Chapter 11: Forged in Blood: Chapter 9

My stomach growls at the scent of my burrito drifting out of the brown paper bag I have clutched in my hands as I take the stairs up to my dorm room. It was my hunger that forced me out of the solace of the library.

Libraries have always been special places to me. Not only a portal to another world, but the library was the only place I felt like I could hide from the pitying stares and rumors. There goes that loser, Ophelia. The girl with no friends who peed herself in front of the entire school when she was seventeen. I didn’t. I mean, I know it looked like I did, but I didn’t. However, high schoolers aren’t exactly renowned for getting their facts straight before spreading rumors. Nor did I burn the school down in a fit of rage after, but nobody seemed to care about the truth regarding that either.

I push open my door and toss my backpack onto the bed with a sigh. A burrito and a shower, and I’ll call it a night.

“You’re home late, pyromaniac.”

I let out a shriek so loud that I almost burst my own eardrums and toss my burrito at his head. Axl ducks, and my dinner flies out of the window. I clutch my chest as though it might stop my heart from beating right out of it. “What the hell? How did you even … You almost gave me a heart attack.”

He shrugs. “I didn’t realize you were so twitchy.”

“I’m not twitchy. You’re sitting in my window dressed in all black, looking like some cheap Black Panther rip-off.”

He places a hand on his chest and adopts a wounded expression. “Ouch. So vicious, Pyro.”

My mouth suddenly feels drier than a three-week-old falafel. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “Why are you calling me that?”

He arches an eyebrow. “You did burn down your school, didn’t you?”

My cheeks go hot. “No I did not.”

He tilts his head and licks his full lips. “That’s not what all your classmates and the principal told the newspapers.”

I place my hands on my hips and glare at him, wishing he would burst into flames. “Yeah, well, you shouldn’t believe everything you read, Axl.”

He swings his long legs inside and plants his feet on my desk, and I gasp. “I thought you couldn’t come in unless I invited you?”

His laugh isn’t warm like Malachi’s. It’s cold and cruel, and it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “You shouldn’t believe everything you read, Ophelia.”

Jerkwad! “What the hell are you even doing here? I think we’ve proven your secret is safe with me.” I look out the open window behind him, mourning the loss of my burrito now that my heart has stopped racing.

He jumps off the ledge, and I press my lips together to stifle a yelp. I’ve never been a person who scares easily, but something about Axl Thorne makes me jumpy. Maybe because he’s a vampire, Ophelia. Duh!

“But that’s not true, is it, Pyro?” he asks, his voice dropping to a low growl.

He steps closer, and I take a step back. “W-what?”

“I have ears all over this campus. I heard about your little show on the quad today. You made quite the fool of yourself, didn’t you?”

Another step back has me flat against my door with my heart hammering to get out of my chest and my brain yelling for me to run. “I was just checking if she was okay.”

“You offered to be a”—he cocks his head like he’s searching for the right word—“witness?”

I swallow the ball of anxiety lodged in my throat. How the hell do I manage to get myself into situations like these? Tipping my chin up, I glare at him. Yeah, he might have a foot and a hundred pounds on me, not to mention a set of fangs that could tear out my throat, but I’m not afraid of him. I mean, my legs may be shaking a little, but I’m pretty sure that’s not from fear … “I thought you’d hurt her. I thought nobody would believe her if she spoke out, and I know what it’s like to not be believed.” A swell of sadness and shame washes over me.

A crack of thunder is followed by a bright flash of lightning and the sound of hammering rain, and it seems to snap Axl from his murderous intent because he glances back at the open window. It was sunny a few moments ago, but the weather in this area is always unpredictable.

“And now my burrito is turning into a pile of mush,” I say with a sigh. “Thanks for that.”

He turns back to me. “I didn’t ask you to throw it at my head.”

I roll my eyes. “You still haven’t told me what the hell you’re doing here.”

He takes another half step forward, and now he’s only inches from me. His breath rustles the hairs on the top of my head, and the heat coming off his body warms my own. “I’m here to warn you, little Ophelia,” he says in a low growl.

“W-warn me?”

“You were told to keep quiet about your little discovery last night, yet you blabbed the first chance you got.” He dips his head, and his lips hover dangerously close to mine.

My blood thunders in my ears. “I told you why I did that. But it doesn’t matter. Like the professor said, nobody would believe me anyway. I just made myself seem like even more of a freak than people already thought I was. So you won.”

“I always win.” His lips inch closer until they dust the corner of my mouth.

I shiver. “A-are you going to b-bite me?”

“No.” He pulls his face back an inch and sneers. Then he takes a lock of my hair and curls it between his thumb and forefinger. “A vampire is driven by scent. I only eat things I desire. And you, little pyromaniac …” He runs his nose over my hair and inhales deeply, and my stomach does a full somersault. “You stink.”

I blink back tears. What a jackass! With another cruel laugh, Axl drops my hair but keeps his lips close to my skin so his warm breath dances over my lips. “I’ll be keeping a close eye on you, Ophelia.” In the blink of an eye, he’s gone.

I suck in a calming breath and sink to the floor, sure of one thing—Axl Thorne isn’t just a vampire. He’s a monster.