Blood Past - By Samantha Young Page 0,25

some book they were supposed to pick up for English class and how he couldn’t find it in store, so Tobe had offered to help out and Eden had followed along quietly as they crossed the street to a bookstore.

“I’ll wait out here,” she had said and October, kind of flustered, had merely nodded.

Tobe flustered? Eden had wondered if she had a crush on this guy or something.

Patiently waiting had never been Eden’s forte and everything had kind of gone downhill from there. Tobe and her friend seemed to be taking an awfully long time. It hadn’t been her fault. Really.

She was bored. Eden had begun to wander in kind of daze, heading north down the street. Cyrus had driven up this way and she was pretty sure they had passed a Forbidden Planet store. Finding it, Eden was stupidly excited, breathing in the smell of glossy comics as she headed inside. It was weird, but being here, in a foreign country, without her parents dragging her down, without this ‘thing’ inside of her, she felt a little on the side of normal for the first time. She wandered around looking for the latest Shonen Jump and eyeing kitschy dolls and backpacks and stuff. To her bemusement she could not find a single copy of Shonen. For a minute she was almost so distracted by the store assistant’s clear bell of an accent she had almost missed her advising her that they didn’t have it in stock. A little disheartened Eden had headed back outside and headed up towards the bookstore. After fifteen minutes of scouring the place from top to bottom, she realised she had lost October.

Crap, crap, crap. She bit her lip and glanced around. Nope. There was definitely no sign of her.

OK. Val was supposed to be meeting them at The Filling Station on The Royal Mile… sooo she’d just go there. Eden patted her jeans for her cell only to discover she had left it back at Tobe’s. Oh hell. She needed to get to The Filling Station before Val got there first and flipped out.

“Excuse me.” Eden stopped a couple walking nonchalantly up the street. “Could you tell me how to get to The Filling Station on The Royal Mile?” The guy grimaced apologetically. “Aw sorry am no’ fae aroond here, a dinnae ken whorr The Fillin’ Station is but ah kin tell ye whorr The Royal Mile is.” Eden stared at him blankly. “Was that a no?”

He laughed and turned around, pointing back down the street. “If ye go doon that way ye’ll find yersel own The Royal Mile. If ye ask somebody, they’ll be able tae tell ye whorr The Fillin’ Station is.”

She got the pointing and stuff but she still didn’t understand a word he had said so she just nodded gratefully and thanked him, before heading back the way she’d just come. As she walked down the street she passed a group of girls who were talking about classes, an American accent ringing out among them. Students! Surely, they’d know and she’d actually understand them.

“Excuse me.” She stopped the group and they turned to her expectantly. “Could you guys tell me how to get to The Filling Station on The Royal Mile?”

“Oh thank God!” A familiar Scottish accent made Eden’s shoulders sag with relief. She turned to see October running towards her. She smacked Eden across the arm before tugging her rudely away from the students. “Where the bloody hell did you go? I’ve been preparing myself for the Hara Kiri.

The Princeps would expect nothing less from the idiot who managed to lose his bloody daughter!”

“Jeez, chill Tobe.” Eden grunted, feeling much better now that she had her guide back. “You’re going to give yourself a heart attack.”

“If it wouldn’t end in my death I would kill you for walking away. Where were you?!”

“Can you please stop screeching? I’m guessing having full use of my hearing is kind of crucial to my training to be a warrior.”

October continued to glare at her, not taking her eyes off her, bumping into people who threw comments over their shoulder at her rudeness.

Eden shrugged. “I was in Forbidden Planet. Do you know they don’t even stock Shonen Jump? I thought this place was supposed to be metropolitan.”

“I’m going to metropolitan your arse next time you pull a stunt like that.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means… it means… och, I don’t know. Just don’t do that again. I’m too young and pretty to die from