Pearl obeyed. Grabbing a fistful of Pearl’s hair, Minerva tilted Pearl’s head. Minerva leaned close, her fangs extended. Pearl ceased breathing. She felt the tips of Minerva’s fangs brush across the skin of her neck. In her head, she knew the venom wouldn’t affect her—nature’s way of protecting the predators from one another—but her body hadn’t received the memo. Every muscle screamed at Pearl to move or fight. She held the pose by sheer willpower.
Minerva withdrew.
“After he drinks from each of you, the king will fill a goblet with his own blood, which his servant will carry to each vampire at the ceremony, both new vampires and old,” Minerva said. “Be aware that through all of this, you must never turn your back on your king.” She nodded at Pearl. “Demonstrate for us, please, my dove. Return to the line.”
Pearl wiped her face of any emotion, and she wiped her mind of any thought. She concentrated every ounce of energy on retreating backward smoothly. Once in line, she allowed a thought she’d never had before to slip into her mind:
She wished for dawn.
Chapter
TEN
Steel-toed boots clicking on the linoleum, Pearl strode through the high school halls. Students fell into step behind her, as if she were a Goth Pied Piper. By the time she reached her locker, she had a train of a dozen guys and girls. They joined the cluster of humans who were waiting for her arrival, which included the two wannabe hunters.
“Yo, Pearl,” Chubby said.
“Really?” Tall said to him. “Did you just say ‘yo’? No one says ‘yo.’”
“I mean, yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate’s life for me.”
As she opened her locker, Pearl wondered whether it would be socially acceptable to hose down the humans around her. She smelled a mix of deodorant and sour perfume. The worst was the spicy sour odor that emanated from the two wannabe hunters. They must have doused themselves in body spray, a stench far worse than the normal human smell. At least the normal odor didn’t ruin her appetite.
“Love to chat, boys,” Pearl said. “But I have class.”
“I’m in your history class and your English class,” a girl with an orange shirt said. “I l-loved what you said to Mr. Barstow. He’s a b-bully. You were really brave. My name’s Melody.” She held out her hand for Pearl to shake. Gingerly, Pearl shook it. Perhaps she could invest in some Clorox wipes.
“Dude, we have been utterly remiss in our function as guides,” Tall said. “She needs names.” The two of them proceeded to rattle off a string of human names while pointing to the people in a semicircle around Pearl’s locker. “Casey, Alyson, James-don’t-call-him-Jim, Girl with the Tattoo, Bill or Bob or Buddy, Zoe, That Guy, That Other Guy, Mackenzie, Hannah, Emma Z., Emma C., and Emily. . .” Each of them waved. One of the nameless guys piped up with his own name, but Tall cut him off. “Whatever, dude. You can’t expect her to remember everyone. It’s her second day. Lay off.”
Chubby leaned closer and said, “Want us to clear them out for you?”
Pearl held up her hand to stop them. “Do you two have names?”
Tall smacked himself on the forehead. “Idiots.”
“Appropriate,” Pearl said.
Chubby executed a deep bow. “I’m Matt, and this is my trusty—”
“If you say ‘steed,’ I’m kicking your ass,” Tall said. “My name’s Zeke.” He mimicked Matt’s bow.
From behind her, Pearl smelled a deep musky scent that caused her fangs to ache. Someone smelled like breakfast. She turned to see that it was Evan.
He smiled at her. “Good morning, Pearl. Are the idiots bothering you?”
Crap, he looked even better than she remembered. Today he’d paired khakis with a white T-shirt, which showed off his delicious arms. As much as she wanted to drool, she had to stay focused. She had an audience. “I believe it’s their mission in life,” Pearl said.
He considered that. “Most likely,” he said. He leaned against the lockers, seemingly oblivious to the audience of other students or his effect on her. “So, what’s yours?”
She blinked at him. She’d thought she’d been paying attention to the conversation, not the lovely way his chest rose and fell as he breathed, but she’d missed the leap to his question. “Sorry?”
“Your mission in life,” Evan said. “Why are you here? Not at your locker. But here here, life here.” He looked utterly sincere with his black eyes clear and bright.
For a brief second she imagined telling the truth, and that thought made her smile.
Coming up behind Evan, Bethany poked him in the shoulder and said, “No existential questions before nine a.m.” Bethany flashed Pearl a smile. “Morning, Pearl! Wasn’t that third calc problem a killer? I think I have it, but I barely slept last night.” She looked remarkably perky for barely sleeping. In fact, she reminded Pearl of a very alert squirrel.
“I didn’t look at it,” Pearl admitted. “Family stuff.”
Bethany’s mouth formed an O. “But . . . but it’s not optional.” If she could have started to chitter like a squirrel, Pearl bet she would have. It was somewhat amusing to watch the shock play across her features.
“This is all new to her,” Evan reminded Bethany.
Sympathy spread over Bethany’s face. Her moods were so fascinatingly transparent, passing over her face like clouds across the sky. No vampire was ever as readable as this girl. It was as if she’d never encountered the concept of guile. “I’ll tutor you,” Bethany said. She said it in a poor-lost-lamb voice.
“I’d be happy to tutor you as well,” Evan said.
At first Pearl wanted to turn down the offer. She did not need instruction from humans. But then she reconsidered. So far, it had proved impossible to be alone with a student at school for long enough to feed. Maybe she would have better luck with after-school tutoring. “Sounds lovely,” Pearl said. She met Evan’s eyes. He had warm eyes, the kind that sparkled as if he were inwardly laughing all the time. She didn’t intimidate him, she realized. The majority of other humans in the crowd around them wore semiawed expressions, as if she were a rock star, but Evan didn’t.
“Oh, you don’t want Evan to tutor you,” Bethany said. “He’s one of those annoying people who never need to study. Facts just stick in his brain. It’s like he has fly traps in there instead of neurons.”
“You’re the better tutor?” Pearl asked. She couldn’t help being amused.
“Not that he’s bad. But I alphabetize my notes.”
“All right. How about after school at your house? You can drive us there in your lovely lunch-box minivan, and I can call my parents to come pick me up when we’re done,” Pearl said. That should work out perfectly. To Evan, she said, “Sorry. Bethany’s pitch was better.”
Bethany beamed at her.
“Hey, we can tutor you too!” Matt chimed in.
Pearl patted his cheek. “You’ll all have your chance. Don’t worry.”
Evan continued to lean against Pearl’s locker. She wondered what it would take to faze him. Fangs in his neck? Pinch on his ass? Her gaze drifted down to his jeans, and she forced her eyes up as he said, “As a consolation prize, any chance you could give me the name of your parents’ mechanic?”
She froze. What had her parents done?
“Ashlyn’s car,” he said. “It’s fixed.”
She tried not to let any expression register on her face. Daddy had called in a favor. Pearl wondered if this meant she was in his debt, or if it was merely a thank-you for the treat of Ashlyn’s parents. She hoped the latter.
Zeke whistled low. “Queen Ashlyn could use some fixing too.” He nodded across the hall toward Ashlyn’s locker. Pearl followed his nod and saw the bottle blonde propping herself up against the lockers. Her hair lay stringy on her cheeks, her face was sunken and pale, and her eyes had circles so deep and dark that they looked like bruises. She really, really didn’t look that great. Not that Pearl cared, of course. It was just that . . . She’d never seen a meal on the morning after. She w
asn’t sure what bothered her about it. Maybe it was that she had expected to snack on Ashlyn first. Now the girl was leftovers.
Others seemed to sense it too. Pearl noticed that Ashlyn’s flock was clustered at a nearby locker. Ashlyn was on the fringe, not quite listening, as one of the brunettes babbled at the center of the clump. The brunette laughed, a silvery peal that echoed off the cement-block walls.
Pearl looked away from the bedraggled prom queen and her successor and said, “Gotta go listen to Mr. Barstow’s monologue.” Pearl’s own court fell into step around her, and they swept past Ashlyn to class.
Pearl managed to make it through several classes without incident. (Go me, she thought.) She was aided by the fact that she was bone-tired exhausted. Her headache had returned, and it occurred to her that she might have to up her intake to two pints a day if she was going to skip sleep. Her body hadn’t had a chance to recharge. Luckily, she had her tutoring session with Bethany to look forward to. She could indulge then.
Last period of the day was new: gym class. According to her trusty schedule, she had it twice a week, and it was her only class that didn’t include Evan, which was a relief. For forty-seven minutes, she wouldn’t have to worry about his scent causing her fangs to poke out. She didn’t know why he, out of all the humans, had such an effect on her, but it was annoying. She should be functioning at peak concentration, but he and his luminous eyes kept distracting her. First opportunity I have, she thought, I’ll bite him.
Leading the way to the locker room, Bethany bounced like an overeager puppy. Pearl tuned out the bulk of her chatter until Bethany stopped at the locker room door and announced, “Here we are, the portal of pain and misery.”
“You don’t like gym?” Pearl asked. So far, Bethany had loved every class they had. She cradled her textbooks as if they were babies, and she treated her notebooks like kittens.
Bethany shook her head vigorously. “Really bad asthma. And a fear of objects flying at me at high velocities. But I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
Unsure whether Bethany was serious or not, Pearl chose not to reply. Instead, she pushed the door open. Inside, she saw row after row of gray lockers, topped by posters of athletic humans chowing on fruits and vegetables. She entered the locker room and was engulfed in a cacophony of babble. In between each set of lockers, students chattered as they stripped off their school clothes and stepped into shorts and T-shirts.
Pearl paused, transfixed, as a brunette tied her hair back into a ponytail. As the girl swept her hair away from her neck, Pearl was acutely aware that she hadn’t eaten since the stale blood before Minerva’s class last night.
“Hey, new girl!” a woman called, interrupting her middrool.
Honestly, humans had no manners. That was not a way to greet a member of the Family. She fantasized about teaching them all manners, Minerva-style. Pearl pasted a pleasant smile on her face with her lips closed to cover her partially exposed fangs. “Yes?”
“You need gym clothes.” The woman scooped a few items of clothing out of a cardboard box. “Here, these are from the lost and found. Bring your own tomorrow. Shorts must be no higher than six inches above the knee. No logos on the T-shirts. White socks. Sneakers. You go down a half letter grade each time you’re unprepared for class.”
“Very well,” Pearl said.
The woman tossed her the wad of clothes. Pearl’s hand shot up, and she caught the clothes without moving the rest of her body. The woman blinked at her. Raising her voice, she said, “Everyone, I want you outside and stretching in three minutes.” Her eyes lingered on Pearl for an instant, and then she exited the locker room.
Stepping into the aisle with the long-haired brunette, Pearl changed into the shorts and T-shirt. The clothes stank of human, and she cringed as the fabric touched her skin. She’d need another thorough shower tonight. Lacking sneakers, she happily left her beloved boots on.
“You should do something about your hair,” the brunette advised. “Here, take an elastic.” She handed Pearl a bright pink hair elastic. “Coach doesn’t like hair in the eyes. It’s easier to put it back yourself than to have her ‘help.’”
Pearl tied her hair into a ponytail. She was immensely grateful that Jadrien slept during the day. At least no one would see her like this. No self-respecting vampire wore a ponytail. She imagined Aunt Lianne in a gym outfit and pigtails and nearly laughed out loud. “Thank you,” she said. She eyed the girl’s long golden neck and made a mental note to befriend her soon. “I’m Pearl.”
“Tara,” the girl said.
Coming around the corner of the lockers, the bottle-blonde Ashlyn said to Pearl, “Oh, it’s you.” Close up, Ashlyn looked even worse than she had across the hallway. Her shoulders sagged, her skin was pale, and her breath sounded shallow. Listening, Pearl heard the beat of her heart, a shade too fast. “Guess I should thank you for the car,” Ashlyn said without much enthusiasm.
“You’re welcome,” Pearl said, but she couldn’t stop staring at Ashlyn’s hollow eyes. She wondered how much blood her parents had taken.
“Tara, can you tell Coach that I went to the nurse’s office?” Ashlyn asked. “I’m feeling less than my divine self. Just need to lie down for a while.”
“Oh, sweetie, you look terrible!” Seeing the two of them together, Pearl recognized Tara as the brunette from Ashlyn’s entourage. She was the one with the silvery laugh who’d taken center stage by the lockers.
“Your tact is overwhelming,” Ashlyn said.
Pearl watched Ashlyn shuffle out of the locker room. It was very disconcerting to see the aftereffects of a bite. Maybe she could limit her victims to students who weren’t in her classes.
Dismissing Ashlyn from her mind, Pearl joined the rest of the gym class outside on the field. She noticed that the other girls were shivering in the not-quite-spring air. Most had goose bumps on their bare arms and legs. She didn’t feel any chill, of course. She faked a shiver (just to fit in), and then she lifted her face toward the wonderful sun and inhaled to her full lung capacity. So glorious to be outside again!
Clipboard in hand, the coach (who, as far as Pearl could tell, had no other name) took attendance. She paused at Ashlyn’s name, and Pearl toyed with the idea of telling the truth: Ashlyn had to go to the nurse’s office due to the effects of vampiric blood loss.
Tara spoke up, “Ashlyn went to the nurse’s office.”
Coach pursed her lips, and another student spoke up, “Yeah, Ashlyn has been out of it all day. She even drooled in the middle of history. It was so disgusting.”
Half-awkward laughs spread around Pearl.
“She was vomiting in the bathroom all morning,” Tara said. She hit a note right between concerned and disapproving. “Food poisoning is my guess. If it’s an eating disorder, she’s doing a terrible job hiding it.”
Others around her nodded wisely, and a few laughed outright. Pearl realized what she was seeing: a shift in power. Ashlyn had shown weakness, and others were jockeying for her position. She wondered how malleable the social hierarchy was and how far Ashlyn would tumble. Mildly, Pearl said, “I’m sure Ashlyn will be comforted to know she has supportive friends thinking of her.”
The snickers died instantly.
Tara nodded as if she were the paragon of supportive friends.
Pearl noticed that Bethany was watching her with a strangely calculating expression on her face. But as soon as Pearl met her eyes, Bethany brightened like a lightbulb. Pearl wondered why she’d felt the need to defend Ashlyn. Obviously, it wasn’t guilt. Vampires didn’t feel guilt. It had to be scientific curiosity: If she poked at the hierarchy, would it collapse?
“Enough, ladies,” the coach said. “Start running. I want to see those legs pumping. Once around the football field. I’m timing you.” She took out a timer and waved it in the air.
A groan swept through the ranks, and everyone shuffled into a jog. Pearl kept to the center of the pack, determined to not stand out. Beside her, Bethany puffed lik
e an out-of-shape hamster in a wheel. After a few minutes Pearl let her fall behind. Others lagged behind too. By halfway around the field, more than half the girls had slowed to a stroll. Unwilling to slow, Pearl matched the pace of the student at the front of the pack, a long-legged girl whose ponytail bounced with the rhythm of her steps. Pearl considered striking up a conversation, but the girl was focused on the grass in front of her. Plus it was so nice to simply run.
Pearl felt the wind in her face, cool and caressing, and she felt the sun on her back. Lengthening her strides, she wished the field were miles long. Unfortunately, she had only one more turn before she’d be back with the coach and back to the game of fooling humans.
Pearl rounded the turn.
On the opposite side of the school parking lot, between the pine trees, she saw a flash of shimmering white. Pearl slowed. That white . . . She’d seen it once before. Her hand flew to her chest.
She stared at the trees as if she could will it to appear again. Distantly, she heard the coach yell. She ignored the coach, and she ignored the girls who jogged past her. She walked toward the chain-link fence that surrounded the field.
The unicorn stood between the trees.
A millisecond later it was gone.
Pearl vaulted over the fence and ran after it.
Chapter
ELEVEN
Ignoring the shouts of the coach and the other girls, Pearl pounded through the parking lot. She ran directly over the cars in three strides each: trunk, roof, hood. Her boots dented the metal roofs. As she impacted on the hoods, car alarms blared.
In seconds she reached the trees. She scrambled up the bank and through the underbrush. Branches snagged her hair and scratched her skin, but she ignored them.
“Okay, Mr. Sparkly-and-Pointy, which way did you go?”