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“You want to bet?” Ashley dropped her fangs. “We can be in the lake in ten seconds.”

“Esther wants us to get along.”

Dammit. She continued to glower at him but relaxed her fangs back into her gum line. Her mind whirled, but no answer came that would result in both destroying August and Esther not being upset with her. She huffed, unwilling to verbally acquiesce.

“Look,” he continued. “I know you’re leaving with her in a few weeks for the middle of nowhere Midwest to meet your family.”

“And?” She didn’t think she could handle a scolding from the witch. She still had the vial from Claribel in her pocket, reminding her how fleeting her non-relationship was. She was risking everything, letting herself be vulnerable, over something with an expiration.

August plucked her phone from the nearby counter and began typing. Stunned by his blatant disregard for private property, she watched in horror.

“The holidays can be tough, and new relationships are hard.” He handed it back to her. “So, if you need someone to call or text, you have my number. Also, you should put a password on your phone.”

Ashley’s hand shook. She snatched her phone back before he noticed. There were a handful of numbers in her contacts, and the only one regularly used was Esther’s. Ashley wasn’t sure what to do with something this serious. He couldn’t possibly know how alone she was in the world. Should shenotthreaten his life anymore?

“Are we friends now, witch?” she asked.

The corner of his mouth hitched. “Something like that, I guess.”

17

Esther

Esther woke to a rumbling under her cheek and a kink in her neck. She sat up with a squeaky whine as she stretched. Her hand hit the overhead call button, and a small wind tunnel attacked her face. She slapped buttons furiously until it was back in line.

Right. They were on a plane headed to Ashley’s parents in Iowa.

Neither of them could have predicted what a headache holiday flying would be. After traffic to the airport, followed by another hour through security, their plane was delayed because of bad weather—frost, if she remembered correctly. Two hours behind schedule, and she was really regretting forgetting to pack her water bottle. She swiped the top of her mouth with her tongue, trying to ease the dryness.

According to her phone, they were over halfway through their flight. Surely, the drink cart should be by soon. Esther craned her neck to check the back of the plane. A flight attendant offered a cup to the passenger two seats up the aisle. She’dmissed her chance. Her shoulders slumped. Maybe she could get up and ask for a cup of water. She turned to Ashley to see if she wanted anything as well and froze.

Ashley sat hunched in her window seat, a sheet of her long hair covering her face, but Esther saw the rough way she was breathing. Short jagged breaths like it pained her to take in air. “Ashley?”

A rumbling deep in Ashley’s core was her only response.

Cautiously, Esther reached out and shifted Ashley’s hair. “Are you all right?”

They had the row to themselves, which offered a bit of privacy. Esther wasn’t sure what she would find behind that golden curtain, but she wasn’t prepared for this. The golden smiling girl from class was gone, and in her place was a vampire in all sense of the word. Her cheeks hollowed, her jaw flexed with tension and her nostrils flaring.

Ashley gazed fixedly at the upright tray in front of her. “Are we close?”

The flight wasn’t supposed to take this long. Neither of them had planned for the hours’ delayed access to blood, and Esther cursed their naivety that everything would work out the way it should. She pulled out her phone with a shaking hand.

“We should be landing in about an hour.” She did her best to keep her voice calm, but the way Ashley pinched her eyes shut told her that wouldn’t be soon enough.

Ashley’s gaze snapped to the front of the plane, following a man as he entered the small restroom.

“I have to pee.” She fumbled with her buckle.

“Wait—” Esther placed a hand over Ashley’s.

Her fangs came out with a snarl, fixing Esther with red-rimmed eyes, the skin around them pulled tight. Esther’s heartbeat ratcheted up ten notches, and she pulled her hands back to safety.

Ashley retreated into herself, hands covering her mouth, shoulders hiked to her ears.

“Esther, I’m so sorry. I would never…” Her words mumbled through her hands, and her head shook as though rejecting her own actions.

She was scared.