Blood Relatives

30. We Need a Real Plan

The next day, Carmine walked to history with Luke and Conner. She still hadn't talked to Zev alone yet, but he was being a lot more tolerable. And Luke and Conner had both told her they were sorry. So, she was doing her best to forgive them. At least lunches weren't so awkward – she didn't have to choose between sitting miserably with her friends and their boyfriends and being the loser who went to the library. Apparently the news that Sharon was now in the hospital had done a lot to soften their views of her. And today, she'd even allowed herself to sit next to Luke at the table. That was real progress as far as she was concerned. And she managed to talk to Luke and Conner before history started.

"We still hanging out Sunday?" Luke asked. He managed to make it sound like any other weekend – like they were all just regular teenagers. Carmine really wished she knew what that felt like.

"Yeah." Carmine told him. "My parents wanted to go to the city on Sunday, especially since Catherine's home for the weekend."

Now that Catherine didn't come home all that often, Carmine's parents liked to do something special as a family when they actually did get to see her.

"Catherine's your sister?" Luke asked.

"Yeah." Carmine was surprised he remembered; he'd only met her once or twice.

"So you're not going anymore?" Conner sounded like he felt a little bad.

"No, we are." she said. "But I got them to change it to tonight."

"Thanks." Luke said.

"You know, they think I'm crazy." Carmine told him. "What kind of teenager asks to go out on Sunday instead of Friday or Saturday?"

"What did you tell them?"

"That you guys were camping with your families on Saturday."

Well, that Luke and Zev were; Carmine had plans with Conner Saturday afternoon. But she hadn't bothered to mention that to anyone else – and she was pretty sure Conner hadn't either.

"My sister Claire was mad though." she told them.

"Why?" Conner asked. She could see he was feeling guilty all over again.

"She wanted to go somewhere with her boyfriend. But she changed that too. Now, Friday is family night and the rest of the weekend is ours."

"That's good." Luke nodded.

"Easy for you to say." Carmine told him. "I had to promise to do Claire's chores this weekend for her to agree." And Carmine hated cleaning the bathrooms.

"If we could do it Saturday, we would." Luke told her, trying to make her feel better.

"I know." And Carmine was glad to realize she wasn't even mad at him. Maybe she really was getting over it.

"So what would happen if you decided not to go out with the group anyway?" Carmine asked.

She might be forgiving them, but she didn't want them to know how easily they'd gotten off. And she was kind of interested in knowing how close that werewolf community really was. As far as she was concerned, she couldn't get enough information on the supernatural communities around here.

"Spend the night in our rooms, I guess." Luke told her, shrugging. "I mean, what else could we do? It's not like we could go out anywhere. So may as well be with the group."

Carmine nodded. She was about to tell Luke that she knew, when over his shoulder she saw Adam walking through the door. She barely even realized that she'd brushed straight past both of the boys and was marching over to Adam until she was standing only inches away.

"I saw what you did to Sharon." she told him. Adam grinned at her like she'd just told the best joke.

"Prove it." he told her.

"What?" That didn't even make sense – they both knew it was him.

"I said prove it. You know you can't – no one's ever going to believe you." If anything, his grin got even wider.

"You can't just do this to people!" She meant to make it a threat, but she was worried it came out more like a whine. Adam laughed in a way that confirmed her fears.

"What are you going to do? Turn everyone I talk to? I don't see how that's going to help you. What will you hunt if everyone's just like you?"

"I'm not going to do that." she told him. "But I'm also not going to stand by and watch you do this."

"Well, if you're not turning half the town, I really don't see how you're going to keep me from doing whatever I want."

"I'm warning you – you need to stop." She narrowed her eyes, trying to look menacing.

"Well, thanks for the warning." Adam shrugged. He looked about as concerned as if she'd told him she wasn't going to sit next to him in class anymore. Carmine could feel her hands start to tremble. She set her jaw, barely able to contain her anger. How could he not even be a little bit bothered?

"Listen you–" she started.

"Carmine – why don't you come sit down?" Luke said it casually, but he placed a firm hand on her shoulder, as if he thought she might attack Adam right then and there. Carmine hadn't even realized he'd come over. Still, maybe she could use it to her advantage; maybe if Adam saw she had backup, he'd take her a little more seriously. She'd barely finished the thought when Conner came up on her other side.

"We're not done." Carmine told him. Adam didn't look particularly impressed.

"Actually, I kind of think we are." he told her. Then he simply sidestepped her and the boys and went to take his seat.

"What are you doing?" Conner asked her quietly. "We don't even have a plan yet."

"Intimidation was my plan." Carmine told him.

"You hoped to bully him into stopping?" Luke asked. He tried to say it neutrally, but Carmine could see a glint in his eye.

"Thought I'd give it a try." Carmine mumbled.

"I don't think that'll work on a guy like him." Luke said.

"I noticed." Carmine told him dryly. "But it's not like we've been able to come up with anything better."

"Don't worry – we'll figure this out. Just make sure you're there Sunday."