“What are they?”
“Like…Trainees gone wrong. They’re attracted by the scent of blood. ” My eyes went to her neck. In all the uproar, I’d forgotten about her injury. “The wind off the water must’ve hit you just right and they picked up the scent. What happened to you, anyway? You said you were attacked?” I prayed we didn’t have another rogue vampire on the loose.
Her face got pinched, and she turned from me and started to walk again. “Some guy jumped me. ”
I did a quick step to catch up. “You mean a vampire jumped you?”
“No, one of the boys. ”
“But Trainees don’t attack Acari. ”
She shot me a look that could kill. “This one did. ”
“A Trainee jumped you?” At her nod, I pressed. “One of the guys just jumped from out of the blue and bit you?”
She nodded frantically now, looking pale and trembly like she was either about to cry or faint. Her adrenaline rush had faded, and shock was setting in.
“We need to take care of you. ” I slung my pack around to my chest, grabbed a towel, and held it out to her. First things first, we needed to staunch the blood flow. “Press this to your neck. When we get back, go straight to your dorm and clean it up as best you can. ”
She pressed the towel on her wound. It soaked red instantly, and she pulled it away, folded it to a clean section, and pressed again.
?
??That is seriously screwed up,” I muttered, catching sight of the bite mark. “Like some Dracula shit. ” Carden had fed on me, but it was nothing like this carnage. “I can’t imagine the vamps okayed this. You’d think they’d find it…I don’t know…vulgar. ”
I needed to find out what those boys were up to. As if Emma’s fate weren’t mystery enough, now more than ever, I wanted to know what the hell went on in that castle.
She gave me an apologetic smile. “I’m really sorry about this. ”
“Sorry?” I gave Regina a probing look, trying to figure her out—for me, dispersing a pack of bloodthirsty Draug was child’s play compared to the pain of bonding with strangers. “Why are you sorry?”
“Nothing like battling a couple of corpses to ruin your week. ”
I laughed. Her sense of humor was unexpected—and so much like something I’d say. “Actually,” I found myself sharing, “it’s my birthday week. ”
“That sucks. ”
I remembered my drunken, no-good father. “Believe it or not, this is far from my worst birthday ever. Pathetic, huh?” But then my mind went to Emma. My friend would’ve done something silly to commemorate the day. She would’ve written me a note, or stolen me an extra bagel, or something.
Regina gave me a sympathetic look that said more than any words would. “Well, at least this’ll be the worst part of your week, right?”
“You’d be surprised. ” I didn’t have a problem with optimism, but naïveté was a different story. I’d helped this girl a couple times now, and I was glad of it. But I had the dreadful suspicion I was wrong about one thing: Curly wasn’t entirely like me. She’d need to toughen up if she was to survive her first month.
I sighed as I checked my watch. My next class was with Master Alcántara.
Regina had no idea how bad things could get.
CHAPTER SEVEN
It took everything I had to walk into Assassination and Elimination Techniques class, Alcántara’s special Initiates-only seminar. I braced to find his cold, black eyes waiting for me as I entered the room—just like always. And like always, that stare unnerved me. Infuriated me. His creepy, unnatural interest in me had only intensified since Carden’s arrival on the island.
Buzzing filled my head. Seeing him, I could think only:
1. Alcántara killed Emma.
2. I despised Alcántara.
3. Alcántara was the enemy.