Blood Fever (The Watchers 3)

The Guidons arranged themselves before us, forming a half circle. Damn, damn, damn. My little head-on plan wasn’t working at all. Weapons were in hands, and they were all pointed at me. I guess I did succeed with one thing: I’d called their attention away from Mei-Ling.

I had one last shot. “That’s cool,” I said, keeping my poker face. “You can have at

us, right here in the middle of the quad. But first you should figure out which one of you is going to explain it to Master Alcántara. He seems very interested in Mei-Ling here. ”

Masha got the hint. She hooked the bullwhip back on her hip with one hand and held the other out to stop Guidon—Paige! Paige was her name—to stop Guidon Paige’s approach.

“Another time, then,” Masha said. “But be warned, Acari Drew. If the vampires are interested in Ho, then maybe you’re losing your status as their little pet. I wonder how concerned they still are about your well-being. ”

They walked on. Thankfully, it was away from the dining hall, because I was still starving, dammit.

Mei was silent beside me. I guessed she’d want to talk about what’d happened.

“Are you okay?” I tried to sound sympathetic, and really, I guess I kind of was, even though she’d escalated that scene herself.

“Yeah,” she said, sounding more annoyed than scared. “Fine. ”

“Didn’t that upset you? The ho, ho thing?”

She just shrugged. “Those girls are simple. Probably jealous. ”

“Wow. Okay. Maybe. Wait, do you mean uncomplicated simple, or simple as in dumb?”

Her mouth flinched. A nascent smile? “Right,” she said, not really answering my question.

“Well, either way, you were pretty funny. I mean, you were trying to be funny, right?”

“I guess. ”

I realized I’d seen no signs of tears since that first day. If she had a problem, would I know it? “You can totally let me know if you ever need to talk. You’re always so quiet. ”

“If I’m quiet, it’s because I listen. Unlike you. ”

Whoa. Get back. I actually laughed. Was that an insult or an observation? It didn’t piss me off, though. On an island of secrets, I liked her candor. “What do you mean, unlike me? I’m just trying to help. I wasn’t sure if you understood what was going on back there. ”

“I grew up in New York. I speak English. ” Though the words carried a sting, there’d been no animosity in her voice when she’d said them.

I stopped on the path. “Wait, Mei. Do over. I know you understand English. Jeez. I meant, you’re not used to the Guidons. ” I rubbed my temples—the headache was back with a vengeance. “God, I can barely think straight. ” Inhaling deeply, I faced her. “All I meant was that those girls would love to kill us—and they will if we’re not careful. They could make your life serious hell. ”

I’d lost Amanda, and keeping Mei-Ling safe felt like righting that wrong. Besides, I liked odd ducks, and Mei was shaping up to be pretty massively odd.

“Hey,” I added, trying to lighten the mood. “We’ve gotta watch out for your hands, right?”

She held out one of those hands, studying it. Then her eyes met mine, and she smiled. A real, genuine smile. “Right. ”

CHAPTER TEN

Mei and I met up again for lunch, but this time I made it a quick one, claiming I wanted to go for a swim. She believed it, which was obvious proof that she didn’t know me at all.

I jogged south along the coast. I had to find clues to the killer before people began looking too closely at me. I had a small window before Priti’s class and figured there was no time like the present.

Food had done nothing to ease the gnawing in my gut. I was light-headed now, my hands shaking like I hadn’t eaten in days. It looked like my investigation would be just like everything else on this island: performed amidst the worst of circumstances. But I rolled my neck and fisted my fingers, powering through.

I tried to focus on the real issue at hand, namely, that I had no clue how to go about investigating a murder. But I’d seen CSI. It wasn’t rocket science to deduce that, in the absence of a body, one began at the scene of the crime.

I didn’t know about Watcher Angel’s death, but Headmaster had let spill some clues about Trinity’s. He’d said her body was found not far from the cove. That’d be Crispin’s Cove, where I’d weathered so many swim lessons. No wonder they all thought I had something to do with her death—I knew that stupid inlet better than anyone.

I’d since heard that, like Amanda, her body had been dropped, and I decided the jagged bluffs due south to be the likeliest spot. I slowed my pace as I approached. Any worries that I wouldn’t be able to find the murder scene were for naught. Judging by all the footprints crisscrossing the area, the place had been visited more times than Disneyland. Most of the prints were larger versions of my Acari uniform boots. The morbidity of my peers never ceased to amaze me.