no matter how quickly he converted his appearance, the harm was done; his true self had been seen by a human. Well, there was nothing he could do about that now; he would have to deal with that later. Right now, Morgandy was lying on the ground not breathing.
Thankfully, none of the other kids had arrived yet for their pre-competition workout. The only other person in the gym was David, Blakeley’s guest, specially invited to see how unbeatable his team was.
The headmaster wasn’t someone Michael enjoyed seeing unexpectedly, but at least he knew how to handle such a unique situation.
Racing over to Morgandy, David knelt beside him, placed his hands just below his ribcage, and pressed down and up several times. Michael wasn’t sure if traditional resuscitation techniques could revive a vampire, but what did he know? He didn’t think he had hurt Morgandy that badly, either.
Their fight in the alleyway had been much more intense, and Morgandy had walked away from that scuffle more humiliated than bruised. What the headmaster was doing to reawaken Morgandy seemed like a waste of time. Until Michael realized it was all a cover-up for his next tactic.
Tilting Morgandy’s head back to create an arch in his neck, David pinched the boy’s nose and lowered himself until their mouths almost touched. Then, unseen by everyone except Michael, David allowed his own face to transform and his own hideous countenance to slither out of hiding. Michael winced, but didn’t look away until he saw the headmaster’s blood slowly slide down his cracked tongue and spill into Morgandy’s open mouth. Disgusting! It was like a vampire blood transfusion.
One drop, two drops, three drops, four, until the blood flow increased and the fluid began to race down David’s tongue and fill up Morgandy’s mouth. Finished, David pursed his parched lips together, cutting off the blood supply, and shut Morgandy’s mouth to allow the blood to funnel down his throat and traverse throughout his body, reinvigorate it. The tactic worked, and color returned to Morgandy’s face. His chest started to rise and fall, and when his eyes opened they were clear and alert. “What happened?”
Helping Morgandy stand, David answered, “Minor accident, nothing more.” David turned to face Blakeley, making sure that his appearance wouldn’t put the coach into a further state of shock. “I’m taking him to the infirmary so Dr. Sutton can fully evaluate his condition.” Blakeley could merely nod in response. Turning to face Michael, all David could do was control his rage. Walking with his arm around a still-weak Morgandy, David grinned salaciously and whispered to Michael, “Clean up your mess or I’ll have to bring your beloved coach over to our side.”
Not knowing how to diffuse the situation, Ronan and Ciaran individually decided to remain calm and allow Michael to act first. They would let him speak and then follow his lead. They didn’t get a chance. Michael took one step toward Blakeley, and the coach found his voice. “Stay away from me!”
he screamed. “I don’t know what you are, but you ain’t bloody right!”
“What are you talking about, Coach?” Ronan said, his face forming an odd-looking smile. “Michael and Morgandy just had a row, that’s all.”
Sticking up his hands as if to push back the air, push back what he couldn’t comprehend, Blakeley’s voice quickly rose to a panic. “They might’ve had a row, but that ...
“Of course it was Michael,” Ciaran added. “You know, I think the stress of the whole swim competition thing has gotten to you.”
“That must be it. You’re seeing things that aren’t there,” Ronan joined in. “Stress is one powerful demon.”
“Yes! That’s what he is! Some kind of demon!” Blakeley cried.
“Coach, I’m sorry if I scared you,” Michael said, trying to remember what innocence sounded like.
“But look at me, I’m no demon.”
He was right; he didn’t look like a demon or the devil; he just looked like a kid. But Blakeley knew what he had seen come out of that pool, at least he thought he did. Ignoring reason, ignoring his own sanity, Blakeley began to ramble, and for the first time the events that had taken place at the school over the past year started to make sense. “That’s it! It’s all because of you! Ever since you showed up things have been crazy around here!” Blakeley shouted, his finger jabbing the air viciously. “Ever since you came to Double A people have started to go missing or die. First Penry, then his girlfriend, Alistair, Lochlan, his nurse, that Amir kid, the girl with the really frizzy hair, and now Diego!”
Panting, Blakeley stopped, almost too scared to finish. “Tell me, Michael, where the bloody hell is Diego?!”
Such a long list. Could Michael really be responsible? No. No, it was just coincidence, it had nothing to do with him. It just couldn’t. “I have no idea, Coach,” Michael answered softly.
Blakeley couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t explain it, he was in no way capable of rationalizing it, but he couldn’t stay in the same room as Michael. If he stayed in the gym for another second he thought he was going to faint. “Oh really?” Blakeley said, running out of the gym. “We’ll see about that!”
When Ciaran ran to the other side of the pool, they all thought he was chasing after Blakeley until he bent down and grabbed the pink towel adorned with a huge letter
Tossing the timer aside, he dove into the pool fully dressed. Underwater his eyes, wide and fearful, darted all over. Left, right, nothing, just water. Saoirse was nowhere to be found. Breaking the surface, he looked around the gym, but still not a trace of her. How had she left without being seen? Confused, Ciaran placed his hands flat on the edge of the pool and started to hoist himself up, but quickly got some help with his exit.
Ronan clutched the wet collar of Ciaran’s shirt, and the way his eyes were flaring, Ciaran realized blue was the new color of anger. “What was Saoirse doing in the pool?” Ronan demanded.
Unable to come up with a lie quickly enough, Ciaran told a version of the truth. “We were testing her breathing,” he said quietly so no one else could hear him. “You know how interested she is in her origin. I figured she’s got to be connected to Atlantis somehow, so I thought I’d see how long she could stay underwater.”
“And how long were you going to wait to share your results with David?” Ronan demanded.
“I ... I wasn’t,” Ciaran stammered. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Don’t lie to me, Ciaran!” Ronan shouted. “I saw David come out of your lab. I know you’re still working with him!”
“Was! I’m done with all that!” Ciaran cried. “I swear it!”
There was something in the tone of Ciaran’s voice that Ronan had never heard before when they discussed David: fear.
“Well, it’s about bloody time,” Ronan said. He wasn’t happy to hear that his brother was afraid, but Ronan was thrilled to hear that Ciaran had come to his senses. He wanted to ask Ciaran what had happened that made him finally accept the fact that David was no good, but at the moment he had to deal with his other sibling. “So where the hell is Saoirse?” Ronan asked.
“She must’ve made a run for it when things got wonky,” Ciaran replied.
“I don’t think
Rubbing Michael’s shoulder, Ronan tried his best to cheer his boyfriend up. “Don’t fret, love, it’s not like Blakeley saw you feeding,” Ronan said. “He saw a glimpse of your true self, that’s all.”
That’s all! “Isn’t that enough?!”
Twisting his shirttail to drain some water from it, Ciaran agreed. “Ro’s right. He can’t prove anything. You just have to be more careful from here on out.”
Although surprised by the positive spin they were putting on the disaster, Michael was grateful he had their support. Or did he?
“Um, Ronan,” Michael started. “Any reason you left me on my own to do battle with the Morgue?”
“The Well told me not to interfere,” he replied.
“So let me get this straight, brother,” Ciaran started. “Your Well is now speaking to you?”
Ronan shrugged his shoulders and looked unintentionally impish. “It’s not like He rings me daily,” he replied. “But, yeah, I’ve heard from Him.” Was that accurate? “Or Her, or is it It?” For all the times Ronan had pledged his love, support, and devotion to The Well, he really didn’t know what pronoun to use to describe it. “Whatever it is, it
