Page 12 of Just One Bite
I throw the branch, rubbing the back of my head, and it lands with a hollow thud.
“It’s fine.”
“Ah!” Then the shorter blonde leaps from the trees also holding a large branch like a baseball bat.
“Emma, he’s fine! He helped,” Evangeline says. Our brief interaction in the maze starts to come back. I wasn’t really paying attention to anyone but Olivia.
“Are you sure? He looks sketchy.” Emma drops her weapon and hauls Olivia from my grasp. “Are you okay?”
Evangeline clutches her chest in horror, her breath spreading up.
“I’m fine,” Olivia says.
“She needs blood. I was going to take her to the nurses' station.”
The three of them look up at me as I stand and brush the dirt off my pants. Unfortunately, I’m still shirtless, so I’m giving off douchebag energy. Their fearful eyes turn into careful surveillance. They definitely aren’t buying it.
“We can take her,” Evangeline says, cleaning up her sister with a cloth from her jacket.
I don’t love that thought. Three helpless humans dragging their sweet scent—that is now out in the open and drying into the fabric of Olivia’s sweater—all across campus.
“Why don’t we all go? I can carry her. It will get her there faster.”
“I guess we don’t exactly know where it is. We’re new here,” Emma says.
She says it as if the fact they aren’t in their house colors yet isn’t a dead giveaway.
“I can see that. Where are you from?”
“The woods.”
“In general, the woods?”
“Groveshire,” Olivia says.
“Mom moved us there after we were born,” Emma chimes in, and Olivia shakes her head.
“Oh, I’ve never heard of it.”
“Most people haven’t,” Evangeline says. She’s watching me the closest, and I’m happy they have at least a sliver of self-preservation. I bend to help Olivia off the ground, surveying her one more time. No open cuts allowed.
“Are you a medic or something?” Evangeline says.
“No, it’s standard, especially for pack members to have medical supplies on them.”
“So you’re a werewolf,” Emma says.
“I’m a hybrid. Vampire and werewolf. You do know that’s a thing, right?”
“Of course we do.”
Now they’re all giving me some form of a glare. Emma rolls her eyes, Evangeline’s eyes squint like I’ve just insulted her, and Olivia is giving me that endearingshove it up your assexpression.
“Doxlothia isn’t generally dangerous. It’s safer to be part of The Donor Program, for sure. There are still people here that will take a bite out of you if you’re not careful.”
I wrap my arm around Olivia to lift her over my shoulder but stop when Darien moves into our circle.
“Oh, I see you’ve caught my leftovers. But oh, two new little rabbits have come into play.”
