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I glanced back at the window right as Minsi and Rue were leaving the library. Minsi opened her arms and ran. I tensed a little bit—where the hell was she going? Then I saw it. Across the street, Raika walked out of the school. She ran toward Minsi. When my sister bumped into her, Raika pulled her up and spun her around. I could hear Minsi’s happy squeal from here.
I couldn’t help but smile.
“You like her,” Dom said. I hadn’t even noticed he had stood and was a foot behind me, looking out the window too. I wiped the smile from my face. “Even if you hide your smile, you can’t hide it from me. I’ve known you since we were born, and I’ve known you’ve been into her for a long time.”
“What?” I stared at him.
“The first time I realized it, we were about sixteen, I think. You had made up with Lucille about two months earlier, just to break up again. It was easy to see you’re trying to force yourself to be with her. When you were with Lucille, you were so serious, so uptight. You almost never smiled. But then I saw the glint in your eyes when you looked at Raika and you thought no one else was watching.”
My first instinct was to deny it, because that was what I would have done until one year ago. Because I had to protect Raika. But it was different now, wasn’t it? If it depended on me, the entire world would know how much I loved her.
“Soon after, I realized that you never bothered her like we did,” Dom went on. “Quite the opposite, you protected her from us by creating other distractions, pointing out other things for us to do, and things like that. Then it became crystal clear.”
“Who else noticed it?”
“Mace did.” Our friend who died during the first battle. “However, knowing you liked her only made him want to hurt her more.” He shifted his weight. “Me too, in the beginning at least.”
I frowned, displeased with this confession, but it was good to have this out in the open now. “What about Lucille?”
“I don’t think she knew. She never said anything, and I think she would have. No, she was too enamored with you to even consider you had your eyes on another girl.”
I shook my head. “I should have been more careful.”
“Don’t worry. Mace and I only knew because we were the ones who spent the most time with you.” He bumped his shoulder in mine. “So, will you tell me what’s going on between you two, or should I make my own assumptions again?”
I snorted. There was no reason to keep this from him. Dom was my best friend. “Raika is my m—” I pressed my lips tight when I saw Serge and his friends strolling to the main square, toward where Raika and Minsi played tag.
“What does that old wolf want now?” Dom asked.
“Good question,” I snarled.
My instinct was to go down there and stop him before he even opened his mouth and insulted Raika, but once again, I had to remind myself that I shouldn’t do that. If I defended her in public, people would wonder what was going on, and Serge would definitely create a ridiculous story and start spreading across town.
“He and Lonan really give her a hard time, you know?” Dom said. “Raika did all she could for us, and yet, they never appreciated her. They never stopped bullying her, even from behind bars.”
Raika saw Serge and the others coming and stopped playing. She gently pushed Minsi behind her and toward Rue, who was seated on one of the stone benches lining the paths in the main square.
Serge pointed his finger right in her face and yelled at her. I couldn’t hear his words, but I heard the bite in them. Dear moon, my body thrummed with the need to pound his face.
Raika stood still. She spoke to him without raising her voice.
Serge turned to his friends, who stood a couple of feet back, laughed, then poked Raika on the shoulder. She took a step back.
And I did too, ready to go there and break his hand.
Dom put a hand on my shoulder. “Calm down. She’s a big girl. She can handle him.”
Serge yelled at her. Minsi yelled back. She jerked free from Rue’s grip, ran to Raika, and shouted something at Serge.
He turned his enraged eyes to her and yelled right in her face. He raised his arm—
Raika planted her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back.
Minsi’s shout turned into a scream. She pressed her hands to her ears and curled into herself. Raika turned to her. She embraced Minsi and the two of them crouched down together.
I growled. “That’s it.”
I ran from my office.
