Chapter 17 Jack
Chapter seventeen
Jack
The rest of the week went by without much drama, something I couldn’t be more than thankful for. Tate had texted me nonstop and showed up at lunch and in the library, but Kyren was back to keeping his distance.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that just yet.
Tonight was the harvest moon party. I was supposed to go with Xinyi and Iris. Julian was going to go ahead of me, picking a spot to hide out in the forest near where the party was going to be. Tate had mentioned he had something to do tonight and wasn’t sure if he could make it.
I was disappointed, but the hunter in me knew he would be a distraction I couldn’t afford. Tonight wasn’t about having fun, it was about finding out who left that threatening note in my room.
Xinyi asked me to meet her in the lobby of the Vampire’s Crypt. I hadn’t been back here since I moved out of the room I shared with Tate. It felt strange to be back here without him.
“Ready?” Xinyi turned to me with a big grin, then wrinkled her nose at my jeans and sweater combo. “Really? You couldn’t have worn something… sexier?”
“For who?” I looked over her skimpy sequenced dress and was suddenly glad I picked the jeans so I could hide my .22 at my lower back. “Kyren isn’t here, and Tate said he was busy. Unlike you, I won’t have anyone to keep me warm tonight.”
I jerked my head toward where Iris stood in a backless halter top and skintight leather pants. As a vampire, she didn’t have to worry about the weather.
“I suppose I can’t fault you for that.” Xinyi sighed. “Alright, then,” she looped her arm through mine and Iris’s, “let’s go get wasted!”
Iris and I exchanged an amused look over Xinyi’s head as we let the smaller woman lead us out of the building and toward the woods.
We weren’t the only ones headed that way.
There were dozens of students of all different species riled up and ready to party.
I supposed my parents were getting one thing they wanted.
Me to have the college experience and getting drunk in the woods after a long week of classes was definitely a rite of passage.
When Xinyi wasn’t looking, I slipped the comm piece into my ear. A discrete little device that only let the listener hear what was being said, no matter the strength of a supernatural’s hearing. Julian refused to let me go into the party without me wearing one.
I thought it was just because he wanted to remind me of his presence in case Tate or Kyren showed up.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about this new, jealous Julian. I almost preferred the usual, where I antagonized him and he told me I was acting like a child. Now, it was almost normal. Almost the way it used to be a year ago.
“Durand?” Julian’s voice crackled in my ear. “Are you on your way?”
I peered up at the sky. “Look at that moon. I’m so glad we got out of class to see it.”
“I’m going to take that as a yes,” Julian responded.
Xinyi stared up at the sky. “It looks like any other moon. Just more… orange.”
“I once saw a moon that was a red as blood.” Iris drew Xinyi to her side. “They say many died that night.”
“There are dozens of students pouring through the tree,” Julian said. “I can’t really make out much of who is who. You’ll have to direct me once you find our target.”
I paused for a moment to think of a way to respond without giving it away to Iris and Xinyi. “I’ve never been to a witch’s party before. Is it much different from the other ones?”
“Oh, yeah.” Xinyi giggled. “The witches, they like to show off. And a party is just the place to do it. Don’t be surprised if you see light shows and even sometimes…” She lowered her voice as she leaned near me. “They’ll turn some of the more handsy guys into jackasses.”
I frowned. “You mean literal jackasses?”
Julian snorted in my ear.
“Oh, yeah,” Xinyi continued. “It was a huge drama last year. They almost always turn them back by the time the sun comes up, but one time, they forgot I guess, and there he was just running through the hallways. It took several people to catch him and, let me tell you, the cleanup was not pretty.” Her nose wrinkled in disgust.
I chuckled politely. I couldn’t imagine being turned into an animal against my will. It seemed scary.
A crow cawed nearby.
My head turned toward the sound. I glared at it, willing it to go away.
The crow cawed once more before spreading its wings and flying away from us. Good. I didn’t need my dad babysitting me while I did my job. Who knew what I might have to do? It might be something a father shouldn’t have to see his daughter doing.
“So,” I cleared my throat as we came up on the sounds of music and laughter, “the witches are separated by covens, right?”
Xinyi nodded. “Yeah, but I’ve never been very good at keeping them all straight. They even have their own little sigils, you know? Kind of like your family.”
“Oh. Interesting.”
Julian laughed in my ear. “Remind me to work on your acting skills next time we train.”
I ignored him. Anything I said would give everything away.
We moved into the crowd of people until we were in front of a large, teepee shaped fire.
The smoke smelled of burning incense and some kind of fruit, much more pleasant than most bonfires.
For a witch party, I figured they’d play some kind of Celtic or nature pipe type of music, but the rock and roll pouring from the speakers set up were anything but.
“Let’s get a drink,” Xinyi told me, taking the lead as Iris and I followed behind her.
Almost everyone stopped to talk to her, a few of them even tried to talk to me, but I indicated I was following Xinyi and escaped.
I had worried about coming to the party based on the way the other students had reacted to my presence recently.
The last thing I wanted was to be surrounded by sycophants or, even worse, some of my family’s haters.
I knew if I was going to have to listen to a lot of praise for me and my family, I was definitely going to need a drink.
“Here.” Xinyi handed me a cup, and a spicy scent like cinnamon and cloves filled my nose. She gave Iris a different cup that had an x on it.
“What’s in that?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Iris peered down at the plastic red cup and frowned as if it personally offended her. “Usually, for the vampires, they have blood mixed with rum or wine. This seems to be a new kind of concoction. I can still smell the blood, but everything else… I’m not sure.”
I watched her lift the cup to her mouth. “Should you really be drinking that then?”
“Unless it cuts my head off or stakes me, I doubt it will do much harm.” She shrugged.
I hummed.
If I was a vampire, would I be as trusting of unknown substances?
I wasn’t so sure. Maybe it took centuries to get over the feeling of being killable.
I was more durable than an average human, but I still knew a shot to the heart, poison slipped into my cup, or even a well-placed cut to an artery would kill me just like any other human being.
“Durand, don’t get distracted,” Julian’s voice in my ear reminded.
I scowled, then realized he couldn’t see me to be properly scolded. I wasn’t sure I liked him in my ear during an undercover operation.
“Jack!” Xinyi grabbed my arm, pulling me toward an open area where others had started to dance. “Dance with me!”
I laughed and swayed from side to side, not wanting to spill my drink.
“I miss your laugh,” Julian murmured in my ear, far more intimate than if he’d been right next to me. “You never laugh around me anymore. Not like that.”
I swallowed a mouth full of the witch’s brew, not sure what to say or even how to say it with so much supernatural hearing around me. A hand squeezed around my heart, reminding me what we once had and what we were now were.
Colleagues. Acquaintances. Virtual strangers.
Strangers who had seen each other naked and knew what each other sounded like when we came, but still strangers all the same. Even before our one night together, we had been thick as thieves. Could finish each other’s sentences and everything.
I missed that. Missed him.
Sucking in a shaky breath, I mimed to Xinyi that I was going to get another drink. She grinned, nodding as she danced between two attractive males. I found Iris on the side of the dance floor watching, but she didn’t seem upset or jealous about Xinyi’s dance partners.
“How do you do that?” I asked, standing next to her.
Iris pulled her gaze away from me to arch a brow.
“Not get jealous.”
Her lips curled up into a gorgeous smile.
“Because… I can feel what Xinyi feels in here.” She pressed her hand to my chest where my heartbeat.
“The human-servant bond is a one-way emotional tether. A reminder that we are loved.” Her lips turned down slightly.
“And also a warning system for when that love is being harmed. A good vampire, a good partner, knows when to trust that feeling and when to worry. The ones who do not never cared about their blood-bonded to begin with.”
Iris turned her attention back to Xinyi, smiling and laughing in the crowd of dancers. “Dancing makes her happy. I always want her to be happy.”
I envied Iris’ devotion to my friend. It made me wonder if I’d ever inspired such devotion in any of the guys I’d been with. Julian had been a friend that turned lover. Tate had barely been a roommate before, like a wave, he engulfed me with his love.
Then there was Kyren. His affection was… intense. Scary. World consuming. And also exciting. Out of the three of them, I knew he would do anything for me. Break all the rules. Or he would have. Now… I wasn’t so sure.
“Are you alright?” Julian’s concern was heavy in his words.
“Uh… yeah.” I swallowed thickly, pushing away the emotions bubbling up. “I’m going to see if I can find Tabby,” I said to both Iris and Julian. If any of the witches would tell me who’s sigil was on the wax seal, she might.