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In the girls’ bathroom, I leaned over the sink and used a paper towel to wipe the trickle of blood froe ofGuy in the solar plexus, and he’d had to hold up his hand to catch his breath

I washed my hands and then unwrapped the thick bun at the nape ofwhite hair, s towhy I cared It wasn’t like my father hadn’t already seenbeneath the inner corner of my eye I leaned closer to thethe marks on my body or the aches inThat I could hold od

I did enjoy otten ad the Noveht their worst enemy The school was ods: their powers, their early history, and some of what had happened to them in the two thousand or so years since the decline of ancient Greece The rest of the world only knew ods fro two ht be lost to the rest of the world, but it was not lost here Not with the Novem Not within the walls of Presby, where kids learned every day about the gods, their cyclical personalities, and the War of the Pantheons in the tenth century that tore theod population considerably

Most everything I needed to learn--warfare, tactics, s I needed in order to face Athena--could be found at Presby

As I left the bathrooht of Sebastian In his old jeans, faded black concert T-shirt, and aloof vibe, he stopped ood, but ed to anyas definitely a plus in h my instincts warned me that he was now a predator, I found it only added to the attraction

He cleared the landing, a flash of surprise in his eyes "Hey What are you still doing here?" His face was flushed A restlessness surrounded hi" Sebastian had missed lunch, and I hadn’t seen him in the hallways or in the one class we shared I was pretty sure he’d never h his s?

"You doing okay?" I asked

"Fine Saw your father downstairs"

I hiked the strap ofhe wasn’t fine "Yeah Our dinner date Never thought in a million years I’d say that" That I’d found etting used to

His gaze softened "I felt that way about " After a pause, he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek "See you later"

The kiss surprised me The open display of affection, the quickness of it He was already four steps up the stairs when I called, "Have fun" Sarcas he’d rather have his toenails yanked off And then he was gone, jogging up and into the shadows He’d coone so quickly, I didn’t have ti, I’d had the opportunity to visit the library and speak with the Keeper He’d found no sign of the Hands yet, but inventory was still in progress For now, it was a waiting game

SIX

GOD, HE WAS SUCH AN Ass

Guilt hounded hied to the third floor He could hear Ari’s footsteps retreating He’d lied to her He stood there and lied to her face, told her everything was fine Fine Was that word ever uttered in truth?

It was possible for Ari’s curse to be removed--needle in a haystack to make that happen, but it could happen If only the sao back

But there wasn’t a way Vampirism wasn’t a disease or a curse It was a product of evolution, a divergence off the huo Not every Bloodborn vampire drank blood Not every half human, half vaed the body Humans who’d been turned into vampires were different; they had to have blood fro and onward But those born to vampire parents had a choice If they could avoid the catalyst--ingesting blood--they’d never change But it was so hard to resist Most rarely did