Never to Sleep
Page 9
Not human, like youre not human? But he meant something else. I could tell that with one glance at his frown. What does that mean? Animals? I glanced to the left once, then he tugged me around the corner in the opposite direction. Like, bunnies and squirrels? I could see the teachers lounge ahead on the left. At least, I thought that was the teachers lounge, but it was hard to identify specific doors and rooms when I couldnt even recognize my own school beneath the layer of bloodthirsty plant life.
Who knows? Luca whispered, his voice floating back to me on a soft breath. But if there are bunnies here, you can bet theyve got teeth like needles and an appetite for human flesh.
Is that a joke? Please tell me youre joking.
I never joke about carnivorous bunnies. Luca stopped in the middle of the hall, and studied a closed door on our right. The vines were sparser here, but several crisscrossed the closed doorway, slithering slowly from one facing to the other, and a smaller vine encircled the doorknob completely. Thats the teachers lounge? he said, one brow raised at me in question. I nodded. Figures.
We couldnt get the door open without removing the vines. Which would probably require touching them.
We can go that way, I pointed down the hall in the opposite direction. The parking lot is through those double doors at the end of the math hall. The Kaylee drama was blessedly absent from whatever horrifying alternate universe wed somehow stumbled intothough wed obviously exchanged one brand of crazy for another. But wed have to sneak past the killer bunnies.
And another hundred feet of crimson creeper Luca let go of my hand and rubbed his forehead. We need scissors, or a knife. He started back the way wed come without me, then stopped to stare down the hall, like he was just then noticing that all the other rooms were blocked by even more crimson creeper.
There might be something in the custodians closet, I suggested, and he turned back to me with the possibility shining in his beautiful brown eyes.
Wheres that?
I half turned and pointed several feet farther down the hall, where a single vine stretched across an open doorway.
Perfect. He practically leaped over the vines on the floor between us, then squatted to peer into the dark closet. You duck in there and look for something sharp, and Ill work on protective gear.
In there? I glanced at the closet, which was too dark to see into. You want me to walk into a dark hole in the wall, where some horrible Netherworld creature is probably waiting to eat me alive. Obviously youve mistaken me forLara Croft.
Lucas brows rose, and I couldnt tell whether he was irritated or amused. Apologies, Your Highness, I meant to mistake you for someone who wants to survive. When I only crossed my arms over my chest and waited for him to come to his senses, Luca exhaled in frustration. Look, if anything in there wanted to kill you, youd be dead already.
Yet somehow, that thought didnt comfort me as I stared into the dark closet, on the lookout for glowing eyes and menacing fangs. Then why dont you crawl into the cave of untold horrors and let me take care of the protective gear? Whatever that meant.
Sure. Luca said, and I turned to find him naked from the waist up. Holding his T-shirt in both hands. Baring a smooth, well-defined chest to the whole world. The Netherworld, anyway. I just didnt think youd want to strip for the cause.
The cause? I heard the wordsI even repeated them, like a brain-dead parrotbut I didnt really understand them, because I was busy staring. Wishing hed lower his hands a little, so I could get a better look at abs he certainly hadnt sculpted by communing with either nature or the dead.
I was gonna cut this up and wrap it around my hands, to keep from getting stuck by the thorns. But if youd rather donate your shirt instead, by all meanshand it over. His half grin and appreciative once-over glance lit little fires all through me, and I could feel my cheeks burn.
Good to know he was interested, but I am not sacrificing a brand-new blouse to a bunch of venom-leaking thorns. Especially if taking my shirt off meant he would put his back on. Im going in. Will you at least watch my back?
Gladly, he said, and I realized that unless the threat came at the exact height of my butt, he wasnt likely to see it in time. Give me your cell phone and Ill shine some light for you.
Whats wrong with yours? I asked.
I dont have one.
What kind of American teenager doesnt have a cell phone? I mumbled, digging my phone from my back pocket.
The kind who wasnt born with a silver stick up his
Hey! Thats economic profiling, I said, and he laughed as I set my cell in his palm. Luca pressed a button on my phone, and the screen glowed to life as he squatted in front of the dark closet again, using my cell screen as a flashlight.
I have an app thatll make that brighter, I offered, and he handed the phone back to me so I could start the flashlight application. The app would drain my battery faster but provide much more light.
Who knows? Luca whispered, his voice floating back to me on a soft breath. But if there are bunnies here, you can bet theyve got teeth like needles and an appetite for human flesh.
Is that a joke? Please tell me youre joking.
I never joke about carnivorous bunnies. Luca stopped in the middle of the hall, and studied a closed door on our right. The vines were sparser here, but several crisscrossed the closed doorway, slithering slowly from one facing to the other, and a smaller vine encircled the doorknob completely. Thats the teachers lounge? he said, one brow raised at me in question. I nodded. Figures.
We couldnt get the door open without removing the vines. Which would probably require touching them.
We can go that way, I pointed down the hall in the opposite direction. The parking lot is through those double doors at the end of the math hall. The Kaylee drama was blessedly absent from whatever horrifying alternate universe wed somehow stumbled intothough wed obviously exchanged one brand of crazy for another. But wed have to sneak past the killer bunnies.
And another hundred feet of crimson creeper Luca let go of my hand and rubbed his forehead. We need scissors, or a knife. He started back the way wed come without me, then stopped to stare down the hall, like he was just then noticing that all the other rooms were blocked by even more crimson creeper.
There might be something in the custodians closet, I suggested, and he turned back to me with the possibility shining in his beautiful brown eyes.
Wheres that?
I half turned and pointed several feet farther down the hall, where a single vine stretched across an open doorway.
Perfect. He practically leaped over the vines on the floor between us, then squatted to peer into the dark closet. You duck in there and look for something sharp, and Ill work on protective gear.
In there? I glanced at the closet, which was too dark to see into. You want me to walk into a dark hole in the wall, where some horrible Netherworld creature is probably waiting to eat me alive. Obviously youve mistaken me forLara Croft.
Lucas brows rose, and I couldnt tell whether he was irritated or amused. Apologies, Your Highness, I meant to mistake you for someone who wants to survive. When I only crossed my arms over my chest and waited for him to come to his senses, Luca exhaled in frustration. Look, if anything in there wanted to kill you, youd be dead already.
Yet somehow, that thought didnt comfort me as I stared into the dark closet, on the lookout for glowing eyes and menacing fangs. Then why dont you crawl into the cave of untold horrors and let me take care of the protective gear? Whatever that meant.
Sure. Luca said, and I turned to find him naked from the waist up. Holding his T-shirt in both hands. Baring a smooth, well-defined chest to the whole world. The Netherworld, anyway. I just didnt think youd want to strip for the cause.
The cause? I heard the wordsI even repeated them, like a brain-dead parrotbut I didnt really understand them, because I was busy staring. Wishing hed lower his hands a little, so I could get a better look at abs he certainly hadnt sculpted by communing with either nature or the dead.
I was gonna cut this up and wrap it around my hands, to keep from getting stuck by the thorns. But if youd rather donate your shirt instead, by all meanshand it over. His half grin and appreciative once-over glance lit little fires all through me, and I could feel my cheeks burn.
Good to know he was interested, but I am not sacrificing a brand-new blouse to a bunch of venom-leaking thorns. Especially if taking my shirt off meant he would put his back on. Im going in. Will you at least watch my back?
Gladly, he said, and I realized that unless the threat came at the exact height of my butt, he wasnt likely to see it in time. Give me your cell phone and Ill shine some light for you.
Whats wrong with yours? I asked.
I dont have one.
What kind of American teenager doesnt have a cell phone? I mumbled, digging my phone from my back pocket.
The kind who wasnt born with a silver stick up his
Hey! Thats economic profiling, I said, and he laughed as I set my cell in his palm. Luca pressed a button on my phone, and the screen glowed to life as he squatted in front of the dark closet again, using my cell screen as a flashlight.
I have an app thatll make that brighter, I offered, and he handed the phone back to me so I could start the flashlight application. The app would drain my battery faster but provide much more light.
