Allison said something to Mr. Love, pitched too low for the rest of us to catch, but he laughed quietly. Nic’s head came up, and her eyes narrowed. She stormed from her desk to his, scowling at Allison, who threw her a mocking look. Then, deliberately, Allison touched Mr. Love on the arm to catch his attention.
Nicole snapped. With a snarl, she whipped a switchblade out of her pocket and slashed. Allison skittered back but not in time; red bloomed through the sleeve of her blazer. Another girl screamed while someone else ran for the headmaster. Allison wrapped a hand around the wound and I shrugged off my jacket, offering to her as Mr. Love grabbed Nicole’s arms. Too slow, ass**le. You wanted this.
Nic screamed the minute he touched her, the raw, wordless cry of an animal in pain. At first she struggled and fought like a crazy thing, but by the time the headmaster arrived, she was sobbing with snot streaming down her chin. In the chaos of so many people talking at once, trying to explain what happened, I escorted Allison to the nurse. But we were only halfway there when she unwrapped my blazer from her wounded arm and gave it back.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just a scratch.”
The blood that gushed from that slice said otherwise. “I’m pretty sure you need to go to the hospital for some stitches.”
Her green eyes held a mocking light. “Do I?”
Then she showed me the blood-smeared skin. Sure, it was stained red, but there was no wound. “That’s impossible.”
“Not so much, human girl. They seem completely human, but tragedy, discord, and despair follow in their wake. You will know these demons because they are not born of woman and have no navel.” With a faintly feline smile, she tugged up her school shirt to show me smooth skin.
Jen saw you looking up psychic vampires. And it was Jen who brought you into the group. Is she … did she…? I had no proof that she was actually in Thailand, and I hated the fear and doubt that swamped me.
“It’s tough not knowing who your true friends are,” Allison said sweetly.
“You? I was so sure it was him,” I blurted.
Her lazy smile didn’t shift. “He’s a monster but not one of ours.”
I glanced at her wrists, but they were unmarked.
“What faction are you?” I demanded.
She smirked. “Don’t you get it? Every game needs spectators.”
“But … my ears don’t ring around you.” To my surprise, she didn’t seem confused.
“Some of us are … natural to the world, not dreamed up by humans. And we don’t set off alarm bells in those predisposed to sensitivity.”
“Ah.” That made sense. “But … Russ, before he died—”
“Humans who are feeding a nightmare become attuned to the predator.”
“I’m not sure what that means.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know how a chameleon changes colors?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s like that, only in a parasitic exchange the human gives off a … false positive. To someone like you.”
Allison fixed her blouse and sauntered toward the main office. “I’m done tutoring you now. Thanks for the help.” Such pleasure in the last two words.
How does—whatever she is—reproduce? No belly button. Quickly I ran through what I knew, biologically speaking. Parthenogenesis, asexual, gemmules, sporulation—that one gave me a shivery twinge—budding, regeneration. Dammit. It’s not like I can figure this out now. I had so many questions, though she’d answered a few.
Obviously I had miscalculated, so I raced back to Lit class, where things had calmed down a little, but no learning took place that morning. Since one student had attacked another, the police questioned everyone and they took a dim view of why there were no security screenings like in public schools; they didn’t seem persuaded that affluent students were less prone to hurting each other, given today’s events. The headmaster wore a hunted look as he foresaw his prestigious school reputation swirling down the drain. In the end, he dismissed us early, probably so he could consult his attorneys, find out about liability, and decide the best spin on this mess when he talked to the board.
Instead of rushing out along with everyone else, I headed for Lit. Part of me suspected the instigator would’ve already run off, but I found him packing his briefcase like nothing had happened. When he saw me in the doorway, he smiled.
“What can I do for you, Edie?”
“I may not be able to prove you did this, but there will be questions. They’ll dig into your relationship with Nicole and see how much time she spent with you.”
He didn’t profess innocence or confusion, as I half expected, but when he spoke, he lost the British accent. Instead, he sounded guttural, like an enormous thing, speaking from man-skin. “Darling girl, you claim to know what I am, but you have no idea. Run along now, before I teach you.”
I made the thin man back off. It’ll take more than you to frighten me. That was bravado, but it kept my feet planted.
“I don’t think so. You’re done here. If you come back tomorrow, I’ll find a way to make you pay.” That was a bluff; since I had no idea what the hell he was, I didn’t know how to punish him.
He rushed me. It never occurred to me to fear a physical attack, but he swung at my head and in reflex, I threw up my left arm to block. Red light sparked from the kanji brand on my wrist, flinging him halfway across the room. Mr. Love landed hard and whacked his head against the desk. In a normal human, that might’ve been enough to kill him, but he staggered to his feet, cracked his neck in a grotesque fashion, popping the broken column back into place and rolling his shoulders. But he didn’t come at me again.
Instead he studied me with an expression of growing delight. “Ah. So you’re what drew me here, little queen.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t feign ignorance, it doesn’t suit you.” His gaze lingered on my mark, the one that meant Property of the Game. “Do you suspect what lies ahead? I wonder.”
“Are you part of the opposition?”
He laughed, a rumbling sound like thunder. “Not all of us choose to play. Some of us prefer to watch … and make wagers. I think I’ll bet on how long you’ll live.”
“Are you related to Allison somehow?”
He shook his head. “But you know that already. Testing me?”