Blood Warrior Read Online Free Page A

drawl of his voice. “Jackson? What the hell are you doing here? I almost punched you in the face!”
    He chuckled softly. “Yeah, I noticed.”
    I flopped back onto the bed and inhaled deeply. It seemed to take a minute for me to realize there was no longer a threat. Shoving my hair out of my face, I said, “I would have felt really bad if I had knocked you out too.”
    Jackson made a show of dusting himself off, then walked over and sat down next to me on the bed. It dipped with his weight. “I know, I heard about that. Wish I had been there to see it. Good thing I’m not such a weak opponent.”
    I didn’t really want to get into that, so I ignored that comment. “Why are you here, Jack? How did you know where I live?”
    “I wanted to come and check on you. I was worried after I’d heard what happened. I really should have been there for you.” His green eyes fixed on me. He looked like he was serious, and my agitation faded a little, but I didn’t miss the fact that he’d ignored my second question.
    “Well, thanks, but I’m fine… Did you hear anything about how Riley is doing?”
    “Yeah, I guess he’s got a broken nose and a concussion.” He shrugged like this was no big deal.
    Noticing what must have been my horrified face, he quickly said, “He’ll be fine, though. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Besides, I heard he swung at you first. He deserves what he got.” I wasn’t sure I agreed. “What else did you hear?”
    He flashed an easy smile. “That you were amazing… and fast. Some of the kids are even afraid of you. Well, more afraid of you than they were before.” I scoffed. “People aren’t afraid of me.” Who was I kidding? I was starting to be afraid of me.
    Jack stood up and walked over to the window. “Course they are. It’s in their nature.”
    My brow furrowed at that. Had everyone taken a crazy pill today?
    “Well, darling,” he said. “I gotta go, but I’m glad you’re okay. He turned to the window to leave, and then stopped and turned back to me. “Don’t worry, Lexie. You did the right thing. You did what you had to.”
    He was starting to sound like my Mother.

Chapter 8
    At some point, I must have drifted to sleep, because when I woke up, it was morning. I squinted at the sun shining brightly in through my window. What time was it? By the way the sun seemed to be up and in full force, I would have guessed it was about noon.
    Oh shit . I was really late for school. Why hadn’t anyone woken me up? I jumped out of bed and rushed out of my room. And nearly collided with Nelly.
    She giggled. “Morning, sleepy head.”
    I rubbed my eyes. “What time is it?”
    Nelly checked her watch. “Oh, almost noon.” I gaped at her, and she continued,
    “Don’t worry, Mom said it was cool. We needed a day off.”
    I stared at her, trying pick my jaw up from the floor. “What?” She laughed again and continued down the hall, calling back over her shoulder,
    “Get dressed. Lunch is ready downstairs.”
    I stumbled back into my room, showered, brushed my teeth and got dressed. Our Mother didn’t give us “days off”. Something was up, and I was going to find out what.
    Before I left my room, I stopped to look at myself in the mirror. My black eye was getting better. Today it was just a yellowish color and the swelling was almost completely gone.
    It always amazed me how quickly I seemed to heal from my injuries. I shrugged this off, preparing myself to go find out what was going on here. Even if I had to demand answers; which was never easy with my Mother.
    I walked into the kitchen to find Nelly and my Mother sitting at the table, eating sandwiches. Nelly smiled and handed me a plate loaded with sandwiches and fresh fruit. My mother glanced up and then turned her attention back to her food. I sat down at the table.
    We ate in silence for a few moments, with me chewing with just a little too much vigor, before I decided I couldn’t wait any longer. “Does someone want to