Alexei’s voice broke right through the laughter. “Looks like Ruby had a two-for-one sale!”
Ignoring him, Fritz went on to extol Ruby’s achievements. “She told me personally that she learned it in a bloody month! Do you know how hard that is to do?”
Although none of them had given it much thought before, they all imagined that it was a major accomplishment, learning a completely new language based on raised bumps on a piece of paper.
However, none of them offered nearly the same level of excitement as they had when they heard about where the swim team competition would be held. Michael and Ronan were subdued because they knew Ruby possessed skills that were beyond human definition, so her mastery of Braille was not as impressive as Fritz thought. Ciaran refused to add to Fritz’s elation by praising Ruby’s triumph in front of an audience. He would tell her how impressed he was when he was alone with her,
“Hey, Nebraska! I think I’m going to get her to help me write an issue of my comic book in Braille too!” Fritz declared. “How brilliant will that be?”
Michael could tell by Ciaran’s grim expression that he didn’t think that was brilliant at all and, in fact, that the last thing Ciaran wanted to hear was that Fritz was anything more to Ruby than a tour guide. Dammit! Michael realized that both his friends had feelings for whoever this girl was who was claiming to be Penry’s sister and that worried him greatly. There was nothing he could do except keep tabs on them all and see how the relationships developed before either of them got in over his head. At this point, however, Fritz was so enthused about the possibility of having a girlfriend and Ciaran was so disappointed at possibly losing out at the chance that nothing Michael said would resonate with them. All he could do was smile and tell Fritz that a Braille edition was inspired.
“And I know Penry would think it was a corking idea too!” Fritz added.
That name again! Every time Nakano heard someone mention Penry’s name it was like a knife to his stomach. He didn’t know why it unnerved him so much. Penry was human, nothing more. He was part of a species that was put here on earth as rations for vampires. That’s it, end of story. Well, if that was true, why was he getting so upset about taking Penry’s life? He fed on his blood; he didn’t murder him. Wasn’t there a huge difference between the two?
But one look at Michael and Nakano knew exactly why he was feeling guilty; he was lying to himself. He hadn’t attacked Penry for his blood the night of the Archangel Festival; he had attacked him because he thought Penry was Michael. He thought that he was doing what David had wanted him to do—rid the world of water vamps one hybrid at a time. He didn’t even look to make sure that it was Michael before he bit into Penry’s neck; he just ravaged his flesh, confident that he was draining blood from the correct host. He had been wrong.
He knew he had crossed a line, but there was nothing he could do about it. More than that, he didn’t know how much longer he could stand these feelings that he was having every time someone mentioned the dead kid’s name. He couldn’t take it anymore, and he wished that Fritz would stop blathering on about how proud Penry would be that he and Ruby were carrying on his bloody comic book. Blakeley saw to it that Kano got his wish.
“Ulrich!” Blakeley shouted. “Since you were the last to arrive, you’ll be the first one to get a physical from Dr. Sutton.”
Fritz was in such a good mood from spending time with Ruby, the news hardly fazed him. “Might as well start with the best physical specimen in the lot!” he shouted, giving his firm stomach a hard slap.
Watching him walk toward the locker room, Ciaran was plagued by an awful thought. For an instant he hoped Dr. Sutton would find some deadly virus running through Fritz’s blood or discover that a major organ was about to fail, anything that would mean Fritz would be out of Ruby’s life so Ciaran could finally make his entrance. Oh God! How could he think such a thing? Was any girl really worth spending even a moment wishing harm on a friend? Shocked that he could so easily consider such a notion, by how quickly his mind wandered into such evil territory, Ciaran said a quick prayer to try to counteract his thought. Sure, he wanted to get close to Ruby, but never at Fritz’s expense. Hopefully it was just a momentary lapse and not an indication of his true nature.
Luckily, Blakeley wasn’t concerned about anyone’s psychological makeup at the moment; all he wanted to do was test their physical abilities. “Nakano, Alexei, Glynn-Rowley, and Eaves,” he shouted. “Take your places for the first practice meet of the season!”
As the guys who were called broke free from the crowd to stand on top of the starting blocks, Michael leaned in and whispered in Ronan’s ear, “Don’t be too hard on them.”
Responding in an even huskier whisper, Ronan let his lips brush softly against Michael’s ear. “You know me, love. I only show off when it counts.”
Michael was so distracted by Ronan’s flirtatious comment and by the feelings it aroused in the pit of his stomach that he didn’t notice David enter the gym from the back entrance until he was standing at the opposite end of the pool. He looked so out of place, not only because he was formally dressed in his usual suit and tie, but because right behind him was a student that Michael had never seen before.
Based on his attire—he was wearing the official Double A swimsuit like every other kid in the gym —it was obvious that he wanted to try out for the team. Even though Michael didn’t recognize the newcomer, it was obvious that he wasn’t a stranger to everyone. Ronan, Ciaran, and Nakano looked like triplets; they were all wearing the same expression as they stared at the kid with the curly, blond hair: they looked as if they were staring at a corpse who had risen from the dead. It was only when David finally spoke that Michael understood why.
“I’d like to introduce Double A’s latest student and the newest member of our swim team,” David announced. “Meet the former national champion of Sweden, Morgandy van der Poole.”
chapter 11
Ronan was lost in a memory. Sunlight poured down on the stranger like a sudden rainstorm. Ronan had to squint, and still he couldn’t see him clearly. What he could see, however, made him feel different, better than he had ever felt before, like a man, an adult, even though he was hardly either.
He knew the vision, as hazy as it was, would change his life forever.
The stranger was moving closer toward him, still a blur, still unidentifiable, still filling Ronan with excitement. The day, like so many others spent in the small village a few miles in from Inishtrahull Island, had been uneventful, so Ronan had figured it would pass without anything interesting or significant happening. When the stranger stood before him and the harsh sunlight was finally covered by a thick canopy of clouds, Ronan knew he had been wrong. It was like his mother always said, Ronan was special and greatness would come to him; he just had to be patient.
Sitting down on the ground next to him, the stranger asked, “What’s your name?”
Dry mouthed, Ronan had to swallow hard in order to speak. “Ronan Glynn-Rowley.”
The stranger smiled as if the name meant something to him, something good. “I’m Morgandy van der Poole.”
Ronan didn’t recognize the name, nor did he like it, too fancy, but the sound of Morgandy’s deep voice intrigued him. Morgandy didn’t possess the common accent, the Irish lilt he had been hearing since he was born. His voice was flatter, the words streaming out of his lips like a horizontal line and not rising up and down like sounds floating on top of a rough sea. His voice wasn’t the only thing that was refreshing. The color of his hair was less blond than it was blinding sunshine, and the hair fell in a mass of curls across his forehead and past the nape of his neck, wild and reckless; it made Ronan dizzy. “I could use a pool on a day like today,” Morgandy said. “Bloody sweltering.”
Ronan felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face, but before he could wipe it away, Morgandy touched him right below his earlobe with his finger and followed the perspiration’s route along his jawbone, underneath his chin, down the center of his throat, and into the soft pit in the middle of his collarbone. Never had Ronan been touched like this before, so simply, so purposefully.
It felt both wrong and right at the same time, and Ronan was disappointed when Morgandy stopped; he wanted his finger to travel to more parts of his body. “Would you like to swim inside of me?”
Morgandy asked.
Apparently Morgandy’s assertive approach wasn’t confined to just his touch. “What?” Ronan said, trying not
