Chapter Twenty
We finish our hallway patrol in near silence. Kaven’s too busy pretending to ignore me, and I’m too busy thinking about Andrea. The look on her face before she slammed the door was horrible. She looked so happy at the thought of Tricia not being here anymore, and that really unnerves me.
Something is not right with Andrea. Is Travis having a bad effect on her?
That makes me wonder about the burning feeling on my wrist. Was it trying to warn me about Andrea? She’s moody and a little hostile sometimes, but I don’t see her as a threat to anyone. She’s a little on the heavy side, but it’s not from training; I don’t see her being able to overpower Tricia or Ashley.
Travis could do it.
Am I being warned about Andrea’s involvement with Travis? He could be really dangerous. If she’s still seeing him, she could be his next victim, and she might end up in the gym with her throat slit and her heart cut out, just like the others. And even though she’s not exactly friendly toward me, I don’t want to see that happen to her.
When I slip back into my room, Chloe and Tara are both still asleep. That doesn’t surprise me, since it’s only three in the morning. It’s surprising how exhausting walking up and down a hallway is, but it really takes a lot out of you. Or maybe it’s just all the thinking I’ve been doing about everything.
Tara. The killer. Kaven. Being a Protector. My life. Nothing seems to make sense right now. The only thing I know for certain is that Selene thinks I’m meant to be a Protector, but nobody else seems to agree with her, and I can’t think of a way to change their minds.
I rearrange my blankets and pillow on the floor, and lean my head back. I’m kind of tired, but I know that with all of my thoughts swirling around my mind, sleep is going to be impossible. I’ll most likely spend the rest of the morning awake, worrying about what’s to come in the future hours.
Nobody but me, Tara, Jillian, and the other mentors know that sometime today the final murder is going to take place.
I wake up later, and the first thing I notice is that Tara’s already gone, and Chloe’s in the bathroom. She comes out, towel-drying her hair, and she smiles at me. “One of your friends came to collect Tara for breakfast. They’re gonna meet you down there.”
I stretch and yawn. “Huh. You know, I didn’t think I’d get anymore sleep after my patrol ended. I guess I was wrong. What time is it?”
“A little after eight. I was just about to wake you, but I thought I’d give you a little longer.”
I frown. “Are you going running?”
Chloe’s dressed differently than normal. Today she’s wearing track shorts, sneakers, and a tank top instead of her designer jeans and fancy tops. Her hair is even up in a sloppy ponytail. She nods once. “Yeah, why?”
“Chloe, are you crazy? There’s a killer on the loose and he’s looking for his final victim!”
“Would you relax, Kylie? I’m going with Andrea, and Morgan. A group of three will be safe enough. Besides, our run takes us right by the Protector’s barracks. You know where that is, right?” she asks with a smirk.
I narrow my eyes at her, but I’m glad she didn’t catch my mistake.
I’m almost at the door when she stops me. “Kylie? What did you mean by final victim? I mean, he could be looking for more than just three people to kill. Or do you know something I don’t?”
Dammit.
I take a deep breath. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Kylie? I’m your friend; you can trust me. You know that, right?”
I face her. “I shouldn’t say anything, but to be honest, I’m not sure what else to do at this point.”
“So confide in me. Confide in someone other than Tara for once.”
I close the bedroom door behind us, and lean in closer to her so that nobody in the halls will hear. “Alright, but as crazy as this sounds, I promise you every word of it is the truth.”
“Ok.”
“The person performing these ritualistic kills is listening to another goddess. He or she has stopped praying to Selene, and this person has to kill one more person by tonight, and then give their own blood, and that goddess will be able to cross over into our world and pretty much destroy everything.
“And the reason that Tara and I know this is because Selene visited us and told us that Tara has the perfect gift for this situation, for finding the killer. Then her daughter, Pandia, visited me in my dreams, and gave me a special gift.”
“What kind of special gift?”
“She kissed the inside of my right wrist, and now a silver crescent moon appears on my wrist to warn me of any nearby danger. It also tells me if Tara’s in danger. But it doesn’t tell me what the danger is, though I think I might have a clue.”
“Wait, you’ve already seen this mark?”
“Yeah, this morning during my patrol with Kaven. Andrea stopped to talk to us, and it started to burn. Tara read Travis’ mind in the gym that day, and found out that they’re sleeping together. So I’m thinking that Travis is having a bad effect on her or something. She might be a danger because of who she’s been associating with.”
Chloe nods. “I guess that makes sense. But are you sure they’re sleeping together?”
“Yeah. Tara got it from Travis’ mind.”
“How come she didn’t get it out of Andrea’s mind? You’d think her mind would be a lot nicer than Travis’.”
We reach the dining hall, and our conversation is cut short, but it leaves me thinking. Why couldn’t Tara get that information from Andrea’s mind?
Then it hits me. I remember the first time Tara ever mentioned Andrea to me. She told me that she wasn’t able to read her mind, and she wasn’t sure why.
Because she’s listening to another goddess!
I force myself to calmly sit down at our table, and I glance at Tara. She gives me a smile, but it falters slightly when she sees the look on my face. I touch her hand under the table, and hope she knows what I want her to do.
Andrea’s involved, Tara. She’s the only person here whose mind can’t be read!
She squeezes my hand tightly; she just realized the same thing I have. Andrea is definitely involved, even if she isn’t the killer. We have to watch both Andrea and Travis. If we catch them in the act, we can save someone’s life.
She nods slightly, and we go back to eating our breakfast. I keep my eyes on Andrea as discreetly as possible, and come away confused. She looks so calm and serene that for a minute I doubt she has anything to do with these murders.
Appearances can be deceiving, though.
After breakfast is done, I hold both Tara and Chloe back. When Tara gives me a questioning look, I have to tell her about my little slip. She’s not angry; she’s actually happy that we have someone else to brainstorm with. And when I tell her about my conversation with Andrea earlier this morning, she comes to the same conclusion I have.
“I can’t believe I didn’t realize sooner that Andrea has something to do with this. I mean, I was the one who told you that her mind couldn’t be read. How could I have forgotten that?”
“Don’t worry about it; I didn’t remember either.”
“So, what do we do now?” Chloe asks. “Are we gonna follow her around and try to catch her and Travis doing something bad?”
I think to myself for a minute. “Tara, you and Andrea have a lesson together later, so you two are gonna follow Andrea, and I’ll follow Travis.”
“You can’t do it alone!” Tara objects. “He’s a Protector.”
“And so am I,” I say, looking at her. “Tara, Selene believes in me, you should to. I’m gonna be fine. Besides, Carlos will be in the gym with us. Everything will be alright, I promise.”
The gym is full of Protectors and those still in training, and I glance at Travis as I walk by. He’s busy working a punching bag, and he barely registers me as I pass by. He just glares and goes back to his workout.
Kaven doesn’t smile when he sees me. He gives me a cu
rt nod, and motions to the mats. I drop and start my crunches without a word. This silence between us feels forced and unnatural; he wants to talk to me, he just doesn’t want to get yelled at or slapped again.
Finally, he speaks. “Kylie, I’m sorry, about everything that happened. You have to believe that I never meant for you to get treated this way. It was just supposed to be between me and Markus. I get that that doesn’t make it right, but I wanted you to know.”
“How many girls have you used like Tricia? How many girls did you keep around just for sex?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “None.”
“Bullshit. Everyone knew you two were hooking up. It meant more to Tricia than you though, didn’t it?”
He looks away, but I can tell by the angry set of his jaw and his clenched hands that I’ve pissed him off. Good, I think.
“It didn’t start out that way. Tricia was the most popular, gorgeous girl here, and she had the hots for me. I figured she’d be good girlfriend material, and I was wrong. She was rude, clingy, and violent whenever I spoke to another girl. I couldn’t put up with it.”
“So you refused to date her, but you were still having sex with her? What the hell is the matter with you, Kaven? Using somebody purely for sex is about the worst thing a guy can do to a girl.”
He snorts. “I thought the worst thing a guy could do to a girl was dragging her into a locker room to beat her and cut her hair. But you’re right. Compared to that, being used for sex is much worse.”
I swing my foot around, yanking Kaven’s feet out from under him. He crashes down to the mat and I straddle his waist, pinning his arms by his side. “What the hell is your problem?” I practically scream at him.
He rolls over, throwing me from his waist. I hit the ground hard, and he pins my arms above my head. “What’s my problem? I’m not the one that just attacked my training partner.”
I bring my knee up into his groin, and his eyes roll back and he groans. His grip on my arms loosens, and I shove him off, getting shakily to my feet. There are people in the gym watching us, but I don’t care, and I don’t think Kaven does either.
He gets to his feet slowly. “That was a cheap shot.”
“Any Protector knows to use her opponent’s weaknesses against him. It’s a shame you can’t do the same to me.”
He snorts. “What? You think you don’t have any weaknesses?”
“None that you can exploit!”
He moves so fast he’s practically a blur, and I finally remember that he’s twenty and a full-fledged vampire and Protector. One second I’m standing, and the next I’m being pinned against the wall, and Kaven’s glaring down at me. He looks so grown and mature that for a second I worry he might actually be able to hurt me.
But that’s not what he has in mind.
His eyes soften, and he relaxes his grip on my wrists, which are pinned to the wall above my head. “I know exactly what your weakness is.”
His head swoops in, and he presses his mouth to mine. For a second, I forget to breathe as Kaven’s hands move from my wrists to my waist, and he pulls me tightly against his chest. He’s very forceful, but not violent.
This kiss is much different than our other ones. Those were sweet, hesitant and passionate; this is angry and desperate. He pulls me even tighter, and I shove against his chest, but he either doesn’t notice or just doesn’t care.
He tries to force my lips to move with his, and I finally give in. When he pulls away, he frowns. “You do have a weakness, and it’s me,” he says, holding me close. “And that’s a problem. Protectors aren’t supposed to fall in love with those they protect, or with their comrades.”
“I bet that hasn’t been a huge problem before, seeing as I’m the first female Protector.”
He sighs. “I can think of a couple of cases where two male Protectors fell in love with each other. It never ends well, Kylie.”
I pull away from him. “I can see how it would be a problem. Those we protect are supposed to come first, always. And if I were to worry more about you than Tara, she could be hurt, or worse.”
He brushes a short strand of hair away from my face. “Kylie, I really didn’t mean to hurt you, and I didn’t want you to think I was using you. Because I wasn’t. The night of the dance, everything changed for me. It was supposed to just be a bet with Markus, but it didn’t end that way. I promise.”
I want to believe him, especially after that wonderful kiss, but I’m not sure I can. I know that he was having casual meaningless sex with Tricia, and I’m not that kind of person. Plus, I don’t want him to think that one kiss will make me forgive anything he’s done in the past, or will do in the future.
So I pull away from him.
He frowns, but doesn’t move to stop me. “I’m sorry, Kaven. There are a shit ton of things going on right now, and I just need time to think, about all of it. If you really meant what you just told me, you’ll understand that.”
He nods. “I do.”
I believe him. Kaven’s not an awful person; he just made a mistake. And even though he was really stupid about it, he was trying to help me. I can’t deny that. I just need some more time to forgive him, and right now probably isn’t the best time to be worrying about boys.
My wrist begins to itch, and I rub it, and turn to face him. “Everyone is looking at us,” I say, hoping that my cheeks aren’t as red as I think they are. The last thing I need is for people to start assuming that I get where I will by sleeping with people in charge.
He shrugs. “Let them. Besides, look at the bright side. Now everyone knows you’re not a “dyke”, right?” I smack his arm, and he laughs. “Well, if they see you with me, obviously they should think you’re not gay.”
My wrist begins to burn, and I glance down at it. The silver crescent moon is there, glaringly obvious even in the bright gymnasium lights, and I can’t believe I didn’t notice it sooner. Unfortunately, Kaven sees the mark as well, and he frowns. “Kylie, what is that?”
Ignoring him, I quickly look around the gym, and see people punching away at their training equipment. Nobody looks particularly dangerous, but I do notice that Travis is gone. That means he isn’t a threat to me. So what is the warning about?
Tara. It’s gotta be about Tara!
I turn and race for the entrance to the gym, not caring that everyone is watching me like I’m a lunatic. I don’t stop to listen to any remarks from people in the halls, and I don’t stop when Austin shouts my name.
I make my way through the hallways full of people, up to the third floor, and finally to Tara’s room. She’s supposed to be there waiting for me after fallowing Andrea, but somehow I already know that’s not the case.
When I throw open her bedroom door, nobody is there but Andrea. She’s lying on her bed, reading a book, but I can tell from her messed up hair and dirty clothes that she just got back from somewhere outside. She looks around her book at me and smirks. “Missing something?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Where is she?”
Her eyes widen in mock surprise. “What are you talking about?” she asks.
“Don’t play games with me!” I snap, slamming the door closed behind me. I step closer, and she shuts the book and sets it aside on her bedside table. “Where is she?”
“If you were half the Protector you think you are you’d already know, because you would have been by her side when I took her. But my guess is you were too busy flirting with Kaven, weren’t you? Is that what’s really important to you?”
“Nothing’s more important than Tara.”
She snorts in disbelief.
“If you don’t tell me where she is, Carlos will make you. I guarantee it.”
“I guarantee she’ll die if you tell anyone!”
I grab her shirt and haul her to her feet, slamming her against the wall. “If you hurt Tara, I will kill you.”
She laughs. “I don’t think you will. You don’t have what it takes to kill someone. You’re weak, and definitely
not what the first female Protector should be. But I guess that just shows how pathetic your goddess is for having chosen you!”
“My goddess is not pathetic! She’s powerful, loving, and honest. She has faith in me, just like Tara does. Just like I do, and–”
“Get out of my room. If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll make sure you never see Tara again. How would you like that?”
I glare at her, and release my hold on the front of her shirt. I want to push her for more information, because I don’t know where she’s holding Tara, or if she’s even still alive, but I can’t risk Andrea taking her anger out on her. So I back away from Andrea, and open her bedroom door.
“Oh, and Kylie? Don’t do anything stupid.”