“He’s got that whole ‘grandfatherly’ thing going on,” Sophie said. “He totally reminds me of Grandpa Patterson.”
Kate’s gaze shot over to Sophie. “Hey, he reminds me of my grandpa too.”
I nodded. It made sense — his grandfatherly appeal was probably what drew students to him, made them feel safe in his presence. “And all this time, Aidan thought Blackwell was protecting him,” I continued. “But now it looks like he’s handing him over to his enemies. This Friday, according to my vision.”
I suddenly realized that Marissa hadn’t said a single word since I’d started talking. She just sat there the entire time, totally silent. Just as I was wondering what she was thinking, her eyes met mine, and she nodded.
“Violet’s telling the truth,” she said suddenly.
Everyone turned to stare at her, eyes widened with surprise.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, Marissa,” Kate scoffed. “You actually believe this crap?”
“Yeah, I do. What I don’t understand is why you don’t. Do you honestly think Violet would lie about something like this? Besides, I’ve got this feeling. ” She trailed off, and I saw her shiver. “It feels like the truth. Like somehow I’ve always known, somewhere in the back of my mind.”
I wanted to hug her. Who would have thought Marissa of all people would end up defending me against the rest of them? Tears gathered in my eyes.
“Well, I believe her too,” Cece said, standing up and reaching for my hand. “I mean, is it really such a stretch? There’s all kinds of weird stuff going on here at Winterhaven, including kids who can shape-shift. Are vampires really all that more out there?”
“Yeah, they are!” Kate protested.
“No, Cece’s right,” Sophie said. “I mean, why not? I wonder if I could sense it. You know, like an illness or something?”
I nodded, squeezing Cece’s hand and then releasing it. “Probably. He says it’s some sort of blood-borne infection, a parasite or something. Like malaria. Have you ever touched Dr. Blackwell?”
Sophie shook her head. “Not once. Never had a reason to.”
“So what do we do?” Marissa asked. “What’s the plan?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead. Aidan didn’t even think you’d believe me.”
“I believe you,” Marissa said.
“Me too.” Cece.
“Yep, me too.” Sophie.
That just left Kate. “I think I must have lost my mind, but yeah, me too.”
“What about Jack — do you think he would help us?” I asked her.
Kate shrugged. “I could ask. He and Aidan spend a lot of time together. Who knows, maybe he already suspects it.”
“Joshua!” I said, letting out my breath in a rush. I’d totally forgotten about Joshua, the shape-shifter. Hadn’t he said that he owed me one — me and Aidan both? Now was the time to call in that favor. After all, he’d seen Aidan in action, seen the red eyes, the fangs. It wouldn’t be that hard to convince him.
“Who’s Joshua?” Marissa and Sophie asked in unison.
“He’s one of the shifters. Aidan and I once saved him from some jerk who was bullying him, and in return he promised to help us out if I ever needed anything. Remember that time I was talking to one of them in the dining hall? The short, blond guy? Kinda cute? That was Joshua.”
“So that makes, what? Eight of us?” Marissa held up her fingers, ticking them off. “Against how many of them? Do we even know?”
“Julius, and two female vampires. Plus Blackwell. I think that’s it.”
“So we outnumber them two to one,” Cece said. “That sounds like pretty good odds, right?”
“Yeah, but keep in mind that they’re. well, vampires. They’ve got powers way beyond ours. And Aidan’s weakened by the elixir.”
“But you said you’re some kind of vampire slayer,” Marissa said. “What exactly does that mean, anyway?”
“That I can kill them. But hopefully it won’t come to that.”
Kate shook her head, looking skeptical. “You think we can just chase them away? A bunch of badass vampires on a mission?”
“I have no idea. All I know is that we’ve got to try.” Tears burned behind my eyelids, blurring my vision. “I can’t. I can’t just let them kill Aidan. Or worse, make me kill him. Because that’s their plan, you know. If you won’t help, we’ll have to fight them alone.”
Sophie glanced down at her watch. “Uh-oh, guys, ten minutes till curfew. We’ve got to go. Just tell us what to do, and we’ll do it.”
“Let’s all meet tomorrow, after sixth period. With Aidan. I’ll try and get Joshua to join us too. Kate, you talk to Jack. Do you know where the chapel is?”
“Ugh, that creepy old place?” Marissa said with a mock shiver.
“That’s where Aidan and I usually hang out. It’s private; we never see anyone else around there. I think it’s as good a place as any to meet.”
Sophie reached for the doorknob. “Hey, at least now we know where to find you two.”
“Yeah, but if the chapel’s a-rockin’, don’t come a-knockin’,” Kate teased.
I laughed uneasily, but relief filled me as they filed out, all but Cece. Thank God they believed me. There was hope after all.
As soon as we were alone, Cece and I quickly changed into our pajamas and climbed into our beds. For the longest time, neither of us spoke, and I wondered what was going through her head.
Finally she broke the strained silence. “I can’t believe you kept all this crazy stuff a secret for so long. I mean, weren’t you going nuts?”
“A little. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before now. It’s just. well, they’re Aidan’s secrets, really, and if it wasn’t a life-or-death situation—”
“No,” Cece interrupted. “I totally understand. I just feel bad that you’ve had to go through all of this alone.”
“Well, I had Aidan. Some of the time, at least,” I added.
“What was the deal with that picture? You know, the one Jenna gave you on Valentine’s Day. I thought you two broke up over that.”
I took a deep breath, wondering if I should tell her. Why not? “That picture was a painting of the opera dancer I mentioned. The woman he was living with when he was made a vampire, the one who got killed.”
“But. but she looks just like you!” Cece stammered.
“Yeah, exactly. But he left that part out when he told me his story.” My face got hot just thinking about it. Even now I couldn’t entirely erase my doubts where Isabel was concerned. Just thinking about her made me angry.