54 DO YOU LOVE HIM?

I woke up in the morning today feeling perfectly well again. I took my shower, which was cold, I don't know why because I swore I did turn on the heater. I did consider just crawling back into bed and calling it a day, but by the time I got out of the shower, Savy was up and heading down for breakfast, and I was feeling surprisingly good and awake.

Even before the sun was up.

Maybe my body was getting used to earlier mornings now. Or my Wolfie was back and rearing to go. Or all of the above.

Why can't everything be all of the above? That made deciding more convenient.

By the time I got to school, I was tired out. I think they must spray crowded trains with perfume de la Wolfbane. That would explain why taking one to school always left me feeling like superman after stepping out of a Kryptonite infused elevator.

By lunchtime, I realized that I wasn't as recovered as I had previously assumed. I was feeling rather drained, so I retreated to my usual alone place for lunch.

Alone with my can of coke and sandwiches, I moped about being stuck here in school for another few hours.

To my surprise, Maria came to look for me while I was eating. She wasn't due to appear till I got to the library. I frowned at her, "What do you want?"

"You are weak today." Maria said, her voice the usual crystal coldness.

"Go away." I told her, I set up a few more mental walls to keep her out.

Maria sighed, "Tell me. A boy?"

What? And then I suddenly thought of it, would Maria know anything about the fight cages in Ven's. But how should I ask her? I didn't want to owe her anything.

Maria started to whine, "Tell me, Sam, is it a boy?"

"Why are you so interested if it's a boy?" I glared at her.

"I want to know what kind of boy can make my Alpha Sam weak." Maria smiled coldly.

Oh that, his name's Bane, Wolfbane. And I'm not even going to growl at her claim that I was her Alpha Sam. I'm sure by now she had adopted me as some sort of guard dog pet. Vampires (or maybe it was just Maria) had rather perverse ideas of friendship.

I didn't answer immediately. She waited. Actually, she tried tentatively to reach into my mind with her mind wrap, but I did growl then, and she withdrew and sulked, and for the lack of any other means of "communication", she had to wait for my reply.

Finally I turned to her, "If I answered your questions, would you answer mine?"

Maria nodded.

"You must answer the truth and you are not allowed to peek or mess in my head." I listed the conditions.

Maria nodded again.

Okay, here goes nothing.

"What can you tell me about Ventali's Coven?" I asked her.

She frowned, "What has this got to do with a boy?"

"Just answer first." I growled at her.

She huffed prettily, "Fine. I don't associate with low-life covens like that. A lot of common vampires. It's dirty and smelly. Nothing good comes out from Ventali's."

Okay... That was almost completely unhelpful. Almost. Except now I knew Maria had no obvious sense of loyalty to this group of vampires, and it was good to know that the nearest coven to our packlands was a low ranking one (at least in Maria's opinion.)

"So tell me about the boy..." She had a gleam in her eyes, and for a moment it reminded me of Lizzy's or Jessica's and I suddenly recognized it as the look teenage girls get when they are talking about their girlfriend's boyfriends.

For some reason, while this was a perfectly normal friendship thing, coming from Maria, it still felt wrong.

I decided to try my luck and see if I could help get any information about the lost Lorent son.

"Someone's son was captured by rogues and sold to Ventali's Coven. He was last seen in a fight cage." I told her.

"Not boyfriend?" She looked at me searchingly. I shrugged.

"What do you know about fight cages?" I asked her. At this point I'm not expecting her to answer me anymore. The moment she realized he wasn't my boyfriend, she had perceivably lost interest.

But to my surprise, she answered, "Fight cages are age restricted adult entertainment." Oh, was it something like clubbing, alcohol, or porn?

Maria nodded. Oh she had to pry. I growled and she backed off.

"He's as good as dead." She told me.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked, why is everyone telling me he's dead?

Maria sighed, "Fight cages are very violent."

I suppose that was something coming from a vampire.

"First you watch the fight. Only one will survive. It's very exciting because there is blood everywhere and the dogs are trained to kill with the most blood and pain to make it fun to watch."

I had to keep in mind that this was from a cold blooded vampire point of view.

"After that, if you have the money for it, you can bid for the winning dog. The top bidder gets to keep the winning dog for the night."

"Why would they want a half dead dog?" I asked. Yes, I said "dog". If that's how vamps saw us, so be it. I don't need her diplomacy, just give me the information straight.

"For fun." Maria's voice was icy in a way I could sense an undercurrent of excitement, "Some of these dogs are very handsome. But they are dangerous and hard to control, so only older vampires play with them."

"Do they drink their blood?" I'm still not quite understanding the after fight program.

"If they want." Maria said, "but wolf blood makes common vampires feel sick. Only really old higher ups enjoy wolf blood... It's more for entertainment."

"That sounds seedy." I told her.

"I'm glad you understand now." Maria replied.

I wondered if it were better to just have died in the fight cage.

"If he were alive, how can I get any information about him?" I asked.

"He's probably dead." Maria told me.

I remembered Luna Edith's tears.

"But he might be alive." I argued.

"Do you love him?" Maria asked.

I've never even met him. I didn't answer.

"Is he handsome?" Maria asked again.

I knew this answer, "Yes. Alpha son, dark hair, tall."

"Like Henry?" Maria asked.

Who? Oh Henry. That's true. That kind of description was pretty generic.

"Yes, but really handsome in a bad boy way?" I wished I paid more attention to Jessica's description of him, that was really all I remembered her saying, "...and in Ventali's fight cage."

"Hmmm? Even handsomer than Dionysios?" She asked.

How is that even relevant?

I honestly didn't know the answer to that. I had never seen the Lorent guy. I didn't think Dionos was particularly handsome to begin with either. I looked helplessly at her, "What do you want me to say?

"You are in love. I will help you." Maria decided.

"I am not in love." I insisted.

"He is probably dead, and I can't access Ventali's fight listings without raising eyebrows," Maria took pains to let me know how Ventali's and fight cages were somewhat beneath her to ask about, "but if there is news of any Ventali dogs competing in other covens, that is usually publicized and I will let you know." Maria offered.

"Do they fight at other covens?" I asked.

"If they are strong. They might be bought by bigger covens. Dog fighting is a very popular sport." Maria explained, "A new dog in the coven is almost always publicized to attract ticket sales and wealthy patrons."

And then I had another question, "Why are you helping me?"

Maria smiled, "You helped me see my boyfriend. I will help you see yours."

"He's not my boyfriend." I snapped.

But Maria just smiled thinly at me, "He's probably not alive either."

I sighed. Whatever.

I finished my meal, "Let's go see your boyfriend."

Maria was so happy I feared the dark aura around her might nuke.

I now knew two things that made Maria happy:

1 Calling her princess

2 Calling Dino her boyfriend