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CHAPTER 1
Maxine
I was so nervous. This might have been my idea, but now, it was real. Happening. And it could go wrong at any moment. I paced our dorm room and looked at Case. “You have to make it through.”
The handle lifted and lowered. I really wasn’t sure exactly how Case became Case. I just knew when I was gifted this amazing container on wheels that I was young, learning about magic, and more importantly, about the tricks people played. Jealous girls were plentiful in my young life and it was really just a matter of time before I started talking to my secret keeper, Case.
At some point, maybe when I was twelve, it… seemed to respond to me. Filled with my most important possessions, Case became my best friend and trusted ally. Was it weird? I snorted a laugh and shook my head as I looked at the full-length mirror and my crazy reflection. How could I even define weird anymore? Since arriving at Blackthorn, nothing had been the way I thought it would be.
First, I had a roommate when I planned to have my own room. Ellie and I got off to a rough start, but here I was, pacing our room, trusting the first female in my life since I was ten. Maybe everything worth having had to be a challenge for me.
Case, Ellie, and Thurst.
I swallowed and soothed my suddenly dry throat. There was a time when people talked about thirst traps, about acting thirsty, and it all referred to the feeling of wanting, needing, that cool drink of whoever was creating those wild feelings. I had dated several guys. Technically, that included Thurst’s brother, Loudan, but aside from a smooch, we did nothing physical without someone around to see it, document it, or whatever. Loudan had big plans for his land life as he liked to call it. I was a prop in a photograph to that one and nothing more. It certainly got me attention from my own parents, but also landed me in my personal prison that had actually become a personal paradise for me. I hoped this worked. It had to work. I just needed to get some private time with him and he would see we were meant to be. I felt it in my bones. Thurst had a major role in my life. The woods told me so. Well, the challenge in the woods indicated I had two paths before me and I was going to take the one toward the water. Even if I’d been told my whole life that the ocean would kill me, I could not resist the pull any longer.
The door opened and I stopped pacing. I steadied my breath and put on my smile. It was our second semester of this year and we were on break for a long weekend. Ellie was helping me get Thurst to come along on this vacation by convincing her monster boyfriend who happened to be Thurst’s best friend to help us. Braz, as Ellie called him, would do anything for her. Even spend a weekend with her best friend, me and his best friend, Thrust in an unknown destination.
I looked at the mirror and began casting the spell. The three of them entered and the moment Thurst saw me, he shook his head, no.
I reached forward and opened the door in the mirror. “Case.”
Case hurried through and I said, “It’s at the beach.”
“Sounds good.” Ellie smiled.
Before Thurst could put his bag down, speak, or before I could get through the door, the gargoyle/demon hybrid smiled at me and then said, “Oops,” as he pushed Thurst forward. Thurst came crashing into me as we both fell forward through the door.
I looked back, waiting for them as Braz smiled and said, “See you in a few days.” Then he reached to close the door before either of us could get footing.
I watched Ellie’s face and her expression of shock as she moved forward, but there was no stopping it. The door clicked and we were looking at a mirror in my bedroom at the cabin-style beach house.
“Open that door.” It was a quiet command and it gave me both a chill and a thrill to hear his warning.
“I can’t.” I gulped.
“You conjured the door.” He stood and looked down at me as I dusted off my behind and looked up at him.
“It doesn’t work like that.” I hadn’t been completely honest about this place.
“Then how does it work?” he shouted more than asked.
Case, ever my protector, wheeled into him and he winced as he looked at his toe. “Did you do that?”
Thurst was always barefooted. It was like he had hobbit feet or something without all the hair. I tried not to wonder who that human author had met to get some of those details right. I also tried not to stare at his feet as I also wondered how Case could have gotten that reaction with a bump to a toe. He was still waiting for my answer. I realized this as I took in his wide eyes which were watching me look him over like he was a snack I needed to eat immediately. I cleared my throat, straightened my shoulders, and said, “No. Of course not.”
He didn’t look convinced.
Then, to Case, I said, “Case, be nice.”
“Be—” He shook his head and then ran a hand down his gorgeous face. “I’m leaving.”
Nope. But he was going to try, so I just followed him as he stormed out of my bedroom.
CHAPTER 2
Thurston “Thurst”
I would strangle that monster when I got back. Braz was my brother by choice and he just pushed me into the bedroom of the one female I am actively trying to avoid. He knows this. He damn well knew it after the one dinner date where I tried not to crawl out of my skin and… fucking into hers.
