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The screen fills with bubbles then,No, it’s not. I wish she’d stuck around long enough for us to help her figure out where to start looking. Catherine says there’s a lot of stuff on the history of modern witches in the library. We could have done the deep dive like we did on phoenix stuff. After all Diana’s done to help me while I tried to shift, I wish I could have helped her back.
Pacing back and forth in front of my window, I type,Then let’s do it. Let’s do the research, see what we can dig up, and if she checks in sometime in the next two weeks, we’ll be ready. Or I can play hooky and try to track her down if we find something really good. We’ll have a couple days off between each trial.
That’s perfect,Juliet says.I’ll tell Catherine and Layla and we’ll start digging tomorrow. Looks like our written tests are going to be postponed until after the physical trials due to the death on campus. Everyone here is so upset, Ford. I don’t think I’ve ever heard so many people crying at once. I hate that I can’t tell them Diana’s okay. At least for now.
I don’t tell her that my dorm couldn’t give less of a shit that an innocent girl was murdered. Now isn’t the time to pile more trash on top of an already garbage night.
Instead, I encourage her to get some food and rest and take comfort in knowing she’s honoring Diana’s wishes. She warns me again to be careful, even though there isn’t a killer on the loose, after all, and I can’t help but tease,If I didn’t know better, I’d think you liked having me around.
Juliet sends an eye-rolling emoji, one of the only ones she ever uses, at least with me, and—You’re all right. At least you smell good and give good hugs. There are worse wolfy allies to have around.
She’s flirting with me. Actually, flirting back instead of telling me to shut up and reminding me of her plans to remain a virgin until the end of time.
It’s not a huge step forward, but it’s a step.
I’m so grateful for it that a part of me wants to say something sappy and real in return.
But I know my audience, so I settle for—Right back at ya, Growly. Sleep tight.
This time I get a smiley emoji, the first she’s ever sent, and—You, too.
I lie on my bed and stare at that little yellow face for way too long, letting myself daydream about a future where Juliet is my fiancée, we have a cute apartment in the upperclassman dorm, and she sends me things like hearts and eggplants when we’re apart and other silly things normal couples do.
The rage-filled beast I was just a few weeks ago would loathe the person I’m becoming. My old self grew up believing that going soft isn’t acceptable for an Alpha and that losing your sharp edges only leads to one thing—death.
But maybe I don’t have to be hostile territory anymore. Maybe I can be a refuge for myself and for her, this girl who’s already such a big piece of my heart.
But even as I sink deeper into my daydream, a part of me knows this is just the calm before the storm. I’m not even close to being able to choose anything but violence and neither is Juliet.
We’re both going to have more blood on our hands before this is all through.
Maybe sooner than I think…
seventeen
JULIET
The next dayseems both to last forever and to zip past in no time at all.
It’s as if we’re marooned in the library with every witch book known to man and beast, looking for answers for Diana, for an eternity and then suddenly, the last sleep before the trials is over and I’m bolting upright in bed as my alarm bleats in the darkness.
“Fuck this shit.” Layla groans as she rolls over in her twin bed, putting a pillow over her head. “It’s too early to go fight for my life. Don’t they know some of us aren’t morning people?”
“I’ll grab you a coffee from the common room,” I say, tugging on my yellow Variant jersey over the sports bra and black athletic shorts I slept in. “If you’re up and dressed when I get back, you get it. If not, I throw it out the window.”
“You wouldn’t waste good coffee,” Layla mumbles. “You’re not a monster.”
“Try me,” I tell her as I leave the room, pulling my hair into a messy bun on top of my head as I go. I can smell some of the other girls in the bathroom, slicking their hair back with gel and applying makeup, but I can’t bring myself to care what I look like.
If all goes well, I’ll be in phoenix form, soaring peacefully over all obstacles, a few minutes into the course anyway. Since there are no flying shifters, there are currently no rules against sustained flight.
I assume the Powers that Be would have given Diana specific instructions about how to complete the trials in her owl form, but that isn’t happening now, and I wouldn’t have been privy to that information, anyway. Therefore, I can’t be blamed for assuming I can get away with using the feathers the good shifter gods gave me.
My hope is that, by hiding my phoenix until the last minute, I’ll be able to get at least one trial easily under my belt before they make new rules to keep me grounded. Then, I’ll only have two to muscle through with a mixture of cunning, speed, and luck.
And firebolts.
But firebolts probably won’t be that useful in completing a trial. The fire is for anyone stupid enough to fuck with me or any of my Variant friends while we’re on the course.
