“Well…” Nana waved a hand in the air. “Come inside, just for a second. I hope you don’t mind, Susie.”
“Not at all.”
Nana’s usually tidy apartment was covered in papers. She laid her hands on the forms like they were breakable. “I was going to call you about this, sweetheart, but I wanted to make sure that it was real, and then I wanted to tell you in person because I knew you’d want to see the proof with your own eyes as I did.”
I leaned over the table to see bank statements and letters and a check for seven million dollars made out to Brightside Nondenominational Church.
“What is this?” I asked, trying to sound bewildered. “That’s a lot of zeros.”
“My father put a bond in my name before I was born, and the government only now contacted me. I thought it was one of those phishing scams, but the money is actually in our account.” As Nana spoke, her hands ran over the papers on the table.
“For how much?” I asked.
“After taxes were deducted, it came out to almost eight million dollars. It’s a miracle, honey. I’m going to be able to pay for your tuition at a University next year. I already set the funds aside.”
“Congratulations!” Susie beamed, and she did a pretty good job at pretending to be shocked, even though she probably already figured out exactly where the money came from.
“Thanks, sweetheart—”
“Wait, Nana.” I glanced over the table at all of the checks there. “Tell me you’re saving some of the money for yourself. Your dad would have wanted you to be able to retire comfortably.”
“Oh, I don’t need much. When a miracle comes like this, it’s meant to be spread around into as many miracles as possible. The church knows how to manage that best.” Her tone brooked no argument, and I didn’t actually have one to give. That money came from an unrepentant murderer who shot me in the chest, kidnapped me, and attempted to kill me. It was a payout stained in the blood of his many victims, and I didn’t want it. If my nana thought it could make miracles spread across a whole community, then that was what the money was for. At least the Hawthorn Group could never take it back from my nana this way.
“Tell me that you’re at least going to quit working for the Roberts and go buy a house or something.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Wrinkles formed around Nana’s eyes as she frowned. “January, you know that the Roberts are moving, right? Mr. Roberts called me into his office last week after that horrible business with Henry getting arrested. It wasn’t really my business to share, but Mr. Roberts told me specifically that you already knew. He said that you and Justin had broken up a few weeks ago when Justin decided to go away to boarding school. I didn’t want to pry.”
“I should have told you,” I managed to choke out. “I was just so distracted with midterms.”
“Right now is such a time of transition for all of you.” She reached out and squeezed my hand. “I was looking at maybe getting an apartment close to Pam’s place in midtown, but only if you’d be okay with moving there, of course.”
“Anywhere you want, Nana.”
“Well, it’s rude to be late, so I’ll just get my purse.” She smiled up at me. “You make a perfect angel, January—though I’m not sure that is the right costume for you, Susie.”
“That’s the joke, you know.” I pointed between Susie and myself.
Both of them just blinked at me.
“What’s the joke?” Nana asked.
“Because Susie really is an angel, and I’m…” I shook my head. “Never mind. Nana, can I just have a hug.” I reached out and Nana wrapped me in a quick embrace, but I couldn’t seem to let go of her. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Are you okay?” she asked, pulling back from me to gaze into my eyes.
“Fine. Just happy for you.” I pulled away.
I was happy, but it was bittersweet. We had only lived at the Roberts’ mansion for three months, but it felt like an entire lifetime. Losing Justin hadn’t destroyed me. Instead, I just felt the constant ache of missing him. Justin was right. We didn’t have to stop loving each other. He was flying somewhere right now over fields of ice and snow, loving me. And I was here, surrounded by my friends and family, loving him. My life was here. Justin was right about that too. Brightside was my home. It was my city.
Brightside was my territory, and I would defend it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Mitch
The party raged around me as I leaned into Mark’s mahogany bar. I finally had a true understanding of why Justin and January hated high school parties so much. There were very few things in this world less fun than trying to have a conversation with a bunch of drunk people while stone-cold-sober.
Mark had his arm over my shoulders as we talked to a pair of girls that I didn’t know the names of. I wasn’t trying to be a dick—I actually was doing my damndest not to be one—but the room was loud when they yelled their names, and after asking them to repeat it twice, I’d just given up.
I was pretty sure they were juniors, and both were dressed as cats.
The drunk girl across from me leaned over the bar and yelled, “Hey, Mitch, can I ask you something personal?”
Fuck no, she couldn’t. I didn’t even know what I was doing here. There was no way in hell I was going to be driving around a bunch of drunk asses in my car tonight.
I didn’t speak up fast enough, because she called over the bar. “Are you dating January Moore, or is that just a rumor?”
I seriously doubted this random-ass junior even knew January. At all. But clearly the rumor that January and I had hooked up was still going strong.
“She’s my friend,” I called out.
Mark squeezed my shoulders. “January is a cool chick. I texted her a couple of hours back. Maybe she’s here.”
I glanced over the party, seeing dozens of familiar faces but not hers.
“Did you invite her friends?” I asked over at Mark.
“Yeah…” He took a swig of his beer bottle, and then continued with, “They all had plans tonight.”
Meaning, there was no way that January was here. Disappointment formed in the pit of my stomach, and I suddenly wondered if I’d been hoping to see her. That would be fucking pathetic.
The junior girl reached across the bar and touched my arm. “So, Mitch, does that mean you’re single?”
“No,” I called over the cacophony of the crowd.
“He’s dating Amber Davenport,” Mark said with a wink over at me. I didn’t want to fucking know what that wink was about.
I sighed. “I’m not dating anyone. I’m just not fucking single.” I grabbed up my soda and chugged down the can, swallowing the syrup that was supposed to taste like oranges. Why was soda so much harder to chug than booze? When the drink was empty, I tossed it into Mark’s recycle bin and told the group, “I’m out.”
Mark put up a token protest, but by the time I made it across the living room, he was visibly chatting up both of the cat juniors. On the way out, I grabbed a beer off the table and headed for my scarred vehicle.
I was halfway across the parking lot when someone called out, “Mitch?”
Turning, I found a somewhat familiar girl dressed in a nun habit with a tight black dress stumbling toward my car. The joke was mildly funny, especially as she looked drunk off her ass. It took me a moment to recognize the girl’s face, and then annoyance surged through me as I realized it was Amber’s lackey, Charlotte. I was so ready to be back in my room, and part of me just wanted to turn around and walk away.
“I’m leaving,” I said, holding up my keys.
“Can I get a ride?”
Fuck no. I didn’t remember much about this girl, but I did remember that January said Charlotte was an informant. The drunk girl was probably here to plant a bug in my car or something.
“Call a taxi. I don’t want vomit all over my carpet,” I said. It was about as nice as a response as I had in me.
“Please.” Her lip trem
bled. “I’m having a bad night, and I just want to get out of here.”
I glared back at the house. “Something happen?”
“No.” She rushed toward me. “Nothing like that—no one did anything, but I’m just having a hard time. I know you’re January’s friend, meaning you have to be a good person, and I was wondering if you’d just give me a ride to my house.”
Fuuuck.
“If you even think about throwing up in my car, you’re paying for it to get detailed.” I pointed into her face. “You hear me?”
“I promise.”
Damn promises. I was probably going to be scrubbing my seats and regretting the fuck out of this moment tomorrow I was sure of it, but I opened up the car door and let her in.
I stowed the beer in my trunk and climbed in beside the drunk nun. Before we were even out of Mark’s driveway, I was regretting the shit out of my decision.
Charlotte stared over at me with tears making black track marks down her cheeks. “How is she?”
“January?” I asked, and damn it, I did not want to be having this conversation.
“Uh-huh.”
What to fucking say? I could tell this girl that I had no clue how January was doing because I couldn’t be around her without feeling furious. January and Justin had been planning on taking the bug out money and abandoning me forever. They’d arranged everything. The two of them wanted to start their own separate life without all the Brightside baggage, and I’d been that baggage. Then, January had looked into my eyes and fucking promised me that wasn’t what was happening.
“She’s dealing with some heavy shit,” I said simply.
“I know. The Hawthorn Group made me promise not to tell anyone that she’s a dhampir, but I would never have told anyone.” Charlotte shook her head. “I know why she didn’t tell me. I wouldn’t have told me if I was in the same position. I’m glad she has you.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, even though the girl’s words fucking pissed me off.
January was dealing with some heavy shit, and she was dealing with it alone. And, as much as I wanted to just show up at her place and be her friend, I’d probably end up being a dick to her, and neither of us needed that.
“Let’s change the subject.” I squeezed the steering wheel. “Why did you pick a nun costume? It’s good.”
“Everyone calls me “the nun,” so I thought it was silly and fun.” Charlotte pulled the habit off her head, and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. “It just ended up making me feel like crying. It’s hard to explain why.”
“You don’t have to talk about it,” I said, really hoping that she wouldn’t.
“No, I will.” She blotted at her cheeks with her headdress and then blew her nose. “The nickname is making fun of me, and I sort of knew that. I mean, it’s my friends making fun of me, so it’s not that mean. But everyone kept laughing at me tonight, and I didn’t feel like it was very funny anymore.” She sniffed. “Have you ever agreed to do something and then really regretted it later, but you were in too deep? It doesn’t seem like a big deal when you agree, but then it takes over your whole life and turns your life to poop.”
I didn’t think she was talking about the costume anymore.
“Poop?” I asked.
“Oh, I meant shit.” Charlotte rolled her eyes. She held up her habit while her lower lip trembled. “See, I’m the nun.”
“Yeah. I’ve agreed to do things that I regretted,” I said. “Getting kids to do fucked up shit is kind of the sabbatianoí way.”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
We were quiet for the rest of the drive. Charlotte only talked to give me directions. Her house was one of the new Mc’mansions halfway between midtown and the gated communities, and the moment I pulled up, Charlotte rushed to get out of my car, seeming as ready to get home as I was.
Before closing the door, Charlotte paused and said, “I’m glad you’re nice.”
“Don’t fucking tell anyone,” I told her.
She mimed zipping her lips, and I waited until she was inside before heading back to campus. Gregory Hall was so quiet that I was pretty sure I was the only one in the building.
I headed straight for the wall of my bedroom, standing beside the photo I’d blown up of Marisa. Gina Roberts had taken it on Justin and my first day as freshmen. Justin was sitting in the background, looking confident. I’d been ten times as nervous as he was entering Blackburn, even though Justin was considered an Elite dud and pretty much everyone we grew up with had treated him that way.
I’d arrived at school to realize that my older sister was the most liked person there, bar none, and I’d been sure that she’d be too distracted with her friends to hang out with me.
Instead, she’d spent the whole day showing me off to every single one of her friends like I was someone she was proud to cherish.
I raised the beer up in my hand. “I got you one of your badass bitch beers.” I rolled the label up toward her, showing the hot chick on the front. “Cheers.” I set it on the floor before the photo. Sitting on the end of my bed, I rubbed my hands over my hair. “I still can’t believe Justin is gone. You think I could survive in the Arctic?” Looking up, I sighed. “Nope. I saw Sebastian today, and it made me realize something. It doesn’t matter what happens to him. I’m never going to feel better about what happened to you. This is just… permanent.” I nodded to the beer on the floor. “And it makes me want to fucking drink, but I didn’t tonight.”
A soft knock sounded on my door, and I glanced back at my clock, seeing that it was past midnight. If this was fucking Amber, I was ending my nice streak for the night. But even before I opened the door and saw January standing out in the hallway, I somehow knew it was her.
There was a halo over her head and large feathery wings behind her back. She wore a long white dress and a pair of black shit-kicker boots under it. Somehow, the outfit worked, maybe just because she was so damn pretty, she could probably pull anything off.
“Hey.” She ran her teeth over her bottom lip, looking nervous.
I leaned against my doorframe. “What’s up?”
She shook her head. “I was on my way to bed, and I saw your light on.”
I nodded, and when she didn’t elaborate, I asked, “Anything, in particular, you wanted to say?”
January nodded. “You’re important to me, Mitch. You matter to me so much, and that’s the only reason I didn’t want you to come with us on a trip that was probably going to cost both Justin and me our lives. That was it. That was the only reason. I didn’t want to lose you. I don’t want to lose you.”
For one completely irrational moment, I had an almost overwhelming urge to step into the hallway, wrap January up in my arms, and kiss her until both of us were breathless.
Then, reality hit hard and fucking fast.
She was my friend, and she’d more than likely gently but firmly reject the shit out of me if I made anything resembling a move. Instead, I rubbed a hand over my head and admitted, “I guess I felt like the only two people that really mattered to me didn’t want me around anymore.”
“It wasn’t that at all.” January reached forward and grabbed my hand. Her fingers were warm, and the small callouses on the tips of her fingers tickled against my palm. “It was the complete opposite of that. You probably don’t trust me anymore, but I’m telling you the truth. And, I know you don’t want to hear me apologize for Phoenix again, but I am so sorry for lying to you and betraying your trust in me.”
I squeezed her fingers. “Can you just try not to do that again.”
She nodded so hard, her halo fell forward, and before I could think better of it, I reached up and straightened it for her.
“Yes, Mitch. I will do everything in my power to never betray your trust again. I can be a real fuck up sometimes.”
“Yeah,” I said on a chuckle, “So can I.”
Down the corridor, the elevator dinged, and a group of mini Elites headed into the hall.
“Their d
ance is probably over at nine,” January said.
“That’s when they end,” I said. “Pretty soon the hallway is going to be full of freshmen riding the wave of a sugar-high.”
“If you’re not ready to pass out, I saved a whole bunch of auto mechanic shows on my TV. I don’t know if you’ve watched them before, but they’re called something about combustion.”
“Eternal Combustion?” I asked.
Her face fell. “Oh. Never mind. You’ve seen it.”
Every single episode. Some episodes I’d seen more than once, but I found myself saying, “I’ve been wanting to watch that show, and I’m not ready to pass out yet.”
A smile lit across her lips, and, suddenly and unbidden, the last words Justin spoke to me flitted through my mind.
You didn’t deserve the shit I put you through, Mitch. I’m an asshole. I guess I already knew that January and I would never end up together, and I was putting that on you. I just didn’t want to believe what my mother told me. Maybe this is what ends up happening when you try to beat fate.
“Mitch?” January said, pulling me from the memory. She held her door open for me. “Coming?”
“Sure.”
As I headed into January’s room and landed on her couch beside her, I pushed away what Justin had told me and locked it deep in my mind. Gina Roberts was full of shit, and I didn’t believe in any of that new age spiritual crap anyway.
January curled up on the couch next to me, scooped up a jar of peanut butter with a spoon in it, and pressed play on the first episode of Eternal Combustion. As the familiar intro played, she shoveled a lump of peanut butter into her mouth and beamed over at me.
I tugged the spoon from her fingers and scooped a bite of her crunchy peanut butter, before asking, “Why are you so happy?”
“I’m just proud of myself for finding a show about cars you’ve never seen before, and this one has seven seasons. I saved all of them for you in case you like it.”
“Good stuff.” I shoveled the peanut butter into my mouth and handed back the spoon.
We settled in, and for the first time in a very long time, I was exactly where I wanted to be.
Broken Elites (The Vampire Legacy Book 3) Page 29
