The Lady of the Valley

TLotV Chapter 22

22.

"Were you telling the truth about vampire blood tasting differently," Ari asked as soon as Astrid guided her car away from the station.

"Yeah. Vampires taste blander than humans," he answered. "Like meals without seasonings. What's with the boots?"

He wiggled his toes in the rubber. He sat in the middle seat of Astrid's van and Ari sat in the front, twisting around to look at him.

"Someone needs to start by telling me what happened," Astrid snapped.

"Derek was giving me a ride to my mom, but someone attacked us in the Quill's parking lot. I wonder how long he was following us. He hit us with his car and I was pinned inside while Derek fought him on the roof."

Derek caught sight of Astrid's hands clenched, white knuckled, on the steering wheel.

"We're fine. I think. The other car hit Derek, and my mom shot him. But he walked away so...She probably just knew he was a vampire and would survive the shot."

Yeah, Derek thought. Let's go with that explanation. It sounded better than "She didn't care who the bad guy was and shot us both."

"Are you okay," Ari asked him.

His stomach was one giant black and dull red bruise. Stabbing pains still shot through his back and legs, and the graze was still angry red and weeping a bit of serum. It wasn't filled in right. But it was closed and he was walking without limp, only some soreness. Time and feeding would heal all his ills there. "I'm fine," he answered.

Ari narrowed her eyes at him. Right. He couldn't lie to her. "I will be fine."

"Who attacked you?" Astrid asked, emphasizing the "Who".

"No clue," Ari answered. She sounded giggly. Probably the anxiety from the attack was still working on her, skewing her emotions. Or maybe she was a touch hysterical. "I didn't really see them, other than his arms. But Derek tasted their blood during the attack and says they aren't a vampire."

"But they definitely aren't human either. Too fast, too strong, and Captain Mom made a few solid shots and they still walked away," Derek added. "They can't be doing well right now."

"Do you think it was the person leaving the bodies?" Ari asked. She was definitely working herself up. Her voice shook a little and he wasn't convinced it was real excitement. He felt her as much as he smelled and saw her, her magic vibrating along his skin.

Derek barely barely had time to get a word in before she started babbling again, repeating herself. Her energy sparked. He grabbed his legs and tried to force himself not to get swept away. How could Astrid stand it?

"Ari..." Astrid started.

"Yeah, yeah. Endorphins. Oh god, someone almost killed me."

Like a roller coaster hitting the peak then tipping into the big drop the energy in the car bottomed out. He felt dizzy.

"Ari," he asked. He gritted his teeth. "The boots. What's with the boots?"

"Oh. I told my dad your shoes got shredded by glass in the fight and you have ridiculously large feet. While he looked for shoes for you I got on his office computer and printed the file on the murder victims so far. It was easier than I expected because they were all cross referenced."

Derek had become accustomed to reigning in his hunger. But that shadowy, skulking feel slipped like oil through his very being. It was growing increasingly hard to deal with Ari's panic bouncing around the car like an excited puppy. He wanted to giggle, but he knew it would come out as a growl. "Ari, are you all right?"