Alliance Read Online Free PDF Page B

just happened to have Wellington’s cell phone in my backpack, since I hadn’t taken it out after my trip.
    Director Phillips grabs one of Hannah’s arms and we tow her up the stairs to the sixth floor.
    By the time we hit the hall Hannah is green and sweat beads across her forehead. The Director leaves us by the stairs.
    “Okay, do you want to go to our room or stop by the bathroom so you can yak first?” I ask.
    Hannah doesn’t reply, and her arm across my shoulders goes slack. Her entire body turns into gelatin and she slips from my human grasp. Instinctively, I change and catch her before she hits the floor. As a vamp, all my senses are heightened, and her witch’s blood smells almost too tempting to refuse. I’m so thirsty! One bite won’t hurt… but not out here in the hall.
    I shoulder open the door to our room, focused on the beat of her pulse through her carotid artery. She smells so sweet. So much more tempting than a human.
    She’s so weak! She won’t even fight me if I bite her. Now. Now. Now.
    No!
    Using the last shreds of my humanity, I dump her onto the bed and race out of the room, panting.
    I take the stairs down to Three in hops and jumps. Away from the temptation of Hannah’s blood, I have more control over my monster. The human part of me is glad this dorm level is empty of students right now; the monster reminds me they’re only one floor down and would be so easy to take…
    I reach the locked door marked “Janitorial”. It’s not really a closet, it holds my extra-large, private refrigerator. I fish the key out of my pocket, hands shaking, and push it into the knob when I hear footsteps from down the hall. Shoot.
    “What is with you prowling around on this floor? What’re you doing?” a familiar voice asks, blatantly sarcastic. Lily again.
    She’s close , whispers the monster. Take her out. You know you want to.
    Why did it have to be Lily? The Goth girl hated me for no reason; I know she won’t leave me alone. And I have to eat, now .
    “Why aren’t you in class?” I growl with more force than I intend.
    I have to keep the beast under control, but of all the people that I would love to pounce on, Lily is definitely at the top of that list. What a jerk.
    “Why aren’t you?” she asks, walking closer. The human in me wants to tell her to stop before she gets hurt, but the monster welcomes her presence.
    “None of your business, Lily. Now why don’t you get lost before you get in trouble?”
    “By who? Little ol’ you? Wells, you’re a hypocrite. You walk around with your ‘I’m-better-than-everyone-else’ attitude and yet you break all the rules–”
    My fist slams against the door. I’m losing control, I can feel it.
    “Lily. Go. Now .”
    My senses are so sharp that I hear her open her mouth, feel the pulse of her heartbeat. I turn my face, my glare on her. Her jaw drops, and her voice is nothing more than a gurgle.
    No ! It takes every last bit of the human left in me, but I close my eyes and take a deep steadying breath. When I open then again, they’re green and totally normal. I’m human. Lily sputters something incoherent and runs down the hall. Away, thank goodness.
    What have I done? Maybe she’ll think she imagined the altercation. Maybe I can have Hannah work some magic on her. Right now I just don’t care.
    The reminder of my best friend and the condition I left her in has me turning back to the task at hand.
    I pry the door open and lock myself inside. The room is essentially a closet, but I don’t need a lot of space.
    I don’t flip the light on; I don’t need it. My vampire vision is as good as anything the military has in its night-vision goggles.
    I open the fridge and pull out a gallon-size Ziploc. It has a name written in sharpie on the side. Camilla Ray.
    “Thanks, Miss Ray.”
    All the blood is donated anonymously—they never know where it goes, but I know where it comes from. Crazy people into the whole vampire thing. Weirdos.
    I guess