Night World 1 by L.J. Smith

Author:L.J. Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: 1996-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

It felt like a jellyfish sting.

Mary-Lynnette kept her eyes shut and her face turned away as Rowan bit into her neck. She was thinking of the way the deer had screamed. But the pain wasn’t so bad. It went away almost immediately.

She could feel warmth at her neck as the blood flowed, and, after a minute, a slight dizziness. A weakness. But the most interesting thing was that all at once she seemed to have a new sense. She could sense Rowan’s mind. It was like seeing, but without eyes—and using different wavelengths than visual light. Rowan’s mind—her presence—was warm red, like glowing embers in a campfire. It was also fuzzy and rounded like a ball of hot gas floating in space.

Is this what psychics mean when they talk about people having an aura?

Then Rowan pulled back, and it was over. The new sense disappeared.

Mary-Lynnette’s fingers went automatically to her neck. She felt wetness there. A little tenderness.

“Don’t fool with it,” Rowan said, brushing at her lips with her thumb. “It’ll go away in just a minute.”

Mary-Lynnette blinked, feeling languid. She looked over at Mark, who was being released by Kestrel. He looked okay, if a little dazed. She smiled at him and he raised his eyebrows and shook his head slightly.

I wonder what his mind looks like, Mary-Lynnette thought. Then she said, startled, “What are you doing?”

Rowan had picked up a twig and was testing its end for sharpness.

“Every species has some substance that’s harmful to it,” she said. “Silver for werewolves, iron for witches…and wood for vampires. It’s the only thing out here that will cut our skin,” she added.

“I didn’t mean that. I meant why,” Mary-Lynnette said, but she knew why already. She watched redness bead in the wake of the twig as Rowan drew it across her wrist.

Exchange blood, Rowan had said.

Mary-Lynnette gulped. She didn’t look at Mark and Kestrel.

I’ll do it first and then he’ll see it’s not so bad, she told herself. I can do this, I can do this…. It’s so we can stay alive.

Rowan was looking at her, offering her wrist.

Copperbloodfear, Mary-Lynnette thought, feeling queasy.

She shut her eyes and put her mouth to Rowan’s wrist.

Warmth. Well-being. And a taste not like copper, but like something rich and strange. Later, she’d always grope for ways to describe it, but she could only think of things like: well, a little bit like the way vanilla bean smells, and a little bit like the way silk feels, and a little bit like the way a waterfall looks. It was faintly sweet.

Afterward, she felt as if she could run up mountains.

“Oh, boy,” Mark said, sounding giddy. “If you could bottle that stuff, you’d make millions.”

“It’s been thought of before,” Kestrel said coolly. “Humans hunting us for our blood.”

“Talk later,” Rowan said firmly. “Blood-tie now.”

Kestrel’s mind was gold. With brilliant knifelike edges sending glitters in every direction.

“Okay, Jade,” Rowan said. “Mark. Enough, you guys. Let go of each other now.”

Mary-Lynnette saw that she was physically pulling Mark and Jade apart.

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