“Wait,” I said, pulling back. “That’s – that’s a good thing, surely?”
“No,” Kathrena choked, stepping out of the hug too. Her eyes were back on the ground, and her hands twitched anxiously at her sides. “Oh, God, I just – I panicked. I said no to him.”
“But why?” Rowan asked, frowning, her red lips pulled into a pout. “He’s cute.”
“Look, I – I don’t want to talk about this right now,” Kathrena said, running a shaking hand through her hair, pushing her fringe out of her face only for it to fall down again seconds later, messier than it was before. “We have enough to deal with already.”
Skye touched her forearm for a moment, his eyes gentle as they met hers. “Okay. But we’re here for you, whenever you’re ready.”
“Tha
“I want to tell you what happened with Ollie,” Kathrena said.We were bundled up in my truck, with the heater on full and blasting dusty air into our faces. We’d had to disperse not long after our gooey moment of friendship earlier, though we’d gone to our final classes of the day via the sign-up sheet for the events committee. It felt as though we were a step closer to taking down the enemy, though I’d found it amusing that the step was joining a school club.To be fair, if I was a demon I’d be terrified of school committees. Especially the ones made up of parents.My last period had passed slowly, every second dragging along. I’d felt like I was marching through tar as I took notes on tectonic plates. But at last the final bell had rung, and I’d sped across the car park, excited to finally finish reading the chapter about vampire and werewolf mate bonds when I got home.
I took a deep breath. My hand trembled as I raised it to knock on Aradia and Ezrand’s office door. I held it there for a moment, my knuckles barely brushing the wood as I hovered, uncertain.Then I steeled myself, and I knocked.“Come in!” Ezrand called out. I tried to picture him before I stepped through the doorway, which would effectively seal my fate: slightly rounded belly, brightly patterned shirt, white-blonde hair mussed from running his hands through it excitedly. I pictured him sipping microwaved blood from his favourite mug, clattering around the kitchen and dancing to anything, all the way from Fleetwood Mac to The Beatles to Mozart.It made me feel slightly better, but only for a second. As soon as I saw his cheerful face and his friendly dark eyes, my heart sank. But not because of Ezrand – because of the lean-faced, purple-eyed woman next to him.Aradia wa
“It’ll be fine,” I murmured, knocking my knee against Skye’s under the table. He didn’t look convinced.We were sat in the coffee shop in town. Skye had agreed to meet the Sunstone Clan after school, but he’d been so nervous that I’d suggested we make a detour. The combination of caffeine and sugar didn’t seem to be doing him any favours, but my warm hand on his thigh was helping, at least.He sighed, pulling his coffee cup closer. “The pack took it really badly, El. I can’t – I can’t deal with that all over again. Not so soon, anyway.”“I know, and I’m so sorry that they treated you like that.” I reached over to squeeze his hand, wrapping my fingers around his, curling them around his cup. “But the Clan were surprisingly understanding. They were open to you, and to us.” I gave a little half-shrug. “I think t
Once we were settled in the living room, surrounded by old, hand-stitched blankets and warm lamps, the interrogation began. Skye clutched at my hand as Aradia and Ezrand asked him questions, trying to decipher if he truly was a good werewolf, or if it was a ploy of the sort that I’d imagined when we’d first met.For his part, Skye’s leg jiggled erratically against the sofa cushions, and he twisted a stray length of his hair around his index finger until the tip went purple. He struggled to meet their eyes, but he held his head up bravely whenever they spoke directly to him.Aradia leant forward in her high-backed armchair, pressing her elbows into the arched wooden armrests and resting her chin on her folded hands. “What is the intention of the Wind Valley pack?”Skye shifted uncomfortably beside me. “To protect the humans in Hawthorn from supernatural threats. Werewolves are drawn to
It was dark by the time we’d finished negotiating.“It’s not safe,” I’d sighed, over and over.“You’ll be safer with me there,” he’d argued – in that gentle, nudging way of his – and eventually I’d relented. I couldn’t resist his sweet face – especially those golden eyes fringed with thick, dash lashes, watching me with nothing but tenderness in their gaze.Hand in hand, we strode out to the woods together. The dusk was soft above us, a blurred purple that twinkled with stars. It seemed that, at long last, the rain had stopped. I was glad of the dry spell – not only did it make the sky prettier, after days of grey mist broken only by the evergreen arms of the pine trees, but it was also warmer. The idea of being soaking wet in the cool autumn air was far more deplorable than the idea of being cold but dry. The mere thought of it mad
Entering my room with Skye by my side felt strangely intimate, although it wasn’t the first time he’d seen it. It was as though I’d been stripped bare tonight, and he was seeing me with fresh eyes. Every brushing touch sent shudders rippling through me, and I longed to slide under the duvet with him, to be shrouded in his warmth as we fell asleep together.“I guess we don’t need this anymore,” I grinned, nodding at the spell bag on my bedside table. “It’s all out in the open, now.”“It’s a nice feeling, isn’t it?” Skye smiled back, but it didn’t reach his eyes. I watched him worriedly as he toyed with his fingers, standing uncomfortably in the centre of the room.“It is,” I hummed, kicking off my boots. “But – are you okay?”“Yeah,” he croaked, and then, to my great dismay, a
I woke up warm and content, as the bright beams of sunlight slanted through the window and drew me from my dream. It was early – the first rays of dawn – and I closed my eyes again, snuggling into the warm spot beside me. I reached out to wind my arm around Skye, and froze when my hand touched empty bed sheets beside me.“Skye?” I mumbled, facedown on my pillow. With a sigh, I brushed my tangled hair out of my face and sat up. I looked around my room blearily.Skye was nowhere to be seen.I scrubbed at my eyes. I’d fallen asleep with my makeup on – tumbling into bed with Skye had been nothing short of magical, and following the proper bedtime procedure had been the farthest thing from my mind as we’d cuddled close and fallen asleep – but my eyes felt sore and heavy as a result.“Skye?” I tried again. I tucked my hair behind my ears and
“I can’t believe it,” I hissed at Rowan.She shrugged her shoulders at me. “Me neither.”Molly glared at us. She was fat, her heart shaped face framed neatly by her shoulder-length blonde hair. Her rosebud lips curled into a scowl as I opened my mouth, and immediately shut it again. “Sorry, I didn’t realise our meeting was interrupting,” she snapped. “Anything you’d like to share with the group?”Rowan rolled her eyes. “No, Mols. Sorry.”I hadn’t realised how seriously a group of high school students would take planning a Halloween maze. We were in one of the spare classrooms at the far end of the campus, and it smelt like dust and damp mould. I’d spent the majority of the meeting wrinkling my nose at it, as had Kathrena and Skye, too. For her part, Rowan seemed blissfully unaware of the stench, but she wa