“Don’t get smart with me, Gautier. I stil got loaded weapons from last night.”
Nick opened his mouth to speak, but a hysterical scream silenced him.
“Oh my God! The coach just ate Mr. Peters! Someone help!
Help!”
The police went running into the school as the secretary came dashing out, screaming in terror and tearing at her hair.
Nick froze as those words about Peters seeped into his brain. On the one hand he was horrified the man had been eaten. On the other …
He was strangely happy. The sanctimonious pig kind of deserved it.
Nick, that’s so wrong. He heard his mom’s voice in his head. Yeah, maybe it was, but he stil couldn’t help thinking it was some kind of divine payback.
The police forced the crowd back as the media rushed the school, trying to get photos and footage.
Suddenly, the vice principal was outside with a bul horn.
“School is canceled for the day. Students go home. We’l be cal ing later in the day with information. Please … disperse and leave. Any student found on campus wil be suspended.
Now go home and don’t come back here today.”
“And hopeful y tomorrow too,” one of the students shouted.
Bubba spat more tobacco out. “It’s good to be you today, huh?”
“Yeah, as long as I don’t get eaten by my footbal team. …
Can I come hang in your store and do some research on this?
”
Bubba nodded. “Sure, but you’ve got to open it for me and watch it while I catch some Z’s.”
That sounded fair to Nick. “Let me get my backpack and I’l head straight over.” He left Bubba to find Tad, who was standing in a large group of seniors.
Intent on their discussion, none of them saw him.
“I’m tel ing you, we need to notify the council and the Dark-Hunters. This has Daimon written al over it.”
“Not in daylight, it don’t. Daimons can’t attack until the sun goes down and you know that. They’d be toast if they stepped one foot outside right now.”
“But there were more attacks last night and this is spreading. My money stil says it’s Daimon related. They’re doing something. Mark my words.”
One of the seniors rol ed his eyes. “A Daimon can’t convert a human. That’s the first lesson we’re al taught.”
“Then what do you think it is? It has to be related to them.
There’s nothing else it could be.”
Tad narrowed his eyes on his friend Alex Peltier, who’d been silent the whole time. “Can a Were-Hunter bite turn humans into werebeasts?”
“What’s a Were-Hunter?” Nick asked before he could stop himself.
They faced him and clammed up immediately.
Russel Jordan, who’d been doing the most talking, curled his lip as if Nick disgusted him. “What are you doing here, Trailer Park?”
Tad cleared his throat. “He’s working for Kyrian now. Be nice, Russ, or Kyrian won’t be happy.” He faced Nick. “What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to get my backpack out of your truck.”
“I’l be right back,” Tad said to his friends before he led Nick away from them.
Nick scowled as he fol owed after Tad. “So what’s a Were-Hunter?”
“It’s a … a gamer’s term. Somebody who hunts animals.” That didn’t make any sense and it was a term he’d never heard before. “If it’s just a game, why did you ask if they could turn a human?”
Tad didn’t answer. Instead, he led Nick to his SUV, pul ed out his backpack, and then left him there to watch while Tad went back to his friends.
Thanks for all the nonanswers. Tad was going to make a great parent one day.
But in the meantime, “Something weird is going on here.” Something half the people in his school seemed to know about. And if it was the last thing he did, he was going to find out what this secret was.
Even if it kil ed him.
Most of al , he was going to find out some way to protect himself, ’cause he had no intention of losing what little brain matter he had.
New Orleans was definitely getting weird and Nick wasn’t about to be added to anyone’s menu.
Except maybe Nekoda, who was strangely missing from the crowd. …
Had something grabbed her last night and added her to its menu?
CHAPTER 5
Nick let out a frustrated breath as he tried typing another search. This one-armed crap was for the birds—except they wouldn’t be able to fly any better than he could type. And they’d probably crash into a wal and get a concussion …
which would probably hurt a lot.
Growling at his shifting ADD thoughts, he tried to focus on what he was doing.
Finding info on zombie attacks.
I am insane. . . . Since there were no adults around anywhere, he should be searching hot babe sites, not this.