Unraveled

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.



ELEVEN



GO AHEAD AND FLUSH this day down the toilet, Aden thought as he and Shannon walked home from school.



Cars whizzed past them on one side, and trees stretched on the other. They were taking the main roads today rather than the forest. Riley had insisted, and agreeing had been the only way to get rid of him.



All day, Aden had been too tired to listen to his teachers. He had no idea what material had been covered, and even if he had been paying attention, the souls had been too chatty to allow him to concentrate, having just come out of their drug-induced stupor. They’d wanted to know what had happened with the vampires, but he hadn’t had a chance to reply.



On and on they’d asked—were still asking—until he’d wanted—still wanted—to bang his head against the wall. It was probably a good thing, then, that Riley and Mary Ann hadn’t spoken to him at lunch. Actually, Mary Ann hadn’t spoken to anyone at lunch. She’d sat at the table, food untouched in front of her, frowning at everyone who passed. Aden would have asked her what was wrong, but trying to carry on a conversation hadn’t seemed wise.



Especially since she’d looked ready to throw something at Riley’s head when the wolf announced he would be walking Aden home rather than his girlfriend. But Aden had refused his escort with a firm shake of his head. Having a friend beside him, sure, good times. But a babysitter? No, thanks.



To his surprise, Riley had accepted his refusal after only a few halfhearted protests. He’d been free to go with Mary Ann, after all. Hopefully, they’d work out their problems before midnight, when their little group was supposed to meet up and head into town to hunt—and kidnap—a witch.



Aden was still reeling about that. Kidnap? Really?



Again, there hadn’t been an opportunity to discuss it. Not just because of the souls, but because of their audience. And now he had to rush to the ranch so that Dan could take him to Dr. Hennessy’s office for their emergency session.



“This sucks,” he said.



“W-what does?” Shannon asked, flicking him a glance.



The question battered against the rest of the noise inside his head, and Aden took a moment to decipher it. “My upcoming doctor’s appointment. I don’t want to go.”



If that stupid doc forces any more drugs down your throat, I’m going to shoot myself, Caleb grumbled.



Good luck with that, Julian replied dryly. I don’t think I ever told you this, but it’s always been a dream of mine to watch a soul without a body wield a gun.



Well, bodiless or not, we might wish we could shoot ourselves after today’s session, Elijah said grimly.



“Do you know something?” Aden demanded. Elijah’s predictions never failed. What the soul thought would happen, happened. Usually, he only knew when people were going to die. Yet more and more lately, he knew other things. Scary things. Like blood flowing in rivers.



“Know w-what?” Shannon asked.



This time, he didn’t have to pause to decipher the words. The different conversations were finally streamlining, becoming clearer. “Sorry,” he said to Shannon, cheeks heating. “I meant, this has just been such a crappy day, with Mary Ann’s silence, Riley’s bad mood and the doctor’s visit, like I mentioned.”