Jen Pretty

  sponge and it could wring me dry. I clamped down on my

  136

  magic, and the beast reared back to strike again. It's teeth

  flashed in the moonlight.

  I screamed with the last puff of air in my lungs, and my

  magic responded. It didn't just slug along the ground. My

  magic became sharp like a blade. It spun out from me

  towards the serpent's head, nicking it and removing half of

  its mouth. Its coils loosened suddenly. A deep gasping

  breath filled my lungs, and the magic inside me poured into

  a longer blade that swung like heavy steel and finally

  decapitated the monster.

  In a panic, I struggled. My magic continued to hack at

  the beast, though I knew it was dead. When I was free of

  its coils, I crab-crawled backwards away from the mess,

  panting, my head spinning.

  Kai and Nick were pulling an unconscious Peran from

  the shed.

  “You guys were supposed to protect me!” I yelled, still

  panting hard and blood cooling on my skin. I checked the

  place where the monster had bitten me, but the skin was

  already whole.

  “You wanted me to stab at you while you wrestled with

  a giant ass snake?” Nick asked.

  “I wanted you to kill that gross thing!”

  “Selena,” Kai said, his voice calm and reasonable.

  137

  “Don’t talk to me,” I said, getting up and striding down

  the path. Crow calling from the sky accompanied the

  crunch of my boots on the gravel. He flew above me, his

  wings making a soft whistle sound as he flapped.

  “Selena, wait,” Nick said, his jogging steps echoing

  behind me.

  I considered running, but what was the point? I was in

  a graveyard in Canada. If I wanted to go home, I couldn't

  really run away.

  “Selena.” Nick grabbed my sleeve and pulled me to a

  stop.

  I dropped my head to hide the tears that had sprung to

  my eyes.

  Nick paused for a moment and then wrapped me up in

  his arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into my hair as I buried

  my face in his warm chest.

  Sobs I tried to fight back, won the war and wracked my

  body. Nick rubbed my back and held me in the cool night

  for several minutes.

  Kai’s voice broke the silence that fell. “Come on guys,

  time to go.”

  Nick's arm slipped over my shoulder and kept me in

  tight beside him as we walked back towards Kai. He

  appeared right in front of us, and sifted us back into the

  hotel room so suddenly, I felt nauseated.

  138

  Laying on the bed in the room was a bloody but

  breathing Peran. He had open wounds that oozed to soak

  his clothes and the sheets beneath him. Crow appeared like

  he had sifted. He sailed across the room to perch on the

  bedpost.

  I perched on the edge of the bed and watched Peran’s

  chest rise and fall. He was alive at least.

  “Peran will be fine, Selena,” Kai said, obviously

  noticing my worried expression. “He needs to rest.”

  I nodded. A couple of Peran's wounds had already

  closed. They left behind a bright red scar, but it wouldn't

  be long before the scars faded. Peran was a necromancer.

  Blood was our thing.

  Crow ruffled his feathers and then hunkered down on

  his post and closed his black eyes. It was nearly morning,

  and I still hadn’t slept. My legs strained to rise and

  staggered me into the adjoining room. I had to change

  before I went to sleep, but I was filthy and had blood on

  my arm. I stopped at my suitcase and stared down at it.

  “You ok?” Nick's voice was soft behind me.

  “I don’t have any clean clothes left,” I said, still staring

  at my bag.

  “Here. You can borrow one of mine,” I looked behind

  me. Nick was holding out a folded t-shirt.

  139

  “Thank you,” I said, taking it from his hand and

  moving to the bathroom. I had a quick shower with a lot

  of soap and then slid into the oversized shirt. It said

  Metallica in faded letters and had the picture of a demon

  type thing. Fitting. It smelled cool and fresh like Nick

  despite the fact it was clean. The cotton was soft on my

  skin, and when I stepped out of the bathroom, it was just

  him and me in the room. He was sitting in the chair by the

  window with his glass of not-tomato juice, his shirt

  unbuttoned and chest on full display.

  I stepped out and crossed the darkened room

  confidently. A dim lamp was on in the corner, giving the

  room had a warm glow. The shirt barely came to my thighs,

  and Nick's eyes followed me as I moved to the bed. I slid

  under the crisp sheets and adjusted the pillows, then turned

  on my side to look at him.

  Our eyes met, and I held his gaze. He downed the last

  of his drink breaking our eye contact. Then, setting the

  glass down on the table with a light clink, he stood and

  kicked off his shoes and let his shirt fall to the floor. The

  mattress dipped as he sat down and swung his legs up onto

  it, then rested his head back on the pillow beside me.

  The moment stretched out. We were in our own little

  world. The silence of the room brought peace and every

  breath I took relaxed my tired muscles further.

  140

  His hand crept out and slid a piece of my stark white

  hair behind my ear, then trailed back across my cheek,

  making me shiver.

  His face was too intense. I couldn’t hold the silence.

  My heart was jumping in my chest, and I needed to cut the

  tension. “Do you never sleep?” I whispered.

  He smiled like he knew he made me nervous and found

  it adorable. “No, vampires don’t sleep.” His hand trailed

  down my jaw and then danced along the length of my neck,

  raising goosebumps on my skin. His eyes followed his

  fingers, abandoning my gaze to stare at my neck.

  “Do you drink blood from people?” I asked.

  His eyes shot back up to mine, and his breath caught.

  His throat bobbed. “No.”

  I slid a few inches closer to him. I always assumed

  vampires were cold, but Nick was warm, and my magic

  pressed to be near him. The feeling of it flipping around

  inside me was like being on a roller coaster. It was exciting.

  I reached up and took his hand, twining my fingers in his.

  I didn’t have much magic, but I let it flow out through

  my fingers into his. He sighed and closed his eyes, a look

  of relaxation smoothed out his face. He was so beautiful in

  the low light. Like he was the first night I had seen him in

  the club. I knew nothing about vampires that night when I

  hid from him.

  141

  “Thank you,” I whispered as my eyes closed. Losing

  the last of my magic made me feel a little drunk as magic

  rushed back in to fill the void I had created. It was much

  quicker now. It wouldn’t be a week between raising the

  dead if I tried to go back to my old life now.

&nb
sp; But I realized I didn’t want to go back. I wanted to be

  here, with Nick. I had slain a monster and raised a murder

  victim, held hands with a vampire and saved a warlock.

  Perhaps I didn’t need to hide. I fell asleep with that thought

  on my mind.

  142

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  I woke alone in the bed, stretched and groaned at the

  tension in my muscles. Something dropped onto the pillow

  beside me, and I moved my head back to get a look at it. It

  was a stark black feather. I looked up, and Crow bobbed

  his head, shifting from one leg to another.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  He flew across the room and landed on the handle of

  a cart. His beak tapped the tin cover like a woodpecker,

  then he cawed again.

  I laughed and slid off the bed, then took the cover from

  the plate on the cart. There was some fruit and toast on the

  plate as well as coffee.

  “I call dibs on the coffee,” I said picking up the piping

  hot beverage.

  A chuckle from behind me made me turn and realize I

  wasn't wearing much clothes at the same time. I

  143

  straightened the shirt with one hand, making sure it wasn’t

  riding up and carefully held my coffee in the other as I

  walked back across the room to climb into the bed again.

  “What's so funny?” I asked the vampire in the corner.

  “You and your bird. He has been trying to wake you

  for about twenty minutes. He jumped on you a few times,

  and you didn’t wake up.”

  “I grew up in a foster home. It would take an act of

  God to wake me before I am ready,” I replied.

  Nick chuckled and shook his head.

  The door that joined our room to the one beside

  opened and Peran stumbled in. His clothes looked like he

  had just rolled out of bed and his hair was flat on one side

  and spiked on the other. He raised his hand in greeting and

  flung himself down on the chair opposite Nick.

  “How are you feeling, buddy?” Nick asked.

  Peran groaned, resting his elbow on the table to prop

  up his chin as if his head was too heavy. His eyes lit on me,

  taking in my face, the cup of coffee, the Metallica shirt that

  belonged to Nick. His face remained passive, but he looked

  away before he spoke.

  “I’m all right. Could I talk to you privately for a minute,

  Nick?”

  Nick’s crooked grin returned. I was pretty sure I knew

  what Peran wanted to talk to him about, give my current

  144

  state of undress. It looked bad. I wanted no part of that

  conversation, so I was happy to leave them to it.

  I pulled the shirt down to make sure it covered me

  before I slid off the bed.

  “We can just go—”

  “Nope, I’m having a shower,” I interrupted Peran.

  When I glanced back, Nick still had the crooked smile. This

  was awkward. I hustled to the bathroom as Crow hopped

  from the cart to take up my place in the bed, half a croissant

  clutched in his beak. At least he waited till I was out of the

  bed before leaving it full of crumbs.

  I dragged my suitcase into the bathroom with me and

  flicked on the shower. My white hair caught my eye in the

  mirror, and I did a double take. It was so white it made my

  skin look dark. I ran my fingers through it until I hit a few

  stubborn knots and gave up. Rummaging in my bag, I

  selected the cleanest pants and shirt. Walking around all

  day in Nick’s huge shirt didnt seem like a good plan, but

  this was ridiculous.

  I stepped under the hot spray of the shower and let it

  melt me. The tension in my shoulders relaxed, and the heat

  soothed the stiffness out of my spine. Serpent wrestling

  was not my forte.

  My mind spun away from that thought and back to

  home. I wanted to go home and see Georgia which

  145

  reminded me I had never heard back from her. With

  everything going on, I wondered if she had sent a message

  and Nick hadn’t told me.

  I finished my shower and pulled on some clothes. I

  rooted around one last time, and my hands found a clean

  pair of socks, still balled together and smelling of laundry.

  They were fuzzy inside. At least my feet were clean.

  I stepped out to find the room empty, but voices were

  coming from the adjoining room.

  “Look, you don’t get to make the decisions here. You

  aren’t Niri. In fact, we are probably leaving. Since she killed

  the monster you came for, we should just part ways,” Nick

  said, his voice a low growl.

  “You think this is the best plan? What happens when

  she figures out the truth? Do you think she will just let it

  slide? You think she will forgive you?” Kai asked, anger

  creasing his face.

  “Who will forgive what?” I asked from the doorway.

  Three sets of eyes locked on to me and I almost took a step

  back.

  Kai raised one hand towards me and gave a pointed

  look to Nick as if he was inviting the vampire to answer

  my question.

  Nick rubbed his hands over his face then drew in a

  deep breath. “It’s about your friend Georgia,” he said.

  146

  I stepped into the room. “What about her?” My heart

  raced. Nick's face was grim, and he wouldn’t look me in

  the eye. I took a few more steps forward. Dread clutched

  at my lungs, preventing me from taking a full breath.

  “Someone killed her,” he said, and my world snapped

  like a twig under my foot.

  The blood rushed out of my head, and my heart seized

  in my chest. Magic whipped into a frenzy under my skin. It

  tried to pour out, and I let it along with the tears that

  burned my eyes. Georgia. Then a terrible thought occurred

  to me.

  “When?” I asked.

  “Selena, let me explain.”

  “When?” I shouted.

  I called her days ago.

  His eyes pleaded with me, but I turned and walked out,

  slamming the door that linked the two rooms behind me.

  The tears burned lines down my face as I sat on the

  bed and tried to process the information. Georgia was

  gone. I picked up the phone beside the bed and dialled

  Dorothy.

  “Hello?” Her voice through the other end of the phone

  pulled a wretched sob from me.

  “Dorothy,” I cried.

  “Selena? What’s happened? Where are you?”

  147

  I explained to her what happened. Then went on to tell

  her about everything when I finally calmed down. When I

  hung up the phone with her, I didn’t feel better.

  I opened the door between the rooms. The guys were

  all sitting around. Kai flicked off the TV when I stepped

  in.

  “I want to go home,” I said.

  “I already booked a flight,” Peran said.

  Nick kept his eyes on the carpet.

  I left the door open, returning to the bathroom to

  gather my suitcase and dirty clothes. Tears gathered in the

  corne
rs of my eyes again, but I took a deep breath and

  pushed them back. I was not about to be the crier on the

  plane. I grabbed my book from the table and tucked it in

  my bag too.

  The guys wandered in, their bags with them and I

  followed Peran out the door. In the lobby, Kai returned

  the key cards, and we filed into the cab waiting at the door.

  At the airport, Nick tried to talk to me, but I shot him

  a dirty look, and he moved away. The flight was long. Kai

  sat with me and slept the whole way. I tried to nap, but my

  mind was still numb. Magic was filling up my empty spaces

  and pushing at my skin. I clamped down on it, but it was

  impossible to hold it all in.

  148

  “Good evening ladies and gentleman,” a voice came

  over the speaker. “We’ll be making an unscheduled fuel

  stop in Denver. This is nothing to worry about, but please

  fasten your seat belts as we will be landing in ten minutes.”

  Groans filled the plane as people dutifully clicked their

  seat belts on.

  I shook Kai’s shoulder, and he woke enough to put his

  on too.

  As the plane touched down, I could feel Nick's eyes

  locked on me. My magic was pressing in his direction from

  under my skin and making me feel lopsided. Too bad for

  my magic, it could just hang on until we got home. I

  wouldn’t be giving that vampire anything.

  “We will be underway in about thirty minutes, folks.

  We’re going to have you all stay on the plane, but the

  hostess will be around with the refreshment cart. Thank

  you.”

  Kai took out his phone and held it up. He held it

  higher. “I’m gonna see if I can get Wi-Fi closer to the front

  of the plane.” He unbuckled his seat belt and left me with

  no buffer from Nick.

  Nick took the opportunity and slid across the aisle to

  sit beside me.

  “I don’t want to talk to you,” I said, moving as close to

  the window as I could get, so his elbow didn’t touch mine.

  149

  It was hard to trust my magic when I was holding so much

  of it.

  “I just want to apologize. It was stupid not to tell you.”

  “Yes, you should have told me,” I said, scowling.

  His eyes turned away. “I just knew there wasn’t

  anything you could do about it and Nick was in the middle