I shook my head, staring at the ceiling, watching the shadows play across the plaster. “I have no idea. Aidan has some theories, but he doesn’t know either.”
“Well, I can see why he wouldn’t tell you. I mean, I’m sure he figured that you’d think he only liked you because you looked like her, or something like that.”
“Yeah,” I said, wincing. “That’s pretty much exactly what I thought when I found out.”
“But now you don’t?” she asked, sounding hopeful.
A slow smile spread across my face. “No, I’m pretty sure he likes me for me. At least, I think I am.”
“But. but how’s it ever going to work out between you two? I mean, he’s a vampire and you’re not. He’s immortal, right? Or is that just legend stuff?”
“No, it’s true. But he’s working on a cure, remember? He thinks he’s pretty close to getting it right.”
“But if he doesn’t?” Cece asked. “You’re pretty much the same age now, right? What if it takes him ten or twenty years to cure it? You’ll be that much older, and he’ll still be, what? Sixteen, seventeen?”
“Seventeen. He’s. he was seventeen when it happened.” My chest tightened. There was nothing worse than hearing your own fears spoken aloud. “I just have to hope he finds the cure fast, that’s all. Anyway, we’ve got Friday to get through first. One thing at a time.” Because if things went badly on Friday, the rest of it was all moot, wasn’t it?
Sweat broke out all over my body, and I shivered. Don’t think about it now, I told myself. “We really should go to sleep,” I said, my voice shaky.
“It’s going to be a long week.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Cece said. “’Night, Violet.”
“Good night, Cee.”
“I think that’s enough for today,” Aidan said, folding his arms across his chest. “I’ve got some work to do tonight, but can everyone meet back here tomorrow, same time?”
There was murmuring, and heads nodded in unison. I think everyone was still a little afraid of him, and they hadn’t even seen the fangs or the red eyes. Except Joshua, I realized, watching him pick up his backpack and sling it over one shoulder. Yet he didn’t seem frightened. Not at all.
Neither did Jack, now that I thought about it. Then again, Jack had been working side by side with Aidan in the chem lab for years, so I guess he knew he had nothing to fear. If Aidan had wanted to hurt him, he’d had plenty of opportunity before now. Kate had said he’d barely batted an eyelash when she’d told him.
In fact, Jack was standing next to Aidan now. “Couldn’t we aerosolize it somehow?” Jack was saying, and I sidled up closer, hoping to hear a little better. “We can lure them in here and then somehow release it into the air, maybe through the ducts?”
Aidan nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. It’ll help level our abilities.”
Jack nodded. “Okay, I’ll meet you in the lab right after dinner. I think it’ll be easy to do; I’ll just compress the molecules, and. ”
I moved away, bored by the science-speak. Instead I retrieved my bag from the corner, trying not to look at the “gift” Aidan had presented me with when we’d first arrived at the chapel today.
A real stake, not like the blunt-end practice one I’d used before. This hawthorn stake — smooth and shiny — was sharpened to a deadly point on one end. Aidan had even crafted me a special holster-type thing to carry it in. Silly, really, because it wasn’t like I could just walk around with the thing banging against my hip. This wasn’t the Wild West.
“You need a jacket, Violet,” Aidan said, beside me now. Jack was striding back down the chapel’s center aisle, toward Kate. “You’ll have to wear your raincoat or something long enough to cover it.”
“What if it’s not raining?” I asked, hating the sight of that thing.
“Doesn’t matter. I want you wearing it at all times from now on. You can’t allow yourself to get caught unaware, okay? I have to go to the lab now.”
“That’s okay, I have the SAT prep class right after dinner,” I said with a shrug. “Though I was kind of thinking of just skipping it.” There really wasn’t any point in my going — it’s not like I was going to be able to concentrate. The SAT seemed like such an unimportant abstraction compared to the very real danger that lay ahead.
Aidan shook his head. “Don’t skip it. Just go on about your business, as if nothing is amiss. We’ve got three more days to work out the details of the plan. You can spare an hour for your class.”
“What are you, my mother?” I muttered.
“Besides”—his mouth curved into a beautiful smile— “according to your friends’ animated conversation over there, someone they’re calling ‘Dr.
Hottie’ is the instructor. Dr. Byrne, I presume? You wouldn’t want to miss out.”
I looked over his shoulder to where Sophie, Marissa, and Cece were gathered, chattering animatedly, just as he said. Forget mortal danger; there was Dr. Hottie to discuss.
“You can hear them from all the way over here?” I asked, surprised. The entire length of the chapel separated us from them.
“Easily,” he replied. “And that’s with reduced capabilities.”
“Which means Julius and his little harem will be able to hear us from even farther away,” I said with a sigh. “Great.”
“Exactly.”
“Violet, you coming?” Cece called out.
“Be right there,” I yelled back.
Aidan leaned close to my ear. “They’re wondering if we’re going to kiss good-bye.”
Almost involuntarily, I licked my lips. It had been so long. “Are we?”
His head dipped down toward my neck, his lips brushing across the sensitive skin below my ear. Gooseflesh prickled my skin, making me shiver.
I heard him chuckle, and then he moved away. “I think I just scared them all half to death. Go on, so they don’t think I’ve taken a bite.”
Disappointment washed over me, and my cheeks grew hot. “Gee, thanks.”
“No distractions, Violet,” he said, serious now. “And don’t forget your stake.”
He held it out to me. I took it, surprised at how right it felt in my hands, despite my reluctance.
“Until tomorrow, love,” he murmured in his best Lord Brompton voice.
“I’ll be sure and give Dr. Hottie your regards,” I said, shoving the stake into its holder and giving him my dirtiest look.
His eyes met mine for the briefest of seconds, and I could have sworn I saw a flicker of jealousy there.
Good.
Friday began just like any other day. I got up, took a shower, brushed my teeth, got dressed, went to breakfast. All usual stuff, except for strapping on the stake. I found that if I tied a sweater around my waist and arranged it just right, it covered the entire stake and holster. Still, I wore my khaki Burberry trench coat, a Christmas gift from Patsy, when I wasn’t in class. At least while I walked around, I had double the concealment.
We had six classes to get through before the plan went into motion, and then everything was carefully choreographed, right down to the last detail. Everyone had a job. Cece would project to Julius, or at least attempt to. Then she would report back on his movements. Once they were located, Joshua would move with the enemy, shifting into camouflaging shapes when necessary. Apparently he was entirely capable of doing that, as crazy as it sounded.