Page 29 of Cloak of the Vampire
She was quiet for a few long moments, shifting from foot to foot, before answering. “It’s complicated.”
Now I was angrier. “Then explain it to me.”
Stepping back, she shook her head. “I can’t, Aileen.” She hugged herself, her face paling further. “All I can say is that I’m sorry, if it helps.”
Sorry? She wassorry? My hands clenched into fists. “Why?” I gritted out, my face flushing with rage. “Why did you do it?” Because by not saying anything, she was admitting to what I had suspected.
She had been on the waiting list. She’d planned to leave without saying a word. If I hadn’t followed her that night, I would’ve never known what had happened to her. I would’ve stayed in the dark for the rest of my life, most likely, not knowing what happened to her. I would’ve died with the mystery of her disappearance weighing heavily on my soul.
But she seemed to think differently. “I was miserable out there!” she suddenly snapped, her cheeks flushing as her own anger rose. “I hated every moment of my horrible, pitiful life, and I couldn’t take it anymore!” She glowered at me, her green eyes brightening as the vampiric glow lit them up from within, causing me to freeze.
She shook her head, shivering from head to toe. “I was never like you, Aileen,” she said, her voice abruptly turning cold. “I hated every moment being in that fucking band, hanging out with men who thought they were better than me, and having loser friends!” She paused to sneer at me, no longer cowering—in fact, she was showing me her true self for the first time without any masks. “Do you think Ilikedyou? That I liked having an unambitious friend who was ditzy and clueless about everything? Do you think I enjoyed being friends with Skye, whose self-centeredness was beyond annoying?”
I tried not to let it, but it hurt. It hurt to hear her say what she really thought of me. Of course I suspected that, but hearing it was strikingly different. It felt like she physically slapped me.
Folding my arms, I said flatly, “Unfortunately for you, you didn’t get rid of me,” coolly enjoying her eyes widening. “In fact, I’m going to be a constant reminder for you that you failed at putting your past behind you.”
She realized what I was getting to. “Don’t you dare, Aileen,” she hissed, looking around the empty corridor as if Ragnor himself would appear out of thin air.
I smirked humorlessly and put my hand on her shoulder, squeezing it hard enough for her to flinch. “Oh, I didn’t say I would spill the beans, Cassidy,” I said, giving her a chilly look. “I’ll just linger where you can always see me so you’ll never be able to relax, in fear of me telling everyone just what kind of past you share with a lousy Common vampire.”
She slapped my hand away and gave me a glower. “You know I’m Gifted,” she deduced.
I kept my smile. “I’m not as stupid as you clearly think I am.”
Her anger and fear were suddenly gone. She took on a contemplative look I didn’t like.
“You know, I’m not supposed to use my Gift yet,” she said conversationally as if we hadn’t just had a huge fight. “But for you, I think I’ll make an exception.”
My smile fell. She smirked, opened her mouth, and would’ve said something, when another voice suddenly said, “Aileen?”
Both of us whipped our heads to the side. Tansy stood there staring at us with large round eyes, her fingers fiddling absentmindedly with her long braid. She looked at Cassidy, her expression as dazed as usual, before returning her eyes to me. “Break is over,” she informed me.
For a moment, I wondered how long she’d been standing there and if she’d heard anything. But Tansy seemed to be as clueless as usual. Still, when I glanced at my former friend, I saw the hysteria written all over her face.
Somewhat smug, I said, “Thank you for letting me know,” before turning to Cassidy with a triumphant look. “I guess you won’t get what you want this time.”Suck it, Cassidy.
She bared her teeth, her eyes now fully aglow. But before she could say anything, I gave her my back as I joined Tansy and walked away.
CHAPTER 11
Why did everything have to go to shit?
By the time I took my seat, my triumph from before was gone and was replaced with a deep sense of sadness. Needless to say, I didn’t listen for the rest of the class, and when it was over and Abe said, “Meet Logan in the gym on the third floor,” I felt a headache coming.
First Cassidy, now Logan, and later that meeting with Ragnor. I had a feeling this day was going to place in the top ten worst days I’d ever had, right along with that awful day years ago when I had to give my testimony to the police officer and spat lies to try and spare a criminal.
The gym was a huge empty hall filled with ropes dangling from the ceiling, thick mats piled in one corner, ladders of varying heights spread around the walls, and miscellaneous aerobics equipment scattered about on the floor. Logan almost looked small standing alone in the middle of the room, in a gray T-shirt and black sweatpants. “You have gym clothes in the locker room,” he told us. “Go get changed, and be back here in five minutes, ready to work.”
A few minutes later, all of us were again in front of Logan, wearing the same attire as him. Zoey had let her hair down and put on some makeup. She looked at Logan as if he was a snack. Just then, a little pang of jealousy hit me unexpectedly. It had been so long since I thought of Logan as anything other than an ex-boyfriend.
I pulled my brown hair up and pressed my lips together, thinking about how Logan used to tell me how much he liked that myface wasn’t caked in layers of makeup. Now, as I stood before him in this ridiculously large gym, waiting to do whatever it was that he had planned for us, that time with Logan seemed like a million lifetimes ago.
Logan stared at us with a tight grin, searching the room and counting each of us. “Good, you’re all here. Let’s get started. Oh, and you ...” He motioned to Zoey, who gave him a flirtatious smile as if she had been waiting for him to notice her. “Put up your hair.”
She pouted and did as she was told.
At first, Logan had us do some warm-ups, though that was too nice of a phrase for what they were. We had to run forty laps, something that would have been impossible for me a few weeks ago. But now, I finished all forty laps without so much as a little sweat.
