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“You are badass,” I say, admiring her style.
She looks up with the palest eyes I’ve ever seen and smiles with excitement. “The Girl on Fire, I’ve been expecting you.”
“How does she know who you are?” Asher squeaks, hiding behind me now.
“She does that, she knows things,” Alice replies with a shrug and I wonder if she called ahead to freak us out.
“You’re not funny, Alice,” Asher growls, likely deducting the same thing.
“You think I gave her warning?” Alice looks at us both as the woman with skin as dark as midnight circles me and Asher. “I swear I didn’t.”
I don’t believe her for a second.
“No, no, I’ve been waiting.” Molly snatches my hand and runs the point of one of her extremely long rings down my palm. It snags my skin and catches a drop of my blood.
“Hey, what the fuck?”
The woman dances away, jingling and humming to herself. She picks up a tiny black bottle and taps the tip of the ring against the opening before sticking a cork in it and shaking it.
“Drink this, it’ll help with the nightmares,” she slides the bottle my way and my heart stops when I see my name on the label. “Trust me. You’ll sleep much better.”
I lift it from the black glass surface of the counter and raise it up to the dim light.
“You have nightmares?” Alice asks, looking concerned.
I have never talked to them about it, I never talk to anyone about it and I doubt Lane or Stanley said anything. There’s no way she could have known.
I pocket the bottle and mutter my thanks. I’m freaking out right now and my palm stings a little.
Alice takes away her attention and purchases the youth oil for her mom. As soon as that’s over, we all fight for escape but Molly calls my name, my actual name.
“Mallory? Although you don’t like that, do you?”
Asher and Alice both stop with me. I turn to face the woman, peeking around a tall shelf so I can see her. “I call myself Scandal now.”
“But you don’t like that anymore either.”
I wet my lips and glance at my friends. “I really need to go.”
“When you get stuck, with your name, with… other things. Remember third is the charm.”
Doesn’t she mean third time’s the charm?
“I’ll make a note of that. Thanks.”
We run like hell, screaming and laughing because WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?
“And then she was all… Mallory… you don’t like that do you? And I was like…” I slap my hands to my cheeks. “This isn’t fucking happening.”
Presley smiles as he watches me rant about my incredible day.
“It was creepy as fuck, let me tell you.” I quickly tie my hair up in the mirror. It’s damp after my shower.
I’m grounded but it was worth every second.
“What are your nightmares about?”
I shrug my shoulders noncommittally. “This and that.”
“Is that why you set your alarm so much?”
Cringing, I turn back around and his eyes snap up from my bare legs to my face. He smiles innocently.
“That’s exactly why. Anything over an hour and I wake up screaming.”
“Are you going to test the theory?”
I bite my lip and shake my head. “It’s got my blood in it.”
“So has your body. And from what you said, there’s no more than the tiniest drop. Less than if your gums bleed while you’re brushing your teeth.”
He has a point.
“Try it. I’ll stay up and wake you if you start to freak out.”
“Not tonight, not while Paisley is in my room.”
His eyes flash with mischief. “You can always stay in my room.”
I smack him with my slipper. “Behave yourself.”
My phone chimes and Carter’s name lights up on the screen. Presley sees it too and his smile fades.
I pick it up, lie on my stomach on my bed, and grin at the message.
Carter: Miss you.
