by Melissa Haag
Eliana tugged me across the room to a couch tucked in the shadows. Since I’d only been headed up the stairs to explore, I didn’t mind the change of destination. As we passed people, I could feel my bitchometer twitch, but nothing compared to what I felt for Aubrey.
“Let’s sit here,” Eliana said, releasing my hand and plopping on a couch.
The bitchometer immediately started climbing. I sat next to her and looked out at the groups.
“It’s a lot like human school,” she said. “There are cliques and groups. Fenris and his girls are kind of in their own group, but they get along with most others.”
“Most?”
“Yeah. Aubrey,” she said with a shrug. “Once you start looking at the groups, they’re pretty easy to figure out. Oanen would be part of the jocks. Aubrey is the leader of the mean girls’ club. There are those who are serious about excelling at the Academy, and those who are just there, riding it out while looking for a good time.”
“Why are you telling me all this?”
“Because I know what it feels like to know absolutely nothing about them or yourself. But it doesn’t last long. The mentors at the Academy really will help guide you to the answers.”
I looked at her, trying to believe she was telling me the truth because I had so many questions. Like why she’d tried running out of here then changed her mind.
“Are you still hungry?”
She blushed slightly.
“Not as much. You helped when you looked at Oanen.”
“Huh?”
She blushed darker.
“Never mind.”
“So who is Oanen to you?” I asked since she brought him up. The way he’d seemed concerned about her hinted that she meant something to him.
Eliana scrunched up her cute, pixie-like face before answering.
“Keeper? Pretend brother?”
“Pretend?”
“We’re not the same kind,” she said with another blush. “Can we change the subject?”
“Sure.”
“How old are you?” she asked.
“Seventeen. You?”
“Sixteen. My mom brought me here when I was twelve. And immediately took off. I know it probably doesn’t feel like it, but it’s cool yours at least left you with a place to stay. I can’t wait to graduate and get back out into the human world. I miss gyros. What was your favorite food?”
And just like that, I knew I had a friend. It wasn’t because both our moms ditched us or because we had a similar love of gyros. It was because, when she’d mentioned her mom taking off, she’d noticed my hand curling into a fist and had changed the subject.
“Gyros are up there,” I said, answering her question, “but so are tacos and Hawaiian pizza.”
She groaned. “Why is it so impossible for the Academy to serve that kind of food?”
“What do they serve?”
“Nothing processed. They don’t understand that’s where all the flavor is. And it’s not like we can get sick from it like the humans.” She grinned at me, but the grin faded quickly when her gaze shifted to the right.
I turned my head, following the direction of her gaze, and found Aubrey glaring at us.
“What is her deal?” I asked.
“She’s territorial.” Eliana slapped her hands over her mouth and looked at me with wide eyes.
“I’m guessing that’s not nice to say because she’s a dog?”
Eliana snorted laughter behind her hands.
“I won’t judge,” I promised. “I think I’ve said worse to her.”
Eliana folded her hands in her lap and smiled at me.
“Yeah, I heard about what happened at school. I kind of wish I would have been there to see it.”
“It wasn’t that impressive. Now, had that giant actually head-flicked me, it might have turned into something more.”
“Finnegan is really nice. He just has a small crush on Aubrey.”
“I don’t know that there’s anything small about him. Even his crushes.”
She grinned.
“So tell me about Uttira. Is this the only place that’s open after seven?”
She laughed and shook her head.
“You just caught Uttira at the wrong time. Everyone’s prepping for the Fall Festival.”
“I read about it online. Is it fun?”
She shrugged and made a face that said it was anything but fun.
Someone walked over to our couch. I looked up and found Oanen standing over us.
“We gotta go,” he said, looking at Eliana.
“Okay.” She looked at me. “Do you need a ride?”
Seven
If it had been Oanen asking, I would have said no.
“Sure,” I said instead. “The walk here was a little long.”
“You walked all the way from your house?” Disbelief laced her words as we stood. “You should request a car. The Council will bring in something for you to use since you’re outside of town.”
“That’s okay. It’s safer if I walk.”
Oanen led the way out of the front door, nodding to people and saying goodbye as he went. A few waved to Eliana. She shyly waved back without pausing. No one seemed to notice me. And I was okay with that.
When we got outside, I saw Fenris leaning over Aubrey’s car, his hands braced on the passenger door. It wasn’t a she-lost-her-purse-and-I’m-looking-for-it kind of pose. It was an I-want-to-hit-something pose. A pose I knew too well.
“Keeping it together?” Oanen asked.
Fenris straightened, saw us, and smiled his flirty boyish smile.
“Yeah. I’m good. Better get back inside.” He walked toward the door but stopped a moment to look back at me. “Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow, Megan.” He disappeared inside before I could respond.
Eliana cleared her throat slightly. I quickly pulled my gaze from the closed door to find her watching me. Oanen was already halfway down the block.
“We’d better catch up,” she said quietly.
We jogged.
When she and I reached the car, Oanen silently held out his hand without looking at either of us. Eliana saved me from any confusion by dropping a set of keys into his open palm.
“You can have the front,” she said, already opening the back door as he walked around to the driver’s side.
Since Oanen seemed in a rush, I got in without arguing about the seating arrangement. He started the engine and told us to buckle up as he pulled out from his spot.
As soon as I buckled my seatbelt, Eliana passed me her phone.
“Send yourself a text from my phone so we have each other’s numbers.”
I took her phone and opened the text app. Her message list consisted of four conversations. Oanen, Adira, her mom, and Mom2. I didn’t ask, just started a new conversation thread with my number and updated the contact information to Megan before handing it back.
“Maybe when you’re done with Fenris tomorrow, we can hang out some more,” she said.
“Sure.”
The rest of the ride home passed in silence. Instead of stopping in front, Oanen pulled into the driveway and drove around to the back of the house.
“Thanks for the ride,” I said, getting out.
“See you tomorrow,” Eliana called.
* * * *
I’d only managed two bites of my breakfast when someone knocked on the front door. I looked down at my milk stained t-shirt and shorts, shrugged, and stood. It wasn’t like I was out to impress anyone.
Tugging open the door, I interrupted Fenris mid-knock. He grinned at me, his gaze sweeping over my body from head to toe.
“Wow. You look amazing.”
“Shut up and come in,” I said stepping aside. “When you said you might see me tomorrow, I didn’t think it would be before eight.”
“That’s when a woman shows her natural beauty,” he said smoothly.
“If you’re attracted to this look, I really don’t understand your fascination with the bit
ch brigade.”
While he laughed, I closed the door and led the way to the kitchen.
“I’m going to use that. They’ll love it.”
“Will they really?” I asked, sitting down to resume my breakfast. “Because if they do, they have issues.”
“No thank you. I already ate,” he said as if I’d offered him something.
I rolled my eyes.
“Apparently, I’m an orphan. That means I’m not equipped to feed guests.”
He sat beside me, a small smile still playing about his mouth.
“Then this is your lucky day. I wanted to take you to town so you could see what Uttira’s like when all the shops are open. Including the grocery store, Moonlight Market. It’s open twenty-four seven.”
I drank the milk remaining in my bowl and took everything to the sink to wash it.
“I’d like that. But, I need to shower first,” I said over my shoulder.
“Please tell me that’s an invitation.”
I shook my head and laughed. As soon as I set the dishes in the drying rack, I ran upstairs to grab some clean clothes.
Fenris still sat in the kitchen, looking completely at ease, when I returned.
“The bathroom door doesn’t have a lock. And, that’s not an invite but a warning. Stay out.”
He pretended to pout as I closed myself in the bathroom. After quickly showering and dressing, I threw a load of my laundry into the washer just off the kitchen.
“Does it bother you?” he asked. “Being independent already?”
“Not really. I mean, I did a lot of this stuff before Mom left me here.”
I turned and found him leaning against the counter, studying me. He wasn’t smiling for a change, and I didn’t like it.
“Don’t pity me.”
“Not possible when I envy you so much.”
“How so?”
“There’s no one telling you what to do, where to go, who to hang out with. That’s freedom.”
I snorted and grabbed my jacket.
“I’m still getting told all that stuff, just not by a parent.”
He waited while I locked up the house, then we walked together to the front where an older car was parked.
“Wow. I thought everyone under the age of eighteen owned a sports car in this town.”
“I do.” He grinned. “I just thought I’d treat you special.”
He opened the door for me, and it groaned in protest. That sound should have forewarned me. Instead, I clapped my hands over my ears at the noise the engine made when he started it.
“Holy crap,” I yelled to be heard.
“She gets all the stares. Just wait and see,” he yelled back.
We didn’t talk on the way to town.
As he’d predicted, actual people moved about on the sidewalks when we reached the shopping district. Most of the early risers looked our way as Fenris pulled over into a parking spot and cut the engine. My ears rang.
“This is Uttira,” he said with a sweeping gesture. “Come on. I’ll take you on a walking tour.”
After considerable effort opening and closing the ancient door, I joined him on the sidewalk. We walked down the length of the street then back up the other side. The unique little shops offered a diversity of items from handcrafted jewelry to paints to custom clothing. Tucked in with the boutiques, casual shoppers had their choice of three cafes in which to sit and rest their feet.
“Come the festival, the road will be blocked for stalls with food, beverages, and games. The streets will be packed with humans.”
“When is that happening?”
“It sounds fun, right?”
“No. It sounds awful. I need to know when to avoid town.”
“No chance for that. It’s mandatory attendance.”
I stopped walking and looked at him.
“The town mayor is going to try to make me have fun?”
He chuckled.
“No. Adira and the rest of the Uttira Council. Our attendance is required in order for us to be considered for graduation. Remember Lucas’s lecture about blending? That’s what they’re going to be watching for. That we can blend.”
“I go to the weirdest school ever.”
He opened the passenger door for me this time.
“I’ve heard there are a few weirder,” he said with a grin.
I got in and waited for him to join me and start the car.
“Where to now?” I yelled.
He pointed down the road then, with a burst of grey smoke from the exhaust, eased out of the parking spot. We didn’t talk for the short ride from the touristy downtown area to the commercial retail area.
Fenris parked in the grocery store parking lot and turned off the car again.
“There’s the bank,” he said, nodding toward the brown building. “The hardware store, post office, and bakery. The place next to it is where a lot of locals go for lunch.”
“We have people who aren’t local?”
“A few. Some human spouses who know the truth and chose to live here.”
“And they aren’t considered local?”
“Nope. Ready to shop?”
“I need to run to the bank first.” He didn’t question why and hung back when I quietly spoke to the freakishly goblin-looking teller to verify the checkbook and associated account were real. The woman assured me the account was real and the listed amount accurate. I couldn’t believe Mom had left so much money for me. The guilt over ditching her child had probably helped her generosity.
After withdrawing some cash, Fenris and I went to the grocery store. I’d run out of the fresh food but still had plenty of dry goods. So, I shopped light. Fenris marveled at the idea I could pick my own food and, on the way home, begged me to make him something for dinner one night soon.
“What about Aubrey?” I asked.
“What about her?”
“I’m not sure she’d like me making you dinner. She’s pretty into you, like she’s already staked a claim.”
“That’s just part of who Aubrey is.”
“And what is that?”
He glanced at me and grinned.
“That’s like asking humans their sexual orientation. It’s personal. Some might even consider it rude.”
“Are you telling me this so I don’t ask you questions or so I do?”
“I’m telling you this so you’ll know not to ask someone you just meet this question, but to also let you know I’ll try to answer any questions about anyone if I know the answer.”
There were two people I really wanted to ask about, but I debated if I should.
“I’m straight, by the way,” he said. “All into females, in case you were wondering.”
I grinned.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“If you don’t want to ask, that’s fine too. If you pay attention, you’ll figure out what most of us are. I just wanted you to know you have someone you can trust if you need me.”
Someone to trust sounded kind of nice. Along with someone who seemed to calm me with a touch.
“Do you know what Eliana is?” I asked.
His smile slipped just a little before recovering.
“A succubus. But before you go grouping her with the rest of her kind, she’s different. She’s not a threat.”
“Um, keep in mind that I don’t know anything about anyone’s kind. Are succubuses normally a threat?”
“Succubi. And some can be. They typically feed off of human sexual energy. If they can’t control their hunger, feeding can kill their partner.”
For whatever reason, he’d lost his smile with that explanation.
“Why do all topics lead back to sex with you?” I asked, trying to tease him into a better mood.
He grinned once more.
“Because it’s the most interesting topic on your mind? Because I’m a male and you’re insanely attracted to me?”
I laughed.
“I can see why you have your own followi
ng, now. So, what about me?” I asked, changing the subject. “Do you know what I am?”
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Will you tell me if you figure it out?”
He nodded.
“All right. Then, I guess my last questions are what would you like me to make you for dinner, and when do you want it?”
He grinned widely.
“Something you ate a lot of in the human world.”
I thought back to the dinners Mom had made.
“Spaghetti?”
“Yes. That.”
He pulled into the driveway of my house and went to the back. After he parked, he helped me carry in the groceries and set them on the table. It wasn’t even ten yet.
“Thank you for letting me take you to town,” he said. He held out his hand, and I automatically offered mine, thinking he meant a handshake. Instead, his fingers closed around mine and brought my knuckles to his lips. The feel of his warm mouth against my skin sent a zing through me.
Before I could decide if it was pleasant or not, he released me.
“I’ll see you soon, Megan.”
With a wink and a flash of his boyish smile, he left.
I took my time putting away groceries then sat down at the table, wondering what to do next. TV didn’t sound appealing at the moment, and it seemed too early to check in with Eliana. So, I opened my laptop and logged into my homeschooling page.
* * * *
Leaning on the pole saw, I surveyed my work and grinned, glad I’d given up on schoolwork hours ago. Several of the pines boxing in the yard had died. Thanks to the handy pole saw I’d found in the shed, I’d trimmed back all of the dead lower branches. It didn’t make the yard look any better. In fact, it left gaping holes in what had been a natural fence. However, I felt better after doing something physical.
With the sun touching the treetops, I put the saw away and stacked the last tree’s branches on the large pile I’d created before going inside. Although the activity had cured some of the growing restlessness crawling under my skin, it hadn’t purged all of it.
After I showered to remove old, dried pine bits from my hair, I listlessly walked to the kitchen for my phone and sent Eliana a text.
I’m home and bored. Have any plans?
Her reply was immediate.
