Salt & Venom (Blood, Bloom, & Water Book 2) by Amy McNulty

Author:Amy McNulty [McNulty, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Snowy Wings Publishing
Published: 2018-10-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Bay stole his second bite of cod from Llyr’s plate, then moved his fork to Cascade’s salad bowl, stabbing the arugula she’d left behind. His own tray was long-since cleaned, his wandering fork distracting me in the middle of our hushed lunchtime conversation under the purple-and-gold banner of Central High.

“Orin always seems to know where the action is,” said Calder hesitatingly. “So maybe we distract him…”

“He’s not that dumb. He’ll realize some of us are missing.” Bay shook his head between bites.

Cascade seemed to finally notice what he was doing and slid her salad bowl toward him. She shivered, drawing her hands into her lap and staring down at them. “Even if we get the orb… I still don’t like the idea of them being in our space. In our… home.”

Llyr put a hand on her shoulder as the table went solemn.

Okay, so this had been my idea. Granted, I hadn’t really thought about the fact that I was asking them to open up their fortress-like home to invasion. But they had to take risks or nothing would change, right?

“We have to let go sometime,” said Laguna quietly. “For the greater good.”

So she understood. Still, I shuddered at the idea of Mom’s or Dad’s houses becoming battlegrounds. Though Ember had specifically told me she would keep Dad’s place neutral.

Dad’s place. The wedding ceremony. Ember no doubt bringing her “boyfriend.”

“When we do get the orb—I know the perfect place to tell the vampires about it,” I said. “My dad and step-mom’s wedding ceremony two weekends from now. Ember won’t want the vampires to make a scene.”

Calder nodded. “Then we, what? Ask them to follow us afterward?”

“I guess?” I tapped the tines of my fork against the edge of my tray, my own lunch half-forgotten. “But I don’t really get why they would care that we have it. If they needed it for something, they could steal it from Orin now.” I looked from one merperson to the next. All eyes seemed to wander toward Calder, as if waiting for his cue. “Would you care if the vampires stole it?” I asked.

“We would,” said Calder. And that was that, apparently.

I ground my molars before speaking again. They were hiding something from me. “And you think Orin will just… let you get away with having it?”

“There’s no rule against taking it once the champions have agreed to battle,” explained Llyr. “I think he’d let it go as part of our strategy.”

I threw up my hands. “Then let’s just ask him for it.”

Laguna opened her mouth and then shut it.

Calder shook his head. “I don’t want him to know what we’re doing until we’ve already done it. He’s too capricious. We can’t count on him letting us have it willingly.”

“And if he demands we give it back once we do have it?” I asked. A girl from one of my classes waved at me and I waved back. I was in my own clothes at least today, the haphazard stitches across my dark

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