Werewolves Rule (The Rule Series) by K. C. Blake Page B

throat.   The last thing he wanted to do now was eat.
    Jack turned the faucet on and splashed his face with cool water again and again.   The water dripped off his hot cheeks.   He swallowed several times while silently demanding his stomach calm down.   Every second he went without vomiting was a small battle won.   While he was hanging over the sink, he replayed Jersey’s words in his head.  
    Whatever the surprise was, it was going to be bad.
    “Are you okay?” Billy asked from the doorway.
    “I’m fine.   Give me a sec.”
    What a way to end his birthday.
    Billy reluctantly walked away.
    A flash of his former friend Cowboy showing him a backwards peace sign came to mind.   Cowboy said, “Vampires rule, buddy.”
    Jack stared at his pale reflection in the mirror.   He imagined it smiling at him, flashing a backwards peace sign and quoting Cowboy.   “Vampires rule,” the image said.   He shook his head and verbally disagreed.   “No.   Being human, that’s what I want.”
    But at the moment he wasn’t real happy to be mortal because he hated throwing up more than anything else in the world.   He waited for his stomach to settle before rejoining the others.   Vanessa had a piece of cake for him.   He couldn’t eat it.   She told him she would wrap it up for him to take home.
    Everyone watched him closely after that.   They wanted to know what had made him sick.   He didn’t want to worry anyone, so he didn’t tell them he’d been feeling ill for a long time.   He hadn’t been himself since being stabbed by that werewolf.
    A flash of a bloody body beneath Tobias made him cringe.   Another wave of nausea washed over him.   It was the worst thing he could remember seeing.   He couldn’t imagine hurting a person, a human being like that, but he’d done it.  
    Okay, it had been done in another life.   His name had been Tobias then.   Maybe Tobias Blackstone was more responsible than Jack Creed, but he was still the same person inside, wasn’t he?   He watched Silver laughing at something her father had said.   Jack wondered how he was going to tell her about his previous life.  
    How could he tell her he’d killed people?
    Those beautiful eyes would look at him differently then.   She would see a monster instead of the boy who loved her, and he would lose her.   He couldn’t handle that.
    Now he had a new worry.   Jersey had sent him a present but hadn’t told him what it was or where to find it.   He silently prayed it was just a book, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something horrible.   Jersey loved to be mysterious.   Until Jack found the thing, he was going to be on red alert.   It was like having a sharp axe hanging over his head, waiting to fall.    

    ******

Chapter Eight:
    ANOTHER SURPRISE

    Jack was still walking on air a few days later, a side-effect of finally turning eighteen.   He strolled across the parking lot behind Silver while carrying her books for her.   Before entering the school building, he turned to take a last look at his new car.   It handled like a dream, and it belonged to him.   If he lived to be a hundred, he wouldn’t be able to repay Billy for giving him such an incredible gift.
    By the time he had driven home after the party, Isobel was gone.   He’d called Silver the second he made it to his bedroom.   Two voices whispering in the dark, they had stayed up until dawn.   Jack thought about suggesting they go to sleep a few times, talk in their dreams instead, but every time he started to say something about it, Silver would say something else.   He loved the sound of her voice in the real world too much to tell her they should go to sleep.   He’d been thrilled that she put aside studying for once to spend time with him, even if it was only on the phone.
    They were both exhausted.
    Silver stopped at her locker and yawned into her hand before opening the metal box.   Jack stood behind her for a second, peering