Tuesday afternoon after English I was sitting with Zoey and Blair at lunch enjoying a chicken sandwich. Chris wasn't with us today because he had to go to the library to do last minute homework, while Blair and I were pretending that Professor Charlene didn't just assign us a ridiculous amount of homework.
"Does it hurt?" Zoey asked pointing at my neck. I had been unknowingly picking at the bandage all morning.
"No. It itches though," I said.
"So, it heals just like any other wound?" Zoey asked amazed.
"Well yeah, what did you expect?"
"Can we not talk about it? Someone could hear!" Blair hissed. "And then they'll think we're crazy."
I rolled my eyes at her then picked up a breadstick. I saw Lazarus come into the dining room and he headed for my table.
"How are you ladies today?" Lazarus asked coming to stand behind me.
"I'm good," Blair said sitting up. "How are you?"
"I'm all right."
Zoey covered her mouth to hide her laughter at Blair's obviousness. Blair glared at her when Lazarus looked down at me. His eyes landed on the bandage on my neck. Oh of course he would notice it right away.
"What happened?" He asked lightly touching the bandage.
"I burned myself pretty bad with my straightening iron."
Lazarus flipped a piece of my not so straight hair. "Really?" He asked.
Yeah. Okay, that wasn't the best lie I could come up with, but I couldn't think of anything else right on the spot like that. "I did a half ass job today."
"Right. Can I talk to you in the entrance way?"
"Sure," I said getting up and following him out of the dining hall. He led me over to the entrance to the "Teacher's Hall" and stopped. I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. "What's up?"
Lazarus stood in front of me really close, so close I could smell him. "Who bit you?" He asked in a quiet voice.
"I'm sorry?" Did he know? How did he know?
"Did Dario bite you?" Lazarus asked his voice shaking.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said.
"Really?" Lazarus asked.
"Really."
He ripped the bandage off of my neck making me yelp. "Then what are those?" He asked pointing to the bite marks. "Those aren't bug bites, and they sure as hell aren't burn marks from your straightening iron."
"How did you know? Wait, you knew Dario was a vampire? So, that's why you said he was dangerous!"
"Yes, which you clearly didn't listen to me!" Lazarus said angrily. "So, Dario did bite you?"
"It was an accident," I said covering the bite marks with my hand. I didn't like the mark being out in the open.
"How is biting someone an accident?! He hurt you," Lazarus said covering my hand with his own.
"Lazarus, it's fine. It doesn't even hurt," I said removing his hand from mine. "It only itches."
"That doesn't make it okay."
"Hang on a second, how did you know Dario was a vampire? It's not the end of your third year yet. So, even if your country was populated with vampires, you wouldn't have been introduced to them yet. That's what Elridge told me."
Lazarus smirked down at me. He was still really close. "You really are smart, Elizabeth. Nothing gets by you."
"Thanks, but that doesn't answer my question. How did you know?"
"Dario is my cousin."
What.
"What?! How?!"
"Well, his mother is my mom's sister. Soooo, he's my cousin."
"I know how cousins work! I just can't believe it. Then how come I've never met him before?"
"Obviously because he is a vampire. And we don't get along. And I never wanted you to meet him."
"Is your mom a vampire?"
"No. Which was odd, since she was a Calorio, her parents could never figure out what happened."
I didn't know what to say to that, so I didn't say anything. I kept staring at Lazarus, the boy who I was supposed to marry, with a vampire cousin. A vampire cousin I didn't know he had.
"Will you please stay away from him now?" Lazarus asked.
"What? No! I already told you he didn't bite me on purpose. He was starving and did what he had to do. I'm not afraid of him!"
"You should be. And not just him, but all of them. Not just vampires either, everyone in the Diamond Class. They're bad news, especially for you."
"Especially for me? What do you mean by that?"
Lazarus cursed himself realizing he said too much. "Nothing, never mind, but please listen to me."
The bell rang signaling that the afternoon class would start soon. The entrance hall was now filling up with students leaving the dining room.
I sighed and put my hand on the side of Lazarus' face. "I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself."
Lazarus took my hand off of his face and kissed the back of it. "Just please be careful."
"I always am."
👑👑👑
That night Dario was already in the library waiting for me. I cautiously approached him. "Dario?"
"Oh, thank God, Elizabeth, I was afraid you wouldn't come," Dario said turning to me.
"Well, I'm here," I said still being wary. I couldn't help it, I mean he did bite me. He took a step towards me and I took a step back.
Dario noticed and shook his head. "Don't worry, I already fed."
"Really?" I asked looking at his mouth.
"You offend me, I clean up nicely thank you very much."
"Sorry."
"No, it's okay, I don't blame you. I'm really sorry, by the way. That's why I wanted you to meet me here. Because I'm sorry and I wanted to explain myself."
"Yeah, Elridge said he kept you from feeding."
"Yeah, he had me doing extra work for him in his office. So, I hadn't had the chance to eat in two days when you and your friends found me, so I instinctively reacted, but I know that's no excuse."
"No, I get it, I do pretty interesting shit when I'm starving. How often do you have to feed then?"
"At least once a day," Dario said stepping closer to me and this time I let him. He moved my hair out of the way and traced his finger on his bite marks. I never covered them back up after Lazarus removed the bandage. His touch was really cold and it made me shiver. Not gonna lie, I liked it.
"The marks should be gone by tomorrow," Dario said studying them.
"Good, then maybe Lazarus won't bitch about them."
Dario took a step back from me shocked. "You know Lazarus?"
"Um yeah, he's my fiancé. Sort of."
Dario groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Of course, he is. I'm guessing he doesn't know you're here?"
"No, I can make decisions for myself without the help of Lazarus. Why don't the two of you get a long?
"I don't know. Maybe it was because I bit him one too many times when we were younger."
"What?!" I asked horrified.
Dario doubled over in laughter. "No, I'm kidding. I don't know why we don't get along. We just don't. We never have."
"Okay. Lazarus said something about his mother not being a vampire, and that it was surprising because she was a Calorio. What did he mean by that?"
"Remember when I told you that my family was important? It's because the Calorio's are the longest running line of vampires. And our family has always been close to Lazarus' family. So, we are practically royals. Anyway, no one knows why Lazarus' mom isn't a vampire. With blood that is so pure like ours, it just doesn't make sense."
"So, Lazarus' country in heavily populated with vampires?"
"Yes, it has been for centuries."
"What about my country?"
"Witches. You have a lot of witches in your country. Actually, more than 50% of your country is populated with mythical creatures, but the majority of them are witches."
Wow. My country had more Mythical Creatures than humans. "Is that why you and Elridge acted so surprised when you heard who I was?" I asked.
Dario looked taken aback. "Um, I'm not sure if-"
"Dario! There you are! I've been looking for you," A girl with perfect chocolate skin said walking in. She was tall and thin. He hair fell to her waist and was light blue with streaks of purple in it. "Who's she?" She asked glaring at me.
"She's just a friend of mine," Dario said glancing at me. "What are you doing here, Sapphire?"
"You're going to be late for class again. Elridge insisted that I made sure you weren't, because then you'll end up in detention. Just wait until I tell him you were late because you were sneaking around with some Ruby tramp."
"Excuse me?" I asked angrily. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"
Dario put his arm out to shut me up. "That's not necessary, Sapphire, you don't need to tell Elridge anything. I'm coming."
Sapphire snorted then walked back out of the library.
"I'll see you later," Dario said to me.
"Wait! I have more questions, I want to know more. About everything."
"Okay, I'll see you as soon as possible," Dario said smiling at me. "But probably not tomorrow."
"Then when?"
"I'll let you know."
I watched Dario leave then shortly after I left the library too. Shit! I forgot to ask about Lilia. That will have to be at the top of my list next time I see Dario.
I hoped that would be soon.