Blood Will Tell

Chapter Six. On the Edge

It would have been awkward anyway, talking to Noah after what occurred between them at the lake. But then Stellan had knocked her off her feet with her own need, her own hunger. Somehow, that felt like a betrayal of Noah. Like if he ever saw that in her he would never talk to her again. He’d hate her. Noah was the best person she knew. Obviously, since everyone else was one of the Blessed. So it made perfect sense that after watching Stellan steal the most precious thing he could from Lana and having wanted to do the same thing to her, that Eden would avoid Noah. She was afraid he would be able to read what she’d wanted, even though it wasn’t possible because he didn’t know what she was, or that creatures like her even existed. OK. So rationality wasn’t high in her list of priorities these days. Still, she’d ignored his texts over the weekend and had somehow managed to avoid him all day Monday (and nearly got a black eye for her trouble when she ducked behind an open locker to hide from him, and the corner edge of it missed her eye by a millimetre). Eden’s nerves felt frayed at the edges.

Tuesday. She’d gotten through a whole day again without bumping into Noah. She’d eaten lunch in her car and she had shot out of her classes like a bullet when the bell rang. Now it was French, last class of the day. She eyed the doorway and then the clock. One minute and she was out of there. French class was pretty close to the entrance. She’d get out before Noah showed up.

The minute hand on the clock took forever.

By the time the bell rang, Eden had already slipped her books into her bag. She blew past the kids in the front row, not stopping, even when she toppled one of their books off the desk. It was rude. But this was an emergency. Eden dared to sigh with relief as she shot out of the main entrance.

All that hurrying was in vain.

Noah was lounging against the driver side door of Eden’s Dodge Avenger. Yeah, she didn’t get to choose her car… that would be Celine. If it was up to Eden she’d be driving a 1969 black Chevy Impala as driven by the sexy Dean and Sam in the tv show Supernatural. All of which was beside the point when Noah had her cornered.

He raised his eyebrows at her as she approached slowly, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked relaxed but Eden saw something flicker in his eyes.

“Hey,” she mumbled, jingling her keys pointedly.

Noah didn’t take the hint.

“What’s up?” She sighed, trying to edge him away from the car.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. You tell me. You’re the one treating me like a leper.”

Panic tightened Eden’s chest. She didn’t want to push Noah away, she just needed a few days to get herself together, to be able to look him in the eye again. She smirked at him deliberately. “Dude. Come on. I’ve just been dealing with some family stuff. It’s nothing.”

She must have sounded reassuring enough because Noah’s eyes lightened a little and he stood up away from the car. “OK. Good. Great. Um…” He looked around, suddenly appearing a little self-conscious. “You want to grab a coffee with me?”

Damn, Eden winced. Quickly she unlocked her car door and threw in her bag, not meeting Noah’s probing gaze. “Uh you know I can’t tonight. Family thing. Another night, OK?”

She didn’t even give him time to reply before she slammed the door and pulled out of her parking spot. She left tyre marks at the school gate.

***

By Wednesday afternoon Eden’s nerves had gone from frayed to frazzled. Earlier that day she’d seen Noah heading down the hall towards her and had freaked out, turned on her heel, and practically ran in the opposite direction. How was she supposed to explain that next time they talked? She was in history when she got the text.

OK. You’re weirding me out. Just tell me what I did? N.

Eden didn’t think it was possible to feel any worse. Suffice to say she was in an awful mood, radiating ‘don’t talk to me or I’ll eat you’ vibes even in class. The teachers were smart enough to ignore her and most of the students were too.

Avoiding Noah at lunch, Eden had opted for the library this time. By now her skin was flush with angry heat and her patience? Non-existent. She did the unthinkable and headed towards the classics aisle, hoping a little Jane Austen would civilise her.

Mr Darcy was just in the middle of insulting Elizabeth (tolerable indeed!) when Eden heard the human snarl. Someone cried out, as if in pain. Frowning, Eden laid down the book and walked quietly to the end of the aisle. She peered around the corner into the dark cove of bookshelves at the back of library, the one that every library seemed to have. Her heart started to race a little at the scene in front of her. Lucy Stevens, hot senior and head cheerleader, had a grip of a sophomore’s shirt, holding her up so tight the girl’s feet nearly dangled off the floor. Eden had seen the sophomore around before. She was this petite, gorgeous red head with big sad green eyes. Eden was sure she was the youngest girl on the cheerleading squad. Right now her pretty face was screwed up in horror, rivulets of mascara staining her cheeks.

“This is me being merciful, Amber,” Lucy hissed into her face. “This is you’re last warning.”

“B-but I didn’t d-d-do anything,” Amber cried.

Eden winced at the crack of Lucy’s hand against Amber’s cheek, and the muffled sob from the victim. “You calling my boyfriend a liar, Amber?”

Amber shook her head, holding her right cheekbone.

“I didn’t think so. He’s mine, you little slut, you come onto him again and I’ll make your life here a living hell. Wouldn’t want everyone finding out that secret you told me right? How stepdaddy likes to touch you inappropriately?”

Amber’s eyes flared with terror and she broke into hysterical sobs, her head shaking frantically.

Lucy patted her cheek patronisingly. “Good girl.”

Sliding back out of sight, Eden struggled to draw breath, the scene playing over and over again in her head. She’d seen bullying going on at South Salton her entire time there; she’d even been a victim of that bullying, and probably the bully herself sometimes when she was in a bad mood. But what she had witnessed was worse than Maria Roth and herself. It had been sadistic and vicious, and born of petty jealousy. Eden knew Lucy’s boyfriend. Doug Brown. A senior. A jock. A sleaze bag. Although he’d rather die than admit it, he’d even come on to Eden once when she and Noah had stupidly crashed his birthday party. Eden could read between the lines. Doug had hit on Amber. Amber had turned him down. Doug had told Lucy that Amber was flirting with him. Lucy, who was apparently a psychotic bitch, had now found a new toy to play with; a toy that was clearly already broken by an abusive home life.

Eden knew what that was like.

The thought sent this crazy red haze sparkling across Eden’s eyes; her chest tight, her hunger howling at her as if she were insane to pass this up.

Yeah. Today she felt insane. And no Jane Austen was going to help.

She knew she was acting like a stalker.

Uh correction, like a serial killer.

But Eden couldn’t get Lucy and Amber out of her mind.

So here she was, standing outside Lucy’s class instead of sitting in her own. Watching and waiting… for what, she wasn’t quite sure.

When the classroom door opened and Lucy ducked out with a bathroom pass in her hand, Eden’s eyes widened.

See, her hunger whispered, it’s like the universe wants you to do it.

Stealthily she followed Lucy along the hall, keeping a distance, watching her disappear into the girls’ bathroom. She waited a beat and then swung open the door, shutting it quietly behind her. Eden ducked her head under the four stalls. They were alone.

She strode back to the door and turned the lock.

“Who the hell is there?” Lucy snapped from inside her stall.

Eden dropped her backpack, leaning against the sinks casually although her heart pounded so hard she swore her shirt was vibrating. “Why don’t you come out and see?”

She wasn’t afraid of Lucy Stevens.

She wouldn’t have been even if she wasn’t one of the Blessed.

“What the fuck is this?” Lucy huffed. Eden’s smile was one of twisted mockery at the sound of clothes rustling, and Lucy’s harried breath. She couldn’t have planned on catching the girl in a more undignified situation. The toilet flushed and the stall door banged open to reveal a pissed off Lucy Stevens in her cheerleading outfit. She grimaced. “You?” She rolled her eyes as if Eden were inconsequential and glided over to the sinks to wash her hands.

“Me.” Eden grinned at her and enjoyed the way Lucy flinched at the expression, like she could see there was something not quite right about her.

“What do you want, freak?”

Eden shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. “I heard an interesting conversation today. No, sorry.” She shook her head. “Attack. An interesting attack.”

Lucy heaved a sigh and grabbed at paper towels. “Whatever, freak.” She made to leave and Eden stuck her leg out to block her path. The cheerleader narrowed her eyes on her. “You better move that skank.”

“Or what?” Eden taunted.

Lucy took two leggy steps towards her. She fluffed her golden hair over her shoulder and bit a couple of French manicured fingernails into Eden’s shoulder. “Or I’ll make your life a living hell, you goth bitch.”

“You’re kind of an ignoramus, you know that.”

“You’re making a mistake, Winslow,” Lucy promised with a cruel smirk on her pouty lips.

The hand that had been dangling innocently by Eden’s side shot out faster than a human could compute, and wrapped itself around Lucy’s throat, shoving her back into one of the stalls. The senior tripped, collapsing over a toilet seat as she clawed at Eden’s hand, her face growing redder before turning horribly purple.

“Sorry, princess, my life already is a living hell.” Eden squeezed tighter, getting a sick enjoyment out of terrifying this girl. “I saw you torturing Amber today, Luce. Not cool,” she whispered, breathing in the scent of Lucy’s soul, tainted as it may be. This was a girl who wouldn’t miss it… or if Eden went too far, wouldn’t be missed at all. “You make me sick, you know. You sadistic bitch.” She jerked Lucy’s head back and her eyes rolled. For a moment Eden frowned as she drew blood with her fingernails on Eden’s hand in an attempt to fight back. Releasing her hold on Lucy’s throat, she barely gave time for the girl to draw breath before she was holding her head in her hands and pushing her will onto her. Lucy stopped struggling, her lips parting.

The hunger licked its lips.

Eden froze. Like a statue. Her heart seemed to have stopped but the nausea hadn’t.

What are you waiting for? She deserves it.

She shifted her stance, trying to make herself more comfortable. She tilted Lucy’s head to angle it just right, almost like an awkward teenager going in for her first kiss.

Her legs began to tremble.

No. Don’t stop. Think about Amber. You’ll be helping her.

The bathroom door handle rattled. Eden’s head jerked up, breaking her gaze with Lucy’s.

“Hey! Why’s the door locked?!” A belligerent student yelled, banging on the door. “Open up or I’m telling somebody!”

Lucy gasped for air, coming back to herself, her hands clawing into Eden’s wrist. “You freak!” she hissed.

Panic suffused Eden as sense slowly began to return. What have I done? Eden swallowed the bile that rose in her throat, her hands gripping Lucy’s head tighter.

Lucy would report Eden. Oh God.

Her pale eyes secured their hold on Lucy’s chocolate brown ones. The girl grew limp again. “Lucy, this never happened.”

“This never happened,” she replied blankly.

“I was never here.”

“You were never here.”

“Open it!” The student screeched.

Eden gulped but refused to break eye contact. Amber’s broken eyes flashed before her.

“You’re not going to torture, hurt and gossip about Amber anymore.”

“I’m not going to torture, hurt and gossip about Amber anymore.”

“You’re going to protect her. Even from Doug.”

“I’m going to protect her. Even from Doug.”

Feeling drained Eden got to her feet, drawing Lucy up carefully. The girl didn’t even look at her. She walked out of the stall and headed towards the door. Eden shut the stall door and locked it, listening to the impatient student outside gulp back her berating when she discovered it was Lucy Stevens.

She waited as the student peed and then washed her hands, slamming out of the bathroom.

Then reality sunk in.

She had set out to take a soul.

I set out to kill.

She was just so angry. So angry at everything and everyone.

“Crap.” Eden began to hyperventilate, covering her mouth with her hand as her body began to sob involuntarily. She wheezed, trying to draw breath.

I almost killed her. I almost killed her.

“I have to…” she blinked past the blur of tears in her eyes and numbly reached for her backpack. She had to get out of there.

“Eden, what on earth are you doing home?” Celine came out of one of the sitting rooms just as Eden’s foot hit the first step on the staircase.

She didn’t even spare her a glance. “Like you give a shit.”

Ignoring her mother’s outraged yelling, Eden flew up the stairs to her bedroom. In three steps, she slammed her door, turned her iDock on full blast and flopped onto her bed. Contemplating the ceiling didn’t help her work through how out of control she had just gotten. She’d almost killed a student. That was taking anger management issues to a new level. Afraid of herself, Eden sucked back tears.

Not much time past before her bedroom door blew open and the hurricane itself strolled in. Ryan was an intimidating figure in his three thousand dollar suit. He was just one of those ‘men’ who reeked of money and elegance. Of power. Of danger. It was that perverted violence simmering under his surface.

“Your mother called me at work.” He sat down on the edge of her bed, his hands clasped together between his knees. He didn’t look at her. “You want to tell me why I’ve had to come home from work to deal with my truant daughter?”

Eden snorted. “I’m kind of surprised you bothered your ass.”

Ryan’s head snapped around at her and Eden flinched back into the bed at the lethal look in his eye. “Don’t speak to me that way, young lady. Your mother might put up with that language but I certainly won’t. Now what the hell are you doing home from school?”

Without knowing what possessed her to, Eden found herself telling him about Lucy, although she cut out the stuff about Amber and just said the girl was trying to bully her. To her utter surprise, Ryan was smiling when she finished.

“It’s only natural.”

Eden grimaced. “To nearly kill a girl at school?!”

Her father grinned even more wickedly, the dimple in his cheek flashing just like Eden’s did when she was in a good mood. “No. To lose control, to feel irrational anger. You’re ready for the Awakening Ceremony, Eden. Your body knows that, it’s trying to tell you that, and you have to do something before you lose control over it.”

Maybe that’s why she’d told him. Because she needed someone to confirm what she really didn’t want to know. “OK,” she whispered.

His face brightened. “Really. You’re agreeing to it?”

“I don’t want to kill anyone.”

“Well you’re going to have to kill someone, Eden,” his voice hardened.

She shivered, knowing he spoke the truth. “I know. I mean I don’t want to lose control.”

He nodded. “For once you sound like my daughter.”

Eden threw him a disgusted look and he laughed. “You can hate me all you want. I never asked for your love. I do ask for you loyalty, however, and doing this Awakening Ceremony will prove that to me.” He heaved a sigh and pinned her to the bed with a demanding look. “I also ask discretion from you. What happened today cannot happen again.”

“I compelled her to forget.”

“Yes. But someone could have happened upon you attacking that girl. And there are people… who would realise what you are.”

Eden frowned, pulling herself up into a sitting position. “What do you mean?”

Ryan nodded, as if he were coming to a decision. “I never told you before because there was no need, but there are a group of people, humans, who hunt our kind.”

Suddenly her heart was begging to jump out of her chest. “What? Wh… how…?”

“These humans call themselves the Warriors of Neith. Their sole duty in life is to kill off the Blessed. They call us soul eaters,” he spat out the phrase. “Filthy. They have no understanding of us, no respect. They think themselves superior to us and they stop at nothing in their mission to wipe us out.”

Eden couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How was it even possible she had gone seventeen years not knowing there were warriors out there who would kill her in a second? “Does Stellan know? Should I take this seriously? Can they hurt us?”

“Yes. Yes. And yes.” Ryan nodded, his expression severe. “I’m telling you about these men and women now because if we are not circumspect, they will find us, and they will hunt us, and they are strong enough to do damage.”

Realisation suddenly dawned. “The goons? The bodyguards… you sent them after me because of these Neith guys, right?”

Ryan nodded and stood up. “You now need to be aware of them, Eden. I hope now that you are, you will be more careful.”

She jerked her head in a vague affirmative, still too numb from the shock of discovering there were people out there who thought the Blessed so evil they actually killed them for a living. “Wait…” She glanced up at Ryan, a flare of panic in her chest. “Warriors of Neith? As in the goddess?”

His jaw clenched tightly. “Yes.”

“As in… created by her?”

“Yes.”

Clutching her stomach to hold down the nausea, Eden looked away from Ryan. God, they were so evil a goddess had created a race of humans to take them out. Awesome.

“Eden?”

“What?”

“I’m glad you’ve agreed to the Ceremony. Trust me… when it’s over… this… whatever this bizarre human thing you’re going through is… it will disappear forever. All this… unnecessary pain you’re feeling… you won’t have to deal with it anymore.”

She watched as he turned on his heel and left the room. That had almost been an actual conversation. A very sick and twisted conversation, but one nonetheless.

Her phone buzzed.

Where are you? Everything OK? N.

Hot tears brimmed over her eyelids. She’d agreed to the Ceremony. Which meant…

No more Noah.