Lycan Blood (Alex Vane: Demon Stalker #1)

Arguments

It was Jenna who haunted my thoughts that night. As per usual I slept badly, unable to shake the images of her terrified eyes from my mind. Two days. Two days and one night left to save myself from having to face a transformed werewolf. Jenna’s drawings made no sense. There was no way she could have produced them without knowing at least some part of what was going on and yet, if she was the werewolf then why frame her guilt so obviously? Unless…only one solution kept coming to mind. It wasn’t particularly comforting either.

“Scott.” In the corridor at the start of lunch was the time when I finally decided to share my thoughts with him. You’d think what with us living together it would have been sooner, but last night I was in no mood to hear how crazy I was again and this morning there simply hadn’t been time. I was fast discovering that Scott was not an early riser. While I had risen at five to squeeze in a pre-breakfast jog, he hadn’t budged until eight thirty. Naturally we’d both been late.

“Hey,” he greeted, only stopping when he noticed my serious tone, “What is it? Don’t tell me they’ve announced the body was Gabby?”

“No!” I frowned, praying no one overheard. A murder accusation was the last thing we needed right now, “I just wanted to talk about what happened with Jenna yesterday. Do you have a minute?”

“Of course! Although we’ll be left with the bad food again,” he joked, again stopping when he saw I wasn’t in the mood, “I meant to ask you about that actually. You didn’t seem all that keen to talk about it last night.”

“Yeah, sorry if I seemed…off,” I paused, watching as hoards of students pushed past each other in a bid to reach the canteen first. It didn’t look all that different from a swarm of demons actually. The thought was oddly depressing. Still, at least everyone was too preoccupied to hear us, “I just needed to think about it for a little bit first. Get it sorted out in my own head.”

“That’s understandable,” Taking my arm gently, he pulled me back so we were stood a little bit away from the crowd, “Okay, so what happened exactly?”

I explained as briefly as I could about the picture and Jenna’s reaction. He listened with the same quiet focus he’d used before, revealing no personal feelings about what I was telling him. It was still unnerving to have such an intent listener. When I finished he leaned back with a sigh, his head thudding gently against the locker behind him.

“Let me guess-you still don’t think she’s guilty, do you?”

“And you do?” My voice was harder than I meant it to be. Okay, so I was protective over Jenna. He didn’t have to make it seem like I was being so personal. Adam was just as shifty as Jenna. Just because he hadn’t drawn a werewolf didn’t mean he couldn’t still be one. I was just keeping an open mind.

You’ve gotten too close Alex bear. You’re letting your feelings cloud your judgement.

“I don’t know," he shifted uncomfortably, "Like you said, werewolves are smart. It’s a weird trick but it’s the kind of thing I can see one pulling. I don’t know what Adam’s deal is but he still hasn’t done anything which proves him to be more than your average creepy teenager. Jenna on the other hand…”

“I was thinking it all over last night,” I bit my lip, “And I thought of something which could explain Jenna’s drawings.”

“Really?” His surprise was evident, “What?”

“I have to warn you, it sounds pretty crazy.”

“Coming from you that is bad,” he grinned, “Try me.”

“Well, I was thinking…people can get amnesia right?” The words had barely left my mouth before Scott started scoffing.

“Oh come on!”