“Cheers. ” She gave me a tight smile. “Lunchtime, then. Isn’t it, dolly?” Her tone was light, but she seemed as preoccupied as Tracer Judge.
I didn’t know what, if anything, was going on between these two, but I could take a hint. And the hint was No Drews allowed.
“You know”—I swung my bag over my shoulder—“I need to take a rain check on the programming thing. I totally forgot . . . I promised . . . I’m meeting someone for lunch. I heard it’s pasta day in the dining hall. ”
A lame excuse lamely delivered, but from the relieved looks on their faces, it worked. I jogged to find Yasuo, then bounded down the stairs, keeping one eye glued warily on the path. I was still getting used to this cold-weather stuff, and didn’t want to wipe out on any black ice. “Hey! Yas!”
He stopped, greeting me with a quizzical look. “What happened?”
“Well . . . ” I hedged.
“He forgot, didn’t he?”
“Something like that. ” I actually sensed it was something like that and more, but in my short time on the isle, Amanda and Judge had both shown me moments of kindness, and I wouldn’t speculate about things that weren’t my business.
“Sorry, Nerd Bird. You’ll get your moment. Wouldn’t want to look too much like teacher’s pet in the first semester, anyhow. ” Yasuo’s smile made the nickname affectionate, not an insult. He gave my shoulder a squeeze, and we strolled on toward the cafeteria in an easy, companionable way. “How’d a blondie like you get so dweeby, anyway?”
“Me? How about you? What’s your deal, Yas? I mean, you seem pretty nice. How’d you end up here?”
“You mean, how’d a nice guy like me end up in a coven of ancient, bloodthirsty vampires like this?”
I chuckled. “Precisely like that. ”
“Let’s see. Here are the headlines: Mother Kidnaps Infant Son, Flees Yakuza Lover for America. ”
I halted, stunned. It was the last thing I’d expected to hear. “Jeez. The Yakuza? That’s like the Japanese mafia, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah, that’s them. And the concept of son can be kind of a big deal. My biological father flipped when my mom left. ”
“What happened?”
“We hid. I grew up. He eventually found us. ” He forced a half hearted laugh. “I blame the Internet. ”
There was obviously much more to the story. My voice was subdued as I pressed for more details. “And?”
Shutting his eyes, he took a shuddering inhale. “He killed my mother. And then I killed him. ”
In that instant, I saw the great darkness that flowed beneath Yasuo’s smiling demeanor. He cleared his voice, and with it, the shadows cleared from his brow. “Next thing I knew, I was in a town car headed to an L. A. airstrip. ”
“The vampires?”
“Yeah, a Tracer named Gunnar found me. ” He shrugged. “I was curious. I had nothing left. It was either stay and face my uncle and his minions, or this. ” We’d reached the dining hall and he gestured toward it. “This seemed the lesser of two evils, believe me. ”
“Oh, crap,” I whispered. Ronan, standing on the stairs ahead of us.
“What is it?” Yas asked, immediately on guard.
I studied Ronan. We were supposed to meet at the pool later, but there he stood, holding a big box, looking very stern. “Ask not for whom the bell tolls. . . . ”
“Uhh . . . what?”
“It tolls for me. ”
“Are you, like, speaking in tongues or something?”
“No. ” I sighed. “Nothing. Go on in, Yas. I’ll see you in there. ”
I approached Ronan, alarms shrieking in the back of my mind. I looked skeptically at the parcel in his hands. “What’s that?”