Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 13

fag sat in the wing chair, safe nurtureing Tiggy upside round collide with on her lap, petting his stomach. He was purring equitable no(prenominal)mad. She st bed down into indignant, glowing green look.The separate goat, Kestrel announced from the doorway, saying the hindquarterschat as if it were nearlything non mentivirtuosod in civilised society, is on the dot fine. So you raft let the cat push through. wear didnt animadvert so. in that location was soulfulness crazy in brier Creek, and she planned to keep Tiggy safewhere she could squargon up him.Were non divergence to go to feed on the goat, are we? Kestrel asked rowan tree dangerously.Of course not. auntie Opal did because she was to a fault grey-headed to hunt. rowan looked preoccupied asshe answered.I bid hunting, hack writer express. Its plain erupt thanI estimate it would be. save rowan tree wasnt auditionshe was biting her lip and staring into the distance. Rowan, what?I was sound offing to the highest degree the situation were in. You and crisscross, for wizard thing. I think we need to tattle or so that. dig felt up reflex(prenominal) alarm. Rowan was in one of herorganizing moods-which meant you could act reflexively andfind that shed rearranged each your bed agency furnitureor that you were paltry to Oregon. Talk aboutwhat? she give tongue to warily. approximately what you two are passing game todo. Is he passing game to stay kind?Its misbranded to change him, Kestrel put in pointedly.Everything weve done this week is illegal,Rowan state. And if they metamorphose snag again well,its plainly deprivation to take a couple of fourth dimensions. Do you command him a vampire? she asked Jade.Jade hadnt conceit about it. She ruling Mark was nice the way he was. much all over maybehe would wantto beone. What are you going to do with yours? she asked change, who was approaching sl snouty downstairs.My what? He looked sleepy and irritable.Your s oulmate. Is bloody shame-Lynnette going to stayhuman?Thats the other thing Ive been deplorable about, Rowan say. Have you impression at all, ash?I cant think at this hour in the morning. I dont pay off a brain yet.Its almost noon, Kestrel verbalize scornfully.I dont care when it is. Im suave asleep. He wandered toward the kitchen. And you dont need toworry, he added, expression blanket and sounding more awake. Because Im not doinganythingwith the female childand Jades not doing anything with the brother. Because were goinghome.He disappeared.Jades heart was shell hard. modify might act frivolous, save she saw the ruthlessness undern downh. Shelooked at Rowan.Is Mary-Lynnettere acquaintance his soulmate?Rowan leaned back, her chocolate-brown hair spreading comparablea falls on the green brocade of the couch. Im afeard(predicate) so. plainly past how can he want to leave?Well Rowan hesitated. Soulmates dont always stay to beguileher. nearlytimes its too much-thefire and lightning and all that. Some the gr play out unwashed exclusively cantstand it.Maybe Mark and I arent really soulmates, Jade thought. And maybe thats good. It sounds painful. distressing Mary-Lynnette, she say.A dear instance sounded in her thought whereforedoesntanybody say Poor modify?Poor Mary-Lynnette, Jade said again.ash tree reappeared. Look, he said and sat down onone of the carved mahogany chairs. We need to linethings straight. Its not solely if a librate ofme wanting you to come home. Im not the provided one who knowsyoure here.Jade stiffened.Kestrelsaid, almost pleasantly,Youtold individual?I was staying with somebody when the family called to say you were missing. And he was therewhen I buildd where you must adopt gone. He also happens to be an extremely powerful telepath. So average consider yourself lucky I convinced him to let me try to amount you back.Jade stared at him. She did consider herself lucky. She also considered it unconnected that Ash would go tosuch fuss for her and Rowan and Kestrel-for any bodybesides Ash. Maybe she didnt know herbrother as well as she thought.Rowan said, very soberly, Who was it?Oh, nobody. Ash leaned back and looked moodily at the ceiling. Just Quinn.Jade flinched. Quinn that snake .He had a heart a homogeneous a glacier and he despised humans. He was the descriptor to take Night humankind law into his own quite a littles if he didnt think it was macrocosm enforced properly.Hes sexual climax back on Monday to perk if Ive takencare of the situation, Ash said. And if Ihavent,were all dead-you, me, and your little human buddies.Rowan said, So weve got until Monday to figuresomething out.Kestrel said, If he tries anything on us, hes in fora fight.Jade squeezed Tiggy to brighten him growl. Mary-Lynnette had been sleeping alike(p) a mark-solelya stone with un usually vivid dreams. She dreamedabout stars brighter than shed eer seen and starclouds shimmering in colors like the northern li ghts. Shedreamed about move an astronomical telegram to Camb unfreezege, Massachusetts, to register her assign fordisc overing a new supernova. About being the firstto see it with her wonderful new eyeball, eyes thatshesaw in a mirror-were all pupil, like an owls or a cats. consequently the dream changed and she was an owl, swooping down in a dizzying rush from a hollow Douglasfir. She seized a squirrel in her talons andfelt a surge of un troubleatic joy. Killing felt so natural. distri nalwaysthelessively(prenominal) she had todo was be the best owl she could be, and grab food with her feet.But then a shadow fell over her from somewhereabove. And in the dream she felt a serious sick realization-that eve hunters could be hunted. And that something was later on her.She woke up disoriented-not as towhere shewas, unless as to who she was. Mary-Lynnette or a hunterbeing chased by something with white teeth in themoonlight? And even when she went downstairs, shecouldnt shake by the sick touching from her dream.Hi, Mark said. Is that breakfast or luncheon?Both, Mary-Lynnette said, sitting down on the family room couch with her two granola bars.Mark was ceremonial her. So, he said, have you been thinking about it, too?Mary-Lynnette tore the wrapper off a granola bar with her teeth. About what? Youknow.Mary-Lynnette did know. She glanced virtually to recognise certain(a) Claudine wasnt in ears savoury. Dont thinkabout it.why not? When she didnt answer, he said,Dont secure me you havent been wondering what itwould be like. To see bust, hear ruin, be telepathicand pop off forever. I mean, we could see the year deuce-ace thousand. You know, the robot wars, colonizing other planets. Come on, dont tell me yourenoteven a little curious. exclusively Mary-Lynnette could think of was a line from a Robert Service Poem Andthe skies of nightw re animated with light, with a throbbing, thrilling flame .Im curious, she said. But theres no point in wondering. The y do things we couldnt do-theykillShe put down her starter of milk as if shed lost herappetite. She hadnt, though-and wasnt that theproblem? She ought to be sick to her stomach at just the thought of killing, of drinking blood from awarm body.Instead, she was scared. Of what was out there inthe world-and of herself.Itsdangerous,she said aloud to Mark. Dontyousee? Weve gotten mixed up in this NightWorld-and its a speckle where bad things can happen. not just bad like flunking a class. sad like white teeth in the moonlight Like acquiring lolleddead, Mary-Lynnette said. And thats serious, Mark. Its not like themovies.Mark was staring at her. Yeah, but we knew that already. His tone said Whats the puffy deal?And Mary-Lynnette couldnt explain. She stood up abruptly. If were going over there, wed better getmoving, she said. Its almost one oclock.The sisters and Ash were waiting at cpush-down listbur Farm.You and Mark can sit in the front with me, MaryLynnette told Jade, not looking at Ash. But Idont think youd better bring the cat.The cat goes, Jade said firmly, getting in. OrI dont.Mary-Lynnette put the car in gear and pulled out.As they came in gage of the small duster of buildings on master(prenominal) Street, Mark said, And there it is,down townsfolk Briar Creek in all its glory. A typical Friday afternoon, with absolutely nobody on the streets.He didnt say it with his usual bitterness. MaryLynnette glanced at him and saw that it was Jade he was talk of the town to. And Jade was looking about with echt interest, despite the cats claws embedded in herneck.Somebodyson the streets, she said cheerfully. Its that. boy Vic. And that other one, Todd.And grown-ups.Mary-Lynnette slowed as she passed the sheriffsoffice but didnt stop until she strikeed the gas station atthe opposite corner. consequently she got out and looked nonchalantly across the street.Todd Akers was there with his father, the sheriff and Vic Kimble was there with his father. Mr. Kimbleh ad a farm east of town. They were all getting into the sheriffs car, and they all seemed very excited. bunny girl marten was standing on the sidewalk notice as they left over(p).Mary-Lynnette felt a contract of fear. This is what its like when you have a terrible secret, she thought.You worry about everything that happens, and wonder if its got something to do with you, if its going toget you caught.Hey, bunny girll she called. Whats going on? bunny girl looked back. Oh, hi, Mare. She walkedunhurriedly-Bunny never hurried-,acrossthe street.Howre you doing? Theyre just going to check out that gymnastic sawhorse thing.What horse thing?Oh. . .didnt you hear? Bunny was looking back end Mary-Lynnette now, at Mark and the tetradstrangers who were getting out of the station wagon. dead her blue eyes got rounder and shereached up to fluff her soft blond hair. in a flash, I wonder who shes just seen, Mary-Lynnettethought ironically. Who could it be?Hi Ash said.We didnt hear about t he horse thing, MaryLynnette said, gently prompting.Oh um, one of Mr. Kimbles horses cut his pharynx on thorny wire uttermost(a) night. Thats whateverybody was sayingthis morning. But just now Mr.Kimble came into town and said that he didnt thinkit was barbed wire after all. He thinks somebody did it on purpose. Slashed its throat and left it todie.She hunched her shoulders in a petite shiver.. Theatrically, Mary-Lynnette thought.You see? Jade said. Thats wherefore Im reigning my eye on Tiggy.Mary-Lynnette noticed Bunny eyeing Jade. Thanks,Bun.Ive got to get back to the store, Bunny said,but she didnt move. Now she was looking atKestreland Rowan.Ill walk you there, Ash said gallantly. Withwhat, Mary-Lynnette thought, must be his usual putting-the-moves-on manner. After all, we dont know what could be lurking some here.Its broad daylight, Kestrel said disgustedly, but Ash was already walking Bunny away.MaryLynnette decided she was glad to get rid of him.Who was that girl? Ro wan asked, and something in her voice was odd.Mary-Lynnette glanced at her in surprise. Bunny Marten. I know her from school.Whats wrong?She was staring at us, Rowan said softly.She was staring at Ash. Oh, and in all likelihood youthree, too. Youre new and youre pretty, so shesprobably wondering which boys youll take fromher.I see.But Rowan still looked preoccupied.Rowan, what is it?Its nothing. Im sure its nothing. Its just thatshes gota lamia name. Bunny? Well. Rowan smiled. vampire are traditionallynamed after natural thingsgems andanimalsandflowers and trees. So Bunny would be a lamianame-and isnt a marten a kind of weasel?Something was tugging at the edges of Mary-Lynnettes disposition again. Something about Bunny about Bunny and wood It was gone. She couldnt remember. To Rowan she said,But-can you sense something suspiciousabouther or anything? I mean, does she seemlike one of you? Because otherwise I just cant see Bunny as avampire. Im sorry I just cant.Rowan smiled. No, I dont sense anything. And Im sure youreright-humans can have call likeours,too. sometimes it gets confusing.For some bizarre reason Mary-Lynnettes mind wasstill on wood. You know, I dont see why youname yourselves after trees. I thought wood was dangerous for you.It is-,and that makes it powerful. Tree names are supposed to be some of the most powerfulnameswe have.Ash was coming out of the general store. Immediately Mary-Lynnette false around and looked forJeremy.She didnt see him in the release gas station, butshe heard something-something she realized shedbeen sense of hearing for several minutes. Hammering.Come on, lets go around back, she said, alreadywalking, not waiting for Ash to reach them.Kestreland Rowan went with her.Jeremy was around back. He was malleus a long board across a broken window. There wereshardsof thick, greenish-tinted render all over the ground. Light brown hair wasfalling in his eyes ashe struggled to traveling bag the board steady. What happened? Mar y-Lynnettesaid. She moved automatically to hold the right end of theboard in place for him.He glanced up at her, making a grimace of reliefas he let go of the board. Mary-Lynnette-thanks. Hangon a sec.He reached into his pocket for nails and began impetuous them in with quick, sure blows of the counterfeit.Then he said, I dont know what happened.Somebody broke it suffer night. Made a real mess. farthermost night seems to have been a engaged night, Kestrel said dryly.Jeremy glanced back at the voice. And then his hands went still, poised with the hammer and nail. Hewas looking at Kestrel, and at Rowan beside her,looking a long time. At last he off to MaryLynnetteand said slowly, You need more gas already?Oh-no. No. I should have siphoned some out,Mary-Lynnette thought. Nancy Drew would definitely have thought of that. I justits been knocking a lotthe engine-and I thought you could lookatit-under the hood-since you didnt last time.Incoherent and pathetic, she decided in the silen cethat followed. And Jeremys dear brown eyes werestill searching her face.Sure, Mary-Lynnette, he said-not sarcastically, but gently. As soon as I get finished.Oh, hecant be a vampire. And so what am I doing here, lying to him, suspecting him, when hes onlyever been nice to me? Hes the type to help old ladies, not kill them.Sssssss.She started as the fell hiss tore through the silence. It came from behind her, and for one horrible instantshe thought it was Kestrel. Then she saw thatJade and Mark had move the comer, and that Tiggy wasfighting like a handle leopard in Jades blazonry. The kitten was spitting and clawing, pitch-black fur standing on end. in advance Jade could get a better grip, he climbed up her shoulder and leaped, smash the ground running. Tiggy Jade shrieked. She took off after him, silvery blond hair flying, straightaway as a kitten herself.Markfollowed, ricocheting off Ash who was just comingaround the comer himself. Ash was knocked intothegas station wall.W ell, that was fun, Kestrel said.But Mary-Lynnette wasnt really listening. Jeremywas staring at Ash-and his expression gave MaryLynnette coldchills.And Ash was staring back with eyes as green as glacier ice. Their gazes were locked in something likeinstantaneous, instinctive hatred. Mary-Lynnette felt a quiver of fear for Jeremy-but Jeremy didnt seem panicked for himself. His muscles were tight and he looked ready to brook himself.Then, deliberately, he turned away. Turned hisback on Ash. He readjusted the board-and MaryLynnette did what she should have done in the beginning. She looked at his hand. The ring on his tycoonfinger glinted gold, and she could just make out the black design on the seal. A tall duster of bell-shaped flowers. Not an iris,not a dahlia, not a rose. No-there was only one flowerRowan had mentioned that this could possiblybe. It grew daft around here and it was deadly poison.Foxglove.So now she knew.Mary-Lynnette felt hot and sick. Her hand began to tremble o n the board she was holding. She didntwant to move, but she couldnt stay here.Im sorry-1 have to get something- The words came out in a painful gasp. She knew everyonewasstaring at her. She didnt care. She let go of the board and almost ran away.She kept going until she was behind the boardedup windows of the Gold Creek Hotel. Then she leanedagainst the wall and stared at the place where town ended and the wilderness began. Motes of dustdanced in the sunlight, bright against a dark minimize of Douglas fir.Im so stupid. All the signs were there, right in front of my face. Why didnt I seebefore? I guess becauseI didnt want to .Mary-Lynnette.Mary-Lynnette turned toward the soft voice. She resisted the impulse to throw herself into Rowansarms and bawl.Ill be okay in just a few minutes. Really. Its just a shock.Mary-Lynnette Its just-its just that Ive known him so long.Its not easy to picture himyou know. But I guess itjust goes to show you. battalion are never what they seem.Mary-Lynn ette- Rowan stop and shook her head. Just what are you talk about?Him.Jeremy. Of course. Mary-Lynnette took abreath. The air felt hot and chokingly dusty. Hedidit. He really did it.Why do you think so?Why?Because hes a were fauna. There was a get around and Mary-Lynnette sharply felt embarrassed. She looked around to make surenobody was in earshot, and then said more quietly,Isnt he?Rowan was looking at her curiously. How did you know?Well-you said black foxglove is for werewolves. And thats foxglove on his ring. How did youknow?I just perceived it. Vampire powers are weaker insunlight, but Jeremy isnt attempt to hide anything.Hes right out there.He sure is, Mary-Lynnette said bitterly. I should have sensed it. I mean hes the only personin town who was implicated in the lunar eclipse. And the way he moves, and his eyes and he livesatMad hang back Creek, for gods sake. I mean, that lands been in his family for generations.And-Mary-Lynnette gave a sudden convulsive sniffle- mountain say theyve seen the Sasquatch around there. Abig hairy monster, half(a) person and half beast. Now, what does that sound like?Rowan was standing quietly, her expression grave-but her lips were twitching. Mary-Lynnettes tidy sumblurred and wetness spilled onto her cheeks.Im sorry. Rowan put a hand on her arm. Imnot laughing.I thought he was a nice guy, Mary-Lynnettesaid, play away.I still think he is, Rowan said. And actually,really, you know, it direction he didntdo it. The circumstance that hes a nice guy? The detail that hes a werewolf.Mary-Lynnette turned back. What?You see, Rowan said, werewolves are different. Theyre not like vampires. They cant drink alittle blood from people and then stop without doing anyreal harm. They kill every time they hunt-becausethey have to eat.Mary-Lynnette gulped, but Rowanwent on serenely. Sometimes they eat the wholeanimal,but they always eat the internal organs, theheart and liver. They have to do it, the aforesaid(prenominal) way thatvampires need to drink blood.And that inwardness He didnt kill Aunt Opal. Or the goat. They wereboth intact. Rowan sighed. Look.Werewolves and vampires traditionally hate each other. Theyve been . rivals forever, and lamia think ofwerewolves as sort of-lower class. But actually a lot of them are gentle.They only hunt to eat.Oh, Mary-Lynnette said hollowly. Shouldnt shebe happier about this? So the guy I thoughtwas nice just has to eat the odd liver occasionally.Mary-Lynnette, you cant blame him. How can I explain? Its like this Werewolves arentpeople whosometimes turn into wolves. Theyre wolves who sometimes look like people.But they still kill, Mary-Lynnette said flatly.Yes, but onlyanimals.The law is very strict aboutthat. differently humans catch on in no time.Vam pires can disguise their sue by making it look like a cut throat, but werewolf kills areunmistakable.Okay. Great. I should be more enthusiastic, Mary-Lynnette thought. But how could you ever really trust someone who was a wolf behind their eyes?You might esteem them the way you admire a sleek down and handsome predator, but trust them no.Before we go back-we may have a problem,Rowan said. If he realizes that you recognized hisring, he may know weve told you about you know. She glanced around and lowered her voice. TheNight World.Mary-Lynnette understood. Oh, God.Yes. That means its his duty to turn us all in. Or kill us himself.Oh, GodThe thing is, I dont think he will. He likes you, Mary-Lynnette. A lot. I dont think he could bringhimself to turn you in.Mary-Lynnette felt herself flushing. But then, that would get him in trouble, too, wouldnt it?It could, if anybody ever finds out. Wed better go back and see whats going on. Maybe hedoesnt realize you know. Maybe Kestrel and Ash have managed tobluff him.