Part 19 (1/2)

Mid-kiss, Greg suddenly broke away and looked at something over my shoulder. We both sat in the same chair, with me on his lap, and I craned my neck to see. ”What is it?”

He shook his head with a sort of amused exasperation. ”Wade brought a feeder.”

I followed his gaze to where Wade Voda stood with his arm around a frail girl about my age.

She was human and pretty, with wavy blond hair and porcelain skin pale from so much blood loss. A few other guys had homed on her and stood with Wade, laughing and touching her face and hair.

”She's already fed too much today,” I said, observing her coloring and complete look of confusion.

Greg slid his hand behind my neck and turned me back to him. ”They won't hurt her.”

We kissed a while longer and then I felt a tap on my shoulder. ”Rose.”

I looked up into Lissa's face. Her anxious expression startled me because I couldn't feel the emotions behind it. Too much beer for me. I climbed off of Greg's lap.

”Where are you going?” he asked.

”Be right back.” I pulled Lissa aside, suddenly wis.h.i.+ng I was sober. ”What's wrong?”

”Them.”

She nodded toward the guys with the feeder girl. She still had a group around her, and when she s.h.i.+fted to look at one of them, I saw small red wounds scattered on her neck. They were doing a sort of group feeding, taking turns biting her and making gross suggestions. High and oblivious, she let them.

”They can't do that,” Lissa told me.

”She's a feeder. n.o.body's going to stop them.”

Lissa looked up at me with pleading eyes. Hurt, outrage, and anger filled them. ”Will you?”

I'd always been the aggressive one, looking after her ever since we were little. Seeing her there now, so upset and looking at me to fix things, was more than I could stand. Giving her a shaky nod, I stumbled over to the group.

”You so desperate to get some that you've got to drug girls now, Wade?” I asked.

He glanced up from where he'd been running his lips over the human girl's neck. ”Why? Are you done with Greg and looking for more?”

I put my hands on my hips and hoped I looked fierce. The truth was, I was actually starting to feel a little nauseous from all I'd drunk. ”Aren't enough drugs in the world to get me near you,”

I told him. A few of his friends laughed. ”But maybe you can go make out with that lamp over there. It seems to be out of it enough to make even you happy. You don't need her anymore.” A few other people laughed.

”This isn't any of your business,” he hissed. ”She's just lunch.” Referring to feeders as meals was about the only thing worse than calling dhampirs blood wh.o.r.es.

”This isn't a feeding room. n.o.body wants to see this.”

”Yeah,” agreed a senior girl. ”It's gross.” A few of her friends agreed.

Wade glared at all of us, me the hardest. ”Fine. None of you have to see it. Come on.” He grabbed the feeder girl's arm and jerked her away. Clumsily, she stumbled along with him out of the room, making soft whimpering noises.

”Best I could do,” I told Lissa. She stared at me, shocked. ”He's just going to take her to his room. He'll do even worse things to her.”

”Liss, I don't like it either, but it's not like I can go chase him down or anything.” I rubbed my forehead. ”I could go punch him or something, but I feel like I'm going to throw up as it is.”

Her face grew dark, and she bit her lip. ”He can't do that.”

”I'm sorry.”

I returned to the chair with Greg, feeling a little bad about what had happened. I didn't want to see the feeder get taken advantage of anymore than Lissa did-it reminded me too much of what a lot of Moroi guys thought they cold do to dhampir girls. But I also couldn't win this battle, not tonight.

Greg had s.h.i.+fted me around to get a better angle on my neck when I noticed Lissa was gone a few minutes later. Practically falling, I clambered off his lap and looked around. ”Where's Lissa?”

He reached for me. ”Probably the bathroom.”

I couldn't feel a thing through the bond. The alcohol had numbed it. Stepping out into the hallway, I breathed a sigh of relief at escaping the loud music and voices. It was quiet out here-except for a cras.h.i.+ng sound a couple rooms down. The door was ajar, and I pushed my way inside.

The feeder girl cowered in a corner, terrified. Lissa stood with arms crossed, her face angry and terrible. She was staring at Wade intently, and he stared back, enchanted. He also held a baseball bat, and it looked like he'd used it already, because the room was trashed: bookshelves, the stereo, the mirror....

”Break the window too,” Lissa told him smoothly. ”Come on. It doesn't matter.”

Hypnotized, he walked over to the large, tinted window. I stared, my mouth nearly hitting the floor, as he pulled back and slammed the bat into the gla.s.s. It shattered, sending shards everywhere and letting in the early morning light it normally kept blocked out. He winced as it shone in his eyes, but he didn't move away. ”Lissa,” I exclaimed. ”Stop it. Make him stop.”

”He should have stopped earlier.”

I barely recognized the look on her face. I'd never seen her so upset, and I'd certainly never seen her do anything like this. I knew what it was, of course. I knew right away. Compulsion. For all I knew, she was seconds away from having him turn the bat on himself.

”Please, Lissa. Don't do it anymore. Please.”

Through the fuzzy, alcoholic buzz, I felt a trickle of her emotions. They were strong enough to practically knock me over. Black. Angry. Merciless. Startling feelings to be coming from sweet and steady Lissa. I'd known her since kindergarten, but in that moment, I barely knew her.

And I was afraid.

”Please, Lissa,” I repeated. ”He's not worth it. Let him go.”

She didn't look at me. Her stormy eyes were focused entirely on Wade. Slowly carefully, he lifted up the bat, tilting it so that it lined up with his own skull.

”Liss,” I begged. Oh G.o.d. I was going to have to tackle her or something to make her stop.

”Don't do it.”

”He should have stopped,” Lissa said evenly. The bat quit moving. It was now at exactly the right distance to gain momentum and strike. ”He shouldn't have done that to her. People can't treat other people like that-even feeders.”

”But you're scaring her,” I said softly. ”Look at her.”

Nothing happened at first, then Lissa let her gaze flick toward the feeder. The human girl still sat huddled in a corner, arms wrapped around herself protectively. Her blue eyes were enormous, and light reflected off her wet, tear-streaked face. She gave a choked, terrified sob.

Lissa's face stayed impa.s.sive. Inside her, I could feel the battle she was waging for control.