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A murmur ripples through the hall. Everyone has noticed who stands on my side. Alec’s two friends step back. Alec flings my arm down like he can’t stand to touch my skin any longer. “Well, Ice Queen. I see you put out for Hart and Fallen. Perhaps it is ghost slut after all.”
A snarl escapes my lips before I can stop it. Alec laughs as he turns back to his friends, but they slink off down the hall. There’s a palpable release of tension in the air, and students turn back to their friend groups. A warm hand slides up my arm. Eli’s dark eyes are full of concern. “He didn’t hurt you?”
Gabriel throws his arm around me. “I think Alec was the one in danger from Mackintosh here.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to thank them, but Mackenzie Malloy doesn’t thank people who come to her rescue – they’re doing a public service. So instead I fix Gabriel with my superhuman glare. “Don’t call me Mackintosh.”
“Why not? It suits you. A macintosh is what we English gentlemen wear outside when Mother Nature decides to piss all over us. You’re just like a mackintosh because you scare the rain away with your sunny disposition.”
I can’t help it. A laugh leaps out of me before I can stamp it down. Eli looks taken aback, while Gabe looks delighted. Behind them, Coal-Eyes lingers, glowering at me. I wonder how long he’s been there, and if his presence has anything to do with Alec fucking off.
“You laughed.” Gabriel squeezes me tighter. My whole body floods with warmth as the Alec incident flees my mind. “That means your nickname is official, Mac. That’s the rules, right, Eli?”
Eli nods. He’s studying me in that way of his, searching for answers to a question I don’t understand. It’s hella intimate and kinda sexy in this possessive, fucked-up way.
“That’s a terrible nickname. I refuse to accept it.” I fold my arms and glare at them both, but there’s no fire behind it. I’m not supposed to be doing this, getting close to people. I’m not supposed to have nicknames. And yet, I can’t bring myself to fling away Gabriel’s arm. I’m only human. “Try again.”
“No can do, Mac. Those are the nickname rules,” Eli’s smiling too, and it’s this warm, bright smile that turns my insides out. I don’t think anyone’s ever smiled at me like that before. “You should be happy. The first nickname Gabriel ever gave me was God Almighty, because he thinks I sound like a TV preacher. I’m so grateful he spread that one to the track team in our freshman year and then left for tour before I could force him to undo the chaos he wrought.”
Next to Gabriel’s aristocratic voice, the twang of Eli’s Southern roots is more pronounced. I get the sense that he tries to hide it behind an affected Californian accent. I never thought a guy like Eli Hart, who seems so popular and at ease with himself, would be self-conscious about anything.
At the mention of the tour, Gabriel stiffens. A dark shadow shrouds his eyes. I think of what I read in the news about the drummer from Octavia’s Ruin, and realize that for all his silliness, Gabriel was still dealing with the aftermath of that horror. The darkness is gone in a moment, and the fun, flirty Gabriel is back. “I can’t take all the blame for that one,” Gabriel claps a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I might’ve planted the seed, but Noah was the one who yelled ‘God Almighty’ when you won that meet and spread the name to all the other schools.”
They both glance over at Coal-Eyes. So, his name is Noah. It suits him, somehow. Gabriel’s eyes flicker nervously back to Eli. There’s a silent conversation going on between the three of them – a battle of wills over an outcome I cannot fathom.
Noah glares at his friends and, with a final fiery draft of hatred in my direction, he shoves past us and storms off.
“Don’t mind him,” Eli says, his eyes searching me again. “He thinks you’re responsible...”
He trails off, his eyes flicking back to Noah. An awkward silence descends over the three of us.
“I have to go.” I shrug Gabriel off. I can’t stand to look into Eli’s eyes any longer. This is too much, too weird. Responsible for what?
“See you in homeroom, Mac,” Gabriel yells after me as I disappear into the bathroom.
“Mackenzie, wait,” Eli says.
I don’t wait.
I hide in a stall until the bell rings. In homeroom, students slide their desks away from me. I carry a bad smell around this school – I reek of trouble. I’ve only been here a day, and I have the blood of their king on my hands. Wisely, they choose to avoid me.
Well, most of them. Gabriel slumps into the seat beside me, and I catch a flash of his wicked smile before I angle my body away from him.
“You can’t ignore me forever, Mac,” he whispers in my ear. “It’s better to give up now, because I have a black belt in annoying the shit out of people until they pay attention to me.”
I stare at my books. Why does he have to be at this school?
Gabriel Fallen isn’t supposed to be a person. He’s an idea – a wonderful, discordant, calamitous creation. His music is the only thing that got me through the nights where the dark and loneliness clawed at me, leaving my skin torn in ribbons, my organs exposed. I’d turn on my headphones or the house speaker system and Gabriel’s voice made me feel… seen. He made me feel real – like I could separate the pieces of myself from my stolen life.
He’s not supposed to be a flirty guy with a touch that burns so good.
They say you shouldn’t meet your idols because they always disappoint. But I can’t imagine Gabriel Fallen ever disappointing anyone. Not with that wicked mouth and those long fingers. Not with the mind that forms such beautiful lyrics and those slate eyes that see more than they let on.
I try to focus on what Mr. Ross is droning on about – tickets for a senior class trip to Germany available on the school app. It’s not compulsory, but judging from the excited conversations around me, everyone will be going.
Not me – I’d be working for one of Antony’s contacts that week, to try to make enough cash to pay the power bill for the rest of the year. Even though I drained the pool and turned off the circuit breakers in the wings I don’t use, the house still costs an insane amount to run, especially because I need to keep at least some of the security features operating.
At lunch, I pile my plate with food and make a beeline for the outdoor area. Unfortunately, that means walking past Alec’s table. Even that wouldn’t be so bad – I can handle Alec – but it also means coming into range of Eli’s savior complex and Noah’s dagger eyes. That guy oozes hatred from every pore. If only I knew why all his rage is directed my way.
