“A cup of tea would be lovely,” my aunt proclaims, flashing me a wink as she hands me the family grimoire, then follows Neva back inside.
While the rest of the coven checks on their children, making sure no one is hurt, Gina climbs up on her gazelle like legs—her clothes grass stained and her hair tangled—and stomps toward me, leaving her Barbie squad to fend for themselves.
Getting way too close, she hisses, “I don’t care who your family is. You are a joke that would be funny if you weren’t so pathetic.” Her head swerves from side to side in the universal ‘don’t fuck with me’gesture. “And don’t think I don’t know that you were the one who started the rumor that you’re dating Nolan and all his friends, magicking it so everyone would believe such an absurd thing was true.”
“I didn’t—” I counter, but Gina isn’t done and talks right over me.
“You think you’re special, but you’re just a flavor of the month for Nolan,” she insists, her brown eyes narrowing to hard slits. “The only reason he gives a shit about you is to get my attention. He wants to make me jealous, but I know better. In the end, he’ll get bored of the games and come back to me.”
“You are seriously delusional,” I scoff, shifting the giant book in my arms to a more comfortable position. I want to explain just how out of her mind she really is, that I know what she did to Nolan, but I keep quiet because it’s not my secret to tell.
Gina flips her hair over shoulder and a look I really don’t like falls over her too perfect features—smug satisfaction. “Is that right?” she sneers with a raised brow. “If you’re so special to him, then he must have told you about Letti, his sister, and why his family are the only vampires in Twin Cedar Pass.”
My stunned silence is exactly what she’s looking for.
With a patronizing smile, she finishes, “That’s what I thought. I’m Nolan’s first and only love. No one can get between us.”
I still think she’s full-on psycho so I don’t bother to correct her as she spins on her heel, whipping her hair into my face, and glides back into the house. Gina is one-hundred-percent delusional when it comes to her relationship with Nolan, misconstruing Nolan’s pleasure in pissing her off as bizarre overtures of affection. Except one of her points still stands. Outside of confiding in me about Felix’s death, the most personal thing I know about Nolan is just how bad Gina hurt him.
Nothing is going on between Callie and me. We’re just friends, I promise, were Nolan’s words to Felix the night we found out Felix rejected his door. It hurts more than it should thinking about what he said. I care about him. I want to be his friend. But the part about there being nothing between us is like a sharp thorn that keeps pricking my heart.
He calls me his friend, but didn’t tell me something as basic as he has a sister. He told me him and his family are the only vampires in the area, but never once hinted that there’s something strange about it. He used my ignorance of the supernatural against me, knowing I wouldn’t understand to question why.
The person he hates the most knows more about him than I do.
“Why do you let her talk to you like that?” Mei inquires, interrupting yet another downward spiral.
Clutching my family grimoire to my chest, I stand tall and square my shoulders.
“Because she doesn’t matter,” I finally answer, and those words are just as vital for me to hear as they are for Mei. “I have a lot more important things to worry about than Gina Reyes and her crazy obsession with Nolan.”
Like bringing Felix back from the dead. Figuring out how to control my magic. Not being murdered by the Council.
“Wow, you’re one boss ass bitch, you know that?” Mei comments, slapping me on the back. “And I’m your ride or die bitch. Just so you know.”
“Thanks…I think,” I tell her, picking a piece of grass out of her hair. “I’m not all that great with people, but doesn’t that kind of relationship take time?”
“When you know, you know,” she assures me with another toothy grin. “Can’t you feel it?”
For a moment, I really look at Mei, and into the core of who she is. Honesty, loyalty, and a whole lot of laughter shines within her. When she says something—promises something—she means it.
With a soft smile, I murmur, “Yeah, I think I can.”
∞∞∞
When Mildred returns to retrieve me, Neva looks extremely pale, which makes me think my aunt spelled it out for her in regard to who she is really dealing with. After gathering my backpack, notebook, and the giant ass book, I say goodbye to Mei. My aunt promises everyone that she’ll bring the family grimoire to the next class, and we make our way back to our car.
Once we’re out of range of listening ears, I blurt, “Can I ask you something?”
“You may ask me anything, my darling,” Mildred says, which I’m not exactly sure is true, but that’s something to unpack later.
Time to save Felix.
“It’s more of a favor,” I elaborate, while we clomp back down the stairs. “The Bast…my, uh, father…”
“No, you were right the first time,” she corrects, her hands fisted at her sides. “He may not be a literal bastard, but in light of more vulgar yet appropriate things to call him, bastard will do.”
I laugh, which sounds far away to my ears. Probably due to my racing heartbeat and the fact it currently feels like I have a vise squeezing the air out of my lungs.
