Sabrina
I clench my fists against my side against my wolf’s desperate protests as Rhett opens his mouth and slips the cracker inside.
The crunch is audible in the silent hall as he begins to chew.
I watch the movement of his throat as he swallows.
Victory wars with remorse in my heart, my wolf falling to the ground of my soul in grief, wanting him alive.
But he left us with no choice.
Rhett crumples to the ground a moment later and I wait, watching as he moans, as the foam starts to bubble at his mouth.
Cosette
I gasp, going still in the middle of the empty hall, my mind suddenly clearing. My eyes go wide, my hands flying out to my side as if I’m catching myself as I suddenly realize that I’m walking alone in the middle of the hall – with nothing but my water bottle clenched in my hand – when on earth did I pick th
Cosette“Give me that!” Sabrina growls, throwing herself to the ground next to me and snatching for my water bottle, knowing precisely what I intend to do with it.“No!” I cry, shoving her away, kicking her sharply in the thigh. She gasps, sprawling on her side for a moment as I turn back to the dying man whose body hitches and shakes, coming to the absolute end –I have to get to him now –I shift to my knees, crawling back to his side.“Cosy!” Sabrina screeches, getting up too, grabbing for me. “Don’t you dare –“I turn, whipping the water bottle out and splashing her in the face with it. She gasps, surprised more than anything, going still.“You move,” I snarl, pointing at her with the bottle. “One fucking inch, Sabrina – and I will turn that to acid &nd
CosetteShe smacks my finger away with her free hand, glowering. “He tried to kill me first!” She rips her hand from her cheek and pulls back the neck of her hoodie, lifting her chin so I can see the bandage on her neck.“Sabrina, that’s barely a scratch if it can fit under that –““Oh shut up, Cosette, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” she grumbles, letting go of her hoodie and lowering her chin to glare at me again. “Any knife to the throat is a threat to life!”I shift my eyes to Rhett, glaring at him for a second. But then I feel very stupid – it’s not like he can see me – so I shift my eyes back to her.“Well, what did you do to make him want to kill you!?”She gasps, pressing her hands to her chest. “Cosette, I am the victim here!”
Cosette Sabrina sighs and lifts her eyes to mine. “Yes, Cosy, we have to carry him. We’re going to carry him back to my room.”My eyebrows raise. I mean, luckily her room is on this floor but…it’s far.“And then what?” I ask, knowing that she’s very right about everything that Rhett will know once I heal him and he wakes up.“Then…we’ll wipe his memory.”“What!?” I lean toward her, aghast. “You can do that?”“I have a spell,” my cousin mutters, frowning down at the mostly dead guy before us. “I’ve…never tried it, but I have it.”“Brina!”“What!?”I groan. “This is a crap plan!”“The good plan is to let him die, Cosette –“I put my hand o
SabrinaI find the book, flipping to the requisite pages, glancing over them again and nodding when I’m sure it’s the right one. Then I move back over to the bed, sitting down and passively listening to Cosette’s soft singing as I work through the wording of the spell. A light breeze blows over my face -My head snaps up at that and I look immediately to the door to my balcony, which is cracked open. When did I do that?I shake my head, wondering if I’m getting a little sloppy. Or maybe I drank too much with Max earlier.God, Max. Was it really just an hour ago that I was curled up on a couch with him, making out, his hand halfway up my skirt?Man, this night really has had its highs and lows.I turn my eyes back to Cosette as she stops singing. To my shock, she sits back looking quite pleased, both of her cups empty.“That fast?” I ask, leaning closer to the bed and
Sabrina“Matty!” I shout, ignoring my headache and leaping to my feet, storming over to my twin brother with a hand raised ready to smack. “What the fuck are you doing here!?”Matty’s wicked expression breaks into a wide grin as he pretends to flinch away from me as I start to smack at him with an open palm – but he’s so damned gigantic that we both know I’m not doing any real harm.Cosette gasps with real fear as she spins toward my brother, but it only lasts a second. “Matty!” she shouts, her voice thrilled.He looks over my head and grins at her even as I continue to hit him. “Hey, Cos!”“Would you two stop!?” I snap, my fangs starting to show as I spin to glare at her and then snap my head back to him. “This is not a fun-time cousin reunion! Matty, you are not supposed to fucking be
SabrinaI take a deep breath, my body snapping into action, looking for something practical to do – as it always does when I panic. I quickly move to the balcony door, pressing it shut and mentally considering ways I can lock it so this doesn’t happen again. Then I move to the bed, my eyes on my manuscripts, needing to pack those away –“Sabrina, what are we going to do!?”I snap my eyes up to Cosette as I grab at my papers, stacking them on top of each other. “We’re going to wait for Matty to get back,” I growl. “And then see what he has to say.”“We need a plan!”I snap my fingers in front of her face, shaking my head. “There is no plan! Not until we have the facts, okay!?”She groans, falling back onto the bed, her arms splayed wide. “I hate you. I hate all of you stupid Lup
Sabrina“I am completely freaked, Matt,” I say through gritted teeth, glaring up at him. “What the fuck are you doing here!? Did you come up to fuck up my plans!?”His eyebrows go up. “Look, I know I surprised you, Sabrina –““You were fucking hiding in the corner! Spying on us!”“I was hiding in case someone else came in,” Matt says, low and soft, nodding to me like he’s worried I’m at risk of failing to understand him.Which just makes me bare my teeth.“Then why didn’t you make your presence known?”He smirks, just a little. “Would you have done that, ‘Brina? And missed the show? Come on, we were raised by the same man – you can’t fault me for doing precisely what you would have done.”“I sure as hell can,” I grow
RhettI barely have the mental space to hear her, concentrating instead on my body which feels like it’s been torn to pieces from the inside out. But even as I focus on my agony, some little part of my mind ponders…just how much of a monster you have to be to see a man basically dying on your doorstep and shout at him instead of helping.I’m so…fucking glad she and Max broke up.I groan, curling in on myself, sucking breath after breath of air into my lungs.God, why does it feel like I haven’t breathed in hours?“Rhett!”Footsteps pound down the hall and I instinctually turn towards that voice – as familiar to me as my own. Max’s steps skitter the last few steps as he dodges around my vomit and drops to his knees at my side. “Oh my god, Rhett!”“Hey, Max,” I whisper, my words all choked and raspy, trying to lift my head and fail
Sabrina“Sabrina!”“It’s just girl code –““It’s insane!”I frown at her. “No, it’s not.”“Sabrina, I don’t even have a chance with him –““It’s not about that.”“It’s ridiculous to end all of your plans just because I asked you to –““But you didn’t ask me to,” I say, nodding seriously to her. “And…I mean, it would be easier to pull off all I have planned if Max is gaga for me, all wrapped up in a love haze but…” I purse my lips, considering again what I spent the whole night considering after I left his rooms. “I can do it in other ways.”She just stares at me, her mouth continuing to hang open.“I’m still going to have to stay close to him,” I sa
Sabrina“Cosette,” I say softly, pressing my hand to my heart and leaning toward her, needing her to hear me on this. “I didn’t know that you felt that way about Max.”She blushes and drops her eyes, her natural bashfulness coming into play. “I know you didn’t, Sabrina. I just…didn’t know you intended to get close to him in that way.”“So, when I said I was going to his dinner parties…”She shrugs. “I guess I just thought you meant as a friend. Or like, a spy. It never even entered my mind that you’d want more. I mean…” she lifts her eyes to mine now. “He’s your enemy. Why would you want to kiss him?”I smirk a little. “I mean, you’ve never wanted to…”She scoffs at me and I put my hands up, not pushing any furt
Sabrina“Stop it!” she shouts, grabbing her pillow and hurling it at me. “It’s not normal! No, it was not okay for him to put his hands on me but you’re not going to kill him! This is going to be handled in a very normal way!”“Which is?” I ask, dry.“We’re going to report it to the bosses and let them decide!”I huff, shaking my head at her as I turn back to Matt –“Don’t look at him!”Kind of stunned by my cousin’s unusual order, I turn back to her, eyebrows again raised. “I’m in charge!” she says, smacking her palm against her mattress with a thwack. “This is my life! We’re doing this my way – not some sick underworld Lupa way! Say it! Now!”I take a deep breath. “I’m not letting him hurt you, Cosette.”
Cosette“Whoa!” Juliette shouts, skidding to a stop at our side. “What – what the hell’s going on here!?”Matty slowly raises to his feet as Demrick groans in pain – and maybe in terror - and I just stand very still, shocked.“Demrick put his hands on her,” Matty growls, glaring down at his enemy before lifting his eyes to Juliette. I watch as he shifts in to his usual calm demeanor – tucking his Lupa identity away, becoming again the hapless nice guy who is so helpful in the kitchen. “I told him not to.”Juliette turns her attention to me, eyes flaring. “Is that true, Cosette?”“Um,” I say, hesitating but then shrugging. God, I don’t – I don’t want this to become a thing. “Yes? He shook me –“Juliette gasps, spinning her attention back to Demrick with ire in her eyes as more people gather
Cosette“Was it a guy!?” he asks again – shouts, really, his arms tightening around me so much that I yelp, surprised as I’m crushed against his chest.“No!” I cry, shaking my head. And it’s not a lie – not really – Max didn’t do anything – and honestly, neither did Sabrina if I’m admitting the truth to myself – I didn’t tell her that I like the Prince, and even if I did I have no claim on him –The only person who’s really hurting me is my own stupid heart –“Who have you been seeing, Cosette?” Demrick snarls, his head lifting and snapping as he looks up and down the hall like someone who dated and dumped me is just going to be standing there thumbing his nose at us or something.“No one!”Demrick snarls again, louder now, his
CosetteI wipe hastily at my cheeks as I rush down the hall, sniffing hard. But no matter how fast my hands work they can’t seem to make the stupid tears just go away.God, this is so embarrassing.But I can’t help it – I’m just…fucking devastated.I couldn’t believe it for a second when I wheeled the cart into the room – I though I had to be imagining it or that my eyes had suddenly broken or that I’d gone insane.Sabrina! Fucking Sabrina in Max’s lap – my Max!My wolf howls and I scowl at myself because…why am I being so stupid!?I whip around the final hall corner and hurry down the basement corridor toward my room, desperate to get in there where no one will see me.Because this truly is so incredibly stupid. And not even just silly – just stupi
SabrinaAnd I remember that he’s always known her name. And while that might be just him liking her pastries and being kind to the employees of this institution, that sort of thing means something to girls like Cosette who are so talented and so often overlooked.I remember back to the night I tried to poison Rhett –And the charm she used on the water – the rhyme so simple, but flexible enough that a powerful Pancibus like her could…could use it every day, bake it right into the bread…Bread that Max eats every morning and evening.My jaw drops when I realize that…Cosette has been protecting him. Protecting Max from any poisons that someone might slip into his food – into any of his food, as long as he eats her bread along with it. And more than that, she’s been boosting his health – everyone’s health who eats her pastri
Sabrina“No!” Rhett calls back to me, pushing the door from the other side. “My thesis statements are fine – I don’t need your damned critiques tonight –“I burst out laughing, pushing harder, and the door gives way just a little bit. We’re all well aware that this is a farce - I’m small enough and he’s big enough that if Rhett wanted this door shut it would be. But I play along, pushing hard, enjoying myself. “Your thesis statements are crap!”“They’re fantastic!”“You need me!” I give one final shove and the door gives, Rhett smirking at me on the other side.He looms over me and points a finger at my face. “You keep your little sparkly pink pen away from my work tonight, Spencer.”I wrinkle my nose at him, all of my teeth bared in a wide smile. “Just try
SabrinaOr! That same bedroom could become the sky itself, and I could conjure up some wings on my back and walk through the clouds, feeling something akin to what it’s like to be a bird. I mean, I wouldn’t be able to touch any of the clouds or feel the wings, but it could be –“Hey!”I turn with surprise toward the voice, my face breaking into a smile when I see Oliver, of all people, chasing me down the hall.“Betty,” he says, smiling and slowing his jogging steps. “Damn, you got far fast.”I laugh, grinning up at him. “Little feet,” I say, lifting one fashionably booted foot and nodding down to it. “Make fast tracks.”His smile deepens. “You say weird shit. I love that.”Joy races through me. God, I love boys.“What’s up, Ollie?” I ask, stepping just half a step closer, ti