the circular driveway was a gleaming white Mercedes.
“Hot,” I said climbing in the passenger seat.
After he got in and the engine roared to life, I turned and looked at him. “You called me Princess? What’s up with that?”
He glanced at me as he pulled forward. “It suits you… Princess.”
“I don’t like it,” I told him, leaning back in the leather chair.
Laeddin turned, his face alight with mischief. “All the more reason I’ll continue to call you Princess, Princess.”
“Ugh.”
Laeddin smirked. He did something with the shifter and the car lurched forward, down the driveway. Laeddin flipped a knob on the left of the steering thing as we came to a stop. A large silver truck flew past us. It honked and roared down the street.
“I’m guessing one of your uncle’s kids.” Laeddin turned left and we followed the truck all the way to the high school.
Chapter 10
The school was big, bigger than the castle. Laeddin dropped me off at the front of the school. “I’ll be back to pick you up at two thirty.”
I climbed out of the car . “Thanks. See you later.” I watched him drive away. All my senses were heightened. New smells—weird smells—assaulted my nose. And there was so much noise. The sound was like a flock of sea birds. Dozens of human students swarmed past. They went up the stairs and through the front door. I turned, trying not to wobble in my heels, and made my way up the stairs. Inside the air became denser, probably from all the bodies. Straight ahead was an open area with hallways breaking off to both sides. Ahead there were two sets of double doors, with a staircase to the right of the doors.
“Are you lost, honey?” A guy with short black hair and skin much darker than mine bounced in front of me. His face was friendly. Dark eyes sparkled and his smile took up a large portion of his face. He was wearing a hot pink button up shirt. It wasn’t tucked in, but hung loose. His shoes were blue with a hot pink streak. Both of his ears were pierced and diamond studs covered the holes.
I couldn’t stop staring. He reminded me a little of Zenny.
“Hey,” he snapped his fingers.
“Where is the office? I-I, uh am new.”
He gave me a look. “Yeah, I figured.” He took my hand. “Come on. I’ll get you there.”
I froze, surprised by his friendliness and shocked by the smell coming off him. It was like a bouquet of copper, rust, and sweet thick… I smelled his blood. Laeddin had given me human blood for breakfast. I didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not. I guessed it was his way of showing me I could get blood without drinking from animals. But I had to go to school with the humans. They weren’t food. At least not if I wanted to be normal.
My fingers had a death grip on the guy ’s hand.
“Hey.” He was giving me a strange look.
“Sorry. Thanks.” I relaxed and followed him.
“It’s alright. Don’t be scared. Most of the kids here won’t bite.” He glanced back while walking and smiled.
I returned his with one of my own. But couldn’t help thinking that the humans might not bite, but I did. At the thought of his blood hitting the back of my throat, my mouth watered. When I saw Laeddin again I was going to give him a serious piece of my mind.
“My name is Cameron, but you can call me Cam. What’s yours?”
“Jasmine,” I responded before I really thought about it. The name on my transcripts said Jackie Ryder, which was the name Laeddin game me. They were fake, of course. But I couldn’t come out and say I’d been going to school in a fairytale land called Sharra where my teacher was a vampire, and that I drank the blood of unicorns and ogres for sustenance. Nope that wouldn’t go well with my wish to be a normal teenager.
So I was from Las Veg as. I went to public school for a while and then I was homeschooled and taught by tutors. It was kind of true. Also, my mom and dad worked in the entertainment industry and
Learning to Kill: Stories