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Shit. She wasn’t going to help us. Whatever happened between Claudia and Samantha back then must’ve been bad. “I need your help,” I said.
Samantha nodded. “Yup. I can see that.”
“What can you see exactly?”
“More than I want to.” She slid her dark sunglasses over her eyes again. “A lot more.”
“Like?”
“Like I know they’re all werewolves, but you’re not just wolf.” Her tone is very matter-of-fact and almost bored, and I get the sense that she doesn’t appreciate me testing her. Because that’s exactly what I was doing.
“I can see the pack ties all wound around and spreading out, like a yarn shop vomited up all over you. I can see the ties that bind you to the hottie back there, and the ones that tie my cousin to that one—” Samantha pointed to Lucas. “But that’s all pretty obvious.”
She finally looked back at me. “Because I also recognize you, Teresa. I’ve watched the news. And now that I’m looking at you, I want absolutely nothing to do with any of you. Two of you have ties to a demon, and from the look of the tie, he’s a real asshole. So, if you don’t mind, I’ve gotta get started on my homework. Midterms are next week and my chem teacher thinks we should understand the material regardless of how shitty a teacher he is.”
That was a pretty cold brush off, but at least she was being honest. And she was right to not want to get messed up with this. If I were her, I wouldn’t want to either. But I had to convince her to help us, because Samantha Lopez was definitely the person we needed.
“Please, prima. We need your help.” Claudia’s tone was a borderline whine.
“And where were you the last five years?” Her words weren’t too hostile, not yet, but I could see it coming from the defensive stance Samantha had taken. “Where were you when I was begging for help? Where were you when I got taken away by those idiots at child services and thrown into an institution?” Her words were dripping in bitterness.
I couldn’t stop the hiss from coming out. She was institutionalized for her abilities. That was enough to fuck up even the toughest person.
“Yeah. It was as fun as it sounds,” Samantha said. I couldn’t see her eyes through the dark sunglasses, but I was sure that part was aimed at me. “You never came to help no matter how many times I wrote to you.” She walked toward Claudia. “I begged you—”
Samantha looked off to the side for a long moment, and it was like the anger drained from her. When Samantha finally looked at Claudia again, she was much calmer. “You know what? I’m not doing this. Look, Cloud. I don’t blame you for bailing on me after we found out all that stuff about my dad, but don’t expect me to help you now.”
With that she stuck her earbuds back in and pushed past me and the rest of the guys. We stared at her in silence as she went around the side of the building to the stairs.
The door slammed behind her and I sighed. “Well, that went fantastically.”
“There’s so much I regret, but what I did to her… I couldn’t help her. I couldn’t even help myself.” Claudia tugged on her braid. “I’ll go talk to her. I’ll make this right. If she can see the tie to Astaroth, she can cut it. I just have to convince her we’re worth helping.”
I caught Claudia’s arm as she started forward. “Actually, let me give it a shot.” I didn’t have all the history that Samantha and Claudia had, which might make her more agreeable. Or at least less bitter.
Claudia looked to Lucas and then shook her head. “No. It’s my—”
“I’m not going to pretend to follow whatever was going on between the two of you, but I can relate to some of what she said.” I huffed a laugh as I ran a hand over my forehead. “I me
an, it sounds like she pretty much lived through one of my nightmares. My parents worked damned hard to teach me to keep my mouth shut about what I saw, especially at school…”
She seems very broken, chérie. That stuff about begging for help? It sounds like she’s had as rough of a time as Claudia these last few years. Maybe worse. You want me to go in there with you?
No. As much as I want you there, I don’t think it’d help. I can’t imagine being locked up like that. And if she was in there long…
He stepped toward me, pulling me against him. I’m thankful that never happened to you.
Me too. Samantha was like an alternate version of myself. If my childhood had gone any differently, I might’ve been her, instead of mated to Dastien and living a nice life. Granted, we were here because that life was being threatened, big time. But even in the worst of times, I was thankful for who I was, what I was, and for my friends. I had a lot to be thankful for.
Maybe Dastien had a point. Maybe I did have a pack. Maybe I would draw people to me. If there was one thing Samantha needed, it was a pack of her own. People who got her, despite the crazy. Even if she couldn’t help me, I had to let her know that I was her friend if she wanted one.
But the fact was, I did need her help. I hoped that I’d find a way to convince her, because I wasn’t sure how much longer I had before Astaroth used his tie again. I had to break it or be prepared to lose everything.
Ten
The stairs creaked a little as I walked up them to Samantha’s front door. The wood was nearly rotted through. If someone didn’t fix them soon, there was going to be a terrible accident. I was a little nervous as I reached up to knock. I’d faced a lot of terrifying things the last few months, but nothing was as scary as Astaroth having a tie to my soul. I wanted it gone more than I wanted air to breathe. This girl was the only person I knew of right now who could help me. I had to change her mind, but I didn’t have a clue how I was going to do that.
A whispered conversation filtered through the door. Spanish. Finally something not French. This I could understand.
