Page 19 (1/2)

Savannah

Shock held ain, I ran down the stairs after the guys as fast as I could Needles of pain burst over h explosions of fireworks, faded away, then returned The guys were fighting with ic

I shoved open the foyer doors and ran outside in tirab the cao after hi on the cement ramp I ran to hi to swell, and the knuckles on his right hand were cut and bleeding

"Tristan, are you okay?" Kneeling, I lifted his head

"Savannah, the grass"

He didn&039;t appear to be that beat up, yet he couldn&039;t see?

"Where are you hurt?" I asked, trying to stay cal

"Get rass," he whispered

Huh? "I shouldn&039;t move you"

"Please"

Maybe the ce him I didn&039;t understand, but it didn&039;the asked as long as it helped

Moving to his head, I grabbed hirass I hadn&039;t thought I&039;d be able to budge him But it turned out not to be nearly as difficult as I&039;d expected Maybe because he pushed with his feet to help

As soon as I got hiround I landed on h I cradled his head in my lap "Is this better?"

He nodded, spread his hands palan alonget soy"

"That&039;syou?"

He nodded

"Oh It&039;s okay, then, keep going"

The prickling returned, grew, sharpened to tiny needles stabbinght back a whier

He rolled up halfway, and the sensation stopped as if he&039;d hit a switch Twin handprints of burned grass marked where his hands had just been He turned towardaway tears I hadn&039;t realized I&039;d cried "I&039;one?"

I nodded, leaning into his hand I was just relieved that he was okay

"Did he get the memory card? I dropped it around here somewhere"

I looked around us, but in the dark I couldn&039;t see anything "I don&039;t know I can&039;t see it"

He cursed "I should have held on to it-"

"He was hitting you Don&039;t worry about it" Gripping his wrist near my face, I closed ht now" I sighed through ood Maybe it was Tristan&039;s cologne

"Are you wearing a new cologne today?" I said, drawing inscent

"Uh, no" He sounded a little aood"

"Oh, no, no ot us in this mess"

I should be upset at his words But all I could focus on was how good he smelled He seemed positivelylickable I turned my face toward his hand still onme want to moan

I reached up to hold his hand and studied it "Ouch Your knuckles are bleeding"

"Yeah, I busted theh Listen, if he did find the memory card, I don&039;t think he&039;ll really send those pics to your family His problea with all other sounds except the solid, strong thud of his heart

I brought his wounded fingers to leflavor exploded across ue pie, rocky-road ice cream and apple pie a la mode combined But better A million times better I could live on this flavor for the rest of my life and die happy I kissed the next knuckle on his hand, and the flavor filled ain, just a sip of pure heaven to tease and tantalize and drive me mad with need for more

I could sell my soul without hesitation for a cupful of this taste

"Savannah? Savannah!" Tristan pulled his hand frorasp, and I nearly wept, the loss was that intense The scent faded away, the taste onit

Despair swamped me, and I buried my face in my hands in an effort to hold it in It was either that or screa breaths of clean air to clear like effects But I couldn&039;t clear out the ue

Slowly, reason seeped back in until I couldn&039;t understand why I&039;d lost control in the first place Theain

What in the world had just happened?

"Savannah, are you okay?"

Was I? I&039;d kissed his wounded hand, and then

I glanced at his hand, at his bloody knuckles The taste in my mouth, surely it couldn&039;t be

A bead of blood still shone on his split lip Unable to believe I was really doing it, I reached up, stroked a thuht my thumb to my mouth And like before, that sa out every other sense, hollowingaway everything I was, so only the craving was left But this tihth-pitched like nails drawn across a thousand chalkboards, screeched fro my attention

The watchers, just ten yards away on the opposite side of the road, bared their teeth and fangs at s Ohhh, holy crap

I shot to ether in a blur

"Savannah What&039;s wrong?" Tristan stood up beside h me

"The watchers They just hissed at me then took off"

"And before that? You completely zoned out on me"

"I" I could not tell him about this, could never admit what seemed too horrible for even o ho orse than just lick the blood off his fingers I fumbled in my jacket pocket, found the teaet too close to hiht now?"

I nodded, but even that tiny movement threatened to shatter my self-control

"Well, at least let me walk you-"

"No! I can&039;t I&039; in the side of his neck, right there beneath the thin, breakable surface of his skin

How easy would it be to cut that skin? Just a little nick, and then

Oh, my God

Unable to say another word, total loss of control seconds away, I turned and ran for my truck The key scratched around the keyhole before I could get the door unlocked I threw li toward me as I sped away He looked upset, confused, but okay

He would be okay now The watchers were gone Tristan obviously wasn&039;t weak any after me And since I&039;d left, he would be safe froht for insanity all around apparently I ran after Savannah, reaching the parking lot in time to see her truck fishtail out the exit in a flurry of spitting gravel and squealing tires Wow, she&039;d gotten to her truck fast

Slon, Sav, please I willed her to hear et into a wreck if you don&039;t

I&039;d have to go after her andback into the sports and art building, I crossed to the far end of the entrance hall and slapped a hand over all four light switches at once, plunging the foyer into darkness I would lock the foyer doors, too That should be enough to keep out any vandals Later I&039;d corab our things But only after I h the s at either side of the foyer doors, lighting ht even catch up to Savannah before she got home Then we could talk about whatever had freaked her out so badly

A sharp sting stabbed at the side of my neck, and the world went black

Savannah

I had to pull over I couldn&039;t see the road through my tears

It had finally happened I&039;d felt the bloodlust That was the only explanation for it

No denying it noas turning into a full-fledged vaer From me

I didn&039;t have any excuses any with ed to dial his cell Only to reach his voice ht hear it

When I couldn&039;t cry any ed into the house

"Savannah, your father finally called again," Nanna said as soon as I shut the front door

"What? Did he leave a-"

"On the hall table by the phone"

I ran for the phone and number Oh, please, let him have a solution for all of this!

He answered on the first ring

"Dad!" The relief was so sharp it was alet how e of ht still be a spy for the council, but at least he had the answers I needed to fix everything "Oh, ht you&039;d be gone for weeks, not months"

"I am fine And, yes, we do need to talk However, it should be done in person I am back in the States now Can you meet me for lunch tomorrow at our usual restaurant? Eleven o&039;clock sharp Be sure to dress nicely"

Dress nicely? He one off the deep end while on his trip And ith the businesslike tone? "U?"

"We will discuss it to up

I stared at the phone, muttered, "Yeah, I missed you, too, Dad," then ended the call I don&039;t knohy I&039;d thought the conversation would go any better than that After all, nothing had really changed Just because I&039;d admitted I was happy he was okay didn&039;t mean he cared aboutit hard to even breathe, ht Sleep All I wanted was sleep I would deal with everything to back on my bed, I flipped the comforter over hts on

I couldn&039;t re All I could re to tellin a haze the exact color of blood

I didn&039;t want to think about hiht Or the color of blood Normal I would surround h a shower in order to get ready in ti with my father I threw on the only pantsuit I had and twistedon some makeup to partially hide irls and I wanted to know if you will come with us to Tyler today," she said Her tone was a little flat, as if she already knewShow practice until late tonight"

"Yeah, I figured you couldn&039;t," she muttered

"Aw, Anne, don&039;t be-"

"I know, I know Don&039;t be mad, and you&039;ll see us next week in the cafeteria" She sighed "We just kindaout with you outside of school, you know?"

Lord, the guilt was just piling up on roup sluht after practice"

"Which lasts till what, nine at night on weekends?"

I winced "More like ten or eleven"

She grumbled "Nah, let&039;s just wait till after the stupid shohen you actually have ti out with your friends That&039;ll be in another otta run See you Monday" She hung up

Feeling tired already even though the day had just started, I ended the call and went in search ofShow season ended, I would have to make sure to spend more quality time outside of school withready in the bathroo fortable I didn&039;t haveup

"Always in such a hurry," sheher head as her hands alically whipped a ball of soft pink yarn into the tiniest pair of baby shoes I&039;d ever seen The daylight flooding in through the patio doorhts had flashed on Dylan&039;s silver camera as he&039;d run off with it "You look worried, hon Is everything all right?"

I forced a s&039;s fine, Nanna" I sed hard "Um, did anyone call today?" Like a really ticked-off descendant?

"Like who?"