Three Kinds of Wicked
Page 23
For once, I think everything’s going to be all right.
“Hey!” Jon stands at the end of the hall. His voice is loud enough that even he looks abashed when the students in the hall turn to look at him.
So much for everything’s going to be all right.
Josie punches his shoulder. She rolls her eyes as she heads toward me, and he follows a beat behind.
“The big lug came to say he’s sorry,” she tells me.
“Not much point in saying it now.” His jaw works back and forth once. His hands are jammed in his pockets. He hesitates, his lips pressed together.
Well, this is awkward. I glance back at Josie, wondering if she forced him to come up here.
She sighs. “I guess he was right and we should’ve tried to catch you at the pub. We just didn’t want to ruin your night…”
“It’s fine.” I don’t expect anyone to apologize to me. The whole thing makes me uncomfortable, and I glance down the hall, which is emptying now. Part of me still expects Jon to lunge at me and attack again. When I see Airren’s door swing open down the hall, the ball of tension in my chest eases a little.
Abruptly, Jon says, “I wanted to thank you for finding out who really killed Luca.”
“Oh,” I say. “He seemed like a really good guy.”
“He was.” Josie rests a hand on Jon’s shoulder. “We’re going to miss him. But we’re sorry that our missing him turned into blaming you…”
I shrug, trying to lighten the moment. “It goes with the territory when you’re the Dark Lord’s daughter.”
Josie shakes her head. “Well, you aren’t just that. You’re part of Rawl House—and from now on, I promise, we won’t forget it. We’ve got your back, Tera.”
Her frank gaze makes me just as uncomfortable as I was when Stelly told me she liked me. I nod, because what do I say?
Stelly doesn’t have anything to say either. She suddenly lunges and hugs Josie, who laughs as her arms close around my friend. The two of them stumble back, and Jon puts his hands on Josie’s shoulders, steadying her under the force of Stelly’s surprise affection.
Of course, she’s just hugged Josie for me. I don’t have to figure out how to answer. A wave of relief crashes over me as Airren joins us. There’s a faint smile on his lips and a distinct line between those cool blue eyes of his, as if he can’t quite make out what he’s walked in on.
“I’m going to get Cax and Croft,” Stelly says happily, dragging Josie and Jon off with her toward the stairs.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Airren promises. He touches my elbow, breaking my stride as I head behind them. “Are you sure you’re up for the pub tonight?”
“Given that I don’t know what it’s like at the pub…” I shrug. “But I’m hearty. I’ll survive.”
“Lots of friends waiting for you at the pub,” Airren says. At first I think he’s being facetious, but his face is serious, and then he goes on. “People are curious about you. The girl who threw herself from the fifth floor and lived. The girl with the dragon.”
I reach inside the open top of my purse reflexively at that, running my fingers over the warm hard shell of the egg. I might have a dragon’s egg, but I’m no wizard. “They’re going to be disappointed.”
“I don’t think they will,” he says.
When I look up into his handsome face, his smile widens slightly. Maybe he’s not disappointed. That’s a nice thought.
“I still can’t…” I raise my finger in front of me, pretending I’m lifting an invisible spoon.
“It’s going to be fine,” he promises me. He throws an arm over my shoulders, tugging me in close. Even through his crisp button-down shirt, his body’s warmth and the hard definition of his muscles brush against me.
He turns his lips into my hair and murmurs, “There’s no such thing as a woman who has no magic. And you’re a very special woman at that. Whether you can cast a spell or not right now, Tera Donovan, I don’t have any doubt in the world that you’ve got all the magic you need.”
To read the next installment of Tera’s adventures, THREE KINDS OF DAMNED…
A Note From May
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About the Author
May Dawson’s first crush was Indiana Jones, and it wasn’t just for Harrison Ford’s rugged good looks. She’s always been drawn to adventure, and she found it in Bali and the Antarctic, traveling widely before she settled down to raise two red-haired munchkins/hooligans. These days you can find her embracing a very different kind of adventure: love. Living it. Writing it.
The Lilith stories are her first reverse harem series, and she looks forward writing many more stories of love in its infinite and wonderful variety.
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May@MayDawson.com
Also by May Dawson
The Lilith Series:
Wild Angels
Fierce Angels
Dirty Angels
Chosen Angels