Layla crossed her feet at the ankles and her hands over her stomach. “Before we get to really crying in our Wheaties, gotta say I’m pumped as all get out about the other students. What kind of yummy paranormals is Magnum gonna give me?” She rubbed her hands together with a slightly manic grin. “Maybe some muscled-up wolf shifters who have to shed their clothes on the regular? Mmmmmm. I could handle standing around with some fine buck-naked shifters, that’s for sure. Or maybe some sexy-as-sin vampies? I’m thinking I could get into that whole bloodsucking thing. I can see how it’d be a turn-on in the right circumstances.”
Brady scoffed at her, giving her the stink-eye. “Seriously, Lay, you’re too much sometimes! You know that just ’cause those kinds of creatures are in all the books you like to read doesn’t mean they’re actually real, right? You get the meaning offic-shun?”
Layla only smiled more, her eyes taking on a dreamy cast. “We can die and come back to life, Brade. Who’s to say what is and isn’t real anymore? If we’d had this talk at the start of summer, you would’ve thought immortals didn’t exist.”
“So would you’ve.”
“Yeah, probably. But now?” She shrugged. “So who’s to say what’ll show up at the school? All I know is there’d better be some hotties for me.”
“Is that really all you can think about?” Brady accused. “We’ve got some major, major problems.”
“Of course not. But tell me you aren’t gonna get jelly when Joss and Griff start fucking their brains out and we’re stuck here staring at the walls.”
“No one says we’re gonna be fucking our brains out,” I said right away, but then quieted. We probablywouldend up having sex, and after the taste I’d already gotten of Griffin, I could see the temptation of going at it like rabbits.
“See?” Layla pointed at my face. “No matter what Joss says, she just all but admitted it.”
“What? How?” I asked, though even I could feel my cheeks flushing. What was up with all the flustering lately? It so wasn’t me. Keeping my face snugly tucked against his shoulder, I was careful not to glance up at Griffin.
Brady jerked to sit up straight, his expression thunderous, though I didn’t think his ire was truly directed at Layla. “I’m just atad bitmore concerned about the fact that we just agreed to let a maniac kill us, pretty much as many times as he wants, while he puts us on display and prods us to see how we tick. I’m the only one of us who’s died twice. Lemme tell you, this is one area where I was hoping the third time wouldn’t be the charm. Even when we come back, the dying bit still feels like dying.”
“Yeah, it does,” I answered miserably. “What are we gonna do, guys? I know I keep asking, but we’ve gotta have some better options.”
Seconds passed before Hunt said, “I’ve been racking my brain over it. I agree, there’s gotta be a better option than basically submitting to being guinea pigs. But”—he breathed in then out while scratching behind Bobo’s ears—“the only two options I currently see are us doing it ‘willingly’”—he hooked his fingers in air quotes—“or the even less fun way.”
Even more miserably, I muttered, “There’s gotta be another way.”
For long moments, the silence was interrupted only by Bobo’s deep, relaxed breathing. He was close to falling asleep.
Finally, Hunt added, “We’re severely outmatched in experience and resources here. And right now, I don’t see a single way around it, not when we have no one to lean on but ourselves.”
After that sank in for a bit, I grimaced. “Hey, at least we have each other though, right? We’ve gotten through all sorts of shit together before. We’ll do it again.”
Griffin squeezed my hand. “That’s right. We’ve got this. We always do.”
The others nodded, but surely they were thinking the same thing I was. Sure, we were stronger together. No doubt. And yes, we’d gotten through some shit over the years, all made easier since we had each other’s backs.
But we’d never been up against a challenge this significant or this dire. We’d never faced down a force as strong and indefatigable as Magnum Chase. The stakes had never before been this high or this terrifying.
“It’s us against the world, guys,” Layla said. “No different from before. We’ve just got to kick ass a little harder, that’s all.”
“Yeah, of course,” I replied on autopilot. I desperately wanted to believe it, but I didn’t. From the dour looks on my friends’ faces, not one of them did either.
Magnum coveted the power we had. And yet we’d never felt less powerful.
14
The Dealio Sucks, Yada Yada Yada, But …
Iwas already lying awake in my bed when the alarm went off at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. Despite our initial excitement at the amenities our new house offered, we’d dispersed early the night before to be alone with our own thoughts. I’d soaked in the deep tub of my ensuite bathroom until the skin of my fingers shriveled. I’d examined the problem of our newfound immortality and the iron hold Magnum had on us from every angle I could think of with no new results. I’d finally succumbed to sleep, to get away from my burdened thoughts as much as to rest.
Now, Bobo lay beside me, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his feet in the air. I woke him with some belly rubs before sliding out of bed and getting ready for the day.
What exactly did one wear for their first day at, uh … supernatural school? Would I be dying today? Did I need to think about blood getting on my clothes?
“God,” I muttered aloud to myself, “I can’t believe I’m considering that.”
When I trudged out to the kitchen—Bobo prancing happily beside me—I discovered my friends already there, their expressions equally haunted.
