Gabe spoke. "Or she'll start killing until Snow gives her what she wants."
We all looked at him. Gatsby was still curled in Gabe's lap, purring loudly.
"What?" he shrugged. "It's what I'd do."
Arguments broke out, but I said nothing. I studied Gabe. His dark hair was longer. His green eyes, greener. His face was more chiseled. Dark scruff covered the lower half. His nose was slightly crooked, like it'd been broken. A small, jagged scar cut through his right cheek.
He'd been in a fight. When?
It must've been while I was with Silindra.
My breathing came faster. Two years. A lot can happen in two years. Gabe was older. Nineteen! A man. Was he going to college? Working? What about the others? Heathcliff turned twenty-one soon. He'd be old enough to drink-legally. The guys-my best friends-were no longer the boys I had sleepovers with as a child.
"Snow, what's wrong?" Dorian voice spoke in my ear, his body behind mine.
I swallowed, trying to steady my breathing. The rest of the brothers and Professor Pops surrounded me, speaking, but I didn't hear what they said.
A vision, like the one I had right before this crazy nightmare-of-I-life I now led started, played like a movie in my mind.
The brothers clamored down the steps, into my back yard. Gabe wasn't with them. They made a circle, and started tossing something around.
A heart. The heart of my true love, I thought, coming to stand behind Dorian. I noticed the full moon shone bright, allowing me to see the deadness of their eyes.
As one the brothers started to chant: Lips red as rubies, hair dark as night. Drink your true love's blood, become the Vampire, Snow White.
I took the heart from Daniel's hands, and sank my fangs into it. Pure bliss surged through my veins.
And I heard her laugh-the Vampire Queen.
"Snap out of it. Please."
Gabe snapped his fingers and I opened my eyes. I was on the ground.
"She's okay," Gabe said, the rapt concern on his face quickly replaced by casual haughtiness.
I was humiliated. Pops and Kenmei helped me over to the couch. Daniel handed me an ice pack, and I put the frozen blue liquid against my pounding forehead. "Sharra won't kill those I'm closest to. Otherwise how will I find my true love?"
"That doesn't make any sense," Gabe quipped, moving back to his chair.
"It does too," I snapped, desperate to believe I was right.
"No, it doesn't," Gabe argued. Ignoring him, I focused on Professor Pops. "Can she take over my body without me drinking the blood of my true love?" And what about his heart? She said I needed to consume it.
Gabe sighed. "I think it's safe to say you haven't met your true love yet."
I sensed his sadness. It matched my own, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing it. The truth was, I wasn't in love with anyone. And really, when had I had the chance to fall in love? A relationship took effort, time to build and grow.
"This is ridiculous," I continued. "Besides, it doesn't matter whether I meet my true love now or ten years from now. I'm going to destroy the Queen, restore balance to the Earth, and then I'm going to go to college like any eighteen-year-old." I crossed my arms, and sat back, feeling pleased with myself.
Once I did my part, freed the magical creatures, life would go back to normal. I would go back to normal. Watching scary movies with Cindy. Studying. Trying to figure out what to eat. And, my dad might come back.
Even as I thought about it, I realized the normal I knew before my Hunter bit me was never mine to begin with.
"You aren't any eighteen-year-old. You never will be," Professor Pops said quietly, confirming what I already knew.
Kenmei patted my knee. "Shiryo-san. You must do what you believe is right." He smiled, making his endless black eyes twinkle.
With those eight words a burden lifted from my shoulders. The air in the room changed, lightened. Hope filled my heart. "Thank you, Kenmei-sensei."
"I've done nothing. Only listened. But I am glad to see you are safe, and on the right track. If you have any questions, call me. Adam has my number."
"I will," I said, standing, giving him a polite bow.
Kenmei returned my bow. "Excellent. Now I must take my leave. Hiro-san causes trouble. Makes his grandfather crazy."
"I'll walk you out," Professor Pops said.
As I watched them go, the lightness in the room got brighter.
I can do this. Everything will be okay, I thought.
Chapter 9
Dorian sat on the couch beside me. "You graduated from high school, right?" I asked, suddenly dying to know all that I'd missed.
"Yes." His brows scrunched together, like he was puzzling out what I was thinking.
"Have you started college?" I tossed the icepack on the coffee table.
Dorian grabbed my hand and began stroking my palm, near the wrist with his thumb. "Yes."
"What are you studying?"
Gatsby jumped between us, and parked his body on my lap. Dorian laughed.
Salvatore answered for him. "He's studying women."
"Really?" I laughed as I stroked Gatsby's soft ears. Touching his silky fur was therapeutic. "What kind of grades are you getting?"
All the guys laughed, even Gabe.
"He's flunked every test," Sebastian said.
"Especially the last girl. A total mess," Daniel added.
I raised an eyebrow, questioning.
"It's because none of those girls were right for me." He winked. "When I find the right one, it'll be all A plus-pluses."
Professor Pops came back in the room before the guys said any more. "Talking about school? Excellent." He made his way over to the chair Dorian had been sitting in and moved the book on the seat over to the end table.
I took a deep breath. School came later. After all this fairytale-magical creatures-vampires business was over. Professor Pops had to understand that.
"She's right, Pops," Heathcliff said.
Pops held up a hand. "I'm not suggesting Snow goes back to high school." He looked directly at me. "Get your GED. Take the test. Be an official graduate. We'll have a party."
I smiled slightly. What was it about Professor Pops and his desire to throw me parties? "I just-the test... What if I have no idea what it's asking? Plus, I don't have the time." I didn't want to fail and have the guys, and Professor Pops, think I was an idiot.