The Mermaid Trials Page 17

  “Can I see your schedule?”

  I made a show of pulling it out to show to her. I’d memorized it instantly of course, but there was no way she could know that.

  “Yeah, here.”

  “Oh, we have two classes together! English lit and bio!”

  I nodded, slipping my sunglasses back into place for the stroll through the hallways. I knew it made me conspicuous but it was worth it to keep people from falling at my feet.

  Caleb said it gave me a big head.

  Personally, I did not enjoy the whole mindless worship routine, but it did come in handy when we were on the run or needed to disappear from a human’s memory. I definitely didn’t need to use it on an unsuspecting high school kid.

  “You have advanced Calc 2 first. Wow, that’s a senior AP class.”

  I shrugged. I didn’t want to brag. Besides even the AP classes were going to be dull for me. Caleb had been feeding me all kinds of academic books for years. And since I didn’t need to sleep much, well, I read all night. Pretty much every night.

  It’s not like I had anything else to do. Train. Read. Blend. Read some more.

  I even lugged around piles of books when we were on the run. Hopefully that wouldn’t happen again for a while. I craved stability at this point. And I was tired. Not physically of course. But mentally, I was tapped out.

  We all were.

  “Come on, slowpoke.”

  Karen hurried down the hall, not waiting for me to catch up. Good. I didn’t need to be coddled. I allowed myself a small smile.

  I liked this chick already.

  I glanced over my shoulder and frowned. I turned back to the front of the classroom, biting my lip in worry.

  Yep. He was still staring. Mr. Blue Eyes was in my first class.

  Fantastic.

  I sighed heavily, feeling his eyes on my back. The next time I looked back though, he was talking to the guy sitting next to him under his breath.

  Good. Weird, but good. If I had glamoured him accidentally he would be focused on me almost exclusively. So he wasn’t glamoured.

  He was just… I risked a peek back. Yeah. He was looking at me again. He caught my eye and smiled. I exhaled through my teeth, packing up my books. Not surprisingly, pre —calc was going to be a waste of time for me.

  Just like the rest of the classes. I imagined college would be a little more interesting, but maybe not by much.

  I sighed. I needed to attend class to appear normal. At least literature and history were somewhat interesting, if only because it was subjective. I liked hearing the different opinions people had on what the great writers and figures in human history had been thinking.

  Mostly because it made me laugh. The way people thought was so limiting. Not every author had some higher purpose to teach future generations. A lot of the meaning for them was in the act of writing and sharing their thoughts. They had cherished the act of examining the beauty in the smallness of human life, not trying to make Nand, sweeping statements about the meaning of life. And since Caleb had known some of those great writers in person, I knew a wee bit more than I should about them.

  I went to my locker and put my books away, already bored to tears. Suck it up, buttercup. A random teenage runaway was much more conspicuous than a shy girl attending classes.

  In truth, I was far from shy. And I sucked at keeping my mouth shut. But I had to. Our lives depended on it.

  After all, a high school in rural North Carolina was the last place the New Leaders would be looking for me. Yes, that’s what the traitors called themselves. And as ridiculous as it sounded, the name had stuck.

  I snickered to myself every time I thought about it. It sounded like a 90s boy band. I could almost imagine them, four ancient Vampires in shiny black leather, singing and dancing in unison while teenage girls screamed.

  I couldn’t wait to tell them that. Just before I tore their heads off and saved my father. I’d even come up with fake song titles and bad lyrics for them.

  I’m a cheesy Vampire, baby

  Let me suck you up

  I might be cold, but I’m hot for you

  Boop bop beep oooo

  Yeah, I could go on forever. I was very easily entertained. It was a good thing too, considering all I did in my spare time was train.

  “Hey. Are you a Senior?”

  I shook my head. The bell had barely rung and Mr. Blue Eyes was there, standing at my side. He was almost as sneaky as a freaking vamp!

  “No, I’m a Junior.”

  “Wow, you must be really smart.”

  I raised my eyebrows, forgetting to hide my eyes.

  “I guess.”

  I was freaking smart dammit. But being an honor student was just part of my cover. Maybe I should tone it down a bit… get a B or something.

  But that would make Caleb lose his damn mind. I almost smiled, imagining him trying to ground me. Princesses do not get B’s.

  “Wow, your eyes…”

  I flinched. I did not want him staring into my eyes. Ugh. I realized I must have forgotten my color contacts. They muted the unusual color and seemed to help with the accidental hypnotism as well.

  “What about them?”

  My voice sounded a little sharp, but I couldn’t help it. My eyes were the one visibly weird thing about me. They were not in the normal range of human eye colors and I was self —conscious about them.

  I hated them, to be honest. I said they were like rat eyes, though Caleb told me they looked like Liz Taylor’s. He said that they were beautiful.

  He even made me watch some old movies to prove it.

  “They are sort of purple. No, they’re violet.”

  I shrugged and grabbed my stuff. This kid was making me nervous now. He’d stared directly into my bare eyes and what — not even a hint of mindless adoration?

  I must be losing my touch.

  “Yeah, I guess it’s a genetic mutation or something. It’s worse under fluorescent lights.”

  He smiled and I felt the tension go out of my body. I’d expected a comment about rodents or fake contacts. If only he knew how unusual my eyes really were…

  “They’re nice.”

  I watched him walk away, staring after his broad back and long legs. Nice? My eyes were nice?

  That was… the most ordinary compliment I’d ever gotten.

  “Miss Wallace?”

  I realized I was standing in the middle of the empty classroom. I shook myself and hurried to my next class.

  Yeah, being back in high school was a boatload of freaking fun.

  Turn the page for an excerpt of DreamShifters Book 1:

  Original Witch

  Original Witch Excerpt

  Dean

  My eyes slipped to the side, resting on the dark, wavy hair again. The hair that was shorter than I remembered. Everything else was the same.

  I sat in Freshman Lit, forcing myself to stare blankly towards the front of the lecture hall. It was the third day of classes. I’d spent every day since Freshman orientation looking for her. She hadn't appeared in the kitchen again and I hadn't seen her in the quad.

  I was beginning to think I’d imagined the whole thing.

  Until now.

  Two rows ahead of me and a few seats to the right. A girl sat there that drew my eye repeatedly during the class. He could see her profile and the shoulder length dark hair that curled around her ear perfectly, revealing a graceful jaw and neck.

  Her hand fluttered to her throat as if she felt eyes on her. My breath caught as she glanced over her shoulder as if she knew someone was watching her. I glanced away, unconcerned.

  I wasn’t the only one checking her out. Krista drew male eyes like moths to a flame. It wasn’t just her beauty either. She looked fragile too, in a way that brought out my protective instincts.

  The girl from my dreams was pretty much a man-magnet.

  And it was her.

  I was not crazy after all.

  I leaned back and smiled grimly, let
ting my eyes rest on her again. I had to talk to her- to make her stay this time. Not run away. She had to know we were meant to be together.

  Well, maybe I was a little bit crazy.

  I had started to stand in the middle of class the moment I saw her face. I sat down abruptly, realizing looking like a crazy person was not going to help my cause . I had to get to her, to speak to her, not make her run away again.

  It was her, but she was different.

  Her hair was longer in the dreams, and her clothes were different. She was dressed kind of shabbily compared to the plain white nightgown I was used to seeing her in.

  It was the sort of nightie that you saw in old movies. White cotton and lace. Virginal.

  For some reason I had always found it incredibly arousing. In fact, just holding her hand in the dreams was more satisfying than any of the fumbling sexual encounters I’d had in high school.

  I felt it now, a fission of desire that went straight to my gut. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, eager to get on with it.

  I’m going to make her talk to me, one way or the other.

  The bell rang and she was up like a shot. I cursed when I saw her making a beeline for the door. I couldn't let her get away again.

  I stood up and chased after her, pushing people out of the way.

  I shoved way through the crowd, finally catching up to her. I lifted my arm and touched her shoulder just as she stepped out of the building.

  She turned and her stunning gray eyes widened. She stepped away from me, almost stumbling down the stairs. I reached out for her and steadied her.

  Nice Dean, knock your dream girl down the freaking stairs why don’t you? Classy.

  The next thing I knew she had darted out into the crowd of milling students on the quad. She was pretty fast for such a little thing. I followed her, unwilling to give up so easily.

  "Wait- Krista- I just need to talk to you-"

  Jesus Christ, the girl was motoring!

  She ignored me, weaving through the crowd of students until she stopped short, blocked by a game of catch football. I grabbed her shoulder and turned her to face me. Not the smoothest move in the book, but I was desperate.

  "I know you."

  Her big eyes blinked up at me from her heart shaped face. I knew instantly that she was about to lie to me. Even before she opened that beautiful mouth of hers.

  "I don't know what you're talking about. I've never seen you before in my life."

  "Yes, you have."

  I stared at her, my hands firm on her shoulders.

  "It's okay. I'm freaked too. This whole thing- it's crazy."

  She got perfectly still, staring at the ground as if willing me to go away. Then she shook her head, as if she was trying to clear it.

  "Yeah, okay. I guess you're right."

  My heart was clanging in my chest as she took a deep breath and looked up at me. Her beautiful gray eyes were lost and I had to fight the desire to pull her into my arms.

  "It is crazy. I think I'm going crazy."

  I smiled at her.

  "Maybe we both are."

  Acknowledgments

  Cover: Mayhem Cover Creations

  Photo: Deposit Photos

  Editing: Valorie Clifton

  Formatting: Pincushion Press

  Promo: Just One More Page

  About the author

  Cameron Drake is an avid reader of urban fantasy. This is Cameron’s fifth book.

  Follow her on Facebook for updates and more:

  Cameron Drake’s Facebook Page

  Also by Cameron Drake

  Vampire Princess

  Vampire Princess

  Royally Cursed

  Dreamshifters

  Original Witch

  Moonbound

  Coming soon

  Vampire Princess Book Three

  Dreamshifters Book Three

  Mermaid Trials Book Two