“And you didn’t tell your parents? About how he hurt you?” The image of her cowering in the snow after Conner hit her filled Aiden’s mind. Sometimes he wondered if he should encourage Dylan to beat the crap out of Conner.
Hanna sighed. “They know now. They’re super pissed … and they’re disappointed in me. They keep asking why I put up with it. Why I didn’t fight back or leave sooner.”
“Why didn’t you?”
The noise in the hall got louder as more kids arrived, but Hanna was silent. Finally, she said, “I was too embarrassed. I thought maybe I deserved it for being weak. I should be strong and dominant like my parents, but I’m not…”
He took her hand, smoothed a strand of hair away from her face. “You’re not weak. And never, ever think you deserved it. No one deserves that. If he really cared about you, he wouldn’t have hurt you.”
She squeezed his fingers. “Part of me knows that. It’s just… there’s a voice—” Hanna sucked in a breath and turned just as Aiden sensed warm fur and power.
“Thanks a lot, bitch.” Conner shoved through the other students to loom over Hanna. “My parents are fucking pissed. I took a gamble and I lost, but so did you.”
Aiden’s pulse sped up and the fading scar on his chest itched. Worse than that was the tingling warmth spreading just below that spot. His magic trying to come out. Aiden desperately held it back.
Conner turned glowing yellow eyes on him. “Say good-bye to your girlfriend. If I see you together again, I’ll make sure her parents know.”
The warning bell rang.
“I’ll be watching.” Conner showed his teeth, then he left.
Aiden sagged against the locker, the eager buzz of his magic fading as he took deep breaths.
“Are you okay?” Hanna asked.
“I’ll be fine.” He couldn’t live like this, constantly afraid that someone would hurt him or he would hurt them.
Hanna reached for his arm, then pulled him into a hug instead. “I’m so sorry, Aiden. He’s right. I can’t see you anymore.”
Selfishly, he was a little relieved. Maybe Conner would leave him alone now. But what about Hanna? “Will you be okay? Do you think he’ll hurt you?”
A bitter smile tugged at her lips. “I can tattle on him too. If he hurts me, I’ll tell my parents. I’ve got nothing to hide now. Nothing to lose.”
The bell rang again. Crap, he was late. “Okay, just… stay safe.” He hugged her again.
So much for having a girlfriend. A hollow sadness filled his stomach. So much for Dylan’s idea that she would defy her parents.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“So she really dumped you? Wow.” Dylan took a big bite of his barbecue sandwich.
Aiden picked at his food. “Yeah.”
Dylan considered him for a moment. What should he say? “Um, sorry.”
Aiden sighed.
Crap, now he was going to mope. “If you really want her, you should fight for her.”
“I’m not a fighter.”
Dylan waved a hand. “Not that kind of fighting. You know, like, convince her. Tell her you were meant to be together or some other mushy stuff.”
A little twitch at the corner of Aiden’s mouth. “I don’t know. I mean if all it takes for her to stop seeing me is her parents saying no…” He shrugged. “And I don’t want her to get in trouble. She’s been through enough without having her parents mad at her too.”
Dylan sighed and rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” Maybe Aiden didn’t like her that much after all.
Hanna walked past them, hesitating for a second. She glanced at them both and gave Aiden an awkward smile before moving on.
Aiden kept his eyes on her. “I guess if she’s not supposed to talk to me, she can’t eat with us anymore.”
Part of Dylan liked that idea. Back to being just the two of them. Maybe Aiden would get over this soon.
Aiden’s eyes narrowed and Dylan followed his gaze to see Conner was also watching Hanna. Eager warmth filled Dylan’s belly. All he needed was one fight, uninterrupted by adults. Dylan would make sure Conner and his pack slunk around the place with their tails between their legs from then on. Maybe he could invite him out to the pit.
Hanna ducked down a row, moving away from Conner. The alpha kept watching her for another moment, then shifted to lock gazes with Dylan. A flicker of yellow in his eyes.
“She’s sitting all alone,” Aiden said, his tone full of pity.
“Better than sitting with him.” Dylan turned his back on Conner.
“God, I feel so bad for her.” Aiden still hadn’t touched his food.
“If she doesn’t want to defy her parents and you don’t want to try to convince her to, then let it go, man.” He took another bite, tangy-sweet sauce filling his mouth. The food here wasn’t as good as his parents’ cooking, but there were some things that came pretty close.
“Will you… keep an eye out for her? Make sure Conner doesn’t hurt her?”
“Of course,” he mumbled around his food. “Say the word and I’ll go kick his ass right now.”
Aiden paled. Shit, Dylan had forgotten how afraid he was of magic now. My fault. I did that to him.
“No,” Aiden said. “Don’t do anything unless he does.”
Dylan swallowed, although his stomach now felt like it was filled with rocks. “Okay.” He wished there was a way he could fix Aiden, make him not afraid anymore.
* * *
Weeks passed without a text or a word from Hanna. She barely glanced at him in the hall. A few times she gave him a brief, sad smile that broke his heart. It was so unfair. She hadn’t done anything wrong. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Her parents were assholes. Racists, even. Telling her she could only date her own kind, that was so bigoted.
Mr. Johnson’s black car was waiting for him when he got home from school. Was something wrong? He’d just checked on Aiden a month ago, right before Dalton disappeared. Was he here investigating? Or was he here to check up on Aiden and Dylan because of what happened with Uncle? The dark fae calling himself Uncle had escaped back in January— well, Dylan had let him out— and so far the wardens hadn’t found him.
“Hi, Mr. Johnson,” Aiden said as he walked in.
The warden was sitting at the dining room table like he usually did on his visits, Aiden’s parents next to him on one side. “Hi, Aiden. How are you doing?”
“Fine.” A lie. At least thinking about Hanna distracted him a little from worrying about magic. And Phoebe was back from her family vacation. He’d told his tutor about his fears and they worked little, gentle magic spells. Aiden was totally okay with those. He’d gotten better at Minor Magical Control too.
“That’s good.” Mr. Johnson’s tone was light, but Aiden didn’t like the studying look in the man’s eyes. “I have a favor to ask you.”
Was this it? The big favor Mr. Johnson had made him promise to do, no questions asked? Aiden swallowed. “Okay.”
“You can say no if you want.” Mr. Johnson gave him a look, but Aiden didn’t know what it meant. Was there more he wanted to say, but couldn’t because Aiden’s parents were there? “I brought a young man to town the other day, and I thought it would be good for him to have someone to show him around, help get him settled.”
“Oh.” It would have been nice to have someone show him around instead of throwing him alone into a school full of monsters.
“Tomorrow is his first day of school. I’ve arranged for him to be in your homeroom. I would be grateful if you’d help him find his classes. He’ll also need some tutoring. His education… Well, he isn’t where he should be, but I don’t believe his intelligence is the problem.”
Oh, maybe that’s why he wanted Aiden to help him. “Do you mean regular school stuff? Not like… magic?”
A slight smile. “Yes, regular subjects.”
Aiden nodded. “I can do that.”
“That’s very nice of you, Aiden,” Mom said.
“Thank you,” Mr. Jo
hnson said to him, then he turned to Aiden’s parents. “Thank you for having me in your home.”
“You’re welcome,” Dad said.
Mr. Johnson rose. “Aiden, could you please join me outside for a moment?”
“Um, okay.” Aiden got up and followed him.
When they reached the driveway, Mr. Johnson turned and said, “I want to make it clear that this isn’t the favor that you swore to do for me. You’re free to refuse this.”
Aiden looked down at the cement. “I kind of thought it wasn’t, you know, the Big Favor.” He had a feeling that whatever it was, it wasn’t something Mr. Johnson would ask in front of his parents. A little shiver went through him. “But I’ll still do it to help him out. Is he like me, someone that didn’t know what he was?”
“No.” Mr. Johnson sighed and looked at the sky like he was wondering what to say. “He surrendered to the wardens and chose to come to Shadow Valley. I had quite a time pleading his case. Anyway, I believe he’s sincere in wanting to get certified, but he may have a rough time adjusting to life here.”
That brought up so many questions. One of the first that came to mind was, “What is he?”
“Werejaguar.”
How interesting. He’d heard them mentioned before, so he thought there might be one or two of them at school. Aiden opened his mouth to ask another question, but Mr. Johnson held up a hand.
“If you have any other questions about him, you’ll have to ask him yourself.”
That just made him more curious. “Okay.”
“Thank you again for helping him out.” Mr. Johnson turned and opened the car door.
“Actually, I do have one more question: what is his name?”
Mr. Johnson chuckled. “Ah, right. I forgot to tell you. It’s Santiago Barros. He goes by Tiago.”
“And he’ll be in my homeroom tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Good night.”
“Good night, Aiden.” Mr. Johnson got in the car and closed the door.
A new, mysterious kid that Aiden needed to tutor in nice, safe, normal subjects. It would be a nice distraction from both his fear of magic and Hanna breaking up with him.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Distraction was right. The moment Aiden saw Tiago, he sucked in a breath. Dark brown eyes swept the room with a guarded look. His nose was a bit large and his bottom lip stuck out slightly, but it didn’t make him any less handsome. In fact, Aiden couldn’t help thinking what it would be like to kiss those lips.
Aiden stood, almost knocking his book off the desk. “Hi, I’m Aiden. Mr. Johnson asked me to show you around.” The warning bell hadn’t rung yet, so the class was almost empty. Aiden pointed to the desk next to him. “You can sit here.”
Tiago made a low grunt. “Right. He mentioned you.” He stayed where he was, body tense for another moment before he finally moved. He was all coiled energy, like a wild animal.
Werejaguar, Aiden thought, watching him come down the row. The boy slid into the offered seat and those dark eyes fixed on Aiden.
“You’re a changeling, right?”
Aiden tried to answer him, but all that came out was an odd little noise. His heart raced. Why did he have to be so hot? He both dreaded the idea of spending time with him and relished it. Aiden swallowed and managed to speak this time. “Yeah.”
Tiago nodded and looked around the room. Kids were slowly trickling in. He leaned close to Aiden. “What did the warden tell you about me?”
Aiden could hardly breathe. God, those eyes. Those lips. “That… that you’re a werejaguar and you…” Aiden lowered his voice to a whisper. “You surrendered to the wardens and you wanted to come here. That’s it. Oh, and that you need help with school.”
Tiago stared at him.
Aiden’s body heated. I bet he could rip my head off. So why am I not afraid? Maybe the hormones raging through him didn’t leave room for anything else.
Finally, Tiago grunted and leaned back. “Okay.”
The warning bell rang. Toby bounced into class and skidded to a stop when he saw Tiago. Oh God, no.
“Whoa. You’re new.” He hurried over with a smile and took the seat in front of the werejaguar. “Hi, I’m Toby.” He offered his hand.
Tiago looked at Toby like he was a puzzle. After a moment, he eased and shook the boy’s hand. “Tiago.”
“Did you meet Aiden already?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Aiden is nice. Where are you from? Did you just get to Shadow Valley? Did your parents hide you from the wardens?”
Aiden opened his mouth to tell him to leave Tiago alone, but the bell rang and saved him.
Toby frowned at the noise and what it meant. “Hm.” Then he grinned and said, “You can tell me after class.” Toby spun around to face the front.
Aiden gave Tiago an apologetic look.
* * *
“He’s sort of… intense, but try to be nice to him,” Aiden said as they headed for the lunchroom.
Just when things had gotten back to being like they were before, now Aiden was babysitting some new kid. Dylan couldn’t help being curious, though. All Aiden would tell him was that the boy was a werejaguar and that Mr. Johnson had asked Aiden to help him. Dylan suspected it was more along the lines of keeping an eye on him.
Occasionally kids got dragged to Shadow Valley after their parents had tried to hide them. Sometimes they timidly went through their classes, paranoid the wardens would punish them. A few were full of grief and anger, their parents dead at the hands of the wardens and knowing they had to walk the line or they’d end up the same way.
It had happened more often before Dylan’s time. There were only two recent ones— an older girl who had graduated the year before, and a little girl in elementary school. And now this new kid.
“I won’t pick a fight,” Dylan said.
They stepped into the lunchroom, and Aiden looked around. He brightened and waved. A Latino boy detached himself from the corner and came over.
“Tiago, this is Dylan. Dylan, Tiago.”
They sized each other up. Tiago had predator written all over him. It wasn’t macho bullshit like with Conner. This was the real deal. So that was why Aiden seemed nervous when he talked about him.
“Nice to meet you.”
Tiago’s eyes flashed with greenish yellow, and Dylan got a good whiff of his magic: fur and damp jungle. Dylan let out a bit of his own magic, heat rising around his body.
“Dylan…,” Aiden said, his voice shaky.
“It’s cool. Just comparing sizes.”
Tiago gave a snort of surprised laughter. “I don’t know what you are, but I can tell it would be stupid to start a fight with you.”
“You’re a smart one.”
“Can we stop the macho crap and get food, please?” There was still a little tremble in Aiden’s voice.
“Sure.” Dylan looked away first. “You’ll probably want that side.” He pointed to the carnivore buffet.
“Why?” Tiago eyed him.
“They’ve got piles of meat, cooked or not. But if you want burgers or pizza and that kind of stuff, that’s over here.”
Tiago hesitated.
“Pick whatever you want,” Aiden said. “We’ll be at that table.” He pointed.
“I’ll… go with you.” Tiago followed them to the human food side. It was properly called the omnivore buffet, but Dylan always thought of it as human food.
After filling their trays, they sat down. Once again they were the center of attention. “You picked the right people to hang out with,” Dylan said. “No one will fuck with you if you’re with me.”
“That so?” Tiago said.
Aiden muttered, “Except Conner.”
Like he needed a reminder that the alpha bastard needed an ass kicking. Dylan ignored the comment and told Tiago, “Not that I don’t think you can handle yourself. Did your parents teach you how to fight?”
His expression darkened. “Don’t want to t
alk about it.” He took a bite, tearing into his hamburger.
Aiden looked between them, his worried expression melting into amusement.
“What?” Dylan asked.
“You’re just… so much alike.”
Dylan and Tiago exchanged a curious look. Were they really? Tiago did have an air of danger about him, but Dylan didn’t consider him a threat. He was just a shifter.
Tiago took another bite and watched Dylan as he chewed. “So you’re the big bad around here?” He lifted his chin to indicate the rest of the table. “No one else will even sit by you.”
“Yeah.”
Tiago kept studying him. “So… what are you?”
He didn’t think a guessing game would go over with him the way it had with Aiden. “Dragonkin.”
Tiago blinked. “For real?”
“Uh-huh.” Dylan smiled.
“Shit.” Tiago drew the word out. Not afraid, but impressed.
Aiden jumped half out of his seat, scrambling to get his phone out of his pocket. He checked it, shoulders sagging. Then his eyes went wide. “Uh-oh.”
“What?” Dylan asked.
“Maggie texted to say someone else went missing.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
At least it wasn’t another kid this time, or a werewolf. It wasn’t anyone Dylan had a direct connection to, and the police didn’t drag him in for questioning. Although when he got home, he found out the police had paid a visit to his parents. The missing woman had last been seen near the woods that bordered their property.
What the hell? Was someone trying to frame him or his mom?
“This is bullshit.” He paced the living room.
“They’re just doing their job,” Mom said.
“I bet Conner has something to do with this.”
“You leave that boy alone. One fight was enough.”
No, it wasn’t. That was becoming clearer by the day.
The 7 Bad Habits of Slightly Troubled Monsters Page 7