Fire With Fire: A Demonblood Novel Part 11

He nuzzles my nose with his. "Perfect."

"I have to go. See you tomorrow." I turn to leave. I'm cutting it close...I need to hurry.

"Lucky-?"

I pause and glance over my shoulder. "Hmm?"

Bones bites his lip and shakes his head. "Never mind. See you tomorrow."

Chapter 13. Liora.

Tristan leans over to me and whispers, "What's wrong, Liora? You seem distracted about something."

I give him a quick side glance and wait until Mr. Sodenberg looks away before whispering back, "I'm just kinda worried about Corrine. She hasn't been here all week. It's not like her to miss school-" I snap my mouth shut as my English teacher turns around and shoots an unfriendly glare in my direction. I bury my face in my book and s.h.i.+ft uncomfortably in my seat. For some reason my hips are sore, like maybe Lucky fell off Diablo last night or something.

A moment later a small piece of paper appears on my desk, and written in Tristan's neat handwriting is, "I'm sure she's fine, but if you want, we can go check on her." I flash him a grateful smile and nod.

When the bell rings at the end of cla.s.s, I reach for my phone and try calling Corrine again. Still no answer. Since Corrine doesn't have a cell phone of her own, her house line is the only one I can try. And either it's not working, or no one is home. But I can't shake the nagging feeling that something isn't quite right. Although she and I have been drifting apart lately, I still care about her and hope nothing is wrong. It's one thing to miss school if she's sick, but she hasn't even tried to get in touch with me for homework a.s.signments or anything. Considering how hard she's working to improve her grades, this is unsettling. Maybe she's mad at me?

Tristan and I start down the hall. But instead of turning down the corridor leading to our World History cla.s.s, I take his arm and lead him toward the parking lot. "You wanna go now?" he asks, both eyebrows raised.

I nod and bite my lip, casting my gaze downward. Why does he suddenly look so ugly? "Yeah, I just want to do a quick drive by and make sure everything is okay."

"Sure, let's go-" He takes a step toward his car, but I hold him back.

"Wait...I was wondering if maybe you wouldn't mind loaning me your car?" I smile widely, knowing my request is nothing short of insane. His Jaguar probably costs over a hundred grand.

He furrows his brow. "Why don't you want me to drive you?"

I sigh. "It's 'cause of Corrine...she's really embarra.s.sed about where she lives. I think I'm the only one in the whole school who's ever been to her place, and believe me, she was humiliated. If she's sick or hurt or something, I don't want to make her feel any worse than she already does..."

"I don't think I like the idea of you going alone. What if something really is wrong?" he asks, squinting his sky-blue eyes.

I shrug and look away. His scar seems darker than usual. Garish, almost. Must be the shadows from the trees. "I'm sure she's just sick, and her phone is out of order or something," I mumble. For some reason, I really don't want him coming with me to check on Corrine. Normally, I want him next to me all the time. But now I feel like I need...s.p.a.ce.

"What is it, Liora? You seem different today, somehow." Tristan studies me, and I s.h.i.+ft uncomfortably.

"Same ol' me," I reply with a casual shrug. But in a way he's right...I sort of do feel different today. Not sure how or why, almost as if there's some deep antic.i.p.ation or excitement buried inside me...like I'm stronger, more cohesive somehow. I'd chalked it up to finally getting a really good night's sleep, since this morning I awoke feeling refreshed and recharged for the first time in weeks. The lingering, sickly feeling I'd been living with seems to have been replaced with a feeling of robust health.

But as I gaze upon Tristan, I wonder if something else is changing. At first, I never wanted to be away from him for even a short period of time. But now I'm suffocated by his overbearing presence. Why is he everywhere I am? Why does he do everything I do?

"I'll drive you to Corrine's," he says, as if that settles everything. I can't very well argue; it is his car, after all. And my place is in the complete opposite direction. Plus, I'd run the risk of seeing Tatiana and facing her wrath. No thanks.

"Fine," I say.

We're both quiet as we head toward the back road that leads to the outskirts of Dove Creek. Paved road becomes rubble, houses become shacks. "She lives around the corner, last one on the row...Stay here and I'll be back in a jiffy," I say, opening the car door once he stops.

"Wait," Tristan says, getting out. I give him a confused glance as he lopes around the side of the car and wraps his arms around my waist.

"What's up?" I mumble, trying not to let my annoyance show. Why does he have to be so d.a.m.n clingy?

"Just wanted a kiss first." He lightly licks his lips and lowers them to meet mine.

I return his kiss halfheartedly and am the first to break away. "I'll be back in a minute."

Tristan gives me an odd look as I turn and head down the path, but I don't care. I'll talk with him about his smothering behavior later. Right now my focus is on Corrine.

I just round the corner when I hear, "Hey, pretty girl. Wanna come inside for some homemade lemonade?" A fat, balding man wearing jeans and no s.h.i.+rt stands in his half open doorway, scratching his portly stomach and drinking from a brown paper bag.

"Gross," I mutter, and pick up my pace.

Loud and obscene shouts come from Corrine's trailer, and my heart stops. But then the yelling is followed by raucous laughter, and I let out a long breath. A moment later, the busted screen door swings open violently. A woman I recognize as Corrine's mother stumbles down the two wooden steps followed by a skinny man with a long, greasy mullet and pockmarked cheeks.

"Well lookie what we got here, Jolene. Some pretty 'ung thang here lookin' like Bambi who lost her mama," the man says with a salacious smirk. "Did you lose your mama, sweet Bambi?" His eyes feast over my body before settling on my chest. The curvaceous woman with overly-bleached hair and wearing clothes two sizes too tight, laughs as if it's the funniest thing she ever heard. She almost trips over her five inch spiked heels and grabs the skinny man for support, all the while puffing on a cigarette. I stand there unmoving, not sure what to do.

"Wait a minute, don't I know ya?" she slurs, blowing smoke in my direction. I try not to cough as I nod.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm a friend of Corrine's. My name is Liora Greyson."

Her eyes narrow and she steps closer to me. The man watches us curiously as she glares at me with an intoxicated anger.

"She been telling you lies? That why you here?" Corrine's mother spits out, and takes a long drag from her skinny cigarette.

"Ma'am?"

"She's a liar. A dirty little liar and she spreads her filthy lies everywhere. I won't stand for it. I won't tolerate it, hear me, missy? The tongue of the devil!"

"Uh, yes, ma'am." I figure it's best to just play along. She seems totally out of her mind.

"So go on now. Git. Denny and me are off to get party supplies, and I don't need the likes of you stirring up more trouble. That girl needs to learn her place and I won't be havin' no lies. Hear me? So go. Go on now. Git. And don't come back." She waves me off with a handful of long, bright pink fingernails.

"Uh, yes ma'am. Sorry." The man still hasn't stopped staring at my chest, and I hurry away, disgusted. They stumble off towards an old white pick-up truck, and I duck around the corner out of sight.

Once I'm sure they've gone, I return to the trailer, surprised to see Corrine sitting on the front porch, her head held low, her stringy hair covering her face.

"Hey," she mumbles as I sit beside her. "Sorry 'bout that. She's been on a tear lately."

"Hey, Corrine," I whisper. She raises her head, and I gasp. "Corrine! What happened?" Her black eye is purple in some spots, yellowish in others. Her nose has a funny b.u.mp to it I don't remember seeing before, and her puffy mouth bears a vicious gash on her lower lip.

"It looks worse than it is. Promise. But I didn't really wanna show my face at school, for obvious reasons."

"But-but-what happened? Were you in an accident or attacked or something?" I stammer, unable to get over my shock. I never expected to find her like this, and my heart aches.

She shrugs and drops her head again. "It's all very Afterschool Special." She lets out a deep sigh. "Drunk mom has druggie boyfriend. Druggie boyfriend tries to have s.e.x with drunk mom's daughter. Daughter fights back and tells mom. Daughter gets the c.r.a.p smacked out of her. You know...the usual."

"Oh, Corrine, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do?" I whisper, rubbing her back consolingly.

She peeks at me through her dishwater bangs. "Ask your grandma if she wants to adopt me?"

My heart sinks into my gut, and my stomach twists in knots. I knew Corrine had a tough home life, but I had no idea it was this bad.

"Corrine, you have to go to the police or something. They can't get away with treating you like this-"

"There's nothing the police can do. It's their word against mine. And besides, what would happen to me? I turned seventeen a few months ago. Foster care? Yeah, like that's gonna happen. And I have no money, no job, no nothing. I'm stuck here."

"Corrine, there's gotta be something we can do." I rack my mind trying to find a solution. Obviously staying with me is out of the question. But maybe... "I have an idea...what if I gave you some money? Would that help?"

Corrine looks confused. "I don't see how..."

"Money...to stay at a motel or get your own apartment or something."

"I'm a minor. Mom would just call the cops on me..."

"Well, what if-"

Corinne shakes her head and holds up her hand. "I know I gotta get out of here. And someday I will. But it's usually not this bad. This was kind of an unusual fight. Normally you can't see the marks. I'll be fine in a few days. No worries."

I bite my lip and stare at the ground. Clearly something has to be done...

"How'd you get here?" she asks, interrupting my thoughts.

"Oh, um...a car..."

"Where'd you park? I don't see it anywhere."

"Uh...around the corner."

"Why? And why're you acting funny?"

I let out a guilty sigh. "Don't be mad, but Tristan drove me. I had him park down on the street around the corner..."

"Ahhh. Didn't want him to see the sort of trash you hang out with?"

"Corrine, you know that's not true! I did it out of respect for you, not because I'm ashamed of you!"

She twists her hair around her finger and chews on her lip. "Yeah, I know. Sorry. Don't know why I'm being a b.i.t.c.h."

"Oh, please. You have every right to be a b.i.t.c.h right now. I don't know how you're being so cool and collected after what happened-"

"Liora, just stop. Please," she whispers hoa.r.s.ely. "I don't want you feeling sorry for me. Your pity hurts worse than being punched in the face."

"I'm sorry...I just wish there was something I could do for you."

"Me too. If there is I'll let you know," she says.

I nod and pat her knee, feeling helpless.

Corrine glances around. "So where's Tristan? Waiting for you in the car?"

"Yeah, I asked him to stay there while I came to check on you."

"I'm surprised he let you out of his sight for five seconds," she mutters, looking down.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Even though I secretly agree with her sentiment, for some reason it's more offensive having someone else point it out like that.

"I just mean, you've stuck to him like white on rice since the moment he came to this school. It's like Kieron never existed or something, and instead, you totally jump on the next guy who shows you attention and completely ignore everyone else-"

I spring to my feet and face her. "What do you mean I completely ignore everyone else? h.e.l.lo! I'm here checking on you right now!"

She looks away, the corners of her mouth turning down in a frown. "I gotta go back inside."

"Corrine, wait. Don't go yet. C'mon. Let's talk."

She shakes her head. "I don't want to fight with you, too."

"We're not fighting, we're talking. C'mon...are you mad at me or something? If so, spill it," I plead.

She sits back down and brushes her hair back from her face. The frames on her gla.s.ses are bent, and the lens has a tiny crack in it. She sighs and clenches a fistful of hair. "I'm not mad at you...just kind of disappointed, I guess."

"Disappointed why?" I ask, confused.

"I dunno, I just never thought you'd be the type of girl who'd drop everything for some guy and completely shut out the rest of the world-"

"Corrine, what are you talking about? I don't do that!"

"Yeah, you kinda do. You didn't do it when you were with Kieron. With him, you were totally yourself, just better. Happier. But when you're with Tristan, it's like no one else exists or matters except him. And you...I dunno...it's like you're disappearing or something."

"You're imagining it," I whisper hoa.r.s.ely.

"Oh, am I? Do you realize this is the first time you and I have had a conversation like this since he arrived on the scene? Where you're looking at me and talking to me and actually hearing me? Not like I'm just some second-best s.p.a.ce-filler who's only good until someone better comes around? I feel like I've been some invisible third-wheel with you guys. Like at lunch or something...I'm sitting there trying to talk to you, but you'd never even know if I was there or not-"

"That's not true-"

"Yeah, actually, it is. I swear, sometimes it's like he has you hypnotized or something. You get this gla.s.sy, far-away look, and the way you look at him with your adoring big, blue eyes...well, it's gross! Seeing you with Tristan...well, I don't like it. Not one bit. It makes my skin crawl. You didn't ever act like this with Kieron...with him you were much more normal."

Oh, sweet, naive Corrine. If only you knew how altogether not normal Kieron and I are....

"You're just jealous," I snap. "Jealous that I have a guy that likes me and you don't."

"Oh, I promise I'm not jealous of that. Especially when the guy is as creepy as Tristan."