Unraveled

“I dig.” Pe

“Romania.”

“Spooky. Your accent isn’t thick, though. Lots of traveling? One parent from someplace else?”

Victoria nodded, noncommittal.

Blithely Pe

“Enough with the inquisition,” Mary A

Riley. Hurry up! Every minute he was away, her worry for him increased. And for Aden, of course. With that dumb death curse hanging over their heads…oh, God. She hadn’t needed the reminder on top of everything else. Couldn’t…breathe…

She’d been on edge all day. She’d been distracted, too, and had no idea what her first three classes had even covered.

Victoria’s gaze met hers, and they shared a moment of silent communication.

Entertain me, Mary A

I can’t. You entertain me, Victoria mouthed back.

This sucks.

I know. And not the good kind.

A joke. The first she’d ever heard Victoria tell, though she doubted Victoria realized the humor of her statement. Mary A

“When will this day end?” an exasperated Victoria asked everyone at the table.

“Not soon enough,” Pe

Why was she muttering now? She’d seemed so carefree only a minute ago.

“I—I—like it here,” Sha

Now she did. Now that she knew she merely calmed people with otherworldly powers, and they weren’t actually charmed by her. But whatever. Riley liked her for herself. Oh, the things he’d said to her this morning. Pretty. Brave. Caring. She’d be getting high off those compliments for weeks.

She moved her gaze through the room. Kids shuffled all around them, either ru

“Hey, Pe

Pe

“Jackass,” Mary A

Pe

The jocks stopped, facing Mary A

Mary A

“That’s what I thought,” Shane said with a laugh.

“G-get the h-hell out of here,” Sha

“What? Are we making you angry, and we won’t like you when you’re angry? Whatever, Stutter.” Laughing again, Shane and his gang wandered off.

“Shall I kill him for you?” Victoria asked without any inflection in her tone.

“Yes,” Pe

Victoria shrugged. “If you change your mind…”

“We need to change Mary A

“N-need help?” Sha

He meant to protect her, Mary A

Pe

“No.”

“Excellent. You can help me make everything up.”

They laughed as they walked off, Pe

Alone at last.

Mary A

The vampire furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

“You can’t just go around offering to kill people. That’ll get you into all kinds of trouble.”

She raised her chin, and Mary A

“Fine. But Aden doesn’t,” Mary A

Gradually, Victoria’s chin fell. “You’re right.” She pushed out another sigh. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m the right girl for him. If perhaps…” she twirled her fingertip over the tabletop, tracing some sort of design “you wouldn’t be better suited for him.”

“Are you kidding?” One, Victoria might have phrased the words like a suggestion, but there had been fury in her tone. And two, Mary A

Some of the tension left Victoria’s shoulders. “Yes, but sometimes, when we’re all together, you’ll laugh and he’ll watch you, and there will be such…longing on his face. When that happens, I want to rip out your trachea. Sorry, but it’s true.”

Okay. She’d been close to dying before the curse, and had had no idea. Perfect. “I can tell you for sure that he doesn’t like me as a girlfriend. Aden and I…we will only ever be friends. Our different—” She looked around, making sure no one was listening. Everyone seemed to be going about their day, eating and talking, unconcerned about her and her conversation. “Our different abilities make us want to run from each other most of the time. It’s a miracle we’re even friends. Besides, can you imagine wanting to kiss the guy who housed your mom?”

Victoria shook her head, but still didn’t appear completely convinced.

“Maybe that longing shows up because he wants to make you laugh like that. Let’s face it, I’ve known you for weeks and I’ve seen you smile once. Maybe. You might have been grimacing.”

Now Victoria blinked over at her. “Are you saying I’m…depressing?”

“Will you want to rip out my trachea if I am?”

Crystalline eyes narrowed. “Maybe, but I won’t allow myself the luxury.”

“Thank you. Then, yes. I am. Just…lighten up, maybe. Tell a joke every now and then. Aden’s had a lot of seriousness in his life, you know? A lot of bad. Now he needs good.”