Chapter Fourteen

“Status report. Now,” Kevin said, glaring at all of us. I’d been stuck in this Council meeting room so many times lately that I was getting very sick of it, but this was the first time the others were with me. Ezra and Tanya kept their heads down, trying to remain inconspicuous. Holly looked bored as per usual, and Annie looked anywhere but at the Council in front of us. I had a feeling that she was going to try and deflect as much of the blame as possible. She was even angrier with me for disobeying her orders than she’d been when I kept Tabitha’s existence a secret from her.

I looked over at Finn, who was wearing nothing but a pair of faded blue jeans that someone had found for him. Even his feet were bare. Of course, that was to be expected when you exploded into a giant wolf on occasion. It wasn’t like your clothing just reappeared when you became human again.

He tucked his hands into his jean pockets and met Kevin’s steely glare with one of his own. He wasn’t the slightest bit intimidated by anyone on this Council, and he wanted to make sure they knew it. The only one he seemed willing to deal with was Marcel. “Well? What happened?” Marcel asked. “Explain everything.”

I sighed, knowing that once again everything seemed to be my fault and nobody else’s. “Tabitha made a visit to a preschool today with a group of zombies. Students and teachers were terrified. Police showed up to help control the crowd as frantic parents picked up their children and got them away from the school. Annie and I got to work releasing the spirits. Tabitha remained nearby and got a bunch of ghosts to besiege us. They kept distracting us, making it harder to complete our job. Finally, we were able to release all of the spirits trapped inside the zombies and deal with the ghosts.”

“Then what happened? Annie called and told me that some of the zombies had been reanimated a second time and that Finn had been injured.” Marcel’s gaze slid over to Finn. There was pink freshly healed skin along the back of his neck. In another hour or so it would be like the bite had never existed.

“I spoke with Tabitha. I asked her to give up her misguided plans for revenge. Even though she heard me out, in the end she refused. Tabitha won’t stop until she avenges Andrew’s death.”

“I believe Annie told you not to speak with her alone. How did you manage that with a bodyguard?” Lisa the witch asked, eyeing Finn with something that might have been mild annoyance.

“I begged him to let me speak to her alone. I know I shouldn’t have, but I had to do it. She’s my baby sister. She’s the only family I have left. I couldn’t just stand off to one side while she destroys her life and possibly takes out everyone with her. But she got mad, walked away, and reanimated some of the corpses with orders to attack. Finn protected me and was injured in the process.”

“You were injured too,” Tanya said quietly.

“Speak up,” Lisa the witch ordered.

Tanya fidgeted nervously. “Um, Ronnie was scratched by one of the zombies. It ripped a strip of flesh away from her arm with its nails. I healed her.”

“Well done, Miss Beach,” Lisa the witch said, actually sounding impressed. “I see you remembered that healing spell I taught you. Shame you only got to practice it under such a stressful situation. Keep practicing whenever you get the chance; even if it’s just a scratch or a jammed finger.”

Tanya nodded her head enthusiastically. I knew that healing was such an important thing to her. Her magic wasn’t by any means limited; she could create fire, call light, communicate with some forest animals, and even use her magic to glamour people into not seeing her wings or oddly colored eyes. But healing was her favorite thing to do out of all of it. She liked being able to take care of others and give back to them. It made her feel less dangerous.

“Why did you allow Tabitha to escape?” Kevin asked, sneering at me in his usual way. “You had an entire group of supernatural beings with you, and she still managed to get away.” His eyes slid over to Finn’s. “Perhaps you were too busy staring at her ass to do your job.” Ezra and Holly both lunged forward and latched onto Finn’s arms, keeping him from lunging at Kevin. Finn struggled with both of them and very nearly got free from their grasp. “Well, it looks like I touched a nerve,” Kevin said, smiling thinly. “You should really get a grip on that temper of yours.”

“Finn, stop! It’s not worth it,” I said urgently. I wasn’t sure what would happen to him if he managed to actually get away from them to attack one of the Council members, but I knew I didn’t plan on finding out. “Marcel, it was my fault that Tabitha got away, and I take full responsibility for it. I disobeyed Annie’s order and I shouldn’t have. I won’t do it again.”

“I should hope so,” Marcel said calmly. “Now, back to the business at hand. We’ve been searching for Tabitha’s current position, but she never stays in one place long. I don’t know how a fourteen year old girl is having so much luck evading us, but she’s doing a damn good job of hiding. We originally thought she was staying at Andrew’s old place, but we’ve since confirmed that’s not the case. She has another base of operations, and we’re not sure where it is, or how many people she has with her. It might just be her, but we can’t know for sure.”

The words base of operations sounded incredibly out of place when talking about a fourteen year old girl, and I tried not to let that bother me too badly. “Well, what happened to the rest of Andrew’s supporters? We didn’t get rid of them all, did we?” I asked. “I know that Finn took care of Diego, and there were a few more that didn’t survive the fight. But surely some of them got away. Right?”

“We’ve been searching for them as well, but it seems many of them have disappeared. Knowing the family she comes from, I wouldn’t put it past Tabitha to have killed them and used their bodies for her nefarious purposes. Zombies obey orders better than hired guns. We don’t know what to expect from her, and we have to prepare for the worst.”

I wanted to speak up and tell them that she was just a girl. A girl who was grieving for the loss of the only parent she had ever gotten to know. But I kept my mouth shut, because I knew it wasn’t entirely true. Tabitha was a cold-blooded bitch that would use any means possibly to get her revenge. It would be dangerous to underestimate her now, and the sooner I learned that, the safer me and my friends would all be.

“Ronnie, I understand that this whole situation is causing you a great deal of stress, and I know you’re still recovering from the loss of your mother, but you can’t dwell too much on your sister. She’s not capable of remorse, and she’s willing to do or say anything to get her revenge. You have to remember that,” Marcel said, as if he could somehow read my thoughts and feelings. “You have a good circle of friends; lean on them. I’m sure they’d be more than willing to help you.”

“Are we dismissed then?” I asked, locking my trembling hands behind my back where the others and the Council members wouldn’t see them shake.

“Yes,” Marcel said, nodding his head. “You are all dismissed. Except for you, Annie. I’d like a word with you.”

I flinched and looked away from Annie, unsure if she would direct her anger at me, or just choose to ignore me some more. When I looked up, Annie was glowering at me with pursed lips. “Give me the contact information from your ghosts. I’ll take care of it,” she said, grabbing the paper from me when I handed it over. Without another word, she turned her back to me, awaiting whatever the Council had to say to her.

Tanya put her hand on my shoulder, guiding me through the double doors and out into the hall. “Well, that went better than I thought it would,” she said, trying to smile. “I thought for sure they would chew us out for screwing up like we did.”

“No, Marcel is too fair to do that,” I said with a sigh. “If he weren’t there though, I’m sure Kevin would have punished us all. I’m not sure about Lisa the Witch though. She could go either way. I guess it depends on the day. You know, when I first met with that Council, I hated every single one of them. I was mad they were keeping me here against my will, but now that I’ve calmed down and seen the necessity for it, I’ve come to forgive them for their decision, even if Kevin and I will never see eye-to-eye. Or like each other.”

“He is a douche, isn’t he?” Holly asked, stretching her arms up over her head. Everyone chuckled over what she’d said while we walked down the empty hallway. “I think Kevin enjoys using his power a little too much. We should really keep a close watch on him in case he does anything to try and hurt Ronnie.” She glanced sideways at me. “He definitely does not like the fact that you have power over him, and I can see him doing something horrible to get rid of you.”

“Let’s not worry about that now,” Tanya said, obviously trying to lighten the mood a bit. “Let’s just head down and get something to eat. We didn’t get a chance to eat lunch before we had to speed off to take care of those zombies; I’m starving.”

I followed Tanya and the others on their quest to get some food, but I kept my head down, not participating in their conversation. I was too busy worrying about Tabitha and what I would have to do in the near future to talk about what movie we were planning to watch later. With everything going on, choosing between an action movie and a romantic comedy was not very high up on my list of things to care about. In fact, it was pretty much at the bottom. There were so many more important things on my mind right now.

Not only do I have Tabitha to worry about, I have Annie to worry about now. She’s clearly not planning to forgive me any time soon. What am I supposed to do about her problem with me? It’s not my fault the Council forbade me from telling anyone! I mean, I can understand if she’s mad I told Finn and not her, but she’s acting way out of line. She’s my teacher. She should be acting like it!

Finn’s hand brushed mine, and he pulled away a bit after mumbling some sort of apology I didn’t catch. And of course, now I had something else to think about too. As if the impending showdown between me and my little sister wasn’t bad enough, I also had to deal with the fact that I was potentially breaking Finn’s heart. That thought was an uncomfortable one, since I’d never been in the position to break someone’s heart before.

The only boy who had ever looked past my oddities long enough to date me hadn’t broken my heart, and I hadn’t broken his. We’d had an amicable split and had even stayed friends for a while after. But this position with Finn I now found myself in was a foreign concept to me. I had never considered the possibility that I might someday hold someone’s heart in my hand. That I might have the power to destroy that heart if I wanted to.

Is that really what’s going on though? Finn is many things, but a broken-hearted kind of guy isn’t one, is it? He can look at me with such tenderness and affection, and then just minutes later, he’ll be a cold, uncaring jerk. No matter what he feels, or says he feels, Finn can’t change. And the sad thing is…I wouldn’t want him too. But I can’t risk getting hurt anymore than I already have been.

I glanced up at Finn and was unsurprised to find him watching me. He grabbed a tray from a stack near the end of the line as he got into place behind me. Even though he was silent, I could tell he had something he wanted to say to me, and I had an idea of what it might be. His accusation at the school wasn’t sitting well with me, and I knew that he and I would need to sit down sometime and work things out once and for all.

God dammit, Ronnie. That’s not fair! You can’t refuse to give us a chance and then look at me like that just to get what you want. You can’t do that to me…

Those had been his exact words, and they haunted me now. Even though he had been incredibly pissed off at my apparent manipulation, there had also been so much pain in his eyes. Finn was changing from the guy I first met–which was strange, because normally I thought for sure he could never change–and he was becoming a much more open person. The others might not have seen it, but I did. I saw what was happening to him, and I saw how much it was bothering him to care.

You can’t do that to me…

Finn’s hand was firm at my back as he pushed me forward. “You’re holding up the line, Ronnie. There are other hungry people trying to get a late lunch.”

I grabbed my tray of food and turned away from the counter, looking for the table Tanya and Holly picked for the night. I found them at the very back table furthest from the door and the counter, and quickly made my way over. Finn was close behind me, but I noticed he took a seat beside Ezra, as far from me as the small table would allow. I wasn’t sure if the space he was deliberately putting between us hurt or if it was a welcome reprieve from all the feelings his mere presence forced me to acknowledge.

“Well, today sucked,” Holly said, sipping at the bottle of blood in her hands. She grimaced in disgust before setting it aside. “I hate that shit when it gets cold. Blood is only good when it’s fresh and warm.” She looked up and noticed all of us staring at her with varying levels of disgust. “Well, it is…”

“We’re trying to eat,” Tanya said, gesturing to the tray of food in front of her. “Please don’t be gross. We love you, but that doesn’t mean we wanna hear about your blood preferences.”

“Can’t you heat it up?” I asked, looking at the bottle as if it might reach over and bite.

“No. Once the blood cools, you have to either drink it or throw it out. If you reheat it, it’ll go bad and I would get sick from drinking it.”

I had never heard this before, and it was nice to talk about something other than our problems, even if it was a little gross to hear. “I didn’t know a vampire could get sick. I mean, you guys are like werewolves in that you can’t get STD’s, right? But you can get the flu?”

She shook her head and brushed back a long strand of dark hair. “No, we don’t get the flu. Our bodies are dead, but they run on the blood of others. We use that blood to sustain ourselves. If we drink bad blood, our body begins to shut down. We lose our ability to heal or handle the sunlight. If we don’t get good blood in us fast, our body begins to shrivel up and we die.”

“Drinking bad blood kills you?”

She nodded. “Yes, it does. Blood is very important for a vampire.” She eyed the bottle of cold blood with open disgust, before reaching for it with a sigh. She pulled the top up with her teeth and took a long sip. “Cold blood is better than bad blood,” she said as she licked a loose drop from her full lips.

Even though she had someone’s blood staining her lips, I couldn’t help but notice how incredibly beautiful Holly was. She had probably been beautiful as a human, but vampirism had surely increased her beauty. It wasn’t often that I saw a man not spare her a second glance. I’d even seen some straight women staring longingly after her, and it was weird to think that someone could be so incredibly beautiful that a person’s sexual orientation would mean nothing.

“You’re staring,” Holly said dryly, glancing at me out of the corner of her eyes.

“Sorry,” I said, ducking my head so she wouldn’t see me blush. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything.”

“You didn’t. I’m used to being stared at. Even before I was made a vampire, I was always attracting unwanted attention. Now I’m always the most beautiful person in the room, wherever I go, and everybody seems to notice.”

“Not many people would think being as beautiful as you are would be a bad thing,” I said quietly, knowing that in comparison to her, I probably looked like a dark-haired troll.

She looked at me as if she were surprised I could possibly think so. “I can’t even go for a walk without being catcalled or grabbed or besieged by men who just want one night with me. At first, I was flattered by the attention. I’d always been a somewhat vain person, and I liked to have people tell me I was beautiful. But it got old fast. Not all women fall under my spell, and those that don’t often give me nasty glances. I don’t know if they’re jealous of my beauty, or if they’re angry their husband stares as I walk by, or if they just somehow sense that I’m different.”

“Holly, many women would give anything to be as beautiful as you are. And you’re not just beautiful. You’re powerful and mysterious and dangerous. Your beauty gives you access to donors. It helps keep you alive, in a way.”

She shrugged her thin shoulders elegantly. “I guess. I’d still like to be less beautiful though. It would make it easier to talk to people if they weren’t always staring at my face as if I were some kind of goddess.”

Holly went back to sipping her blood while I started thinking again. I had never even considered the possibility that being beautiful might be seen as a curse and not a blessing. It just always seemed like life was much easier for beautiful women. Beauty was considered power. If you were beautiful, you could accomplish anything in life, and nothing would stand in your way.

I wonder how long Holly has had to live with this kind of adoration. I wonder if she’d be upset if I asked…

“You clearly have something you’d like to ask me,” Holly said, looking at me with the most beautiful brown eyes I had ever seen. “Ask it.”

“How long have you had to put up with this? I mean, I know you’re like sixteen physically, but–”

“You want to know how long I’ve been a vampire?” she asked, surprised. “I was made a vampire on the night of my sixteenth birthday, just over fifteen years ago. And I am sentenced to this hellhole until I get better control of my blood lust and my anger. Most vampires don’t take fifteen years to learn self control, but my maker was not interested in teaching me restraint. Instead, he used me to secure his victims.

“When the High Council found out what he was forcing me to do, they staked him, and left me here under Kevin’s tutelage,” she said with a chuckle. “It figures they would leave me with someone almost as horrible as my maker. I’ve learned very little from Kevin. He seems to be intent on forcing me to remain here. Perhaps in the off chance I come to desire him as much as he desires me.” She sneered at the thought, before looking over at me again. “Did that answer your question?”

I nodded my head. “Kevin is your mentor? The only person you have to really learn from?”

“There are a handful of other vampires here, but they’re all supposed to be learning control as well, and are incapable of helping. Kevin actually teaches them. Perhaps because they’re not as beautiful as me, and haven’t caught his fancy.” She looked over at me. “If I weren’t so beautiful, Kevin probably would have taught me and I would be free to live my life. I wouldn’t be confined to this hellhole, only allowed to go out when the Council needs me to help them with something.”

“That sounds terrible, Holly. I’m so sorry,” Tanya said, frowning. “Can’t you do something? Like petition the High Council to move you to another place? Or at least to find you another teacher? Surely they can’t expect you to learn anything here without a decent teacher.”

“In order for me to petition the High Council, I have to get this Council’s permission. Which will never happen because Kevin refuses to let me go, and Lisa Valentine doesn’t care. The only one sympathetic to my plight is Marcel, but he gets outvoted every time I bring it up.”

“You speak like you come from another time,” I said, not for the first time noticing how sophisticated she sounded when speaking.

“It’s a trait of most vampires. We tend to emulate the speech patterns of our makers. My maker happened to be an older gentlemen from long before my grandma was even born. He spoke in a very correct, depressing way. I guess that would be why I apparently sound depressed all the time.”

“Speaking of Marcel,” Ezra said, looking over Tanya’s shoulder. “Here he comes.”

Marcel ignored the stares of everyone around him as he made his way over to our table. His eyes found mine straight away, and he didn’t even acknowledge the others who sat with me. When I stared into his eyes, I found they were full of something that could only be described as pity. I knew instinctively that something was very wrong, and his next few words would have a huge, jarring impact on me. “Veronica, there’s something you have to see.”