Unraveled

TEN

FOR ONCE, Riley didn’t pick up Mary Ann to take her to school.

Had he heard about last night already? Was he angry with her?

Or had he been hurt at the vampire mansion?

Stomach churning…

By the time Mary Ann realized he wasn’t coming, Penny had already left. Which gave her two options. Walk alone, miss most of first period and be considered absent, or let her dad drive her, and deal with the tardy slip. Either way promised absolute mental torture.

She was a perpetual early bird. If she wasn’t ten minutes early, she considered herself late. But trying to converse with her dad…ugh. He’d ask how things were going with Riley; he wouldn’t be able to help himself. She wouldn’t have an answer. Not now. So he’d feel obligated to mention sex, condoms and STDs. Again. She would burn to ash with embarrassment, so of course she’d be late forever since she would be dead.

In the end, she decided to walk. Her dad didn’t try to stop her, but he did thrust an apple into her hand as she flew out the door. She still wasn’t hungry, so she chucked the bright red fruit the moment she exited the neighborhood. A stray dog would appreciate it, rather than vomit at the very thought of taking a bite.

If she didn’t develop an appetite soon, she’d have to talk to someone.

Sighing, she picked up her pace. She stuck to the main roads, which would shave at least ten minutes from her walk time. Since Riley had pounced into her life, she’d stopped taking this path.

Where are you, Riley? Are you okay? How had Aden handled the introductions? Had anyone attacked him? Mary Ann hated that she’d been left behind. Next time she’d… What? she thought dryly. Demand they take her or she’d give them the silent treatment? Cry alone in her room?

The school parking lot was full when she arrived, but there was no one out front and the halls were empty. Which meant the tardy bell had rung a while ago. As she reached for the front door, she paused. Frowned. Something warm and powerful was wafting through her, filling her nose and mouth and sliding sweetly into her stomach.

Delicious. For a moment, she closed her eyes, savoring. There really was no reason to eat when she experienced this. With every inhalation, she was stronger, better, happier. Then she recalled what had followed this same sensation last night, and dread overtook her.

The witch was nearby.

Mary Ann gulped and spun, hands fisting as Aden had taught her. Her gaze darted across her surroundings. Sunlight shone brightly, those stupid blackbirds singing overhead.

The yellowing grass stretched before her, interrupted only by a large oak. Perhaps she’d been mistaken. Perhaps she was wrong and—

The witch stepped from behind the trunk, and their gazes met, locked, clashed. Mary Ann’s heart thundered in her chest. This morning the witch wore a plain red T-shirt and jeans. Long blond hair curled over her shoulders, stopping at her waist. Sun-kissed skin soaked up the bright light haloing around her.

“I’ve been waiting for you.” A musical voice, yet it dripped with anger nonetheless.

Every instinct she possessed demanded she run. Last time she’d spoken to this woman, she’d been cursed with death. Still, she held her ground. She’d wanted to question a witch. Now she could. Without resorting to kidnapping. “Why?”

“Oh, no. You aren’t the one who will be given answers. I am. Why were you spying on me last night?”

Mary Ann squared her shoulders and raised her chin. Time for a little bravery—whatever the price. “You placed a death curse on me. Why wouldn’t I spy on you?”

A gleam of admiration brightened the witch’s eyes. “True.”

“And I will be given answers. You commanded my friend to attend one of your meetings, yet never told him when and where that meeting will be held. Tell me, and I’ll tell him.” Please, please, please.

“I don’t have the information you seek.” The witch never took a step, yet the distance between them was suddenly cut in half.

Mary Ann raised her chin another notch. “You’re lying.”

“Am I?”

Yes, she had to be. “Do you want us to die?”

“Maybe.”

“Why?”

“You are friends with a vampire, a werewolf, both enemies to my kind, and a boy who draws us with a power we have never encountered before. To echo your question, why wouldn’t I want you to die?”

Her teeth ground together as her own strategy was used against her. Time for a new angle, she supposed. She forced her expression to clear, her tone to gentle. “What’s your name?”

“Marie.”

Mary Ann was surprised by the simply stated answer. “Well, Marie, you should know that we’re going to do everything we can to stay alive.”

“As would I.” Marie’s head tilted to the side, her study intensifying. “Do you know what you are, Mary Ann Gray?”

Hearing her own name used, when she’d never offered it, was jolting. “Me?” She laughed; she just couldn’t help herself. “I’m human.” Average in every way.

“No. You’re something more. I can feel you feeding on me.”

Her eyes widened in horror. “Feeding on you? Are you kidding? I am not a vampire.”

“I didn’t say you were. But you are attempting to drain me, and I won’t allow it.” With every word, Marie’s voice sharpened.

Drain her? What— Oh. Yeah. “Drain” must mean “mute” in witch-speak. “I don’t mute natural abilities, so you should be able to—”

“Do you purposely misunderstand me? I said nothing about muting. You are sucking at my life-force like a vacuum, trying to take everything and leave a mere shell behind.”

“No. I’m not.”

“Continue to lie to me, and I’ll cast a truth spell on you.” Now the witch’s voice slashed. “Never again will you be able to lie about anything to anyone. Ever.”

Could she really do that? Mary Ann experienced a wave of fury, of frustration and helplessness. And with the emotions, more of that sweet power flowed through her, filling her up, somehow soothing her. “I’m not lying now. I’m not…sucking at you.”

“Perhaps you haven’t yet realized what you are, then.” Marie’s eyes narrowed as she backed away, heading into the forest. Odd. She was pale now, her beautiful tan visibly fading. “If you return to town, I’ll assume you’re there to finish this.”

Finish this fight between them, she meant. “You will assume correctly.” Shut up. Just shut up before she attacks!

Mary Ann couldn’t, though. She would not be the weak link anymore.

Marie disappeared behind the branches and leaves, and Mary Ann spun, quickly jetting inside the building. To safety. What had Marie meant by “perhaps you haven’t yet realized what you are”?

Riley might know. He had arranged his schedule to match hers, so, if he’d come to school, she’d get to talk to him during class.

The second period bell suddenly rang.

Doors flew open and kids raced into the halls. Lockers creaked open and slammed shut. Mary Ann had to fight her way through the crowd. Great. She’d missed first period entirely, and she had a test tomorrow. Great. Mr. Klien, if he’d come to school after partying so hard last night, would have done a review today. Without that review, she would flunk.

Schoolwork didn’t come easily for her. She had to slave for every A, and slave hard, but she hadn’t been studying the past few weeks, her attention too focused on, well, staying alive. Last test, she’d gotten a B. Her first. And the last pop quiz? Solid D. Another hated first.

She hadn’t told her dad yet. When she did, he would flip. Make that if she did. She kept telling herself he was better off not knowing. He had enough to deal with. Besides, she would ace the next one and her overall grade wouldn’t be affected.

Oh, who was she kidding? As her peers headed into their next class, she finally admitted the truth. She hadn’t told him because she didn’t want the hassle of being lectured, maybe even grounded. And hey, maybe Marie really had cast a truth spell on her. Now she couldn’t even lie to herself.

“Hey, Mary Ann.” Brittany Buchanan walked briskly down the hall, grinning, a paper outstretched in her hand. Her chin-length red hair was the envy of every girl at school. Well, not her twin sister. Brianna’s hair was the exact same color, only longer. “Glad I ran into you. Riley asked me to take notes for you in Chem.”

“Riley’s here?” she asked, claiming the paper.

“Yeah.” The redhead sighed dreamily. “I almost passed out when he spoke to me. That boy’s voice is deep.”

Thank God he was here. If he was here, he was okay. “Where is he?” And why hadn’t he delivered the notes? Why hadn’t he picked her up this morning?

“Don’t know. But, uh, are you two, like, dating, because…” Brittany bit her bottom lip. “Yeah.” Hands off! “We’re dating.” She hoped. After last night, though, he could have changed his mind. She’d been so sure of herself, so stupid. She may have ruined everything. Now witches were even visiting the school. “Thank you for the notes. I owe you. Big time.”

“No problem. And as for payback, if Riley has a brother, you could, I don’t know, introduce me.” Brittany started biting her lip again.

“He has two.” And both were dealing with curses of their own, she recalled. Anyone they were attracted to would think they were ugly. Anyone they weren’t attracted to would think they were gorgeous. “I’ll see if they’re free.”

“Thanks!” A grinning Brittany flounced off.

Mary Ann rushed to her locker, threw her bag inside and grabbed her book and binder. The halls were now almost empty, the bell due to ring in less than a minute. Too much time gabbing, she thought, and she had to haul butt into the three hundred building.

As she barreled around a corner, a door in front of her opened unexpectedly. She stumbled as she darted around it—or tried to. An arm reached out, hard fingers banding around her wrist and jerking her into a darkened room. The moment she was inside, the door closed, locking her in with her assailant.

Her textbook thumped to the ground. Crap! She could have used it as a weapon. Do something. Quick! Fighting panic, trembling, Mary Ann struck, slamming the heel of her hand into the guy’s nose, just like Aden had taught her.

He howled.

She stilled, recognizing that howl. Her heart slammed against her ribs. “Riley?”

“I think you broke my nose,” he said, but he sounded amused. That amusement didn’t last long, however. He flipped on the light, chasing the shadows away, and she saw that his expression was etched in violence. His eyes were narrowed, lips pulled back, teeth bared. Didn’t help that blood poured from his nose.

“I’m sorry. You just, you scared me!”

The tardy bell rang, and she wanted to curse.

“Don’t be sorry,” he growled. “Be proud. And I’m sorry I scared you.”

He didn’t sound apologetic. He sounded just as violent as he looked. She glanced away, needing a moment to calm, and saw that they were in a supply closet. The scent of disinfectant saturated the air. Cleaning supplies lined the shelves.

Deep breath in, out. Finally, her trembling eased and her heartbeat slowed. “Why are you so upset?” she asked, keeping her eyes away from him.

“I’m not.”

She ran her tongue over her teeth. Someone needed a truth spell, and it wasn’t her. “So where were you this morning? I waited.” And waited. Oh, God. Did he hear the whine in her voice?

“After the vampire gig, I had to escort Aden home. As there was a wee bit of opposition from his new subjects, I was afraid someone would follow him and try to take him out, so I ended up camping outside his window all night and all morning.”

Her hand whipped up to her throat as her gaze once again clashed with his. “Did they? Try to take him out, I mean?”

“No.”

“So he’s well?”

“Well, but tired. He still sees the fairy ghost, and that ghost prevented him from sleeping.”

Tired and ghost-whispering were far better than mortally wounded. “Where is he now?”

“Here.”

“With Victoria,” she said with a nod. A statement of fact, not a question. Those two were always together.

“No. Victoria didn’t attend today.”

“Why? Was she hurt?” And why wasn’t Riley with her? Usually Riley glued himself to the vampire’s side, protecting her his first priority.

Tendrils of jealousy worked through Mary Ann, followed by tendrils of guilt. Their relationship shouldn’t bother her. They were princess and bodyguard. If Victoria were injured, Riley would be punished. Perhaps killed.

Or maybe things were different now, under Aden’s rule.

“Physically, she’s fine,” Riley said. “Our councilmen want her to stay away from Aden so that he can date other people.”

What? “And she’s okay with that?”

Riley’s lips twitched. “You’ll have to ask her.”

“If Aden’s king, how can the councilmen tell her what to do? He wouldn’t allow it.” Would he?

“Aden doesn’t live in our home. He’s new and no one knows what to make of him. Everyone is looking to the councilmen for answers, and right now, they support him. We don’t want that to change, so we’re catering to their desires. Besides, to deny them would cause unrest among the people. That unrest would be dangerous for Aden.”

Still. Having to watch your boyfriend date other girls? Absolute torture! The thought of Riley with someone else…her hands curled, her nails cutting past skin. “Well, you could have called me. Let me know you weren’t coming for me.”

He tangled a hand through his dark hair, all hint of amusement fading. The fury returned, darkening his expression. “No, I couldn’t have. I would have yelled.”

“You’re yelling now!” And for no good reason, that she could tell.

“Yeah,” he said, still with that fury, but now, it was tinged with something else. Something low and raspy. His eyelids dipped to half-mast as he traced a fingertip along the slope of her nose. “But now we get to kiss and make up.” Even his voice had dipped.

Yes, please. “First, why would you have yelled?” Clearly someone had told him what she’d done, but she wanted to hear him admit it before she spilled her guts. “Second, we can’t kiss.” She backed away from him, not stopping until she hit the door. The closer they were, the headier his wild scent became. The closer they were, the better she could feel the heat radiating off him. The closer they were, the closer she wanted to be. “I need to get to class.”

“Actually, you’ll have to miss it. We’re talking right now.”

Uh-oh. The words echoed around her, a threat. “I can’t keep putting off my studies, Riley. Yeah, I’m fine with missing Geometry right now, but anything after that? No. As you know, Spanish is my worse subject, and I need all the help I can get.”

“I’ll tutor you later. Si?”

Yeah, right. Like they’d really pay attention to their books if they were alone in her room. “No.” The only other Spanish she could recall at the moment was: No hay tenedor limpio, tenemos que lavar la. There is no clean fork. We have to wash some.

That wasn’t really applicable here.

“Well, you’re not going to class until we discuss a few things. Namely, you went into town last night,” he said, jaw clenched.

And there it was. The admission. She gulped. “Yes.”

“Alone.”

“Yes. How did you find out?”

“My brothers. They followed you.”

The two wolves who tailed Penny’s car. Of course. She should have guessed.

“They said you encountered a witch. Tell me, Mary Ann. Why would you endanger yourself like that?”

You are not the weak link. You are not the freaking weak link. “Did your brothers also tell you that I stayed in the car? Did they tell you Penny and I drove away before Marie could reach us?”

His nostrils flared in outrage. “You know her name now.”

Uh-oh.

“You’ve talked to her.” Again, not a question.

“Yes,” she admitted softly.

He slapped the wall beside her temples, caging her in. He’d done that yesterday, on the walk to school, and she’d loved it. He’d kissed her, after all. Now, he just looked like he wanted to choke her. The funny thing was, she still loved it. She had only to lift onto her tiptoes and she could kiss him.

“A witch doesn’t need to be close to you to bespell you, Mary Ann.” If he knew the direction her thoughts had taken, he gave no notice. “She needs only to see you. You were in danger the moment you left your house. Do you not recall what I told you about spells?”

“I do,” she said with a nod.

“Tell me.”

A tremor slid the length of her spine. “When a spell is uttered, that spell becomes alive, its sole existence to fulfill its purpose. There is no breaking it. Ever. Even by the witch who cast it.”

As she’d spoken, his gaze had lowered and remained on her lips. Tension had wafted from him before he’d snapped his attention back to her face. “That’s right,” he croaked. “And what would happen if a different type of death spell were cast over you?”

“I would die twice?” she asked dryly.

“Yes, smartie. That’s exactly what would happen, and neither time would be pleasant.”

She’d never seen Riley so fierce, so intense, but she planned to stand up to him exactly as she’d stood up to Marie. This was too important. “Guess what?” she said, flattening her palms on his chest. His heart thundered to the same erratic beat as hers. “That’s a chance I’m willing to take. I’m part of this team, and I will help in any way that I can. How is my being in danger any different from you being in danger?”

His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, even as he pressed deeper into her body. “I heal.”

“So do I!”

“Not from death!”

But his kind could be brought back? Hardly, she wanted to snort.

She paused. Wait. He had been brought back. She recalled the night he’d told her about his brothers’ curse. He should have been cursed that way, too, ugly to anyone he desired, but for him, the requirement of that spell had been met. He’d died, and the werewolves’ version of modern medicine had brought him back. Modern medicine could bring her back, as well, she thought defiantly.

Still. Thinking of his death filled her with fear. She couldn’t lose him. She needed him.

Mary Ann slid her hands around his neck and gentled her tone. “I’m not going to argue with you about this, Riley. I went into town, yes, but I’m not sorry. Marie will be there tonight, and I know where.” Marie had threatened Mary Ann, as good as told her not to return. Which meant she would want to know if Mary Ann disobeyed her. Which meant she would have to be there, watching, waiting. “We can capture her.”

“No, we can’t.” His hands settled on her waist, locking her in place. “She’ll be prepared now. We’ll walk right into an ambush.”

Mary Ann shook her head, refusing to give up. “She thinks she’s warned me away. Intimidated me.” She told him a bit about their conversation, but left out the part about feeding; she didn’t understand that, and until she did, she was sharing the details with no one. And even though she’d thought to talk to him about “what she was,” according to Marie, she left that part out, too. Now wasn’t the time. “She’ll be careless.”

“So you hope,” he said, his grip tightening.

True. “Even if you’re right, we still have the advantage. We’ll be prepared for an ambush. Either way, I guess we’ll find out tonight. And Riley, do not even think about leaving me behind.”

“I’ll do what needs to be done, Mary Ann.”

Finally she rose on her tiptoes and kissed him. He didn’t respond, and she tried not to let it matter. “So will I. And guess what? I changed my mind. I’m hitting second period.” With that, she turned and opened the door. He released her without protest and she strode into the hall, never once glancing back.