Page 32

Kerry

I was half-awake when she started squirming around. I smiled a little as I plowed my nose into her hair and took a deep breath. The scent of pure goodness filled my lungs and made the taint cut into me.

Happiness and pain. Always at war.

But the pain didn’t matter. The only thing in the whole world that mattered was this girl in my arms.

“Are you awake?” she whispered.

I was halfway to drifting back to sleep, but she wouldn’t stop moving.

“Stop wiggling around.” I shifted some parts away from her. She didn’t need to know my brain wasn’t the only thing waking up.

“So you are awake!”

“Grr.”

“I need to rescue my hair.”

“Huh?” My eyes snapped open and swiveled to look down at her.

“My hair came down. You’re lying on it, and it pulls.”

I nearly fell outta the bed, I stood up so fast.

“You should have told me right away!” I glared at her red face.

“It’s nothing.” She shrugged and sat up, gathering all that hair in one hand and draping it over her shoulder. “I do it myself all the time when it comes loose in the night.”

I bent down and cupped her cheek in my palm.

“Don’t let me hurt you, angel. Not even by accident. Not even the littlest bit.”

“Okay.”

I didn’t trust her easy agreement, but let it go when she suggested we wash up and get some breakfast. She gave me a washcloth, a bar of soap, and a towel and even found an extra comb, but didn’t have a spare toothbrush, which seemed to bother her.

“I can use my finger, dummy.” I made a funny face at her.

She giggled and drew a line of toothpaste on my index finger, then led me out of her room and down the hall to the guest bathroom.

I brushed my teeth, visited the toilet, hurried through a shower, then rubbed the towel over my hair in a half-hearted effort to dry it. After I threw on the same clothes, I rolled everything into the towel and went back to wait at her door. Leaning a shoulder against it, I crossed my arms and closed my eyes. I was almost asleep again when she came out of the girls’ bathroom at the other end of the hallway.

Her whole head was wrapped up in a towel, making me smile. She opened the door and waved me in.

“What about,” a yawn caught me, “your hair?”

“I’ll just braid it back or put it up. It won’t take long.”

“Maybe you’ll wear it down sometime. I like it like that.” I yawned again.

“Oh. Okay.” She blushed and looked away. “Are you sure you don’t need more sleep?”

“Nah. Just not a morning person.”

After putting on my sneakers, I sacked out on the bed while she sat in her desk chair and began to comb out her hair with long, smooth strokes. She was in a zone, and I used her distraction to stare.

She’s so lovely . My heart tried to burst outta my chest. What am I gonna do when she wises up and ditches me?

The thought hurt, so I pushed it aside for now. This moment was too precious to waste on that crap. I’d deal with it when it happened.

“Ready for breakfast?” She finished her braid and stood up.

“That’s it?” I swung my legs off the bed and got up, too. “No makeup or anything?”

“I put on mascara. Do I need something more? I — ”

I put my fingers over her mouth.

“Stop. I was trying to joke.” I dropped my hand. “You’re beautiful just as you are.”

She stared up at me with a weird expression on her face.

“What?”

“Nothing!” She spun away.

Confused, I watched her open the closet door, dig out a pair of red canvas shoes, and slip them on. While she pulled on a jacket and slung her purse over her shoulder, I wondered if she was getting tired of me, but then she turned and smiled up at me.

And I smiled back, happier than I’d been in a long, long time.

#

This early on a Sunday, the cafeteria was almost empty, so it was a good time for my first visit there. I followed her around and did what she did, picking up a tray and stuff, then going through the hot-foods line.

I flushed a little when I had to ask her to show me how the drink fountains worked, but she didn’t make me uncomfortable about it, which was yet another reason why I liked her so much.

I woke up quick as I downed mountains of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, and we talked about anything and nothing and wondered what to do with the day. She asked if I wanted to go on a tour of the Sanctuary and said there was a free trolley service that would take us on a giant loop around it.

I already knew the Sanctuary was located in a huge valley, completely surrounded by cloud-high mountains. Yeah, a highway passed through, but there weren’t any tourist stops and, thanks to layers of wards and an archangel’s blessing, any humans who might have wanted to stop here were … pushed … to move on.

I also knew the schools were at one end of the valley and the other end was built around a college and hospital. In between were nephs’ homes, stores, and Council Square.

Still, it would be something to do and an excuse to hang out with her, so I said, “Sure.”

“Want me to text and see if Jax and Gigi can come, too?” she asked.

“Yeah, and Chessie. She needs to get out more.”

We heard back from Jax right away. He and Gigi were gonna meet us at the trolley stop near the school store. Chessie, however, said she was busy.

I frowned. “Busy” for her usually meant “feeling too awkward to leave the dorm.”

“No, it’s a good thing.” Gemma looked up from her phone. “She’s interviewing for an after-school job at the movie theater downtown. Looks like she’s starting to listen to us!”

“About time.”

After we finished eating, I gathered our trash up while she went to the bathroom. As I dumped our trays and started to stack them with the others above the garbage cans, two voices stopped me cold.

“You finished tonight’s notes to give to Fanishell?” Reilly Argaud stood on the other side of the wall.

“Got ’em right here.” That was Whit Anderson.

Yeah, Argaud wouldn’t be anywhere without his bully boy to watch his back. Probably the silent lurker was somewhere nearby, too.

It bothered me that Argaud had only been suspended a week for what he did to Gemma while Cole Fanishell had been kicked out for the rest of the semester for what he did to Chessie. When I’d asked Hank about it, he’d said it was Argaud’s first offense, but Fanishell had a string of them. I’d told him that we both knew Argaud probably had other incidents that had never been reported, and Hank had thrown his hands up, even though he agreed with me that their punishments were a joke.

Both of them shoulda been nailed to the wall by their ball sacks.

“Good.” Argaud’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “And remind that cocky little runt to stick to the script this time.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Although I woulda loved to mix it up with them, I decided to go around them for two reasons. One, I wanted to catch Gemma before she ran into them. A nasty surprise like that would ruin her morning. Two, if I got into a fight with them, it would do the same thing.

I made it just in time. She was coming out of the bathroom right as I got there.

“Hey, let’s swing by the cottage for a second. I wanna change clothes.”

“Okay,” she agreed with a smile. “Then it makes more sense to use the exit here.”

“Exactly.”

#

We met up with Gigi at the trolley stop, and she told us Jax was running late after an emergency at the monkey house, but he’d be there soon. As we sprawled on a bench and we waited for him, we talked about what an emergency at the monkey house looked like.

A whole lotta poo, I was guessing.

Then Gigi asked if I would host Movie Night.

“What’s Movie Night?” I was busy opening a packet of peanut butter crackers and didn’t really care.

“We pick a movie and watch it and eat snacks,” Gemma said.

She seemed to be eyeing my crackers, so I held one out to her. She shook her head. Gigi did the same, so I shrugged and ate it.

“Our dorm rooms are small, as I’m sure you noticed,” Gigi said. “It’s crowded with three people. Now that we’ve added you to our circle of friends, we need to find a bigger place. You need somewhere you can spread out your long limbs.”

“I do?” I scrunched up my face.

“It’s not an insult.” Gemma slid closer to me. “She didn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. She’s saying you’re very tall. Remember how you were complaining about the size of my bed last night?”

“And what was he doing in your bed last night?” Gigi crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.

“Sleeping,” we said at the same time.

I watched Gemma’s blush spread over her entire face. Eating another cracker, I realized my staring was only making her more embarrassed, so I blinked and turned to Gigi.

“Sure, we can use my place. There’s a lot of room, and Warden always keeps the kitchen stocked, so there’s plenty to eat. Uh, I dunno any good movies, though.”

“That’s okay.” She waved her hand. “It’s Jax’s turn to pick, and he usually surprises us with something entertaining. Which is good for us because he almost always falls asleep.”

I finished the rest of the crackers, tossed the wrapper in the trash can, and rooted around in my backpack for my water bottle. I couldn’t find it, and my temper flared.

How did I forget that?

I sat the bag on the ground to check the outside pockets and double-checked inside, but came up empty. Getting angrier, I growled.

“What’s wrong?” Gemma asked.

“I can’t find my fu— uh, freaking water bottle.” My mouth was dry from the crackers, making me even grumpier.

“It’s just a water bottle. You can get another one.”

I knew she was trying to help, but my hands clenched into fists all the same.

“I need it now !”

“Then let’s run across the street to that convenience store.” She pointed. “We’ll get another one.”

“I’ll go,” Gigi offered. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

She was gone before I could say anything.

“I can’t believe I forgot it!” I raised my voice. “I packed all those stupid crackers and no water!”

“Kerry, it’s okay. Mistakes happen. We’ll fix it. Is that why you needed to go to the cottage? To get some crackers? I thought you just wanted to change, but then you grabbed your backpack, too.”

I held out my bag for her to see the food I’d stuffed into it.

“We’re only going to be on the trolley for two hours or so.” She used that voice, the one for when she was afraid of setting me off, which usually set me off.

“Doesn’t matter,” I admitted. “I’m starving all the time. You can have anything you want. I brought along more than usual in case anyone else got hungry.”

“Do you — D o you think you might be sick? Maybe you have a tapeworm, if you’re always hungry.”

“I don’t have a tapeworm, worrywart.” I rolled my eyes. “After the exorcism, Warden did all sorts of tests, like for diseases and stuff, and everything checked out fine. He said I’m so hungry because I’m still catching up from before. My power needs my body to be as strong as possible. And he thinks I may be getting ready for another growth spurt.”

Her face stayed puckered up. Sighing, I reached out and stroked my thumb over the spot where the wrinkles gathered between her eyebrows. Her eyes crossed for a second, and I grinned before I dropped my hand.

“How tall are you now?” she asked.

“Six two.”

“It’s not fair!” She made a face. “I’m maybe a hair over five feet, and it doesn’t look like that will ever improve.”

“You don’t have anything to improve on, angel.”

Gigi ’ported back then, a full plastic bag in her hands. When she held it out, I reached inside, snagged a bottle of water, and chugged it down.

“Thanks!” I gasped, crunched the bottle, and shot it into the recycle can.

“Not a problem.” She was still trying to hand me the bag. “I bought more, too.”

“Thanks.” I took the other three bottles and stuck them in outside pockets on my backpack. “I owe you one. If you want anything to eat, I brought plenty.”

“Thank you, but I’m good. Jax may take you up on the offer, though. He’s half stomach.”

“Did I hear my name spill from your lovely lips, Gigi?” Jax called as he jogged up to us.

“You made it!” She launched herself at him.

He grabbed her with a huge smile, one arm around her waist as he lifted her up and spun her around in a wide circle. When he put her down, he looked at me and his smile disappeared.

“Bro! What have you done to your hair ?!”

“Washed it.” I reached up and tried to pat it down.

“Gemma Shepherd! You should be ashamed of yourself, letting him walk around in ignorance for your own amusement!” He shook his fist at her.

Oh, I did not like that.

I did not like that at all .

I was spiked up and between them in a heartbeat. I didn’t want to fight him, but I could not tolerate anyone threatening her.

His eyes flashed mine for a second, then he looked down and took a slow step back, putting both hands up with the palms facing outward.

That’s when I realized he’d meant no harm.

“You were teasing?” I was careful to speak evenly.

“Yeah. I would never hurt her.”

“Sorry.” I ran a hand through my hair, probably making it worse. “I don’t always understand humor. If it makes you feel any better, I hated the idea of slamming my fist into your face.”

“Good! I mean, that’s good, right?” A comb appeared in his hand. “Now, sit down and let me fix your hair.”

To make up for the misunderstanding, I let the power go, sat down, and let Jax do what he wanted. I knew Gemma was watching me, but I felt stupid and couldn’t look at her.

When he stepped away, I gave in and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

“I’m sorry if I upset you.”

She cupped a hand around her mouth and stretched up to whisper back.

“Is this too hard for you? Are we pushing you too far too quickly? Do you want to go home?”

I stood and walked to the edge of the sidewalk. I kept my back to everyone as I thought through the questions and tested myself.

“Jax, you were right,” I heard Gigi laugh. “The way they whisper to each other is adorable.”

“I told you so, baby. They’re almost as cute as we are!”

Rolling my eyes, I walked back and hunkered down in front of Gemma.

“No.” I stroked my fingertips down the curve of her cheek. “No. And no.”