by Becca Fox
“I know, but you’ve honestly got nothing to worry about. The guys who beat me up are serving time for assault and battery. They can’t hurt me. And I’m on my best behavior now. No one else is going to jump me the second I’m alone.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively at Charlie.
He rolled his eyes, shifting as if to climb off of me. I kept a firm grip on his shirt.
“Oh, hon, this long-distance thing is killing me. I can’t wait until the end of the semester to see you.”
I jumped up so fast I almost head-butted Charlie. He scuttled back just in time, thankfully, his face white in alarm.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I’ve booked us a flight to Seattle. Hunter and I will be there the day after tomorrow.”
I felt like someone had yanked the blanket out from under me and I’d done a few flips before landing flat on my ass, kind of like they did in old cartoons. I wouldn’t have been surprised if my eyes were spinning in their sockets and there were little birds flying around my head.
“You what?”
“Can you hear me? It’s so loud in here. Let me go into another room.” I pictured her leaving the kitchen and walking down the hall to her room. The door shut behind her, muffling Law & Order. “I said we’re coming to see you. It’ll just be for three days—I can’t afford to be gone any longer than that—but we’ll make the best of it.”
I shook my head. This couldn’t be happening.
“What’s the matter?” Charlie whispered. He was kneeling between my legs now, searching my face for the answer I wasn’t giving.
“We can leave Hunter with his aunt and go shopping or something,” my mom went on, oblivious. “Hey, you can even show me where you go to school.”
Hunter was coming here.
My stomach lurched. I slapped a hand over my mouth just in case my dinner decided to come up. Charlie gently touched my shoulders. It was like he was offering me his support. Lowering my hand, I managed to give him a little smile of gratitude. God knew I needed it. I was in hell.
“Or, if you’re feeling really nice, you could introduce me to your new boyfriend.”
No, wait, now I was in hell.
“I don’t have a boyfriend. Who said—?” I groaned, falling forward until my forehead bonked against Charlie’s chest.
Aunt Dinah. Of course.
I was tempted to be pissed, but reason won out in the end. How was my great aunt supposed to know I’d been lying to my mom this whole time, being careful not to even hint that I’d made a friend here? I’d never asked her to keep quiet because it had never occurred to me that Aunt Dinah might be talking to my mom about me behind my back. But of course she would. My mom wouldn’t just take what I told her at face value anymore, not since I landed myself in the hospital and waited almost four weeks to tell her.
My mom either didn’t hear the mortification in my voice or didn’t care. “Oh, don’t bother lying. Dinah told me. She said she hadn’t told me sooner because you guys were just friends for a while and she didn’t think there was anything to worry about since he’s a good boy, but it wasn’t right to keep it from me anymore since you guys have officially started dating. Don’t be mad. She was just trying to be a good guardian.”
I snorted at that part about Charlie being a “good boy.” The way my mom said it made it sound like she was talking about a puppy. Then again, when compared to Marty, Charles Campbell might as well have been a puppy.
Charlie had stiffened the second I’d thrown out the “B” word. I looked up at him, hoping to convey just how sorry I was about this entire scenario. He eased away from me. I couldn’t read anything in his expression, which worried me, but I couldn’t address that yet. My mom was still rambling in my ear.
“I guess I can understand why you wanted to keep this from me. I wasn’t a big fan of your last boyfriend.” Her tone darkened a bit but then swung right up to its usual sunshine-bright pitch. “But now that you’ve found yourself a good boy, of course I approve! I mean, if Dinah likes him, how could I not?”
“Mom—”
“I promise I won’t embarrass you, hon. I just want to be part of your life again. It’s been hard to feel connected to you ever since you left.”
“You mean ever since Hunter sent me away?” I demanded.
“It was for your own good and you know it. I mean, look at how great you’re doing in school now! And you’ve found a good boy to date. You can’t tell me you’re not glad to be in Seattle.”
Well, she got me there. It still sucked that she chose Hunter over me though. The words were right on the tip of my tongue but I couldn’t say them. She’d only make excuses if I did.
My mom had convinced herself there was nothing wrong with her relationship with Hunter. I just held a grudge against him because he wasn’t my father. It didn’t matter what I said; that’s what she thought. Because to admit Hunter was an abusive, egotistical asshole who didn’t deserve to be loved by anyone would mean admitting she was unhappy. We all knew what happened to my mom when she was unhappy. It was goodbye Nina, hello non-responsive robot. She never wanted to go back there again.
I understood. I still shuddered when I remembered what she’d been like after my dad had died. But ignoring all of Hunter’s dangerous faults wasn’t any better. I hoped she realized that before he sent her to the hospital.
As if sensing all the words I wasn’t saying, my mom sighed. “Everything will be better once we’re together. I promise.”
“Nina!” Hunter shouted from the living room. “More beer!”
“I gotta go, hon. See you soon. Love you.” She hung up before I could say it back.
I lowered the phone onto the bed, feeling drained.
“What happened?” Charlie looked up at my new bed canopy as if he didn’t really care to hear the answer.
How was he not picking up on the freakin’ horror show that just happened?
“My mom’s coming into town the day after tomorrow. With Hunter.” When he didn’t react, I added, “She wants to meet my new boyfriend.”
Finally, his gaze slid down to meet mine. “I thought you said you didn’t have a boyfriend.”
I blinked at him for a second, trying to figure out why he looked so guarded all of a sudden. I sputtered out a laugh when it hit me.
“You think I’m ashamed of you?” I took his shirt in both hands and pulled until we were nose to nose again. “I adore you, Charles Campbell. I didn’t tell my mom about us because I was trying to protect you. She likes to talk. A lot. Five minutes with her and you’ll be so exhausted you’ll pass the eff out.”
He relaxed against me. “You think so?”
“I know so.” I planted a kiss on his lips just as they started to curl. “Plus, she’d ask a million questions about Jasmine and your uncle, and I know how much you hate talking about them with strangers. I figured it would be in everyone’s best interest if I avoided introducing you to my mom for as long as possible.”
“Makes sense.”
“More sense than your crazy theory about me being ashamed of you, right?”
He wisely chose not to answer. “Guess our meeting’s inevitable now.”
“Yeah, well...” I released his shirt and tried to flatten out all the wrinkles I’d made. “Aunt Dinah’s convinced her you’re a good boy so my mom’s already given us her blessing.”
“People have to stop saying that about me,” Charlie muttered, “otherwise the word’ll spread and people at school might actually try talking to me.”
“Oh, don’t pretend like you ain’t freaking out about this as much as I am.” At his arched eyebrow, I huffed. “We’ve only been together for, like, a day and you’re already going to meet my mom and stepdad? This relationship is moving way too fast.”
“What’re you saying?”
The way he carefully smoothed away the emotion from his face made me think he was coming up with another crazy theory.
My hands slid around his waist. “I’m sayi
ng I wanted to enjoy being with you for at least a few months before you met my messed-up family and decided to run.” With each word, I came a tiny bit closer until my lips were a breath away from his. Then I started to lean away. “Unless you’d rather not deal with the drama and just break up now—”
His hands came up to capture my face, to stop me from putting any more distance between us. There was a fierce look in his eye, one that promised to rain down hell over whoever tried to come between us. “You think I’m looking for a way out?”
I grinned. “No, but you obviously think I am. You’ve braced yourself for a goodbye twice in the last five seconds.”
Some of the fire retreated from his eyes. His hands grew slack around my face. “Good things don’t generally happen to me, Esmer. And this…this is a really good thing. Too good almost.”
Staring deep into those fake brown contacts, I willed him to hear me. To believe. “I ain’t going nowhere, Charlie boy.” I kissed him hard.
Just when we were about to fall back into the mattress and pick up where we’d left off, Charlie’s phone started buzzing. I felt it vibrating against my thigh.
Grumbling curses, he climbed off of me and out of bed to wrestle it out of his pocket. He dropped the agitated scowl once he realized who was calling him. He shut his eyes, as if praying for patience, and then answered.
“Hey, Uncle Vic.” He nodded. “Yeah, I’m all right. I’m at Esmer’s. I know it’s a school night. I was just—” He rubbed his fingertips against his forehead. “I was going to text you but I forgot. Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” His eyes snapped open. “I tried to tell you before I left, but you were kind of busy with—” He lost his nerve at the last minute and stumbled over the next few words. “The coffee maker. Don’t worry. I’m on my way back. Yeah. Bye.” Charlie mashed the hang up button before falling backward, over my bed.
“It’s the night for tough phone calls, apparently.”
“No kidding.” He scrubbed his face. “Uncle Vic’s going to want to talk about what happened with Vanessa.” Then he chuckled. “For the first time ever, I don’t want to go home.”
“Just tell him the truth. You want him to be happy, right?”
He bobbed his head in a reluctant nod.
“It’ll turn out fine. You’ll see.” I leaned over to comb my fingers through his hair. “You’ll come by tomorrow?”
He smirked. “Course. If I don’t bring you your homework, who will?”
“Bring the Switch too.” I flicked his temple. “I can’t wait to kick your ass at Super Smash again.”
“Keep dreaming, red.”
We shared one more long, breathtaking kiss. Then he gathered his things, climbed out my window, and slipped down the drainpipe.
Chapter 30
Jasmine
Anthony was reviewing this week’s reading for my government class but I wasn’t paying much attention.
I’d stayed up all night, reading Angela Smith’s journal. I swear I saw the words written in her elegant handwriting whenever I closed my eyes. The story these words created was incredible. These two people had visited every foreign country I’d ever wanted to see and more. They’d witnessed wars, social and scientific breakthroughs, the turning of centuries, the evolution of culture. It was one long, epic journey, worthy of its own show on Netflix.
I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the young couple we met yesterday were immortal. Incapable of aging. Unable to die. Well, unless one of the other immortals decided to kill them. And those other immortals! Three couples! Six people cursed by Death before us. It was a lot to process, much less put into words.
These other two couples had been friends with the Smiths at one time, loyal enough to be considered their family. Now? Now the Smiths wouldn’t even stay in the same city if they sensed one of them was nearby. They were afraid of running into one of their former friends because it was the only way they could die, but they were also afraid of normal people figuring out the details of their curse and persecuting them for their immortality.
So much fear. How could they stand it?
Of course, if the Smiths knew what we went through, they might think the same. It was all torture, plain and simple; we were just going through different kinds. Charlie’s was mental and emotional. Mine was physical and spiritual. The Smiths’ was psychological. And why were we all living through torture? Because Death showed up in our most vulnerable moments and thought she might help us see why our greatest desires were in fact terrible things.
The immortals wished to preserve the happiness and camaraderie they’d wanted all their lives for and had finally found in each other. But even if their bodies were frozen in time, personalities and convictions rarely stayed the same throughout the ages. Feelings couldn’t be captured or preserved like pictures in frames. They were beautiful and precious because they were temporary. It was just part of life. Nothing could prevent moments from passing us by, not even Death’s dark magic.
Our parents had dreamed of creating a family, a noble thing in its own right, but they’d allowed that idea to become an obsession. They’d been willing to go bankrupt and even bargain with Death in order to make their obsession a reality. They’d been blind to the fact that they already were a family, just the two of them. Even if Charlie and I hadn’t been claimed by Death at birth, we never would’ve belonged to our parents the way they craved. Kids became their own persons when they grew up enough to venture out into the world. Again, it was part of life, one of the reasons why parenthood was so hard and so wonderful at the same time.
Neither the immortals nor our parents would’ve seen the error in their way of thinking—or so to speak—if Death hadn’t chosen to intervene. But was that really her motivation for showing up like a twisted version of a fairy godmother?
I thought about the little I’d been able to learn about Death, especially in the last few weeks. She seemed impatient, tired, sad. And a tad bit superior. Not the kind of magical entity that seemed interested in teaching mortals the true meaning of gratitude. More than eight people in the entire world needed to be cursed if that was Death’s goal.
Besides, if she did intend for her curse victims to learn lessons, wouldn’t she have appeared to them a second time once they’d realized the moral of their stories? Wouldn’t she tell them why they’d been cursed or give them the opportunity to thank her? And, afterwards, wouldn’t she free them from their curses?
I shook my head, tapping the end of my pencil on my desk. It still didn’t explain why she chose us specifically. Was I reading into this too much? Was I looking for a greater plan when there was none? She could’ve just chosen us at random.
An ache was starting to build along the crown of my head. I let go of my pencil to massage the pain away.
I couldn’t break my head trying to figure out Death’s motives. I’d just have to ask her the next time I died, and hope she was in a talkative mood. Angela Smith gave me her journal not just so I could learn about their connection to Death, but also so I could know everything they knew about the Wards. But I was a third of the way through her diary and I still hadn’t heard mention of the soon-to-be senator or his wife...
Or had I?
Angela didn’t call her husband Jerald in her diary entries. She referred to him as Dymeka. Of course, with all the years they’d lived and all the different places they’d been, they’d had to change their names to blend in. Dymeka had to be his real name, just like Ashki was hers. The Wards had called the Smiths “old friends,” but it was obvious from Angela’s journal that the Smiths had only ever had four friends. All of which were also immortal.
My heart ticked a little bit faster.
The Wards had to be the couple that was always involving themselves in government affairs. It was the only thing that made sense. The Wards admitted they had a falling out with the Smiths, many, many years ago and Angela mentioned a big argument with the other immortal couple back in Salvador. Oh, what were their
names?
Anthony waved a hand in front of my face, derailing my train of thought. “I’ve lost you. Where have you gone?”
“To Brazil.” I hopped out of my rolling chair and dashed over to my bed. I practically fell over the mattress on my belly to swipe the book from my pillow.
“You’ll be quizzed on this material tomorrow, Jazz. You need to pay attention.”
“It’s for the case, Tony!” I hurriedly flipped through the pages, looking for that one specific entry. I was pretty sure it had been written in December…in the early nineteen hundreds…
“The case your uncle is working on right now for the mayor?” Anthony walked over, textbook still open in his hand. “But what does that old book have anything to do with—?”
“Death cursed other people. Those people just so happen to be mixed up in a murder investigation. They gave us this journal to prove their innocence. I’ve been reading it to find out more about Death and this couple’s connection to the mayor…Aha!” I slapped the page with the back of my hand. “Izz and Segil are David and Tiffany Ward. They’re cursed, too.”
“You’re not making any sense, Jazz.”
I rolled off the bed and flashed an apologetic smile. “I know I’m not. I’m sorry. I really have to tell Uncle Vic what I’ve found. It’s important to the case.”
“If the journal is evidence, it should’ve been handed over to your uncle right away,” Anthony said, frowning in disapproval.
“Angela said only Charlie and I could read it. It’s a long story.” I waved away any further chastisement. “As soon as I’m done talking to Uncle Vic, I’ll be able to focus on Congress. I’ll only be gone a few minutes. I promise.”
Anthony closed the textbook with an aggressive snap.
I flinched.
“I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but your studies are important. I don’t have as much time with you as I used to, so I need to make every minute count. I’m sorry, but the case is going to have to wait until after we’re done with this chapter review.”