Bloodlust (The Blood Series #1)

Chapter 33

  I stare at the phone in my hand. Isn't someone happy to have me over, I think bitterly when I put the phone back into my bag. I know Nathan worries about me for a very good reason but I'm tired of having to constantly assure him that I'll be okay, that I'll manage whatever Oliver throws in our way. He should know by now that I'm stronger than he thinks I am.

Drea interrupts my internal monologue. "Okay, I'm gonna need some details about your newest conquest", she says.

"He's not a conquest. And what do you want to know?" I ask. I'm going to have to tread carefully with this one. Due to her amazing analysis skills Andrea can usually tell bullshit from a mile away. That's why it's so surprising that Callum was able to fool her for so long. Well, I guess even the best ones aren't safe from love's blinding effect on judgement.

"Everything", Drea replies and because I'm tired of keeping secrets, I start to tell her. I of course leave out the supernatural parts of our little love story which kind of makes it a heck of a lot shorter. I tell her how we met in a bar after I broke up with Troy. How he came to talk to me again at school. How I begun to fall for him as we continued to encounter one another. What I tell her is not the truth but it's close enough. I don't think Drea is ready to hear it all after what Callum put her through.

"You know you and Nathan... it's something else", Drea says out of nowhere after I'm done talking.

I turn to look at her. "How do you mean?"

She shrugs, staring off to the road ahead of us. "It's hard to explain. You guys just seem to click, that's all. Like you have a secret that no one else knows about. I've never seen anyone look at another person like he does you. He's falling for you, bestie and he's falling hard."

"He's not alone in that", I admit quietly. There's no use in denying it any longer. I'm in love with Nathan Blood and it's scary, exciting, crazy, wonderful, miserable and beautiful. I don't know what obstacles we'll be forced to overcome in the future but right now all I know is that I'm in love with him and it's good.

Drea's eyes go big. "You're in love with him?" she gasps.

I smile a little wistfully. "How could I not be? Nathan is amazing, there's no better word for it."

"I don't understand how you're not afraid to be around them. Just a few months back you were afraid to walk by the Blood Manor and now you're spending your nights there!" she says shaking her head at me.

"It was only one night", I automatically correct her. Then I realize that she only meant it figuratively and I clamp a hand over my mouth. Oh shoot. I was so not going to tell her that. Oh well...

She lets out a small scream. "You've slept over at the hell house?"

"It's not a hell house, it's just... a house. And yeah, once. After my mom and I... you know, fought and all that, I didn't have a place to go and Nathan and the guys came to pick me up and our night out got a little late so I stayed with him. But I didn't really even sleep, it was only for a couple of hours and then Nathan drove me home."

Drea nods. "Right, the creep at your house, I remember. What is that guy's problem, anyway?" she exclaims then.

I smile at the way she instantly hates him because I hate him. It feels so good to have my best friend back. "I know right! It's none of his business to tell me who I can and cannot date. And you know the worst part is that Mom just let him! It's like she's completely under his spell..." I start to say but then I freeze. Is it possible? Is my mom literally under Dave's spell?

I'm still wrapped in my thoughts when Drea drops me off at the gym after making a big deal about having to drive to Blood territory. I tell her that Nathan wouldn't have told me to come here if it wasn't safe but she doesn't look convinced as she drives away.

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"Hey troublemaker", Lukas greets me as I walk into the gym.

"Hey... What's going on?" I ask as I take in the sight before me. Six very mismatching people stand in the gym, all of them looking kind of uncomfortable, even Lukas who doesn't sometimes seem to even know the word awkward. I spot Mike, the twins and Nathan of course. Then a pair of light gray eyes answer my gaze. What's Bianca doing in here?

I turn to look at Nathan who looks awkward. Just then I notice a pretty girl sitting next on the bench by the wall. She's on her phone, doesn't even look up when I walk in. Who is she? She doesn't look familiar so I don't think that she goes to our school. Her outfit is what Drea would refer to as 'stylishly cute': she's wearing leggings, a pleated skirt, white blouse and, to top it all off, a beanie. Despite her ordinary clothes she looks stunning like a super model. I feel utterly underdressed in my plain jeans and a hoodie.

Nathan notices my gaze's direction and explains: "Uh, Haley, this is Audrey. She's here to help us."

Audrey looks at me with even more coldly than Bianca. There is something about the way she scowls at me and how weird Nathan acts around her. I'm guessing there's an Ex in the City. The thought makes my stomach drop. I always knew that Nathan must have had bunch of girls before me but I didn't expect to be thrown face to face with one. And if the awkwardness is anything to go by, it hasn't been that long since their breakup which makes me feel even worse.

"We'll see", she answers Nathan but her dark eyes are still on me.

Lukas as usual comes to the rescue and breaks the silence. "So here's the plan", he starts to say but is rudely cut off by an annoyed looking Klaus.

"It's not a plan."

"Shut up, Klaus", Lukas says very smugly, happy to for once be the one to say it and not hear it. "Anyway, Nathan has a plan and it sucks. It goes something like this: we destroy Oliver on the next full moon. And no, there are no werewolves involved, we just need the moon for power to cast our spell."

"The next full moon just so happens this month fall on the same night as Halloween. Due to having two powerful phenomenon on our side we will hopefully be able to complete a ritual that will chain Oliver to Hell. Due to being an fallen angel he's hard to kill but no one ever said we had to kill him. If we can lock him up in a place we know that he cannot break free from he'll be as good as dead", Klaus explains.

I arch a brow. "What's the catch? Why do you all think it's such a bad plan? It sounds simple enough to me."

Mike lets out a joyless laugh. "Simple? Let me tell you something, human. The ruler of Hell won't exactly be happy if we just dump our problem on his territory and tell him to deal with it. And when the ruler of Hell isn't happy, heads tend to roll", he adds.

"Oh", is the only thing I manage to breathe out although inside my head there is a hodgepodge of thoughts. The ruler of Hell? As in Lucifer or something? I am just getting used to the fact that I suddenly know a lot of demons and such. Adding the devil to all that is just too damn much.

"Also, we're going to have to perform all of this at the school because we need the energy of hundreds of people and that's one place where we will surely find that many people. So there's that", Lukas says and I shiver. We are going to open the gates of Hell... at our high school? That is sort of anti-climactic. And dangerous for all those who are going to the Halloween Festival at school.

"Well, you were right. That is a bad plan. An awful, really. Truly terrible", I say after a few moments have gone by in agonizing silence.

Lukas nods, his usual cheeriness gone. "Yeah."

Nathan tries to defend his crappy plan. "It's not a bad plan. It has flaws but that's what you're all here to help me fiddle away. I honestly cannot think of a better place to send an immortal fallen angel, can you?" he challenges us.

"Nate, to complete your idiotic non-plan plan we are going to have to open the goddamn gates of Hell! Does that not worry you even a little bit?" Mike snaps.

Nathan's green eyes harden. They look more like emeralds than ever before. "Of course it does. But having Oliver destroy everything our family has worked on for millenniums is worse. We have to stop him and I'm starting to think that Hell is our only option."

"Come hell or high water", I mutter and upon hearing my voice Nathan gives me a small smile. It's the first time he has noted my presence since he introduced Audrey the ex to me so I don't return the smile. This whole situation feels so absurd. Here we are, in a stinky gym, talking about opening up the gates of Hell to plunge a fallen angel to its depths. I don't know, this whole thing is starting to get a little too Dante for my liking.

For the first time Bianca opens her mouth. "How are we even going to do it? It's not the kind of magic we are taught. How will we even know what to do? Has any of you ever done anything like this before? Because I sure as hell haven't", she snaps and the others look hesitant as well. I feel weirdly relived. So opening Hell's gates isn't exactly everyday thing for them either.

Nathan smiles at her a little condescendingly. "Bianca, you're a Blood. What are Bloods good at?"

"Killing?" Klaus propositions.

Mike is up next. "Threatening people?"

"Gutting?" Lukas offers. When everyone turns to stare at him oddly he shrugs and says: "What? Great uncle Earl used to gut magical creatures for living. He has even won some medals."

Nathan looks confused and a little disgusted about this new piece of information about his family tree. "No. Bloods are good at stealing", he answers his own question. "Think about it. Have we really, truly earned most of the stuff we keep in the basement? All that crap from other dimensions? Do you really think Mommy and Daddy went out collecting all that stuff we have in here? That those things were free for their taking? Of course not. We have stolen from every single magical being known to us and our library is filled with dark magic books. I'm certain there will something to find there about Hell and whatnot."

Audrey snorts. "Super. So all we have to do is go through a bunch of old dusty books and hope that we'll find something useful."

"Not just that. Kevin has been working on a supernatural database for years now. We could check with him, see if he knows anything useful. Let's put these Blood resources to use."

Klaus shakes his head. "If we go to Kevin he'll go right to our pops. I know Dad is the one who told us to deal with our mess but if he finds out what we're planning on... Let's just say that I wouldn't want to be around for that", he says chillingly.

"Kevin can be kept quiet. I know something about him that he'd rather not let anyone else know about", Bianca says sounding surprisingly helpful. So far her only input has been sucking positive energy from the air and making everyone as hopeless as she seems to feel. Then again who am I to say that? I've been just as useless. More even, since now Bianca has a way to control this database guy.

Nathan nods at her. "So that's decided. The rest of us work on the Hell plan while you deal with Kevin. Guys, we can do this if we just try to work together", he orders. Everything seems ready, everyone looks like they know what they are going to do once this conversation is over. I on the other hand feel a little lost. When the timer goes off where do I run off to? What is my role in this? Do I even have a role in this? I mean, what's a Seer to do when the gates of Hell burst open?

At least someone seems to still share my concerns. "It's still a bad plan", Klaus puts words to what we're all thinking.