After the late night, wolfbane, and rogue attack yesterday, I woke up to a surprisingly normal day.
I took my shower, which was cold.
That alone was all the cold stark reality I needed for a normal day. But I felt somewhat surprised anyway. I swore I had turned on the heater.
This kind of thing happened to me a lot. But every time it did, my brain would act like it was unexpected.
My brain was optimistic like that.
By the time I got out of the shower, I was ready to crawl back into bed and call it a day.
This was also about the time I remembered the Lorents visiting, their missing son, and the rogues crashing our lunch picnic at the destitute house, and yes, my possible wolfbane excuse to skip school.
But my tummy was good and awake. I heard Savy leave her room and head down for breakfast and found myself leaving my room to join her.
Maybe my body was getting used to the earlier mornings. Maybe wolves were just creatures of habit. Maybe my Wolfie was back and rearing to go. But I totally forgot about using my free wolfbane pass to stay home and only remembered it again when I got to school.
Because by the time I got to school, I was wiped.
They must spray crowded trains with perfume de la Wolfbane. That would explain why taking one to school always left me feeling like Superman after stepping out of a kryptonite‑infused elevator.
By lunchtime, I realized that I was not as recovered as I had previously assumed. The wolfbane free pass to skip school wasn't so much an excuse but a practical reason to rest at home.
I was drained to the point of feeling hollow inside.
I retreated instinctively to my usual alone place for lunch.
Alone with my can of Coke and sandwiches, I moped about being stuck here in school for another few hours.
I regretted bitterly my life decisions. Technically, I regretted not staying home when I could have. But the depth of my bitterness was enough to cover all my life decisions.
Maria came to look for me while I was eating and feeling sorry for myself. She wasn't due to appear until I got to the library! I frowned immediately. (I told you wolves were creatures of habit).
"What do you want?" I said, but in the tune of "Get out of my face".
"You are weak today," Maria said, her voice its usual crystal coldness.
"Go away," I told her.
I set up a few more mental walls to keep her out. And stay out.
Maria sighed. "Tell me. A boy?"
A what?
And then I suddenly thought of it. Would Maria know anything about the fight cages in Ven's?
But how should I ask her? I did not want to owe her anything.
"Tell me, Sam, is it a boy?" Maria whined.
"Why are you so interested if it's a boy?" I glared at her.
"I want to know what kind of boy can make my Alpha weak," Maria smiled coldly.
Oh, that. His name's Bane. Wolfbane.
I wasn't even going to growl at her claim that I was "her Alpha".
But I was sure by now she had adopted me as some sort of guard-dog pet. Vampires (or maybe it was just Maria) had rather perverse ideas of friendship.
I did not answer immediately. How can I ask her about the fight cages at Ven without telling her about the Lorents' problem?
She waited.
Actually, she tentatively tried to reach into my mind with her mind wrap, but I did growl then, and she withdrew and sulked.
For the lack of any other "more convenient means of communication," she had to wait for me to consider my reply.
Finally, I turned to her. "If I answered your questions, would you answer mine?"
Maria nodded.
"You must answer truthfully, and you are not allowed to peek or mess in my head," I listed the conditions.
Maria nodded again.
Okay. Here goes nothing.
"What can you tell me about Ventali's Coven?" I asked her.
She frowned. "What has this got to do with a boy?"
"Just answer first," I growled.
She huffed prettily. "Fine. I don't associate with low-life covens like that. A lot of common vampires. It's dirty and smelly. Nothing good comes out of Ventali's."
Okay. That was almost completely unhelpful.
Almost.
Except now I knew Maria had no obvious sense of loyalty to this group of vampires.
And it was good to know that the nearest coven to our packlands was a low-ranking one, at least in Maria's opinion.
"So tell me about the boy…" She had a gleam in her eyes.
Just in this moment, although it could just be a trick of light, Maria's expression reminded me of Lizzy's or Jessica's.
I suddenly recognized it as the look teenage girls get when they talk about their girlfriends' boyfriends.
For some reason, while this was a perfectly normal friendship thing, coming from Maria, it still felt wrong.
Still, it encouraged me to try my luck. Let's see if I could get any information about the lost Lorent son.
"Someone's son was captured by rogues and sold to Ventali's Coven. He was last seen in a fight cage," I told her.
"Not boyfriend?" She looked at me searchingly. I shrugged.
"What do you know about fight cages?" I asked her.
At this point, I wasn't really expecting an answer.
The moment she realized we might not be talking about boyfriends after all, she had perceptibly lost interest.
So she surprised me when she answered properly. "Fight cages are age-restricted adult entertainment."
Oh… my mind tried to place the meaning.
Was it something like clubbing, alcohol, or porn?
Maria nodded. Oh, she had to pry!
I growled, and she hastily backed out of my mind again.
"He's as good as dead," she told me.
"How can you be so sure?" I asked. Why was everyone telling me he was dead?
Maria sighed. "Fight cages are very violent."
I supposed that was something, coming from a vampire.
"First, you watch the fight. Only one will survive. It's very exciting because there is blood everywhere, and the dogs are trained to kill with the most blood and pain to make it fun to watch."
I had to keep in mind that this was from a cold-blooded vampire point of view.
"After that, if you have the money for it, you can bid for the winning dog. The top bidder gets to keep the winning dog for the night."
"Why would they want a half-dead dog?" I asked.
Yes, I said "dog." If that was how vamps saw us, so be it.
I did not need her diplomacy—just give me the information straight.
"For fun." Maria's voice was icy, with an undercurrent of excitement. "Some of these dogs are very handsome. But they are dangerous and hard to control, so only older vampires play with them."
"Do they drink their blood?" I was still not quite understanding the after-fight program.
"If they want," Maria said, "but wolf blood makes vampires feel sick. Only really old higher-ups enjoy wolf blood. It's more for entertainment."
"That sounds seedy," I told her.
"I'm glad you understand now," Maria replied.
It probably would've been better to have died in the fight cage, but that was just the vibe I was getting.
"If he were alive, how could I get any information about him?" I decided to focus on facts, not vibes.
"He's probably dead," Maria told me.
I remembered Luna Edith's tears.
"But he might be alive," I argued.
"Do you love him?" Maria asked.
I had never even met him. I did not answer.
"Is he handsome?" Maria asked again.
I knew this answer. "Yes. Alpha's son. Dark hair. Tall."
"Like Henry?" Maria asked.
Who? Oh—Henry. No way! Wait, actually, that was true.
I guess that kind of description was pretty generic.
"Yes, but really handsome in a bad boy way?" I wished I had paid more attention to Jessica's description of him. That was really all I remembered her saying.
"Hmmm? Even handsomer than Dionysios?" Maria asked.
How was that even relevant?
I honestly didn't know the answer to that. I had never seen the Lorent guy. I did not think Dionysios was particularly handsome to begin with either.
I looked helplessly at her. "What do you want me to say?"
"You are in love," Maria decided. "I will help you."
"I am not in love," I insisted.
"He is probably dead, and I can't access Ventali's fight listings without raising eyebrows," Maria took pains to let me know how Ventali's and fight cages were beneath her to ask about.
"But if there is news of any Ventali dogs competing in other covens, that is usually publicized, and I will let you know," Maria offered.
"Do they fight at other covens?" I asked.
"If they are strong, they might be bought by bigger covens. Dog fighting is a very popular sport," Maria explained. "A new dog in a coven is almost always publicized to attract ticket sales and wealthy patrons."
Then I had another question. "Why are you helping me?"
Maria smiled. "You helped me see my boyfriend. I will help you see yours."
"He's not my boyfriend," I snapped.
But Maria just smiled thinly at me. "He's probably not alive either."
I sighed.
Whatever.
I finished my meal. "Let's go see your boyfriend."
Maria was so happy that I feared the dark aura around her might nuke something.
I now knew two things that made Maria happy:
1. Calling her princess
2. Calling Dino her boyfriend