Page 45 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse

Or not.

Clearly, he thought booze was the key to my heart. But really, I had no interest in getting involved with him. He was cute, and he checked thenormalbox that Drevan never would but didn’t excite me. It seemed Drevan had broken me irrevocably, and hooking up with just any hot guy wasn’t enough anymore.

Sage took my mocktail and replaced it with the new drink.

“Thanks.” I had no interest in getting drunk, but I definitely wanted something to take the edge off. “What is it?”

“Rum and Coke.”

I tasted it and found that it was very strong. Clearing my throat, I decided to drink itveryslowly.

“Jenna and Benjamin are having fun,” Sage said, sounding as if he was trying to make me feel guilty for providing him with entertainment.

I ignored the jab and simply said, “I’m glad they’re hitting it off. It’s about time.”

We stood in silence for a long minute, Sage’s gaze going from the red cup to my mouth as if that would make me drink it faster. Slowly, he inched closer until his arm was rubbing against mine. It was a bit chilly, and his warmth felt nice, so I didn’t move, which was a mistake because he took it as an invitation to wrap an arm around my waist and pull me tight to his body. Lowering his mouth to mine, he attempted to kiss me.

I firmly pressed a hand against his chest and pushed him away. “No, Sage.”

Looking injured, he pulled away. “Why not? I thought we had a good time last time we…”

“Yes, we did, but…” I shrugged. How could I let him off easily?

“But what?”

There really wasn’t a good approach. Best to just be straight with him. “Well, I don’t think we would make a good couple.”

He huffed as if he thought I was stupid for thinking that. “There’s someone else, isn’t there?”

“You could say that.”

A frown parted his forehead, then he pulled away, looking disgusted with me. Yep, he definitely was the kind of guy who didn’t like to getnofor an answer. For all I knew, this was his first.

“Something weird is up with you,” he said.

Oh, so if someone didn’t like him, they were weird?

Witchlights, dude! You’ve really been living in a bubble all your life.

“Maybe the rumors are true,” he added in a biting tone.

“Rumors? What are you talking about?”

He shrugged dismissively as if sayingnever mind.

I stared him down, letting him know I would hound him until he gave me an answer.

He gave in. “They say you’re involved in something… sketchy. That whole thing the day you saved Jenna from that demon attack, the entire situation wasn’t on the up and up. They say,” he paused, hesitating whether or not to put it all out in the open, “they say there’s some sort of prophecy that involves you and Striker’s Queller.”

Oh, shit!

“They say you stole the Queller, and that’s why it isn’t in the teachers’ lounge anymore.”

Double shit!

How did they know all of that? It had all been kept under wraps. Only Jenna… but… she couldn’t have. I was frozen for a moment as I tried to decide what my reaction should be. If I demanded to know who had told him all of this, would it confirm the rumors in his mind? Would it be better to laugh it off?

Before I was able to decide, Sage took me by the arm and leaned close. “Let me see the Queller. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”