Free Hotblood by Juliann Whicker Page A

said.
    “ Oh.” I leaned foreward.
    “ It’s good to see you smile,” he said gently.
    “ I was just remembering a dream I had.”
    “ I…see. That’s wonderful. You’re having dreams?”
    I shrugged. It seemed like a little thing. Most people had dreams. Snowy went on and on about hers sometimes. I wouldn’t bore my dad with mine. I didn’t really like how friendly he acted, like he was someone who cared about me, not someone who’d left and never come back. I swallowed trying to choke back some of the anger that was stirred at the memory of my father’s abandoning his family.
    “ I do not mean to pry, but perhaps if you tell me about your dream, something will come out to tell us what happened last night. Often, if we block things out, our subconscious remembers and lets them come out in our sleep.”
    I shook my head feeling frustrated. “It didn’t have anything to do with the woods. I wish I knew what happened. If I knew then I’d have something to work with. It isn’t normal to be able to smell blood inside people, is it? Is it normal to forget things? Satan told me about a Hotblood who was a danger to society and himself. You said I’m a Hotblood?”
    “ You seem to have some characteristics outside your normal nature. Normal for you would be much different than normal for other people. Your family is very special and so are you.”
    “ Special. Okay. Thanks. The thing is, I don’t feel special; I feel more messed up than anything. What is Nether anyway? What was that creepy thing you did to me when I got here? I’m so irritated, and I have no idea why I’m here anyway. I mean, you’re supposed to explain stuff to me, but I don’t even know what it is I’m supposed to know!” He squeezed my hand and I realized my voice had been getting louder, accusing him, when I didn’t know enough to be angry.
    “ It’s all right to be frustrated. You’ve had a very rough time of it. We may as well start with clear expectations. I don’t expect you to be fine. No one who’s been through what you’ve been through for the last nine and a half years is going to be fine right away. You’re going to have to adjust to an entirely new way of facing the world. Death is hard for everyone to cope with, but to deal with betrayal and all from the precarious position of a Hotblood soul. No. I don’t expect you to be fine. Now. You will get better though. I promise that when you leave here you will have direction and control.”
    “ Thanks. I don’t know why you’d care now if you didn’t care before when I was okay.”
    “ You haven’t been okay for a long time, Dari.”
    “ You’re right. I wasn’t okay after you left. I remember that day, standing on the curb with mother. You just drove off and never looked back. I remember how sad Devlin was.” I bit my lip to keep from crying. “But that’s okay because now that I’m screwed up you’re going to fix me. Thanks a lot.” He squeezed my hand harder and I jerked it out of his grip. I found myself standing, trembling from a mixture of grief and anger. “It’s good that your expectations are clear. Here are mine. You’re not going to act like the father I always needed but never had. You’re not going to act like you can fix the fact that Devlin is dead and isn’t coming back. You ruined everything when you left, and now you think that you can fix everything just because I’m lucky enough to spend some time with you.”
    “ Dari, I didn’t want to leave.” His eyes shone like he had tears in them.
    “ I’m sure you just couldn’t stand the sight of us, poor you.”
    “ I couldn’t watch you die.” The words were like knives cutting me deep, even though I didn’t know why. “You were dying and I left. Helen accepted Devlin’s behavior and I had no choice but to leave.”
    “ You had no choice but to leave? I’m not dying! Devlin was the best brother a girl could have. He drove me everywhere. He was always there to talk to me and