a seat on her very elegant and antique looking furniture.

Everything had carved feet and elegant designs in the dark wood, and the fabric was silky and soft and a very pretty pale blue floral pattern. I took a seat on the sofa and Amber sat at the other end. It wasn’t really big enough for another person so Zoey sat in an elaborately carved balloon chair that had a darker blue fabric, and Kiera sat on the floor next to Carter who had taken a seat on an ottoman that had been set off to the side of the chair.

“Now,” Amber began as she rested her hands in her lap and positioned her body gracefully so that she was facing me. I was surprised at how put together and dressed up she was for supposedly having retired for the night like I’d heard Mr. Morgan say. “Please, tell me what this is all about.”

I took a breath and replayed the night’s events to her.

“Well, I am not completely surprised, but I am amazed and somewhat concerned that they are so organized,” Amber said, pausing for a moment, her blue-green eyes settling on the floor. “I must talk to Felix about this,” she said thoughtfully. Then her eyes lifted to meet mine, “Delaney, would you mind helping me in the kitchen? I think we could all use a cup of tea.”

I nodded and then followed her out of the room and into a small kitchen with pure white cabinets and pale blue walls. Carter had been right, Amber’s place did smell of vanilla and it was spotless.

As she bustled around the enclosed kitchen, I noticed that Amber was quite a bit shorter than me without her usual heels on. Her feet were bare and they were rather dainty, much like the rest of her. She set a silver tea kettle on the stove and lit the burner. Then she pulled a silver tray from a cabinet and began getting several delicate tea cups, saucers, and a matching teapot placed on it. She dropped a couple of tea bags into the teapot then stood in the center of the kitchen for a moment. Her long, strawberry-blonde hair fell to the waist of her embroidered, sea-green dress, and she fiddled with an elaborate stone pendant that hung around her neck.

“What can I help you with?” I asked, and she turned to me like she’d forgotten I was there.

“Oh, Delaney,” she said. “I am so sorry. I pulled you away from your friends to help me and then I did everything myself.” She smiled with her lips together and I waited with a faint smile of my own for her to finish. She stepped closer to me, touched my arm, and in a very low voice, she said, “I must admit, the news you bring has me very concerned. I fear that it is not just the mixed-bloods that are in danger.” We both lost our smiles. “I must call Felix.”

She picked up her cell phone which had been sitting on the white, tile countertop and took a seat at a small, white dinette table as I waited uncomfortably in the center of the kitchen for the water to boil in the kettle.

Felix answered on the first ring. I could hear his deep voice resonate over the line. “Hello, Felix,” she said. “I have Delaney and her companions here in my quarters.” I could hear his response. He said something in Vampiric that I didn’t understand. Then he I heard him say, “What trouble have they gotten themselves into now?”

“It would seem Delaney and her companions have uncovered the demon’s plan for us to meet our demise.”

For a long moment there was silence on the other end, and then I heard him say, “Do not let them leave. I will be right over.” Then he was gone. Amber glowered down at the phone and the kettle began to whistle.

Amber got to the kettle before me and filled the teapot on the tray with the hot water. Then she picked up the tray and I followed her back into the front room, unsure of why she’d really wanted me to join her in the kitchen. Maybe she needed the support to speak to Felix?

Kiera had her head rested on Carter’s knee, and he was mindlessly playing with her hair. It reminded me of Oliver and how he always twisted a chunk of my hair while we cuddled and talked. Even though I thought it was impossible, the memory made me miss him even more.

Amber placed the tray on the ornate coffee table then asked if anyone would like a cup. Everyone did; we were definitely in need of the warmth. Our hiding spot had been out of the direct line of the storm, but we’d still gotten fairly damp. Plus, I was especially damp due to my visit to the cemetery and my spying on Morgan and his cohorts before Carter and the girls arrived.

Amber poured five cups of tea, and once everyone had their cold hands wrapped around the delicate cups, she took a seat on the couch, holding her own.

“I must apologize for the state of my quarters,” she said, giving a small wave of her hand. “I was not expecting company,” she said with a faint smile.

I returned the smile, as I took a very hot sip of tea. I scanned the room we were in. What I’d seen of her home was immaculate. I hadn’t noticed a speck of dust, or a cobweb. The light carpet appeared spotless, and every picture, plant, and piece of furniture looked absolutely brand new. The only thing that stood out was a statue on the table against the wall behind the couch. A dark hallway led off of the sitting room that we were in, and the kitchen was to the right of the hall, and I wondered if the rest of her home was just as spotless and elegant looking.

One thing that was a little unnerving was that I hadn’t noticed any windows. I wondered if maybe there was at least one somewhere in the apartment. If not, that was more than a little creepy.

Amber caught my eyes settling on the statue again and said, “I found that statuette years ago and had to have him.” Her eyes settled on the warrior figure. “He reminds me of someone I met a very long time ago.” There was a longing in her voice, and I wondered if she was referring to a certain six-foot-eight vampire that was on his way to rescue us at that very moment.

“That’s a gladiator, right?” Carter asked, stretching his neck to see what we were looking at.

She turned her attention to Carter. “No,” she said between sips of tea. “This particular figure is a warrior of Sparta from long, long ago.”

Carter and I shared a look and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was: “Did we just get a clue into the past of Felix?”

There was a loud knock on the door a moment later and all of us except Amber jumped. Her blue-green eyes focused on the door then very quietly she said, “That is not Felix.” I felt my heart kick into high gear. Amber turned to Carter. “You three make yourselves scarce.” Carter, Kiera, and Zoey made to leave the room, and she added in a quiet whisper, “Take your cups!” Each with a delicate teacup and saucer in hand, my friends headed down the dark hallway and out of sight.