Marked

horror of not belonging and felt a shocking burst of pleasure, while deep inside of me the blood of my grandmother's people rejoiced.

CHAPTER 2

When I figured that enough time had passed for everyone to have left school, I flopped my hair back over my forehead and left the bathroom, hurrying to the doors that led to the student parking lot. Everything seemed all clear—there was just some random kid wearing those seriously unattractive gang wanna-be baggy pants cutting across the far end of the lot. Keeping his pants from falling down as he walked was taking all his concentration; he wouldn't even notice me. I gritted my teeth against the throbbing pain in my head and bolted out the door, heading straight for my little Bug.

The moment I stepped outside the sun began to batter me. I mean, it wasn't a particularly sunny day; there were plenty of those big, puffy clouds that looked so pretty in pictures floating around the sky, semi-blocking the sun. But that didn't matter. I had to squint my eyes painfully and hold my hand up as a make-believe sun block against even that intermittent light. I guess it was because I was focusing so hard on the pain the ordinary sunlight was causing me that I didn't notice the truck until it squealed to a stop in front of me.

'Hey Zo! Didn't you get my message?'

Oh crap crap crap! It was Heath. I glanced up, looking at him from between my fingers like I was watching one of those stupid slasher movies. He was sitting on the open tailgate of his friend Dustin's pickup truck. Over his shoulder I could see into the cab of the truck where Dustin and his brother, Drew, were doing what they were usually doing—wrestling around and arguing over God only knows what stupid boy thing. Thankfully, they were ignoring me. I glanced back at Heath and sighed. He had a beer in his hand and a goofy grin on his face. Momentarily forgetting that I'd just been Marked and was destined to become an outcast blood-sucking monster, I scowled at Heath.

'You're drinking at school! Are you crazy?'

His little boy grin got bigger. 'Yes I am crazy, 'bout you, baby!'

I shook my head while I turned my back to him, opening the creaky door to my Bug and shoving my books and backpack into the passenger's seat.

'Why aren't you guys at football practice?' I said, still keeping my face angled away from him.

'Didn't you hear? We got the day off 'cause of the ass-kicking we gave Union on Friday!'

Dustin and Drew, who must have been kinda paying attention to Heath and me after all, did a couple of very Okie 'Whoo-hoo!' and 'Yeah!' yells from inside the truck.

'Oh. Uh. No. I musta missed the announcement. I've been busy today. You know, big geometry test tomorrow.' I tried to sound normal and nonchalant. Then I coughed and added, 'Plus, I'm getting a crappy cold.'

'Zo, really. Are you pissed or somethin'? Like, did Kayla say some shit about the party? You know I didn't really cheat on you.'

Huh? Kayla had not said one solitary word about Heath cheating on me. Like a moron, I forgot (okay, temporarily) about my new Mark. My head snapped around so I could glare at him.

'What did you do, Heath?'

'Zo, me? You know I wouldn't…' but his innocent act and his excuses faded into an unattractive open- mouthed look of shock when he caught sight of my Mark. 'What the—' he started to say, but I cut him off.

'Shh!' I jerked my head in the direction of the still clueless Dustin and Drew, who were now singing at the top of their totally tone-deaf lungs to the latest Toby Keith CD.

Heath's eyes were still wide and shocked, but he lowered his voice. 'Is that some kinda makeup thing you're doing for drama class?'

'No,' I whispered. 'It's not.'

'But you can't be Marked. We're going out.'

'We are not going out!' And just like that my semi-reprieve from coughing ended. I practically doubled over, hacking a seriously nasty, phlegmy cough.

'Hey, Zo!' Dustin called from the cab. 'You gotta lay off those cigarettes.'

'Yeah, you sound like you're gonna cough up a lung or somethin',' Drew said.

'Dude! Leave her alone. You know she don't smoke. She's a vampyre.'

Great. Wonderful. Heath, with his usual total and complete lack of anything resembling good sense, thought he was actually standing up for me as he yelled at his friends, who instantly stuck their heads out of the open windows and gawked at me like I was a science experiment.

'Well, shit. Zoey's a fucking freak!' Drew said.

Drew's insensitive words made the anger that had been simmering somewhere inside my chest ever since Kayla had cringed from me bubble up and boil over. Ignoring the pain the sun caused me, I stared straight at Drew, meeting his eyes.

'Shut the hell up! I've had a really bad day and I do not need this crap from you.' I paused to look from the now wide-eyed and silent Drew to Dustin and added, 'Or you.' And as I kept eye contact with Dustin I realized something—something that shocked and weirdly excited me: Dustin looked scared. Really scared. I glared back at Drew. He looked scared, too. Then I felt it. A tingling sensation that crawled over my skin and made my new Mark burn.

Power. I felt power.

'Zo? What the fuck?' Heath's voice broke my attention and pulled my gaze from the brothers.

'We're outta here!' Dustin said, throwing the truck into gear and stepping on the gas. The pickup lurched forward, causing Heath to lose his balance and slide, with a windmill of arms and flying beer, onto the blacktop of the parking lot.

Automatically, I rushed forward. 'Are you okay?' Heath was on his hands and knees, and I bent down to help pull him to his feet.

Then I smelled it. Something smelled amazing—hot and sweet and delicious.

Was Heath wearing new cologne? One of those weird pheromone things that are supposed to attract women like a big genetically engineered bug zapper? I didn't realize how close I was to him until he stood up straight and our bodies were almost pressed together. He looked down at me, a question in his eyes.

I didn't back away from him. I should have. I would have before…but not now. Not today.

'Zo?' he said softly, his voice deep and husky.

'You smell really good,' I couldn't stop myself from saying. My heart was pounding so loud that I could hear its echo in my throbbing temples.

'Zoey, I've really missed you. We need to get back together. You know I really love you.' He reached up to touch my face and both of us noticed the blood that smeared the palm of his hand. 'Ah, shit. I guess I—' his voice closed off when he glanced at my face. I could only imagine what I must look like, with my face all white, my new Mark blazingly outlined in sapphire blue, and my eyes staring at the blood on his hand. I couldn't move; I couldn't look away.

'I want…I whispered. 'I want…' What did I want? I couldn't put it into words. No, that wasn't it. I wouldn't put it into words. Wouldn't say aloud the overwhelming surge of white-hot desire that was trying to drown me. And it wasn't because Heath was standing so near. He'd been close to me before. Hell, we'd been making out for a year, but he'd never made me feel like this—nothing ever like this. I bit my lip and moaned.

The pickup truck squealed to a halt, fishtailing beside us. Drew jumped out and grabbed Heath around the waist, and jerked him backward into the cab of the truck.

'Knock it off! I'm talking to Zoey!'

Heath tried to struggle against Drew, but the kid was Broken Arrow's senior linebacker, and truly ginormous. Dustin reached around them and slammed the door to the truck.

'Leave him alone, you freak!' Drew yelled at me as Dustin floored the truck and this time they really did speed off.

I got into my Bug. My hands were shaking so hard I had to try three times before I got the engine