48
Kaitlyn
Well, for the next few days at least, it didn’t. In fact, nothing more out of the ordinary happened for over a week. Unless you count me going to the Drake’s Den twice a day to sit in Ari’s lap and drink his blood out of the ordinary, that is.
Though I never would have believed it was possible, I actually got used to doing it. I didn’t ask to drink from his wrist anymore, either. There was no point, really—my knees buckled with the first mouthful of his blood and he had to pull me into his lap anyway. So I might as well start out there and save us both the trouble.
Because no matter how used to sitting on the big Drake’s lap and being close to him I got, I could never quite get used to the surge of pleasure and power drinking his blood gave me. It felt so good—so right—that after a while, I stopped fighting it. I just went straight to Ari, climbed in his lap, and took the vein he offered me which pulsed in the side of his neck.
It occurred to me after some time, that I was getting used to my strange new status as a Nocturne. And not only that, I was almost…happy.
This was such an unusual state of affairs for me, that it took me a little while to recognize it. When was the last time I was truly happy, I asked myself? Was it back before The Fire? Back when my mom and dad were still alive?
Life had been so uncomplicated then—so straightforward and easy. At least it seemed like that, looking back on it now. I was sure I’d had problems and worries and cares but they all seemed small and insignificant after The Fire.
My Coven-mates noticed my new state of mind almost the same time I did. One morning at breakfast, after my early morning “feeding session” with Ari, Avery looked at me and said,
“Well, Katydid, I think being a Vampire agrees with you—you’re positively glowing.”
Megan, who was sitting right across with me and beside Griffin, leaned across the table for a closer look.
“Avery’s right,” she declared. “Your aura has a happy pinkish glow about it—kind of like a sunrise all around you.”
She was learning to read auras and actually having success, she had confided to us, even without using any Blood Magic, which was her specialty.
“You do look happier,” Emma observed. “You’re not hunching your shoulders or trying to hide behind your hair quite as much as you used to.” She frowned. “You look taller too—is that possible?”
“Maybe,” Avery said speculatively. “Maybe it’s an effect of the Drake blood she’s been ingesting.”
“Or maybe it’s just because Kaitlyn is sitting and standing straighter and not, as Emma said, ‘hunching’ so much,” Griffin observed. “She is, what you humans call, ‘coming out of her shell,’ perhaps.”
“You guys, could you please not talk about me like I’m not sitting right here?” I said. “I don’t think I’m that much different. I’m just…happy. That’s all.”
“Now that is definitely an effect of the Drake blood,” Avery remarked, his eyes flicking over to the Drake table where Ari was sitting by himself and eating. “Or maybe just the Drake who gave it.”
“Come on, Avery—don’t tease,” I said, feeling my cheeks get hot with a blush.
“I’m not teasing, Katydid.” He grinned at me. “I’m just glad to see you looking so much better—so much happier. And I’m grateful to a certain Drake for making it happen.” He looked at Ari again.
“It’s not all about Ari Reyes,” Megan objected. “Kaitlyn has been taking better care of herself—being kinder to herself. Haven’t you?” she asked me.
I nodded and smiled at her.
“I’m trying.”
In fact, though it had been an effort at the start, I had been repeating the mantra Megan had given me on a regular basis—I’m a kind, sweet, wonderful person and I have people who love me—and I found that it really did help.
Megan was a big believer in what she called “positive self-talk” and I was beginning to think she was right. How can you ever feel good about your life if you’re constantly putting yourself down? After all, you have to love yourself in order to feel worthy and accepting of love from others, right?
So by being kind to myself and thinking and saying good things about myself to myself, I was actually beginning to feel more confident and less like a timid, scared mouse that just wanted to hide in a corner all day.
Maybe I was coming out of my shell—becoming more assertive and less frightened.
I had no idea how soon I would be called upon to prove that theory but it happened that very day, right before dinner…
49
Kaitlyn
I was on my way to the Drake’s Den when Nancy Rattcliff and her two cohorts stopped me. The halls were mostly deserted, since everyone was in their dorms getting ready for dinner. The Weird Sisters seemed to appear from nowhere—they surrounded me and backed me up against a wall.
“Well, well you little freak,” Nancy purred, giving me a nasty smile. “And where do you think you’re going?”
The old Kaitlyn would have hung her head and retreated into herself, hoping they would just go away. But I didn’t feel like the old Kaitlyn anymore—didn’t feel like I deserved to be mistreated or abused.
“Where I’m going is none of your business, Nancy,” I snapped, lifting my chin. “So let me go, now.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Nancy said, glaring at me with her big, black eyes. The top half of her face was pretty—really pretty—with high cheekbones and dark eyes and a cute little tip-tilted nose. But the bottom half was where everything went wrong—her jaw was almost masculine and her mouth was huge and filled with big white tombstone teeth that seemed to gnash like a
