Page 135 of Cold Curses

She crossed her arms. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Her eyes narrowed with anger. “How would something that’s part of you hurt me?”

That made tears well. “You have a no-drama rule, remember? And this is magical nonsense dropped right into your lap. It seemed cruel to tell you, because you didn’t want any magic or supernatural stuff, and I was double the fun. I was trying to respect that boundary.”

“Oh, well, thank you. But I think we’re past the halcyon days of no drama. Not with demons in town.”

“Yeah.”

After a moment, she cleared her throat. “I think we both messed up.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Best friends are supposed to tell each other everything. We did not pass that test.”

“On the other hand, we were trying to do the right things for each other. And we did tell each other eventually; it just took us a couple of decades.”

It was my turn to hug her. “I love you, Lulu.”

“I love you, too, Elisa.” Then she punched me in the arm. “But I’m pissed you told me only because youhadto.”

“You only told me about your magic because you had to.”

She opened her mouth, closed it again. “You aren’t wrong.”

“I know,” I said with a Solo-esque smile.

Lulu went to the bed, sat down, and patted a spot beside her. “Sit,” she said, and I obeyed. “Do your parents know?”

I shook my head. “I haven’t told them. I was afraid they’d take it personally, see it as some kind of failure on their part. That they’d failed to protect me. I think my mom suspects there’s something, but she doesn’t know what. Connor knows. And his aunt, because she guessed when we were in Minnesota. That’s it, until now.”

I thought of all the times we’d lied to each other—or protected ourselves to protect each other—simultaneously. So much time wasted, even with the best of intentions. Now we’d be walking a new path together. Hopefully one that, if no less treacherous, would bring us closer together. Because even if we’d been honest with each other, being who we were—vampire and sorcerer—was still risky in a world where humans were in the majority.

Maybe one day we could justbedifferent. Maybe we wouldn’t have to hide or change or pretend to be something that didn’t feel likeus. Maybe we wouldn’t have to feel guilty or weird or shamed about those differences. We just could…be.

“So, Black,” she began. “He tried to rip it out of you.”

“Yeah. Hurt like a son of a bitch.” I rubbed my chest where it still felt sore, like my scalp after wearing a ponytail for too long. Stretched in the wrong direction. “Monster didn’t want to go.”

“Monster?”

“That’s what I call it,” I said, and felt a little sheepish. “It wants to go back into the sword.” At that, I felt monster’s enthusiastic approval.

“Well, that’s better than Black having it. He’s got enough magic as it is. We had to hold him back, you know,” Lulu said after a moment.

“Black?” I asked, looking over at her.

“Connor. We had to hold him back from lunging for you and Black when he was working his magic. And it was a close call. I might have used magic on him.” She made a little grimace. “But I knew you didn’t want him getting hurt.”

“And I’m immortal.”

She nodded. “I know. And I know you were prepared to take that hit for all of us. So, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks for keeping him safe.”

“He loves you fiercely,” she said. “Not something I ever thought I’d say about Connor Keene where you were concerned.”

“But life is a candy assortment.”