Who knew I’m a sucker for polite boys? I stare down at the diary without seeing it. I can’t be a sucker for any of these boys, least of all the one who just kissed me and then admitted he used me.
“Mia.” His voice is lower now. “I’m not here for myself. Will you open the door? Come on. I sent the nasty girls away.”
Well. That’s good news. And I’m curious to find out what he wants and who sent him. With a sigh, I jump to my feet, push the desk aside and open the door.
“So,” I say, “what was so urgent it couldn’t wait?”
Jason braces a hand on the doorframe, blond hair falling in his eyes. “Ash. Ashton.”
“What about him?”
“He needs blood. I…” Jason lifts a hand to rub the back of his head. His T-shirt is white and there is blood smeared over one side, splotches of red seeping through the bulkiness of the bandage wrapped around his shoulder.
Something in my chest clenches and my anger at him fades a little. “You’re hurt.”
“What? No. I mean, this…” He pulls on the hem of his T-shirt with a frown, examining the streaks of blood. “This is Ashton’s.”
The vise around my chest tightens. “What’s the matter with him? Did he get shot again?”
“Oh, no. It’s nothing like that.”
“Then what is it like?” I demand.
Jason blows out a breath. “Look, I know you said you needed time alone to rest and… sort your thoughts, I guess, but his leg wound is reopened, and he passed out and—”
“Holy crap. Hewhat? When?”
“Just now.” Jason waves a hand vaguely at the corridor behind him. “I took him to his room, but he’s a vampire, running on blood—”
“Runningon blood,” I echo. “You make him sound a machine.”
“—and with this spell, his magic is depleted. He needs to drink blood and… And I don’t know what else.”
“And you thought to come to me?”
“I don’t know who else to ask,” he admits.
“How about yourself, or one of your wolves?”
“We don’t have girl wolves at the Academy,” he says, as if it’s self-explanatory.
I blink. “And he can only drink from a girl?”
He shrugs. His cheeks are starting to turn pink. “It’s, uh, complicated. Um…”
“What, boys don’t like to be chugged down like tall drinks?”
Yeah, Vanessa has been rubbing off on me.
He chokes a little. “It’s not that. It’s… the vampire bite.”
“What about it?”
He stares at me. “Thepleasure,” he says.
“What pleasure?”
“God, do I have to spell it out for you?” His teeth grit. “The vampire bite gives pleasure. We werewolf boys don’t do other boys. Is that clear enough for you?”