Tessa’slecture was getting old. “Yep, they’re all male. Yep, they’re all gorgeous.Yep, they use humans as nothing more than living, breathing blood donors. Thegods totally love us.”
Tessa rolled her eyes andfinally shut up. It was a tired debate with us and she knew I was sick to deathof hearing about them. Why the human government let those gorgeous freaks walkamong us was lost on me. At least they kept the vampires secluded away. Ishuddered at the thought of the creatures who walked the night. Ash might be gorgeousand strong and fast, but in my personal opinion, for pure freak-me-outness, theyhad nothing on the full-fledged vamps that sired them. It was weird to callthem vampires; sometimes I felt like I was living in a fantasy movie. Ofcourse,Anima MortemVirusjust didn’t have the same ring.
We all knew the history. Afew centuries ago some rabid bats bit some villagers and gave them a virus thatincreased longevity, increased strength, improved skin elasticity – among otherthings – and depleted blood platelet count in the process. The virus allowedthe host to live forever, but a constant influx of blood was required for therenewal of cells. It also killed the female reproductive system but not themales. Of course sperm would survive. Friggin’ men, they had it easy.
Tessa nudged me and Ishook off my thoughts. The professor was glaring at me.
“I’m going to guess youdon’t have the answer. Moving on.” He went back to rambling about how certaincolors made you want to buy certain products. Ugh. Damn this class was boring.I stood up and slowly walked down the aisle to go to the bathroom, which wouldhopefully kill at least five minutes of his lecture. As I passed one of the golden-hairedfreaks, I noticed his body stiffen and his nostrils flare. His hand snaked outand grabbed my arm.
“What the crap!” Imuttered, trying to wrench myself free, but he held on. He stared up at me,pupils pulsing, black and silver eyes flickering. He was taking in deepbreaths, his jaw clenched.
You’re not allowed totouch me, shit-head.
“Mr. Daniels!” theprofessor shouted, and the ash released me right before I was about to clockhim one in the jaw.
Holy hell. I bolted tothe bathroom, rubbing my arm.
They weren’t allowed todo that. They couldn’t touch a human without an invitation. Dammit, he hadlooked ready to eat me or something. Maybe it was feeding time and he’d zoned out.They weren’t supposed to be around us unless they had recently fed. But ofcourse rules were made to be broken. I didn’t trust ash. They weren’t natural.
I shivered, washing my shakinghands. Tessa was crazy if she thought they were something to be desired. Thosepulsing eyes were animalistic. I shook myself; I didn’t want to think about itanymore. Returning to class, I was totally ready to glare at that asshole andlet him know who was boss. But the ash were gone. My face turned beet red asall eyes rested on me. The professor paid no mind and kept rambling. Reachingmy seat, I sank low into it, wanting to disappear.
“What the hell was that all about inclass?” Tessa crooned as we walked to lunch. “What did it feel like? Did youorgasm – I heard that when they touch you it’s like a mini orgasm.”
I snorted. “You’reflippin’ crazy, Tessa. You believe everything you hear about them. Did I looklike I had a mini orgasm? I was a second away from smashing him in the jaw.”
Tessa sighed again. I wasgoing to have to start thinning out her peroxide. She was losing brain cellsfar too rapidly.
“So did ProfessorJennings kick them out or what?” I chewed my lip. I wanted to go for anotherrun. I was starting to crave it, the pull on my muscles, the wind in my hair,the pumping of my heart. It was an adrenaline rush.
“Nope. The two ash shareda look and then they got up and left.” Her eyes were wide like she was tellingme a horror story.
I shrugged. “Good, hebroke a rule by touching me without permission. The other one probably went totake his ass back to the Hive, where I hope he’ll stay forever.”
I grabbed an apple andwater bottle from the snack cart and sat with Tessa on the lawn outside.
She eyed my food. “You’rejoking with the rabbit food, right? Where's my best friend and what did you dowith her?”
I snorted. She had apoint. I was a total foodie, but lately my appetite wasn’t there.
“Hey, bitches!”
I forced myself not toroll my eyes, but that overly high-pitched voice belonged to Valarie. Shebounded across the lawn, her best friend Amber in tow. Tessa and I shared alook. There was definitely a bitch here but it wasn’t us. Amber was okay, butValarie was like a mosquito, constantly buzzing around with an ulterior motive.
I finally managed to stoprolling my eyes and turned to the girls. They looked similar, long straightbottle blond hair, big blue eyes, fake tanned to the shit, and plastic partsfrom their rich families.
“Hey, Val … Amber,” Isaid.
Valarie threw me one ofher famous glares. She hated being called Val. And even though Tessa wasfriends with them, she still grinned at my attempt to annoy the princess. Valariesat down next to us, smoothing her short skirt over her toned legs. Bitch wasperfect but so plastic. No one’s boobs were that perky.
“In honor of my birthdaytonight, I’m renting out a large part of Stag. You guys should come.”
I whistled low. Stag wasthe hottest club in Portland. “That must be costing daddy a pretty penny.” Thatwasn’t exactly what I wanted to say. That was the nice version.
She glared at me andjumped to her feet. “At least I have a daddy.”
Ouch,the bitch strikes again. Valarie and I barely tolerated each other. I had noidea why Tessa liked her, but it was only because of my friend that I didn’t dropkickValarie in her perfect teeth.
Tessa elbowed me in the ribs.“We’ll be there. Thanks.”
