The jocks stopped, facing Mary Ann as one. A frowning Shane Weston stepped to the front, big and strong and clearly angry. “You better shut your mouth, Gray. Tucker isn’t here to protect you anymore.”
Mary Ann opened her mouth to reply, but no words emerged. Coward! Say something. Anything. She remained still, silent. She’d never been any good at confrontation, and now, when she needed the courage Riley had praised, she found none. Shame filled her.
“That’s what I thought,” Shane said with a laugh.
“G-get the h-hell out of here,” Shannon suddenly growled.
“What? Are we making you angry, and we won’t like you when you’re angry? Whatever, Stutter.” Laughing again, Shane and his gang wandered off.
“Shall I kill him for you?” Victoria asked without any inflection in her tone.
“Yes,” Penny snapped as Mary Ann rushed out, “No.” Penny had no idea that Victoria really would do it. Her fangs were hidden right now, but she could drain Shane Weston dry in seconds.
Victoria shrugged. “If you change your mind…”
“We need to change Mary Ann’s mind. I’m all for jockicide.” Penny pushed to her feet as if she hadn’t a care, but hurt lingered in her eyes. “Anyway, I’ve got a paper due next hour, and I haven’t even started it.”
“N-need help?” Shannon asked, standing before she could answer.
He meant to protect her, Mary Ann realized, in case anyone else insulted her. That brought tears to her eyes, because dang it, she missed her own protector.
Penny blinked in surprise, but strode around the table and linked their arms. “Sure. You any good with Sylvia Plath?”
“No.”
“Excellent. You can help me make everything up.”
They laughed as they walked off, Penny throwing a smile and finger-wave over her shoulder at Mary Ann.
Alone at last.
Mary Ann propped her elbows on the table and leaned toward Victoria. “We’ve got to work on your…humanness.” Was that even a word?
The vampire furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
“You can’t just go around offering to kill people. That’ll get you into all kinds of trouble.”
She raised her chin, and Mary Ann caught a glimpse of her stubborn core. “I welcome trouble.”
“Fine. But Aden doesn’t,” Mary Ann reminded her.
Gradually, Victoria’s chin fell. “You’re right.” She pushed out another sigh. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m the right girl for him. If perhaps…” she twirled her fingertip over the tabletop, tracing some sort of design “you wouldn’t be better suited for him.”
“Are you kidding?” One, Victoria might have phrased the words like a suggestion, but there had been fury in her tone. And two, Mary Ann adored Aden, but she didn’t crave him the way she craved Riley. “That boy worships you.”
Some of the tension left Victoria’s shoulders. “Yes, but sometimes, when we’re all together, you’ll laugh and he’ll watch you, and there will be such…longing on his face. When that happens, I want to rip out your trachea. Sorry, but it’s true.”
Okay. She’d been close to dying before the curse, and had had no idea. Perfect. “I can tell you for sure that he doesn’t like me as a girlfriend. Aden and I…we will only ever be friends. Our different—” She looked around, making sure no one was listening. Everyone seemed to be going about their day, eating and talking, unconcerned about her and her conversation. “Our different abilities make us want to run from each other most of the time. It’s a miracle we’re even friends. Besides, can you imagine wanting to kiss the guy who housed your mom?”
Victoria shook her head, but still didn’t appear completely convinced.
“Maybe that longing shows up because he wants to make you laugh like that. Let’s face it, I’ve known you for weeks and I’ve seen you smile once. Maybe. You might have been grimacing.”
Now Victoria blinked over at her. “Are you saying I’m…depressing?”
“Will you want to rip out my trachea if I am?”
Crystalline eyes narrowed. “Maybe, but I won’t allow myself the luxury.”
“Thank you. Then, yes. I am. Just…lighten up, maybe. Tell a joke every now and then. Aden’s had a lot of seriousness in his life, you know? A lot of bad. Now he needs good.”
What? You’re a doctor now? Well, she had always wanted to help people.
“I…I— Well, I hate that the boys think it’s okay to leave us behind.” Clearly, the subject of humor was closed. “They treat us like we’re damsels in distress.” Like Mary Ann, Victoria propped her elbows on the table. She rested her chin in her upraised hand.
Mary Ann didn’t know if the girl would take her advice or not. Time would tell. “I agree,” she replied, allowing the change of topic without comment. “And it’s irritating.” But you are a damsel in distress, and that’s the real reason you find it irritating. Proof: she hadn’t punched Shane in the nose like he’d deserved.
Disgusted with herself, Mary Ann pushed her tray aside, even the scent of the pepperoni pizza suddenly hurting her stomach. She should be starving by now, she mused. First she’d skipped breakfast, and now lunch. But she’d been unable to think about taking a bite without wanting to barf.
“I mean, I understand that I can do a lot of good here,” Victoria continued, unaware of her inner turmoil. “I can protect you, of course. And I’ve convinced all of Aden’s teachers that he’s here today so that he won’t get into trouble and be kicked out of the ranch.”
Victoria could make anyone do or believe anything she wished with only her voice. Mary Ann secretly called the ability “Voice Voodoo” and nearly peed her pants in fear every time she thought about it. Stripping in public just because a vampire told her to? Yeah, it could happen. That, and a lot worse. Thank God they were on the same side.
The litany of her skills persisted. “I’m also a trained fighter. More than that, I can’t be hurt. I’m an indestructible vampire, for God’s sake.”
Mary Ann didn’t bother to point out that her father—an indestructible vampire—had just been killed. Or that her former fiancé—an indestructible vampire—had soon followed Vlad the Impaler to the grave.
“First, you don’t need to protect me. I’m not helpless,” Mary Ann said, her irritation clear. Didn’t you just admit to yourself that you are, in fact, a damsel in distress? And isn’t a damsel in distress, what? Helpless. “There’s no need for you to play babysitter.”
Victoria uttered a dejected sigh. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m new to interacting with humans. You have always been my food source, nothing more. Or rather, my delicate, easily destroyed food source.” Her lips twitched there at the end.
A grin? Now?
Victoria was attempting to joke with her, just as Mary Ann had instructed, but Mary Ann’s shoulders slumped in nervousness rather than amusement. Here was yet another reminder of the death and destruction that could be waiting around the corner. A vampire could drain a human in seconds. A werewolf could rip human skin into shreds. But…
Maybe there was a way to fight them.
The stray thought had her tilting her head, considering her options. She didn’t want to fight Victoria or Riley, of course, but she did need to learn how to defend herself. Then maybe they’d see her as more a help than a hindrance.
“What if—” she began at the exact same time as Victoria said, “Riley told us—”
Mary Ann laughed. “You first.”
“I was saying that Riley told us to stay here, but that doesn’t mean we have to obey him. I mean, he and Aden might need us. And if we save them, they’ll have to thank us for coming to their rescue.”
Slowly Mary Ann smiled. “True. Where would we go, though? How would we find them?”
“I would—” Victoria stiffened, frowned, then blinked. “Did you hear that?”
Listening, Mary Ann glanced around the cafeteria. Same kids, same inane chatter. “Hear what?”
“That scream.” The vampire massaged her throat with one of her hands. “So much pain…I’ve never heard anything like it.” She jumped up, her chair skidding backward. “And I think…I think it belonged to Aden.”
Mary Ann was on her feet in the next instant, as well, heart hammering, blood chilling. Something hot and hard banded around her wrist, and then a strong breeze was ruffling her hair. Her feet lost their solid foundation, and suddenly she was floating, flying. She yelped in shock.
The kids, the tables, even the walls around her vanished. In a snap, thick tree trunks and orange-gold leaves took their place. Sunlight gleamed from the gray sky, murky, yet still too bright for her startled eyes.
An unruffled Victoria stood beside her.
“What just happened?” Mary Ann rasped. And why did she feel like she was going to fall over and vomit? Black spots replaced the light as her stomach churned mercilessly.
“I teleported us to the forest. I can only travel short distances, so we’ll need to do this several more times before we can reach the ranch.”
Wait. They’d just teleported? Out of school? “Did anyone…see us?” God. Now she couldn’t breathe, the air freezing in her nose before reaching her lungs.
“I’m not sure. We’ll find out tomorrow.”
Great, she thought, swaying with her sudden light-headedness. “A little…warning next time. Okay?” She hunched over, sweat pouring from her, even though that winter storm was raging inside her veins.
“Mary Ann?”
“Yes?”
“Here’s your warning.”
Once again a hot brand circled her wrist. Once again the ground disappeared from beneath her. Once again she was floating, flying, wind ripping through her, splitting her into thousands of pieces, then fitting her back together again in an instant.
This time when she focused, she realized they were in a neighborhood. Small, kind of rundown houses surrounded her. Those pesky blackbirds were squawking and flying in every direction, as if something had startled them. Next to her was a street—with a car driving past. The driver rubbernecked, trying to look at them as long as possible. Had he seen them appear out of nowhere?
He’ll think he made a mistake. Don’t worry about that now. “Don’t…just…rest…” Words—form properly, damn it!
Another cuss word. Excellent. At this rate, she’d soon sound like every other kid at school.
No time to mourn that development, however. The black spots were expanding in front of her eyes, thickening, some of the circles now touching. The snowstorm inside her raged out of control, becoming a blizzard, and she shivered. Ice. Her new most-hated thing.
“Just a little farther,” Victoria said. There was no sympathy in her tone, only worry. “Okay? Yes?”
For Aden. For Riley. Mary Ann could do this. She straightened. Nodded.
Victoria wasted no time. Hot brand, ground gone. Mighty wind. Unwanted chill. Mary Ann in pieces—pieces that could be lost forever. What if she didn’t fit back together the right way? What if she— God, she really was a liability. She really was the weak link of their circle. She couldn’t even handle being teleported.
That will change. I’ll learn to fight, no matter what’s required of me, she told herself as she solidified in…she looked around, only fragments of her surroundings registering past the ever-growing black. A train track, too-tall grass that was yellow, brittle. A snake slithered and hissed over the rusted iron. Shouldn’t it be hibernating?
“Mary Ann?”
She knew what Victoria was asking. Was she ready to go again? “Just…do it,” she said. “Finish this.”
Brand. Wind. Chill. Ground. Stop.
Brand. Wind. Chill. Ground. Stop.
“We’re here.”
Finally. Mary Ann’s knees gave out and she collapsed, sucking in as many breaths as she could. Which wasn’t many. Dizzy, so dizzy. Air too thick, still too cold. Only one thought made any sense at the moment: teleporting sucked.
“The ranch is just ahead. When you’re able, stand and walk. Yes? I am going inside now.”
Victoria didn’t wait for her reply—not that she was in any shape to deliver one—but bolted away, a blur of motion. Fight. Fight this! If she didn’t, and Riley was inside, he would come after her, wanting to help her. He would see her like this. He would view her as weaker than he already did.
A minute passed. Maybe an hour. But finally, Mary Ann clawed her way from the darkness, her head clearing enough that she was able to stand, the air thinning enough that she was able to breathe. Her knees knocked together, but she didn’t let that stop her from tripping forward. She had yet to warm, so every step was like pushing her legs through sludge.
Finally, she reached the ranch’s bunkhouse, where Aden stayed, a log cabin-type structure next to a bright red barn. She found his window, saw that the glass was pushed up, out of the way. Inside she climbed, just kind of throwing her body through. She plopped unceremoniously to the floor.
“Mary Ann!”
Riley’s deep voice penetrated the lingering fog in her mind.
Relief and dread, that’s what she experienced. If he said anything about her presence or current condition, she’d…what? Nothing, probably. Coward.
Not for much longer.
“I was just coming for you, baby. Are you okay?” His strong arms wound around her and gently tugged her to her feet.
“I’m fine. You can let go.” Don’t let go. “Where’s Aden? How’s Aden?” Her lashes lifted, and her gaze met Riley’s. As always, her heart constricted. He was just so beautiful. So much a warrior. But right now, despite that, he looked like death walking. He was shirtless and covered in dried blood. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Come. See for yourself.”
FIVE
MARY ANN EXPECTED TRAGEDY. Death, even. She was braced for the emotional impact, whatever chose to flood her—grief, remorse, sorrow. A combination of all three. What she saw surprised her, and it was happiness and relief that flooded her.
Aden’s room was neat. Clean. The papers on the desk were tidy, and the air was wonderfully sweet, smelling of roses and honeysuckle. Aden lay on the bed, buried under the covers. He was a little paler than normal, with dark circles under his closed eyes, his black hair—with its blond roots—in tangles and matted to his scalp. His body was shaking, but otherwise appeared healthy and whole. She flattened a hand over her thumping heart and grinned.
And yet, Victoria sat beside him, patting his hand, tears streaming down her face. Why the tears? He was alive.
“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Mary Ann said, burrowing deeper into Riley’s side.
“He reeks of Fae.” Victoria shimmied under the covers and curled herself around Aden. “My poor baby,” she cooed. “You’re so cold. Like ice. Let me warm you.”
Aden, asleep or not, must have recognized his girlfriend, because he turned toward her, slid his arms around her waist and held on tight. Gradually, his shivering ceased.
“What’s wrong with smelling like the Fae?” Mary Ann asked. All she smelled was the roses and honeysuckle. And it was good. She inhaled deeply, savoring, wanting a bottle of the scent to take home and bathe in.
In fact, when she closed her eyes, she could imagine herself twirling in a meadow, thickets of roses stretching toward her, a rainbow of soft, fragrant petals. Warm air. Birds singing. Hazy blue sky, fluffy white clouds. The images calmed her, and her stomach settled completely for the first time that day.
“The stink lingers, and our people will never follow him like this. They will rebel. They will demand a new leader. But to gain one, they will have to kill him.” Tears fell from Victoria’s eyes again. “And he’s supposed to appear before them. Tonight!”
The last was a screech.
“That’s not the worst of it,” Riley said gravely. “I haven’t told you how he came to be in this condition.”
Mary Ann’s eyelids cracked open, the field and colors fading away. So. Weird. For a secon
d, she would have sworn she’d truly been in that meadow.
Riley said something in a language Mary Ann didn’t know, and Victoria paled. “Mr. Thomas to the humans,” he finished in English.
“Who?” Mary Ann asked. “And what did you say? Before?”
“I spoke the name of the Fae prince who dragged Aden into Fairy Tale,” Riley said. “The human tongue cannot pronounce fairy names, and so they use shortened versions while here. Anyway, he once swore a blood oath to destroy every member of Victoria’s family for their part in his brother’s death.”
“Aden is now part of the royal family,” Victoria gasped out.
“As you can see, he’s fine, for the most part, but…there was a fight,” Riley continued. “I was losing. Aden possessed his body, allowing me to kill the—to win.”
Wait. Fairy…tale? “Fairy Tale is…”
“A dimension that coexists next to ours, as well as looking into ours. Meaning, while they’re there, they can see us, yet we can’t see them. Which is why they have all developed God complexes, and consider themselves masters and protectors of this world.”
Another dimension? Seriously?
Why are you surprised? Mary Ann was coming to learn that every creature she’d once thought belonged solely to, well, fairy tales, actually existed. They coexisted secretly. Or not so secretly now.
Victoria looked up at Riley, expression as grave as his tone had been. “Where is the prince now?”
“Still in Fairy Tale. Aden can raise the dead, and I didn’t want a fairy prince zombie on the loose, so I whisked Aden here as fast as I could. There’s a lot of cleanup needed, though, and I have to do it before another fairy discovers the remains—” His gaze skittered to Mary Ann. “I mean, uh, never mind. I just need to take off for a few minutes.”
She knew he feared her reaction to the violence of his nature, to the things he’d done—and would one day do. She also knew war would erupt if “the remains” were found. More than it already had.
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