Blood Relatives

37. The Enemy of My Enemy

It took almost no effort to close the distance Zev had managed to put between them. Now all she had to do was get around the table before he could run away again.

"You don't have to do this." Zev told her. At least he was persistent.

"But I want to." Carmine told him matter-of-factly.

"Seriously. Last chance." he warned her. But she didn't care.

Carmine lunged forward, using the table's bench as a kind of step ladder. Carmine thought she heard a short cry somewhere behind her, but she couldn't concern herself with that now. She was on top of Zev, pinning him to the ground before he even had time to react.

Carmine thought this would be just like any other attack she'd done before. Granted, Zev was most certainly going to remember this one. But other than that, about the same. Roughly, she grabbed his head with one hand, pulling him into position. But before she could do anything else, Zev had grabbed her tight by the shoulders and locked his elbows, keeping Carmine from reaching him.

"Ok! I promise not to hurt Adam – is that what you want to hear?" Zev told her.

"Too late." Carmine said.

"Fine, then." Zev narrowed his eyes. He pulled her close for just a second before pushing out as hard as he could.

He was a lot stronger than she realized, and she was thrown backwards of off him. As she fell, her shoulder hit one of the benches. The pain seared through her and for a minute she felt lightheaded.

Carmine shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. She'd been about to do something really important, but what was it? Why was she sitting on the ground? And at school? Then, Carmine heard a low growl coming from only a few feet away.

She looked up and was greeted by the sight of teeth. Wolf teeth. And behind those teeth, a huge black wolf, crouching – and possibly glaring – at her. Carmine positively sprung to her feet.

"Oh – ok. Hold on now." she said, raising her hands and taking a step back. She bumped into the table. Great.

She was pretty sure Zev was going to attack her, but she couldn't remember exactly why. And why were they at the school? They weren't supposed to come here until they met up with Adam.

"Oh..." Carmine said, as the realization dawned on her. Then her eyes got real big.

It might have taken her a minute, but she remembered everything that happened – how Adam had started talking, and she'd just found herself in love with him all over again. She would have done anything for him – including trying to kill Zev. And now, it looked like he was going to return the favor.

"Zev, wait." she said. And, not taking her eyes off him, she climbed backwards onto the table. She knew it wouldn't be much protection, but at least it was something. "I know, I said some things before. But I really don't want to fight you."

She'd never seen a wolf sneer, but she was pretty sure she was watching that very thing right now. It was even more disturbing than she would have imagined.

He took a slow, menacing step forward. He probably thinks I'm just saying it because the tide's turned, she thought. So now he was going to think she was a maniac and a coward. Wonderful.

Suddenly, he lunged at her. Carmine was only glad she was on the table – it gave her enough height to avoid running straight into his teeth as she made a leap of her own. She landed close to another table, and she quickly scrambled up on top. There was no way she was going to be lower than an angry wolf.

"Zev – I'm fine! I swear!" She tried to keep the pleading note out of her voice, but she was afraid she didn't quite manage it. "I know things got a little crazy there, but I don't want to fight you!"

She'd hoped that would be enough to convince him, but Zev seemed unmoved. Carmine glanced quickly over her shoulder before looking back at Zev. She didn't want to let him out of her sight, but it was starting to look like she'd need a better place to run to.

The wolf looked like he'd been ready to attack her again. But suddenly, he stopped, tilting his head just slightly to one side. Carmine hoped that meant he might actually be starting to believe her.

"Look, can we just take a step back for a minute? Maybe figure out what's going on? You can even stay over there – I won't move from this table right here. Promise."

It seemed to take forever before she saw a slight nod. The wolf hopped lightly off his table and passed a short distance away. Carmine sighed with relief and laid back on the tabletop. At least she wasn't going to have to go hand-to-hand with a werewolf – at least, not any more.

She stared up at the inky black sky, counting the stars and trying to figure out how it all got out of hand so fast. Was she really that easy to manipulate? Did it mean she still kind of liked Adam – even after all he'd put her through?

"You really ok?" Zev asked, pulling his shirt over his head. He was standing at the edge of her table, eyeing her cautiously.

Carmine screamed. She jumped back and nearly fell off the far end of the table. Zev snickered to himself.

"How's your shoulder?" he asked slowly, neutrally.

Carmine wanted to tell him that it was killing her. Actually, she thought it might be broken. But she didn't – that little piece of news could wait.

"It'll heal." she told him. Without thinking, she gave a kind of shrug. Pain shot up through her shoulder and down into her back. She closed her eyes and gasped for air.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Zev told her. And when she opened her eyes, he really did look sorry. "I kinda forgot about the table."

"You had other things to worry about." Carmine said dryly.

"Are you two having fun?" a voice, dripping with sarcasm, floated across the courtyard. Carmine and Zev both turned. Luke was standing there glaring at them, his hand over his neck. Even in the darkness, Carmine could see blood edging through his fingers and running down the back of his hand.