Blood Lines

32. Threat

Lena watched the taxi disappear and sighed. What a mess she had made of this whole situation. Despite all of her best efforts, it had still turned out like this. Her grandmother would probably call it pathetic. She had allowed a human girl to get under her skin, hell, into her very body and heart. And as much as she was enjoying the delusion right now, reality would come crushing down on her one way or another. It always did with her. Things never stayed good for long. It was just a bummer that she was probably going to end up hurting Clae, and badly by the feel of things, when she inevitably had to break this off.

She turned and headed back to campus, figuring she could catch up on some sleep before she caught the night train to the coast. She wasn't looking forwards to her return to vampiric society. She had risked a lot this semester. Stopping Jasper from attacking Clae and Jess and what had come afterwards had changed her position in her family irrevocably. Though she didn't yet have all the details of the fallout, she knew that lodging a formal complaint with their father, the head of the Vampire Council, had been an undeniably dangerous thing to do. Judging from Marrageta's reaction at that art show, the Jasper situation wasn't going to just be set aside and forgotten about. And it was a safe bet that Jasper's mother was out for vengeance.

Lena kicked at a tuft of grass as she returned to the courtyard and sighed. Though she felt physically exhausted from all that had taken place over the past four months, her mind felt so wound up that she doubted she would be able to sleep immediately. Unhelpfully, the image of Clae waving goodbye from the taxi kept popping into her mind. She hadn't realized it properly yet, or she hadn't wanted to admit it to herself, but she had grown attached to the girl. She had never been in love before, never even considered it. Sex and hook ups had been one thing, a sort of past time. But this was different. Even if it wasn't love in traditional terms, there was something about her that eased Lena's mind when the two were together. It made her nervous and happy in equal measure. The joy she got out of spending time with her was always a little overshadowed by the fear she had that by encouraging her, she was luring her into a false sense of what this relationship could ever be. That and she wasn't unaware that she might have inadvertently dragged Clae into a dangerous situation with her family. Marrageta at least had seen her at that stupid art gig. Lena had been way too foolish on that particular occasion. She should have explained that Clae was just a friend or an acquaintance. Anything to throw Marrageta off the trail. But she had been feeling loyal and had wanted to make Clae feel happy. The only good thing was that Marrageta had no reason to suspect that Clae had been the subject of Jasper's affections. That could have turned things even more messy.

It was at that point that Lena's vampiric senses, sharper than most her kindred from her pure vampire blood and constant attentiveness as a school guardian, picked up the presence lurking along the fence. She wasn't really surprised. She had expected a confrontation sooner or later. And sooner was always better in her opinion.

"You can come out if you like. Or you can keep playing hide and seek like a child," she said casually to the apparently empty courtyard.

There was a pause and then Jasper emerged, flanked as ever by Reginald. Lena turned to them, smiling but with deadly intent in her gaze. Jasper was also smiling but with disdain. He appeared to be waiting for her to start the conversation but Lena was practiced in patience and didn't mind waiting for him to lay down his cards first.

"Heading back to your pathetic home?" Jasper said at last.

"I am," Lena said, smirking. If the worst he was going to do was chide her about her living situation, she was fine with that. True, she didn't live in a five story mansion like him, but she had never really minded all that much.

"Looks like your little slut left you," Jasper continued coolly.

This taunt was less welcome. Lena hadn't been sure if Jasper knew about her and Clae's relationship. But of course Marrageta would have told him about their brief interaction that spring, and even his tiny brain could have put it together. She didn't respond. Observation was more helpful in that moment, for she could sense the hunger in Jasper's tone and it disturbed her.