Using a .stful of Cally"s hair as a handle, Lilith roughly yanked her to her feet. Cally screamed in pain as she felt her scalp start to tear.
"No one takes what belongs to me and lives to enjoy it!"
"Let go of me, you crazy b.i.t.c.h!" Cally snarled, driv-ing her .st into Lilith"s stomach hard enough to make her loosen her grip.
Lilith staggered backward; she stood bowed over, her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach.
Her eyes shone in the darkness as she bit at the air like a rabid animal. "I"m going to kill you, New Blood! I"m going to scatter your guts from here to Broadway!"
"Have you lost your mind?" Cally shouted.
As if in answer, the other girl shrieked and charged headlong at Cally, her fangs bared. Cally nimbly side-stepped her, slamming her elbow into Lilith"s back as hard as she could as she zoomed past. Lilith dropped to her knees, staggered by the force of the blow. Cally moved in swiftly, delivering a .erce kick to the ribs.
"I didn"t start this, b.i.t.c.h," Cally snarled. "But I"m sure as h.e.l.l going to . nish it!"
Before Cally could deliver another kick, Lilith"s body rippled and contorted, to be replaced by that of a snarling wolf. The transformed Lilith whirled about, snapping at Cally with razor-sharp teeth. Cally quickly jumped back, narrowly avoiding the creature"s powerful jaws.
The darkness of the grotto was split by a burst of purple-white light. Lilith yelped in alarm as she cringed at the sight of the strange violet glow shrouding Cally"s right hand.
"Get back!" Cally shouted as she held her hand aloft like a torch. Tongues of energy danced on the ends of her .ngers like .ames on a candelabrum. "I"ll fry you if I have to!"
Lilith snarled in de.ance and ran on all fours toward the nearest wall. As she reached the rock face, she changed back into human form, scurrying up its craggy surface as quickly as a lizard. Halfway up the wall, she turned her head around on her shoulders 180 degrees to spit at her adversary below.
"Do you realize what Madame Nerezza will do to you when she .nds out about this?" Cally shouted up at her.
"Like I"m worried about what that dried-up cow will do!" Lilith retorted. "I"m a blood relative of the founder of this school and my family is its biggest sponsor! I can do whatever I want at Bathory! And I want you dead, New Blood!"
Lilith"s features melted and shifted yet again, becoming those of a monster bat. She pushed herself off the wall, spreading her wings to their full span. Cally ducked as Lilith rushed toward her, but not before her attacker raked her back with a razor-sharp talon. Cally put a hand to her shoulder and it came back wet and red.
"First blood is mine yet again!" Lilith crowed in a high-pitched voice. "Face it, newbie: you"re no match against me!"
Cally ducked behind one of the stalagmites as Lilith swooped down low again, her grasping talons extended like landing gear. Cally raised her hand and an arc of lightning shot from her palm. With an angry ultrasonic shriek, Lilith .ew back up into the air, disappearing to the upper reaches of the grotto. Cally scanned the cathedral-like ceiling, trying desperately to .gure out where her attacker had gone, but Lilith was too well hidden among the shadows.
Cally was in real trouble, and both of them knew it. Although she and Lilith were equally matched when it came to hand-to-hand combat, she couldn"t compete against Lilith"s ability to shapeshift or .y. In fact, the only real weapon she had in her a.r.s.enal was her stormgathering, and since she"d missed her . rst shot, it was going to take time and concentration to gather another charge. Cally prayed that Lilith didn"t know that and would continue to keep her distance. Her only hope of surviving was getting out of the grotto and over to the elevator. She probably wouldn"t make it to the door without Lilith"s claws buried in her spine, but she had to take the chance.
Calling up all her courage, Cally dashed as fast as she could through the labyrinth of stalagmites and columns. All of a sudden, from the depths of the cave came an awful shriek, like that of a d.a.m.ned soul put to the .ame. Cally looked over her shoulder and saw Lilith plummeting toward her with talons extended, eyes burning with baleful glee, like an ancient harpy s.n.a.t.c.hing up a hapless victim.
Realizing she was as good as dead if Lilith pinned her to the .oor from behind, Cally turned and jumped as high as she could, meeting her adversary in midair. Throwing out her arms in a grotesque parody of an embrace, she pinned Lilith"s wings and together they plummeted to the ground.
Unable to gather the lightning needed to defend herself, Cally desperately tried to force Lilith"s head back as they rolled around on the hard rock .oor of the grotto. Sensing her adversary"s weakness, Lilith lunged forward and sank her teeth deep into Cally"s right shoul-der. Cally screamed in agony as Lilith shook her like a terrier would a rat.
Without warning, Lilith abruptly surrendered her death grip on her enemy. Even through a pain-. lled fog, Cally could clearly see shock and surprise in Lilith"s beady little bat eyes.
Cally didn"t know why Lilith had faltered in her attack, but she wasn"t going to question her good luck. Summoning her remaining energy, she used the slight opening to hurl a bolt of electricity from her hand, sending Lilith .ying backward. Cally got to her feet and went to where her opponent lay on the . oor, whimpering in pain as tendrils of smoke rose from her scorched pelt.
As she stood over her, Lilith raised her head and glared de.antly up at Cally. "Go ahead! What are you waiting for-?" she spat as fur melted away to be replaced by blond hair and perfect tanned skin. "Kill me and get it over with!"
Cally looked down at her clenched right hand, which still glowed with electric .re, then back at Lilith. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The crackling nimbus .ickered and faded away to nothing.
"No, Lilith," Cally said. "Believe it or not, I don"t want to kill you."
"That"s bulls.h.i.t!" Lilith growled. "Stop toying with me and just do it!"
"Will you knock it off with the "please kill me" routine? I"m trying to be nice here, although I really don"t know why I should bother."
"Don"t pretend you don"t know why I did this, you s.l.u.t!" Lilith snarled. "I warned you what would happen if you didn"t stay away from what is mine! I saw you with Jules earlier! You"re trying to steal him from me, aren"t you? Just like you"re stealing my friends! That"s why you"ve followed me to the school, isn"t it? To rob me of what"s mine!"
"Whoa! Will you just calm down for a minute?" Cally said, holding up her hands for silence. "Look, Lilith-I realize what you saw must have looked bad, but there"s an innocent explanation behind it. I"m not interested in your boyfriend, and he"s not interested in me-"
"I never said he was!" Lilith snapped.
"Whatever the case, you have absolutely nothing to worry about in that department. If you don"t believe me, you can ask Jules himself. He"ll tell you the truth. You do trust him to do that, don"t you?"
"Of course! Jules is my promised. He would never lie to me."
"I"m glad to hear it. As for the reason I"m here at Bathory-you"ve got it all wrong. Despite what you might think, I haven"t been stalking you. I"m not looking to usurp your life. I"m only going to school here because my father threatened to stop sending money to my family if I didn"t."
"Your father?" Lilith"s eyes narrowed to slits.
"Don"t ask me why it"s so important to him." Cally sighed. "I"ve never met the guy. I don"t even know his name. Look, I realize we"re probably never going to be friends, but there"s no need to kill each other over a stupid misunderstanding."
Lilith stared silently at the ground for a moment and then looked back up at Cally. "Are you going to tell the headmistress about what happened here?"
"I won"t mention it if you don"t bring up seeing me sneak out of the boys" school."
"Agreed, then." Lilith nodded.
"Here, let me help you."
"Don"t touch me!" Lilith snarled, slapping aside Cally"s hand as she got to her feet. "I still don"t like you, New Blood, and I certainly don"t trust you! And what I said before still goes: stay away from me and keep away from my friends! And if I ever see you talking to Jules again, I"ll .nish tearing you to pieces!"
With that, Lilith"s arms unfurled into wings and she shot into the darkness. Cally stood and watched to make sure she was really gone, just to be on the safe side, before heading back to the elevator.
She hoped her mother would be asleep by the time she got home. Even though her wounds had already healed, she knew Sheila would de.nitely freak out if she saw the blood on her blazer and blouse. The last thing she needed was her father learning she"d gotten into a .ght at school. And with the daughter of Victor Todd, no less.
Chapter 17.
L.
eaving Bathory Academy, Cally was relieved to . nd the streets empty. After her confrontation in the grotto, she didn"t want anyone to know that she relied on the subway for transportation. The last thing she needed was Lilith waiting to jump her as she headed for the number six.
As she walked toward the Eighty-sixth Street station, Cally couldn"t wait to be back in Williamsburg, feel-ing the warmth of Peter"s embrace. She was full of stories to tell him except, she suddenly realized, she"d better leave out the part about Jules kissing her hands- and her fantasizing about how it would have felt if he had kissed her on the mouth instead. As much as she would enjoy sharing the details of her life with Peter, a girl still needed to keep a few secrets.
She was lost in thought when a sleek black limousine pulled up alongside her. Cally rolled her eyes in disgust. Just what she needed to make her night complete: getting cruised by some rich perv on the prowl.
There was a throaty, electric purr as the heavily tinted pa.s.senger window slid down, revealing a middle-aged man with graying temples wearing wraparound sungla.s.ses and dressed in an Armani suit. Cally caught the smell of .ne Cuban cigars and top-shelf bourbon radiating from him like expensive cologne.
"Would you like a ride, Miss Monture?" the older man asked.
"Get lost, buddy," she replied .atly before coming to a halt and blinking in surprise. "Hey, wait a minute!" she said, turning back to stare at the man in the sun-gla.s.ses. "How do you know my name?"
In answer to her question, Bella and Bette Maledetto leaned forward.
"Hi, Cally!"
"h.e.l.lo, Cally!"
"Oh! I"m sorry! I didn"t realize you were Bella and Bette"s father!"
"That"s quite all right, my dear." Mr. Maledetto chuckled. "The offer still stands nonetheless."
"I appreciate it, sir," Cally said. "But I was just on my way to catch the subway. . . ."
"The train?" Mr. Maledetto snorted in distaste. "A lovely young girl such as you taking the subway at this time of the morning? I would hate to think what might happen!" The pa.s.senger door of the limo suddenly swung wide, as if opened by a phantom hand. "Please, allow me to drive you home," he said, gesturing for her to enter the car. "I insist."
Cally climbed into the limo, making herself comfortable on the seat facing opposite her host and his daughters.
"Bette told Papa what you did for her at school," Bella said.
"Indeed you did, my pet," her father said, reaching over to pat Bette"s hand. "Miss Monture, I was hop-ing you would allow me to repay your kindness. What you did for my Bette speaks of a true depth of character. You can"t . nd that kind of substance among the young anymore-at least not in this country."
"Thank you, Mr. Maledetto."
"Please, call me Vinnie!" he said with a smile.
"Not the Vinnie Maledetto?" Cally gasped in sur-prise. Suddenly what Bette had said earlier about the other girls at the school being scared of her and her sister made a lot more sense. Their father was the undisputed leader of the Strega, one of the oldest and most successful criminal secret societies in the history of the world.
"Afraid so." He chuckled. "We Maledettos value our friends, especially those who understand honor and loyalty. So as of tomorrow, I"ll be sending one of my drivers to your home to take you to and from school for the rest of the year."
"You don"t have to do that, Mr. Maledetto!" Cally protested.
"It"s the least I can do!" he said, dismissing her objection with a wave of his hand. "The truth of the matter is, even if you had not come to my daughter"s aid this evening, I still would have sought you out, my dear. You see, I have heard some very interesting things about you from a mutual acquaintance."
Cally frowned. "Who might that be?"
"Coach Knorrig."
"Coach talked to you about me?" Cally asked, even more puzzled than before.
"Yes, she did. In fact, she came to see me earlier this evening. You see, she and I have something of an arrangement. She keeps me abreast of which students of hers possess potential. One of your talents is storm-gathering, is it not?"
"Yes, sir."
"Stormgathering is a rare ability. Most vampires nowadays can"t muster up more than a fog. One of the last who could gather lightning was Morella Karnstein herself. Did you know that?"
Cally .ashed back to the portrait of the woman with the haunting eyes and red hair, the one Lilith claimed to be descended from. "No, sir," she admitted.
"The reason I am telling you this is because Victor Todd has long been a thorn in my side. It would seem his daughter holds a similar dislike for you," Maledetto said, pointing to the blood drying on her clothes.
"How do you know she was the one who attacked me?" Cally asked in amazement.
"I can smell her on you," Maledetto explained. "When you have lived as long as I have, child, you come to know the scent of your enemy"s blood."
Cally was about to say that he must be mistaken, since she wasn"t the one who had drawn blood in the battle, then thought better of it. Something told her Vinnie Maledetto wasn"t the kind of man you contradicted.
"But before we go any further, I want to make one thing perfectly clear." Maledetto leaned forward so that his face was inches from her own. He pushed his sungla.s.ses down the bridge of his nose, revealing eyes as black as olives. "Whether New or Old, blood is blood, am I right?"
"Yes, sir," she replied quietly.
"I like you, Cally," Vinnie Maledetto said as he leaned back in his seat and removed a Havana from the humidor built into the limo"s armrest. "Something tells me that with the proper friends, you will go very far in this world of ours. Especially if those friends are the enemies of your enemy"s father."
Jules had just checked his watch when the door buzzer .nally announced Lilith"s arrival. He was surprised to see that she was still dressed in her Bathory Academy uniform. Normally Lilith couldn"t get out of it fast enough.
"Where were you?" he asked. "I was starting to get worried."
"Something unexpected came up," she explained. "I had to stay after school for a little bit."
"Did you get it taken care of?"
"Not really," she replied, shaking her head. "So why did you want to meet me over here? I thought we were going out tonight."
"Yeah, well, my folks are away, and since I have the place to myself, I thought maybe it would be nice if we stayed in tonight. We haven"t done that in a long time."
"Yeah, you"re right; that would be nice," she agreed quietly.
"Lili, are you okay?" he asked worriedly. "You seem real distracted."
"I just have a lot on my mind right now."
"Are you still upset about Tanith?"