Bloodlines (Bloodlines #1)(75)

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes, yes." She turned flustered, embarrassed at being so emotional. "I was just so worried. I - I didn't want to say anything and scare you all, but every time a student's missing... well, a few years ago, another girl disappeared. We thought she'd just sneaked off - like Matt said, it happens. But it turned out..." Mrs. Weathers grimaced and looked away. "I shouldn't be telling you this."

As if she could stop with that kind of intro. "No, please. Tell me."

She sighed. "The police found her a couple days later - dead. She'd been abducted and killed. It was terrible, and they never caught her killer. Now I just think of that whenever someone disappears. It's never happened again, of course. But something like that scars you."

I could imagine so. And as I returned to Eddie, I thought about him and Mason again. It seemed like everyone was carrying baggage from past events. I certainly was. Now that Jill's safety wasn't a concern, all I kept thinking was: What will the Alchemists say? What will my father say? Eddie was just hanging up his phone again when I approached.

"I called Micah to tell him everything's okay," he explained. "He was really worried."

All signs of Mrs. Weathers's past trauma vanished the instant that Jill and Lee walked through the door. Jill actually looked upbeat until she saw all of our faces. She came to a halt. Beside her, Lee already looked grim. I think he knew what was coming.

Eddie and I hurried forward but didn't have a chance to speak right away. Mrs. Weathers immediately demanded to know where they'd been. Rather than cover it up, Jill confessed and told the truth: she and Lee had gone off campus, into Palm Springs. She was careful to make sure Lee didn't get accused of any kidnapping charges, swearing he didn't know she could only leave with approved family members. I confirmed this - though Lee was hardly off the hook in my opinion.

"Will you wait outside?" I asked him politely. "I'd like to speak to you privately later."

Lee started to obey, flashing Jill a look of apology. He lightly brushed her hand in farewell and turned away. It was Mrs. Weathers who stopped him. "Wait," she said, peering at him curiously. "Do I know you?"

Lee looked startled. "I don't think so. I've never been here before."

"There's something familiar about you," she insisted. Her frown deepened a few moments more. At last, she shrugged. "It can't be. I must be mistaken." Lee nodded, met Jill's eyes in sympathy again, and left.

Mrs. Weathers wasn't done with Jill. She launched into a lecture about how dangerous and irresponsible they'd been. "If you were going to sneak off and break rules, you could've at least confided in your siblings. They've been scared to death for you." It was almost funny, her advising on "responsible" rule-breaking. Considering how panicked I'd been, I couldn't find anything amusing just then. She also told Jill that she'd be written up and punished. "For now," said Mrs. Weathers, "you are confined to your room for the rest of the night. Come see me after breakfast, and we'll find out if the principal thinks this warrants suspension."

"Excuse me," said Eddie. "Can we have a few minutes alone here with her before she goes upstairs? I'd like to talk to her."

Mrs. Weathers hesitated, apparently wanting Jill's punishment immediately enforced. Then she gave Eddie a double take. The look on his face was hard and angry, and I think Mrs. Weathers knew there was punishment of a different sort coming from Jill's big brother.

"Five minutes," said Mrs. Weathers, tapping her watch. "Then up you go."

"Don't," said Jill, the instant we were alone. Her face was a mixture of fear and defiance. "I know what I did was wrong. I don't need a lecture from you guys."

"Don't you?" I asked. "Because if you knew it was wrong, you wouldn't have done it!"

Jill crossed her arms over her chest. "I had to get out of here. On my own terms. And not with you guys."

The comment rolled right off of me. It sounded young and petty. But to my surprise, Eddie actually looked hurt.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"It means that I just wanted to be away from this place without you always telling me what I'm doing wrong." That was directed to me. "And you jumping at every shadow." That, of course, was to Eddie.

"I just want to protect you," he said, looking hurt. "I'm not trying to smother you, but I can't have anything happen to you. Not again."

"I'm in more danger from Laurel than any assassins!" Jill exclaimed. "Do you know what she did today? We were working in the computer lab, and she 'accidentally' tripped over my power cord. I lost half my work and didn't finish in time, so now I'm going to get a lower grade."

A lesson on backing up work probably wouldn't be useful just then. "Look, that's really terrible," I said. "But it's not in the same category as getting yourself killed. Not by a long shot. Where exactly did you go?"

For a moment, she looked as though she wasn't going to give up the info. Finally, she said, "Lee took me to Salton Sea." Seeing our blank looks, she added, "It's a lake outside of town. It was wonderful." An almost-dreamy expression crossed her features. "I haven't been around that much water in so long. Then we went downtown and just walked around, shopping and eating ice cream. He took me to that boutique, with the designer who's looking for models and - "