CHAPTER 26
One of the benefits of being the smart girl in school is the opportunity to take a lot of independent study courses during junior and senior year. I have journalism right after lunch (during which I spent equal time working on the paper and sneaking glances at Clayton). Then the rest of the day I’m pretty much on my own. On Thursdays, I have Independent Study Literature right next to Independent Study Chemistry. And that meant that I could totally blow off English and spend a full two hours in the chemistry lab. (And, no, this wouldn’t raise any sort of red flags with the faculty. I meet with my advisor, Ms. Ralston, after school on Fridays to discuss my progress on my term paper. On Tuesdays and Thursdays—my official class time—she’s teaching grammar to the ninth-graders. I get a hall pass, a pat on the head, and the run of the school.)
With grades comes freedom. That’s my motto . . .
At any rate, as it turned out, I was the only one in the chemistry lab. (The other independent study kids are Jake Procter and Candy Matheson, and since they started going out, they tend to spend a lot of time “studying” in the backseat of Jake’s Beemer.) This was good news for me. Not only could I play my music (Train) as loud as I wanted, I could poke around and try to figure out my freaky Latin puzzle in peace.
The Latin copy was still at my house, hidden in my underwear drawer just in case my mom caught some rare virus and decided to suddenly take an interest in my life. I had the translation with me, though, and I was determined to make some headway. Chemistry, physics, history. I didn’t care. I was looking at it all.
Biology first. I figured that made sense, after all, since the message talked about the blood holding the truth “for he who would reveal it.” Or she, I thought, as I stabbed my forefinger with a pin.
Jenny walked in just as I did that. “Ouch! What are you doing?”
“Experimenting,” I said, squeezing a drop of my blood into a test tube. “Run next door and ask Mr. Jordan if I can borrow a microscope.” I didn’t hear her feet move, so I looked up, only to find her staring at me, one eyebrow raised and her arms crossed over her chest. “Please?” I added.
That made her happy, and she cut through the shared office space into the biology teacher’s room. I knew class was going on, but I also knew that Mr. Jordan lectured on Mondays, then gave out worksheets for the rest of the week. Which meant he was probably drinking coffee in the office area and Jenny should be returning right about . . .
Now.
“Got it,” she said, coming back in with one of the smaller microscopes. “Will this do?”
“We’ll see.”
While I set it up, Jenny went back for slides. When she returned, I smeared some of my blood on one and popped the slide onto the plate.
“What are you looking for?” she asked.
“I have no idea.” I mean, I’m smart, but I’m not that smart. And my blood looked like . . . well, blood. Maybe I could see a difference with the lab equipment, but under the microscope, it just looked like blood.
I looked up to face Jenny. “Give me some of yours.”
“Excuse me?”
“Hold out your finger,” I said wearily, brandishing a straight pin.
“No way.” She backed away, her finger held tight to her chest. “No way, no how, no go.”
“Don’t be such a baby. It’s only a prick.”
“It’s blood, Beth. As soon as you prick me, you’re going to go all fangy on me. And don’t even say you aren’t, because you know it’s true.”
Okay, maybe she had a little bit of a point there.
“Go do it outside and bring me back the slide.”
She gave me one of those looks, but I just shooed her out. She snatched the pin out of my hand and went. A minute or so later, she was back. “Here.”
I took it and compared her blood to mine. “I don’t see a thing,” I said.
“Nothing?”
“Nothing at all.”
“You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” Stephen’s deep voice filled the room, and Jenny and I sprang to attention. “Our blood is not the key to the riddle. In fact, it very clearly speaks of the master’s blood.”
“Thanks for the input,” I said snippily. “But from what I understand of vampires, we all have a little bit of the master’s blood.”
He moved toward me even as I moved backward, until I found myself smooshed up against the hard edge of a lab desk. “Believe me, Elizabeth,” he said, stroking his finger down my neck. “You don’t know half as much about vampires as you think you do.”
I sucked in air, fighting to keep from shaking. Mostly in rage, but, yes, a little bit in lust, too. Even now that I knew he was Evil Incarnate, I still had to admit that he was pretty dang hot. “If there are things I need to know,” I finally said, “then maybe you should tell me. Otherwise, I doubt I’m going to be much help.”
“And deny you the joy of learning? Elizabeth, I wouldn’t dream of it.”
And then, in an instant, he was gone. Moving so fast I could barely see him leave. I swear, if he’d had a black cape, he would have flipped it in my face.
What was that?” Jenny asked, her eyes wide.
“My master,” I said dryly. “Or hadn’t you heard?”