Blue Bloods (Blue Bloods 1)

"I feel it too," she agreed. "It's not another death is it?"

"I'm not sure."

They waited at the gates. From the front door of the Duchesne mansion, two burly policemen were escorting a young man between them. A scruffy, disheveled young man wearing a beat-up leather jacket.

"Dylan! Why? What's he done?" Schuyler asked, horrified.

The crowd of reporters and cameramen pressed forward, covering the scene with flashes and a barrage of questions. "Any comment?"

"Why did you do it?"

"Care to share your feelings with our readers?"

Schuyler felt panicked and distressed. Why were they taking Dylan away? And in such a public fashion? She couldn't believe the school would let them do something like this! She found a wild-eyed Bliss in the crowd.

"Schuyler!" For the moment, Bliss had forgotten she and Schuyler weren't really friends.

Schuyler took Bliss's hands in hers. "Why? What happened? Why are they taking him away?" she asked.

"They think Dylan killed Aggie!" she said. Bliss was fighting to hold on to her composure, but seeing Oliver's and Schuyler's stricken faces made her break down. She held on to them for support. "I overheard them talking to the headmistress. Aggie didn't die of a drug overdose, she was murdered... strangled, and she had Dylan's DNA on her fingertips..."

"No."

"It's got to be a mistake," Bliss said tearfully.

"Bliss, listen to me," Schuyler said, a hard edge to her voice. "He's being set up. Dylan couldn't have killed Aggie. Remember?"

Bliss's eyes focused. She nodded. She knew what Schuyler was saying. "Because..."

"Because he's human and a Red Blood can't kill a Blue Blood... Aggie would have overpowered him in a second. It's a lie. Aggie was a vampire. There was no way Dylan could have killed her."

"A setup."

"Right," Schuyler said. The rain was coming down in torrents, and all three of them were getting soaked, but none of them seemed to notice.

Bliss looked fearfully at Oliver. "But Schuyler, there's no such thing as a vampire..." she said lamely.

"Oh. Don't worry about Oliver. He knows. He's okay. He's a Conduit. I'll explain later."

Oliver tried to look trustworthy and reassuring. He remembered his umbrella in his pack and opened it, shielding them from the rain.

"Jack told me last week that there's something out there killing Blue Bloods. My guess is Dylan's being framed," Schuyler explained.

"So that means he's innocent..." Bliss said hopefully. "Of course he is. We need to find out who is behind this, and we need to get Dylan out of there." Schuyler declared. Bliss nodded.

"We need to find out what's going on. Why Dylan is being charged all of a sudden, when the official report was a drug overdose. Where did they get this 'evidence'? And why Dylan?"

"Your dad's a senator. He's got to have some connections with the police department. Can't he help?" Oliver suggested.

"I'll ask him," Bliss promised. The three of them walked through the school gates. They were already late for their homeroom classes.

Later, at lunch, Bliss met up with Oliver and Schuyler at the cafeteria. They were seated at the back table as usual, hidden behind the marble fireplace.

"You spoke to your dad?" Schuyler asked.

"What did he say?" Oliver prodded.

Bliss pulled out a chair next to them and planted her elbows on the table. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the two of them. "He said, don't worry about your friend. The Committee is taking care of this."