The Trouble with Evie

Chapter 15

The smile slipped as a hesitant laugh escaped. Audrey gritted her teeth, forcing a smile to remain.

"Well, I guess you may not know because you're new to Hades, but my dad's got this great job as a builder. He's the only builder in this town, and that's because he's helped someone out. Everything was going great until someone stuck their nose into this town's business, and now his friend is angry. He said that my dad is going to lose his placement if things don't go back to the way that they were. You can help him out, right?"

Lifting my bag over one shoulder, I stepped away from the locker and looked at Audrey with a defiant glare.

"Your father is a snake that sold out an innocent person to a murderer. I wouldn't help him if he was the last person in the world. Did you know what he did, Audrey? Did he tell you what happened? Someone died because of your father. He was the one that stuck his nose into something that didn't concern him. I don't care if his friend is angry. That friend knows where I am, and if he has a problem, then he can come and tell me all about it rather than buying you and your friends off with bits of crappy plastic beads."

Audrey looked offended, her fingers scraping over the black pearls. Then anger consumed her. She pushed me back into the locker, slamming me into the metal door.

"This is all your fault." she hissed. "My father lost his job because of you."

Pushing back on her, Audrey grabbed my shirt. The first few buttons popped open. Her eyes lowered to the pendant. Since Niko gave it to me, I have worn it constantly. No matter what, it was always close to me, and in turn, Niko would be as well.

The anger fell instantly as Audrey sucked in a sharp breath of air.

The rest of the group moved to look at what had quietened Audrey. An audible gasp surrounded me, and the other girls began to back away. Anger began to fill me as I lifted from the locker door, swelling enough to make them all step back to the main corridor, Audrey included.

"You're a freak," Audrey hissed, then turned to walk away quickly.

I huffed, rolling my eyes. I knew that I was still not alone. Turning around, I saw the Nephilim boy behind me.

There might be a day when he wasn't hanging around like a bad smell. Though I shouldn't wish for such things. The day that the Nephilim boy wasn't here was the day that his kind had arrived to take me down.

"They're coming?"

He stared at me and slowly faded into the darkness.

"You know," I called out to the darkness. "You could be a little more helpful and offer something else."

I got nothing in return.

A little information would be great. A few details about how I could deal with the other Nephilim when they turned up. Maybe there was some kind of lawyer I could hire and defend myself.

Clearly not.

Leaning down, I picked up my bag that I'd dropped.

"Who are you talking to?"

Gasping, I turned to the amused voice at the end of the corridor. It was a guy from my year level.

I don't know his name. He wasn't in any of my classes. I'd seen him around in the couple of days that I'd been to school since arriving in Hades.

"Just my friends in the darkness."

He chuckled, leaning against the wall.

Despite this school being fairly strict on hair color, this guy had streaks of blue through the thick black hair. Short at the back and long at the front, the hair fell into his eyes until he flicked it back over his head, revealing more of the blue. It was a close match to his eyes.

"Sometimes, it's a more interesting conversation. I'm Kannon."

He held out his hand, offering a gorgeous smile as well.

"Evelyn, but everyone calls me Evie."

The smile grew, and I saw that all too familiar sign of what I was facing.

"You're a vampire."

"I am. What gave it away?"

"The fangs. Are you a part of Drakkus's coven?"

Kannon scoffed. The smile lessened as he frowned.

"Not a chance in Hell. There are not many of us, but we do exist. The tale of the forest fight swirled pretty fast but unfortunately for Niko, not fast enough."

"You knew Niko?"

"Not personally. I am only eighteen."

I frowned. Kannon shrugged with a cheesy smile.

"It's standard practice to hold us back a year so that we appear a little older. Not that anyone in this town is fooled. Drakkus has most of the townsfolk in his pocket, one way or another."

We began to walk through the main corridor. There were fewer people around now.

Lessons were not starting for a few more minutes. We had time but not a lot.

"As for Niko, my parents told me about him. They thought he'd left to search for his wife and daughter. When they heard that he'd been walled up in the house, they were distraught. No one thought he'd be right under our noses."

I stopped next to the door for my first class, giving Kannon a vague smile.

"This is me. It was nice to meet you."

"You too."

Kannon leaned closer as a girl walked into the classroom. His eyes watched her until the door was shut, and we were alone. Turning back to me, Kannon shot me another one of those dazzling smiles. I'm sure it had all the girls in this school spinning.

"You have allies in this town, Evelyn. Do not give up hope."

He lifted upright again, smirked at me, and then turned to continue down the corridor. I stared, even though I should have been getting into the class.