Blood: The Third Course

Chapter Twelve

"Can we talk?"

Carson pushed himself up just enough to look over the back of the couch and at Priya shuffling her feet by the doorway. He huffed and flopped back onto the cushions, resting his arm across his face.

"I'm not in the mood for a lecture," he said. "The silent treatment suits me just fine."

"You really think I'd be the best person to administer a lecture?"

Carson lifted his arm from his face to peek out from under it. His eyes narrowed as he considered her.

"Out of the current options?" he asked. "Possibly. A lecture from Kaleb would probably turn into a shouting match, and Jem... she'd jump straight to beating me senseless if given the chance."

Priya leaned on the doorframe.

"Do you blame them?"

Huffing again, he let his arm fall back onto his face, blocking out the offending light, and the sight of her staring down at him. He sighed.

"No," he said.

"Well, there, lecture done. Can we talk now?"

"Fine, talk."

"Not here. Come for a walk with me?"

Carson sat up slowly, his eyes narrowed and lips pursed. She was still shuffling her feet, picking at bits of thread from the cuffs of her blouse. She checked the hallway behind her three times just as he was looking at her. Whatever it was she wanted to talk to him about, it was not something to be overheard.

"Don't tell me you're running off to join the vampires proper," he grumbled, getting to his feet.

Priya rolled her eyes at him and led him out into the kitchen. They pulled boots on, Carson didn't bother to tie his laces, instead shoving them down under the tongue of each boot, and set off across the courtyard.

"What's going on?"

She glanced at him, the tiniest shake of her head, and kept walking. Climbing over the fence into the field on the far side of the courtyard, she stood on the other side, waiting. Carson vaulted it, and when his boot almost went flying, he still didn't do the laces, just wriggled his foot to get it back in position.

The soil was hard and dry beneath the cut stalks and growing grass, easy enough to walk over. Deep ruts ran in lines, a set of ocean waves frozen in motion. Carson stepped only on the raised humps of ground, sometimes taking little leaps to miss one altogether. As a child, it had been a game to be played at all times in the field. Never step in the rivers. Now it was more habit than anything.

"Are you taking me far enough from the house that no one will see you finally ravish me?" Carson asked, chuckling.

Priya spun to face him. She was standing in one of the soil rivers, making her a few inches shorter against him than usual. He had to admit he was surprised she wasn't mid-eye-roll. In fact, from the way she stared past him at the house, she barely seemed to have heard him.

"I spoke to Vince," she said in a quick quiet voice.

"What?"

"I spoke to Vince on the phone a couple of days ago."

Carson blinked and glanced over his shoulder.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, is he coming back?"

"I don't know."

He took a deep breath, his head whirring a mile a minute.